January 2009 Raw Challenge Archives [Archive]

melodyka

01-01-2009, 08:42 AM

my husband & I were drawn to the RAW diet after a very stressful 6 month period (a move, new job, a few deaths, a foster child, a serious illness in the family) throughout which we ate a lot of SAD crap!

I started RAW a few days ago at 100% & so far, so good. I am excited to be here...

today I am planning-
breakfast
a green smoothie

snack
some papaya (I need to search for ideas)

lunch
bringing fruit & veggie platter to NY party (need to make my guacamole & maybe I'll try zucchini hummus too)

dinner
something with green beans
leftover shredded zucchini with RAW marinara

Happy New Year!

sarahrjm

01-01-2009, 09:46 AM

Im in!! and have lots of left over guacamole from last night to eat!! Thank goodness I didnt go to NYC last night!! I would have FROZE!! being a raw foodie is kind of cold sometimes!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Ravani

01-01-2009, 09:54 AM

Happy New Year Everyone!

I'm so glad to begin the 30-day challenge. I've had months of raw before, but that was before I found Alissa Cohen. As someone who (long ago) gave up alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, etc., I can really appreciate Alissa's viewpoint that cooked food is very addictive. She put words to what I really knew was true for me, yet I hadn't been able to figure out how to live around that information. Now I'm able to let go of the cooked food exactly the same way I gave up all those other substances -- just for today, that is!

I'm planning on eating Alissa's suggested 4-week diet. Find I have trouble with lots of nuts sometimes, so I may back off later on.

REALLY EXCITED TO START 2009 OFF RIGHT! (I'm actually 10 days raw...)

Thanks for all the support!

Ravani

Nubianess

01-01-2009, 10:17 AM

pixelkatt

01-01-2009, 10:30 AM

Hello guys,
Im new to the forum,. Ive been reading about raw foodism over the last two weeks, but never got round to doing it because of lack of willpower and Because i live with 5 other MEAT eaters! lol
excuses apart, I want to do this, im on a personal 60 day 75-85% raw challenge, ive been 60% raw for the last two weeks and my skin feel sooo good and i feel a lot cleaner.
Ive given up processed foods and im loving the green smoothies every morning. Ive made my own raw oat cereal bars with banana, dates and chopped nuts,, BUt as im trying to loose weight, im thinking of cutting out oats, nuts and dates and bananas until i loose the extra 20 pounds.
I would be looking foward to all the tips and advice on here,. i cant wait!

If I were you I would go 100% raw and keep the dates and bananas and nuts (not sure about the oats because I have been too lazy to sprout so far and I want to make sure it's raw).. it's so weird how when you eat all raw all the foods that you couldn't eat before without gaining bunches of weight now don't affect you the same way. :) It truly is amazing! But either way good luck! Glad you are on board!!!

rsloan

01-01-2009, 12:33 PM

Aleesha Sattva

01-01-2009, 12:49 PM

Oh yes... living it real and raw!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm in... but I'm also fasting so I won't be posting what I'm eating obviously LOL

But I'm raw and lovin' it!!!

mmaynard

01-01-2009, 01:53 PM

Hi Everybody,

I haven't been here in a while but am looking for a fresh start for January. My intention is to be 100% raw through March and am planning to be here every day as I find I need the support, especially through the cold winter months!

I hope everyone has a great day!

MelissaO

01-01-2009, 01:57 PM

Hi. I am totally new to raw. I have been eating raw since monday. Except for one thing I have had is Exekiel bread. Is it dehydrated or cooked?

I am trying to loose 40 pounds that I have recently gained and regain my health. Stress has made me fat, and I have been getting sick too, which I never did....I am looking forward to this journey.

Nope unfortunatly the delicious the bread is not "raw" it is cooked above 250 degrees

http://www.foodforlife.com/info-center-customer-service/faqs.cfm#DoesquotlivegrainquotmeanFoodForLifebread sareconsideredaquotrawquotfood

No biggie on what percentage of raw you are - each person is different. Some transition into it so if your only item is the bread then you still are doing awesome in my humble opinion.

if you have a dehydrator you can make things like flax crackers and wraps that are pretty darn awesome.

Hope that helps and have a great day

dreamspinner

01-01-2009, 02:05 PM

Hello everyone, haven't been here for quite awhile except for visiting on the sidelines, but decided I was going to start the 30 day challenge and the New Year off right.

Been working on my 'attitude' hee, hee! I really do want to change my health, turn it around and gain my life back! I have so many things going on in this body. So, here I am.

This morning I juiced asparagus/apple/lime
mid-morning I had a large bowl of grapes
For Lunch I had guacomolie w/flax crackers (they were raw)

so here's a toast to the New Year! Salute'!

dreamspinner

ladytmarie

01-01-2009, 02:10 PM

Hi everone. I've been looking at this site on and off for a year or two. So I think I'm ready to try the 30 day challenge! Lol so far so good, and I definitely have to take it one day at a time (I "celebrated" starting a raw diet by spending dec. 31st with loooots of McDonalds food, which I do love). I don't thinik any of my fam or friends are expecting me to last through any decent amount of time, but I think I can do it. So far today I've had a naval orange for an early breakfast, then a Raw Revolution bar and some Tangerine juice for a snack. So I haven't really had a "meal" meal yet, but especially after all the pigging out the past month, I think today's going to be a fairly light grazing day. These raw bars are delicious though! Well, thats about it for now. I'll come back and introduce myself more properly later!

janicejourney

01-01-2009, 02:12 PM

I am also in with you guys! I have been raw on and off and love it so much when I am on. I have never done 100% though.... mostly 90%ish. So I am going to start the New Year with y'all! I am not really trying to lose weight (though I have an extra 10 lbs from a recent baby), but just love the lifestyle and want to kick of the year feeling amazing :)

Morning: raw brownie
2 small oranges
1/2 avocado

Lunch:
green smoothie: kale, banana, orange, grapefruit, Brazil nut protein and raw cacao.

This morning I did have coffee that my husband made for me, but I am switching to herb tea and that will be my only non-raw food.

Horsekisses1

01-01-2009, 03:06 PM

I am pretty much of a raw newbie...although I did have a few successful spurts last year. I am hoping to make friends, and gain support to keep me on track this year.
Best of luck, and happy new year to all of you!
Cheryl:)

AutumnBreezColordLeavz

01-01-2009, 03:34 PM

This morning I juiced Wheatgrass and 3 oranges. Go RAW 2009!

babyraw

01-01-2009, 04:34 PM

I have been dreaming about January 1st for a few weeks and the day is finally here! Raw in 2009! I'm so pumped. Started the morning or rather mid-day with a fruit smoothie and lots of water. About to blend a green smoothie before my afternoon workout!

Can't wait to see what treats are in store for 2009! :D

pixelkatt

01-01-2009, 05:01 PM

This morning I juiced asparagus/apple/lime

What does juiced asparagus taste like? I just bought some that I am planning to use to make Ani Phyo's asparagus with cheeze sauce.. maybe I'll take a couple and juice them if they are good..

rawshay

01-01-2009, 05:18 PM

Today is been a great raw day. I have had banannas, green superfood drink, oranges, and tons of water. I made a key lime pie from Alissa's book. It's so tasty so I'm going to eat some of it in a minute. I also made a green smoothie last night and I'll have some of that today too. I am so excited!!! I have been 100% raw since Dec. 29th. I am excited to officially join the Jan. raw challenge!

Also, I talked with my aunt today who is having a lot of health problems. I told her about raw food and about Alissa's book. She says she is going to buy the book and give the raw lifestyle a shot. I'm so happy about this new journey!!! We all can do this and will have vibrant, healthy lives. I'm proud of each of you and I'm so grateful for the online community of raw friends!!!:)

marysmit

01-01-2009, 06:40 PM

I'm going raw for the first time, learned about RAW about a year ago and saw no need. The more I've read about going raw the more interested I became. I need to get 50lbs off for health sake and feel like this is a healthy way to do it. I read all of last months posts and really enjoyed the support and ideas shared. So far I ate a fuji apple, clementines. Oat groats, almond milk, berries and pecans, baby english cucumbers and next portbello mushrooms with braggs and guac. I can feel my body thanking me already for quiting the junk I ate for the holidays. Looking forward to feeling great and looking great.

shine72

01-01-2009, 06:40 PM

I'm in! :D Of course I'm in! :D

shine72

01-01-2009, 06:51 PM

So far today I've had:

1 HUGE strawberry creamsicle smoothie
about 8 macaroons or so
nibbles and tastes of the foods I've been making today (eggless egg salad, onion bread, flax crackers, hummus)

I have hubby who's gone raw for the next 100 days as well, so I'm making sure to keep us STOCKED! :D

Vaclare79

01-01-2009, 07:10 PM

Of course I am joining..
I ate half a pound of kale today with some ACV & EVOO tomatoes cucumbers..
I see why people love their kale. It is really good raw!

SekhemNefer

01-01-2009, 07:47 PM

I am so in. I bought lots of fruits and veggies two days ago! So nothing can hold me back.

prettysmartideas

01-01-2009, 08:24 PM

I am doing a Master Cleanse to get myself back in control -- I've been eating too many fancy raw foods with too much sugar (dates/raisins, etc.) and I have a nice case of candidiasis going. My first step is the Master Cleanse, and then I will begin a low carb regimen. I know that works. 10 days starts with tonight. If I can go longer, I will.

natieya

01-01-2009, 08:34 PM

Whoo, I'm so excited. Today is the beginning of a beautiful journey for all of us! Whoo! :)

joya

01-01-2009, 10:07 PM

Count me in, please.

Today:
1 orange
1/2 cup coffee (weaning off a strong caffeine addiction)
A couple handfuls mixture dried cranberries and crystalized ginger
Juice: pineapple, kiwi, ginger, mint

Not enough water... and no exercise.

All is well. And the moon is beautiful on this frigid Maine night.

TanjaJo

01-01-2009, 10:10 PM

I'm in, been looking forward to this day for a few weeks now! Started the morning with the grapefruit/cranberry/lemon/olive oil and cayenne drink, which made a quart and took almost all day to drink it. I wasn't very hungry at all. Juiced a bunch of greens with a few carrots, and pounded that down. Made the pizza bread from Alissa's book and had a few bites of that with guacamole. I'm hoping tomorrow there will be room for a salad in there somewhere

Green_Woman

01-01-2009, 10:16 PM

I've been raw for nine months now, and it's just the most amazing way of life... I'm so grateful for pure, LIVE foods to bring my body into balance and healing! :)

After reading the books Green For Life and Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine, I am STOKED about bringing my daily intake up to 45-75% blended GREEN SMOOTHIES!!!

Today I had:

1.5 quarts Green Smoothie (yeeehawwww!!)
1 beefsteak tomato
1 avacado

:D

I feel CLEAN and GREEN!!!

I LOVE RAW!!!

bsqmurphy

01-01-2009, 10:24 PM

Hey all,

I'm sooooo in!

Just before Thanksgiving I realized how far from living RAWesome I had gotten and decided it was time to recommit. It then took me a month to do the work inside to truly commit. A week ago I decided that Jan 1 was the right time to dive back into 100% and to kick it off with a nice juice feast/cleanse.

I actually felt really bummed out this morning taking stock of my current state of health, but I know what they say... every great journey starts with the first step. So, I started with a cucumber/celery/green apple juice and started feeling better already. Now that I've had my full first day back 100% RAW and juicing, I'm starting to feel human again... I know it will only get better!

Here's to living RAWesome in 2009 & beyond!
-Bri.

Rawdemption

01-02-2009, 12:14 AM

I'd like to join in! I was raw for a long time & then slowly but surely added more & more non-raw things. I ate horribly this Christmas, have gained weight & feel terrible overall. So, I'm back & would love the support.

Today - I slept in super late so I skipped breakfast...I had watermelon for lunch & then a yummy green smoothie for dinner. I had a clementine for a snack later.

Karen

ripenready

01-02-2009, 12:20 AM

I'd like to make myself accountable for the next 30 days!!! So, I am in.

