May 2010: day two

what I ate

almond milk and strawberry shake

raw pecan and buckwheat snacks

cheese and non-wheat crackers

steamed asparagus and baby new potatoes

apple juice, cider

verdict

not the most balanced diet today, but it's Sunday, so I'll let myself off. During the week, though, it's definitely a case of "must try harder". Letting myself get hungry so I don't eat what I intended is a pattern to break.

May 2010: day one

what I ate

whole canteloupe

coffee with rice milk (treat)

coleslaw and butterhead lettuce (all raw)

2 vegan chocolate truffles (treat)

raw (dehydrated) buckwheat nibbles

mouthful of crisps from YummyHubby

baked sweet potatoes and salad

glass of wine

verdict

No juices or smoothies today for practical reasons, but otherwise a good food day compared to, well, pick any weekend day in the past few months!

This is a food diary for my reference.

May 2010: back on the wagon

Goodness. It's been a whole year. There's a story in there, but it'll take a while to tell and right now is not the time to tell it. It's complicated, it spins out in all directions and I've tried to tame it, but it's unwieldy. I'll have to spend time organising my thoughts before I post them here.

So for now, this stands as an introduction to the food diary I'll be posting for reference for when I'm somewhere along the path and need to remind myself.

The regime:

For the past few days I've added in extra fruit, swapped cooked dinner for raw and tried very hard (succeeded so far!) to avoid snacks.

For the next few weeks I'm on a high-raw regime, loose enough that it doesn't restrict me and make it feel too hard to stick to, but with some guidelines to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Daily intake:

fresh juice

green smoothie

whole fruit

raw lunch and raw dinner

Treats: coffee with non-dairy milk, dried fruit/nuts to snack on, glass of wine with dinner.

Restrictions: No wheat. Minimal dairy.

Allowances: comfort food and cooked food, such as baked sweet potato or homemade soup, couple of times a week at most.

Upgrade: replace meals with green smoothies.

I intend to "upgrade" after a week perhaps, then again a week or so later, until I've cut right back, got all wheat, dairy and coffee out of my system.

Why blog?

One of the reasons I've written this down and put it out there is to have some accountability. I've tried to take on this regime several times in the past few months and it's failed. I've had one too many treats and allowed the cooked food on my plate to take over the raw. I've looked at the juicer and the thought of cleaning it afterwards makes me turn away from making juice. I've got home to a fridge of uninspiring vegetables and preferred to cook them with some olive oil and garlic. Whatever my hidden reasons (and reams has already been written on why we fail to stick to a raw diet) it's just no good. I can't keep doing this. So, written down, in a dusty corner of the Internet, is my commitment. You can call me on it.

Why bother?

I'm at my best on a raw diet. Eating cooked food - and a generally healthier diet than most - I get ill frequently. Then I get fed up of being ill. Then I do this, go back to raw food. Seems like a never-ending cycle. My dream is to stick to a mostly raw diet for a year, because I think if I can make it through winter, family crises and holidays then I've got past most of the hurdles. And if I can do it for a whole year, I can do it for many years. And the thought of being slim, fit, healthy, glowing, full of energy - which is what I would achieve after a year on raw food - is such a huge shining light of a goal.

RawFu: day twelve (incorporating newbie notes!)

newbie notes: define your boundaries

Today's newbie notes are based on one of the most fabulous tools I've ever been given. This is a Karen Knowler special. Karen taught me this technique just before I was due to go on a week-long business trip, where I was unsure how much control I would have over when, where and with whom I'd be eating. So, as preparation for the unknown, she taught me this 'boundaries' trick.

I've since adapted it to suit me, so I'm presenting my adaptation here.

Define what you eat in three broad groups. Group one is what you want to eat, stuff you know is good for you, you like and want to eat abundantly. Group two are things which you are happy to eat in moderation. Perhaps you're trying not to eat too much fat, so you could put nuts, olives, avocado, salad dressings in this category. And the third group are things which you will try to avoid unless circumstances are difficult. Put in here your lesser trigger foods, comfort foods and so on - anything you'd rather not eat, but will allow yourself a little of if push comes to shove. Everything else belongs outside the three groups and is absolutely off limits. So all those things that leave you craving more (like if munching on one biscuit will lead to you demolishing the entire packet) and will undermine your hard work are firmly stuck in this no-go area. Obviously, for me, this was more about when I don't have an option to eat from my first/second group, which food should I choose to eat and which to steer clear of from my third group. It still requires a level of willpower, but if you allow some foods into the third group then you don't have to put yourself through a guilt trip when faced with a difficult choice. Just don't trick yourself into thinking you don't have a choice when you do. If your choice comes down to anything off a fast food menu, then remember that a banana, an apple and a glass of water will keep you going for a couple of hours until you get chance to make something more satsifying. A salad with a creamy dressing is still closer to your goals than an all-out pasta alfredo extravaganza.

