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!

15 Below...

Freezing, that is. That was the temperature when I went outside to go to work this morning. My hands were so numb on the drive to work that it hurt. I am seriously cold-blooded, meaning my body seems to be completely unable to regulate its temperature on its own, and I am not going to be able to do another winter here in the Arctic (or Vermont). I am not sure where I'll go next or how I'll get there from here, but I decided to just focus on my current wonderful job and eating raw right now and let my mind clear out so I can follow the path the universe has in store for me. That's what got me to this point and I trust that it's right for me so far.

I almost went to see Slumdog Millionaire with some friends from work tonight- I actually stayed in "town" for an extra 2 hours after work to wait til it was time to meet them at the movies (they all live in town, I live out in the boonies!) but there was absolutely no parking anywhere near the theater! And I couldn't walk blocks & blocks in the cold, then do it again 2 hours later. So I went home! I was able to get a good run in so it was cool. And I didn't spend $10 to freeze in the dark. I can do that at home for free! I did get a salad from my favorite health food grocery after work except I put vinegar and nutritional yeast on it - what was I thinking? They really didn't go well together at all and I could only eat about half of it. It would have been good w/ just nutritional yeast maybe, but not both. I actually really liked the yeast on the broccoli that was in the salad. I'd never had it before and it has a nice, strong, somewhat cheesey flavor. I don't know if it's raw but I'd like to buy it if it is and put it on broccoli/cauliflower. Anyway I also had a banana & lara bar since dinner was kind of ruined! After that I went to a book store and read some of "12 Steps to Raw" by Victoria Boutenko. I loved the green smoothie chapter; it was really cool to see that she and her family got such great benefits, and to relate to the great energy and sense of well-being they experienced immediately upon adding green smoothies to their diets.

Here's today's food:

-green smoothie w/ 2 bananas, frozen mango/strawberries/blueberries, kale. 3 more bananas and a little raw cacao powder (it finally came in the mail last night!!)
-banana
-3 bananas, apple, 2 clementines
-some salad w/ spinach, mixed greens, green pepper (yuck but all they had), beets, raw corn, carrots, tomatoes, onions, raw mushrooms and broccoli w/ some vinegar and nutritional yeast...and a lara bar & banana
*ran 3 quick miles*
-baby carrots!
-going to have something else, banana or apple

Housecleaning

That is what I'm doing today. Both literally and figuratively. I spent the morning organizing the papers and documents that had been lying around the apartment into a filing system of sorts, picking up the clutter that had collected over the past couple weeks, and vacuuming up all the cat hair and the bits of carpet that my furbabies scratch off of their huge cat tree. I even used that little vacuum attachment that gets in all the corners and cracks. Then I cleaned the bathroom and even scrubbed out the litterboxes. My apartment is neat and tidy and I just feel so good!

My body is also doing a bit of "housecleaning" in the past 2 days. My skin had gone back to being clear and smooth but now I've got some redness and a pimple. I also had a not-period thing going on yesterday and today...I won't go into detail but something is being cleaned out of my body!

Detoxing is kind of like doing a big housecleaning in lots of ways. For many people, we let years and years of improper eating pile up inside of us, like the dust and clutter in our houses. Cleaning up becomes more and more daunting, and it's hard to even figure out where to start! And the actual cleaning is never fun, but once one part looks nice and neat you're motivated to keep going. The feeling afterwards, when you've got a clean slate to work with, is so worth the effort. But hopefully detoxing, unlike cleaning the house, won't have to be repeated every couple weeks or months ;-) All we have to do is choose to keep eating fresh, living foods and we won't have a bunch of accumulated garbage to get rid of on a regular basis!

