Today was finally "healthy lunch" day at work. And I am happy to report that there was more to eat than diet soda and weight watcher's key lime pie. There were about 7 different salads and some roasted veggies and 3 kinds of hummus and veggie trays and fruit trays and some shreaded pork. Not too shabby especially compared to the sign up list. That thing was frightful.
Everyone who attended the lunch got a pedometer and we were split into 14 teams of 7 and we're all supposed to "walk across 'merica" as a team. I'm pretty stoked about that. I got on a pretty good team, and I like to walk.
So I ate a lot today. I tried to keep it to mostly raw plant type foods, but there were some things that were cooked, and some things that were meat type foods, but all in all, I think I probably had like 80% plants. I came home and had a smoothie that consisted of half a pineapple, about 1/4 of a papaya and 2 persimmons. I actually tried to eat all of this for breakfast, but I just can't yet. It is going to take a long time before I can just even eat enough volume to get enough calories to go completely raw, but I'm making a good effort.
Anyway, things I've encountered so far.
People are being super dickish to me. Fuckers. My family thinks I'm starving myself. And my friends keep trying to dangle steaks in my face. And I don't know what the heck their problem is because I'm not a vegan, or a vegetarian, and I'm not on a diet, I'm essentially just trying to eat MORE raw foods because it's good for you. And raw foods are super tasty. I'd be a super bitch if I made fun of someone every time they ate a raw apple. People are dicks.
Also, my energy levels are all wibbly wobbly. One minute, I'm ready to go for a jog, and the next, I'm taking a nap.
My digestive system goes from feeling super light and clean to feeling heavy and stabby. It hates me. That's really only after I eat dinner, which has been for the most part cooked and heavy. It's really encouraging me to stick with better foods, and to cut out the junk.
So the goal for next week is to start running again. I like to run, and it makes me feel awesome, but after my appendix was removed a couple months ago, I got out of the habbit of doing any physical activity. The whole "walk across 'merica" will be good motivation to start running again as well.
21.1.14
First Day at Work - incorporating more RAW
So it's my first day at work while trying to eat mostly raw, and it's the longest day of the week (11 hours). I brought in 6 fruits and a bag of chopped vegetables.
NOT ENOUGH!
I'm still having trouble getting through all of my veggies. It's like it takes more energy to eat these things than they are providing to me. It makes sense. This whole bag of veggies is probably only like 150 calories (tops), and even though these things are really tasty, it's hard to get them down. I need (read want) some kind of dressing to go on these. There's not enough fat in them.
Really, what this tells me is that I was eating way too much fat every day before I started this challenge. I was fooling myself into thinking I was eating healthy just because I was making things at home. I actually gave in today and had a cinnamon roll. What I really wanted was a turkey sandwhich, but I didn't have one here with me. The alternative would have been to go to the hospital cafeteria, and we all know that's not really a good option. Actually, in hindsight, it would have been the better choice because I could have gotten some hummus or a packet of salad dressing, but instead of that I ate a gross, stale, baked cinnamon roll. By the time I couldn't stand it anymore, the cafeteria was already closed.
I know tomorrow, I'll be bringing a sandwhich in addition to my fruit and vegetables so this doesn't happen again.
I am feeling physically kindof weird. One minute, I'm ready to go jogging down the hallway, and then the next minute, I'm ready to take a nap. This is just really weird, but I'm glad I haven't gotten any migranes.
If you're considering going raw, or incorporating more raw foods into your diet, preparation is fundamental! 6 oranges or bananas is not going to hold you over for an 11 hour day at work.
Tomorrow at work, we're having a "healthy lunch". I'm really disappointed in what other people are bringing to this shindig. Diet soda? Really? Come on people, we need to get a little more creative with this! It's a journey to a better life! You can't get there by eating diet foods, you have to change your bad habits into good habits. You don't need soda! Drink some natural juice, or tea or coffee even. Something that's not made in a chemestry lab.
