Eating Frenzy (28 Day - Day 20)

I'm slightly disappointed that my program pals have disappeared after week 1 and that there is serious inactivity in the community. I realize people are busy, but it still stinks. This happened in the 21 Day Cleanse too...people kind of tapered off. I've been eager and interested in people's stories, only to have them left unfinished!

Breakfast: Salad Greens with blueberries, raisins, and olive oil -- In hindsight, I should have made up some sort of fruity dressing since I had some strawberries that needed to be used, but I didn't. I've really been craving greens! Not so much fruit, but I know I need a balance.

Snack/Lunch: Kale wrap with hummus dressing and tomato -- I was experimenting with some dressings thatbecame more hummus, but not quite as thick! They're good, but in this one I added a bit too much Bragg's.

Snack: Blended Salad

Dinner: Kale wrap with hummus dressing

Snack: Hummus

I literally ate and ate and ate and ate all day today. I didn't have enough water until about mid-day on. But I still ate. I don't know what's the matter! I've not craved fruit at all; it's been greens...lots and lots of greens. I ran out of Kale and other lettuce :( I made some green juice and blended salad (random ingredients) for tomorrow. I made some chocolate pudding out of thawed papaya rather than avocado (mainly because they aren't even close to ripe) in hopes to lose some fat in a great recipe. It worked! I was kind of impressed. Had to change up the other ingredients a bit, but it would work perfectly well with fresh papaya! I just happened to freeze some for ice cream at some point.

Nutty (28 Day - Day 19)

I went to bed rather early last night with the intention of getting up and doing some movement! That didn't happen... The crazy energy effects of the Dong Quai have faded and I'm really tired again. My diet has changed since the 21 Days in that I'm not doing the juices (though not on purpose, they're just time consuming and expensive!). Today was the first day in weeks that I've had orange juice. It takes a lot of effort to do green juices, but I would love to get in the habit of doing that every morning. I just need to find a juicer! Blending and straining takes at least 3 times the effort and time in the morning! I almost picked one up at Walmart last night, but I didn't. I'll go do some more research...

 

Movement: Yoga Part 1 & 2

Breakfast: Left over Tahini Yogurt with Blueberries & Banana -- I don't know that I enjoy this. It's too much tahini...too much nuts...and if you've read my blogs, you know that my body dislikes all the nuts I keep trying to feed it! I think I'll reserve the tahini for other things from now on.

 

Snack: 2 Cups Orange Juice and 1 Banana blended -- I was going to save this for lunch and try to do more liquids today since I've been eating a lot of nuts and heavy based foods, but I was really hungry...

 

Lunch: Salad from "Snappy Salads" - This was FANTASTIC! It's much like the salad places I went to in Denver, but the ingredients seem a bit more fresh. You also get 8 toppings plus a dressing for under $7. That doesn't include any proteins, but that's amazing compared to the others! I got the following mix: Romaine, Spinach, Cilantro, Basil, Tomatoes, Green Bell Peppers, Green Onions, Cucumber, Broccoli, Carrots, Edamame, Sunflower Seeds, Fresh Avocado, with South Texas Salsa and Chipotle-Lime Vinaigrette Dressing. When I looked up their menu online it had completely different options for dressings, so without knowing what these were (but knowing they were at least vegan), I went with it. They were definitely tasty! I'm going to assume the salsa had a lot of salt...and having looked up a recipe for Chipotle-Lime Vinaigrette, I see they're made with chilis in adobo sauce. I was kind of sad to see this and to find that there aren't any adobo recipes that don't call for cooking. The rest of the vinaigrette is good! I just need to figure out a substitute for the adobo sauce'd chilis! The dressing was awesome!

 

Dinner: Left over Hummus, chopped salad, 1/2 cucumber, green onion, and 1/2 a tomato -- Finished off the hummus. Wish I had brought this for lunch, despite lunch being really good. I didn't need to spend the money, especially after my big grocery bill yesterday! 

 

 

Snack: Dessert mix of Almond Pulp, cocoa (still don't have carob or cacao powder), dates, and water -- Once I added enough water to blend this together, it tasted great! I really wanted to make the pudding, but my avocado are so green it's not funny. They're currently hanging in paper bags with some green bananas. This sufficed :)

Regrets! (28 Day - Day 18)

Oh, I cannot express how much I regret having any wine at all yesterday! My head hurts, my body is wicked dehydrated and SUPER tired. My boyfriend is hellbent on finding a solution for a raw vegan to get drunk without these effects....lol. He's funny.

