Thanks so much for your support!

This was a LOOOOONG day!! I completed day #5 100% raw.
Breakfast: berries and almonds
lunch: big salad
snacks: dried fruit and nuts
dinner: big salad
evening: banana, almonds, and some carrots

Spinning in the am. I think tomorrow I am going to take the day off workout wise. I am exhausted, and I haven't skipped a day since Saturday.

I am proud of myself for really sticking to it. Now, this weekend is going to be a challenge -- I am having people over for dinner friday night, my birthday party is saturday night, and my sister and best friend are visiting. i am determined though to not fall off the wagon after i have worked so hard all week.

Thanks!
Just completed Day #6 100% raw! And that was even including a shabbat dinner in which people brought lots of yummy cooked food.
I ate a big salad with sprouts, which everyone said was really good.
Then I had berries and almonds while everyone else ate cookies and cake.

Shabbat dinners are usually really challenging for me, so I am really happy about it. What worked?
1. i told people I was eating raw -- so i was held accountable.
2. I ate a banana before dinner, so i started off less hungry.

just get through tomorrow and it will be a week!

i ate today:
apple
trail mix
small salad
banana
salad
berries
almonds

and wine -- my friend said it is raw. is that true?

i am impressed that you stayed 100% raw despite the shabbat dinner! good job, you should be very proud!

i have similar problems w/ nuts- i don't overeat them but i do tend to just snack on them more often than i would like to. i think it's b/c in the beginning, our bodies are used to more calorie-dense foods and we're used to being full after eating. a lot of people on this forum have lowered their fat intakes gradually as they've adapted to a raw food diet. right now i'm not worrying about it too much, i think it'll taper off after a few months of eating rw. and you are also very active, so your body will need more calories than an average raw fooder. just try to do what feels right. some days i'm craving mangoes, other days i want spinach, and other days almonds sound divine. i think if we're eating these simple, healthy foods, our bodies will tell us what we need! oh- thanks for the advice about nuts & dried fruit before workouts! i'll try that

i'm not sure about wine- i've also heard organic wine is raw, but i don't know if it's true. i'm pretty sure non-organic wine is cooked, though.

have a great birthday weekend!

Day 7 100% raw! It is my birthday weekend and I managed to stay on track!
breakfast: berries and almonds
lunch: salad with sprouts
banana
dinner: salad with sprouts (my friend and sister ordered in Indian food -- was very difficult)!
snack: banana
at my party I drank wine :-), and ate lots of carrots!

I am feeling proud of my accomplishments.

friends are being really supportive --
one friend bought me a raw foods book for my birthday!

Done with week 1 and feeling good.

BTW, I just uploaded my birthday pictures -- I bought a new pretty dress and I am looking skinnier by the day. And my skin is perfect! loving it!

Well, I did fall off the wagon a bit this weekend.
Saturday late after my party I had a few leftover cupcakes late at night -- guess it was a misjudgement late at night after drinking wine.

Yesterday I was so hungry for non-raw food. I ate cooked indian food, that was leftover from when my sister and friend ordered it.

So, I am not going to count Saturday and Sunday as raw successes. However, I am right back on the wagon today and feeling okay.

Today I had 2 boxes of berries & some almonds
a big salad with olives, sprouts, and flax seeds
green tea

I swam a mile.

So, I guess this is day #1 100% raw. I made it through 6 solid days 100% raw last time. I am going to see if I can last for 7 in a row this time -- baby steps.

Although I did fall off track on Sunday, I do feel quite good about how well I did considering it was my crazy birthday weekend with lots of company and parties. I am right back on track and feeling confident in my ability to stay raw for even longer this time. 7+ days here I come...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2007 08:53PM by optimist4life.

I just had some melon and almonds along with green tea for a snack.

I plan to eat the other half of my salad (from lunch) later today for dinner if I am hungry.

Well, i have really fallen off the wagon. I guess they were right -- I am a compulsive eater and cannot eat anything at all cooked.

I did fine all day:
3 boxes of berries (a bit extreme)
some almonds
big salad for lunch and dinner

but...when I got home all hell broke loose:
i was like the very hungry caterpillar. I ate
- a mango
- a box of berries
- celery with hummus (the hummus was cooked and sent me on a downward spiral)
so i ate:
-whole wheat crackers
-pretzels
-leftover Hershey’s kisses from my party

YIKES! What is wrong with me?

I am going to force myself to get back on the wagon and eat the way I had been eating before I fell off:
-box of berries for breakfast with almonds
-big salad for lunch and dinner.

i'll blog instead of reaching for crappy food. Well, I did it successfully for 6 days, so I know that I can do it again. it is just a matter of not falling off at all!

