Personnaly, I dont'go to any gym. I think we can really do a lot by our own, without the stress to perform with the 'machines'. I prefer walking, hiking, so that I get fresh air too! and yoga when at home, or rebouncing on a mini rebouncer. Nevertheless, the most important is to feel confortable and happy while exercising, whatever we do. So that's it doesn't become a WORK in itself (ha, ha !!!)
to quote someone here '' just my two cents''

Cynthia

Dear Gosia,

You are so cool. I love you!



Love,
Julie

i would like to offer a couple things here...

[abcnews.go.com]

i know the subject above is contentious, but for what it's worth, i agree with it, and so do many prominent exercise experts. any "cardio" that i do is for fun, or for a challenge, not to lose weight (if i had weight to lose). muscle is king. time spent on cardio is often energy wasted. we have limited amounts of recovery ability, for those who are weight training along with cardio.

secondly, i know that some people here are committed to fruitarianism, but i have seen some troubles reported that to me sound like they could be caused by a lack of greens in the diet. be careful not to hurt yourself because of some ideal, even if you see others who are seemingly doing well on that same chosen path.

best of luck on your transformations.

count me and my jigglies in

my surge in this trial will focus on
moving and its correlation to mood
im working up a graph to track the two

secondly, the body fat monitoring...
i have a hunch the sad irritable feelings
hide out in the toxic flesh

so again gosia and company
thank you for another very inspiring opportunity

love, fruitgirl

i just got a rebounder (used) yesterday ..im trying to find exercises on the net as it came with no instructions ...or do you just bounce? lol

80/10/10 while eating fruit how long should we be waiting before we start the next fruit. I been waiting a hour can I start sooner???????

thanks tadey

oooxxx,
Gosia.


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OK. So I would like to join. I am going to start with a 2 week commitment - You all know my issues with fruit. So I want to surrender and try it. And if it is whigging me out - Then go more the green route. So tomorrow - Day one. I am going to post what I eat here - For sake of accountability.

hi,
here's my first report - from Tuesday 17 (day 1) to Sunday 22 ( day 6)

exercises : about 30 minutes walking everyday, and 10 minutes yoga

food : usually no breakfast
juicy fruit at 11hrs or noon (pineapple, or mangoes, or longan)
diner : tender greens (homemade alfafa, sunflower), celery (a lot), fruits (longans), raisins, fresh dates
fat : o fat except today I had one avocado

feeling good (much better than when doing the first trial), maybe because I cut the fatty foods?

hope everyone is blissfull and happy,
Cynthia

Ok guys, so here's my first report from Tuesday 17 to Sunday 22

Exercises:
One hour rapid walking everyday and lots of cycling. I didn't manage to get round to starting the 5 Tibetans or rebounding yet.

Food:
1 to 2 litres of green smoothie each day, made with water/bananas/various greens and celery
1 large glass of juice every day, made with spinach/cucumber/celery/vennel and red pepper
As much watermelon,oranges,bananas as I wanted to eat each day and some ribs of celery.
On Tuesday and Thursday I ate a head of romana lettuce all by itself, which was a first for me. I really enjoyed the taste of it.
I also had some Deglet Nour dates. I am not sure if these are a good thing to eat or not as they are not really super fresh.
No overt fats

Supplements: E3live, Natural Cellular Defense and I put MSM in my distilled water to revitalize it. I noticed I wasn't very thirsty for water this week.

Up until Saturday evening this is what I ate and I felt great all week. I already noticed a difference. I had more energy and felt brighter/more alert and happier. I agree with you fruitgirl when you say you have a hunch the sad irritable feelings hide out in the toxic flesh.Also felt better able to deal with life and all it's little trials (read: my two boys who really are wonderful and I love them to bits but together they are a lethal combination at times I had no cravings for fat at all.

Then came Saturday evening.After working on the market all day, drinking wheatgrass juice and resisting all the raw nuts (and especially those tempting macadamia's) on our stall and eating dates instead I dropped in on the Chocolate Club. A group of friends organises these parties each month with a DJ,raw savoury/sweet snacks, a raw dinner and drinks made with goji berries, E3live and raw chocolate with things like gold added. I love these parties, there is no smoking or alcohol or drugs and it introduces a lot of people to the concept of raw food in a fun atmosphere. Anyway, when I got there my friend Iris, who makes the most delicious raw chocolate goodies and cakes, gave me a plate with some of her latest creations to try and although I was hesitant to eat them after eating so light and clean all week I didn't want to upset her by refusing. It felt ok so I had a chocolate drink with some added gold as well. All of this seemed to sit really well and I had a lovely evening. I was also pleased with myself for not eating any of the gourmet raw food there. I brought an orange and some celery instead.

