Food Yesterday

I just wanted to pop in and post my food yesterday.  I am TRYING to keep a log so I can post it here the next day as I go.

Yesterday:

Breakfast:
Banana, plum and apple (I am easing up and eating whatever fruit I want.  I am still concerned about the sugar but maybe I don't have to be so worried.. will see. )

Lunch:
small  handful cashews and large handful pecans (both soaked and dehydrated).  I ate them mindfully and slowly.. one at a time which is HARD for me.. I love to shove about 175 of them in my mouth all at the same time.  I was surprised that this kept me for about 3 hours!

Snack:
Dehydrated zucchini chips and 2 T Raw tahini (I spooned the tahini in a small bowl and ate it a little at a time with a demitasse spoon.  I LOVE raw tahini.. DH hates it which is fine with me.. more for me!

Snack:

Miso with wakame warmed in double boiler to 105deg (I will be doing this more often).

Dinner:
Large veggie salad with red leaf lettuce, cabbage and spinach.. topped with tomato, cucumber, carrot, olives, sundried (well dehydrator dried!) tomato.  I made this avocado dressing that I hated and was sad to waste $2.50 on the avo but I couldn't make myself eat it.  from now on the Avo will go on the salad.. I used some really great honey ginger white balsamic (not raw) as my dressing instead. 

Was surprised that I was just fine with my food yesterday.. no cravings and I ate what is a small amount for me thru the day until my huge salad for dinner..

Not getting on the scale this week as I started my period this morning.  Will wait till maybe Friday to weigh.

Happy Raw Amazingly Awesome Week!

$$$$ Woes...

Ok.. I updated my stats!!! Yeah!!! 6 pounds gone!

So I am having $$$ Woes.  We are SO tight cash wise right now that I am really struggling with the cost of staying Raw. 

I am not going to come off for sure just need to simplify so next week it's going to be mostly just fruits for breakfasts and salads for lunches and dinners.

I have to have GOOD homemade Raw dressings for my salads and I have enough nuts in stock.  All are soaked and dehydrated and ready to go. 

Damn avocados are freaking $2.50 each right now but I HAVE to have them.  They are important in my salads and one of the main ingredients in one of my dressings.  They will have to be purchased.

No more trips to Whole Foods (ha!  I mean WholePaycheck!).  No more Gourmet Raw.  No more nuts and seeds (but I really do have enough already good to go).

I will just concentrate on Fruits and veggies and good dressings.  I am not even going to concern myself with only buying organic this week.  I KNOW organic is better but eating this way is MUCH better than the way I was eating even if my fruits and veggies can't always be organic.  I will wash and or peel what I can but I am not going to stress on it.

I have to buy meals for DH to have for lunches at work.  We usually buy Kashi or Amy's Organics for him so that is a good cost too.  It's hard but I know I can do it.  I know I will have what I need to succeed. 

I also have been reading Lisa Viger's "Raw on $10/day" site lately.  http://rawon10.blogspot.com/ It's not quite that cheap here for the same produce since I live 3 miles from Disney's main gate all prices are spiked here for everything from gas to groceries but the site helps for sure. 

Hell I would rather just not eat than to give in and eat crap cheap junk !#@*&#*!.

I woke up worried and I need to just let it go and know I will find a way.  It will get easier next month!

WELL I have to write about my salad last night!  Best salad I have had in a LONG time!
I used red leaf lettuce, spinach, dehydrated tomato, (I made a huge batch of these in my dehydrator and they are so sweet!), roma tomato, green olives, cucumber and made my very fav. "cheeze".. 

I call it Basil Rawmesean.  It's REALLY good and really easy.  It's just 1/4 C pine nuts, 1/4 C soaked pumpkin seeds, 1 C fresh basil, juice of one lemon and 1/4 C EVOO.. you whirl it up in the mixer and spread it thin on your teflex and dehydrate overnight (I did mine about 12 hours).. crumble it up and sprinkle on the salad.. OMG!  It's really, really good.  

I topped it with my very fav. Cashew Miso dressing:  1/3 C Soaked cashews, 1 heaping T Miso, 2 T Raw vinegar, 2-3 cloves raw garlic (always use a garlic press, IMO chopping it just does not do.. you want very tiny bits of raw garlic so it mixes really well), juice of one lemon and JUST enough water so that it will blend.  REALLY excellent dressing!  I think a dressing makes a salad, especially for me right now just getting on Raw.. I like salads but I LOVE a good dressing. 

