Keep it up

Day 5 of the 30 Day Raw Food Challenge

It's amazing how foods can make you feel. I honestly do feel better. I feel more rested and more energetic. Today I wasn't hungry hardly at all. When I got home from work and realized I'd only consumed several hundred calories, I loaded up on some dry fruit.


Breakfast-1 Lara bar, 75 cal

Snack-Apple slices, 80 cal

Lunch-Spinach, bell peppers, avocado 20, 20 150 cal

Snack-orange, 55 cal
dried dates and apricots 270

Dinner- Spaghetti Squash with basil, pesto olive oil sauce, 25 cal, 100 cal

Grand total of: 795

I will probably eat a bowl of fruit or a lara bar before I go to sleep.

So, technically, I cheated with the Spaghetti Squash. :) But, I don't think I ever said I was going for 100% raw. I did cook the squash on a lower temperature for a longer amount of time. But that's the only thing I've had to eat that'd been cooked since I started. And, I LOVE spaghetti squash. It has such a good, buttery flavor...and 23 calories for 1/2 c. You can't beat that! If I was eating meat, I would make meat sauce with ground turkey and tomato sauce. It's delicious. Even Andrew & my dad like it! They can be picky.

5 Days Down, 25 to go!

Day 4

Snow Day!

Today was a snow day, but there was really more ice than snow. Andrew & I didn't do anything today! We stayed in bed and watched movies most of the day. It was great! Andrew still wasn't feeling well, so we didn't do the Insanity work out. But, I rode my exercise bike for 30 minutes and that felt good.

I've been so surprised by the amount of energy I have! I think I've been able to think more clearly as well. I've felt really great. I haven't experienced any detox symptoms. But, like I said before, my body was used to eating healthy. However, I don't think I've ever gone a week without any meat or fish. So far that hasn't effected me!

26 Days Remaining

Breakfast- 1 small banana 55 cal

Oatmeal and dried fruit 175 cal

Snack- black berries 30 cal

Lunch- Spinach salad with almonds, dates, pineapple and dried cranberries 210, 55, 20, 40

Snack- fudge baby 55 cal

Dinner- black berries, pineapple and banana 80, 55 cal

Aprox. Total: 890

Day 3

Today I have felt well. Still, amazingly, without coffee! I made spaghetti and meat sauce for Andrew tonight. It smelled great, but I wasn't even tempted to taste it. I think it makes it easier when you are just fixing meals for two people. I think if we had a family it would be more difficult to follow.

No workout this morning, Andrew wasn't feeling well, so I slept another hour. It was great! My weight is the same as it was yesterday, so no change there.

Breakfast- small orange, small banana 55 cal, 60 cal

Snack-2 apples 130 cal

Lunch- banana and orange (I was really busy at lunch today) 55, 60 cal

Snack- guacamole, red, yellow, green and orange peppers 120 cal

Dinner- mushroom soup (see recipe below) 55 cal

Snack- 1/4 walnuts, 1/3 crainrasins 180, 130 cal.

Which brings me to a grand total of: aprox. 845 calories

That doesn't seem like a lot, but I am so full! I might have a bowl of fruit later. :) The recipe for mushroom soup is going to sound really nasty. But, surprisingly, it was good. I found it on a raw foods website and there were actually many variations. This is what I did. It made 2 servings.

• 1 1/2 c. mushrooms
• 1 c. light almond milk
• garlic to taste

Blend in magic bullet and enjoy! It sounds gross. But, the texture was actually very creamy and it was very filling and low in calories. Some of the recipes called for onions, almond butter or cashew butter and even nuts. This will be something I'll make again. Now technically, you aren't supposed to heat it, but it would be good heated. I must be honest, I zapped mine in the microwave for a few seconds. :)

Happy Eating!

Little Steps

I lost three pounds! I know it's probably just water weight, but that made a good start to the morning. Andrew & I did Insanity again this morning. It was a hard workout, but again, I felt better afterwards.

This morning I tried a new recipe. Raw flax "oatmeal." It's not really oatmeal, but has a similar consistency, and it was really good!

Day 2 of the 30 Day Raw Food Challenge

Woke up at 5:00.

Weight Lost: 3 pounds

Breakfast: Raw "Flax Oatmeal" See recipe below 174 calories

Snack: 1 small banana 55 cal

black berries 40 cal

Lunch: salad with spinach, peppers (red, yellow, green, orange), avocado and salsa 160 cal

Snack: 1 small orange 50 cal

raw peanuts 155 cal

Dinner: Large bowl of fruit (grapes, pineapple, ban, apples and black berries) 70, 40, 55, 70, 60 cal.

Aprox. total for the day: 1,029

RAW OATMEAL RECIPE

* 2 SERVINGS

• 2 APPLES
• 1 BANANA
• 2 TB GROUND FLAX
• 2 TB CINNAMON
• WATER (ABOUT 1/4 C. DEPENDING ON HOW THICK YOU LIKE)

THE RECIPE SAID TO PEAL THE APPLES, BUT I DIDN'T. I CHOPPED THE FRUIT INTO SMALLER PIECES AND PUT ALL THE INGREDIENTS IN MY MAGIC BULLET. BLEND AND ENJOY! *YOU CAN TOP WITH NUTS AND DRIED FRUIT, WHICH WOULD BE GOOD TOO!

How I've felt...