I am fasting for the next 24 hours (started at 6 pm this evening). I will more than likely end my fast tomorrow at 6 pm with a nice big glass of juice of some sort.

bowie

01-02-2009, 12:30 AM

Welcome to day two!

dreamspinner

01-02-2009, 06:59 AM

I am ready for my second day! I think I might see what is available in my kitchen for a pizza. I am still waiting for my order of truly raw almonds and other nuts & seeds. It was ordered the 17th of Dec and it should be here soon. :( But in the meantime I have plenty of apples, bananas, grapes, lettuce, brocoli & cauliflower, carrots. I am really looking forward to my health changes!:D

Dreamspinner

saxmaam

01-02-2009, 07:48 AM

Hello all!

Day 1 was great, since I went to a raw potluck and there were Many Good Things To Eat. I took Purple Pate, rolled into nori rolls with some yummy kale salad.

A good friend of mine wanted to meet me Saturday at a restaurant for lunch. I invited her to eat with me at my house instead. I hope she likes what I prepare. Most of the catching up I do with friends involves eating out. I have NO interest whatever in eating rabbit food at a restaurant, trying to get the cooks to make something special for me, etcetera. I need social things to do that aren't all about FOOD!

Today is my last day with the personal trainer I hired for December. The workouts have been great and I've made progress, but it's too expensive to do all the time. Meanwhile I'm getting my home "gym" set up. 2009 is gonna be good!

Best wishes to all my fellow challengers,

Susan

janetc

01-02-2009, 08:22 AM

Good morning! Have not eaten yet, but it will be another green smoothie with my spinach.

IamLoved

01-02-2009, 08:29 AM

Good morning everyone!

I have not eaten yet, but plan on making some juice, either carot/apple, or pineapple/orange. I need to have the carrot, so I will probably do that. Yesterday went great, and I am glad to be back. I have found that most of this is such a mental thing. The food really does taste better!

Susan - that is a great idea to invite your friend over to your house instead. I too hate eating salads at restaurants. It is not really a salad. At least not in my opinion.

I hope everyone has an awesome rawsome day!

pixelkatt

01-02-2009, 08:31 AM

tvillemom

01-02-2009, 09:03 AM

Going back to Costco this morning, after my green smoothie, lol.. (they were closed yesterday) to get some fruits and veggies in bulk for juicing. I saw a 25lb of juicing carrots at earth fare yesterday so if Costco doesn't have organic carrots then I'm going back to pick them up..

Last night I made Ani Phyo's Mediterranean Dolmas which was so good.. I would never have thought to put sun dried tomatoes, dill and raisins together but it was very yummy! :)

I have Ani Phyo's book from the library! I like her lifestyle! I am going to try the dolma's just because you mentioned them! (Maybe in a few days, after I kick this cold. Juicing until then)

JUICE, JUICE, JUICE!

This morning I am making grapefruit/cranberry/water with cayenne powder, coconut oil, ground flax, and dulse.

Later I am going to make some green juice, with spinach, celery, cucumber, apple

Then I am going to have carrot/apple.

I think I am going to also have some warm water steeped with alittle cayenne powder, ginger pieces and lemon. (to really help kick this cold, I hope)

Lotsa water.....

I'll post later and let everyone know exactly what I've done throughout the day!

Peace to all!!

pixelkatt

01-02-2009, 09:14 AM

I have Ani Phyo's book from the library! I like her lifestyle! I am going to try the dolma's just because you mentioned them! (Maybe in a few days, after I kick this cold. Juicing until then)

Let me know what you think! :) Some other recipes that I love of hers are her garden scramble, taco nut meat, save the tuna pate, and her miso gravy. I LOVE to add her miso gravy to shredded cabbage with some kale and add sesame seeds and either sunflower or pumpkin seeds (sometimes even a little of both), lol.. :)

pixelkatt

01-02-2009, 09:16 AM

rawshay

01-02-2009, 09:33 AM

Hi beautiful people!

This morning is starting off great. I've had two grapefruit early, early this morning. I just had two apples. I intended to eat three, but I am full so I'll listen to my body and stop. I'm excited about today.

I made a traditional hot, cooked breakfast for my husband and kids...and I did'nt even crave the food. Well, at first I did a little, so I immediately started eating my apples and then I was totally fine. The best thing is that my kids woke up and asked if they could have a green superfood drink!! I was too excited as usually they wake up and ask for cereal or a hot breakfast first. I love this raw journey. Oh, last night my husband said that I looked so healthy and that maybe he needs to start eating raw! Take care and I'll post again later this evening. Much love to you all!

marysmit

01-02-2009, 09:33 AM

I really find all your comments and ideas inspiring. I think it will help me have variety and keep it interesting. Well I'm working 12.5 hours shift today, so I packed a cooler full (so there would be no temptation). So far I had a multi. fruit smooth, walnuts and fuji apple. Feeling good after one day already. :p

ReneeH

01-02-2009, 09:41 AM

2009 will be a RAW year for me!!!! :D

gritsnla

01-02-2009, 09:53 AM

A little late but starting this weekend with some juicing and smoothin'. Juiced 3 ears and a fuji apple - yum! Got to juice some parsley later, it's starting to look a little limp. Maybe an apple/parsley cocoction.

Keep it raw!

rawshay

01-02-2009, 09:54 AM

What exactly is the Master Cleanse? I have Alissa's book so if it's in there then let me know and I'll just read up on it. I've read her book, but maybe I missed this. Thanks for any clarification that you all can give. Much love to all!

StampThineImage

01-02-2009, 09:54 AM

Hi
I began raw again yesterday after about a four month break. At first it was beyond my abilities to change that due to my circumstances, and I mourned the loss of my green smoothies! I was sad to be SAD once again. But then as time passed, I started back into my old eating habits and even, (please forgive!) ENJOYING them! UGH! There were times when the still small voice in the back of my head (or maybe it came from my tongue, lol) said hey dont eat that, its poison! You have an apple, go eat that instead! You have a blender, go make smoothie! But, alas, I resisted. Justifying. Defending. Protecting my pet.
But good news! December brought some awakening. The stirrings began.
Its funny how certain information just seems to fall into your life, when you are sincerely looking, aware and anticipating. Well, one thing led to the next and here I am! Yippee! I conquered!
So, Day Two:
Just having some water, wishing for some fresh lemon, so far.
planning:
B green smoothie OF COURSE! ;)
S A delicious Fuji apple
L celery with almond butter and raisins
S date/almond/coconut bar
D yummy green salad

Have a great GREEN day!
Stamp

Nappilocs

01-02-2009, 11:51 AM

Hello all,
I have failed several times before but I am back and ready to try this again. I had a huge wake up call during my Dr's visit in December when she told me how much I weighed. I started on Dec 29th with getting a colonic and visiting the spa while I was in Miami. I spent the rest of the afternoon laying on the beach writing down some affirmations to myself. I really look forward to this journey again. I am visiting family and friends and I figured that if I could do this while I am on vacation, I can definitely succeed at home :)
Haven't figured dinner out yet as

I started off the morning with an two apples and a banana and an almond butter spread that I made myself.
I am enjoying a Orange/banana/mango smoothie right now. I am still on

marysmit

01-02-2009, 12:25 PM

Hi,
saw your note re: ordering good nuts. I need to find some as well. Could you share with me where you ordered from? Thanks.

ltcartwright

01-02-2009, 12:44 PM

In 1 day late, but I'm in. I'll update what I ate the day before at the beginning of each post. So since I'm starting today, I'll log my progress/meals tomorrow. I'm also planning to do an Internal Cleanse which starts with a Colon Cleansing first. I ordered the kits in November 2008, but was not pleased with my eating habits to "waste" the kit. So as the year comes in, I'm hoping to get going for a jump start to taking my health seriously. So, blessings to all in this New Year! Happy Healthy New Year!

janicejourney

01-02-2009, 12:46 PM

100% yesterday!!! Wooho Ooops... minus the coffee.

Today cashews with nama shoyu and ume vinager whapped in flax-pesto bread.

Rest of day until dinner:
Smoothie: Kale, banana, orange, strawberry, raw cacao, raw Brazil nut.

I am pretty sure I will have salad for dinner.

saxmaam

01-02-2009, 02:05 PM

Hi,
saw your note re: ordering good nuts. I need to find some as well. Could you share with me where you ordered from? Thanks.

Hey marysmit,

I'm not sure if you mean me but ... everything I've gotten from rawfromthefarm.com has been very good. They just don't have a huge selection. I'm still looking for other options.

Susan

melodyka

01-02-2009, 02:20 PM

today's menu-

breakfast
grapefruit & papaya with wheat germ

snack
strawberries, grapes, & blackberries

lunch
big spinach salad with lemon, EVOO, sea salt, tomatoes, hemp, & avocado

snack
granola

dinner
green smoothie

since I am new to this, I am confused about a few things-
are EVOO, almonds, & wheat germ considered RAW?
what's the deal with oats- I see a lot about groats?

brydee

01-02-2009, 03:07 PM

I want to sign up for jan after going off the rails, do i just post what i eat everyday on here???:confused:

pixelkatt

01-02-2009, 03:47 PM

I want to sign up for jan after going off the rails, do i just post what i eat everyday on here???:confused:

I don't think you have to unless you want.. this is just for motivation/support.. :) But we'd be happy to "listen" if you want to post it, lol..

pixelkatt

01-02-2009, 03:49 PM

I don't think you have to unless you want.. this is just for motivation/support.. :) But we'd be happy to "listen" if you want to post it, lol..

..or maybe i'm wrong? are we supposed to post what we eat? oops.. :)

shine72

01-02-2009, 04:58 PM

You can post what you eat. You don't have to. Some people do it to help keep them on track. I just do it to help others (don't know if it does, but that's my motivation for doing it).

You can also talk about what about the challenge is challenging to you or whatever and others will post their ideas/support to help you as well! :D

So far today I've had
Superfood shake
2 handfuls of raw pistachios
& I'm currently tucking into a really yummy salad! :D

rawchic

01-02-2009, 05:18 PM

Sounds like everyone is off to a great start!

This morning I had two bananas wrapped in red kale leaves. Then I had a big grapefruit. When I get home, I'm going to have a salad with apples, carrots, & cilantro.

I'm trying to have less complex meals for a while - not necessarily mono-meals, but just simple meals with as few ingredients as I can manage. Just experimenting to see how this makes me feel and if it curbs my appetite or not.

joya

01-02-2009, 06:04 PM

Day 2:

Juice: carrots, parsley, ginger, garlic, apple

Several large (raw/fermented) pickles

Green-leaf lettuce wraps with chopped red peppers, cauliflower, hummus (not raw), and a non-dairy ranch dressing (also not raw)

Handful of dried cranberry / crystallized ginger mix (don't think this is raw either.)

Exercise: 90 min. hot yoga

Still not drinking a lot of water, which I find difficult to do when it's cold outside.

One day at a time!

natieya

01-02-2009, 06:51 PM

Day 2 was a bit harder, but I'm still holding strong! I'm so excited about all the wonderful changes in my body that are to come. I know this is the start of something awesome and I'm truly excited! Whoo! ;)

TanjaJo

01-02-2009, 08:52 PM

2nd day raw - great day! I felt so much better today. I was a little down yesterday, but today was really good. We got outside, took a walk in the woods. I stayed raw all day! And I think my husband is 2nd-guessing having one cooked meal/day. It's sounding like he wants to go 100% raw, too.

Started out with some raw pizza bread with guacamole quick before we ran into town to the grocery store. They had avocados on sale for .59 each! I should have grabbed more, but only grabbed 7. They had grapefruit on sale, woohoo! I got the lemons and cranberries for the super fat-burning drink.

Made the wonderful Waldorf salad listed in a thread here, husband and I scarfed that right down. Very yummy. Made a glass of green juice for each of us with spinach/green apples/parsley/celery and cucumber. It was waaaay better than the juice I made yesterday. Had another small salad around supper time (I used some of the dill dip recipe from Alissa's book for the dressing, just added some lemon juice and olive oil). Debating on whether or not I should make the fat-burning juice or a smoothie yet tonight. I'm not hungry now, but don't want to be later before going to bed.

Work tomorrow, so that should be easy. I never eat much at work.

I really like this thread, because it helps give me ideas as to what to make. Lots of variety, and sometimes the lightbulb goes on and it's like wow! Never thought of that. It does offer a unique perspective on things. Thanks everyone for the great ideas so far.

