On the Mend?

I'm feeling much better today after 8.5 hours of sleep last night. I swear sleep is the best medicine for me, followed closely by eating by body weight in fruit every day (which I've obviously been doing anyway). Even before I was eating raw, if I felt a cold coming on I'd eat only fruit all day and sleep 9 hours and usually the next day I'd feel fine. I am detoxing again though, as evidenced by the little white spots on my face. Thankfully you can only see them close up and they're easily covered by my wonderfully amazing Bare Minerals make-up. But I hate having skin blemishes. I can't wait for my skin to be clear and soft and perfect again! Aside from that I'm not feeling very detoxy...I don't have much energy but I'm attributing that to the cold.

So it's been over 3 weeks now of about 98% raw, since I did have that hummus twice in the past 3 weeks. I have seen some great changes and learned a lot about myself and how I view food and my body. For example, I am eating a lot. Usually this would freak me out, and because I'm so used to freaking out when I eat a lot and don't really count calories closely, I feel like I should freak out. And then I keep losing weight, feeling great and having energy to get through the work day and come home and work out. So, my mind feels like I'm doing something wrong and should be getting fat, but the results are saying the opposite. Raw foods are different than any other way of eating. I really believe most people could eat whatever they want, whenever they want it, if it's raw, and never have to worry about weight or most medical issues again. And even though I say I'm eating tons, it's hard to truly eat too much when it's mostly fruits/veggies b/c the fiber and water fill you up. When I have added up the calories, I'm usually at around 1700-2000, which for my activity level is perfectly fine. It just feels like a lot b/c I am eating such a huge volume of food!

Other changes I've seen include much softer and longer hair- it's growing like crazy and is shinier and appears healthier than it has in months- and a simple feeling of lightness. It's hard to explain. I just don't feel weighed down by anything at the moment, physically or mentally. My skin has been much less dry in the past 2 weeks, too, despite the fact that I wash tons of dishes and often get bleach water all over my hands at work. My mood continues to be positive and light most of the time. I have also realized I need A LOT of food in the morning and have been eating about 700-800 calories for breakfast to get me through til lunch. Raw foods digest so easily and I never feel overly full or heavy after this meal.

Today so far I've had a green smoothie w/ 3 bananas, frozen mango/strawberries/blueberries and tons of kale, plus 3 more bananas dipped in a little raw cacao powder. Not sure what the rest of the day will bring, but I do plan on a big salad w/ half an avocado for dinner. Doing cardio yesterday seemed to make me more congested so I'm not sure if I'll work out today...I'll update later.

MY SKINNY JEANS FIT!!!

I disappeared for a while but only b/c I've been very busy with work, and I've been sick for the past couple days so that meant going to bed early, not staying up late online! But I've still been eating raw, of course. I have been eating a ton of food and too much fat for the past 1.5 weeks now, but amazingly I'm still losing weight. My size 26 jeans fit perfectly this morning! I am really really trying to get the fat intake under control though. Probably 20-25% of my daily calories have come from fat almost every day for the past 1.5 weeks- not ok! I need to stay under 20% and ideally under 15%. I'd like to be eating according to 811 eventually. I should probably order the book to motivate me and make sure I'm doing it right.

Anyway, today & tomorrow are my days off from work so I'm concentrating on getting better, and getting chores done. The plan for today is:

-2 bananas w/ raw cacao powder, then I went back to bed for 1.5 hours
-2 more bananas w/ raw cacao and 1/2 T raw almond butter, 2 clementines, half a Lara Bar
-carrots/cauliflower w/ hummus (not raw hummus- this is the one day a week where I'll let myself have something cooked if I want it, and being sick that's all I'm craving...I hope it doesn't taste like sawdust, if it does I'll eat something else)
-green smoothie w/ the usual fruits/kale- need to get some ripe bananas, the ones I had this morning weren't ripe enough for a smoothie. Also an apple.
*upper body weights/abs/half hour power walk or sllloooow run*
-salad w/ romaine, mesclun greens, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, red peppers, vinegar. Banana w/ raw cacao. 2 more clementines.

I haven't worked out (besides work) for the past 3 days b/c I've been so sick. I never get sick eating raw...perhaps I'm detoxing all that LA smog. It's a sore throat kind of cold. Who knows. I slept for 9 hours last night and feel a little better so far today.

Too tired for titles...

Today was insane, what else is new. I am physically exhausted! I got home and just sat and didn't move for 15 minutes before I could get up and feed the cats! I'm about to go relax for an hour and then pass out, just wanted to log food first.