I feel like this is raw food confessions. But, at least I am honest and paying attention to my behavior.

Well, at least I swam 60 laps today -- that was one good thing.
I feel heavy and yucky from junk food.

I know that I can't eat when I get home -- I need to just bee line it to the bathroom -- brush and floss my teeth so i won't eat when i get home.

so the plan for tomorrow is to:

berries and almonds in the am
big salad for lunch and dinner
no snacks -- just green tea and water all day
will probably swim in the evening after class
when i come home -- bee line it to the bathroom to brush and floss. then write here and tell you all how successful i was for the day!

Well, I am back on track.
Today I ate:
1 box of berries and some almonds
big salad with sprouts and flax seeds
the other half of my salad
a banana
tea

I swam a mile.

It is so easy for me to stay raw during the week, because I have a structured routine. However, over the weekend it is quite a challange.

So, can we say day #1 100% ray complete. It's annoying to have to start back again at day 1, but I'll keep on truckin'

Nothing like falling off the wagon to send you scurrying back to that clean raw feeling!


Congrats on doing so well with your goals!

Back on track for day #2.
I ate a box of berries and almonds for breakfast
a big salad for lunch
some more almonds for a snack

swam a mile at lunchtime

my plan is to eat only fruit and tea between now and bedtime.

Despite falling off the wagon over the weekend, I am really noticing changes in my body. My energy levels are consistently high with no peeks or valleys, I can fall asleep very easily, any extra fat around my middle is melting away. Before my belly would slightly crease when I sat down, but now it just stays flat and even, my skin looks fantastic. Overall, I feel really good. A friend bought me "the Raw Food Detox Diet," by Natalia Rose. It is fantastic! I really like the way that she articulates the way that raw food can clean out our cells. Of course it makes sense, the less unnecessary waste we have in our cells, the better off we are.

I am eating raw to lose weight and prevent aging. However, I am also trying to think about the way that my cells are being affected by this way of eating. I love the thought that with every meal, I am nourishing my cells and cleaning out the waste.

I think that for now I am going to just stick with raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouts. Once I feel confident in my ability to stick to it, I might add in things like Lara and Odwala bars if I feel they are necessary. For now, I am just going to eat food in its raw form until I get completely used to eating this way.

I was hungry yesterday evening because I didn't eat dinner, so I ended up grazing most of the evening -- a few bananas, carrots, peppers, some hummus, nuts. It was all raw, so I am fine. However, I think I am better off having a proper large salad at about 8-9 pm as my last food for the day. That way I will be full and not want to eat in the evening, but most of the food will be digested by the time I go to bed around 12.

So far today I have had a banana and some seeds (sunflower and flax) along with green tea.

I am about to go swimming -- a mile of course!

I was dying for some sugar today, so I had some dark chocolate and a soy chai from starbucks at 3pm. It's sort of my down time, so I sought a quick pick me up. As far as that goes, not the best since it isn't raw, but this isn't going to negatively impact my goals too much, I hope.


So far today I have had a banana and some seeds (sunflower and flax) along with green tea.
I swam a mile
After swimming I ate an orange and some white tea
when I got to school I ate some melon and some almonds
then came the chocolate and soy chai.

Looking at what I have eaten today, no wonder I was craving sugar! I have hardly eaten anything all day! Dk how that happened.

Before class I will eat a big salad. I gotta be sure to eat a regular meal (i.e. big salad) way before 4pm, or I will crave sugar again. At least I am aware if it.

It's funny, I didn't even realize where my craving came from until I sat down to think about what I have eaten all day (which is way less than I normally eat).

For dinner I had a big salad with olives and sprouts.

I also had a banana and some almonds. Feeling good!

I just bought a juicer yesterday and today had my first glass of green lemonade. I love it, but am a bit worried about how expensive this is going to be.
Any advice on how to cut down costs?

I think I am going to fast on green lemonade until Thanksgiving (Sunday-Wednesday) eat a vegetarian thanksgiving meal on Thursday, and then fast again Friday-Sunday. Next Monday (a week from this monday), I will reassess and see how much longer I will fast.

I really like green lemonade, and am super excited about it! I bet it would be very tasty with mint!

Optimist 4 life,
Looks to me like you're doing very well. Congrats! The occasional lapse seems par for the course. You do well by getting back on track quickly.
Keep it up.
David

Raw4Life

I love my juicer! I can't get enough green lemonade, I am just worried about how expensive this is going to be to feed the juicer -- and my habit! Any suggestions?