I have noticed a few exciting changes after my first week back to 100% raw foods:

I was watching a game show called "Chain Reaction" last night w/ my sister. Contestants are given the first and last word to the chain and have to solve the words in the middle that complete the chain. For example, they are given "Big, ____, _____, _____, Freak" and then they are given the first letter to the words that complete the chain as they go (on the show the chains are longer). Each word forms a phrase or saying with the word under it. So the solution to this chain might be, Big, Shot, Gun, Control, Freak. Anyway I watched the show last Thursday night, too, and couldn't solve any of them. I was in awe of the contestants for figuring out the puzzles. Last night, however, I was on fire! I solved every single one way before the contestants, and solved some entire chains before I even had the first letters to the mystery words! My sister commented on how I'd gotten "more brain power" and I told her the only thing that was different was that this week I'd been 100% raw for 7 days! Maybe it's a coincidence but I always tend to see the big picture more and have mental clarity when I'm eating raw. No more brain fog clouding my mental power!

Another thing is the energy I have. I am never tired anymore, and just 2 weeks ago I was tired ALL THE TIME even eating a healthy, whole food-based vegan diet. I used to pass out in bed by 9 PM and go to bed at or before 10 every night. Now I go to bed later, and I'm not even tired when I turn out the lights. I have a sense of energy buzzing through my body. I am also in such a good mood even when I'm doing stuff I don't enjoy. I feel more diligent at work and more capable of getting through whatever task I'm faced with.

All after just a week! I'm so excited to see what this brings me, especially now that I'm eating more greens and getting all the crucial minerals and power that they have to offer!

I'm going out with work friends tonight but decided not to drink. I just don't feel like it, and even though the drinks would be free (it's a late holiday party type of thing) that's no reason to do something my body's telling me not to do. I am grateful to work with people who understand why I'm doing this- many are vegetarians and a couple are vegans themselves, and have expressed nothing but positive interest in my raw foods diet. I know they won't pressure me to drink or even notice what I'm drinking or not drinking! This definitely makes it less stressful. I had much more of a nightlife in Los Angeles and my friends thought I was crazy for eating raw, so I didn't listen to my body as much as I should have when I went out. I did have fun though ;-)

Food today:

-5 bananas, 2 clementines
-Lara Bar (need to buy less of these!), apple, banana
-green smoothie w/ 2 bananas, frozen mango/strawberries/blueberries, kale. Possibly another banana before I leave, too
-lemon water at the bar
-big salad w/ all of last night's veggies that I'll make before I leave so I can eat right when I get home. I'm only going to stay for an hour or so since I'm working early tomorrow morning, so I'll be home by 8:45-9:00

Exercise today: I did some yoga this morning and will run 4 miles, maybe w/ intervals, in an hour or so.

Oh, the painting is something that came up when I googled "housecleaning." It's called "House Cleaning" and it's from the Mo Gallery but I can't find the name of the artist! I thought it was pretty cool :-)

I Miss Sunshine

I really feel like I'm missing one key ingredient in my overall health: Sunshine! I got so spoiled living in California. Even in the winter I was outside nearly every day exercising and enjoying the beautiful sun. There's such a difference between a walk on the treadmill and a walk in the outdoors in fresh warm air with the sun beaming down on your skin. I am not going to last long in Vermont- already I'm planning to move next fall, but I'm not sure where I'll go. I'll need to take on a second part time job though b/c my full time job pays just enough to cover the bills and basic needs, and moving can be pretty expensive. I am such a nomad, I wish I could just sit still for a minute but I've lived in 6 places in the past 11 years and just got used to that lifestyle. For my next adventure I've got Colorado, Oregon and Arizona in mind. I've never been to Oregon or Arizona before, so that would be exciting. Colorado is just beautiful and I LOVE the mountains and evergreens and healthfulness of that state.

Today was a day off from work and I ran all my errands but didn't do much else. I wanted to go for a run (well, a treadmill run) but I feel really low energy today and ended up napping with 3 of my cats for half an hour. After that I braved my freezing basement where the exercise equipment is and power walked hills for half an hour and then lifted upper body weights & did some half-hearted abs exercises for another half hour or so. I think the cold is just making me tired. I don't feel like moving at all b/c every time I move I get colder! The high here in my neck of the woods was 0 today.

