Just Over One Week - Totally Raw!

Within one week of changing up my diet, I have noticed these things:

- nearly over my month long bout with pneumonia
(only a wee bit of lingering chest congestion, but I continue to improve everyday)
- lost 4 pounds
- complexion has smoothed out and has a dewier appearance.
- spectacular regularity (2 - 3 poops a day!)
- energy levels are higher
- no more cravings for junk foods or sweets
- needing less sleep
- mind is less foggy and I am able to focus on unpleasant household tasks
- more enthusiastic and bursts of creativity
- general feelings of hope and well-being.

My diet has consisted of fruit smoothies, green drinks and raw foods for dinner. Last night I had shrimp ceviche and a marvelous salad. Night before last, I had zucchini angel hair pasta with arrabiata sauce and pistachio pesto.

I am not hungry or feeling deprived at all. I am not really exercising yet, but I plan to include a simple plan of daily walking and yoga to complete the plan.

Sunday - Day of Rest, HA!

Yesterday I went to Wild Oats to revamp my pantry. As a raw food backslider in preceding months, I have allowed my supply of staples to dwindle away to nothing. I was flabbergasted by how much I spent....just over $300!! Good Lord, Jesus! Yes, I went overboard in some respects, but I plan on entertaining this coming week and exposing a few of my friends to what raw food is really all about. My usual grocery bill, when raw, is much less.

So, right now I have this beautiful display of bowls sitting around my kitchen.....soaking nuts of all kinds and dates. I have dusted off my dehydrator in preparation to make Real Food's famous raw granola. That was the best selling item I had when I sold my food at our Wednesday farmer's market here in Tulsa. I will also be making spicy corn chips (my personal fave) and a decadent raw cacao ganache.

One last thing that is worth sharing before I close this post......my husband noticed last night that my face has changed. He commented that since I have returned to my raw diet, it's like my face has become more defined and less puffy. I guess I didn't even realize that my face had become swollen. Processed foods, meats and dairy products will certainly do that to a person. It is still hard to believe that a noticeable difference could happen in less than 1 week on raw foods. I've noticed other very encouraging changes too, but in my opinion, it takes a couple of weeks to really start to FEEL the amazing bursts of energy and SEE the change in the appearance of one's skin that begins to occur when super-hydrated and re-mineralized. Everyday is a new day and an opportunity to move closer to the body, mind and spirit that was intended for us.

Life since Monday

Yes.....this past Monday, I started eating exclusively raw food, again. I pretty much have been having the same thing for breakfast and lunch everyday and I would like to share that with you here:

BEFORE 10 AM - Fresh fruit Smoothie
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup blueberries
handful of strawberries
2 tbsp. golden flaxseeds
small handfull of goji berries
1/2 cup fresh almond milk
1/2 cup young coconut milk
1 tbsp. Crystal Manna Flakes
(Klammath Lake algae)

Place all ingred. into a high power mixer and blend until smooth.

This concoction is a power drink, for many reasons. It is full of super foods, you know
those antioxidant containing darlings we all need more of. The flax seeds are full of
omega oils and create enough fiber in just one drink to keep your colon skipping for
joy! The Crystal Manna flakes are the bomb because they contain a very dense
amount of trace minerals and oxygenating properties that bring life into your blood
stream. I order them through oneluckyduck.com


Around Mid-Day Green Goddess Green Drink
6 stalks of celery
a bunch of kale (any variety)
a handful of parsley
a whole lemon
a knob of fresh ginger (the size of your thumb)
2 apples

Push everything through your juicer, strain if necessary, enjoy!

This is a deluxe drink for health. I have heard that if we change nothing in our lives
but drink 16-32 ounces of green based drink per day, we're well on our way to a more
dynamic existence. I am convinced that it's true.


Evening Meals - I have been playing around with this one. Mainly I have just been dining on a
marvelous salad with assorted accompaniments. I've made raw cashew hummus,
fresh cilantro guacamole, blueberry ice cream, and dehydrated tortilla chips. I used
to make elaborate raw meals and I haven't done that yet.....in time I will crank out
some winners and of course, I'll take pictures and share them here.

reaching towards life.....

I really don't blog much, obviously, since it's been since March that I put out an entry. I suppose blogging makes me feel self absorbed. Apparently I am feeling that way today because this is going to be about me, the little science project.

So, my most recent claim to fame is having my personal health story published in a super model's raw food book. Yes, it is/was exciting to me. Carol Alt is a wonderful mentor and her writer, David Roth, has become a dear friend. A beautiful experience, there's no doubt about it.

The irony has happened recently. Life came at me. I became weary of being "different" and of constantly having to explain to people why and what I ate......why does anybody care anyway? At the high point of my life as a raw foodist, I was in perfect health, slender, humming with boundless energy and filled with an unstoppable enthusiasm for life in general. How could I have possibly gotten tired of that??? How was it that I slid back into the very patterns that threatened the core of my health just over two years ago? How did I go from being an inspiration to a lemming to the sea, again?

At my last weigh in, I topped my husband by five pounds. For over three weeks I have been run down, diagnosed with pneumonia (who gets that in July?) and I think I have fractured a rib and seriously considered a package of Depends from coughing so much. I have been prescribed an antibiotic, an inhaler, a nasal inhaler and some hard core cough syrup. I have taken it all but I still sound like I have been smoking a carton of Camel No-filters. I go to the health food store......woman asks when my baby is due. I crumble on the inside. "I'm not fucking pregnant, I am just a basic under-nourished glutton, lady! What's it to you?" That's what I felt like screaming but I just smiled and told her I was bloated. WOW....she made both of our days....HAhhahhhahahah.....I need oxygen, I need a colonic, I need to starve myself, I need to die right now here in the middle of Wild Oats!

Every woman likes to beat the hell out of herself from time to time, right? Weight is great thing to agonize over. I mean babies are dying and abused all over the world, we've got soldiers getting blown to pieces everyday in Iraq and I am whining about my fat ass?? Something just ain't right.

So, I have decided that I would throw all of this out into cyber space. Why not? I guess I could use a little support right now.

Since Monday (oh God, that was only yesterday), I am back to my raw food goddess ways. Not surprisingly, I have already noticed that the mucous is nearly gone. My attitude has lightened and I suddenly feel hopeful again. I don't believe diet is the answer to everything....I am not religious about this....I just want to be my true self again. I believe that our bodies need living enzymes in foods to help heal our old, worn out tired selves. I believe that eating fresh, ripe, organic and locally grown foods is a gift to ourselves and our planet. I believe that nourishing ourselves with the love of friendships, family and our animals heals our hearts. I believe that giving instead of taking once in awhile goes a really long way. I believe that the good Lord gave us some righteous common sense and it glorifies Him when we actually use it.

If you have read this far....you are with me now, you realize this don't you?? I am going to be charting my progress as I move forward. I'll record my stats and some of my great meals in case anybody wants to know. It'll be fun, right? A great science project to see if I can get my raw mojo back. Say a little prayer for me, won't you?