Then came Sunday and I didn't feel so good anymore. I was hungover,tired and dehydrated and in the evening I had a headache. My skin looked tired and more wrinkled. I decided to eat very lightly, just a green smoothie and two oranges and went to bed early. So that's it, no more chocolate for me. Next time I'll just have water or an E3 live drink.

It's now Monday morning and I've eaten almost all of an enormous watermelon to try and get rehydrated.

Conclusions:
I'm eating mostly mono but a lot of small meals because I'm not used to eating large amounts of fruit in one sitting. I am working on that.
I thought I would get bored with eating only two or three different fruits a day but the opposite is true, I'm really enjoying my fruit meals and I feel totally satisfied on them.

I hope everyone else has had a good and fruity week. I apologize for this long and chocolaty post. If my next post gets this long as well maybe I'll start posting on the journal section of the board.

Love, francis

Week 1 Report:

I ate mostly mono meals this last week, centering around bananas, watermelon and dates.

Had overt fats twice if I remember correctly, in very tiny amounts. 1/2 oz pine nuts in a salad dressing one evening and a few walnuts last night - 3-4 at the most (I processed it with some cauliflower but couldn't handle more than a few bites, although it tasted good).

I think I worked out 5 times last week. 2 sessions with a trainer and a couple of other days by myself. I'm enjoying the gym thing because it pushes me harder than walking around my neighborhood. I would eventually like to work up to doing some running and other outdoorsy things that are more than just walking, which I already did a lot of and still do. I'd also like to change up my routines by doing different classes my gym provides, once or twice a week. Hip hop sounds fabulous to me, as well as cycling.

Over all, I feel good. Simple feels good. My skin seems to have cleared up a tremendous amount in the last 2 weeks. Today I looked at myself in the gym, under tons of very bright lights, and I have to say I was shocked at how clear (unusual) and smooth (even more unusual) my face is looking. I feel that this has something to do with having very few overt fats, as well as eating lots of mono, simple meals.

One thing diet wise I would like to improve, is that I would like to get back to eating more greens. I was craving greens a lot for the first couple of months
but this slacked off in the last month. I haven't noticed a huge difference in how I feel, leaving them out often - but I understand intellectually that my body needs them. I don't feel that a month of not very many greens is going to harm me, but would like to keep in mind as I keep going, that I should work up to eating them more regularly.

How did everyone else do your first week?

Sarah
[goingbananasblog.com]

Hey everybody! Hope everyone is doing well. Visit my website at www.rawnaturel.com My company encourages eating fruit. Perfect for the 12 week transformation. I have some good fruit recipes on it. I think everyone will like it. You can also see my children who are about 90% fruitarian.

I wanted to check in for the week. It was an emotional ride for me. I dealt with cravings and caffeine headaches. I have focused mostly on my diet this week. A week ago Sunday I took a little slide down some stairs and was a bit sore for a while. So I didn't get into much exercising this week. Tonight I am headed to the gym and my dh and I have that all figured out now so we can both go to the gym each night after he gets off work and it can benefit our whole family!

I did well with my food intake this week and I have found that writing it down and keeping my blog and supportive friends close has been a HUGE help! I am so thankful for this 12 week support group!

This weekend when my dh and I took our kiddos to the beach and we were eating out at all my old favorite sea food restaurants I really thought about posting here and not wanting to let myself down. I hope that all of you find this forum as inspirational! This whole week I had fruit for breakfast and lunch and fruit and veggies for dinner -on Saturday night I had 2 TBS of sunflower seeds with my salad at night. But other than that I had only fruit and veggies.

12 weeks is enough time for all of us to make big changes in our lives and it is awesome that we can do it together!

Rawnaturel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey everybody! Hope everyone is doing well. Visit
> my website at www.rawnaturel.com My company
> encourages eating fruit. Perfect for the 12 week
> transformation. I have some good fruit recipes on
> it. I think everyone will like it. You can also
> see my children who are about 90% fruitarian.


great website ! i love the job titles...

Hello my dearest raw foodies!!
I have been really really busy the last two weeks with dental school preparations, so I haven't had time to post, but now I have some time!! First some photo updates!!

FRONT (not quite sure if I see much of a difference)


SIDE (oooo, my little belly is smaller! I noted that when I lay down, it seems like I have no body fat. Perhaps this is just skin?)