I also wanted to eat no overt fats today but ended up having a Lara Bar b/c I really felt like having some heavier food and I was sick of bananas. I was feeling guilty about not doing what I set out to do, and not running, and then I just told myself to stop it. I am eating completely raw and I exercise regularly and I'm probably one of the healthiest people on the East Coast for crying out loud! I don't need to be perfect every day, and I don't need to feel guilty about eating something raw and healthy with fat in it. That's not what this is about. It's about listening to my body and improving my life. That said, here's today's menu:


-green smoothie w/ 2 bananas, frozen mango/strawberries/blueberries, kale. Another 3 bananas.
-banana while out
-another green smoothie w/ 2.5 bananas, frozen mango/strawberries/blueberries, and kale, and the other 1/2 banana plain. Also an apple & 2 clementines
-Lara Bar
*workout*
-got stuff for a big huge salad w/ mesclun (isn't that also a drug?), romaine, cucumber, carrots, red pepper, tomatoes and vinegar! Very excited, I missed having salad yesterday! Plus a handful of baby carrots

Just green tea later, I ate a ton this afternoon.

Oh this is hilarious- the iphone JUST came to Vermont today. We had them in LA like over a year ago...gotta love living in the middle of nowhere!

Happy Friday!

Yes, I know it's technically Wednesday, but I have the next 2 days off so it feels like Friday to me!

It's been horribly cold here- low of -6 today- and tonight it's getting down to -20 to -15. I am cold enough just eating raw again, I really don't need this extra arctic chill! This post will be quick b/c I've been waiting all day to cuddle up under 5 blankets with my warm fuzzy cat children and hibernate.

But I would like to say that I have absolutely zero cooked vegan food cravings. It's really weird. I had quite a few cravings in my previous stints as a raw foodist (I also have pretty darn good will power so I didn't give in for a very long time, but then when I did all hell broke loose!). Even in the cold weather I am more than happy to much on bananas and apples while my coworkers have soups and warm breads and soy cheese pizza. Weird... I am attributing it to the sheer bulk of fruit I'm eating. I must be eating pounds & pounds of it each day! And yet my pants continue to get looser!

OK so today was:

-green smoothie w/ 2 bananas, frozen mango/strawberries/blueberries, kale. Also 2-3 bananas (don't remember) and a bite of a cocao mole Lara Bar to see if it was any good (that is definitely a no!)
-3 bananas, chocolate coconut Lara Bar, apple
-2 bananas, 4 raw cashews that my mom bought
*ran 3 miles...at 7 PM after a looong week at work...a miracle has truly occurred!*
-some baby carrots, a roma tomato, 2 clementines, an apple & a banana..random mish-mosh of stuff. I wanted plain romaine lettuce & lots of it, but had none. How sad.

That's roughly 1700 calories (more than I've had in a while!) and 13% fat. Not my best day, but not a bad day by a long shot!

Mango Blues

I loooove mangoes. They are probably my favorite food. But they have to be just perfect- the kind of taste that makes you think you are in heaven- and this time of year they might look the same as they do in summer, but they are NOT the same! I mean yeah they still taste good, but I get myself so excited over a mango in the middle of winter, and they just don't live up to my expectations. I should remember that and stop spending $2 on them (each!). I'll have to go with frozen mango in my smoothies for now and wait for the delicious, perfectly in-season mangoes to eat plain in the summer.

Anyway, I am feeling wonderful today. I have so much energy and just feel so happy and buzzing! And my clothes keep getting looser! All this after less than a week of eating 100% raw!

Food today:

-green smoothie w/ 2 bananas, frozen mango/strawberries/blueberries, kale. 2 bananas + 1 apple.
-Lara Bar, 2 bananas, 2 clementines
-banana, handful of baby carrots
-big salad w/ romaine, baby greens, carrots, red pepper, red onions, tomato, sprouts, vinegar
-mango & banana fruit salad

That's 1500 calories and about 10% total fat. Nice!

