Me before

Me before
This is me in the pink shirt

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Day Five

Skipped day four. Went to a deep tissue masssage therapist and while she was very careful because of my SI Joint Dysfunction and Facet Joint Disease I was in extreme pain last night. Therefore I was not able to post.

Today I felt a little better and able to post. I was 189 pounds when I stepped on the scale this morning. How exciting. That is 2.9 pounds lost in four days. Not too shabby.

I had e same spinach, banana, pineapple smoothie. I did not have any fruits in the fridge so I did not bring a juice to drink late morning which worked very well the day before. So I brought a banana and nut butter to tied me over until lunch. For lunch I had a spinach salad which was awesome. I am not sure if the dressing was raw so I used it as sparingly as possible. For dinner I made a tomato soup that I had been formulating in my mind all week. I will put the recipe below since it was my own creation

One pint cherry tomatoes
Three tomatoes
1/2 cup cashews
1 teaspoon dried mustard
1/2 cup Jicama (diced)
Two ear corn (corn removed cob)
Raw Cheddar Cheese (diced)

Put all ingredients through the dried mustard into a blender and blend until smooth. Add jicama and corn and stir. Spoon into bowl and add cheese as desired. Salt to taste and enjoy

This was so delicious. I did this just from what I thought would taste good together. It is very exciting to out something like that together and have it taste so good.

I also created a juice from things that I thought would taste good together. I have to say it is quite tasty. I juice a beet, apple, orange, five strawberries, and three kale leaves. The beets definitely come out the most when drinking which I was surprised at. But I really love beets so I was okay with it. I will definitely make it again.

I actually feel very full from eating. Almost uncomfortably so. I am wondering if I have that is from the cheese. I just love cheese and was vey happy to read that if you eat raw unpasturized cheese then it is considered raw.

I am trying to find raw goat cheese. That is my all time favorite cheese. I did locate a farm locally and cannot wait to get it.



Mix all ingredients up to the dried mustard in the blender and mix until smooth.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Day Three

Today was another huge success. I started it out with a pretty intense headache. But I took some medicine and it subsided significantly and never came back.

I learned a huge lesson this morning. I decided to make some grapefruit juice with my new juicer. By the way it is a Jack Lalane juicer. So far I love it. Anyways, I read the paperwork that came with it and it said you could juice grapefruit and oranges with the whole rind. Well, I am here to tell you DO NOT juice these with the rind. I juiced three grapefruit and got about two cups of juice. I LOVE grapefruit juice so I guzzled it right down. It tasted good going down but as soon as I finished it I got this awful bitter taste in my mouth. And I could feel this terrible burning in my throat and stomach. The bitter taste was just awful. I tried to brush my teeth to get rid of it. But I kept burping it up and actually ended up throwing most of it up. That was just as bad as the bitterness from drinking it. I had to brush my teeth three time to get rid of the bitter taste in my mouth. I kept the bitter taste though until I was just about to work. I have about a thirty minute drive to work. So I definitely learned a very valuable lesson.

I really was not very hungry at all today. I had the same smoothie today as the last two days. Which I still love. Then I had a spinach soup that was de-lish. I don't have the recipe right here but it is basically spinach, cucumber juice, cashews all blended together until smooth. It was really good. I ended up just drinking it for lunch. It is very much like a juice so it was easier to drink. I will post the recipe tomorrow.

Dinner was awesome also. It was stuffed tomatoes. Man was it good. I will post the recipe tomorrow but it was stuffed with celery, jicama, scallions, and a mustard sort of dressing. It was absolutely delicious.

I am very surprised how well this is going. I am assuming it is because I was vegan/vegetarian. It is a relief to know it not so bad. I am very pleasantly surprised.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Day number two

Today was surprisingly easy. But already being a vegan/vegetarian is probably making it easier. I had the same smoothie for breakfast today as I did yesterday. Banana, pineapple, and spinach. Then a couple hours later I had some grapes. I had Tomato Soup that I made just putting cherry tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, seasonings, garlic and water into a blender until it was nice a smooth. It was delicious. I then had a banana with nut butter for an afternoon snack. Which is one of my favorite snacks. I had also brought a grapefruit in to work but did not eat it.

I really wasn't super hungry throughout the day. When I was hungry I ate.

When I got home from work my juicer had been delivered. I was so excited I unpacked it and got right to work making some apple juice. It was so delicious. It was just like biting into the actual apple. My oldest son and his girlfriend tried it and loved it. My husband who I thought would love it was just sort of okay with it. My youngest son wouldn't even try it. Oh well his loss. Tomorrow morning I am going to make some grapefruit juice. I LOVE grapefruit juice. I cannot wait.

I did start with a slight headache this afternoon about the same time as yesterday but today it has gotten really bad. I am laying down now while typing this hoping it will go away.

I had the rest of the tomato soup for dinner tonight. I was still hungry so I had a banana with nut butter. Now I feel pleasantly satisfied.

We had birthday cupcakes for two employees and I didn't even feel slightly tempted in having one.