I will post more about dressings I make this week.  I am going to do an Avocado one and I have a very fav. Japanese Ginger/Apple one I love I use allot.. It's wonderful.

Detox:
Well the only symptom right now is sleep disturbances.  I am not sleeping very deep and I am waking about 2 hours earlier than I normally do.

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Breakfast this morning was our dessert I had planned for us last night that we were too full after the amazing salad to eat.

I froze 4 bananas and made:

Raw Chocolate Banana Nutty Ice Cream:

for two.. freeze 4 bananas

in a vitamix or other powerful blender pour about 1" of water in the bottom, toss in broken up frozen banana and two heaping teaspoons raw cocoa powder (I recently read that most raw cocoa powder is suspected to be treated at too high of a temp to really be raw.. and now to only trust "Big Tree Farms" cocoa as it is very strictly made. http://bigtreefarms.com/big/index.php/page/product/74/111/111 )

Chopped raw soaked nuts of your choice.. I used soaked and dehydrated pecans and cashews.. sprinkled on top.

This was of course amazing.  DH loved it. 
It is for sure VERY stimulating and I feel a bit strung out on it!  I think my body is becoming more sensitive the more Raw I eat.  I will sure use Raw chocolate from time to time for a treat but certainly not every day.. wow!

wow... that's another pound.

I am on my droid so I can't actually update my stats until I get on my desktop, nor can I post any pix but I wanted to write that I am doing great... still High Raw.  Two nights ago I had an Amy's meal because I just didn't have anything in the house... needed to go tonyhe store but I had spent the day, like I do once a week, hanging out with my mum.

Anyway I am well and still losing.  I am down six pounds!

I am going to concentratre on salads as dinners most nights this week as I need a fairly simple upcoming week next week.
I have a few dressing recipes I am going to try and if any are great IMO I will post them here.

Weeeeeeeeeee! So much to write about.

Phoenix is an important symbol for me.. you will find pix throughout my blog~

Good Morning!!!
I am down 5 pounds in 4 days. 
and NO it's NOT WATER because I have been counting calories and I have had over 2000 a day and once over 3000 (pig out on Raw tahini).

I am having interesting detox symptoms already.. a small rash on my back, pain under my right breast (this is liver issues that I will talk about later today)..

I had a serious wave of nausea yesterday when I first got out of bed, which is a classic detox symptom.  I also can't sleep. 

One thing that is very interesting and SUCKS is that I get this deep ache in my upper arms.. I have had these lumps in the muscle (I think) on my upper arms for years.  I sort of self diagnosed this as myofascitis after doing lots of research (where small knots form in the muscles from nerves causing parts of a muscle to stay contracted for long periods of time).  It's really bothered me on and off for years and EVERY time I detox it flares up. 

Now people that know about what Raw food does to you will know that this is a healing issue.. it will flare up while my body (brilliant as it is!) is working to heal it.. but right now it's very painful!  and OMG it's only day 5!

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This morning as I was standing on the back porch waiting for my puggie Sukiyaki to come in from his early morning wee..

Suki Photo Op:

His nick name is "His Royal Great Immenseness"  Pet him and love him and squeeze him and hug him.. sweet boy… sorry I got side tracked!

So while on the porch early Am, I stood there and had this amazing feeling of calm just warmly flood over my body for a minute. I don’t know if it was the lovely early morning air (nice and humid) or because of Raw so far but it was sweet.

Food yesterday:
-Lemon water (x2) 16oz
-2 cups mixed fruit from deli (picked up while grocery shopping).. I have read that eating fruit together.. especially if it contains melon is not a great idea but I never have seemed to have an issue. We have been big fruit salad for breakfast eaters for years.
-Green smoothie around noon
-Lara bar and ½ C raw peanuts
-More raw peanuts and raw cashews
-Lots of iced green tea
-HUGE Thai salad for dinner





Here is the recipe:

My Raw Pad Thai Salad

This is a large salad and meant to be an entrée. The dressing is the BOMB! Really fun to eat with chopsticks.
For two huge salads:

Ingredients:
2 zucchinis, sliced into strips and then 2" matchsticks or made into ribbons with veggie peeler (could also use a yellow squash and a zucchini)
1large handful of bean sprouts, approx 1 1/2cups
3/4 cup chopped nuts (use soaked almonds or cashews – I used raw peanuts but I know peanuts are not a great idea very often)
2 green onions sliced thin and long and then cut into 2" strips
1 shredded carrot – or you can use a veggie peeler and make strips
½ C shredded cabbage
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro – very important ingredient. No dried.
Juice from one lime
1/4 tsp sea salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
red chili pepper flakes (I use 1 scant teaspoon for two salads and it’s very spicy. It’s a needed ingredient I think for the salad but you could use much less.. or none at all).
Preparation: Toss all ingredients together in a bowl until well coated. I usually save the nuts and sprinkle them on top of the dressing and top with a few sprigs of cilantro.

