Day 15 Raw Food Challenge

 

I lasted about 7 days on raw foods. There are several reasons for this. One, the prep time in the kitchen was eating into my time working on my PhD. I know some raw foodists say “just cut stuff up and eat it.” I did not find this to be the case for me. Secondly, my hands and feet were always cold and my body was craving hot soup. While I certainly appreciate the many health benefits of raw foods, perhaps this is not the time in my life. I can certainly see myself going vegan in 2010 and 80% raw. So that is now my goal.

I will continue blogging with health and wellness information as I come across information in my readings.

Thanks for your support.

Day 5

I'm freakin STARVING!!!!

"Every time you consume factory-farmed chicken, beef, veal, pork, eggs, or dairy, you are eating antibiotics, pesticides, steroids, and hormones." - Skinny Bitch

Recent studies have shown that weight gain is related to the consumption of hormones from eating farm raised animals and is also linked to early puberty. Chicken is linked to colon cancer. Yikes!!

Day 3 Raw Food Challenge

Breakfast

Green Smoothie – Not sure what the heck I threw in there at o-dark thirty!! Spinach for sure and assorted fruits…

Snack

Raw Revolution Bar…yummy!! Coconut/Chocolate today.http://www.rawindulgence.com/

These bars are the bomb but a bit high in calories…about 160 for the Coconut/Chocolate but I love them. I get mine a Whole Foods.

Lunch

Lunch today was a raw fruit roll-up with Avocado, Pineapple, Carrots, and some sort of greens…I got that at Whole Foods too.

Dinner

Dinner tonight was a smoothie with everything in it but the kitchen sink. I mean we’re talking spinach, blackberries, apple, banana, strawberries, kiwi, raw cacao, flax seed, dates and water. I have some left over for tomorrow so I don’t have to fumble around in the dark.

Physical Self

I’ve had some friends ask me how I feel physically. I didn’t really notice a change until today. Without getting graphic on you, my bathroom activities have become more frequent. I also feel like I have more energy and I haven’t really been hungry which is a mystery to me because I’m ALWAYS hungry!!! I hope that stays the same.

A couple of down sides I’ve noticed about going raw is the prep time involved and the cost of groceries. Yikes!! It’s also tough eating out. I wasn’t really a big bread person so I don’t miss that. Fish tacos…another story.

No exercise today. I was out with Tess looking at flooring for my house (Bamboo) and downloading cool software like Dragon Naturally Speaking, Nitro and a learning how to speak Spanish program.

http://www.nuance.com/talk/

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Day 1 30 Day Raw Challenge

Breakfast

Okay! So..I started out the morning with a green smoothie with spinach, a banana, strawberries, raw cocao powder, a date and flax seed.

Snack

Raw Revolution organic live food bar - Cashew & Agave Nectar Yum!!
These can be found at Whole Foods or online at www.rawindulgence.com

Lunch

Spinach salad with tomatoes, pine nuts and dried cranberries. Follow Your Heart vegan honey mustard salad dressing.

Evening Snack

An Apple

Fruit is a complex carb. Carbs are made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They provide energy to our bodies in the form of glucose. There are simple carbs and complex carbs. Simple carbs are crap! These provide our bodies with quick energy and are made up of sugar and are found in white, processed foods such as cookies, cakes, flour, white pasta, white rice, etc.
Complex carbs provide long-lasting energy and are comprised of starch and fiber.
Fruit supplies our bodies with fiber, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, and cancer-fighting tannins and flavonoids oh and water. Fruit hydrates the body and aids in cleansing, detoxifying, and eliminating.

Exercise

I went to Yoga by Olga here in Vegas. It's and hour and a half of gentle yoga but feels anything BUT gentle to my un-flexible body!! I felt like a pretzel but I love Olga's class. She studied in India and is the best here in the Valley. Yoga by Olga's number if you're local is 702-735-3135


Dinner

Dinner was Mac & Cheese!! A yummy raw version of the old classic comfort food. The cheese sauce is made from Cashews that were soaked for 2 hours and the noodles are made from yellow squash. I heated it up for 2 hours (while I was in yoga) in the dehydrator.Certain nuts need to be soaked in water in order to release enzyme inhibitors. Enzymes prevents the nuts from sprouting prematurely but are hard on our digestive systems. Soaking nuts in warm water neutralize enzyme inhibitors and help encourage the productive of beneficial enzymes.

Also, let me mention DRINK WATER!! The rule of thumb is half your body weight in water EVERY DAY!! And I don't mean SODA!! Don't even get me started on nasty ass soda!! The book Skinny Bitch calls soda liquid Satan. I agree. Soda is full of sugar which makes you fat. Cancer is also attracted to sugar. Diet soda is no better. It contains Aspartame which has been blamed for arrthritis, birth defects, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer's, lupus, MS, and diabetes. A better alternative is organic caffeine-free tea.
Tea is known for it's anti-aging and antibacterial qualities and is known for fighting cancer, fighting allergies, and lowering blood pressure. GET OFF CAFFEINE!! YOU DON'T NEED IT!! Caffeine can cause headaches, digestive problems, irritation of the stomach and bladder, peptic ulcers, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Gee, sounds like something I want to drink! NOT!! If you think you NEED it to wake up, WAKE UP!! You don't NEED anything!! Try taking a shower!!!
According to Skinny Bitch, coffee equals fat cells.It also makes your breath smell like ass! Coffee beans are grown with chemical pesticides such as D-D-7 which has been banned in the U.S. but is still used in other pparts of the world including where coffee beans come from!! So, you're starting your day with poison. Yippee!!

Starting Date

Hi!
I will be starting my 30 day raw food challenge January 4th, 2010. I invite anyone who wants to embark on this challenge with me. Raw foods are those that are vegan, un-cooked, un-processed organic foods that can be dehydrated up to 105 degrees. Studies have shown that foods cooked lose valuable nutrients. 105 still alive!!
I'm doing this challenge because I want to document daily changes to my body in the form of weight loss, hair, skin, nails, focus and to see what happens! I'm leaning toward my dissertaion on the effects of raw foods and diabetes so I thought I'd experiment with myself. (no, I don't have diabetes).
So, if you want to join in on the fun, post to my blog or just follow me and support me!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_foodism