I did step on the scale this morning. I must tell you that I am a scale-a-holic. I weigh myself every morning. I cannot help myself. I used to be much worse. I could not sleep at night if I did not weigh myself before going to bed. And it would not be unusual for me to weigh myself several times throughout the day. But I made myself stop that. But I do still do it every morning. I was down to 190.6. That was awesome. That was a 1.2 loss just overnight. It really inspired me and was affirmation that this is the right choice for me.

It feels so great to feel like I am in control again.

I did not walk today. I wish I had but my head just hurts so bad I just need to close my eyes and hopefully it will subside enough that I can go for one soon. If not there is always tomorrow.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

First Full Day

Well the first full day has been a success. I ended up having the Walnut Basil Pesto and Veggies for lunch and dinner. It is now gone though. I really do love it. I love basil and walnuts so it is a no brainer that I would. I have not eaten nearly as much as I would have in my normal day of eating prior to giving the raw eating a try. I am concerned that I am not eating enough. I have had trouble in the past with not eating enough and not losing weight but actually gaining. I just was not very hungry though. I will just see how it goes.

I read through Susan Powers blog on her 21 day Challenge on doing 100% raw last February and it really inspired me and has made me even more committed to this raw eating lifestyle. I am going to do the same thing and at least stay 100% raw for 21 days. That is a good beginning. Hopefully I will remain just as focused and continue on. If I have nearly the results she had then I will definitely continue on.  The link for this blog is http://www.rawmazing.com/Challenge21/?cat=8

Tomorrow will be a challenge as it is my 24th wedding anniversary. My husband and I usually go out to dinner to celebrate but I told him earlier today that we would not be able to this year. It is just to soon after starting this "challenge". I need to give this my full focus for the next 21 days. Then hopefully I will be able to venture out. It is already tough enough just finding something vegan in a restaurant. Finding something "raw" will be nearly impossible. I could go for a salad but I need to research what dressings are considered raw before going out to eat in a restaurant. I just do not feel ready for it. Tomorrow will also be a challenge because I will be at work. I tend to work ten hour days so I will have ton really think about what I am going to bring to make sure I have enough food.  I will be sure to bring fruit to munch on if I need something.  And some nut butter.

I am going to have a apple with nut butter on it before going to bed tonight. I have been thinking about having that all day but have just not gotten around to it. First I was watching the movie "Soul Surfer" (high recommend but a real tear jerker) and then my mother-in-law came to visit. Then I was hungry and it was dinner time so I had the rest of the walnut pesto and veggies. I LOVE apples and any sort of nut butter. I also need to research if the do it yourself peanut butter at our local green grocers is raw or not. I am thinking not as I am seeing on other websites that they only mention cashew and almond nut butters.

So all in all day one has been a huge success. Tomorrow will be interesting as I am sure any withdrawal symptoms I am going to have will start tomorrow.  I do have a bit of a headache, really just being on the verge of one.  This is not necessarily a withdrawal type symptom though.

Oh and my husband and I went for a walk today.  My back issues really flare up with alot of walking.  It was less then a mile but was plenty to start with.  I hope to increase my walking everyday.  It is a far cry from where I was a year ago, but it is better then what I did yesterday, which was nothing.  For now, that is enough for me.  It is a beginning.

Looking foward to day 2.  :)

First day on my Raw Journey Experience

Yup, that's me in the pink shirt. Hard to believe that just a year ago, I was a much trimmer much more active person. I was doing triathlons, road races, training for a century bike race. But one little bike accident stopped all of that. This will be quite a journey as I have developed Facet Joint Disease and Sacroilliac Joint Dysfunction from this accident.  But I am ready to jump back on the active bandwagon and get myself back in shape. I have gained 35 pounds over the last year due to my inactiveness. I went from a size ten to a size 18. Because not only did I put on the pounds but I lost the toneness of my body that I did not truly appreciate until I lost it. To be fair it is a very lose size 18.  I could do 16, but I could not stand the feeling of my clothing since I have gotten to this size.  Hence I bought the next size up.  I am now 191.8 pounds. I cannot believe I let myself get to this point.  I knew it was happening, but I let it happen, but no more. I have been a vegan/vegatarian for a year and a half now. But I still packed the pounds on.

Today is the first day in my Raw Journey Experience. I am very excited and will do my best.  I got this recipe from the website "Rawmazing".  I beautiful website that I believe will help to guide me through this process much more smoothly.  YO

This morning I had a green smoothie that was delicious.  It is called Banana Pineapple Green Drink.  The link to the recipe is:

http://www.rawmazing.com/banana-pineapple-green-drink/


I actually made a delicious meal last night for dinner from this same website.  I just could not wait I was so excited to get started.

It was called Walnut Pesto Cream Sauce with Veggies.   It was so delicious. My husband even liked it. The link for the recipe is below.


http://www.rawmazing.com/pesto-and-other-basil-tricks/

If you are going to start eating raw, I would highly recommend starting with this recipe.  It was truly fantastic.  Unbelievable so.  I cannot wait to have the leftovers for lunch.

My new juicer comes in tomorrow and I cannot wait to use it.  I just now need to get a dehydrater and a sprial slicer and I will be all set.  I am sure I will discover other things I need along the way but for now this is all I need. 

Thanks for reading, until next time........