Rawdemption

01-02-2009, 09:47 PM

I had a good 2nd Day. I had watermelon for breakfast, a spinach salad with banana, blueberry & mango for lunch & then a green smoothie for dinner (2 bananas, spinach, 1/2 mango & water). The biggest thing that I need to change is my water consumption... I'm forgetting to drink & can feel that I need to drink more. Overall, I'm pleased. I'm doing just fruits & veggies for the 1st week to detox & get my cooked food cravings to go! So far so good... but, I'm looking forward to some crackers & avocado! lol

Raw success to all!
Karen

rawshay

01-02-2009, 11:11 PM

Hi Everyone!

Today was terrific. Being able to connect with you all is so encouraging and is keeping me on track with my 100% raw committment. Thanks to all of you. Your willingness to share means so much!! Today I had the rest of my raw Key Lime Pie, Green Smoothie (collards, cucumbers, apples, banannas). In addition to the grapefruit and apples I had this morning that was all I had....and I am so stuffed. Of course I had tons of water! Take care and I can't wait to talk with you all tomorrow. Much love to you all.

bowie

01-03-2009, 02:39 AM

welcome to day three

pixelkatt

01-03-2009, 04:29 AM

Woo Hoo! :) Made it to day three.. can't sleep so guess where I am? lol.. I'm thinking about what I am going to make today.. maybe Alissa's stuffed mushrooms? I haven't tried them but have a bunch of mushrooms that would be great for that..

janetc

01-03-2009, 05:38 AM

Well, Day three started REALLY early for me. I don't know if any of you have gone through this, but for some reason my sense of smell is super-heightened. I was in bed and I smelled this awful smell (our bedroom is on the second floor). I couldn't go to sleep - it premeated everything. So I came downstairs and apparently, the odor is from some elk burgers and cole slaw my husband made. The smell is overpowering and I couldn't sleep!

Is this possible?

tvillemom

01-03-2009, 06:16 AM

Good morning all!!

Janetc: Yes, I think your sense of smell is probably right on time! I have had the same thing happen to me. My sense of smell has always been really bad, but with eating a clean, raw diet, I feel like my sense of smell has also increased. (this is sometimes not a good thing, as I HATE smelling some of the bad stuff too!)

Pixelkatt: Are you a part of any local raw groups? How long have you been raw? Where do you like to find your supplies? (just wondering if there are any local places I don't know about!)

Yesterday was lotsa juice to kick this cold. I'm feeling better, but not 100%, so today will be more juice. We are going to some friends' house for dinner tonight....we are having chili....so I am going to make RAWvolution's chili and take that for myself.:D

Everyone have a blessed day!

dreamspinner

01-03-2009, 06:58 AM

Good Morning everyone!
I am so happy because I made it to day 3! I really want to succeed at this challenge. I have tried several in the past and didn't make it.

I couldn't sleep very well either. I have this c-pap (one of the things I want to get rid of by eating rawvegan) and I hate sleeping with it, but, can't sleep without it. It slips off and shifts all night and then I don't get the air and wake up with headaches. shshs. I need to drop about 100 pounds and then maybe I won't need it anymore. So, like I said I have made it to day 3 and I am so excited. I see good things in my future.

I & my dh have a busy day today and I am a little anxious. I know by staying home I have everything I need and minimum amount of temptation. But my great granddaughter is havingher 2nd BD Party at McD's. Shshshhs!! I thought about NOT going and just sending a gift later! HA! Plus, we will be away from the house running errands all day. In the past that meant stopping and having lunch at some fast food or picking up some fast food. So, I am trying to stay in the positive frame of mind for today! and to continue on my raw journey!

will report back later!
dreamspinner

contessa20

01-03-2009, 06:58 AM

Joining the discussion a little late but I've been 100% for 6 days now and I would like to try the 30-day challenge if it's not too late.

I was high raw once before a few years ago but never 100% for more than a day or two at a stretch.

Starting off today with some lemon water, 2 clementines and a bunch of freshly pitted cherries.

mmaynard

01-03-2009, 06:59 AM

Hi Marysmit and Saxmaam,

I order mine from www.nutsonline.com. They have some great raw organic macadamia nuts that I use for Alissa's onion dip.

Hope that helps!

mmaynard

01-03-2009, 07:13 AM

today's menu-

since I am new to this, I am confused about a few things-
are EVOO, almonds, & wheat germ considered RAW?
what's the deal with oats- I see a lot about groats?

Hi Melodyka,

I'll try to help with some of your questions... You should look for cold pressed olive oil. The brand that I use is Bariani. I attended one of Alissa's classes last year, and she said that most almonds in the U.S. are now pasteurized so they are not raw. I think this is the only nut that is required to be pasteurized in the U.S., but you will want to ensure your nuts are labeled as raw.

Maybe someone can jump in about the wheat germ and oats?

mmaynard

01-03-2009, 07:25 AM

Martin

01-03-2009, 07:30 AM

Going to eat some big salads today and smoothies.

Nappilocs

01-03-2009, 09:08 AM

Good morning,

I have been sick with a stomach bug the last few days and haven't really been able to eat anything. Yesterday I had two bananas and a fruit smoothie, and today I tried a couple of dates. I've been drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated, and am hoping my fever will come down and I'll be back to normal soon!

Hope everyone has a great raw weekend!

I hope you feel better soon :)

Today I feel great! So far I have had a handful of cherries but I am going to make a green smoothie later. For lunch and dinnerI will have salads that consists mixed greens broccoli sprouts, tomatoes and avocados sprinkled with pumpkin seeds. Everyone have a great raw day!

pixelkatt

01-03-2009, 09:37 AM

Hi Wendi (tvillemom (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/member.php?u=1914)), I'm not a part of any local groups.. If you know of any let me know. I tried to subscribe to a local yahoo group for raw food in the triad. It was more of a religious thing though because they met at a church, but I joined anyway because I went to meetings over a year ago for eating a low glycemic diet and they happened to meet at a church so I figured I would give it a try. It turned out after I joined and looked through their albums that it was a church group trying to promote the hallelujah diet and they had pictures of a baby shower they held and it definitley wasn't raw.. they had a photo of the table which had cake, candy and chips :eek:, lol.. so I unsubbed.

I have been raw since September.. some days are good, some not so good, lol.. but it's great to know someone arround here that is raw like me. All my friends and family are SAD eaters and even though they are supportive, they don't really get it (except for my husband who does get it, just doesn't want to do it himself, lol).

Do you facebook? I am going to send you a link to my account and if you have FB you can add me if you want. A good friend got me addicted to it, lol.. and Revvell just told me about twitter so you should do that too if you aren't! :D

oh, and I don't know about any really great shopping deals I don't think.. I usually go in GBO to Costco, Fresh Market and Earth Fare. I tend to like shopping at all three because I can buy bulk at Costco, veggies at Fresh Market and Seeds and Nuts, etc at Earth Fare.

erialicia

01-03-2009, 09:43 AM

Today is my official starting day! My goal is to become 100% raw this year, and lose 80 pounds!

marysmit

01-03-2009, 09:58 AM

feeling good if not great! Couldn't believe I didn't eat after getting home from work last night, though about it (old habit) and then realized why I felt satisfied. Today I'm drinking a fruit shake, brought corn tortillas, salad, avacado, yellow pepper, cucumbers, oat groats, berries, apples, cuties, almond milk, pecans and walnuts. Should hold me for a 12.5 hours shift. Wishing you all a great day full of good raw food.

pixelkatt

01-03-2009, 10:33 AM

Getting ready to make Tepenade Stuffed Mushrooms from RAWvolution.. I wanted to make Alissa's but I have no basil!! :eek: Definitely next time though. :) I keep hearing how great they are..

gritsnla

01-03-2009, 10:43 AM

Good morning! Started the morning with warmed lemon water. Had 5 kiwi before they went bad. Juiced by hand 1 grapefruit and 3 oranges, half for now and half for later. Started juicing for the weekend, yesterday was good. Hoping for a good day today also. Maybe a smoothie for dinner if I get too hungry.

Have a good one!

joya

01-03-2009, 01:04 PM

Day 3. :)

Though not sure if I should continue posting here. I'm realizing that this is for 100% raw, and I'm not at that point.

But I wanted to say that it's only been 2 full days, and last night my boyfriend commented that my hair and skin looked healthy, my eyes bright, and overall I looked beautiful and natural. And this is only 2 days! :) It's encouraging. Not to mention how different I feel already. Truly amazing. The top of my head feels different... lighter, freer, clearer, more sensitive.

Despite some non-raw drinks later in the evening, I'm back to eating raw today. This morning kicked off with a grapefruit & a banana. All is well in the world.

sarahrjm

01-03-2009, 01:45 PM

Im still here! Im sick :( Sore throat and sorta stuffy nose! I dont really feel like eating at all. So im sipping a smoothie.

Joya, I am not sure what to say, but if the challenge keeps you motivated to be as raw as possible, I would suggest keeping up with posting and reading everyone's reply's! Just dont talk about cooked food maybe? Just post to raw things you eat and dont mension any slip-ups which in your case would be the cooked that you eat!

have a good day everyone!

Fruit Bat

01-03-2009, 02:38 PM

I am a little late starting the Jan challange but better late than never!
I feel pretty good about starting 100% today. My fridge and pantry are stocked and I have a million recipes I want to try.
Started off today with a simple cantalope/blueberry/banana salad and am gearing up for a big ol salad for lunch.
I love the support you all give on this site and am excited to be a part of this.

IamLoved

01-03-2009, 03:58 PM

Hello

Day three and all is well.

I have been eating very simply the last couple days. I think though that tomorrow I will make some chili and an apple cobbler. I have the excalibur and I have not even used it much yet. It is so cold here that I think the chili and apple cobbler will make a nice meal.

Today I have had:

1 banana
salad with raisins, avocadoes, mushrooms, ACV and EVOO
pineapple/banana smoothie

gee, not much. I might make some banana ice cream later tonight for a yummy treat. Last night I had the most delicious smoothie. It was a chocolate cherry bomb. So good! I wish I had more cherries to make some more, but I used them all up.

Have a great night everyone!

flameska

01-03-2009, 04:06 PM

Good to hear all the excitement on this board. I'm joining!
Jan 2nd was interesting. I actually got in a car accident when I was on my way to buy groceries, and it was my first day going raw. I almost let the stress of that be an excuse to do some binge eating instead, but I didn't! My car isn't drivable, so my friend took me to the store and I got bananas and an apple. Later I had some pineapple and a LOT of tomato salsa. Not much food, but wasn't very hungry.

Gonna go make a green smoothie now! Look forward to hearing more about what everyone's eating :)

Rawdemption

01-03-2009, 04:31 PM

I'm still doing well. I've had a busier day here... went & did a bunch of errands this morning which included a trip to whole foods for ingredients... got my raw honey & raw agave nectar. I also did a Costco run & got organic greens. I bought some of those bags that are supposed to keep my veggies good longer & am going to see how they work.

As far as eating goes, so far today I've had a couple of bananas for breakfast & a green smoothie with 2 frozen bananas & a mango. I'm going to be making a gazpacho soup for my dinner.

Have a wonderful raw day everyone!

marysmit

01-03-2009, 04:44 PM

Can't believe I'm full on raw food and mostly a salad for lunch. Thrilled to have my appetite going down instead my anticipated increase. Lots of people at work asking questions. Wonder what they will think after the 30 days. May even get some to try it themselves.

Enjoyed for lunch GS, with avacado, yellow, pepper. Corn torillas, pecans.

For dinner cuties, apples and nuts.

janicejourney

01-03-2009, 05:29 PM

Day three and all is going well. Lots of "temtations" around, but I have not been tempted :) I have been eating lots of cashews with nama shoyu and they are soooo good to me. I made a green smoothie today with more cacao then usual and it is sooooooooo good! My baby is loving the flax bread I made. I have been eating it with guacamole. So far so really good!

shine72

01-03-2009, 05:59 PM

Had cold brewed red zinger tea this morning.

