Day 82 (Monday): Renewed Commitment

Today I decided that I want to step up my commitment a bit more to this way of eating/living/being. My goal in a year's time is to be eating 85% raw foods and to have shed all my excess weight. So, come Day 365 we'll see if I hit my target. I will have, I know.

By "stepping up my commitment" I mean loving my body more every day. It may sound sort of self-obsessed, but for me it's anything BUT. For years I gave very little thought to my appearance, to caring consistently for my body in a loving way. That has changed. It seems the spiritual changes had to come first, than the emotional, and now the physical. Some people get healthy in a different order ... for me it's followed that progression. One might think spiritual and emotional healing would be more difficult than physical, but for me it's not the case. Loving my BODY ... that's been and continues to be the biggest challenge! But it is amazingly rewarding.

I decided that tonight when I get home I'll write something on what loving my body actually means to me. (This blog is for ME mainly -- it's my help tool to get where I want to be, health-wise; so I'll do what I think I need to do to stay motivated and psyched to reach my goals. I may keep it personal and just read it daily to stay on track, or if I feel like posting it, I'll put it in a future blog entry.)

Today for breakfast I had a banana (on the train coming into work); for lunch I had a really lovely spinach salad to which I added some cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and diced yellow summer squash. I had a few thin cheezy toasts that came with the salad too. Right now I'm a bit hungry ... as it's 6:45 p.m. and I'm heading out of the office. My plan to get home early did not materialize ... so my walking tonight will be from here to the train station -- about 14 blocks.

Today I've highlighted a page from Kate Woods' website, "Raw Living" describing the benefits of one of the "super foods" I added to my fruit drink on Saturday, something called maca. I discovered it in a little shop in the East Village about six months ago. It's harvested in Peru.

"Maca"

Off to the train.

Days 80 and 81 (Saturday & Sunday): The Decluttering Continues

This weekend was pretty mellow (my life is very simple these days; not doing a whole lot of socializing or visiting). Lately, I'm more inclined to putter around on the weekends and continue my decluttering projects -- sorting books, papers, files, photos, housewares, linens, clothing, etc. I have stuff to sort through as I anticipate a move to a new apartment in the Fall. Saturday and Sunday I ate fairly well -- the only thing I'd do differently is avoid the kamut crackers in the future. I don't think any kind of flour -- even if it is kamut -- does my body too much good.

Saturday morning I made a delicious peach, raspberry and banana smoothie, to which I added a tablespoon of bee pollen, maca, and coconut oil. For lunch I had some raisins and almonds and then some crackers w/ a walnut/string bean pate. For dinner I had zucchini "pasta" with fresh raw marinara sauce with diced mushrooms and yellow peppers on top.

Sunday morning I had some sliced apples with cinnamon sprinkled on top. For lunch I had a large cucumber salad (w/ lemon, spices and olive oil dressing) and about 10 kamut crackers, plain. For dinner I had yellow summer squash "pasta" with raw marinara sauce with a little grated romano cheese on top and some diced zucchini and red pepper.

All in all it was a good "mostly raw" weekend, so I'm happy. (Oops. just remembered, I had two of Danny's home-made chocolate-chip cookies late last night!) Still, I'm pleased with my progress on the "mostly living foods" front.

Day 79 (Friday): Really Glad It's Friday!

I don't know if it's the weather ... or if it's because I'm happily anticipating my vacation to England coming up in August ... but I'm finding myself increasingly more and more "restless" these days about having to come to WORK every day! (Kinda like when kids get impatient about some fun thing they know is coming up.) Anyway, that's how I'm feeling lately.

Today so far has been like I'd never even HEARD of "raw food eating"! The only thing raw I ate was a nectarine! But I heard a wonderful quote today that I'm adopting as a mantra for myself when it comes to this whole transition time that I'm in regarding healthy living: It was liberating. It's from David Wolfe. He said, "This is what I'm into: I EAT WHAT I WANT, WHEN I WANT, WITH WHOM I WANT, WHERE I WANT, AS MUCH AS I WANT, ANY TIME OF THE DAY OR NIGHT, WITHOUT GUILT, FEAR, OR SHAME!" Isn't that the best?! Love it. The key words being guilt/fear/shame. Those three have been a deadly trio in my life. No more.

For website of the day, I thought I'd highlight a recipe page from a website I like called "From SAD to RAW." Michelle has a ton of very simple raw food recipes and links at the end to other people's recipe pages as well. It's extensive.

From SAD to RAW Recipe Page

Well, that's it for today.

Days 77 & 78 (Wednesday & Thursday): Sleep, Water, Exercise ... and Bionic Burgers!