No real workout today but I didn't stop moving all day at work, as usual. Tomorrow is my "Friday!" Looking forward to 2 days off. I'm thinking of eating only fruits/veggies on those days.

Gone Bananas

I have eaten tons & tons of bananas today. Well, 9, to be exact, which is really only 1-2 more than usual, but I feel like all I ate today was bananas. I will certainly not have to worry about a potassium deficiency for a while!

I got a late start to the day b/c my alarm didn't go off this morning. I woke up over 1.5 hours late (feeling very well-rested, I might add!) but somehow managed to only be 40 mins. late for work. I grabbed tons of fruit for the day and ended up mono-mealing it for breakfast on the drive to work. Fruit has proven to be very satisfying to me throughout the day...but without fail, I am always craving veggies at dinner time!

Today ended up being very low in fat, and I think it was a good lesson to show me that 811 is definitely possible even with an active job. My blood sugar levels felt steady all day and I wasn't hungry or hyped up on fruit sugars or anything like that. The only fat I've had today was in the 2 cacao goji raw energy bites (they are like a bite-sized Lara Bar- about 4 large ones or 5 regular ones would equal one Lara Bar). So that's about 5-6 g. overt fats. Those bananas are great for replacing the nuts, seeds & oils that a lot of beginning raw foodists eat to feel full.

Here's the daily menu:

-4 bananas
-4 bananas, 2 clementines, 1 apple
-1 apple, 1 banana
-handful of baby carrots
-I'm about to make a big salad w/ romaine, kale, baby greens, red pepper, carrots, red onion, snap peas, sprouts, tomatoes & vinegar. I had this last night, too, and it's amazingly good.
-I'll have an apple or 2 clementines later on

That's about 1300 calories and 12 g. total fat, or 8% fat. Not too shabby! I would like to try to lower my fat intake to be around this level almost every day (or at least under 15%). We'll see how that goes.

I am watching the news on NBC and a story tonight is that in the USA, there are now more obese people than there are overweight people. 2 out of 3 people are overweight/obese, which is the same as it's been for a few years I guess, but more people are obese now. And 33% of children are overweight! That is really appalling, and more and more kids are ending up with obesity-related medical problems that were previously only seen in adults. We truly live toxic lives. But ain't that America...

Yesterday was 100% raw, I just had no time to post. It really feels great to be living this way again :-)

My Monday...

Today is my Monday b/c I've been working Saturday through Wednesday lately. I was shocked this morning when my alarm went off at 5:50 AM and I got right out of bed! I never do that! I didn't even realize how strange that was til I was out of bed and thought, "wow, I'm not even tired!" Crazy...those green smoothies have some sort of magic to them! I just felt really happy all day, too, singing during cleanings at work and feeling generally really good.

Today's eats:

-green smoothie w/ 2 bananas, some frozen strawberries, mango & blueberries and kale. 2 more bananas and 2 raw energy bites.
-lara bar, 2 bananas, apple
-2 more bananas
*ran a mile to warm up, then lifted upper body weights*
-big salad w/ romaine, mixed baby greens, carrots, red pepper, tomato, sprouts, fresh guacamole and some raw ACV
-apple, 2 clementines, a bite of a raw energy bite (lol)

That's 1545 calories and about 28 g. overt fats, and maybe 32-33 g. fat total including the minimal fat in bananas and other fruits (I didn't know there was any fat in these fruits until I logged them on Fitday.com when I first went raw a while ago). So, again, about 19% fat total.

I can't wait until I've been completely raw for a week, a whole month, 3 months...I just feel like the possibilities are endless on raw. I am so inspired to be a better person, all because the stuff I'm putting in my body is basically forcing me to live up to my potential. It's a pretty amazing thing to think about. This is how we are meant to live! And most people will never know.

It's way past time...

Wow, I just typed up a long post explaining where I've been and what I've been up to the past year...and my computer crashed! So I will rehash everything...