-4.5 bananas w/ 1 T raw almond butter & raw cacao powder! Was out of kale for a smoothie but this breakfast was equally delish.
-banana
-STARVING- no time for lunch til after 2 PM- Lara Bar, 2 bananas, 2 clementines, apple. I love that even after eating all this food I wasn't overly full and had no digestion problems.
-handful of baby carrots, then a salad w/ spinach, baby greens, carrots, red pepper & tons of tomatoes with vinegar.
-banana w/ raw almond butter & raw cacao powder, another banana plain, apple

That's a lot less calories than I burned today so I'll probably be ravenous tomorrow, but I'm stuffed right now! It's really too much fat but I can't stay away from that almond butter. I don't really care that much, as long as I'm under 20% fat I'm fine with it. I've been so cold lately that I'm craving denser foods, even though I don't think they really make me any warmer. Must be a psychological thing?

Oh, and my skinny jeans that I couldn't even button 2 weeks ago fit now! Yay! I love eating raw...

So Cold!

I am so over being insanely cold all the time! I know I complain about this every day...that's how awful it is! I literally can't wear any more clothes, I wouldn't be able to move. I can't wait til winter is over. I'll be happy to have a lower body temperature than "normal" people in summer.

Nothing new to report. I went out to lunch to my favorite cafe today and was starving when I got there and it was actually slightly tempting to get a big sandwich and vegan chocolate chip cookie. But after one look at the salad bar my head was in the right place once again. It was soooo good today- I loaded my plate full of beautiful, fresh, local veggies (and some non-local like peppers, but this place is great about getting everything possible from local farmers). Calorie-wise it wasn't enough for a meal, and I got home around 5:30 starving. I had lots of fruit and am planning on a green smoothie for dinner.

Here's the run-down:

-5 bananas, about 2 T. raw almond butter & some raw cacao powder, 2 clementines
-salad w/ kale, romaine, baby greens, sprouted lentils, raw mushrooms (so good!), carrots, broccoli, onions, red & green peppers and vinegar. Also had 2 sweet potato chunks (like maybe 1/4 of a sweet potato total)
-3 bananas, apple, 1/2 T raw almond butter
-green smoothie w/ 2 bananas, frozen mango/strawberries/blueberries, kale

That's about 1670 calories. Don't really care to figure out the fat today but it shouldn't be more than 14%... No workout, got home later than planned & it's too cold to put on shorts and go into the freezing basement. I know that sounds lame, but I'm a wimp when it comes to cold!

Raw is the way!

I had an interesting experience today where I had a taste of a friend's cooked hummus with some carrots- the same hummus I used to LOVE and eat every single day- and it tasted like sawdust. It was so strange, b/c I'd been craving hummus and cooked foods, but after that I didn't want any cooked food at all. Seems like my taste buds have changed in the past 2 weeks? Now I'm rethinking my decision to have a cooked lunch tomorrow (hummus & veggie sandwich, so partly cooked at least). If the bread and hummus is going to taste crappy and the veggies are going to be the only enjoyable part of the meal, I may as well just get the salad!

I went grocery shopping today and for some reason I have more money than usual this week, so I got more stuff that I always want but can't afford, or at least more of the usual things I buy (like 5 tomatoes instead of 3, etc). I also splurged on $13-per-jar raw almond butter. I love that stuff! I used to get it for $5.99 at Trader Joe's in California. Here, I've only bought 2 jars since I've been back b/c it's so pricey. Hopefully this jar will last a while.

Today's eats:

-3 bananas w/ raw cacao powder
-big green smoothie w/ 3 bananas, frozen strawberries/blueberries/mango, lots of kale. Half a Lara Bar.
-a couple carrots w/ hummus...then when I got home I had a banana w/ raw almond butter! And 2 really great clementines
*4-5 mile run w/ hard intervals, upper body weights & abs*
-Very excited for my usual big salad for dinner w/ romaine, mesclun greens, carrots, red pepper, cucumber, tomato, red onion & vinegar- YUM
-apple and either more clementines or a banana

That's about 1500-1540 calories, so I don't mind adding a bit to that if needed. Fat is roughly 16% which is a bit high, but I can live with it. Baby steps, right?

