Today I spent some time with my husband and my parents (they came to visit me, as they live in another town). We went to a pizza restaurant so that they have lunch (they had pizza with 5 types of cheese, my husband enjoyed a beer) and my mother bought me a pomegranate juice, all natural, squeezed right on the spot – I never had pomegranate juice, just the fruit itself. It was a delicious juice and was very nice of her to do that. Here, pomegranate juice is most expensive of all, like $3 for 1 glass (200 ml), while 1 kg of pomegranate is $3.

She told me she wanted to bring me raw vegan desserts from a vegan shop back home, but looks like that shop turned into a pork produce shop. It also changed the name from “The Green Tree” to “The Happy Pig” (the guys there told her that there were not many customers looking for vegan produce). But it was indeed another nice intention of her.

The restaurant had other types of fresh juice and also raw vegan salads, large one (350 g) was $6 (celeriac, cabbage, carrot, apple, lemon) and small one was $2 (either summer salad or cabbage salad). I liked that they had raw vegan salads, but I wasn't hungry enough to get one.

My menu:

December 28:

- (9 am) 800 g white grapes
- (10:10 am) 2 bananas
- (11:10 am) 2 bananas
- (11:45 am) 100 g frozen sweet corn (kernels off the cob – what was left from yesterday)
- (3 pm) pomegranate juice (1 glass)
- (7 pm – 9 pm) 350 g frozen green peas (were very good, I liked them again, I think yesterday was an exception)

Energy: 1494 cals
Calorie breakdown: 89.4% carbs / 7.4% proteins / 3.3% lipids

The corn was tastier eaten plain, without tomatoes. In fact, yesterday, before combining it with tomatoes, I ate some of it plain, like it was from the bag, and it was delicious. Maybe the combination with tomatoes (which were not sweet) made it taste extremely sweet.

So I was tempted to try it again today, this time without anything, and it was great. No more food for the pigeons though…maybe they were not even near church as it is colder outside.

Another thing to talk about - this morning I woke up with my right eye swollen. Again.

I was thinking that this time it was because of frozen peas, as they are immersed in brine in order to be sorted out (to separate the green fresh peas from the yellow older ones). Even if they are then rinsed in cold water, they still retain some of the salt, so that remaining amount of salt may be the cause. Or could be the tomatoes (though this time I did wash them before I peeled them).

So today I ate the frozen peas plain, no tomatoes, just like a snack (I still remove the transparent shell of each pea). I’ll see if I get swollen eyes tomorrow.

I noticed that if I eat the frozen peas plain, they do not fill me and I’m still hungry afterwards. And very thirsty too. So that’s not good.

I’ll still be keeping a close (hoping not swollen) eye on this and see what happens and which food is to blame. No more itchiness though so far, which is good.

I really like being able to keep this daily diary, as it really helps me notice the changes I go through, the steps I take, I’m able to write about how I feel when I eat one food or another.

So thank you for creating this opportunity for those wanting to record and share their experience

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2013 07:40PM by Ela2013.

I looked on the internet the raw vegan restaurant my mom told me about, the new name is actually “The Pampered Pig” (still a funny name though).

Today I again spent some time with my husband and my parents. We went to a rustic restaurant this time, up in a resort in the mountains. My husband had pork steak with French fries, my dad had venison stew with polenta and my mom had deer stew with boiled potatoes.

I had a tomato cucumber salad with no salt, no pepper, no oil, no dressing. I had to tell the waitress several times to bring it like this, as I wanted the salad to be plain, just the chopped veggies. I also asked my mom to tell her that too, to make sure she understood. Here when I go to a restaurant I need to make sure the waiters understand my request as it’s kinda unusual for them to serve plain salads.

The salad was rather small and very expensive in my opinion (240 g / $3), there were others much smaller and for $4. I didn’t want to get it as it was expensive but my mom insisted so I pleased her, as she paid for it. There was a lettuce salad for $4 and only 150 g, and for $4 I can buy 4 very large heads of lettuce.

I guess I will never understand restaurant prices regarding raw veggie salads.

Also because of high prices I realized that a raw vegan person could actually starve while at the restaurant in case this person is on a low budget. I could have chosen cooked vegan, as they had very cheap boiled potatoes, rice, French fries, stir-fried veggies, but I wanted to keep it raw vegan, even if it was expensive.

My menu:

December 28 (sequel):

- (12:15 pm) 1 banana (I included in the final cals but I forgot to mention it)
- (10 pm) 2 bananas – 179.8 cals / 92.8% carbs / 4.1% proteins / 3.1% lipids

December 29:

- (7 am - 9 am) 350 g frozen green peas (it takes a while to remove the skins so I snack on peas as I peel them)
- (10 am) 5 small bananas (delicious and beautifully ripe)
- (11 am) 2 medium bananas
- (4 pm) salad: few slices of tomato, several slices of long cucumber, very little red and green onion, very little dried dill
- (5:30 pm) 2 small bananas
- (7:30 pm) 450 g frozen sweet corn (kernels off the cob) with 2 cloves of garlic
- (8:50 pm) corn puree: 450 g frozen sweet corn - kernels off the cob, some frozen green pepper (homemade, not from frozen section in supermarket), 2 cloves of garlic, little red onion

Energy: 1966 cals
Calorie breakdown: 86% carbs / 8.9% proteins / 5.2% lipids

No swollen eyes this morning.

Today I had the last frozen veggies, I will no longer buy frozen produce, ever again, no matter what.

I reached to a conclusion – it is difficult to follow a raw vegan diet if you are not a strong will person and especially if there is no variety of fruit (especially in winter when fresh veggies are not so good).

In my case, during winter I can keep it raw vegan for let’s say 1 full month, then I find I reach to a difficult point where I get tired of same fruit and not so great veggies so I tend to go to frozen veggies for variety. Like I did these days. In spring/summer/autumn everything is great, plenty of fruit and local veggies.

But this also proves me that I am very determined to make it work as a raw vegan, because after eating my share of frozen veggies, I always go back to raw, as frozen veggies do not leave me feeling full and satisfied - only fruit does that to me.

I think that now being raw vegan is a part of me, it represents me, it defines me as a person – not only as my diet, but also as my way of thinking, my guiding lines in life, my behavior.

So I wanna keep it that way, I wanna do my best in going on with a raw vegan lifestyle, and I hope that I can start a 100% Low Fat High Carb Raw Vegan New Year challenge for the year that comes.

Yesterday I was looking in supermarket for organic produce. The only organic produce I saw was: onion, garlic, carrot, cucumber, pumpkin, tomatoe, orange, mango (they were from Greece). Which is not great variety. There was also canned sweet organic corn, but that’s not for me.

The only possibility is ordering from online organic shops, I know about a Romanian one (a group of young people growing their own produce), but it’s definitely way too expensive ($2 for 1 kg of potatoes, while conventional ones are like 40 cents).