Dressing:
1" piece peeled ginger, chopped up
1 apple peeled and cored and chopped
1 small celery stalk – de-stringed and chopped
1 small carrot peeled and chopped
1 green onion stalk, chopped
Juice of one lime
1/3 capful (about 4 drops) Boyajain Tangerine oil*
1/3 capful (about 4 drops) Boyajain Hot chili oil OR Wasabi oil*
1/2 t sesame oil (add very last)
　
Whirl all together in blender.. add sesame oil last.. pour over salads and sprinkle with nuts. Garnish with more cilantro on top and serve~

*you can find these on line..http://www.boyajianinc.com/oils.html

They have lots of all natural flavors. I find myself using them all the time.. especially the tangerine one! You could of course make the dressing without them.. It’s really good either way.
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Re: Detox (I have a facination with Detox.. I think most Raw foodies do, do you?)

I had a wave of nausea when I first got out of bed this morning and so I did a coffee enema this afternoon. I had been having a feeling of fullness in my liver and I remember this from last time I did Raw and especially it kept happening when I did lots of juicing. I think the enema helped… maybe.

I remember reading that if you detox too fast and don't somehow clean your colon, you can actually re-absorb some of the toxins. I HATE the thought of that but I don’t know what to really do about it. I know I won’t be "an enema a day" kind of girl. It does worry me though. 　

I am afraid I have an issue with belief in colon cleansing because I have seen several films from my colonoscopies over the years (IBD).. I have never seen any evidence of "muccoid plaque" or any such thing.. always clean as a whistle... so I am a bit wary of much colon cleansing... so far.　

Lets Rawk on~

I get to change my stats!

Well I am down 4 pounds in three days.
I was very surprised when I got on the scale today because I have been eating lots of nuts and seeds trying to overcome my late day hunger.. still raw but STILL LOTS OF FAT AND CALORIES!.

I have read that Raw fat is not as "fattening" to our bodies as cooked fat.  I am not sure that is true but it seems to be as I really have been eating allot of the nuts and seeds.. two days ago I ate a half jar of raw tahini... just kept tripping to the kitchen. 

My friends on RawFoodRahab have been encouraging me to just go with what my body is telling me and it's good advice.  I am so "diet" oriented I am constantly worried about calories.

Raw Food Rehab Website

 

Yesterday was a little easier.. I seemed to much all day but I didn't have a ton of nuts.. I measured out a third cup of soaked almonds and ate them slowly.. it was interesting.. in 15 min. I was full again and had like three left.  I know that slowing down helps me so much.  I have always been a REALLY fast eater.  I am working on it.

Yesterday morning I had an apple and plum and raw soaked almonds and a Lara bar over a couple of hours.

Later I had a green salad of just a huge handful of spicy Watercress (my fav. green for bumping up a salad)!  I just added a large celery stick destringed and cut up... no dressing needed right then which was interesting, normally I love to pile on lots of dressing.. Raw cashews whirled in a blender with spices lately but yesterday, I just wanted green.  I want to eat lots of green.  I also drank a large glass of green powder in water on ice.

I have been having a bit sinus yuck and have used my neti pot several times.. this is typical detox for me always..
 
Dinner was a bit of veggie salad with leftover Mexi mushroom mix in leaf tacos I had made the day before.. the mushroom mix (posted recipe a couple of days ago) was EVEN better!  I guess sitting really helped it marry all the flavors and I noticed it was not as watery.  ALSO learned that it's much easier to get the cabbage leaves off the cabbage head when it is at room temp.  I had a hard time the day before even though I cut the bottom of the head off.. they just would not peel off without tearing but I set everything out 2 hours before I planned on having dinner so it was not cold and they came off much easier.

I used my Mexi mushroom mix and spooned it in the cabbage leaves and added purple onion garnish and dried tomato I had just made in my dehydrator.. and cilantro on top and lime juice and WOW.. this was FANTASTIC!

Here is a little pix for you:

Have a brilliant Raw day!

Hippocrates Institute...