I don't know if I am ready to do a juice fast, actually. I like to eat, and have been enjoying my healthy meals. Maybe I'll try to incorporate more green lemonade into my diet but don't know if I can actually do a fast.

Today I ate:
Breakfast: Box of blackberries and 25 almonds
Green Tea
Lunch: big salad -- greens, onions, sprouts, tomatoes, bulgur wheat (soaked in water, not cooked), parsley, garlic, olive oil, brags. DE-LIC-OUS!!!
Green Tea

For dinner I will probably have green lemonade and a banana or two if I am hungry.

Also swam a mile -- lately I have also been incorporating pull ups and triceps push-ups on the side of the pool every 10 laps. So it goes 10-arms-10 -arms, etc. I do 66 laps (which is a mile) and do 60 pull-ups and triceps push ups each time. I love it! Oh, I also finally got my bike back, so I rode my bike too school, home, to the pool, and back to school. I am feeling good and active.

Lately I have noticed that since I am so focused on my own health -- eating and exercise, I am really judgmental of other people. Like when I was eating my salad, another girl from law school sat down with me -- she ate Doritos and those packaged cupcakes with the white swirls. I looked at my salad, and what she was eating and just felt really judgmental. I don't like to judge others that way, but it is tough not to when I am so focused on what I am eating. Does this happen to you too?

I am feeling good about food today, and will probably stick with this plan:
box of berries, 20-30 almonds
big salad
green lemonade + fruit
and then green tea and water throughout the day.

Wow, I was hungry when I got home and ate a lot -- green lemonade, apple, banana, almonds, and taboule (mostly parsley with bulgur onions and tomatoes).

I guess it makes sense because I hadn't eaten in 6 hours, and swam a mile today. I am glad that it was all raw, but I don't love eating so much at night. This has been like a lifelong dilemma. I think I am going to try to have dinner at 8 at school (because I am usually still at school then). Then I will come home and brush my teeth, floss, put in my retainer. Then I will prepare my food for tomorrow. I usually end up eating a lot when I am making my salad for the next day, so if I make sure to have a retainer in my mouth, then I won't eat when I am in the kitchen at night.

Also, as much as I love the idea of having juice every day, I cannot believe how time consuming it is. First of all, it takes a long time to juice all of those vegetables and fruits. Then it takes forever to clean the juicer and the rest of the kitchen, which gets really dirty when I am juicing things. I don't think I can maintain this time consuming and expensive habit. Advice?

That first week when I was doing really well I lost like 6 pounds. I think I want to go back to what I was doing then:

box of berries with 20 almonds
big salad -- half for lunch and half for dinner
water and green tea throughout
not so difficult, i just gotta keep the goal in mind.

that's the plan for tomorrow...

What is in your green lemonaide? You are doing great. I find I don't necessarly judge what others are eating but I am realizing what they are eating which is what I ate just before going raw. I am realizing the importance of what I am putting in my body and how eating the refined foods is so detrimental to our health. I wish to convince my family to eat less refined foods and more fresh raw foods.

Yes, you are right. Seeing people putting poison into their bodies, just reaffirms my decision to eat raw. It is almost painful sometimes to see what people eat -- especially little children. I remember this one time on the bus, I saw these two cute little kids eating sweet rolls and grape "drink" (sugar water with food coloring) for breakfast. I wondered how those kids could learn at school with white flour, trans fat, refined sugar, and chemicals as their nourishment.

Green lemonade is from Natalia Rose's book and consists of:
-1 head of lettuce
-1 head of celery
-1 lemon
-1-2 apples
-a few stalks of kale (sometimes I use spinach)
-some ginger (optional)
-I also add mint and sometimes carrots

It is delicious! And very healthy. I love watching the green juice come out of the juicer, and thinking about how many nutrients I am about to put into my body.

Today I ate:
breakfast: box of blueberries and a handful of almonds

1/2 of my big salad -- mixed greens, sprouts (lentils and chickpeas), tomatoes, onions, bulgur wheat (soaked in water, not cooked), parsley, and olives. I also added some red wine vinegar and olive oil. Delicious!
i am on my 3rd cup of green tea for the day

For dinner I will eat the other half of my salad.
at night, if I am hungry, i might have green lemonade and some banana.

I plan to either go to spinning class or swim a mile later this evening.
Rode my bike to school.

Feeling great, and very energized.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2007 06:36PM by optimist4life.

your green juice sounds soooo good. it's great to have a juicer! how expensive was yours?

you are really doing well. i've had a slip-up too but it doesn't get me down too much- it actually motivates me to get back on the raw wagon immediately, b/c raw just FEELS right!

what are you planning on doing for Thanksgiving? staying all raw? i am entertaining the idea of eating some cooked for Thanksgiving dinner, mostly veggies, since i'll be seeing my family for the first time in 10 months! but who knows, i may feel too good on raw to do that!