For dinner tonight, I'm making chili. It's super nutritious and has a LOT of vegetables in it. It's not vegan though, or low fat (it's way lower fat than restaurant chili) or anything special like that. (Yes it is, it's Alton Brown's slow cooker chili recipe from his show "Good Eats" I love that show). It's delicious, and I'm looking forward to having a bowl of it for dinner tonight, and then I'll follow that up by finally cutting up that papaya I got a few days ago, and having a tasty fruity dessert.
Like always, if you'd like to leave me some advice, ideas, or would like to ask me a question or anything, just comment below and I'll do my best to answer.
NOT ENOUGH!
I'm still having trouble getting through all of my veggies. It's like it takes more energy to eat these things than they are providing to me. It makes sense. This whole bag of veggies is probably only like 150 calories (tops), and even though these things are really tasty, it's hard to get them down. I need (read want) some kind of dressing to go on these. There's not enough fat in them.
Really, what this tells me is that I was eating way too much fat every day before I started this challenge. I was fooling myself into thinking I was eating healthy just because I was making things at home. I actually gave in today and had a cinnamon roll. What I really wanted was a turkey sandwhich, but I didn't have one here with me. The alternative would have been to go to the hospital cafeteria, and we all know that's not really a good option. Actually, in hindsight, it would have been the better choice because I could have gotten some hummus or a packet of salad dressing, but instead of that I ate a gross, stale, baked cinnamon roll. By the time I couldn't stand it anymore, the cafeteria was already closed.
I know tomorrow, I'll be bringing a sandwhich in addition to my fruit and vegetables so this doesn't happen again.
I am feeling physically kindof weird. One minute, I'm ready to go jogging down the hallway, and then the next minute, I'm ready to take a nap. This is just really weird, but I'm glad I haven't gotten any migranes.
If you're considering going raw, or incorporating more raw foods into your diet, preparation is fundamental! 6 oranges or bananas is not going to hold you over for an 11 hour day at work.
Tomorrow at work, we're having a "healthy lunch". I'm really disappointed in what other people are bringing to this shindig. Diet soda? Really? Come on people, we need to get a little more creative with this! It's a journey to a better life! You can't get there by eating diet foods, you have to change your bad habits into good habits. You don't need soda! Drink some natural juice, or tea or coffee even. Something that's not made in a chemestry lab.
For dinner tonight, I'm making chili. It's super nutritious and has a LOT of vegetables in it. It's not vegan though, or low fat (it's way lower fat than restaurant chili) or anything special like that. (Yes it is, it's Alton Brown's slow cooker chili recipe from his show "Good Eats" I love that show). It's delicious, and I'm looking forward to having a bowl of it for dinner tonight, and then I'll follow that up by finally cutting up that papaya I got a few days ago, and having a tasty fruity dessert.
Like always, if you'd like to leave me some advice, ideas, or would like to ask me a question or anything, just comment below and I'll do my best to answer.
20.1.14
conclusion of 3 days raw
Well I made it to the end of 3 days raw with great success. I broke the challenge last night when I made tacos for the family. I have decided that for Lent that I can't try to eat only vegetables. They're so low in calories that you are basically starving yourself when you try to eat 3 cups of broccoli and 3 cups of carrots, or a salad that is just a head of lettuce with no fruit or nuts or anything else. It just takes so long to consume such large amounts. So Raw Lunch will need to be like broccoli and carrots with hummus, or a salad with a lot of tomatoes, and not just the veggies by themselves.
I still hate bananas, so that's kindof a problem since they're really cheap and full of nutrients.
Anyway, I still have a plethora of produce at home which I will need to consume in the next few days. It's really hard to eat 2000 calories on nothing but fruit and vegetables. I will definitely be mroe prepared for Lent, and in the meantime, I'll be eating a lot more raw foods in my daily diet. And I'll cook dinner. All the snacks and other meals will be raw. This will make Lent even easier to transition into as well.
Well anyway, if anyone out there has any comments or questions or advice for me please comment below.