If you know of the Hippocrates Institute you will LOVE these videos of Zac as he has a 3 week stay!  This info is priceless.. This place is amazing and world renowned for natural healing.. it's here in FL in Palm Beach.

If you have never heard of the Institute and you are interested in optimum health.. you should study up on it!  People come from all over the world to retreat there. 

Here is a link that has a bunch of videos of Zac's stay.  Seriously amazing information I had to share!  Also RawFoodRahab (where this is posted) is an amazing site and you should join!. 

http://rawfoodrehab.ning.com/group/mediaroom/forum/topics/3-week-stay-at-the-hippocrates

Enjoy!  (Lots of videos in that link.. it will take days to watch them all!)

I am off to lay outside.. I live in Orlando and right now it's about 95% humidity and 90+ degrees.. I lay in the sun for 20 min and then pop up my shade umbrella for another 20 min.. good way to get some detox sweat going on! 

Love and Light to you all.

Sinus Yuck...

I really don't feel 100% this morning.  Just want to go back to bed.  I have a sinus headache and I am all stuffed up.  I know it's not food allergies as all I have had is 3 pieces of fruit this morning.. I am pretty sure I detox thru my sinus as I have had this in the past. 

Just Tired!

Last night our taco wraps were really good! (I posted recipe yesterday). 
Getting the leaves off the cabbage was a bitch and I cut the bottom off the head to make it easier but they still tore.  We had pretty small "wraps" but they were still amazing.

I didn't use any Avo because they are $2.50 right now! 

I used the main mix I talked about below.. with the mushrooms, zucchini and garlic.. it was all chopped fine and marinated in the fridge for about 4 hours. 

I scooped  it into the cabbage leaves and added chopped tomato, onion and cilantro and squeezed a little lime on top and wow.. very yummy and messy! 

DH loved them.. he at allot of them.
I want to make some Vegan raw nut cheese to go on top next time.  I have a recipe for some that you dehydrate down and use sort of as a sprinkle powder but a nut cheese paste would be great too.. Right now I want to be careful and not have way tons of calories extra.  Like I would choose between the nut cheese and avocado.

This morning I just had fruit.  I had two pieces and was full (a very small apple and a huge yummy amazing black plum!). 

LOTS of water as I seem so thirsty.

Oh I also wanted to comment that the other day when I went to the Emergency walk in clinic with dizziness and nausea and had such a high blood pressure (for me).. it was 157/90.  I had them take some bloodwork.

Most of all I wanted my fasting glucose.. it was 100 which is 10 points less than it was last year.  I know that is still a bit high but I don't consider myself "borderline diabetic" any longer.

I also know that my blood pressure will get better with the Raw foods and the weight loss but I am also eating lots of celery which really helps to lower blood pressure!

Off to use my neti pot to see if it will help this sinus yuck!
More later...

Serious Yummy Stuff Going On In The House!

Started High Raw again yesterday.. made about 50% raw yesterday only because I had to get to the store and it takes 2-3 days to get stuff going in the dehydrator! I have to get a system down!  I have lots of ideas in the works but we are also going to have simple salads with amazing homemade Raw dressings I am finding recipes for!

I am not putting tons of pressure on myself this time.. I will take my time and get the hang of it and not worry about being perfect right off.

This morning I cut up fruit for us and put it in pretty bowls.. we each had a white peach, pluott and nectarine.. yummy breakfast!

Today I made these amazing kale chips. 
This was very good.

Here is the recipe:
Kale Chips: (note to self: need to double!)

Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale
1 clove raw garlic
1 C soaked cashews (need to look up how long they need to be soaked I only soaked them about a half hour)
¼ C nutritional yeast
2T water (I used coconut water because DH had just opened a coconut)
1 T paprika
¼ t chipotle powder
¼ t seasalt

Mix everything but kale in the Vitamix or your blender and pour over kale.. it will look like it’s not enough but work it in with fingers well. It is enough.

Set dehydrator to 115deg and time for two hours then turn down to 105… they are GOOD really, really good!  Mine have been in about 5 hours and feel dry enough but I am leaving them in for a while.

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Also.. for dinner I have these in the works:

A recipe for Raw Vegan taco meat I found in the Healing Patch Cookbook and tweaked.

Raw Healing Patch Website

It is a base of portobello, zucchini and raw garlic..