I am eating SO MUCH and still losing weight/body fat effortlessly. This past week I've really seen a difference. I feel so much better about my appearance and comfortable in my body. My hair also seems to have grown really quickly and it's nice and soft and strong. The only negative thing is that I'm still absolutely freezing all the time, except for when I'm running. But I can deal with that- only about 1.5 months of really bad winter weather left. And I'm out of here before next winter!

Oh, something interesting- the friend I ran into at the market (who had the hummus) recently started using the Body Bugg, a little device like a pedometer or heart rate moniter that she straps on her arm that tells her how many calories she burns, how much she takes in, etc. It seems like torture to me (eating raw and listening to your body is so much easier!) but she's found that on an average workday she burns upwards of 3500 calories for the 24-hour period! That's insane. She's a bit bigger than me but she & I have the same job at work, and that's what she burns just sleeping, working and sitting around after work- no exercise included. I always knew that my job was active, but I didn't think I burned close to 3000 calories in a day due to working! Pretty crazy, huh? Most days I literally never stop moving, so I guess I'm not too surprised. I love not having a desk job anymore! I will never go back to an office!

Ooooh the Cravings...

I am detoxing like MAD. I feel like crap, I look like crap, I'm tired as crap...basically it's just a load of crap. I know it must be done. I know I'll be better off for having gone through it. But it still sucks! Probably the worst part is the cravings. OH MAN. I could literally kill someone for some hummus on a nice, thick, warm slice of chunky brown bread right now. I need to stop thinking about it! I am stuffing my face with raw foods, eating too much raw fat, anything I can do to keep from going crazy and/or eating cooked foods.

Now, I am not against eating small amounts of healthy cooked vegan foods on rare occasions. But I don't want to just give into the cravings when my body is obviously working so hard to get some bad stuff out. I am going to lunch at my favorite cafe on Friday and will probably have some cooked food then and be fine with it. But right now I'm in battle mode, and I am NOT going to give in! I feel it's important to get through this bout of detox eating totally raw so that I'll have the confidence to get through the next one.

Raw foods haven't been looking appealing to me, which is weird. I mean sure, bananas and lara bars are ok, but they're not what I really want. I just have to get through it. I am doing this for my future and because I believe it's the best way to live to respect the Earth and follow my true path. One cooked meal won't really deter me, but it would make it much easier, in this vulnerable state, to eat another cooked meal, and then another. That's what happened last time I was eating raw. I do not want to go back to primarily cooked foods EVER again.

Food today:

-green smoothie w/ the usual fruits, kale, water. 3 bananas w/ some raw cacao powder. Half a Lara Bar. Toooooo much food.
-2 bananas, Lara Bar, apple
-2 bananas
-small bag of baby carrots, 2 bananas w/ raw cacao powder, apple, half Lara Bar (out of all my salad stuff- how sad!)

So there ya have it. It is not a good day, not by a long shot. For whatever reason the Lara Bars are hard to stay away from right now. But it's all good. It's all raw, healthy, living food. And if 2 Lara Bars were what I needed today to get through the day eating raw, then so be it!

It's my weekend!!! So I have 2 days to rest a bit and let my body do what it will. I am so exhausted, for no reason. I'm looking forward to sleeping and eating lots and lots of fruit and greens tomorrow. And possibly Lara Bars ;-)

Chocolate!!!

I can't stop eating the raw cacao! OMG it is amazing. And it's got lots of magnesium and fiber ;-)

Just a quick post today b/c I'm wiped out from work. Tomorrow's going to be completely insane, too, so I need to relax for a little while! I am still very very hungry almost all the time... Food today:

-green smoothie w/ 2 bananas, frozen mango, strawberries & blueberries, kale. I am really starting to crave these and love the taste of them even more than I already did. Also 3 more bananas w/ raw crack...I mean cacao...powder
-banana
-2 bananas, Lara bar, 2 clementines
-apple, 2 bananas- 1 w/ raw cacao powder
*ran a mile to warm up & lifted upper body weights*
-handful of baby carrots, big salad w/ the usual veggies (no avocado)
-banana w/ raw cacao, apple

That's just under 1800 calories and about 10% fat. Not bad! I think I get so hungry b/c I don't generally eat enough when I'm eating raw. I log my activities on Fitday on a regular basis- including work, workouts & sleep- and I burn an average of 2300 calories per day. Last time I was eating raw I was sitting on my butt all day and only moving during workouts, so eating very little was not a big deal. This time my lifestyle/job is very active and when I don't eat enough it really effects my mood and how fast I can do my work. I just need to listen to my body and keep reaching for the fruit!