PROBLEM AREA (I really want to tone these parts up)







My height is 174 cms (5'8''), I weigh 62-63 kilos (lost 4 pounds since last time) and my measurements otherwise are as follows:
neck 30.5 cm - 12 inches
bust 86 cm - 34 inches
waist 66 cm - 26 inches -lost 1 cm
abdomen 85 cm - 33.5 inches -lost 2 cm
hips 90 cm - 35.5 inches !! (the same)
upper thigh 53.0 cm - 21 inches !! -lost 0.5 cm
calv (at the biggest part) 35 cm - 13.8 inches - lost 1 cm
upper arm 26 cm - 10 inches

SO I lost 4.5 cms (almost 2 inches) on my entire body in 2 weeks! Not too bad, I'd say, since I haven't been eating too terribly well.

My average eating per day:
3 fruit smoothie in the morning
4 cups of salad with half a red pepper and half a yellow pepper, and a tomato, and a fruit for lunch
cup of coffee with soy cream and honey, some sesame seed crackers (not raw) for a snack
zucchini pasta with 2 tomatos and 12 dried tomatoes blended in a sauce with either parsley, dates and garlic, or some taco seasoning for taco flavoured sauce, and 5-8 huge green olives

I have been going nuts on the sesame seed crackers cos I am worried about my calcium intake I think. Lots of fat in that though... :s Anyway, I lost a bit of weight, almost 5 pounds, in 2 weeks, but I have having my period now and usually I am heavier when this happens, so... I am not sure what my weight "really" is, if you know what I mean...

Today is mono-food-sunday! I have decided that on sundays, I am going to try to have a mono-fruit day. Today I chose oranges as my fruit!! So it will be a very orange day for me.

Hope everything is going well for you guys!! Keep me updated!!

xxPeisi

ladies you are doing amazing all of you!!! keep up the tremendous awesome great job!!! i wish i could join you...but i am currenntly still healing my type 1 diabetes..and i can't have unlimited fruit yet...although i do have fruit i can't go into a straight fruitarian TYPE lifestyle..i have to stick wit a lot of greens right now..cuz my body requires more shots when i don't haha...but as soon as i am healed you better believe i will be doing as much fruit as my body will allow and least amount of greens i love fruits!!! so enjoy it all of you and keep up the good work...and knw i am herei n spirit with you!!
love earthangel
xoxoxoxxoxoxox

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

I just wanted to say how much I enjoy reading this thread and the one it followed from. I am trying out the high fruit low fat diet and I usually make it about 3 days straight and then my body decides it wants fat so on the fourth day I just let it do what it wants and I probably end up eating 50% fat or more (I am scared to put my food into a nutrient calculator on those days!). Having a cheat day actually keeps me wanting to stick to my diet, but I am hoping it is just a transition issue. I would also love to join in on the exercise trial, but I don't feel right about taking on too much change at once. (Although I feel that on "good" days I do want to naturally be more active, I am not pushing myself on this just yet.) So I just wanted to say that I find these threads inspirational - even if I feel somewhat 'behind' you guys. It's like you guys are my big sisters and brothers and I know that one day I'll get to do what you can do.

Peisi your tummy looks like its flatter in the second pic .. in commparrison to the first shot

my body fat seems to come an go in certain order lol .. first to my thighs, butt, hips, back, stomach then chest ... then i lose fat in that reverse order lol

I'm in
I'm gonna make this awesome!

Peisi you are looking great!

Where is everybody else?

I'm doing okay, having some trouble with my teeth (totally unrelated to diet) that I've been fasting on and off for a couple of days to try to help...

Still eating mostly mono meals, lots of bananas and melon and mangos.

Worked out only 2x this week because my tooth problem toward the end of the week, but hope to get back on track next week.

Annex, you can do this! We're not "ahead" of you, we're just in a different place in our journey maybe? Keep on keeping on, and you will probably find yourself thinking about taking further steps like more exercise or low fat before you know it!

Earthangel, good luck with the diabetes! I'm sure raw will help you quickly.

Sarah
[goingbananasblog.com]

Hi guys,
I'm in! (Better late than never, right?!) Here's what I ate today:

smoothie:
1 orange
1/2 mango
1 banana
1 large collard green

7 dates

2 bananas + 2 ribs of celery

applesauce:
1 small apple
a handful of dried apple rings
2 T tahini
2 T lemon juice
handfull raisins
pinch of cinnamon

My dinner will be:
8 oz. carrot juice

1 C cherry tomatoes
1/2 avocado
1 sliced red pepper
lemon juice

My late evening snack will be:
2-3 figs

I know I had too much fat today (avocado AND tahini), but yesterday I was really good and had almost none, and now that I'm getting the hang of it I'm sure tomorrow I'll keep it to a minimum. Since making a more consistent effort to put greens in my diet throughout the day, I'm noticing I'm not getting hungry (!!!!) and I can manage what I eat a lot better-- I can eat a small meal and I'm satisfied. Yay!