Then:
Superfood shake
HUGE salad
cukes w/no-bean hummus
more tea

Hope everyone is having a GREAT day 3! :D

dreamspinner

01-03-2009, 06:49 PM

I am hanging in there today. I am still raw! :p Was a really trying day, many, many temptations. I concentrated on listening to my body and staying committed to my challenge, replenished my stock of raw foods. Did my green drink for breakfast and some cashew dip w/broccoli & cauliflower for lunch and lots of fruit, bananas, grapes. I am glad to be home and away from the outside world temptations! I was prepared but not enough, next time I think I will double up on everything especially the green smoothies, even if I have to take a cooler! It was rough being in the outside world today, but the good thing.........I stayed true to my commitment! I am ready for day 4!

dreamspinner

janetc

01-03-2009, 07:03 PM

Tonight I had a big salad, but dressing and cheese were not raw. But tomorrow is another day and even if I am not high raw right off the bat, any raw is an improvement over my former diet!

TanjaJo

01-03-2009, 07:46 PM

Made it today! It is a great feeling to be doing this well. My husband was reading this thread while I was at work, and noticed a few people said they didn't sleep so well last night. I'm one of those also. Also dealing with the almost sore throat/runny nose, and sneezing like I can't believe. Regardless of the lack of sleep, and cold symptoms I am feeling amazingly well right now.

For breakfast:
2 banana/1 orange smoothie

lunch (just snacks really, while on the route)
a handful of raw almonds
one or two bites of raw pizza bread
hmmm....wow...that was it

supper tonight I experimented with zucchini pasta and marinara sauce, which I thought was absolutely out of this world. My mouth is still watering. My husband had 3 helpings, and he really liked it.

Oh, I also made the super fatburning grapefruit drink this morning thinking I'd drink that on the route, but it was too difficult (had it in a mason jar) so I and the hubby split that when I got home from work.

I've got some what I hope turns into banana ice cream in the freezer for the boys right now.

Someone else posted this as well, but my appetite seems to be decreasing too. I love that! Now going to reward myself with a nice hot soak in the tub and a movie! Lots of great ideas on here, love reading these posts!

rawshay

01-03-2009, 11:32 PM

Great day today. Doing the 30 day challenge is making a world of difference in my ability to stay 100% raw. I had a green smoothie for breakfast, apples, RAWvolution raw food bar, oranges, green superfood drink and a "reds" super food drink. I am stuffed and feeling so great that I've made it to day 3. My skin is starting to feel a lot smoother. A guy in the store who is Vegan found out that I'm doing 100% raw and asked me to speak at their Vegan meeting on Monday night. I'm a little scared to speak because it's not like I've been raw for a very long time. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it...even if I do not sure if I will speak. What do you all think? Anyway, can't wait till tomorrow --- we are all going to have another successfully raw day!!! Much love to you all.

bowie

01-04-2009, 12:55 AM

welcome to day 4

mmaynard

01-04-2009, 04:02 AM

Good morning everybody! I woke up at 4 am and I am trying to figure out what to do with all my raw energy. I feel as if I got some great sleep last night and seem to be over my stomach bug. I love how well I sleep when I'm eating raw foods. I'm back in the game!

Rawshay - I just read your post from yesterday and I think you should do it. I don't think you need to be an expert, just be honest about your journey so far and how you feel raw foods is helping you. Good luck!

Hope you all have a great day - and that you were able to sleep in later than I was. :)

contessa20

01-04-2009, 06:36 AM

Good morning day!!! Today is officially a full 7 days of being 100% for me. I'm so excited I could screech. This could very well be a tough day though. It'll be my first 100% day outside the house for an extended amount of time and not near the health food store or juice bar. I suspect we'll probably go out for lunch after church which makes me a bit worried. I'm going to pack a few goodies in my purse though to top off a salad wherever we go. As a bonus though we'll be going to the farmer's market and BJ's to stock up on produce this afternoon.

:::Note to self::: Pick up some little to-go type containers to carry stuff with me from now on. I only have one small enough to fit in my purse.

So far today I've had 2 gala apples and a pecan lara bar.

marysmit

01-04-2009, 08:51 AM

Goodmorning. I love all the ideas on Raw Food Talk. Yesterday I was able to peruse through several different recipes. When I got home last night I used ideas I had read and made my own dipping sauce for Celery with what I had in the cupboards. It turn out well enough I made more for work today. I couldn't of even imagined doing that before. Many people at work are thinking it's a little strange and radical, but they love getting in to my fruit and nuts. So who knows.

For today: So far I've had a shake with acai berry, mixed frozen fruit from costco, fresh pineapple and spinach.

Feeling good. Looks like I've lost 4lbs in the last 3 days.
Wishing you all a great day. Mary

dreamspinner

01-04-2009, 09:29 AM

Good Morning everyone!

I slept a lot better last night. Hooray for Day 4. I am sipping on a green smoothie as I am checking out the web site here. Such great information and recipies. I am still waiting for my nut order from Canada, hopefully it will get here tomorrow.

TanjaJo

01-04-2009, 09:53 AM

Good morning! Sitting here drinking the grapefruit/lemon juice/cayenne juice. I really like this stuff. Still have the cold symptoms. Lots of sneezing. But I finally slept good after about 2:00 am last night. Slept straight thru from 2-8 which is rare for me to sleep straight through a night.

Church is cancelled because of the ice, so we're lounging around. I'm going to try the Raw Violi from Alyssa's book to try to entice my 8 year old to eat something raw. He wouldn't eat the raw zucchini spaghetti last night. I will have to use what I have left of jicama for the wrappers, so it will be totally experimental, but a trip to town to the grocery store isn't an option today with the ice.

Last night before bedtime made a jicama/orange/cucumber/chili powder/lemon juice (that's the recipe, then I added green onions) salad. So I am looking forward to diving in to that today. Mmmmm...

Good luck today everyone. I can't believe it's day #4 already. Oh....big bonus!!! I'm down 2.8 lbs. this morning. Almost a pound a day, and my tummy area feels a lot tighter or flatter or something. Today will be a good day to hop on the treadmill and add some exercise to the plan.

janetc

01-04-2009, 10:02 AM

Right now, I've dusted off the juicer and I'm having an apple/spinach/carrot/cuke smoothie. Very "smooth," actually. I thought my green apple would give it a kick, but it's good nonetheless!

Went to Costco for some blackberries, blueberries, green apples, and bananas.

I have to start this slowly (buying in huge bulk, I mean), because hubs gets tense when I buy in quantity (because in my "old life," I wasted a lot of food). He was very impressed that I ate salad, and I want to incorporate more greens in my dinner.

Feeling good so far! I lost two pounds. It's a start!

janicejourney

01-04-2009, 11:23 AM

I woke this a.m. feeing a little sluggish and stiff. I have been dry brushing and oil pulling, so I think I might have a little detox going on. No weight loss here. But that is cool. I am sure I will release what I need to in 30 days. I have cut out the coffee and had one cup of herb tea yesterday and this morning but the rest has been 100% raw YES!!! I can't believe how good the salads have been tasting. I am using frozen kale from my garden last summer. I have so many greens in the freezer! Hoping to feel the energy soon. I feel so trapped in the house by all the snow. The baby gets stir crazy because we can't go outside and play. I look forward to spring and planting the garden.

http://www.oilpulling.com/
http://healingtools.tripod.com/skinbrush.html

shine72

01-04-2009, 12:28 PM

Good day everyone! :D

I'm up, I've done my walk, and I've had water and a superfood shake. Will be making a plethora of food again today for a project I'm working on. I'm having a blast, but will be glad to rest on Tuesday! ;)

Love to you all! Have a GREAT day 4! :D

joya

01-04-2009, 12:45 PM

Day 4

I feel good. Still not at 100% raw, but I am feeling very happy with my "middle path"... as I am usually the type of person who is an "all or nothing" type, this is a healthy balance for me.

As suggested by one on the board, I will only focus on what raw food I ate in this thread, though honestly, I am perhaps at 90% raw as it is.

Anyway, just finished up a delicious juice: pineapple, papaya, mint, kiwi. I love that my boyfriend seems to enjoy when I juice for the both of us -- and I know that even though he's not raw, just having a glass of fresh juice every day will do his body good.

Hope everyone has a enjoyable Sunday! :)

IamLoved

01-04-2009, 01:25 PM

Hello everyone!

Day four of the challenge is going great!

TanjaJo - That is a great idea to use the jicama as a ravioli wrapper. I have treid turnip for a wrapper and did not care for it. I did zuchinni for a wrapper too and liked that much better. But jicama sounds like it would work really good and taste awesome too. Thanks for that great idea!

Today I have had:

banana and maca smoothie
green smoothie with 1/2 pineapple, 2 bananas and 2 handfuls of spinach. It was so good!

I have chili dehydrating right now for supper and I think that I will make some apple cobbler too for dessert. That just sounds very good to me. I am very excited about my chili for supper. I love that stuff so much! It is so good.

Have a great day 4 everyone!

pixelkatt

01-04-2009, 01:33 PM

Not sure if this is detox but today I am in a really really crappy mood.. EVERYTHING is getting on my nerves (including dh who I love but who just cooked pizza in the oven so I'm smelling that). I seriously feel like yelling at the top of my lungs, or crying, lol.. whichever comes first.. I'm still raw but man this day is seriously more difficult. Yesterday I was so happy and zen! What happened?

I just made myself some carrot apple juice and am going to try and get some work done despite the fact that I feel like throwing my computer across the room.. :mad:

TanjaJo

01-04-2009, 01:39 PM

Hang in there pixelkatt, I think that's what I was seeing happening on day #1. Maybe it happens for different days for most of us, but I just wanted to cry most of the day, regardless of knowing what I was doing for myself (and the family) was a good decision. It will pass. I thought it was weird it being such an emotional thing for myself, that is.

pixelkatt

01-04-2009, 01:44 PM

Thanks TanjaJo.. :) I have been here before but I guess I forgot how emotional it can be.. plus I didn't realize how far I had fallen off the raw wagon over the holiday. I need to make sure I don't have contact with anyone today, lol.. luckily it's Sunday and not Monday or I would be in big trouble.. :eek:

saxmaam

01-04-2009, 01:52 PM

Hi all,

Indulged the sweet tooth a bit too much the last couple of days but stayed raw.

In the dehydrator is my first batch of raw granola, using the recipe in "Everyday Raw." Smells like pecans rolls ... yum.

Susan

Green_Woman

01-04-2009, 01:55 PM

D.4 - Today's goal: 100% raw, 50% green smoothies... the more greens, the better... the more greens, the more I raw I crave and the better the balance...

Thriving.

Yesterday I was 80% raw, 10% green smoothie. I got sick early on the afternoon with a headache and stopped eating after an early lunch of a big, 80% raw salad. That's why only 10% GS... when I get massive headaches like that, I stop eating and only drink water.

marysmit

01-04-2009, 02:07 PM

I am wondering if I am doing a little detoxing. I had slight nausea yesterday and a little stronger this am. It passed, but then had other issues. I guess its always good to get rid of the junk. Silly me, I want to go weight, but I am at work I'll have to wait.

For lunch had a salad with yellow peppers, baby english cucumbers, walnuts and a salad dressing I made up from ideas on this website. Anyway it way goooood. Loving the food.

Ravani

01-04-2009, 02:13 PM

mmaynard

01-04-2009, 02:48 PM

I am so proud of myself today - I used the ice cream maker that my inlaws bought me for Christmas to make Ani Phyo's Fresh Apricot Sorbet. I think I may have used too much lime, but it's still good and satisfied my craving for ice cream.

I was doing fine today until my hubby had his lunch. All I could focus on was the sound of him eating his chips and I really wanted to just grab the whole bag from him. But instead I came upstairs to regroup and then went back down to make my sorbet. I know these cravings will pass... hopefully sooner rather than later! But will definitely be stopping at the store for a sweet potato tomorrow night to make some chips of my own.

Have a great day!

tvillemom

01-04-2009, 03:38 PM

Hey Michelle!! I have done really great the last 2 days!
Saturday: Super Fat Burning Drink all day....raw chili for supper (it was alittle too spicey for me, so I had to add more veggies....will use some of the rest of the chili for chili flax crackers!)