Draw big concentric circles on a piece of paper, each one representing one of your groups, fill it out and stick it somewhere you can see it. Then thank Karen Knowler!

RawFu: day ten

First 10-day mini-challenge challenged and defeated. Take that!

It's been fairly easy so far. I've been 100% raw most days, but I have had some of our lovely homegrown potatoes alongside my salad, and a bit of cooked here and there over the weekend, But that's ok. It feels very much under control.

Detox has subsided a little so I'm looking forward to enjoying the "high raw high" next week.

I've given up on posting what I eat everyday, mostly because I'm just not inspired to write every day and I know a food diary is definitely useful but I'm just not up for it right now.

However, I do have a list of 'newbie notes' up my sleeve that I will share as I think these are useful. Some of them are posted over at RawFu already but since the network is closed to non-members I think it's only fair to post them here for the whole wide world to access.

newbie note: supplement, substitute, subtract

While you're still starting out on your journey I think this is some of the best advice you can get. It still helps me when I fall off the wagon.

So, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. Three simple steps. SUPPLEMENT first, then SUBSTITUTE, finally SUBTRACT.

So, first, while you're finding your way, just eat more raw foods along with your regular diet. You supplement with extra raw fruits and veggies. That's it. In practical terms that means adding a salad to your usual dinner.

Next, substitute. As you notice you get more attracted to the raw food, or you make a conscious decision to increase your raw food, then you can start to substitute cooked food with raw. Choose a raw soup instead of your regular dinner. Swap that "I'm tired and don't want to cook" pizza with a quick and easy green smoothie. Or, make your side salad into a main meal salad and don't have the chicken/quiche/pasta or whatever you would normally have.

Later on in your journey you can start to cut out specific foods. I cut out wheat and dairy first, as I'm gluten intolerant and it's a big trigger food for me. I am not 100% vegan, I've been veggie for years and the only dairy I have is cheese and live yogurt, but as I get on my raw wagon I try to avoid all dairy products because I know that's better for me. Then cut out your other cooked dishes and unhealthy habits one by one. No more coffee this week. Next week kick the tortilla chips habit. The week after face down your Ben & Jerry's addiction. And so on.

Then slowly build up to 100% (or whatever your chosen % is) raw vegan from there. Take it easy. You'll get there.

RawFu: day six

Apart from being tired and headachey, oh and a bit of backache and... oh ok, so I think I've hit detox. But I'm mostly upbeat and feeling good in between the crappy bits. I'm definitely having deja vu here! How many times have I done this now? Maybe this time I really will stick to it. Lord knows I've learnt enough theory to be able to stick to it.

Over the past few days I've settled into 100% raw. I find that anything less than 100% raw doesn't work for me. It's very much all or nothing for me to stick at it. There are some things I can eat without cravings coming back to tempt me, and others I need to avoid. So today's homemade lemon poppyseed muffins in the kitchen at work I knew would be my downfall. I could cut a tiny piece of... but I know I'd be pulled back throughout the day and end up clearing the plate. So, I repeated the mantra "Cravings are only temporary" and distracted myself as best I could.

And that brings me to:

newbie note: what's your poison?

Toxins are interesting things. As you detoxify you'll find that you crave certain things. You'll feel a pull towards the food toxin that is currently leaving your system. For me it's wheat, the big trigger. And like all addictions, the 3 day rule works here. If you go cold turkey you will get over the addiction and you won't be pulled back to your trigger food as if you really needed it, often accompanied by a slew of emotional connotations. But if I was tempted by and gave in to, ooh, say a tiny slice of pizza, I'd crave it again for another 3 days while the wheat stuck around in my system, and trying to get me to have more as the effects start to wear off, like the drug it is.

So, my advice? Find out what your trigger foods are and then, if you must treat yourself from time to time, make sure you leave at least 3 days between each treat. That way the addiction won't settle back in and you can stay in control. Hurray!