Another problem here regarding organic produce is that I heard that not all organic produce is really organic. There are cases when they take conventional produce and label it as organic, so you pay more thinking it’s organic but in fact you are paying more for the same poor quality.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2013 09:18PM by Ela2013.

My menu (sequel):

Yesterday I also ate 2 oranges (90.2 cals / 91.1% carbs / 6.8% proteins / 2.1% lipids) at 11:30 pm to get rid of the onion after taste.

I decided I will never eat onion/garlic, not ever again.

When I was in the rustic restaurant I wasn’t feeling very comfortable as there were animal skins with fur everywhere on the walls, on the decorative pillars, on the chairs we were sitting on. It was weird to sit on a lamb skin. On the walls there were also deer heads, stuffed dead birds and even a stuffed dead squirrel – for the purpose of decoration.

In the past I would be fine with this, but now I wasn’t. In the yard of the restaurant there was young mutton left hanging to dry and in the trees they put dead wild ducks heads down just hanging there. Really weird, I’m telling you.

I really appreciated that my mom was very supportive of me eating this way. She told the waitress that I eat salt-free, pepper-free, dressing-free and that I eat healthy. She then told me that raw vegan diet will be the trend in the future when everything will be highly full of chemicals. She even told me that I don’t need to be ashamed of the way I eat, that I don’t need to feel like I’m part of a minority of people eating this way and that I need to stand up for my beliefs. She was so understanding and loving and I love her for that.

In the past we had many discussions regarding my way of eating. Back then I was eating fruits and veggies for a time, then eating little of everything but no sweets, no fried foods, so a low fat low cal diet, then I switched back on all fruits/veggies. She then saw this as a dangerous way of eating and we argued a lot on this, I just didn’t want to sit at the table and eat with the whole family because of my eating choices.

Then when I chose raw vegan, I finally felt comfortable talking about the way I eat, I felt I have something to teach them about, I was confident to talk about it as I knew it was a healthy diet and for the right purposes. Now my diet had a name, a background and a purpose, a reason and obvious benefits.

I was happy to eat with my family at the same table even if we were eating different foods. I was even looking forward to the occasions to eat together, so I could prove to them that I can for instance go to a restaurant and still eat healthy, that I can travel and still eat healthy, that Christmas isn’t only about pork steak and sweets.

I did my best not to impose on them, not to force them eat this way, not to blame them for not eating this way. My mom told me that I need to stand up for the way I eat, but not to blame those who don’t eat this way. I know I need to be a positive example and to show that raw vegan diet is healthy, fun and easy to follow.

So if in the past me and my family were not doing great when it came to food, now they are at peace with my way of eating, and they see that being raw vegan is now a statement of who I am and what I believe in.

Regarding restaurant prices, I was thinking that I would never pay so much on regular bases, not even if I were to have a very generous budget. Now my social insurance based on my illness is like $120/month, so I can’t compare to those having a monthly paycheck of over $1000. But even if I were to have this money, I would still rather buy 4 heads of lettuce from the veggie market than pay the same money for 4 lettuce leaves.

Unfortunately the few raw vegan restaurants here in Romania are not very successful, there was only one in the town I’m living in and it closed down due to lack of customers. The ones remaining are more likely home delivery and more on the internet than actually having a location in town. Maybe in the future, but who knows?

I was thinking that I didn’t experienced lots of detox and benefits of raw vegan diet, because I didn’t follow it long enough to allow the benefits to show up. I kept interrupting the raw vegan diet with either olives/canned mushrooms or frozen veggies.

I did feel more energetic, lighter, more sensitive towards animal rights and animal cruelty, more in tune with my religious beliefs. I also lost some weight – from 52 kg in August to 47.4 kg in September.

Another important issue was that my period came naturally, as I stopped taking artificial hormones.
Back in 2009/2010 the doctor told me that my body produces very small amount of hormones so that I need extra hormones to get my period. Also I would not be able to have children naturally, only by artificial insemination. So I took hormone pills for a while, but this year in January I decided to stop the pills. And I was ok since then.

These days when I ate frozen veggies again, I felt kinda guilty about it, knowing that it’s not the right food for me. I also felt I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoy fruit, as I was thinking that corn is fattening and also possibly GMO and lots of starch. I’m not sure how Harley and Freelee can eat all that starch without feeling guilty and afraid of getting fat. I know they say it’s the carbs that matter, even if they are simple or complex carbs, but it’s too huge a change to be sure it’s the right one.
So I’ll just stick to my raw fruits and veggies.

Anyways, now I’m looking forward to a whole 100% raw vegan year and I’m hoping that by the end of 2014 I will experience lots of benefits and good things.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

My menu:

December 30:

- (4:30 am) 1 banana
- (7:45 am) 1 banana
- (9 am) 3 oranges
- (10:30 am) 1 banana
- (11:30 am) 2 oranges
- (12:30 pm) 1 banana
- (1:30 pm) 2 oranges
- (3:10 am) 5 small bananas
- (4:20 pm) 7 small clementines

Energy: 1279 cals
Calorie breakdown: 92.3% carbs / 4.9% proteins / 2.8% lipids

This evening me and my husband went to the veggie market and to the supermarket. We got lots of spotty ripe bananas ($2/kg) from the supermarket, and lettuce, tomatoes, dill and cucumber from the veggie market. The prices were way up high for tomatoes and cucumber - $4/1 kg of tomatoes and $4/1 kg of cucumbers (we got 3 tomatoes for $1.5 and 1 long cucumber also for $1.5). My husband was in shock, and I told him that I will divide the cucumber for 3 days and I will eat only 1 tomato a day.

So it’s very expensive here to have variety in a raw vegan diet in winter and especially to eat veggies in winter. I could eat carrots and white cabbage though, like in a salad with fresh dill and lemon juice, and I just might do that in the following days/weeks, but now I’d rather stick to oranges and clementines as they are very cheap now here, as opposed to summer time when here they are expensive and of poor quality.

I also told my husband that I would be ungrateful to say I have little to eat in winter, when I can enjoy this abundance of oranges and clementines. So I’ll be optimistic and enjoy what I have here.