Yesterday and today were just "okay" days. Nothing ultra healthy ... and nothing ultra yucky. I'm really seeing that the more I eat living food, the less I want processed foods AND the opposite is true as well: The more I eat any processed foods, the less I eat living foods. :-( In this overall "getting healthy again" mode that I'm presently in, I'm realizing there are other things besides just eating healthier food that I need to do faithfully to have the results I want.

Things like sleeping longer ... drinking more water each day ... and getting enough physical exercise.

What has struck me in the last couple of days is this: It took several years for me to MENTALLY get to the place where I realized I was worth treating myself better emotionally. And so my thinking about myself drastically changed. (I stopped the "beating-myself-up" tapes within my mind.) Now I'm in the place of learning to love my PHYSICAL body the same way I've learned to love the inner me, and I'm finding the challenge difficult. The changes are not happening as quickly as I'd like. They're happening, but at a snail's pace, it seems! So it's time to see what I can do differently.

Just as I took the initiative to THINK differently about myself to overcome years of holding a poisoned self-image (based on lies), now I need to love my physical body the same way. And love takes action. Those actions go beyond just eating better! They include things like sleep, hydration, and exercise. It's not easy changing on several fronts simultaneously, but little by little it's happening. My habits in those three areas so far have been only sporadic (cause I've been more focused on the FOOD)... some days diligent, some days laxadasical (walking, but not every day, going to bed way too late, forgetting to drink water to the point I get parched) -- all of which don't help me get in the shape I want to be in again!

As I've recently been reminded by something I read -- all three of these areas contribute greatly to one's body chemistry getting rebalanced and glands, etc., functioning correctly (like thyroid) and proper functioning of the pancreas, liver and kidneys. Sleep, exercise and water are so important, that if they're neglected, they can really impede one's overall health.

So for the next week, I've set some goals in these areas:

1. Bed by 10:00 p.m. - Getting 8 hours sleep rather than 5-1/2 or 6!

2. Awake by 6:00, out the door walking or biking for 30-45 minutes.

3. Home from work by 7:30 p.m., out the door walking or biking for 30-45 minutes.

4. Drinking 6-8 glasses of water each day

I want to become RELIGOUS about this. I was religious for a LOT of years. Now let's see if I still have it in me. I'll report back next Friday as to how it went. Getting my bod to catch up with my mind ISN'T easy! But it's going to be worth it.

And now to the "video of the day" ... which points up the scary truth about LIVING food vs. dead stuff. Check it out below.

The Burger Museum!

It flows along with my theory that Americans are being conditioned more and more to like poisoned foods (i.e., genetically modified, chemically "enhanced" to retain "freshness," blah, blah, blah), and then when they are eaten, they have no idea just how insidious and far-reaching is the damage the foods are doing to the cells of their bodies.

The bottom line is that the food has ceased to BE food. (There are well over 30 chemicals that McDonalds adds to its meat. It's why it doesn't break down and rot, even after years of sitting out, just exposed to normal temperatures.) What that kind of "food" does to the chemistry within our bodies can only be bad news. I've got a thyroid on the mend as a result of eating years of "American" food.

Day 76 (Tuesday): Using a Dehydrater

Watch Karen Knowler's demonstration videos (she's the "Raw Food Coach") as she uses a dehydrater to make the following recipes:

Flax Seed Crackers

"Fried" Mushrooms

I've not used my new dehydrater yet ... as it takes up a lot of space, and I thought I'd be moving within the next month, so I kept it boxed up. Now I won't be moving until Autumn, so I may just unpack it again and try some recipes.

Today has been a note-worthy day food-wise (well, at least to me). It's hydrotherapy day, so I made sure to start off the day all raw: Had an avocado w/ lime juice for breakfast; then got a greens juice on my way to work and sipped that all morning (kale, parsley, cucumber, celery, 1/2 of a green apple and two chunks of raw beet -- delicious!) For lunch I had a really pretty salad in the cafeteria (romaine and mesclun greens, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, diced yellow squash, some chick peas and diced hard-boiled egg w/ olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing, along with about 3/4 of a cup of pasta salad w/ diced carrot and celery). Late afternoon I had three mini-scones w/ some butter, as I found myself very hungry and it's all the caffe had to offer that looked appealing.

One thing that seems to be showing up repeatedly -- and so I need to look at it seriously and see if there isn't something significant to it -- is that whenever I eat any kind of white flour product AT ALL ... it seems to trigger a desire for more of the same. I'm wondering if the craving for the scones didn't come from having the pasta salad at lunch w/ the regular raw salad? This is something that's happened now about three or four times that I consciously recall. I think my body is telling me something: And it's that it cannot compromise ... or else it will trigger a desire for less-than-optimal food, nutrition-wise. It's hard to accept, as I think "Well, people should be able to eat SOME bread now and again."