RawFu: day three

I had planned on spending the day at the allotment but as I was on my way home from grocery shopping after breakfast the heavens opened, so I took that as a sign, and have spent the rest of today pretty much locked in the kitchen. But we've got yummy dinner ready and waiting plus I have a ton of stuff prepped for during the week. Things like grated carrot, sliced red cabbage and other bits that are easy to throw together for a fast lunch salad and a few treats for breakfast or evening dessert too.

I am feeling a bit tired and achey, but I don't know if that's just from last week's sleep deprivation or if I'm heading for a bit of detox. I doubt it's detox as I haven't been eating considerably cleaner than usual. In fact, with all this weekend's kitchen goings on, I've eaten lots more rich, nut-based food than I usually do.

So today, I have mostly eaten...

am:

fruit salad with cookies (made these up on the fly: used almond pulp leftover from making milk, added honey, vanilla, cacao nibs, dried mixed berries and dehydrated overnight)

apple

pm:

lunch was same as last night's dinner. Using up leftovers when they're that tasty is no hardship.

snack: cookies, juice of an orange

coleslaw with sweetcorn, ginger-orange-sesame dressing; courgette hummus and cashew crackers; warm peach pie with coconut-mango ice cream (pie adapted from a recipe in this summer's Get Fresh! magazine, ice cream was totally made up)

Found a lovely tea in the supermarket today. It's green honeybush, which is a herb from Cape Province in South Africa. It's mixed with a blend of flowers and is light and refreshing, and tastes of flowers and honey. Yummy.

newbie notes

I still struggle to stay raw, I'm not claiming I know everything, but there are a few things I've learned and can pass on to those who have just discovered raw. So when I think of something, I'll post it here.

today's top tip: drink more water. 

Drink a pint, at least, when you first get up, and at least another 3 throughout the day. Don't drink large quantities just before or after you eat, do it between meals. This helps keep you hydrated and flush out toxins which will be leaving their homes in your fat cells and making their way into your bloodstream. You want them out as fast as possible, so keep things moving with plenty of liquids.

There are raw foodists who say because of the quantity of water you consume via fruits and vegetables on a plant-based diet that you shouldn't need to drink much water. I recognise that the quality of water locked in a cucumber, say, is far superior to that in your filter jug or transported half way around the world in a plastic bottle, but when you have toxins to rid yourself of, you need to supplement food-sourced water with drinking water. If you eat a lot of nuts or dehydrated foods, again, you'll need more water. Unless you're living off watermelon, you'll need water.

And, regardless, I still think you should drink more water, however water-rich your diet is. But that's just my opinion. Make your own mind up once you've done your research.

RawFu: day two

Neighbours. Who'd have them? Our upstairs neighbours came in late and, it seemed, drunk, and woke me up. I was extremely unimpressed. Between that and waking up early, probably from the birdsong, I feel a bit groggy this morning.

am:

fruit salad - mango, nectarine, banana, blackcurrants and ground cardamom

handful almonds - soaked, marinaded, dehydrated yummy things

pm:

big salad with homegrown lettuce and tomatoes, olives, seeds, spring onions

blonde macaroon, chocolate truffle

burritos - Ani Phyo's taco filling with corn salsa in romaine wraps

I spent the morning catching up on all the online activity I don't seem to have time to keep up with during the week these days. Then I hit the kitchen and got my uncook on. YummyHubby had to go into work so I was on my own, with my cooking music blasting out. I made coconut-mango ice cream, crusts for peach tart for tomorrow. Cashew crackers/Crazy Bread and Kale chips. Berry choc chip cookies. Plus the "taco meat" and fixings for dinner. Phew!

Staying raw is easy if you regularly ring the changes and up the ante. Having yummy gourmet food a couple of times a week means it's ok to live off salad, coleslaw, green smoothies and more salad for the rest of the time. That's what I've found, so I'm keeping it in mind.

RawFu: day one

Wow, that took me by surprise.

Yes, I knew it was on its way, I signed up, didn't I? But here already? I'm a bit disorganised.

Bunny left a lovely video message on the RawFu site last night. She's so excited, it's wonderful. There are over 1000 people registered to join in which is amazing considering this happened pretty much all by word of mouth and in less than a month.

It's going to be fun!

