So the daily update thing clearly isn't working

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

I had originally wanted to post daily about my experiences but two things are preventing me: one, I don't have the time and two, my life is just not that interesting! So probably I will post once or twice a week, when the mood hits me...the last thing I need in my life is another obligation LOL....

Right now we're in East Hampton Long Island, at my mom's house. Came out last night and I went for a 4 mile run this morning and felt great. Last night, not so great...ate a small amount of cooked quinoa with some watermelon and two bananas and the combo just made my stomach freak out. Or maybe it was the cooked food? I don't know. I have been trying to lower my fat a bit, and to do that decided to eat a bit of cooked quinoa and amaranth once in a while, but I can't decide if it's working. I want to keep my fat below 20% and am using nutridiary.com to do it (great resource, and FREE!) and I have to either eat more fruit or eat a little cooked, as nuts and avos while they add calories also bring my daily fat intake WAY up. I would love to eat more fruit, but it's difficult for me to consume that much fruit without breaking the bank and frankly, getting a little grossed out. I mean, I like bananas, but 8 at a time? Not so much. And i am not much of a dehydrator girl, so I am not eating many flax chips, etc. Maybe come winter that will change, and I will be able to get more calories in that way without breaking the fat bank (or the money bank!) Anyway, just experimenting with my diet a bit to see what works for me.

In two days, the 100 day challenge starts on rawfu.com..I am so psyched! Bunny has put together a wonderful community and there are challenges and even a secret buddy (can't wait to "meet' mine!) to support you in your raw journey. If you haven't signed up, go for it!!!

That's all for now, the watermelon is calling!!!

Days 15 and 16: GO RAW baby!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Sorry I haven't been posting daily..life gets in the way, and as I find my rhythm with this raw thing, I find I gravitate towards the same meals every day: smoothie in the a.m., big salad of fruit or greens at lunch and for dinner, another huge salad with fruit. My energy was a bit low today, but i think that's because I have been having issues with a formerly good friend of mine, and I am feeling low because of it.

Thank you for the suggestions re my energy. I definitely need to sleep more; I have this fantasy that because I am raw I can sleep less, but really, for me, it's not happening. Before I went raw, I needed 8-9 hours a night (not that I got it) and now, I definitely need 8. I have to say though, the fact that I can get up and go running at the ungodly hour of 7 am is nothing short of a miracle. I am able to 'wake up' quickly, without caffeine, and get out the door, whereas for the last 20 years I have needed an hour to 'wake up'. So this is good.

I am totally off the anti-depressant meds now and there are days when i notice the difference. For me, irritability and outbursts are a big thing to learn to control. I hate getting upset with my kids, and the meds 'controlled' that in me (to a degree). Now I have to figure out another way to handle those feelings, which unfortunately are still there! Exercise helps, eating lots of greens helps, and reading books like those by Byron Katie, Haim Ginott, and Alfie Kohn help alot too. But it's a constant battle to be aware of my behaviour--I am not naturally easy going or low-key, and I wish I were for my kids' sakes. I really do. But I can't change that no matter how much I might wish to. I yam what I yam, as Popeye says.

Today, the NYT published the news that Randy Pausch had died. This really hit home for me, as I have watched his lecture numerous times and read his book as well. I just want to say he's an inspiration and left a wonderful legacy.

Okay, I want to post the link here for the video, but it seems the whole world is watching this vid so I can't access it now. Go to youtube and search for The Last Lecture.

Day 13 and 14: Eating less

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

So I don't know quite what's going on, but I am losing my appetite. This morning I didn't even want any breakfast, so I ate nothing until 12 noon, when I finally made a smoothie. Then later on I had some nuts, for lunch I had a few cups watermelon juice and for dinner I am eating a yummy zucchini squash soup (recipe below) and maybe some strawberries. Yesterday was much the same. Hmmmm. I am wondering if I am not eating enough, and therefore losing my appetite? I don't feel hungry, but then there are times that I know I need to eat because my body starts to feel lethargic. Common wisdom has it that one should eat BEFORE one gets lethargic, but I just don't seem to know when that point is. I just don't seem to WANT to eat anything, or crave anything in particular. In the beginning of this journey, I SO craved raspberries, strawberries and other fruits. So I sit here and think: "what do I want to eat?" and I don't want anything at all. I can't decide if I am "bored' by my options (as if!!!) or what. I do think a part of me is craving cooked foods; I made my kids a whole wheat couscous, chickpea and carrot dish tonight for dinner and MAN, it looked good. Anyone have any insight as to what might be going on with me?

Spicy Zucchini Squash Soup
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 garlic clove, crushed
cayenne pepper to taste
celtic sea salt
pepper
1/2 an avocado
1/4 cup walnuts
miso if desired, about 1/2 tablespoon

Mix it all up in a Blendtec. Really yummy!!!

Day 12: Better!

Monday, July 21, 2008

So today I went for a run first thing, and got a really bad stitch and couldn't finish my run. That seriously bummed me out. But I did some research and it seems that 1) I need to not start off so fast and 2) I need to "belly breathe"..so tomorrow I will try these 2 things and hopefully it won't happen again.

Other than that bad start, it was a good day. I ate a blueberry kale banana smoothie for breakfast and had two seperate salads for lunch: seems one wasn't enough. Both had lots of greens, sesame seeds, nuts, avocado, tomato, celtic sea salt, and olive oil. For dinner, I had a huge fruit salad of blueberries, bananas and cherries. Very nice indeed.

My mood improved today too. Was it great? No. But it was a helluva lot better than yesterday, and I am really thinking two things re my mood:

1) Yesterday and Saturday I did not eat as much fruit as I'd been eating before.
2) I am not sleeping as much as I should. Sleeping 7 hours, and I need 8.5 hours.