Sunday: tea for breakfast
Lunch: large house salad at Liberty Steakouse...minus the cheese and croutons. I'm surprised at how full I am)
Snack: dates stuffed with whole pecans
Dinner: another "restaurant" salad...Ruby Tuesday's!!!

I'm happy that salads fill me up more than I remember in my "old SAD days" and glad to be feeling 10lbs. lighter (even if the scale may show no movement yet...it's more important to FEEEEEEL it!!:D)

Peace to all....

pixelkatt

01-04-2009, 04:00 PM

Well, well, well day four! (actually 13 for me now). I'm really hating everything I eat! I've been raw for 2 months twice before. It didn't seem as hard as it does now, but this time I made a decision to do it more like a "aa" sort of thing. I don't think I was thinking about it being forever before, even though I was telling myself it would. But once I read in Alissa's book that she felt raw food was addictive and she never hears alcoholics saying they were 70% sober (something like that), well, I knew (being a sober alcoholic) this was the way for me. But, boy oh boy, I feel really unhappy at this moment about it. I know it will pass and I believe people when they say their taste buds change. But I've been spending a fortune, dehydrating for an eternity, and everything I prepare goes right into the compost after one bite.

Better meals ahead, right y'all?????

Back to my chocolate mousse (avacado, raw cocoa, dates)! Wowee!

Ravani

Do you have a juicer? I'm kind of in the same mode today.. nothing tastes good to me or even sounds good. Last night I made a big salad and dumped it because I think I put too many flavors in it (I mixed like three different dressings, lol..) and then today tried to eat the stuffed mushrooms I made yesterday and they didn't taste good at all.. I'm sure it's me right now though and not the food. But what has helped lately is making juice. I always seem to like that. My favorite is carrot apple, but I think I am going to branch out and try a few different combos to get more nutrients. :)

Green_Woman

01-04-2009, 04:28 PM

Ravani -

Stop dehydrating and start blending for a while... simple but DELICIOUS recipes (for cooked addicts AND us happy Rawbies!! ;) ) are things like

Alissa's Mudslide smoothie!!

flameska

01-04-2009, 06:28 PM

marysmit - what are cuties?

IamLoved - how do you make a chocolate cherry bomb? Sounds delicious!

TanjaJo - which marinara recipe did you use? I love the Boutenko recipe, but often it's too acidic....

rawshay - how cool! I say go for it, why not?

Let's see, what did I eat.... a papaya, banana and almond butter (probably not actually truly raw, but it said it was so it's the spirit that counts for me at this point), another banana, raw pasta, leftover pico de gallo, orange juice....

I've also been eating some steamed spinach just to get some greens in, I'm not feeling up to making green smoothies since I have a concussion. But they are usually a staple so I will soon! The kale is sitting in my fridge waiting for me!

Also I'm going to try out soaking raw baby spinach in lemon juice/olive oil, and eating with minced garlic.

rawshay

01-04-2009, 07:11 PM

Day four is going great. I read all of your replys around mid morning as it encourages me to stay 100% through the day....and I did it! Thanks to each of you. Today I had lots of water, green superfood drink, 4 banannas, raw food bar, 2 apples, and Ani Phyo's Tomato Basil soup. I really wanted to make a green smoothie (GS), but I'm so full I don't think I'd be able to drink it tonight. I think I'll make one for breakfast tomorrow. I love my GS! I bought bunches of Kale and can't wait to drink it! Much love to you all. We will all do great again tomorrow!!!!

Nappilocs

01-04-2009, 07:12 PM

Hello All,
I got home last night and made a trip to the farmers market this morning, I can't wait to get into my kitchen and start uncooking.. lol. Today was a great day for me.. I started the morning with a banana and an apple. For lunch I had a big salad with Chinese cabbage, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, yellow bell pepper, I made a dressing with OO, AVC seasonsings and a little agave.. yummy!
I ate the rest of it for dinner just now.
I have been also snacking on salted nori wraps and fruit.

I have some nutsand flax seeds soaking so that I can make some goodies for tomorrow. :D

Nappilocs

01-04-2009, 07:13 PM

Sugar Snap Pea

01-04-2009, 07:19 PM

Okay, tomorrow will be day 1 for me, and I am READY! The wk-end is a psychological thing for me,I always start a diet on Monday! So breakfast will be my favorite- orange chocolate smoothee! Juice of 4 oranges, 2 frozen bananas, 2 heaping tbsp. cacao powder,in the blender, MMMMM... 30 min. on the stationary bike...(before b'fast) Why not throw in starting a journal while I'm at it?

bowie

01-05-2009, 01:24 AM

welcome to day five

tvillemom

01-05-2009, 07:06 AM

YAY Day 5!!! I'm feeling great, and looking forward to the day. I have our home's first busy school day of the year. Our homeschool will start back with our lessons, 13 yr. old DS and I want to get to the Y and workout for the first time in awhile....then I will take the 3 kids up to the gymnasium and get some basketball practice in (Upwards has started and they need to practice sprints and shooting...so this will be a good PE time!) I am seeing firsthand that my oldest son's poor eating habits and no exercise are affecting his health, so it's time for me to make some changes for BOTH of us!

Today's food plan:
Breakfast: super fat burning juice, warm herbal tea later!!!

Lunch: Garden pate on romain leaves (Ani Phyo's recipe)

Dinner: ??? not sure yet, I'll have to get in there and find something.

marysmit

01-05-2009, 09:31 AM

This is great day 5. I hope all the days fly by like this. Well I seriously must of detox'd yesterday. Serious elimination. I made Goodess chips last night can't wait for my daughter to try them. I love 'em. Had to hold myself back from licking the blender :).

I can't believe it but I can see and feel changes in my body. Down 10lbs. I must of been pretty toxic. I thought I ate pretty well, but then I did do some indulging during the Holiday.

I went to the coop last night and stocked up on some recipe essentials. One bag and $93 later, but they are things I didn't have that I will use for a long time.

Today I'll eat of course Godess chips, fuji apples with almond milk berries and pecans. Going to try to make a pate today. And maybe experiment with chai seeds.

Have a great RAW food day.

Todays wt. 178

ncadotte

01-05-2009, 10:41 AM

I'm starting my 30 day raw challenge today. I'm hoping to continue on from there at 100% indefinitely but as of now just focusing on the 30 days! Here's my plan for the day...

Breakfast - I had some apple, carrot, cucumber juice.

Snack - had 2 apples.

Lunch - Going home to make some pesto to go with kelp noodles (this will be my first time at trying kelp noodles, so I have a salad as backup! lol)

Snack - some fruit if feeling hungry. Brought an apple, orange, and banana to work.

Dinner - Am going to make a broccoli salad I found on another forum. I have made this one before and it's super yummy. I think I'm going to cut down on the garlic tho cuz I seem to remember it being a little too garlicky.

rawchic

01-05-2009, 11:04 AM

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I didn't post at all this weekend, so I'm going to summarize today.
Saturday I had 2 bananas wrapped in red kale leaves for breakfast, then I had 2 apples as a snack, then a ton of celery & carrots for lunch, and a big salad for dinner.
Sunday I had 2 oranges; a green smoothie with spinach, blueberries, raspberries, goji berries and mango; then a salad with kale, tomatoes, cucumbers and dulse
Now it's Monday and I had another green smoothie (same ingredients as yesterday); I have a giant grapefruit that I will have in a little bit, then I'm going to go to yoga and then I have a banana & spinach to eat after yoga. Not sure what dinner is going to be...I got a rutabaga at the store yesterday, so I'll probably make something with that.

joya

01-05-2009, 11:45 AM

Happy Day 5

Just polished off a delicious juice: Orange, Mint, Mango, Pineapple, Apple, Ginger.

Last night's dinner was a large salad: Greenleaf Lettuce, Carrots, Califlower, and Green Pepper, with an organic mustard vinegarette (not raw)

Did my first oil pulling this morning with sesame oil. Didn't feel or see any immediate difference, but will continue with it.

My sister-in-law just texted telling me she was making dinner for me tonight! She's a wonderful cook (big greek dishes!) but I had to say "thanks, but no thanks".

All is well. I'm just really cold! But it is winter in Maine, so it is to be expected.

Hope everyone has a lovely day.
joya

TanjaJo

01-05-2009, 12:37 PM

Hi all! Day 5, wow. I can't believe it. I got on the treadmill and ran 2 miles after chores. Felt great. It's the first time I've done a run all raw. So that was a milestone of sorts.

After the treadmill, made a green smoothie for my husband and I. It turned out to be a huge quantity.

I also finished the rest of the waldorf salad from last night's supper. Need to run to the grocery store today. Not sure which one. One's 5 miles away and I could just pick up a few basics, like spinach for the smoothies, and pears for the son who is being finicky. Or there's a few good grocery stores, but they're approx. 20 miles north or south. I need to place an order online today for nuts and cacao nibs (never tried those before).

I am having a lot of intense back pain for some reason, wondering if it's a detox or healing crisis thing. That's part of the reason I hopped on the treadmill first thing. It was hurting and that seemed to help yesterday. It feels like someone's pulling my spine apart or something, and also down by the hips. Anyone have any experience with this?

Also have a personal goal again of 3 quarts of water, hopefully more.

Have a great day everyone!

contessa20

01-05-2009, 01:03 PM

Day 8 for me and I'm feeling great. My energy is through the roof, I don't feel like I need as much sleep and the cravings are pretty non-existent.

So far today I've had:

soaked oat groats with coconut oil, sea salt, cinnamon and agave
pineapple parfait (Alissa calls it something different but I can't remember what)
enchilada

The oats were a LOT better than I expected. I've never in my life been an oatmeal girl but I LOVE grits so I thought I'd give this a shot and see if it was anything similar. Surprisingly, it was AND just 1/3 cup of the mix kept me totally full for quite a long time. I've noticed that if I just have a few pieces of fruit for breakfast I'm hungry in just a couple of hours. This was great though.

The parfait I did completely wrong. I processed the pineapple and apple but was apparently supposed to keep that chunky. Oops. Instead of pitching it though I stuck it in my ice cream maker and made a sorbet out of it and then used the cream sauce recipe on top. I have to say though, the cream sauce that the recipe said to make with it was disgusting. Maybe it was just me but I really, REALLY didn't like it. Too nutty or something.

I have enchiladas in the dehydrator right now and I've got to tell you, I may go crazy before those things are done. :) They smell so, so, SO good I just want to gobble them up right now. I can't wait for dinner to get here.

Edited to add: I just pulled one of the enchiladas out of the dehydrator and I may never ever need another food item again. They are DELICIOUS and taste just like the yummy black bean and corn empanadas I used to get at Border Cafe!!!!!

janicejourney

01-05-2009, 01:13 PM

Day 5 woohoo!!! No weight loss but feeling better today. I finished off some white wine last night, and plan not to have any more during the rest of the 30 day period. Wondering if it was why I didn't' feel 100%?? Anyhoo, green smoothie this am, banana, craving nuts. I am going to head to the store right now! It is still crazy snowy here. Feeling cabin feverish but at least I am not stuck at home. However, being a counselor with my clients stuck at home, it may be a boring day. I had never heard of Ani Phyto but will check her out with my free time. I love "Living on Live Food" recipes but a little change might be interesting.

crazygirlmcc

01-05-2009, 02:18 PM

I jumped into 100% raw 1/3/09 after lunch. My goal initially was to do it for two weeks to cleanse my body, but researching has really made me so aware of what i wasn't getting in cooked foods. So.. this has been my eating and I'm wondering if it's a recipe for success or am I not doing it right....

Sat. dinner= ate raw carrots, grapes, and, canteloupe

Sun. breakfast= salad made of lettuce, cucumber, carrots, raw sunflower seeds
one apple and drank water

Sun. lunch= munched canteloupe, cucumbers, sunflower seeds, banana, and
grapes. drank water

Sun. dinner= raw peanut butter with walnuts, pine nuts, dried bananas, almonds
and raisins mixed together. drank pure fresh oj
Today...
Mon. breakfast= raw applesause with sunflower seeds pinenuts, almonds,
raisins and sliced fresh banana. additional one whole banana
drank oj

Mon. lunch= munched raisins, almonds, canteloupe, cucumbers, and dried
banana. drank water

For dinner I plan on a salad similar to my first one, I don't use dressing. All of the food is unprocessed but the peanut butter I bought in a jar, the only ingredient is peanut though and it was separated from the oil. I bought a blender and want to learn a good green smoothie to add to my diet.