But here's the kicker -- ancient "breads" were actually made from sprouted grains and then baked in the sun (the ancient Essenes were apparently some of the healthiest people on earth). Sprouted means the bread had life in it. The denatured white flour that makes up 90% of all bread products today is as dead as a door nail. Yet I still WANT it. At a crossroads here. I either pass on it entirely, or have it occasionally and then deal with the unhealthy cravings that come along with it, cravings that aren't worth it if it means I eat more of the same. I'm feeling kinda like a drug addict about starches, really. Refined starches (white flour, all breads (unless sprouted), pastas, rices, grains (if unsprouted) ALL turn to sugar in the body, and nearly ALL of our bodies are addicted to sugar! There you have it. Therein lies the craving.

Refined starches, then, to MY body are drugs. Period. Now I need to figure out what I'll do with this new insight. Seems a no-brainer.

On a whole other note, I came across this video today ...

Free Hugs

It grew on me -- just to see people connecting spontaneously in kindness -- well, what can I say, it touches me. (So many of us are walled cities unto ourselves ... no wonder people go to war at the drop of a hat, with loved ones AND with total strangers)! I love how it "disarmed" people as they started to just let the idea in. I liked the spontaneous smiles it evoked. Call me sentimental, I don't care ... I love that this guy just stepped out of the box and did something daring, different and sort of goofy (but endearing). He changed the dance step midst the carved-in-stone mindset of "That's just not done."

Catch free hugs in other places ...

Free Hugs in Korea

Free Hugs in Amsterdam

Free Hugs in Tel Aviv

Free Hugs in China

Free Hugs in Hollywood

Well, here's to hugging and eating well! One is loving our bodies from the outside in, and the other is loving our bodies from the inside out.

Days 73-75 (Saturday, Sunday & Monday): Doing Great!

This weekend was a bit wobbly -- as far as eating an abundance of raw foods. Saturday was spent at my niece's place who always manages to cook the most amazing things. This day was no exception. She made coconut shrimp, spinach dip with home-made pita chips, spanish rice and steak fajitas. My sister made a terrific salad to round off the meal. I had a little of everything (except the beef) and a few too many shrimp. I had a glass of vino and some dessert too. For my evening meal, I just had an avecado with some sesame seeds.

Sunday I did much better in terms of raw food. I had a coupla handfuls of almonds and raisens and some fruit for breakfast. I had some quinoa and tabouli salad for lunch, and some kamut crackers and egg-salad for dinner, along with some "chiken liver" pate (which was really made out of walnuts, string beans and something else, can't remember)!

Today, I started off with some fresh organic cherries and a half of a peach and a half of a nectarine (saving the other halves for an afternoon snack). I'm off to lunch now -- hopefully will find something good on the cafe salad bar.

The one consistently good thing I've done since I began this raw food experiment is to avoid chicken and beef entirely. I'd like to do the same for baked breads in the next weeks ahead. Little by little, I'd like to eat less and less of the foods that have little or no vitamins, minerals and enzymes.

Well, I'm back from lunch ... and enjoyed it a lot. I had a caesar salad (minus any croutons) with added cherry tomatoes and some fresh zucchini slices. I had a Larabar (a raw fruit/nut bar) for a "chaser."

Today I thought I'd post a video lecture on the health dangers of eating genetically-modified foods.

What the Heck Are You Eating? (Part 1)

What the Heck Are You Eating? (Part 2)

In Europe the people took to the streets in protest, and were successful in blocking legislation that would allow their foods to be genetically tampered with. Not so here in the USA. It's time we became aware of how pervasive are the food industry's efforts to make millions at our expense.

Day 72 (Friday): Good day to start a weekend

For some reason, I'm quite thrilled it's Friday today. Just sick of office work, I suppose.

Well, today I decided to have my cooked meal in the morning. I had a buttered roll at the train station, and about mid-morning had a mini-quiche (the size of my palm) and a half slice of pecan-topped French toast ... with no syrup. All quite yummy. For lunch my friend took me out to her favorite salad place; except for a bit too much olive oil/vinegar dressing, it was delicious.

I'm about to head out for home and for dinner will have whatever I can rustle up from the fridge.

Today's website is one of my favorites, Rhios Raw Energy:

Rhio's RawfoodInfo.com

Despite humidity and possible rain in the forecast for tomorrow, I'm planning to attend my niece's daughter's softball game about an hour's drive north of me at 10:30 a.m. I'm looking forward to it -- as I don't get to see my sister and niece & family very often.

Off to the train :-)