Here's day one's intake. Spot the not-so-deliberate mistake...

am:
juice - apple, carrot, beetroot and ginger
green smoothie - spinach, fat hen (lambsquarters), nectarines, banana, cacao, maca
1 piece raw chocolate

pm:
salad - red cabbage, mixed greens, sweetcorn, peppers, tomatoes, onion, seed mix, honey & mustard dressing

2 apples

3 pieces raw chocolate
sir fry - tofu, sprouted mixed pulses, shredded veggies, egg noodles, sesame oil, tamari, garlic, ginger, spices

raw and non-raw ice cream

Due to a software malfunction we had cooked food for dinner tonight. It was intended as the last supper, and a peace offering for YummyHubby who's going to be getting bored of salad for the next 100 days. But my shopping and food planning software (ie: my head) crashed. No biggie. Tomorrow's another day.

It looks like the RawFu site has been closed again (so it's like Facebook, if you're not a member you can't see anything) so I'll cross post here from my blogs on there. Today I set up my overall goals and my first mini-goal. We have ten-day challenges, which I think is a great idea. It's much more "one day at a time" when you chop it up like that.

Overall goals:
lose 25 pounds (12 of which have snuck on since I finished my juicefeast)
stick to as near to 100% raw vegan as I can, with cooked food, dairy and alcohol permitted on special occasions
more juices, preferably green

First 10 day goals:
have a juice every other day

make interesting dinner salads so YummyHubby doesn't get too bored

 One day at a time, you can achieve anything. True story.

tools

Despite cooked dinner on Thursday, as we were out straight from work (YummyHubby was in a race) I managed to get back onto my smoothie and raw salad lunch the next day with no problems. Hurray!

Though I had a fair bit of cooked or not-so-ideal food over the weekend, once again, today it's back to green smoothie and juice before noon and big salad for lunch. I find by about Thursday things destabilise. The foods I'd prepared, or started dehydrating, during the previous weekend have run out and I don't have that 'off the top of my head' idea. Suddenly eating out/take away sounds like a good idea. So I've taken to leaving a couple of raw recipe books around the place so I can find inspiration easily.

I'm also following the sage advice of many raw food coaches and Deb's comment a few posts back: choose raw for the next meal. If that fails then let it go and try again next time. This is such a simple but effective tool. It pushes guilt out of the equation and brings a practical approach in.

I also did Karen Knowler's questionnaire at the weekend, also featured in the latest edition of Get Fresh! magazine. It's so helpful. Go try it out: What do you need to believe?

So that's 3 things added to my toolbox:
1: keep inspiration at hand
2: make the best choice you can *this* time
3: understand your motivation

it's all good

xxx

PS: yes, I've made an effort to capitalise. Whatever next, no smileys? ;)

raw ninja madness

i've been watching the trials and tribulations of bunny berry for a couple of months now. she committed to 100 days of raw food, in search of better health and weight loss, and has been doing daily videos and blog posts. she's entertaining and it's a breath of fresh air to see a raw food newbie rather than hear the stories of now-established figures recounting the struggles of their past, so definitely worth watching out for her. she's decided once she finishes this challenge in about ten days from now she'll have a break and start again in august, and she's invited us - her viewers - to join in. so i have. she's set up a social network on ning, and as i'm already registered there for give it to me raw, the global juice feast and so on, i thought ah, go on then. it's currently a closed network, but hopefully bunny's going to open it up, so that when you click on the badge you will actually get to see my profile :)

View my page on Raw Fu

back on the wagon: day 3

wednesday 9 july

here are the recipes i promised you. 

cashew crackers aka crazy bread (requires dehydrator)

1 red pepper

1/3 cup cashews

2 teaspoons minced onion, chives and garlic

pinch salt

pinch paprika

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

blend everything together in the food processor until smooth. spread onto a teflex sheet to about 6" square. score with your spatula to make the shapes you want. dehydrate overnight then remove teflex sheet and flip over. they should be light and crispy in time for dinner!

this is a small quantity recipe, we ate the lot for dinner, they were so yummy fresh out of the dehydrator.  next time i'll make double the quantity. i made 6 crackers and piled pate on top for dinner, but you could score them into triangles to use as snacking 'tortilla chips' too.

find the original recipe over at carmella's raw freedom community.

karen knowler's carrot almond pate

2 large carrots

2 cups almonds

1/2 cup coarsely chopped red onion

1/4 cup lemon juice

pinch sea salt

water

my tweaks: i swapped a few almonds for some sunflower seeds and i added a few drops of bragg's liquid aminos. next time i'll soak the almonds first and possibly add a little oil to improve the texture.