I've felt really good. I've had more energy. Today it was a lot easier for me to get out of bed. Again, no coffee this morning...which is shocking! Andrew used to bring me a cup of coffee when I was in bed and I had to drink it before I could even get up! Sad, but true. 5AM comes early!!! I get full really quick from all of the fiber in the raw foods, especially from my meals at lunch. But then 2-3 hours later I will start getting hungry. Eating that regularly will help keep my energy and metabolism up though. I haven't found anywhere online how many calories I should be eating on this diet. But, I don't know if I could eat anymore than what I am eating because the foods make me feel SO full. I need to be careful with eating too many nuts, because they are high in calories. I know they are important though because that's my biggest source of protein on this diet. RAW FOODS... I definitely can do this! One of my student's Grandma brought me a $50 groupon to 105 degrees! I'm excited to use it.

Here we go!

Day 1 of the 30 day Raw Food Challenge

And 29 days remaining

This morning when I got on the scale, I was not very happy. Mostly because, I've been exercising every day and eating healthy and the number on the scale has gone up. I don't have a lot of weight that I want to lose, but regardless, I'm hesitant to share. Maybe I'll post my starting weight and progress further into the process. So anyway, here's how today went:

Andrew & I woke up at 5:30 and did the Cardio Power & Resistance Insanity workout. It was tough, but I felt better afterwards. We are about three weeks into the 60 day Insanity program. One of my hesitations with going raw was giving up coffee. I usually have between 2-4 cups of coffee a day. Sometimes 5. Most of the research I've done says no coffee. Today, surprisingly, i went without and was fine! I think if I limit it to one cup though, that would be okay. I am trying to eat 5-6 small meals a day.

Meal Amount Aprox. Calories Time I Ate

Breakfast- Lara bar, grapes 1, 2 bunches 83, 140 7:00

Snack- orange, banana 1 of each 70, 55 9:15

Lunch-Salad loaded with large salad 145 12:15

raw vegetables, balsamic vinger

Snack-dried bananas, 2 160 3:00

bananas 2 110 3:30

Dinner- Salad, raw veg., large 40, 85, 25 6:30

avacado and salsa

Snack- dry fruit and nuts 2 tbs. 150 8:00

Total calories for the day: 913

Results: I feel GREAT. I haven't had a headache all day. I haven't felt extremely hungry. I've felt very full after I've eaten. Making dinner for Andrew was hard because I wanted to take a bite of his meat, but I didn't. I think I can do this...

I'll let you know how tomorrow goes! :)

Ready...Set...Go...RAW!

I just enjoyed a delicious homemade meal. Pork tenderloin, asparagus and a baked potato. Tomorrow starts my 30 day Raw food challenge. The plan: To eat at least 75% raw foods each day. No meat. No dairy. No gluten. My meals will consist of unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, beans and dried fruit.

Why you ask? The Raw Food Diet is believed to have many benefits: increased energy, improved skin appearance, better digestion, reduced risk of illness (cancer, heart issues, arthritis, diabetes), weight loss and better overall health.

The research: The research shows that you get more nutrients from foods when they aren't cooked. Also, the acid that is found in many foods (as well as stress and toxins) keep our blood from absorbing enough oxygen, causing us to get sick. If our pH is too high or too low, we don't feel well, we feel tried, gain weight, have poor digestion and get aches and pains more easily. The sad news: Most people in the US are too acidic. Thus, we have cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

By eating raw alkaline foods and drinks, we can achieve better overall health. Alkaline foods include: vegetables (especially raw leafy greens), fresh herbs & spices (parsley, basil, cilantro, cayenne, ginger), fruits (watermelon, avocado, cucumber, young coconuts), wheat grass, sprouts (broccoli, etc.). These "living" raw foods contain enzymes that help us digest and absorb nutrients in foods.

I plan on tracking what I eat, how much I eat, calories and how I feel. Hopefully, blogging will keep me accountable!

Tonight I went to Sams Club and loaded up on veggies, fruits and nuts. I also tried some new recipes for snacks. I'll also be sharing recipes.

Home-made Lara Bars

You can buy these at the store, but they are kind of expensive. They are SUPER easy to make! I made three different kinds. There are lots of recipes online. Basically you combine any kind of nuts and dried fruit in a food processor (I used my Magic Bullet) then you press them in a pan and cut them to make the bars. After wards, I wrapped them in plastic wrap. These are the combinations I tried.

• 1/4 c. dried apricots (110 cal)
• 1/4 c. crasins (130 cal)
• 1/2 c. raw almonds (420 cal)

Put the ingredients in the food processor. Take them out. It will be really STICKY! Press down in a shallow pan and form into bars. I made 8 bars, so they are about 83 calories for one bar.

• 1/4 c. dried pitted dates (110 cal)
• 3 tbs. almonds (160 cal)

Follow the same directions. I made 6 of these, so they are about 90 calories per bar.

• 1/4 c. dried apricots (110 cal)
• 1/4 c. dried pitted dates (110 cal)
• 1/4 c. peanuts (340 cal)

This made 6 bars. So they are about 77 calories each!

Fudge Babies

If you love chocolate, you'll love these! Also, very easy to make.

• 1 c. walnuts
• 1 1/3 c. pitted dates
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3-4 tb. cocoa powder

I made 16 little squared and figured up they were about 55 calories per square.

Wish me luck! :)