Today and tomorrow we need to get fruits/veggies as on January 1 the supermarkets and veggie markets are closed, so I need to have more of them just in case. I don't like it when I have little or no fruit/veggie in my room, I need to be on the safe side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Ela2013 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My menu:
>
> December 30:
>
> - (4:30 am) 1 banana
> - (7:45 am) 1 banana
> - (9 am) 3 oranges
> - (10:30 am) 1 banana
> - (11:30 am) 2 oranges
> - (12:30 pm) 1 banana
> - (1:30 pm) 2 oranges
> - (3:10 am) 5 small bananas
> - (4:20 pm) 7 small clementines
>
> Energy: 1279 cals
> Calorie breakdown: 92.3% carbs / 4.9% proteins /
> 2.8% lipids
>
> This evening me and my husband went to the veggie
> market and to the supermarket. We got lots of
> spotty ripe bananas ($2/kg) from the supermarket,
> and lettuce, tomatoes, dill and cucumber from the
> veggie market. The prices were way up high for
> tomatoes and cucumber - $4/1 kg of tomatoes and
> $4/1 kg of cucumbers (we got 3 tomatoes for $1.5
> and 1 long cucumber also for $1.5). My husband was
> in shock, and I told him that I will divide the
> cucumber for 3 days and I will eat only 1 tomato a
> day.
>
> So it’s very expensive here to have variety in a
> raw vegan diet in winter and especially to eat
> veggies in winter. I could eat carrots and white
> cabbage though, like in a salad with fresh dill
> and lemon juice, and I just might do that in the
> following days/weeks, but now I’d rather stick
> to oranges and clementines as they are very cheap
> now here, as opposed to summer time when here they
> are expensive and of poor quality.
>
> I also told my husband that I would be ungrateful
> to say I have little to eat in winter, when I can
> enjoy this abundance of oranges and clementines.
> So I’ll be optimistic and enjoy what I have
> here.
>
> Today and tomorrow we need to get fruits/veggies
> as on January 1 the supermarkets and veggie
> markets are closed, so I need to have more of them
> just in case. I don't like it when I have little
> or no fruit/veggie in my room, I need to be on the
> safe side.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~


Eating only fruit is terrible for you, especially if it is store-bought (even organic) because it is not ripe. They are never picked ripe because by the time they would get to the store, they'd be rotten, and because of this they are very low in nutrients and enzymes. Besides, too much sugar from ANY source, despite the popular myth that sugar from fruits is harmless, is again unhealthy. Sugar feeds cancer, bacteria, yeasts, fungus, etc. and ages you just as fast as white sugar.

I can already see you're having an issue with staying full, as you are eating almost every hour. This is not good as your digestive system is being overworked and this drains energy as well. Too much sugar will also cause you to crash.

Thank you for your advice, jtprindl

I am eating every hour or every two hours as I do not like to eat only 2-3 large meals a day. I don’t feel good when I have a full belly, even if it’s from raw fruit/veggies, so I rather have small amounts at a time, several times a day or throughout the day. I like grazing better than fewer larger meals.

Sometimes I eat because I’m hungry, sometimes I eat because I just crave a certain fruit (I crave its taste, its texture). I don’t have a problem with staying full though, I can very well feel full after eating just 2 large bananas, but sometimes I just feel like eating more. It’s never a rule, I just eat according to what/how I feel at that moment.

I know that there are lots of different opinions on fruit and whether it’s bad or good, but I find it’s just excellent for me, I function my best when I’m eating fruit and when I’m grazing on fruit every day. I keep doing my daily activities and while I’m on it, I just grab the fruit I desire and just feel great.

I do know that store-bought fruit is not the best option, but I rather eat what fruit/veggies I can buy/afford, than going back to cooked vegan. Some of the fruit is from supermarket, some from fruit market. In winter I get more fruit from supermarket, but during spring/summer/autumn, almost all (if not all) my fruit comes from fruit market, because all year except winter we have here beautiful ripe fruit.

I’m not eating only fruit though, you’ll see in my diary that I also eat veggies. It’s more difficult now in winter with veggies, but I plan on eating them as well, as I know and feel that an only-fruit diet is neither sustainable nor healthy.

My menu

December 30 (sequel):

- (8:45 pm) 2 red apples – 155 cals / 95.6% carbs / 1.7% proteins / 2.7 % lipids
- (10 pm) 2 oranges – 179.8 cals / 92.8% carbs / 4.1% proteins / 3.1% lipids

December 31:

- (5:50 am) 4 very small bananas
- (11:10 am) 5 very small bananas
- (12:15 pm) 20 small clementines
- (3:15 pm) 4 bananas
- (5 pm) 500 g clementines

Energy: 1541 cals
Calorie breakdown: 92.3% carbs / 4.8% proteins / 3% lipids

Yesterday my husband bought me lots of oranges and clementines. Today I asked him to buy me white and red cabbage, cauliflower, lemons, fresh dill, lettuce, tomatoes (cheaper, from another veggie market). Now I’m all set for tomorrow, I prepared one large white cabbage salad and one large red cabbage salad (just cabbage and lemon juice).

Today at midnight I will be in church, we have our New Year service – thanking prayers for the year that’s come to the end, blessing prayers for 2014 and prayers to Jesus Christ and a saint whom we celebrate on January 1. It will last until 1 or 2 am, after the service there will be cookies and champagne, it will be a beautiful night (I won’t eat cookies or drink champagne, but I’m just happy to be there with people I know and like).

I wish you all a very happy New Year, with lots of joy, health and peace
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2013 06:57PM by Ela2013.

My menu:

December 31, 2013 (sequel):

- (10 pm) cucumber spaghetti (1 long spiralized cucumber), 3 tomatoes, half a head of green leaf lettuce
- (11 pm) salad: 3 tomatoes, fresh dill; half a head of green leaf lettuce

Energy: 194.7 cals
Calorie breakdown: 73.6% carbs / 16.4% proteins / 10% lipids

January 1, 2014:

- (1:55 am – on New Year's Eve, after coming back from church) 3 very small bananas

Energy: 216.3 cals
Calorie breakdown: 92.3% carbs / 4.1% proteins / 3.1% lipids

Last night on New Year's Eve in church everything was just beautiful.

Before going to church I was preparing my dinner and our little 2 year nephew was there in the appartment and came to our room. He saw me cutting tomatoes and he wanted some. Then I wanted to give him cucumber spaghetti and lettuce, but he didn’t like those. Then I gave him banana and he liked it.

Later on, as I was enjoying my dinner, he still was curious and wanted to see what I was eating, kinda like changing his mind about not liking it, but he didn’t tasted it though. It was fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My menu:

January 1, 2014 (sequel):

- (12:50 pm) 3 small bananas and 3 very small bananas
- (1:50 pm) 5 oranges (I shared oranges with my husband, he ate 3)
- (3:50 pm) 1 medium banana, 1 small banana and 1 very small banana
- (7:50 pm) cauliflower puree with cabbage salad (300 g raw cauliflower, 5 small tomatoes, fresh dill, juice from half a lemon; 300 g white and red cabbage – cabbage and lemon juice)
- (8:50 pm) cauliflower puree with lettuce and tomatoes (300 g raw cauliflower, 3 tomatoes, fresh dill, juice from half a lemon; 1 head of green leaf lettuce and 3 tomatoes)

Energy: 1171 cals
Calorie breakdown: 85.8% carbs / 9% proteins / 5.2% lipids

Total energy for today: 1387 cals
Today’s calorie breakdown: 86.9% carbs / 8.3% proteins / 4.8% lipids

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

My menu:

January 2, 2014 (sequel):

- (11 pm) 5 small oranges – 225.6 cals / 91.1% carbs / 6.7% proteins / 2.1% lipids

January 3, 2014:

- (11 am) 3 clementines
- (12 pm) 5 small oranges
- (2:10 pm – 2:45 pm) 700 g white and red cabbage – cabbage, lemon juice
- (4 pm) 1 small orange
- (7 pm) 400 g white and red cabbage (cabbage, lemon juice) with fresh dill, 2 small tomatoes and 5 cloves of garlic
- (9 pm) 4 small oranges
- (10 pm) 2 large oranges

Today my husband bought me lots of large oranges and 2 small bunches of not so ripe bananas (I hope they do become ripe fast, as I didn’t eat bananas today and I really crave some ripe ones).