I still hate bananas, so that's kindof a problem since they're really cheap and full of nutrients.
Anyway, I still have a plethora of produce at home which I will need to consume in the next few days. It's really hard to eat 2000 calories on nothing but fruit and vegetables. I will definitely be mroe prepared for Lent, and in the meantime, I'll be eating a lot more raw foods in my daily diet. And I'll cook dinner. All the snacks and other meals will be raw. This will make Lent even easier to transition into as well.
Well anyway, if anyone out there has any comments or questions or advice for me please comment below.
19.1.14
Day 3 of Raw - prepping for Lent
So it's day 3 and this is when everyone says they start to detox off of all the junk. I'll let you know that things have definitely been digesting pretty comfortably for me. I have had to pee like 10 times every day though. It's just crazy. But fresh fruit and veg has a lot of water in it.
Anyway, let's talk about this detox thing. I'm not feeling many symptoms. Currently, my nose is running like a faucet, but I'm not feeling otherwise ill. I hope I don't get a migraine because I'm prone to getting those for no reason anyway, and here I am giving my body a reason to have one. I have inflamed taste buds from eating too much acid, but that's normal for me when I eat a lot of citrus. Really the only problem I'm having is shoveling all this food into my mouth. Constantly chewing. I so hope I get better at this. I need to look up and try some raw recipes becaue it's getting boring just cutting up a fruit and eating that fruit. My lunches are getting boring. I am not sure how this will work while I'm at work. On the one hand, I can take a big bowl of raw vegetables and snack on it all day, but on the other hand, I might get really bored with it and find myself at a vending machine to get something salty. Food addiction is a real thing when it comes to junk food.
I'm also worried that I might be eating too much sugar.
I'm so excited for Lent though. I'm going to lose a ton of weight. - hopefully about 15 pounds realistically over 40 days, so that's not that bad, around 3ish pounds a week. I know a lot of that will probably be water weight, but whatever as long as I feel good about myself nothing else really matters. I'm not obsessed with a number. I do want to be able to show my mom that it can be done though. She's definitely a victim of the rollercoaster. Always on one diet or another, and they usually include starrving herself, or drinking meal replacement shakes, and then eating on top of them because they make her hungrier. I hate so much that she hates herself. Honestly, I will probably not see her more than twice between now and the end of Lent, so she'll probably notice a big difference.
For a little background and to kinda come up against the hate that I'll probably get for going RAW for even this short period of time; I am 5'4'' and weigh 180 pounds. A body fat % test reveals that I'm about 30% body fat, so I can definitely stand to lose some fat. I'm not looking to be a twig, just want to fit into some old clothes, and be curvy, but not lumpy or saggy.
Anyway, let's talk about this detox thing. I'm not feeling many symptoms. Currently, my nose is running like a faucet, but I'm not feeling otherwise ill. I hope I don't get a migraine because I'm prone to getting those for no reason anyway, and here I am giving my body a reason to have one. I have inflamed taste buds from eating too much acid, but that's normal for me when I eat a lot of citrus. Really the only problem I'm having is shoveling all this food into my mouth. Constantly chewing. I so hope I get better at this. I need to look up and try some raw recipes becaue it's getting boring just cutting up a fruit and eating that fruit. My lunches are getting boring. I am not sure how this will work while I'm at work. On the one hand, I can take a big bowl of raw vegetables and snack on it all day, but on the other hand, I might get really bored with it and find myself at a vending machine to get something salty. Food addiction is a real thing when it comes to junk food.
I'm also worried that I might be eating too much sugar.
I'm so excited for Lent though. I'm going to lose a ton of weight. - hopefully about 15 pounds realistically over 40 days, so that's not that bad, around 3ish pounds a week. I know a lot of that will probably be water weight, but whatever as long as I feel good about myself nothing else really matters. I'm not obsessed with a number. I do want to be able to show my mom that it can be done though. She's definitely a victim of the rollercoaster. Always on one diet or another, and they usually include starrving herself, or drinking meal replacement shakes, and then eating on top of them because they make her hungrier. I hate so much that she hates herself. Honestly, I will probably not see her more than twice between now and the end of Lent, so she'll probably notice a big difference.