 

Breakfast & Lunch: Pilaf with tomato, green onion, cilantro, squirt of lemon juice, and blackened seasoning -- I was munching on this as I made it for lunch. It's really great with some blackened seasoning, salt (though it doesn't need much), and olive oil. I will need to make sure I blend the beans a little more as I was trying to prevent the hummus effect and wound up leaving some big chunks. The garbonzo beans made so much! I only took a little to work and will either have the rest for dinner or tomorrow. I still have my tahini yogurt too that needs to be eaten. I like that I'm able to come up with a meal with whatever I have on hand. I've not really gone shopping for specific recipes in mind and have just been altering or creating my own with what I have. Great sign that I'll do just fine when the 28 days are up. :)

 

Snack: Leftover Mixed Fruit -- It definitely doesn't LOOK that great since the fruit has been sitting in eachother's juices for a day, but it tastes just perfect! Everything has marinated and melded together.

 

Dinner: Pilaf turned hummus + chopped mixed greens + 1/3 cucumber + tomato + green onion -- I was REALLY craving a green salad when I went shopping (pretty sure I bought way too much food tonight...) and decided to turn the pilaf into a hummus. Chopped up a bunch of stuff and then tossed some of it on there. Pretty darn tasty! I bought some Brigg's and other stuff tonight to continue making new recipes!

Naysayer (28 Day - Day 17)

I'm having a hard time with my boyfriend lately. To him, and I understand where he's coming from, all of this new eating and natural belief system has come out of left field. He didn't see it coming at all and I just keep mentioning new things daily. He was understanding the diet (though not really agreeing with my choice and continually thinking that I'd be "done" with it after the 28 days) more and more, but I recently told him I don't necessarily believe in traditional doctors or taking pills. He kind of went ape. I thought we had calmed it down, but apparently not as he didn't sleep at all last night due to a pit in his stomach. He thinks I'm naive, haven't done any research, and that I'm flat out wrong. 

Well, that's fine. But I don't know how to deal with it. I've been slowly getting to this point of eating vegan and raw and I'm at that point in my life where I'm questioning things spiritually and doing investigating to find my way. I guess I didn't express this to him as I was doing it so he thinks it's all of a sudden.

After my car accident last year and being prescribed all of these medicines to help the pain in my back that just led to migraines and my body rejecting them, I realized there HAS to be a more natural way. I have a coworker who literally lives off of medications for ANY little thing. She's proud of it. She's anxious? Takes a pill. She's moody? Takes a pill. She hurts? Takes several pills.... you name it, she takes them. She can get them easily from her father. Why would you do that to your body??? 

He's a very understanding guy, very supportive, even if he doesn't agree, but when he thinks something is truly wrong he speaks up. I'm not very eloquent when talking things out...in fact I downright suck at it. I never say what I really mean and only after an argument or conversation do I find the right wording. I've thought about writing him a letter to explain it, but that just seems so impersonal. This post I read sums up my feelings pretty well, but if I link him that he'll just throw back that it isn't scientific at all and only someone's blog.

Suggestions?

Breakfast: Tahini Yogurt + Blueberries + Banana -- I was REALLY iffy on this recipe after having tasted raw tahini out of the jar. It's definitely just ground up sunflowers! I didn't know if adding lemon juice would be beneficial, but it was! I liked the taste of the tahini yogurt, but not with blueberries. There was a distinct aftertaste that I didn't enjoy. I think it was the tartness of the blueberries that didn't blend well. I had added a banana as well and the banana and yogurt were great! I made more than the recipe and barely ate any of it...guess I'll save for later. I tend to do this...make way more than I need. Especially with nut based recipes.

Lunch/Snack: Walnut pate + cucumber strips + tomato slices + kale leaves -- I like this little lunch and snack :)

Dinner: Fruit bowl -- Tried to prepare for the 4th pool party with a big thing of mixed fruit. Sadly I got sick of fruit again and craved greens.

Snack: Wine + half a cupcake + angel food cake -- I knew I was drinking wine, but I'm a little sad that I gave into the cake. I was so hungry and fruit was not helping. I really wanted something that would help soak up the wine because I didn't want to drink anymore. It was giving me a headache (didn't drink nearly enough water). The sweets gave me an upset stomach! Everything was homemade, but that didn't help any...

Snack: Kale leaves + walnut pate -- I was so hungry when I got home, though I'm sure most of that has to do with lack of water and the consumption of wine.

Whoa... (28 Day - Day 16)

I'd say I had a bit of insomnia last night. I laid down at 2, but couldn't get my head to stop thinking or my body to sit still. Instead, I read until about 3 before my eyes finally felt super heavy.