I found out that I don’t like lemon juice anymore, it tastes too sour to me. Today I ate more cabbage salad but this time on its own, no cauliflower puree today, so after eating some salad, it tasted really sour to me and I couldn’t eat it anymore. Later in the day I just wanted to finish the salad, so I had to add in some garlic to help me eat it. It still tasted sour though, but it tasted better than before.

So I guess I won’t eat cabbage and lemon again. Not sure about garlic though, there’s something about it that I really like (and it leaves a delicate pleasant after taste), must be addictive, but maybe I should try not to eat it again (I guess as long as I have great tasting food, I won’t need garlic to mask/enhance the taste).

Energy: 1030 cals
Calorie breakdown: 88.4% carbs / 8.6% proteins / 3% lipids

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Today I watched lots of Dara’s videos on youtube, she is a nice person and very passionate about the raw vegan lifestyle and especially about getting the greens in.

My menu:

January 4, 2014:

- (9:20 am) 1 large orange
- (10:50 am) 1 large orange
- (12 pm) 7 very small bananas
- (2 pm) 2 large oranges
- (5:20 pm) 2 small bananas
- (6:40 pm) 1 large orange

Energy: 1117 cals
Calorie breakdown: 92.1% carbs / 5.1% proteins / 2.7% lipids

My husband bought me lots of large bananas today, not spotty again, I hope they ripe fast.

I didn’t like today’s bananas though, they tasted starchy, the peel was tough, they didn’t fill me up at all, so I’ll just let them ripe until smooth and creamy. In the meantime I’ll just eat oranges (which I kinda got tired of already) and see whatever else I can find/think of.

I guess I’m going to make a new batch of raw salt-free sauerkraut, since I no longer like raw fresh cabbage with lemon juice. Raw sauerkraut makes a soft naturally sour cabbage, a sour taste which I can handle.

The large oranges were not so good because they were not that sweet and the peel that separates the slices was kinda tough to chew so I had to remove it. So it turned out that I had not as much sweetness today, and I do crave very sweet fruits a lot right now.

My husband was at the supermarket and there was nothing much for me except some yellow melon (a honey melon) which he bought one and I hope it’s nice and sweet.

It’s during these situations that I find it hard to stay raw as there are less options in winter (there are still many fruits and veggies here now but unfortunately I don’t like them so I choose not to eat them, as I don’t like to eat what I don’t enjoy). I find myself craving not so great foods again like frozen peas, as it’s so easy just to grab the package from the frozen section, but at the same time I know I won’t feel ok afterwards.

So it’s as much easy to be raw in summer as hard it’s to be raw in winter. I do intend to hang in there and overcome my cravings and this whole situation. They will all pass, eventually…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

My menu:

January 4, 2014 (sequel):

- (8:40 pm) 1 Gala melon (810 g with peel) (not that good, not that sweet)
- (10:30 pm) 5 clementines

Energy: 286.5 cals
Calorie breakdown: 91.6% carbs / 5.3% proteins / 3.1% lipids

January 5, 2014:

- (8 am) 2 red apples
- (1 pm) 1 kg bananas (ripe and sweet)
- (2:45 pm) 10 clementines
- (4 pm) 3 oranges
- (6:10 pm) 5 red apples

Energy: 1709 cals
Calorie breakdown: 93.4% carbs / 3.7% proteins / 2.9% lipids

Yesterday evening I was hungry and all I had were the non-sweet oranges and the unripe bananas. So I drank a lot of water and searched the kitchen for something to eat and I found 5 sweet clementines and 2 red apples. I also saw some peeled carrots in a box in the fridge but they didn’t tempt me.

I also went through serious cravings yesterday evening (I guess because I was undercarbed and didn’t have my sweet fruits). I craved polenta and mash potatoes and my homemade buns and then frozen peas. In the oven there was some polenta but made with cheese. I told my husband that I had no food and that I was hungry, he was like “just open the fridge, there is food” and I told him that it was not food for me.
I will never allow myself not have ripe food available to eat right away, it was an awful feeling and it left me totally disappointed and sad. But I definitely learned my lesson.

Today we went shopping and we got lots of sweet oranges, sweet red apples and sweet clementines. We also found 1 kg of small ripe bananas, which I ate right there in the veggie market and on the way to the near supermarket. At the moment I don’t want sauerkraut so I just postponed that idea.

I still craved frozen peas today (I guess I would crave fresh peas from the veggie market if they were in season and if I knew what they tasted like, as I never ate fresh peas). But I didn’t want to give in my cravings as I’m aware these foods are no good for me. Still, I thought I got over those cravings by now, but looks that I haven’t, so that surprised me a little.

Today I started the 21 days fully raw vegan challenge started by Kristina, she will have daily videos and advice and tips. I thought I’d at least do that, she said habits change within / after 21 days, so I wanted to try that. It will be interesting to get to know me better this way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2014 06:06PM by Ela2013.

My menu:

January 5, 2014 (sequel):

- (9:40 pm) 2 oranges

Energy: 90.2 cals
Calorie breakdown: 91.1% carbs / 6.8% proteins / 2.1% lipids

January 6, 2014:

- (8:30 am) 3 oranges
- (1 pm) 4 oranges
- (2 pm) 10 clementines
- (3:30 pm) 8 clementines
- (5:30 pm) 2 small bananas
- (8:20 pm) 5 red apples

Energy: 1137 cals
Calorie breakdown: 92.9% carbs / 4.5% proteins / 2.6% lipids

Yesterday after I ate the apples I felt sick, bloated, having stomach ache. I couldn’t eat anything afterwards and I just drank water. I guess I no longer tolerate apples, I’ve been feeling that for some time now.

I still had and have cravings and I feel I no longer desire fruits. That’s weird because I really like fruits. I guess I crave the other fruits like watermelon, cherries, apricots. I feel I no longer want to eat bananas and oranges. I feel I had enough of them so far.

I also crave frozen green peas, I might just start eating some (since I have no desire for fruits today).

I definitely need more variety in my diet.

As you notice, I have a really changing mind, that’s how I’ve always been, in every way.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

In the past week and this week also, the pain in my left hip/leg became more intense, and it really affected me (now I took a break from going anywhere and I’m just staying home, in bed, reading on the internet and just relaxing).