For a little background and to kinda come up against the hate that I'll probably get for going RAW for even this short period of time; I am 5'4'' and weigh 180 pounds. A body fat % test reveals that I'm about 30% body fat, so I can definitely stand to lose some fat. I'm not looking to be a twig, just want to fit into some old clothes, and be curvy, but not lumpy or saggy.
3 days RAW - prepping for 40 days of Lent
Alright, so I do Lent evey year. Not really for religious reasons, but just to challenge myself to something for 40 days. It is nice because it has a very specific start date and last for exactly 40 days. 30 day challenges can happen every month, so there's really no commitment. Like "oh i screwed up, so i'll just try again next month, or next month." And Lent is better than a new years resolution because it has a very specific ending date. When you're at your weak points, you can say, "Just x more days, then I can go back to doing whatever."
So this year for Lent, I'm planning on doing a Raw diet. This entails eating nothing but raw foods. Sprouted grains, fruits and vegetables. Some people on Raw will also eat raw meat, or drink raw milk products. I doubt very highly that I'll be eating raw meat, but if I can find some raw milk or raw cheese, I will probably (definitely) incorporate that. My friend has a pet goat, so I can maybe ask her for some. I can maybe get some fresh eggs too... I will not be eating raw eggs, I'm just almost out of eggs anyway. Lent is a month away, so I need to get some eggs.
Anyway, so I started going to this new (to me) grocery store on my side of town, and it's an international grocery store. I actually went there last week and had a hard time because it's just so much to take in all at once. First off, it's not relaly organized like a traditional grocery. Everything is laid out by ethnicity. So you might be looking for beans, and find beans in the Mexican isle, and also find them in the Indian isle. On top of the organization structure, there are just so many new and exotic things to look at. I honestly went in there with the intention of getting a durian to try and left with nothing but some really nice table chopsticks. I did not find a durian.
So after the initial visit, I went back the next week, which happens to be this week. I spent roughly $88 on only produce and here's what I got.
2 Cactus Pears (don't pick a prickly pear my paw. if you pick a pear, gotta use the claw)
1 Big Ass Papaya
14 Persimmons
10 zucchinis (at least.. maybe 12?)
15 oranges (10 regular, and 5 blood)
3 bunches of bananas
2 heads of green leaf lettuce
2 bok choys
3 bunches of cilantro
2 bunches of parsley
3 of the biggest carrots I have EVER seen
1 bunch of THE BEETS! with beet greens
1 4 pound Durian
1 dragon fruit
5 Huge Gala Apples
1 Pineapple
ALL the Broccoli in the store (3 heads)
2 different kinds of dates
5 Peaches
And I'm forgetting a few things. I know I got some more things. This store is INSANE! such great deals on produce. It would have easily cost me twice as much for all of this at any other store. So I'm definitely getting my produce here from now on. It's worth making that second trip for it.
Anyway, I've been eating nothing but raw this weened. I started Friday with one apple, 2 cups of blueberries a ton of water, and a 5 banana smoothie with dates and strawberries. This is absolutely not enough food on this diet. I'm finding out through watching videos like this
that you're supposed to eat like 10 pounds (that's right, pounds!) of fruit and veg daily. How do they even? I have no idea. So counting calories is totally jumping out the window? Nope, you have to count them to make sure you're getting enough. At least 2000 every day. So if you're not at the 2000 mark, eat some more! I never ever thought I would struggle to eat so much on a diet.