So tonight I am making up for my relatively fruit deficient diet (hey, it's impressive when 5 plums, a cup of blueberries, and 3 bananas means "not enough fruit". 6 months ago that would have been my consumption of fruit over 10 days!!!) I want to really increase my fruit intake a lot. And I am also going to be in bed with a book by 10, and lights off at 10:30 ("lights off"..doesn't that remind you of summer camp?? hee hee).

Until tomorrow, peace.

Day 12: Ergggg

Okay, so yesterday was not my best day. I woke up in a bad head space, I don't know why. Maybe I was dehydrated, or just over tired from the run. But I got into a fight straight off the bat with my husband over something seemingly minor. Of course, it didn't seem minor at the time, or I would have backed off. Basically, I was reading the newspaper, the front section (my favorite section) and one of my kids needed my help, and when I returned my husband had taken the front section and was reading it, folding it up in a crazy way that I hate...you get the drift. When I asked for it back and expressed that I wasn't happy he'd taken it when I had gotten up to help our son, he got defensive (probably my aggressive tone...ya think??) and it took off from there.

Anyway, the day didn't improve dramatically. It was okay, but not great. I felt out of sorts most of the day, and I ended up eating a couple of bites of my son's peanut butter sandwich at lunch. Not a lot, but definitely feeling yucky, defensive, down and tired contributed. I did also have a huge baby greens, avo, hemp seed, tomato and dried cranberry salad, so it wasn't all bad!

By the evening, I was feeling a bit better, and had a watermelon and pineapple juice for dinner--the heat and humidity really got tome over the course of the day and I just lost my appetite. Went to bed nice and early after scrapbooking a digital layout for an online challenge. Let's hope today goes better!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 11: Run, baby, RUN!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

<---No, this is not NYC, I just love the image! :) My 4 mile race went SO WELL. My goal was to run the race in 44 minutes; I was thinking back to the marathon I ran many years ago, and I remembered how hard it was to keep pace with so many people around me, so I was trying hard to be conservative. Since it was my first race in many years, I wanted to be sure I didn't kill myself! Anyway, I ran the race in 36:50!!! That's under 10 minutes a mile, around 9:12 a mile, which for me is great! I felt so strong the whole time, no cramps, no worries, no fatigue at all--I probably could have gone faster as I didn't feel "spent" at the end. In fact, for the rest of the day I felt just great!!! I had a big smoothie and a small cup of non-raw green tea at around 6:30 am, and then headed off for the race which started at 8:30 in Central Park. I drank some water and had a banana around 8 am, and then, we're off!!! Right after the race, I grabbed 5 plums that the race volunteers were offering--fruit is the best thing to recover with after a tough run.

Then I headed home, showered and ate a big salad of grape tomatoes and avocados and walnuts--my favorite thing ever. For dinner, I had a big salad with hemp, spinach, tomatoes, Udo's Oil, vinegar, and another 1/2 an avocado...yum! I ate it quite early, around 5 pm, and then at 7 I had a box of strawberry's with dark agave from David Wolfe's site. I went to bed around 10 pm, but really felt open and wonderful all day. This raw thing is making me feel like a new person. Like, I feel more myself: I am peeling away the onion layers of crap (both physical and emotional) that have collected over the last 38 years of my life. I find myself more reflective, able to see where I am erring in my relationships and more willing to accept responsibility for those mistakes. I am generally more calm, although I do have my moments for sure and I would so love to leave that anger behind.

Unfortunately, I got into an argument with my husband this morning; I woke up "on the wrong side of the bed" and was cranky and looking for a fight. Also unfortunately, however, my husband "took the bait" and we got into it over nothing at all. I completely accept that I was in a bad mood upon awakening and should have simply stayed out of the way for a bit until my mood shifted. Perhaps I had a bad dream that I don't recall, but I do remember being woken up by my son and feeling out of sorts, draggy and groggy.

Let this be a lesson to me: learn how to not get in people's faces when feeling shitty! Back off instead. It's my eldest son's 6th birthday today and I want him to have a wonderful day, and being pissy over stupid crap will not a great day make. As I mentioned in a prior post, I am doing The Work and last night was thinking "I feel so great, I have nobody to judge". I didn't even want to fill out the worksheet!! And now look at me. HA! Just when you think you've progressed emotionally, something happens to smack you back on your ass and you think WOW! I guess I DO have a lot of work to do!!!!!

I will post about my Day 12 tomorrow morning!! Hope everyone is enjoying their mind-expanding raw journey.

Day 10: 1/3rd of the way there....

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Note: day 10 was yesterday: I am day behind--sorry bout that!!!

Another great day yesterday, ate some of my rawbakery.com granola and fresh almond milk for breakfast. Notwithstanding the explosion that occured when I forgot to close the top of my Blendtec properly (hey, the floor needed cleaning anyway) the breakfast was great. I love the almond milk--so much better than the store bought kind! I also made a smoothie, and for lunch I had a salad with hemp seeds, tomatoes, greens, a touch of non-raw balsamic and Udo's Oil, olives, and squash. My boys, who aren't raw but are transitioning to vegan, ate squash for the very first time. I made them a veggie pizza with tomatoes, squash and cheese on a Whole Foods pizza base and they loved it!! This is worlds better than the hot dogs and chicken nuggets they were eating a mere 3 months ago. I definitely know my good eating is rubbing off on them. For dinner I had more salad and lots of blueberries and strawberries. We went to an evening showing of Space Chimps and yes, it was bad. But the boys really loved it and it's rare we take them to an evening showing as their bedtime is 7:30, so they were thrilled with the idea of getting to "stay up late". Of course, they could barely keep their eyes open towards the end!

Tomorrow is my 4 mile race and I am so excited for it. It will be my first race in years, and my first race while raw..Wish me luck!!!!!