Due to my disability, I no longer have a job, I got retired this year and I get a financial retirement of like $100/month. When I reach the normal and legal retirement age (at like 65), they will choose between the financial retirement I get now and the one according to the legal retirement age, and I will get the one that implies more money (this is a fair trade). In case I want to work, I am now only allowed to work 4 hrs/day, but I really don’t feel up to it due to the pain (maybe only working from home on my laptotp).

I also got a disability certificate and I receive a financial compensation of like $10/month - I know, it's ridiculous, but looks like that's how much a person with a disability is worth of here...

I am at peace with my pain, and as long as I don’t have to have surgery, I’ve accepted my disability and I’ve learned to live with it, the pain is now like a part of me. I do hope that I will not have the same health problem with my right hip, as it’s common for the disability to happen to the other leg too, due to the body weight putting pressure on the healthy hip.

These days I was watching lots of videos from Paul and Yulia on youtube, they are both low fat high fruit raw vegans and looking good, exercise a lot and make great videos with lots of useful info. They live mostly in Thailand, where there’s lots of cheap tropical fruit.

My menu:

January 7, 2014:

- (12:30 pm) 1 small banana
- (1:55 pm) 1 small banana
- (4 pm) 400 g frozen green peas, 1 tomato
- (7 pm) 400 g frozen green peas, 1 tomato, little fresh dill
- (11 pm) 400 g frozen green peas, 1 tomato

Energy: 1108 cals
Calorie breakdown: 75.4% carbs / 20.4% proteins / 4.2% lipids

Yesterday I didn’t feel like eating, especially fruits. The bananas didn’t look appealing to me, nor did the oranges. Maybe it’s just a phase I’m going through. The peas were great though, I really enjoyed eating them. Afterwards, I felt great, in peace, relaxed, and I enjoyed the night sleep. Maybe there's something in the peas that my bady lacks or needs.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

My bananas are now spotty and ripe, I now got back the taste for bananas.

I started a new batch of raw salt-free sauerkraut, I’m looking forward to enjoying it as well when it’s ready (I will combine it with frozen peas / fresh dill / tomatoes).

My menu:

For January 7 I forgot to add to Chronometer the 3 tomatoes – 49.1 cals / 78.7% carbs / 12 % proteins / 9.3% lipids.

January 8, 2014:

- (10 am) 2 small bananas
- (1 pm) 5 oranges
- (4 pm) 1 clementine
- (6:30 pm) 400 g frozen green peas, 1 tomato
- (11 pm) 400 g frozen green peas, 1 tomato

Energy: 1068 cals
Calorie breakdown: 80.1% carbs / 16.1% proteins / 3.8% lipids

I read several things about green peas: they are great for the bones, for the eyes, for the heart, for the blood sugar levels, for clear arteries, for the immunity system, they are anti-inflammatory.

I used to boil frozen peas in the past and I can tell that there is a difference in taste between boiled frozen peas and just plain frozen peas from the bag. The boiled ones were much softer and sweeter (I remember telling my husband that I couldn’t eat the boiled frozen peas as they seemed too sweet to me). The ones that aren’t boiled, but eaten straight from the bag, are crisper and not that sweet – just natural sweetness (I read that cooking the peas makes them taste sweeter).

I also read that they are blanched but not cooked. This is the quote: “Blanching: The cleaned peas are next passed into a vat of boiling water for a few minutes. This kills enzymes that effect the taste of the peas, but it does not cook them. After blanching, the peas are cooled with water and then passed to a specific gravity sorter.”

What more can I say? I cant wait to eat them fresh from the pods when they are in season this year. Then I’ll really be able to make the difference between frozen and fresh. Until then, I’ll just enjoy the frozen ones straight from the bag (after I remove the skins).

These days when I ate frozen peas, I first rinsed them several times with warm water, in order to thaw them and so be able to remove the skins. I read that they retain some of the salt from the brine in which they are being sorted, so rinsing them at home removes some / most of that salt. They do not taste at all salty to me though, either way.

If you want to see more of my lifestyle, my beliefs and pics of food I eat, go to my facebook page (I post in English as well):

[www.facebook.com]

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2014 10:50PM by Ela2013.

Today I was in for a great surprise. I checked the label of all my clothes (those that had one) and I reviewed my whole wardrobe. I discovered that I actually had several woolen clothes, including my one and only long winter jacket. So I put all the respective clothes and other articles (and everything else that I suspected might be from wool/silk) in 2 large bags and I will donate them to a church this Sunday. I will also give away the one and only pair of sandals I have (a leather one). This means I need to buy few necessary articles (made of animal-friendly ingredients) in the near future. But I feel better and somewhat relieved. I will pay more attention when shopping from now on.

Then I looked on the internet at the list of animal ingredients used in every category of articles like cosmetics, clothing, medication and so on. Looks like almost every item is suspect of using animal ingredients. My first thought was that it’s kinda difficult to live on a daily basis using only plant-based or synthetic ingredients. It can be done, but it’s difficult. I guess I’ll try and do my best.

I can’t believe that last year I used to take shark cartilage for my health issue.

Also…now I can’t even watch a cooking show with the same eyes. When I see the chefs preparing the meat, it’s like I immediately imagine the slaughter of that animal. But I do enjoy looking for raw vegan recipes on the internet.

About Gary’s amazing presentation…I also didn’t know that the eggs were like hens’ period.
Today I was telling my husband about the things Gary said in his presentation, and he was listening I guess, he wasn’t saying anything but I could feel he was somehow bothered by the subject and feeling uncomfortable, and at some point he goes: “but where do you know all these from, because you didn’t think like that before”. Then he made some excuses for his desire for steaks and such and brought the well-known arguments like meat gives you all the nutrients and such, and then I just ended the conversation as I saw it wasn’t going anywhere.

My menu:

January 9, 2014:

- (10 am) 4 small bananas
- (12 pm) 1 clementine and 2 small oranges
- (1:30 pm) 3 medium bananas
- (4:15 pm) 3 small oranges
- (9:15 pm) 400 g frozen green peas, 1 tomato
- (11:55 pm) 400 g frozen green peas, 1 tomato

Energy: 1563 cals
Calorie breakdown: 84.1% carbs / 12.3% proteins / 3.6% lipids

My desire for sweet fruits came back, the previously unripe bananas are now beautifully spotty ripe.
At the same time, my need for frozen peas disappeared, I think for a while now I can put them aside and take a break. I am craving some grapes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Today my husband and I went to the supermarket and bought like 6 kg of bananas – good ones, I put them inside the wardrobe to get ripe together with some red apples.

Also today I entered a nature’s bio shop and I was delighted to see there all the stuff I saw on the internet, like seaweed and algae, nori sheets, kombu, all kinds of nuts and seeds, dates, banana chips, all kinds of flours and spices, legumes, powders – I just loved that shop, and it had good prices. I was like a kid in a candy shop.