 

I had set my alarm for 6:30, just about the latest I can go and be to work by 8:30... my cat has a new habit of sleeping with me at night (it's too hot to shut the door) and getting up around 4:30-5, wanting food. He becomes obnoxious and starts getting into things to wake me up, knowing that I will because I'm a light sleeper. I usually just toss him out and close the door, but this time I decided to just get up. It was about 5:45. I did my writing, which I've neglected since before my trip to Colorado and got ready...just as if I'd not gone to bed at 3am.

 

My period has significantly slowed.

 

!!!!

 

This is awesome! I've only been taking the Dong Quai for 3 days and it's completely changed things. I have more energy (obviously) and I think a little more clearly (though I still have some 'brainfart' moments). I hope that it isn't causing insomnia (I did this the night I got it too; I took them and didn't sleep until midnight, but I figured it was because I had napped for a couple hours in the early evening). HOPEFULLY, the hormone shift is showing how my body REALLY feels on this raw diet and that the previous was just the imbalance. Although I didn't really feel super tired and worn out, at least compared to eating the SAD... maybe I was. I didn't realize I was having mood swings and irritability until this weekend, but now looking back I have been pretty crappy to my boyfriend everytime I see him and absolutely NO sex drive.

 

*crosses fingers*

 

I have a bit of a headache right now. Lack of sleep? The new supplement? Dehydration? I've not changed anything else. I'm trying to keep my routine to 2 weeks, only changing one thing at a time in order to experiment.

 

Breakfast: Blended Salad -- I have adjusted the menu to go through the food that I have and while I was supposed to eat big ol' bowl of fruitsalad, I didn't feel like, nor had the time, to chop up all of the fruit. Plus, most of them will last longer than the salad in the fridge. I realized that things I make tend to last 1-3 days. The salad held up, though! Tasted better this time around...not sur why. I'm hoping the pudding also lasted.

 

Lunch: Salad with cucumber, onion, carrots, tomatoes, avocado and olive oil/vinegar mix dressing + salt & pepper -- Our marketing group went to a burger joint for lunch. I ordered the best I could by getting the house salad, adding avocado and onions (though they were SO potent and they added an an entire onion!), getting extra veggies, and asking for olive oil dressing. They didn't have plain olive oil, instead it was a mixture. Not sure what that means, but it tasted fine. I added some regular salt and pepper to taste as well.

 

Snack: Bowl of cherries -- They are going bad :( 

Snack: Rest of Chocolate Pudding + toasted hemp seeds-- I had this immediately when I got home...omg the pudding is so good! All out of hemp seeds now too. I took a nap for a couple hours immediately after, hehe...

 

Dinner: Walnut Pate + Cucumber Slices + Kale Leaves + Tomato Slices -- The pate is pretty good! Just walnuts, 1/2 a pepper, 1/3 cucumber, 1 tbs olive oil, 1 tsp honey, 1 cup cilantro (didn't have parsley or oregano, but this worked), ground flax seed, 2 green onions, and some salt. Sadly I either overate, or my body really can't handle mass amounts of nuts in these forms because it all came back up. I either need to cut down on the quantity or just refrain from eating nut based things like pates, dressings, etc and stick to veggies and fruit! 

 

Snack: 2 handfuls of cherries

--------

On the drive home from work I remembered that my body does not take to sleeping pills very well, natural or other. With over the counter sleep pills I usually am knocked out for a couple hours and then wide eyed afterwards. Last Christmas my mother gave me some natural herbs to help with sleeping and I literally had insomnia for 3 days...I think I got a total of 6 hours of sleep. It was horrible!

I'm hoping that Dong Quai isn't doing the same thing. I went to look at side effects and it's actually used AS a sleep aid for individuals with insomnia... crap. Why is my body difficult?? Guess we'll see how I do the rest of this week and next! I'm determined to give it 2 weeks.

Runeth Over (28 Day - Day 15)

Um...it's 1:40AM on Day 16 (I retconned the time so it was for day 15).... I've been doing freelance... probably should go to bed...

Breakfast: 2 Bananas + Handful of Blueberries + Almond Mylk -- I didn't have time to cut this up and put it in a fancy bowl, so I literally shoved the bananas down and threw back a handful of blueberries. Drank the Almond mylk on the way to work and had some left over for an afternoon snack. I realized that I had food for the next couple days so I didn't need to soak the almonds, but from experience, I know the mylk doesn't last too long in the fridge!