as there was too much for just us two to use up without getting bored of pate, i rolled some spoonfuls into little balls and stuck them in the dehydrator overnight and took them to work to have as a side to my lunch. that worked very well!

today i was hungry again by the time i was leaving work. need to take something to snack on in the late afternoon, so that i don't get home and eat too much before dinner. but i'm doing well. i signed up for bunny berry's 100 day raw food challenge, too. that should be fun. what a crazy lady!

today i had:

water, tea

green smoothie

salad with sprouts, chopped veggies, lemon, honey, mustard dressing & carrot-almond balls

more tea

larabar

fresh pressed orange juice

coconut macaroon

edamame - not raw, steamed, salted beans

kale salad

carrot-almond pate balls (as in recipe above)

it's all good.

back on the wagon: day 2

tuesday 8 july - what a difference a day makes

feeling better already. wheat-belly subsiding, head clearer. 

today i had:

morning water and tea as usual

green smoothie

3 strawberries

salad with sprouts, grated carrot, tomatoes, seeds, homegrown lettuce, peppers, lemon dressing

2 chunks conscious chocolate with superfoods

more tea

handful candied almonds and teriyaki almonds fresh from the dehydrator

small kale-avo salad, carrot-almond pate and 'crazy bread'

glass red wine from same bottle as yesterday

i was very  hungry when i got home, hence the act of eating nuts straight from the dehydrator. but that's better than reaching for the cookie jar, right? 

the 'crazy bread' might have to be rechristened as the name is prompting lots of questions! i'll write up my version of the recipe, and the carrot-almond pate tomorrow. both were very nice and the 'crazy bread' once i've adjusted the recipe a little, will be a fabulous quick and easy standby.

two days in a row of 100% raw success. yeah, baby!

back on the wagon: day 1

monday 7 july

to make life easy in terms of prep time and yumminess factor, to help me stay focussed on the goal of getting to the weekend with only raw food inside me, i'm going for the smoothie and salad combo. fast, easy to clean up and i don't know about you, but green smoothies fill me up so i don't need treats or snacks. also to help me out, i'm fessing up to my daily intake right here. so, quick and tasty food is the carrot. publishing what i ate to the world is the stick.

today i had:

2 pints water

green tea

1 pint of green smoothie with banana, spinach, nectarines, plums and apricots, maca and cacao

1 salad of lentil sprouts, lettuce, pepper, spring onion, tomatoes, lemon-oil-mustard dressing

green tea

bliss bombs

handful nuts off the dehydrator tray

mixed salad with carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, spring onion, seeds, lemon-sesame-honey dressing

kale-avocado salad

glass red wine

the smoothie kept me going until lunchtime, so no picking or temptation to go and buy non-food. i also didn't have time to go via any shops on the way to work, so temptation was kept at bay. i find if i'm picking up bits for lunch i'm tempted by other things. i might intend to buy raw ingredients for a salad but i can leave the shop with a couscous or pasta salad instead. or as well.

i was hungry when i got home, hence the nut snacking. i'll write up the recipes tomorrow for my yummy concoctions. i try to use seeds more than nuts, for the good stuff they contain and to avoid too much fat. almonds are my top nut for nutritional reasons. and them and cashews are the only ones i can get which are guaranteed raw. as much as i adore pecans, they're most likely heated when they're shelled, so i recognise that they count as a healthy snack compared to, say, non-raw, non-vegan chocolate cake, but they contain cooked fat, and are therefore not optimal nutritionally. the wine, well, it's red, vegan, fairtrade and organic, so you're not going to get me giult-tripping on that one. i know some people don't think alcohol should be part of a raw diet, and i can see their reasoning for it and respect their decision. but i'm happy with a glass of red wine now and again, and if i fancy one, i have it. i do find i'm not attracted to it when i stick to a high-raw diet for long periods of time, so one day i might stop. but through a natural desire, not because i forced myself.

after dinner i made some 'crazy bread' as part of tomorrow's dinner. i'm not entirely sure where i got the energy from, but i think determination to succeed in my mini-challenge might have played a part. i'll let you know how the bread turns out. it was super quick and easy to make, so if it's tasty then it will be a winner!

the 'bliss bombs' are from the health food shop and you can find out about them here: pulsin.co.uk

day one has gone by without hiccups, hurray!