My menu:

January 10, 2014:

- (9:30 am) 400 g frozen green peas, 1 tomato
- (3 pm) 1 red apple
- (3:30 pm) 6 bananas
- (9 pm) 1.3 kg oranges
- (11 pm) 3 bananas

Energy: 1924 cals
Calorie breakdown: 88.9% carbs / 8% proteins / 3% lipids

I had more surprises as I checked the label of some of my skirts, and I had a very light long summer skirt and on its label it said virgin wool and another type of animal wool among other materials. I was shocked because by touching the material you wouldn’t say it’s made of wool.

I had to wear my one and only leather boots today (they are a gift from my husband) as I didn’t have anything else to wear so that I run my errands. I felt so bad about it and I will soon buy a new pair of boots of synthetic material as I saw some good ones today in a shop.

I talked some more with my husband about animal rights. He told me not to bother him with all these issues as he is not the one killing them. He said that if he doesn’t eat them, somebody else will anyway. He told me that I should also not wear plastic or rubber soles for my boots because they pollute the air if I’m so concerned about being eco. He advised me to start up an organization for animal rights if I’m so concerned with this. That finally was a good idea, but I’m not sure I could manage this on my own, considering my disability and such. But I would just like to do that and to take part in changing this world for the better…

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

I wanted to buy a good blender as I don’t have one so I looked on the internet for different brands. I was disappointed as most of them, even the famous Vita Mix, had negative reviews as well that made me change my mind. Besides, here a Vita Mix would be like $800 which is way too much. I also saw the Nutribullet 900 Pro Series which is small but does a great job, still expensive here.

I will stick to my food processor and I will make ice-cream and purees instead of blender smoothies. After all, I did use my food processor for making my first walnut milk a while ago and it actually worked just fine.

By the way, I just did a banana ice-cream today, with just frozen bananas, using my food processor (a Bosch one, very good, a gift from my family). Last year I used to do lots of banana ice-cream, combining bananas with soaked walnuts or cherries or raspberries, such wonderful and delicious combinations. One time I was travelling with my family and one day I made banana ice-cream and I gave them too, they really liked it, they couldn’t believe it was dairy-free.

After 3 days at room temperature, today I put the batch of raw salt-free sauerkraut in the fridge for the next 7 days (one large jar of like 1 kg). I’m looking forward to eating this sauerkraut with dill and tomatoes and maybe cucumber spaghetti on the side, or with a tasty tomato sauce added to it.

My menu:

January 11, 2014:

- (8:10 am) 3 very small bananas
- (11:30 am) 3 medium bananas
- (1:30 pm) 2 small bananas and 1 very small banana
- (3:20 pm) 7 small Romanian red apples
- (7:30 pm) banana ice-cream (4 very small bananas, frozen, processed in the food processor)
- (8 pm) banana ice-cream (4 very small bananas, frozen, processed in the food processor)

Energy: 1902 cals
Calorie breakdown: 93.6% carbs / 3.4% proteins / 3% lipids

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

My menu:

January 12, 2014:

- (11:30 am) 6 bananas
- (1:30 pm) 6 small oranges
- (4:30 pm) 1.2 kg white grapes
- (8:40 pm) 3 red apples

Energy: 1817 cals
Calorie breakdown: 93.7% carbs / 3.9% proteins / 2.4% lipids

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

These days I was still looking on the internet for good blenders. I narrowed my search down to two choices: Classic Mix made by Trisa of Switzerland (so made in Switzerland) and Grundig Black Line Premium (but not made in Germany since the company was taken over by Turkey, and it is said that their products are made in China). Here these two blenders are within the $80 - $120 range if new (and I found Grundig for $50 either new or used for like 1-3 times).

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to write them here.

My menu:

January 13, 2014:

- (10:10 am) 5 small bananas
- (11:30 am) 5 small oranges
- (12:30 pm) 5 very small bananas
- (3:15 pm) 1 kg white grapes
- (8:40 pm) tomato and bell pepper salad with cabbage and dill salad (2 tomatoes, 2 green bell peppers; 150 g white cabbage, dill, lemon juice)

Energy: 1832 cals
Calorie breakdown: 92.6% carbs / 4.7% proteins / 2.8% lipids

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2014 09:30PM by Ela2013.

I searched some more on the internet and I found out that Grundig products are indeed no longer made in Germany, and that blenders were made only after Turkish company Beko bought the Grundig brand (until then, Grundig only made radios and tv sets, so they were never into blenders and mixers and such kitchen appliances). I’m sure that their products are still good, but I’d rather go with Swiss technology.

So today I ordered the Swiss blender. Since shipping was free only starting with $72, I also ordered a small citrus electric press as I have been considering buying one anyway. I thought that instead of paying for the shipment I just use the money for something I really need (I never liked paying for the shipment whenever I bought something online).

This blender has a glass jug of 1.5 l, ice crush and auto clean function, 500 W, 50 Hz (not sure what’s with the 50 Hz), a stainless steel base, stainless steel blades, 2 speeds and a pulse function, and an elegant look. Besides, the parts can be cleaned separately. The price is $66.

This is the blender:

[www.trisaelvetia.ro]

The citrus press is made by Zass, Germany, a good brand. It has a 0.7 l plastic jar, 25 W, also 50 Hz, < 65 dB and a nice look. The price is $11.

This is the citrus press:

[www.zass.ro]

My whole order will be arriving on Thursday by courier (I will be paying a total of $77 and have free shipping).

My menu:

Last night I went to bed at 2 am so I ate 3 extra small bananas (so sweet and ripe and soft) as I needed something sweet before going to sleep.

Energy: 216.3 cals
Calorie breakdown: 92.8% carbs / 4.1% proteins / 3.1% lipids

January 14, 2014:

- (11 am) 6 small oranges
- (12 pm) 2 small bananas
- (1 pm) 5 very small bananas
- (4:30 pm) 6 small oranges
- (7:30 pm) 500 g tomatoes with 2 green bell peppers and 150 g white cabbage salad (with dill)

Energy: 1245 cals
Calorie breakdown: 90.4% carbs / 6.3% proteins / 3.3% lipids

I can’t believe the difference in my digestion between eating frozen peas and eating 100% raw vegan. I feel so much better and lighter on 100% raw fresh fruits and veggies. I don’t regret eating those frozen peas, they were great, I guess I wasn’t ready for 100% raw vegan and I just needed that in order to move on to the next level. Which I am going to do, once my blender arrives. I intend to have both sweet and green smoothies since I do not enjoy eating raw spinach as it is.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Yesterday and today I read the forum here about juicers and blenders. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before, it is a very interesting forum as well and I’m thankful for it.

I will also look again in the recipes forum.

Today I watched some videos about green smoothies among which 2 were by Sergei Boutenko (I never watched his videos, they are just great). I also saw some smoothie recipes of Kristina and Megan Elisabeth.