I want to know...what am I doing wrong? what can I do better? what should I avoid? what are the fat raw foods that i should limit? Thanks for your time and responses.

shine72

01-05-2009, 02:45 PM

Hi everyone!

Today has been good. Too many days off too much to do and not enough sleep though. ;)

So far I've had:

Gold Rush & Island Fire
Superfood shake
and bites of other things I've been making (granola, crackers, peppermint truffles, brownies)
Cold brewed red zinger tea

Going to take a nap, then get some dinner before I head out for the night at 6pm. Catch ya'll tomorrow! :D

janicejourney

01-05-2009, 02:50 PM

I want to know...what am I doing wrong? what can I do better? what should I avoid? what are the fat raw foods that i should limit? Thanks for your time and responses.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong :) The only question would be the peanut butter. Did you get it from a specialty place and is it really raw? It is pretty unusual to see raw peanut butter. Most are roasted. If it is raw, I'd love to hear where you got it and what brand! I miss peanut butter.

crazygirlmcc

01-05-2009, 02:58 PM

IamLoved

01-05-2009, 03:50 PM

Hello everyone!!

Day five is going great. I am very happy to be continuing this raw journey.

Joya - I live in Maine too, near Augusta. Where are you?

Its been a crazy day. I went grocery shopping earlier and can't beleive how expensive food is. Usually hubby does the shopping. Then when I got home the boys were lugging wood and my DS (8) slipped on the ice and fell and cut his chin open so DH had to take him to the emergency room to get stitches. Poor guy. He was so cute. He was worried that he would not be able to eat and said that he was happy that he didn't hurt his forehead because then all of his brains would have spilled out. The things they think of!

Weird eating day:

1 banana
a bunch of coconut date balls from the health food store

I have mushrooms in the dehydrator right now and they smell so yummy.

Tonight, since hubby is gone to the hospital, I will probably just feed the children all raw. Green smoothies and raisins and nuts and things. They will love it. And I might make some juice, or just eat my mushrooms. Not sure. I am feeling hungry right now, and since I just got back from the store I have all kinds of yummy juicy fruits. Oh JOY!

Last night I indulged in apple cobbler and it was incredible. I ate the whole thing before I knew it. It was just so good!

Have a great day everyone!

janicejourney

01-05-2009, 04:34 PM

The brand is Smuckers, I bought at our grocery store Giant Eagle. It says Natural Peanut Butter creamy, contains 100% peanuts, no added salt, sugar, stabilizers, or preservatives. Oil separation is natural. Just stir the oil back in and enjoy the taste.

This wouldn't be raw then. If I were to change anything from your diet, it would be this. There are lots of raw nut butters available though. I have never seen a peanut butter one. Not sure why. It must say raw on the bottle and even then sometimes it isn't really raw (best to check with manufacturer to be sure). Everything else looks great though!

rawshay

01-05-2009, 05:17 PM

This is day 8 for me and I detoxed last night. All throughout the night I sweated like crazy. It was great though, I really think I released lots of toxins. Anyway today was great. Today I had: tons of water, green superfood drink, blender full of green smoothie (6 kale leaves with the stem, avocado, apples, banannas), RAWfood bar (chocolate flavor...Yum), cantelope, apples, and not sure what I will have later tonight. I want to make the Enchilladas that were mentioned in an earlier reply. I'll check Alissa's book to see what the ingredients entail and maybe I can start making it tonight and eat it tomorrow. I feel absolutely great! My goal is to do cardio at least three days per week and strength training for two. I'm using The Firm dvds and so far I love them. I hope to do some strength training tonight. Ok, talk to you all later and best of luck to you all.

dreamspinner

01-05-2009, 05:37 PM

Day 5. Had a funeral this morning. A friend of my deceased parents and I am finding myself dealing with a lot of emotional stuff, crazy arguing in my head about staying raw and wow! can the mind really play with your own self! I am getting mighty weak in the stick-to-it-ness! Help! Help! Help!:confused::(

Green smoothie for breakfast
salad for lunch
salad for dinner w/some rawsage I dehydrated
I will probably need to finish the day off eating lots of fruit to keep me going in the right direction.

Vaclare79

01-05-2009, 06:16 PM

Raw today:

KALE salad with tomatoes EVOO & ACV
dates
Sunflower seeds
maybe some pineapple

I'm feeling good lately and I LOVE the KALE. :)

joya

01-05-2009, 06:56 PM

Joya - I live in Maine too, near Augusta. Where are you?

Portland :)

Edited to add more:

Ugh. Big headache at the moment, heading off to bed early despite a large, looming deadline. Blah. :(

Dinner was sliced cucumber with salt & pepper, and a lot of raw cauliflower dipped in hummus (not raw, but organic and satisfying.) Also a few pieces of crystalized ginger to appease my sweet-tooth. (also not raw) I was SO hungry after hot yoga tonight it was all I could do to not raid the cabinets/fridge... so even though part of my meal was not raw, I'm still happy that I was able to maintain somewhat.

And, hello Michelle, neighbor to the south!

mmaynard

01-05-2009, 07:33 PM

Hi Everybody,

I have been a bear to live with today - I feel bad for my poor hubby! Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up on the right side of the bed! I wasn't very hungry today so just sipped on a green smoothie that lasted until lunch, and then had the rest of the zucchini pasta I made last night. I had a Raw Crunch bar late afternoon, and then an apple about an hour ago. I am thinking that I will have some of the apricot sorbet I made yesterday.

Wendi - good to see a familiar face here! :)

Joya and IamLoved - hello from your neighbor in New Hampshire! :)

Have a great night!

SekhemNefer

01-05-2009, 08:29 PM

I lost 5lbs in one week since being 100% raw. Went to the gym for the first time in months. While working out I kept repeating my mantra "215 lbs" over and over again. That is my next weight lost goal.

I decided to treat myself to every 15lbs lost until I get to my ideal weight. Being 215lbs will my first set of pounds lost.

Ravani

01-05-2009, 09:26 PM

Do you have a juicer? I'm kind of in the same mode today.. nothing tastes good to me or even sounds good. Last night I made a big salad and dumped it because I think I put too many flavors in it (I mixed like three different dressings, lol..) and then today tried to eat the stuffed mushrooms I made yesterday and they didn't taste good at all.. I'm sure it's me right now though and not the food. But what has helped lately is making juice. I always seem to like that. My favorite is carrot apple, but I think I am going to branch out and try a few different combos to get more nutrients. :)
Thanks for your response. I never got on again yesterday. I feel much better today. The food still doesn't taste good, but I'm in a much better space and it doesn't matter so much. I'm being nourished and life is good.

I'm thinking every day I should do some green juices, but about the only thing I really look forward to is my fruit smoothies in the morning. Maybe I'll stick with them for awhile, so that I don't feel so deprived, and then have a green drink in the afternoon.

Hope you're in a better space on day 5 yourself!

Ravani

01-05-2009, 09:28 PM

Ravani -

Stop dehydrating and start blending for a while... simple but DELICIOUS recipes (for cooked addicts AND us happy Rawbies!! ;) ) are things like

Alissa's Mudslide smoothie!!
Thanks so much. On day one, I started going by Alissa's four week program so there's no more dehydrating for awhile. I think the food is still pretty awful though. I'll be happy to report some time in the near future that I feel differently.

Oddly enough, the mudslide was the first thing I made when I received the book. Thought it was terrible!

But I'm in a great space today and glad to be raw.

Thanks so much!

apple baby

01-05-2009, 09:34 PM

Hi I'm new!!

TOmorrow I'll start my 30 days challenge!!!

Have a great challenge!!

bowie

01-06-2009, 01:14 AM

welcome to day 6

crazygirlmcc

01-06-2009, 05:25 AM

I found a great health food store and finished up yesterday with a cucumber\romaine juice, a shot of wheatgrass, grapes, banana, and snacked on banana chips and sunflower seeds. It was my first challenge because we had a party at my house for the buckeyes football game and the crackers and cheese and pepperoni looked good. I am proud of myself today though for not cheating. I plan on using up the peanut butter I thought was raw so it's not wasted and then won't get it again. I'm stocked up on wheatgrass now and hope to figure out how to use my blender I got just to do this challenge:) Have a great day everyone.

sarahrjm

01-06-2009, 06:50 AM

Im still here! I work like a DOG!, and go to school full time, so I lose touch with the challenge thread a lot!

I am reading through Gabriel Cousens book "conciuos eating" I am going to experiment with not eating after 2! Its supposedly good for digestion!

This is my favorite part of RAW! experimenting with eating patterns! Hopefully ill find one that works good for me!

Have a wonderful day!!

Sugar Snap Pea

01-06-2009, 07:20 AM

Yesterday went well for day 1 of Raw for me!! I had a headache for part of the day, but feeling pretty good this AM! Very psyched and healthy feeling eating all this fresh food! I made up a batch of Snowdrop's Ranch dressing (love that!) and today will make Cheez spread and caramel apple dip for my apples! The key to this for me is having my own healthy alternatives on hand when other peeps are eating things I would love to eat (aka junk food). Oh yeah, don't forget Eggless Salad!! MMMMM...

IamLoved

01-06-2009, 07:45 AM

The beginning of day six!

Last night I was so sick. I think I ate way to many dates and my tummy was not happy with me. I also did not eat enough and I waited too long to eat. I always get sick if I let my hunger go too long. Then it is hard to feel better again. I do feel back to normal again this morning and I am planning on making some yummy juice to drink. That will help quite a bit too. No more date blls for awhile for me.
I'll check in again later with eating detail. Have a great day all!

apple baby

01-06-2009, 08:46 AM

Hello !!! I start today my 1st day!! I already drink lots of water and eat some bananas and apple.

Here in my country are 8:44 am.

have a nice day!!

I'll back later with eating detail!

contessa20

01-06-2009, 08:55 AM

Day 9 for me today and still doing great. I'm a little bummed that I'm not seeing the scale move at all but my asthma has been non-exsistent and I feel like I need less sleep than usual.

I have to say that I was a little concerned about trying the oat groats yesterday, not only because I don't like cooked oatmeal but grains always tended to make my asthma flair up. I was really conscious of my body during and after eating them so I could spot any problems but I was totally fine. Again this morning I ate them with absolutely no asthmatic reaction.

This morning I've been sitting here watching a bunch of Jenna Norwood's Supercharge Me Podcasts. Very inspiring.

So far today:
nectarine
oat groats w/coconut oil, sea salt, cinnamon & agave

tvillemom

01-06-2009, 09:14 AM

HI ALL!!

Day 6 and I woke up with a headache. Oh well. It's easing off. Our dear sweet puppy (Christmas puppy) has been throwing up. I'm nervous and keeping a close eye on her, so I haven't eaten yet.

I have some herbal tea seaping (sp?)

Later: GS with spinach, banana, cherries, blueberrries....some stevia if needed because I will only add a couple of banana chunks to make it creamy.

I made RAWvolutions chili on Sunday, and made the mistake of adding CAYENNE pepper and not CHIPOTLE chili powder!! I had to put some of it in storage until I have enough produce to tone it down...but I did take 1 cup with 3 cups of water and 2 cups of flaxseed and soak the flax in the liquid to make chili flax crackers....they smell DIVINE (I hope they are not tooo spicey)

This is a tip for ya'll.....use your leftover chili's and soups and instead of letting them go bad...soak flax or other nut/seed mixtures to make your crackers. This is a really easy (and cheap) way to make crackers!! NO recipe needed!

I can't wait to make the garden pate and have it with my crackers!

Peace to all!! Have a glorious day!!

tvillemom

01-06-2009, 09:22 AM

rawchic

01-06-2009, 10:47 AM

Good morning!
I'm feeling great today. I have release 7 pounds which makes me smile :)
Last night my dinner was salad with: spinach, macha, cilantro, rutabaga, corn & red onion.
This morning I had a banana w/ spinach, and I have 2 apples and 2 satsuma oranges for later. Then I will have a salad w/ spinach, macha, celery & carrots for lunch.
I'm going to the gym after work with a friend, so I'll be having a later dinner. I already packed it to take with me so I can munch in the car on the way home. She lives about a half hour north of me, so I will be too hungry to wait until I get home. I made a salad w/ spinach, orange peppers and celery.
Yum - thinking about all this wonderful raw food is making my mouth water!