 

Lunch: Panera Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad, substitute avocado for chicken, substitute balsamic vinagriette for poppy seed dressing + Apple -- This could have been better. The vinagriette didn't quite go with the fruit, avocado, and pecans. But, they had no other option! Even that dressing wasn't that great. I asked for just olive oil, but they didn't have that (????). Needless to say I'm excited to go home and make my own salad...it'll taste better!

 

Snack: Bowl of Cherries + Almond Mylk -- These are so tiny compared to what I'm used to! They've even Yakima cherries...just ...itty bitty.

 

Dinner: Blended Salad + 6 dates -- I put so much stuff in here. I put one ingredient, that I can't figure out what, that gives it a distinct taste that I am not particularly fond of and will have to omit next time! The rest of it is delicious! This time around I didn't eat it all :)

 

Snack: Chocolate Pudding -- Made with avocado, cocoa (not raw, I had Hershey's on hand), water, dates, vanilla (not raw). This is so awesome! I couldn't eat it all so it's sitting in my fridge in hopes that the avocado doesn't make it go bad...but seriously...yum. Now I just need to get the raw versions of stuff! And a better food processor! There's little chunks of dates...I think I can help the blender if I soak them a little bit.

 

Midnight Snack: Couple bites of blended salad -- I think I'm mostly parched from sitting here for so many hours working...but my brain thought I was hungry, so I ate some

Hormonal Imbalance (28 Day - Day 14)

I left my kitchen and apartment in a MESS yesterday after doing the fruit kabobs (cutting and skewering took forever!). I should probably get to cleaning! Also want to put together my raw recipe binder I've been collecting for (120 recipes so far! choosingraw.com is a favorite blog :) and there are so many others that I want to go grab from!). 

Since starting the raw journey I've been experiencing one continuous TOM...it's been literally going on for 25 days now. It's driving me crazy is what it's doing. I'm pretty convinced it's a hormonal imbalance, but the funny thing is when you research remedies for such a thing they talk about eating raw...yes, well that's what I'm DOING... hah. I'm wondering if it's an increase in fat as I've been eating a fairly low fat diet the past few years. Now I eat avocado, nuts, oils (though not much of this)...granted I don't think I over do it completely, but maybe it's just enough. I WILL be seeing my doctor soon, but he is not a believer in the raw diet (I asked him his thoughts and he seemed very wary and suggested I see the nutritionist on staff). Unfortunately my insurance doesn't cover Naturopathic Doctors :(   This makes me quite sad. I would love to visit one!

Anyway... after yesterdays pool party I realized that my hormones are indeed off. I wasn't completely convinced that the bleeding was because of hormones and was hoping it wasn't something else, but I was definitely off yesterday. I was immediately cranky to my boyfriend when he showed up. I wasn't as happy-go-lucky with my friends (several commented I was quiet and asked if I was okay)...which might have been because I was sober? I don't know...I definitely was moody. In fact I'm more moody when I'm around people. I'm good by myself! haha... I would love to get a handle on this and figure out what's going on. I'm sure I need to do some blood work in order to see what has changed. I'll eventually get that done, but I want to try some stuff first! I did a lot of research online for healing plants and found Dong Quai, Evening Primrose, and Black Cohosh to be beneficial for hormonal imbalance (mainly Menopause and PMS symptoms).

I went to Sprouts and got their full printouts of information on all 3 and then did some investigating for all natural/organic/vegan kinds. Went with the Dong Quai. I'll see how it goes! Didn't want to get all three since then I wouldn't know which was actually working (or not).

I also spent some time looking at all of their shampoos and face wash for an organic, vegan, and all natural brand. The one I was most impressed with ingredient wise was Aubrey. Hopefully it does all that it says it does! 

I'm extremely glad and excited to be switching all of my day-to-day personal stuff to avoid toxins. 

Breakfast: Orange Juice Banana Blueberry Smoothie -- Really need to eat these oranges! 

Lunch: Cucumber, lettuce, toasted nori wrap with homemade avocado walnut spread -- I put so much stuff in this walnut spread! Originally I was going to make a creamy dressing, but I didn't have the appropriate liquid in there so I made it a spread and spread it on a sheet of nori, then added cucumber and mixed greens. This was the last of the toasted nori, so I look forward to getting raw ones!

Snack: Bowl of Cherries

Dinner: Cucumber rounds with spread -- Knowing that avocado in anything turns nasty, I tried to eat this spread fast! I just put a dollop over half a cucumber. Good stuff!

Snack: Toasted Hemp Seeds -- I dislike that i still have some of these...and they are so tasty...though a little too salty. Out of them soon! I wanted something in my stomach for when I took the vitamins and since it was late, I didn't want to make anything heavy.