Main recipe for tacos:
Enough mushroom for two (I bought about 10 med. Size ones)
1 med zucchini
3 cloves garlic (put thru a garlic press)
3-4 shakes of nutritional yeast
1 T EVOO
2 T Nama Shoyu
1 t live vinegar
¼ t chipotle powder (penzeys.com has this)
1 t cumin
2 t paprika
1 t oregano
2t chili powder
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder

Chop mushroom and zucchini very finely.. add 2-3 cloves garlic that have been mushed thru a garlic press (Important for raw garlic in a recipe.. you don’t want a "chunk" of raw garlic in anything – it totally overpowers the taste… the garlic press is prefect because you get a bit of garlic taste through out).
Add all spices and Nama Shoyu, EVOO and live vinegar.. stir well and let sit for a while to blend tastes.. can make a day ahead and put in fridge.. just set out about an hour before you want to assemble them.

Next Ingredients:
Leaves for wrap.. collards, romaine, cabbage – I used cabbage this time
1 med. Tomato chopped
½ C chopped cilantro
½ C chopped red onion
Avocado (optional)
To assemble..
Spread mushroom mix on leaf and top with tomato, cilantro and red onion.. avocado if you wish.
Roll and yum! Would be good with homemade pico sauce too!



A note re: today.. I just realized I was totally 100% Raw on my second day. 

Easing into Raw.. starting today.

Well I am finally back in my element, at home and ready to get started with this finally!  I had a bit of a scare yesterday.  I woke up and got out of bed and was really dizzy and I almost fell down.. I was also very nauseated.

DH took me to the Emergency walk in clinic and I had high blood pressure.. 157/90 (well what is high for me, mine is usually like 110/80).  They took some blood and I will have results today from several tests.. Anemia and my blood sugar are most important to me.  they did a blood panel (CBC) also that I will be interested in learning about...

I really am now afraid.  I don't want to screw my health up any more.. I KNOW a raw food diet will help me so much. I also have major aches and pains and think I may have Fibromyalgia.  I have read allot about it and my pain seems to be very simular.. especially pain in my upper arms and upper legs.

Other things I am dealing with are sinus infections.. I can hardly breathe out of the left side of my nose.  I also have headaches every once in a while and zero energy or drive in my life.  I just feel blah most of the time.

More than anything in my life, more than any desire or need I have, I WANT this excess fat off my body. 

I do know that last time I attempted this I got way too tied up in "Gourmet" raw and just felt overwhelmed.. I am not going to be that hard on myself this time.  I was afraid that DH would need all these fancy meals and yes.. he might want more elaborate things from time to time.. I am sure I will too but I am not going to put myself under so damn much pressure this time.

I can have meals like that a couple nights a week but most of the time eat huge salads for dinner.. It's the hottest time of the year here so I know it will "feel" good for a while with all the high water veggies and fruits!

I do want to be careful with eating tons of fruit.. especially the high sugar ones like grapes and bananas.  I will stick to apples and pears and berries mostly.. at first at least.

I know that ANY weight loss at all will help my blood pressure.  I don't want to go on drugs.. actually that's not totally correct.. I WILL NOT go on drugs.. period.

I am going to order the stuff to make DH a raw granola he can have for breakfasts from time to time with almond milk.. I will stick to low GI fruit in the AM. 

I am going to STRIVE for 100% Raw on most days but not kick myself if I eat cooked from time to time.  I also know that many Raw foodists are not really totally 100% raw and many of them are not even Vegan 100% of the time.. a couple of biggies that are no longer totally Vegan I have recently read about lately so I know it's ok to not put freaking labels or huge demands on yourself - some eat raw eggs.. some eat raw seafood, as in civiche.. which I WILL for sure be making from time to time. 

Being so hardcore in my beliefs and trying to stick to a label has been one of my problems in the past.. being so "all or nothing".. if I can't do it 100% I would give up in the past.  I am not doing that this time.

I ordered a few supplies (mostly truly raw nuts and seeds) from Natural Zing..

I love them!  They have good, competitive prices.  I used to make this homemade granola style cereal for DH and he would pour almond milk (fresh that I would make with sprouted almonds.. yum!) over it.  I got the ingredients for it again too.  I will post about it when I make a batch soon.

A Year Ago This Month...

I started this blog.

I know I was on the right track but like with everything else in my life that ever got hard, I gave up.
I have had going back to high raw in the back of my mind over the last few days and although I would start the day right I would eat a heavy, meat filled dinner.

For me, right now I think a transition is in order... taking some time to be kind to mysself and transition easily.  I think I will start with simply eating more raw foods and giving up artificial chemicals.