TanjaJo

01-06-2009, 11:45 AM

Good morning. Just barely, I guess. I am still raw at day #6 but am so sick. A lot of back pain, along the spine all the way up to between the shoulder blades and down to either side of the tail bone. I haven't felt such persistent, nagging pain like this since I had Bridger. I am hoping it's detox.

I slept from midnight to 2, then couldn't sleep for a while because of the pain, then slept more from 2-4 then got up and went to the spare bedroom from 2-6. Got up at 6:00 and went and laid on the couch. Finally got up and just went and fed the horses and filled the wood stove. But a lot of pain after that, so Vern rubbed some deep tissue rub from Dr. Schultz in my back, and I've been trying to lay down.

Vern did some research and said some people start adding in cooked food if they're experiencing detox symptoms, but I don't really want to do that. I feel great about having gone 6 days raw. I am just trying to hang in there, and believe what they say that I will feel so much better when this is over. Better than I've ever felt before. I know I will.

Today I was hungry when I woke up, so i had a pizza bread sandwich, with 1/2 an avocado, some grape tomatoes, and sliced onion on top of that, then drizzled lemon juice on top.

Also drinking a lot of water.

Have a good day everyone.

shine72

01-06-2009, 12:25 PM

I'm here, eating my first meal of the day (salad) and it tastes SO good! :D Hope ya'll have an AWESOME day 6! :D

janicejourney

01-06-2009, 12:59 PM

Released 2 lbs woohoo! I am surprised (kind of) because I have been eating non-stop and lots of cashews. Can't seem to get enough salty nutty stuff. I have also been having green smoothies and salads so have a good variety going. I have been reading some new inspirational raw stuff from the website I found that lists all the "best of 2008" stuff on it. Not sure if kosher to post here but if you search best of 2008 raw food, you will find it. Life is good. Energy is much better. 100% raw except for my morning tea.

polycute

01-06-2009, 04:18 PM

Hi everyone, I'm on the challenge but missed the first 5 days of posting only. But I HAVE been eating 100% raw since January 1, yay!

Let's see... for breakfast: green smoothie with three small bananas, turnip greens and a small handful of organic strawberries (it could be better but it was drinkable for my FIRST raw green smoothie ever)

Lunch: A turnip green wrap with sunflower seed pate plus raw fries made with sliced jicama in EVOO and paprika, fabulous! I recommend these to anyone.

Snack: small banana drizzled with raw agave nectar and some vanilla + 1/2 of a fuji apple

Dinner: black kale peppery raw soup. No recipe, I'm just gonna wing it and hope for the best. Onions, garlic, maybe a kiwi to tone down the kale, not sure. Any ideas?

So far, so good but I am also experiencing massive back pain as was mentioned on these boards and I do believe it's detox. I can not sleep on my stomach AT ALL. I think you're not supposed to anyway but geez, I wake up feeling like I'm 110 years old. I went from completely cooked to completely raw overnight. I'm sure my body is like, WTF!? But my body will be happy in the long run.

Other than the bizarre episodes of night-time back pain, no headaches and feel energetic, happy, clean as a whistle (if you know what I mean), and generally thrilled to be on this new way of life, though I am taking it one step, one meal, one day at a time.

Stay strong - we're already halfway done with day 6!

apple baby

01-06-2009, 06:04 PM

Ok!!

here the detail of my food this day.

breakfast: bananas apples and lots of water.

lunch: 2 avocados, tomatos, onion celery, coriander drizzled with limon and sea salt.

snack: strawberry puding

dinner: avocado turnip celery wrapper in some lettuce leaves and key lime pie.

mmmh yummy

joya

01-06-2009, 06:20 PM

Day 6 :D

Didn't eat much today:

Orange and banana earlier on.

Veggie juice for dinner: carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, parsley, and garlic. (I feel like I'd be real good at keep away vampires now.)

Feeling great! No exercise today though. And still not enough water. I'm so cold that the last thing I want is to drink water for some reason.

Might have a teaspoon of coconut oil for dessert. I love the taste, and if I read correctly, it's pretty darn good for a person!

cheerio.
joya

gritsnla

01-06-2009, 07:18 PM

Another good day. Finished my fresh jice for breakfast. Had a banana and cashews and my homemade granola "bar". Later tri-color peppers with tahini. And a Raw Revolution Raisin & Chocolate bar. Not too sure about supper, mainly because I'm not really hungry, but thinking I "need" something. There's some salad in the fridge, maybe that.

mmaynard

01-06-2009, 08:30 PM

I had a good day today, but kept having momentary lapses where I "forgot" that I am raw - checking out the lunch menu at work, standing by the vending machines thinking of getting a soda, etc. It was like I was doing it subconsciously and would just find myself there! I didn't cheat or anything but just thought it was funny how we get in our habits.

I am finding that my mouth and my eyes seem really dry - not sure if it's a detox sign or just the weather that is affecting me, but hope it goes away soon. My eyes are really bloodshot over the last several days and they aren't normally like that.

I had a smoothie for breakfast and then a salad for lunch. I bought some organic tomatoes at the store and they are wonderful with just a tiny bit of sea salt on them. I also had an apple, a Raw Crunch bar and a Lara bar as I was on the road this evening. I had some more of my apricot sorbet tonight and finally feel satisfied.

Hope everyone is making it through their detox symptoms and feels better soon. :)

joya

01-06-2009, 09:03 PM

My eyes are really bloodshot over the last several days and they aren't normally like that.

Mine too!

I'm wondering if it is detox, though I hadn't ever experienced this detox symptom in past while on a raw diet. hmmmmm...

rawshay

01-06-2009, 11:35 PM

Today was a good day. I had tons of water, green superfood drink, green smoothie, banannas, Raw Organics food bar, and an orange. I had some cravings today, but I remembered all of you who are doing this challenge with me and how much I wanted to stay committed and write about it on RFT. I'm so glad that I was able to stay 100% raw. I'm so excited about getting healthy. I even did 40 min. of cardio tonight. I can't wait till tomorrow. Much love to you all!

bowie

01-07-2009, 12:16 AM

welcome to day 7 (one week raw)

TanjaJo

01-07-2009, 04:18 AM

Okay...made it to day #7. It's 4:16 am and having a hard time sleeping again. I can't wait for all this to get sorted out. So I can be the first one to post!

I've got things set up (bananas in the freezer) for a green smoothie first thing in the morning. When everyone else wakes up. Will make a run to the health food store I think, and pick up more cashews (the boys will eat these) and some tahini for salad dressing (I've dissected the ingredients off of a bottle of my favorite goddess dressing and make my own now) and a few other things I've been craving.

I will probably make raw ravioli with zucchini today as well. Also have a batch of onion bread in the dehydrator. That smells like it will make raw life really yummy. I also want to share some of this bread with a friend of my husband's who is awaiting diagnosis on a mass they've found near his kidney, I think it was (he's got it in his head it's cancer). I want to take him this bread, and a green smoothie.
Have a great day everyone.

dreamspinner

01-07-2009, 08:20 AM

Well, I really messed up, but I just recv'd my order of nuts, seeds and olives from Canada yesterday. So everything new with a new day eh?:( I have walnuts, almonds and sunflower seeds soaking to make walnut steak for supper tonight and spinach and bananas for my green smoothie this morning! We shall carry on!

contessa20

01-07-2009, 08:28 AM

Day 10 for me today; that's 1/3 of the way through the challenge! :) How exciting.

I feel great this morning despite the dreary weather. Something I noticed last night was that I was able to stay awake longer than usual with absolutely no effort. Typically, DH wants to watch tv or a movie when he gets home in the evening. It never failed that I would fall asleep during the movie every single time. Last night we sat down to watch and I stayed awake for the whole thing. That is GREAT because, before it was like my body involuntarily went to sleep when I sat down to watch no matter how hard I tried to stay awake.

I think I might make banana bread today, or maybe onion bread. Hmmm... I've got some wheat sprouting so it's just a matter of deciding what I have a taste for.

Started exercising yesterday -- walked 1 mile on the treadmill, a few minutes of rebounding to stimulate the lymphatic system and 100 crunches.

So far today I've had some apple, lemon, ginger juice. I love that combination so much. Last week I tried it at the juice bar and didn't like the way they made it. Too sweet. I make it very sour with lots of lemon. Yummm.

Here's to a rawkin good day!!!!!

crazygirlmcc

01-07-2009, 08:41 AM

so yesterday after my disaster of a smoothie, nutty lunch, i got so sick from the wheatgrass. all i could stomach was a banana a couple hours before bed. then when in bed all i could think about was this raw challenge. today's my fourth day. I'll make my smoothie for breakfast again, i'm not excited about the wheatgrass though. I never had it before two days ago and it just leaves me nauseous all day. it's only an ounce but so potent. I can't wait to say I feel great. I am feeling very lazy. The biggest change I've noticed is I eat less now, when the first two days i had to keep my mouth busy to avoid picking up anything unraw. It really provides some self gratification from knowing I am taking great care of me!

marysmit

01-07-2009, 09:05 AM

:DYesterday I went through the carbohydrate cravings. whew... I survived, Thank you Lord. Last night I sat down for dinner thinking I had a ravenous appetite. I had made a good fruit shake and had an apple, well I couldn't believe it I couldn't finish I was too full. Me, I'm a bulk eater. It was awesome.

Well I'm having some soaked oats, fruit, almond milk and pecan for breakfast. Going to make broccoli soup today. I've got grapefruit prepared. Fruit shake if I need it.

Tomorrow's payday can't wait to go buy more fresh stuff and stuff for recipes. I got to say I'm loving this. I've been telling my mom about it, shes a health fooder from way back. She's got great ideas.

Wishing you all the best raw day ever!

tvillemom

01-07-2009, 09:17 AM

Hi all! I am feeling great today!!
Yesterday I was pretty nauseous...but wanted to eat and only wanted heavy deh. chips and nuts and salty stuff.
So yesterday's food looked like this:
flax crackers....YUMMY!! The chili was fabulous in my chips!!

homemade nut butter (my version) 1/3 cup each of almonds, cashews, brazil nuts. Ran them through my juicer with the blank plate...then added sea salt, and honey....YUMMY!! I ate this with an apple.
Some water, not too much, just could not stomach it.

Today's food:???? I hope I make some garden pate, but so far I have not made it, so I'm not going to plan on it right now, if I make it fine, if not, oh well...but I do need to make something to go with those flax crackers!!

Try to post later.

IamLoved

01-07-2009, 10:53 AM

Hello everyone!

You are all doing great. This is so much fun!

Last night I had fettucine alfredo for supper. I made it using soaked cashews and spices for my sauce and I shredded up squash for my noodles. Then I put it in the dehydrator for several hours and it got all thick and creamy and was very good. It actually came out tasting rather sweet and kind of pickly. Hard to describe. It was good though, just unusual and not what I was expecting. I wonder if it was because I used squash instead of zuchinni?

I ate more yesterday, but felt better.

carrot/apple juice
bunch of grapes
green smoothie with 1/2 avocado, strawberries and a frozen banana
fettucinne alfredo
couple of clementines

Today so far I have had some fresh orange juice. So delicious! I am getting hungry so I need to go find something to nibble on.

I hope you all have a great day

tvillemom - everytime I see you posts I miss NC. We used to live in Snow Camp, just south of Burlington. I look outside at all the snow and I really miss NC. I loved it there.

joya

01-07-2009, 11:21 AM

Happy Day SEVEN! :D

It's officially one week and I feel great.

Just had a breakfast juice of apple, mango, mint, ginger, carrot. Delish.

Need to make a Whole Fo' run today, as I have no more raw food left in the house. Hope the roads get better, as it has been snowing/icing/slushing all morning.

I think I'll be purchasing a dehydrator online today. And maybe... maybe a high-end blender too. Right now I am fairly limited with the raw food I can make, so have been existing for a week on juice & salad. I know I need to get more variety and variation, and am excited to go further it it.