Exercise:
Today I walked about 1/2 mile to 3 different stores and back home
and
I worked out for a hour at the gym:
-- 21 min., stepper
-- ab machine - 15 super-slow reps
-- 21 reps each of the 5 Tibetan rites (Tibetan yoga)
-- 15 min., rowing machine

Sharrhan:


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I am around, I've got to find some time to write a post ha ha!

Gosia


RawGosia channel
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Record of my trial so far:

Week 0:

Re-examined my goals. Asked myself what I really wanted.

Looked my fear in the eye and discovered that I wanted to be free.

Totally filp-flopped on the diet. I needed that to regain my sense of freedom. Tried all sort of foods, from juices to SAD. Made a full circle and got back to where I wanted to be.

I enrolled in the gym. Went to the weights room, looked at the machines and went straight back where I came from ha ha.

Booked a session with a trainer. Met her. Had troubles remembering the names and locations of all the machines in my exercise program. Wondered how I will go next week.

Made an exercise plan: swimming on Sundays, biking and weights during week.

Haven't told my husband anything about the 12-week trial. I figured out that if he notices any changes, that will be the sign that something is working! Also, I resented the possibility of him acting as my consciousness.

Nurtured myself. Allowed myself to go through all emotions, including feeling down, without condemning myself for it.

My motivations peaked towards the end of the week.

Got a couple of fitness magazines and read inspirational stories. Wondered a little about the diets in those. What do YOU think about those meat-based "healthy" diets? And, why do these ladies look so good on it? And, can they be really healthy??? I wonder, how will this 12-week trial compare to them? This remains to be seen.

Did 10 laps at the pool, 25m each. This, compared to 6 last time and 0 always before that, is SOMETHING!

My Week 1 started today.


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Hi guys,
It's good to read all your posts. This thread really helps me to take my low fat intake serious.
So, the end of the second week.

Exercise:
1 hour brisk walk every day, loads of brisk cycling.Still didn't start tibetans or rebounding but will have more time next week to fit them into my day.

Food:
At least 2 liters of green smoothie a day.Usually water/bananas/leafy greens
One green juice (cucumber/celery/fennel/red pepper/spinach) a day
As many bananas and oranges as I feel like each day
Some pineapple and a pomelo and a few apples
Celery and lettuce and lambs lettuce eaten by itself
No overt fats at all
Some days too many dates

Observations:
I'm still eating a lot of meals and am eating too late in the evening.I'm eating to many dates because they help to give me that "heavy" feeling so instead of going for the nuts and avocado's I am now eating dates when I'm feeling emotionally unbalanced. I'll try and work on this next week, it's the only thing I'm eating that doesn't make me feel good.

I don't find it hard at all to not eat fats and I'm amazed at how much I'm enjoying eating things like celery, lettuce and lambs lettuce just by itself. I also really wanted to have greens in smoothies this week. One combination I particularly liked was water/bananas/leafy greens and arugula. I just can't get enough of this one. Having said that I don't think green smoothies will be a part of my diet for ever. Eating mono feels best but at the moment green smoothies are an easy way to increase my calory (bananas) and greens intake.

I haven't noticed much difference when I look at myself in the mirror except for the skin on my face which looked much older for a few days and then recovered a bit. Still waiting for some magical transformation

I have much more energy, spring cleaned my entire house this week, got rid of loads of old stuff and only slept on average for about 4 to 5 hours because I had some deadlines to meet.

I'm feeling grounded and happy in myself, more patient and going with the flow. I feel more in touch with my inner/higher self. I don't worry about being late or in the wrong place anymore, I am where I'm supposed to be and timekeeping is becoming effortless.

I am becoming more sensitive to other people's energy, both positive and negative, which was a bit scary at first.

I'm finding it harder to live in a smelly, dusty city and am craving some fresh air.

I had dinner with some friends today. They all ate gourmet raw and I had a plate with some celery, an apple and some lettuce. It was lovely to all eat together and be social.Thought: monkeys eat together in social groups but they each pick their own food to suit their own needs.

Wishing you all a good third week.
Love, Francis

My week 2 was one of trial. I ate cooked food two different days this week. I gave in to bread and it got a hold on me for a couple of days. I didn't eat a huge amount but...with that first bite of bread other cooked foods followed...ugh...