Yesterday I ate a full head of green leaf lettuce with about a cup of cilantro mixed in and I also threw in a handfull of almonds. I dressed it with about a table spoon of olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste. It filled an olive garden sized salad bowl, and it was ALL FOR ME. It was less than 350 calories; most of which came from the olive oil and the almonds. It took me over an hour to eat it all! Eating healthy is such a chore! But I'm definitely not hungry. I had to eat a ton of fruit yesterday to make sure I had enough calories. And I still came in about 600 calories short of my goal. I even broke down and ate some cheese last night because my body craved the fat. But that's a minor setback. Onward and upward!
I'm pretty excited about the rest of the weekend. And I think if I have trouble eating the rest of this, I'll end up having enough for the next few days as well. I'll eventually get to a point where eating so much isn't so difficult.
Peace!
So this year for Lent, I'm planning on doing a Raw diet. This entails eating nothing but raw foods. Sprouted grains, fruits and vegetables. Some people on Raw will also eat raw meat, or drink raw milk products. I doubt very highly that I'll be eating raw meat, but if I can find some raw milk or raw cheese, I will probably (definitely) incorporate that. My friend has a pet goat, so I can maybe ask her for some. I can maybe get some fresh eggs too... I will not be eating raw eggs, I'm just almost out of eggs anyway. Lent is a month away, so I need to get some eggs.
Anyway, so I started going to this new (to me) grocery store on my side of town, and it's an international grocery store. I actually went there last week and had a hard time because it's just so much to take in all at once. First off, it's not relaly organized like a traditional grocery. Everything is laid out by ethnicity. So you might be looking for beans, and find beans in the Mexican isle, and also find them in the Indian isle. On top of the organization structure, there are just so many new and exotic things to look at. I honestly went in there with the intention of getting a durian to try and left with nothing but some really nice table chopsticks. I did not find a durian.
So after the initial visit, I went back the next week, which happens to be this week. I spent roughly $88 on only produce and here's what I got.
2 Cactus Pears (don't pick a prickly pear my paw. if you pick a pear, gotta use the claw)
1 Big Ass Papaya
14 Persimmons
10 zucchinis (at least.. maybe 12?)
15 oranges (10 regular, and 5 blood)
3 bunches of bananas
2 heads of green leaf lettuce
2 bok choys
3 bunches of cilantro
2 bunches of parsley
3 of the biggest carrots I have EVER seen
1 bunch of THE BEETS! with beet greens
1 4 pound Durian
1 dragon fruit
5 Huge Gala Apples
1 Pineapple
ALL the Broccoli in the store (3 heads)
2 different kinds of dates
5 Peaches
And I'm forgetting a few things. I know I got some more things. This store is INSANE! such great deals on produce. It would have easily cost me twice as much for all of this at any other store. So I'm definitely getting my produce here from now on. It's worth making that second trip for it.
Anyway, I've been eating nothing but raw this weened. I started Friday with one apple, 2 cups of blueberries a ton of water, and a 5 banana smoothie with dates and strawberries. This is absolutely not enough food on this diet. I'm finding out through watching videos like this
that you're supposed to eat like 10 pounds (that's right, pounds!) of fruit and veg daily. How do they even? I have no idea. So counting calories is totally jumping out the window? Nope, you have to count them to make sure you're getting enough. At least 2000 every day. So if you're not at the 2000 mark, eat some more! I never ever thought I would struggle to eat so much on a diet.
Yesterday I ate a full head of green leaf lettuce with about a cup of cilantro mixed in and I also threw in a handfull of almonds. I dressed it with about a table spoon of olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste. It filled an olive garden sized salad bowl, and it was ALL FOR ME. It was less than 350 calories; most of which came from the olive oil and the almonds. It took me over an hour to eat it all! Eating healthy is such a chore! But I'm definitely not hungry. I had to eat a ton of fruit yesterday to make sure I had enough calories. And I still came in about 600 calories short of my goal. I even broke down and ate some cheese last night because my body craved the fat. But that's a minor setback. Onward and upward!
I'm pretty excited about the rest of the weekend. And I think if I have trouble eating the rest of this, I'll end up having enough for the next few days as well. I'll eventually get to a point where eating so much isn't so difficult.
Peace!
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