Since I love dill so much, I might just add it to my green smoothies as well once my blender arrives (that is tomorrow).

I started to think deeply about moving to the countryside and be more in touch with nature. I started to feel not too comfortable in the city (though it’s not a very large city and it’s located in the mountain area – but it’s becoming more and more polluted and busy).

I feel that living in a much more secluded and peaceful place is more in tune with my lifestyle. I do not need a large or fancy place to live, just a small room where to sleep and a small bathroom, the minimum living requirements. But my husband does not approve this and he wants to keep living here.

I have been told so many times that I definitely need to move out of this place since my husband’s mother also lives here and because of her being an alcoholic. But I just don’t have the means to do this (financially speaking). But I don’t give up on this idea and I feel more and more forced to do so.

My menu:

Last night I still needed something sweet before going to sleep so I ate 4 extra small bananas at 10 pm.

Energy: 288.4 cals
Calorie breakdown: 92.8% carbs / 4.1% proteins / 3.1% lipids

January 15, 2014:

- (8:30 am) 2 medium bananas and 1 small banana
- (10:15 am) 2 large bananas
- (12:15 pm) 6 small oranges
- (4:15 pm) raw vegan salt-free sauerkraut (made from half a white cabbage) with lots of dill

Energy: 1044 cals
Calorie breakdown: 88.2% carbs / 8.6% proteins / 3.2% lipids

This batch of raw salt-free sauerkraut turned out just great, fizzy and little crunchy but just like I wanted it to be. The dill was a great addition to it as it naturally replaced the salt.

I saved the whole leaves and the sauerkraut juice, I need to think of a good way to use them (especially the juice, as I don’t want to throw it away).

I didn’t plan to eat the whole batch in one sitting, but all I had left to eat were my not yet ripe bananas and few red apples which I’m using for ripening the bananas so I didn’t feel like eating them.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2014 03:52PM by Ela2013.

Today I was searching on the internet for houses to move in and I found a very nice 1 room house in a very beautiful area with mountains and hills and meadows, a good price and a lot of space for gardening (like 1174 hectares on the whole). It was 6000 euro. My husband rejected my idea of moving there, he’d rather live in the city. So there it goes my desire to live in the countryside and grow my own fruits and veggies. I’m very disappointed. It’s not like I have this money now, but maybe I could negotiate and settle for a monthly payment and also ask my family to help me buy this house.

My menu:

Yesterday I needed something sweet after that sauerkraut so I ate:

- (7:30 pm) 6 small oranges
- (10:30 pm) 2 small bananas

Energy: 450.5 cals
Calorie breakdown: 91.8% carbs / 5.7% proteins / 2.5% lipids

January 16, 2014:

- (1:30 pm) 3 large bananas
- (2:30 pm) 3 large bananas
- (6:30 pm) green smoothie made of: the juice from yesterday’s sauerkraut, around 100 g raw spinach, 1 bunch of dill, 1 green bell pepper, 1 small banana, 1 tomato, 1 large clove of garlic (around 1 liter of smoothie)

Energy: 709.2 cals
Calorie breakdown: 88.5% carbs / 6.9% proteins / 4.6% lipids

My order came this morning. The blender and the citrus press look great. But I was disappointed, as on the boxes it says that they both are made in PRC instead of Switzerland/Germany. I contacted the person I talked to when ordering the blender and citrus press and he said that unfortunately all the big companies moved their production to Asian markets because of the cheap work labour.
I hope they are still good and that they will last long. I guess I better start saving money for a Vitamix…

So this was my first smoothie, a green one even. It was good, but I noticed that the sweet taste of the banana didn’t match with the other ingredients, so I won’t put banana in my green smoothies again.
The smoothie was very filling, maybe next time I’ll make a smaller one.

The blender is great, I was afraid to use it at first as I never used one before, but it is very good, it looks great and it is not too noisy (I used only the pulse button for few pulses and it was already ready). I have a large thick black mug of like 500 ml to match the blender so I used it to drink today’s smoothie.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll make a fruit smoothie as I want to test the citrus press and my husband bought me 3 pomegranates which I want to use in my fruit smoothies.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2014 06:45PM by Ela2013.

My menu:

Yesterday I needed something sweet after the garlic so I ate:

- (12 am) 3 clementines and 3 small oranges

Energy: 177.7 cals
Calorie breakdown: 91.2% carbs / 6.6% proteins / 2.3% lipids

January 17, 2014:

- (9 am) 3 small bananas
- (11:30 am) 3 small oranges
- (1 pm) 5 small oranges
- (4 pm) sweet smoothie made of: juice of 10 clementines, juice of 3 pomegranates, 5 frozen bananas

Energy: 1470 cals
Calorie breakdown: 90.3% carbs / 5.4% proteins / 4.3% lipids

Yesterday’s green smoothie was so filling that I wasn’t hungry for the rest of the evening (for more than 5 hours). If I hadn’t had the light garlic after taste, I wouldn’t have eaten anything until this morning.

Today’s sweet smoothie was delicious, a light chocolaty color. I sipped it through a straw for more than 2 hours, I just wanted to enjoy it.

Now I understand why here pomegranate juice is so expensive when you go out to eat. I made little juice out of 3 pomegranates (they were $1.5), so no wonder they charge more for a whole glass of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice ($3.5).

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Yesterday’s smoothie was at 4 pm, not 6:30 pm (I finished it at 6:30 as I wanted to enjoy it). It lasted me like more than 5 hours, it was also very filling.

My menu:

Yesterday I also ate:

- (10 pm) 5 small oranges

Energy: 225.6 cals
Calorie breakdown: 91.1% carbs / 6.7% proteins / 2.1% lipids

January 18, 2014:

- (10:30 am) 3 small bananas
- (11:50 am) 3 medium bananas
- (5 pm) green smoothie made of: 500 ml sparkling water, 150 g raw spinach, 1 bunch of dill, 1 sprig of parsley, 1 green bell pepper, 1 tomato; I drank the smoothie while eating: cucumber spaghetti (1 spiralized long cucumber of 250 g), 3 tomatoes, 1 green bell pepper, 1 head of green leaf lettuce

Energy: 824.1 cals
Calorie breakdown: 86.1% carbs / 8.3% proteins / 5.6% lipids

This morning I woke up with the area under my right eye a bit swollen – again the right eye, not sure what is the cause.
This green smoothie was again very filling and it was great with the cucumber spaghetti, and a lot more tasty without the banana in it. It was a 1l smoothie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

My menu:

Yesterday I also ate:

- (10:50 pm) 3 small bananas

Energy: 269.7 cals
Calorie breakdown: 92.8% carbs / 4.1% proteins / 3.1% lipids

January 19, 2014:

- (7:15 am) 1 red apple
- (8:45 am) 3 medium bananas
- (10:30 am) 3 medium bananas
- (11:50 am) 5 small oranges
- (14:50 pm) fruit smoothie made of: juice of 16 clementines (750 ml), 5 frozen bananas