I did however re-assess myself and had a pep talk of sorts I did my pro's and con's... I do want this!!!!

Most of the week I ate mono meals of grapes, watermelon or a combo meal of strawberries and oranges which I LOVE. Instead of completely kicking myself over my slip up I must move forward or else I will send myself in a cycle and I really do WANT this, so I am pushing forward.

As far as physical activity goes. My DH and I purchased a stroller that allows us to walk long distances with both of our kiddos aboard - we are currently training to walk a marathon in October. Also I did get signed up at the gym (finally)... I didn't make it to the gym all week but I am dedicated to get there this week!!!

So for me I hit some bumps along the road but I am trucking along...

i am in with you girls!

reading about everyone getting into regular excercise, etc...is so amazing! you are all so wonderful, feeding your bodies beautiful pure foods and making them work hard. i wish everyone the best... i am completely sincere in sending my joy to you!

for me, excercise is not the issue...usually i am training full time in circus arts, though right now i am just training around 4 hrs/day, spending time running, juggling, stretching/acrobatics, and working on handbalancing. i am going to start swimming again soon

my goals are more food related: i am trying to transition to near 100% raw while keeping my hard earned muscle. i have been transitioning slowly to date so as not to mess myself up, and so far, so good. i am gaining muscle and feeling better all the time. so i will focus more on the food logging!

these are from a couple months ago but i haven't changed: i still want to burn some fat though my body fat is pretty low...i am surrounded by athletes all day so there's pressure there!






as you can see i am pretty muscular....which i don't like as much but i do like being strong! and i need to keep my strength!

today i had:

a canteloupe

then i ran for 45 mins and then stretched for an hour...

then i had green tea leaves blended with sunflower seeds, dates, spirulina and ice. delicious!

later on, 2 bananas...

right now i'm having a massive salad, like a whole container of mixed greens and a cucumber and two carrots, with a dressing made from an orange and half an avo with garlic and soy sauce.

later on...probably more fruits and more nuts.

glad to join you all! you rawk!

Hi everybuggy!

Today is day 2 of the 'great transformation':

I had----

smoothie:
1 orange, 1/3 mango, banana, 1-1/2 C spinach

2 bananas + 2 celery stalks

1/2 apple + 2 figs

applesauce: 1T tahaini + 2T lemon juice + 2 small apples + a few dried apple rings + a handful of rasins & a dash of cinnamon

7 dates + 1 banana + 1 stalk of celery

salad:
1/2 red pepper, sliced + 15 cherry tomatoes + 3/4 small avocado + 1 T lemon juice

6 dates

Later tonight I'll have 8-10 oz. of carrot juice.

Exercise: I walked 2 miles outside in the glorious sun and mild weather. Tonight I'll do the 'five Tibetans' and possibly some qigong.

Same effect today as yesterday and the day before: feeling really in control of my hunger, with steady, strong energy all day long. I'll have to check my carb/protein/fat levels on Fitday.com. Should probably have had the pepper and tomato without avo, but what fun would that have been? ;-p I know I'll figure it out and get it right before too long.

Sharrhan:


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Cool photos, bronwynsun!


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I've noticed that since I added more greens to my diet and cut back on the fat a little bit (no more Lara bars!!), and I'm eating almost exclusively fruits and vegetable fruits I've been having very vivid, colorful dreams that I remember almost completely upon awaking. This hasn't been the case for awhile, so I'm wondering if there's a connection-- probably!

Also I'm feeling more centered and grounded. It could be partly due to the beautiful weather we're finally having, but I think it's also definitelydue to the dietary changes.

Why didn't I eat enough greens before? I think I was so freaked out by the increase in food prices locally of late that I was sabotaging myself and not buying enough of the foods I needed and I was scrimping on greens, which I deemed to be way over-priced. I would go into the stores and usually have a little mini-panic attack about food prices-- heightened by the fact that I have to buy totally different stuff for my husband, so we really need quite a bit of food. At some point I snapped out of it and realized, "Hey, get a grip!" and I started buying a lot more produce, including spinach and celery and other greens.

Oranges cost about $1.10 a piece here-- isn't that ridiculous? Not even organic. Organic ones can run anywhere from $1.50 - $2.00 a piece. I would love to eat a lot of them, but right now I just have a couple a day. (Whine!)

Sharrhan:


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I had another good day with the 'more greens, less fat' emphasis, but I confess I'm not up to posting all of the particulars, and will probably only do so sporadically from here on in. Might get someone to take some pics at some point--my bod has shrunken a little bit, I think.

Sharrhan:


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