My juicer cost $60 at Linens & Things. It isn't the best one by far, but it was all that I could afford. If you have the money, I would recommend one that doesn't keep the pulp inside of the mechanism because sometimes you have to clean it right in the middle of making yourself some juice. The $60 one takes a bit more work, so some day I will be able to afford the $300 one :-). Maybe after law school.

For Thanksgiving I am going to eat everything there is that is vegetarian (but not dessert). I figure it is okay to go off of the raw food plan for one day. However, I plan to make a big salad and eat mostly that, with just a dab of this or a dab of that regarding the cooked dishes. Natalia Rose's book says that it is okay to eat cooked food sometimes. Since I have been pretty good, I feel okay about eating cooked for one day.

This evening I swam a mile, biked around a bit, and ate the rest of my salad. I also had some dark chocolate (which I think is okay now and then).
I am done with eating for the day -- plan to just go home and make myself food for tomorrow.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Well, I came home brushed my teeth and made a big salad for tomorrow.
Not eating at night when I get home is so difficult for me, so every time I am successful at resisting the urge is an accomplishment!

My day food and exercise wise:

Food:
Breakfast -- box of blueberries and almonds
lunch -- big salad
snack -- melon
dinner -- big salad
dark chocolate
chai from Starbucks

Exercise:
biked to school, back to the metro, to the pool, back to school, and finally home
swam a mile and did some of those pull-ups and push-ups. I didn't do all of them though because there were other people in my lane.

I would like to do the same tomorrow. However, instead of chocolate and Starbucks for my sweet tooth in the evening, I will have fruit and nuts.
I feel great overall though -- especially good about not eating when I got home.
I just gotta keep it up.

off to a good start!
I went to spinning at 6am, then did a few sit-ups and back exercises
drank green tea
ate a box of blackberries and 30 soaked, peeled almonds

I really wanted to have green lemonade, but my roommate's friend is sleeping in our living room, and the juicer makes too much noise.
I am going swimming at school at 11:30, so maybe at 10am I'll have some green lemonade. That is a reasonable time to make some noise, I think.
In the meantime, I'll just do some work for school.

Feeling good and lean!

Thinking about my goal to not eat at night -- it is really only about a 5 minute window that I need to control immediately when I walk in the door. If I just run to the bathroom to brush my teeth before I go to the kitchen to make my salad for the next day, then I can easily avoid eating. I think that is the one last habit that I would like to nip in the bud. When I think of it as only 5 minutes of cognitive dissonance, then it suddenly seems easily manageable.

Well, my roommate's friend left for the day, so I made my green lemonade. It took me 21 minutes, including clean-up! Not too shabby.

I bought the vegetables at the grocery store after spinning.

I think I am going to try to make this my daily morning routine:

-spinning at 6am
-grocery store to buy veggies
-make and drink green lemonade

So far this is my update today:

Exercise:
6am 60 min spinning & some core conditioning
noon swam a little less than a mile (60 laps)
biked from home to the pool, and from the pool to school

Food:
7:30am - box of blackberries, 40 almonds (yikes! gotta cut down on the nuts!)
11am - green lemonade
noon - apple
2pm - 1/2 of my big salad -- sprouts, greens, onions, tomato, bulgur, parsley, olives
green tea throughout

I'll have a banana when I get hungry (probably about 4-4:30) & eat the rest of my salad for dinner (probably at 7:30 or 8).

Feeling good and energized!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2007 08:08PM by optimist4life.

Last night I did end up eating when I got home -- was really hungry. I ate
-an apple
-a banana
-carrots
-almonds
-olives

Not so good. It all started with the banana and the I just ate everything raw in sight. At least it was raw! I know that I really can't even eat 1 piece of fruit at night, or it will set me off into an eating ramapage.

Today so far I have eaten:
box of blackberries
almonds
1/2 of my big salad -- greens, kale, sprouts, olives, bulgur, tomatoes, onions, parsley, green peppers, flax seeds, bragg vinegar, olive oil.

Feeling good! I plan to go to spinning at 5:30 and maybe do the 6:30 class as well, since the pool is closed today.

I have become obsessively preoccupied with preventing aging. Hopefully eating raw and exercising will keep me looking young longer!

Oh, and I am currently drinking green iced tea.

Also, I have decided to eat raw over Thanksgiving. No need to ruin my progress just because it is "turkey day," I'll be sure to make a big delicious salad, and bring some fruit as well.