I have completely changed my life in the past year. I moved to Vermont after months and months of feeling like I was on the wrong path in Los Angeles. My family is here in VT and my main goal when deciding to move here was to get a job at my local Humane Society shelter. It is something I've been passionate about for years, and I while I was able to volunteer with rescue groups in LA, I could never have afforded to live on shelter wages in such an expensive place. I was basically sacrificing doing what I felt I was meant to do, and working at a meaningless and unfulfilling job, just to live in a place I thought would be "cool." Well it was cool, for a year. And then I was done with it! So my cats and I trekked across the country in my Jeep (they are awesome furbabies and did amazingly well- I am proud of how adjustable they are as long as they have their momma and each other!). When I got back to VT I actually had time to think about how slim my chances were for getting my dream job. First of all, the shelter almost never hires new people. Second of all, I don't have any experience! But I put those thoughts aside. And on the very first day of my job search, I discovered that my local shelter was hiring! From that day on I put every ounce of energy I had into getting that job. It took three interviews and nearly a month for them to decide b/c they had over a hundred candidates. At times I thought about how disappointed I would be if I got my hopes up, and then didn't get the job and had to take another job I didn't care about. But I put all those thoughts out of my mind. I visualized myself at the shelter working. I sent positive energy to the people I interviewed with. And nearly a month after I applied, I got my dream job!

I work hard every day. It is almost completely physical labor. We are overrun with animals. Many have been neglected, some have been abused. Almost all the dogs we have right now have serious behavioral problems. I cry often and feel hopeless about the state of animal welfare much of the time. But I love it and I would not want to do anything else. My life is full of deserving, wonderful animals who need love and good homes. I have dedicated my life to caring for them and finding them happy and healthy forever homes. Sometimes I can't believe I am actually doing what I dreamed about doing for so many years. This is just the start of it. I plan on fighting for animal rights and welfare for the rest of my life.

As far as raw food goes, I was raw for about 2 months after my last post. But due to many things, I slowly began eating cooked vegan food again. I lost a lot of weight on raw, especially after being attacked while out running in the early morning and suffering a major concussion and other injuries. When I recovered from that I began marathon training, and I believed I needed breads and cooked carbs for my running. Looking back, I really wish I had stayed raw. I did not "need" cooked food if I wanted to gain weight- I just needed my body to heal and my appetite to come back. I did not "need" grains and processed foods to run my best- I probably would have run even better eating a raw 811 diet! It is difficult for me to face how addicted I must have been to certain foods. I guess we all are at some points in our lives. At any rate, I have been led back onto the raw path and have been eating raw for a little over a week- 100% for the past 2 days, thanks to replacing my old cooked hummus with raw guacamole. Coming back to raw feels like coming back home after a long, difficult journey. It is so comforting and feels so peaceful and right for my body. I can't predict the future, but I can say with certainty that I am going to try my hardest to really think before I make future decisions about my diet, because I want to be a raw vegan for the rest of my life.

I missed blogging, even though I was never that dedicated to it. I plan on keeping up here much more often, posting my daily menus, exercise, thoughts, food pics if I ever get a camera...that kind of thing. So, to kick off the first of hopefully many raw days, here's what I ate today:

-banana
-green smoothie w/ 2 bananas, clementine, pineapple, kale; lara bar
-banana, 1 raw energy bite
-green smoothie w/ 2 bananas, frozen mango, strawberries & blueberries, kale
-tasted the raw guacamole I made w/ some carrots to dip
*ran 3.5 miles at an easy pace*
-apple before dinner if needed, then dinner will be a big salad w/ mesclun greens (isn't that also a drug?), romaine, carrots, red pepper, red onion, tomato and vinegar
-apple and/or clementines after dinner

I am going to keep fat under 20% with the goal to eventually follow 811 again. Today's food adds up to about 1300 calories and about 19% fat. I seem to go pretty low on calories when I'm eating raw, but those green smoothies really satiate me! I'm just listening to my body at this point. On a day like today, when I was off from work, I'm not constantly moving/walking so I'm usually not that hungry anyway.

That's all for now! Go eat some fruit ;-)