Energy: 1608 cals
Calorie breakdown: 92.5% carbs / 4.6% proteins / 2.9% lipids

Yesterday’s smoothie had 1 l, today’s smoothie had 1.2 l and it was absolutely delicious, refreshing and cooling because of the frozen bananas and it tasted like apricot jam (though I didn’t use any apricots). Such a great smoothie could be addictive.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Today’s dinner:

- (9 pm) spring rolls (leaves of green leaf lettuce filled with cucumber and green bell pepper sticks and tomato slices – 1 head of green leaf lettuce, 3 tomatoes, 2 green bell peppers, 1 long cucumber of 150 g) with 3 cloves of garlic

Energy: 155.2 cals
Calorie breakdown: 76.1% carbs / 15.5% proteins / 8.4% lipids

I have been craving garlic since yesterday, so today I felt I had to eat some with my dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

My menu:

January 20, 2014:

- (11 am) 3 bananas
- (12:10 pm) 4 oranges
- (1:45 pm) 3 bananas
- (3:15 pm) 2 bananas
- (6:30 pm) my “Go Green” smoothie made of: sparkling water (500 ml), 100 g spinach, 1 bunch of dill, 1 green bell pepper; next to a salad made of: 2 tomatoes, 2 green bell peppers, 1 tiny white onion
- (8:50 pm) 4 very small bananas

Energy: 1370 cals
Calorie breakdown: 90.5% carbs / 5.7% proteins / 3.8% lipids

Today's smoothie was 750 ml and was great next to this tasty salad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

I am planning a raw vegan cake for tomorrow so today I bought Romanian walnuts, dates and carob powder. I am looking forward to making one, I have never made one or used dates and carob powder.

My menu:

Yesterday I also had 2 oranges at 11:20 pm.

January 21, 2014:

- (10:10 am) 3 very small bananas
- (10:50 am) 2 very small bananas
- (11:50 am) 3 oranges
- (12:45 pm) 3 very small bananas
- (1:50 pm) 2 very small bananas
- (6:30 pm) my best “Go Green” smoothie made of: sparkling water (500 ml), 100 g spinach, 1 bunch of dill, 1 green bell pepper, 1 tomato; next to a salad made of: 3 tomatoes, 2 green bell peppers, 5 extremely tiny white onions (similar to shallots)

Energy: 1025 cals
Calorie breakdown: 89.4% carbs / 6.3% proteins / 4.3% lipids

I am happy that I really enjoy these green smoothies, at first I was afraid I would not like them. Today’s smoothie was the best by far and had 750 ml.

I have never eaten those very tiny onions until today, they were very good, tender and sweet.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2014 08:29PM by Ela2013.

My menu:

Yesterday I also had 4 very small bananas at 10 pm and 2 oranges at 11 pm.

Energy: 288.4 cals
Calorie breakdown: 92.8% carbs / 4.1% proteins / 3.1% lipids

January 22, 2014:

- (9:30 am – 12:30 pm) 50 g Romanian walnuts (soaked overnight), 50 g dates (some soaked overnight, some not soaked), 10 g carob (while I was making the raw vegan cake for tomorrow)
- (4:45 pm) salad made of: 3 tomatoes, 2 green bell peppers, dill, 5 shallots
- (6:25 pm) salad made of: 4 tomatoes, 2 green bell peppers, dill, 1 very large clove of garlic (and very hot)
- (7:25 pm) 1 small raw carrot
- (8:45) my guilt free choco ice cream (8 frozen bananas, 30 g carob)

Energy: 1433 cals
Calorie breakdown: 71.6% carbs / 6.6% proteins / 21.8% lipids

I really liked the dates, both the soaked and not soaked ones. The soaked ones are less sweet, not sticky and very soft, while the not soaked ones are like caramel candies and very sweet. They can be addictive but can not be eaten in quantities larger than 50 g (like 10 dates). They combine great with walnuts. They are also very filling (I did not need anything to eat until late afternoon – I just drank lots of water).

The carob was absolutely great, I did not know it was such a great replacement for cocoa. It is identical, the taste, the texture, the color. When used in walnuts cream or banana cream, it turns into a delicious chocolate cream.

The garlic clove was a killer, extremely hot, I think it was one of those Chinese garlic (white, very large and very hot cloves) that I heard of – they are said to be something hybrid, huge cloves and extremely hot.
Then I tested a small Romanian garlic clove (I ate it with that carrot) and it was clearly the best – small, but with flavor and not very hot.

The ice cream was amazing. I divided it into two parts and I put carob in one so it turned into chocolate ice cream. I put the ice cream in a glass in white and choco layers (one banana, one carob). The carob ice cream was delicious, it tasted just like chocolate ice cream. I definitely recommend using carob instead of cocoa (and even instead of raw cocoa) as it is so mild and great tasting, a real substitute for cocoa.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

My menu:

Yesterday I also had 3 oranges at 0:20 am.

Energy: 135.4 cals
Calorie breakdown: 91.1% carbs / 6.7% proteins / 2.1% lipids

January 22, 2014:

- (9:20 am) 5 extra small bananas and 1 medium banana
- (11:30 am) 2 oranges
- (3 pm) raw vegan cake (2 and a half slices)

Energy: 2098 cals
Calorie breakdown: 56.4% carbs / 6.2% proteins / 37.4% lipids

The cake was like this: layer 1 - walnuts, dates, carob, orange juice; layer 2 - orange juice, bananas, walnuts; layer 3 - orange juice, bananas, carob, walnuts; layer 4 - walnuts, orange juice; decoration - diced dates.

The cake was good, it stayed well in the fridge. It turned out very chocolaty, very dense, similar to joffre cake or other very sweet and dark chocolate cakes. I am not very used to this dark chocolate taste (I never liked dark chocolate), but combined with the walnuts it was good (but still very strong). I do not know how others can eat such cake on a regular basis, I know I couldn’t, so I guess this was the first and the last cake I will ever make, it will last me for a very long time.
But it was a pleasant and fun experience.

I still have like 120 g carob and 250 g dates so I must use them somehow/someday, probably again with walnuts – maybe I will make some chocolate balls (maybe to bring them to my family when visiting them, since they are very enthusiastic about me making chocolate cake).

I hope I will be able to sleep tonight, even if I read that carob does not keep you awake like cacao or chocolate, but it was so strong that now I am in doubt…

In my opinion, the cake was not worth eating, as today for 2098 cals I could have eaten only fruits or fruits and veggies. It is not ok that 1542 cals come from the cake I ate today, and it didn’t even leave me feeling full or satisfied like fruits/veggie do (it just left me with a very strong dark chocolate taste).

This was just my personal experience, and what I learned from it (though I knew this already) is that it’s best to allow yourself to get the nutrients from really nutrient-rich foods like fruits/veggies and not fats/sweets (even if they are raw vegan).

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.