Hope everyone has a great day.
cheers
joy

rawchic

01-07-2009, 11:28 AM

I didn't sleep very well last night because we had a huge wind storm - the rain pounding on the windows kept waking me up. But despite that, I have a ton of energy this morning and I'm feeling great! I attribute it all to raw :)

This morning I had 3 bananas with spinach and cilantro for breakfast.
I will have 2 pears for a snack after I workout.
Lunch will be a salad w/ greens, rutabaga and corn.
I'm going to do yoga after work
and then dinner will be zuchhini noodles with tomato & red pepper

I've released 9 lbs and I am starting to see muscle definition come back in my arms and legs. My endurance during my workouts is starting to increase! Another 5 lbs and I'll be able to fit back into all my clothes :)

janicejourney

01-07-2009, 12:20 PM

Day 7!!! I was 1 lb lighter this am making 3 lbs in the first week. This amazes me because I have been working on the same 5 lbs since July. I am trying to get back down from a pregnancy, so I can fit into my skinniest jeans. I think another 7 lbs will get me there pretty easily. Then I will be at my goal weight. BUT the best is how I feel on raw. I would do this weather I lose any weight or not. I am also needing less sleep now. I also have been able to stay up later and rise earlier the last 2 days. I am feeling the buzzzzz again and loving it. I was raw for about 6 months before and felt so good and I wasn't even 100%. This has been so much easier this time probably because since I am 100% it makes it easier to resist things that are not raw because "they aren't an option."

polycute

01-07-2009, 03:45 PM

I'm down another 1/2 pound today bringing my 1st week total to 3.5 lbs! Yay! This is a feat for me since I've been stalled on weight loss for literally a over a year despite watching what I eat. I went from 100% cooked to 100% raw overnight so like TanjaJo, I did experience some back aches. And I had one last night and this morning, too. But I have to say it wasn't as severe.

During the day, I have lots of energy. I'm able to get chores I've been putting off for MONTHS accomplished effortlessly. I just feel overall brighter, happier, less grumpy.

Another interesting thing is how I don't feel deprived. You know how you feel when you're watching what you put in your mouth. I don't have that feeling on raw and usually I listen to my body and if I feel hungry, I eat.

Today, so far:

Breakfast: green smoothie with blueberries and a small banana. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be! I'm still adding too little fruit and too much green. Plus the greens were really strong organic black kale. Not exactly easy stuff to down.

Snack: banana at the store. Felt hungry, ate one while I shopped.

Lunch: carrot soup (onion, carrot, kale, jalapeno pepper) and a small avocado. I need to perfect the soup recipe. I did make a zucchini soup the other night that was rawsome! Hee. For dessert, I had pureed pineapple with an apple/cashew crust. It was delicious. I ate the whole thing.

Dinner: not sure yet but I still have some zucchini.

I'd really like to try my hand today at some raw "rice" pudding. There are instructions on how to make raw rice on the internet and in books. I think if I just take some jicama, make the raw rice in a food processor and then blend it with a little coconut oil, raw almond milk, raisins and cinnamon, that should do it, right? If anyone knows of a better way, please clue me in.

We've made it through the first week!

apple baby

01-07-2009, 03:48 PM

day 2 for me!!

Today i thinks was more easy day for me, less cravings , more energy.

breakfast: green smoothie, pineapple, parsley, orange juice.

lunch: sandwich with best onion bread, avocado, fresh tomato sauce, spinach. and caramelize onion.

for dinner : some fresh fruit.

I made 50 min of pilates this day.

dreamspinner

01-07-2009, 03:51 PM

This has been a great day. I did my greensmoothie this morning with avocado/spinach/apple/lemon, then had a raw food bar from the HFstore and just finished up a salad of grated carrot/almonds/cilantro topped with grated beet/ginger/grapes. Pretty good stuff! Tomorrow I weigh in for my first week.

ncadotte

01-07-2009, 04:38 PM

Day 3 for me. Going pretty good. Been eating lots of juices, smoothies, fruits and salads. Will probably try a more "gourmet" recipe this weekend. Been feeling really good though. Yay!

Oh, I also started exercising with some friends at work so that helps. Exercising is one thing I have been greatly lacking for a while!

Green_Woman

01-07-2009, 06:47 PM

Hooray for GREEN SMOOTHIES!!!

I tried one today with carrot greens, celery, one apple, one banana and coconut butter. It was NOT yummy - but it made me feel ALIVE!!!

:D

If I could eat carrots, I'd start buying the organic ones just for the greens! Perhaps I can find a carrot soup I could make in my Vitamix, and then it would be justifiable. :D

mmaynard

01-07-2009, 07:04 PM

Everything is going well for me today. I had my smoothie in the morning and then a salad for lunch with a whole tomato and avocado. I am finding that I like it a lot more if I sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on it - just seems to bring out a flavor a bit more. I had an apple this afternoon and a couple of chocolate truffles. I also got my order from Alissa's website today... I bought the jalapeno stuffed olives and they are really good! Super spicy and I don't think I could have more than one at a time, but it was definitely good. I also bought some nori so am going to try some wraps over the weekend.

Tonight I am making Alissa's onion dip so I can have it tomorrow night for dinner. Not sure about dinner - I'm thinking that I may just have some more apricot sorbet tonight since I'm not too hungry.

Hope everyone had a great day!

tvillemom

01-07-2009, 08:43 PM

Michelle, YOU are doing so great! I'm proud of you "partner"!!!

Today's food:
breakfast: tea...later I had almond butter and flax crackers
lunch: 3 clementines, yummy, sweet and simple
dinner: some olives and more chili flax crackers

Need more greens..I know, but just not feeling them right now. Tomorrow will definitely be a GS somewhere. I was really loving them before Christmas, but this week, not so much. I think I need some different fruits to put in! I think I'll scan through and see what ya'll are drinking!!

Peace to all!

tvillemom

01-07-2009, 08:47 PM

Green Woman: There is a "Fiery Lava Soup" (If I remember the name correctly) in RAW (by Julianno) uses carrot juice, an avocado, some spices....like jalepeno.....it was not really that spicey, but it was GREAT!! If I had the book I would give you the recipe (it was a library loan!!)

Good luck.

Bananna

01-08-2009, 12:24 AM

Polycute - If you soak chia seeds apparently you can make a good tapioca pudding with them.

....you guys are all very inspirational...I want to join ;) lol....I know, I know, I can anytime!

bowie

01-08-2009, 01:12 AM

welcome to day 8

ncadotte

01-08-2009, 07:25 AM

Day 4 for me and doing well. Started my day off with some apple/carrot juice and brought a grapefruit to work with me. Not sure about lunch and dinner yet. Salad fixin's are getting low so I might have to make a run to the store. I'll also be looking for a good cracker/chip recipe to make this weekend along with something else more complex. I've been keeping it fairly simple during the week because of time. This weekend I get to get a little more "gourmet".

Have a good day everyone!

shine72

01-08-2009, 07:58 AM

Day 8 is going well for me. Feeling a bit run down, but that's from my LIFE, not from the food. ;)

About to have a banana-split chocolate shake. I'm thinking lunch will be grapefruits (I'm craving them SO bad right now.) Dinner, hmmmmm, not sure yet.

Have a GREAT day everyone! :D

joya

01-08-2009, 08:09 AM

Day 8

Polished off my day yesterday with 4 large green-leaf lettuce wraps, stuffed with orange bell pepper, broccholi, cauliflower, and basil hummus (not raw). I was so hungry... I then had a banana, several handfuls of raw cashews... and then went back for a cookie. (not raw)

Had the strangest reaction yesterday that started after I finished my morning juice. The same thing happened to me in April when I was raw... and at the time I thought it was an allergic reaction, but I think it's just something that happens when I have too much fruit sugar in my system. My upper-lip gets tingly, sore, and swells up like it has a rash.

I just went out and bought a ton of fresh fruit last night and wanted to do yummy juice this morning with them... but it seems my lip is telling me otherwise. Strange. ???

gritsnla

01-08-2009, 09:38 AM

Morning all! Another good day this week. Juiced up some apple-pear combo. Will be doing a banana-curly lettuce GS for lunch. Snacking probably on my homemade granola. Supper is still up in the air, not sure yet. But going to keep it raw. Down 3 lbs so far. Loving raw!

TxRawGirl

01-08-2009, 09:58 AM

I hope this isn't inappropriate to comment here since I just started 100% Raw 2 days ago. I was awakened by a headache this morning so I feel like I may not be getting everything I need? ( I am still drinking coffee - just a cup in the AM).
My routine is this:

Breakfast consists of smoothie from:
Kale
Romaine Lettuce
Blueberries
1 TBSP Hemp seeds
1 Banana
Water

Snack
Small Red Delicious apple

Lunch:
Romaine lettuce
1/2 avocado
1/2 med tomato
1 large mushroom
- squeezing on fresh lemon juice for dressing (plus salt & pepper).

Snack:
grapes

I'm also drinking apple cider vinegar (Braggs) (1 TBSP) mixed with a bit of water and 1 teaspoon of raw honey - (morning & night and sometimes during the day if I crave sweets).

Dinner:
romaine salad
tomato
grapes

I also had chocolate icecream last night made from raw cocoa powder, banana, coconut oil, organic dates and lots of ice - it was fabulous. I also drink Chocolate Bliss for my choc. cravings..

I take 100mg levethroid each day for my inactive thyroid
1000 mg calcuim
500 mg Vit. 3
2000 mg Vit C
B-12 Vit

What am I missing? I wonder why I'm having this headache? Otherwise I'm feeling terrific!! Could I be having sugar withdrawals since I am no longer eating any processed desserts or foods?

Thanks!!

apple baby

01-08-2009, 10:05 AM

Day 3 for me, and feeling great.!!! More energy, no tired, no headache. my stomach feel greaaat.

apple and carrot juice for breakfast.

Not sure what to eat for lunch and dinner.

lots of water.

TxRawGirl

01-08-2009, 10:25 AM

I quit smoking about 1 yr ago -
I maintained 150 throughout Thanksgiving and Christmas - eating all the typical SAD foods.

CW - 150 (possibly 148)
Goal weight is 125

25 pounds to go...

Fern

01-08-2009, 11:27 AM

Yay, day 8!

Green smoothie to start the day. Watched a great video on making a southwest flavor egg-less pate (ground almonds, sunflower seeds and a bit of water, seasoned with turmeric, sea salt, pepper, diced tomato, scallion and cilantro) which I made for lunch.

Congrats everyone!

tvillemom

01-08-2009, 12:24 PM

YAY DAY 8!!

Breakfast: tea,
brunch: GS....still full from that!! (spinach, coconut oil, banana, pineapple, 1 TBS of hemp powder.)

Dinner will be???

I'm heading to Whole Foods.....see what they have. I might make some kind of garden burger pate.

I am excited about all the foods I bought today. I bought something that I haven't tried in a long time. Organic figs. Now I have to figure out what to use them in!!:D

IamLoved

01-08-2009, 12:37 PM

Hello everyone!

txrawgirl - it is very possible that you are experiencing detox symptoms. I don't think that you are doing anything "wrong" persay. Many people go through detox when they first start raw. Cutting all toxic non natural sugar out of my diet gave me an awful headache for a couple days. I am a big sweet eater, so not eating any sugars really caused a reaction. Many people experience the same thing when they stop smoking, drinking alcohol, drinking coffee ect. It is different for everyone, and perfectly normal, albeit not much fun.

Today is going great so far. I am down 8 pounds from this week. Eating is going great, now I need to get more exercise. Yesterday I really nibbled all day on fruits and then had a huge salad for supper. It was so good. I also made some raw walnut/raisin balls for DC and they ate them all up. They were super oily though, so next time I am going to process the raisins first, alone, and then add the walnuts.

So far today:
a big cup of fresh OJ. I really need to eat something now as I am feeling pretty hungry. I will probably have some clementines or grapes. I love fruit!

Have a great day everyone!

contessa20

01-08-2009, 01:04 PM

Day 11 today and still doing great! Today was my first day back to school (where I volunteer) so I packed a bunch of food to bring with me. So far it's been great. I've only been mildly tempted by the cafeteria smells but knowing that the food in there smells far better than it tastes is deterrent enough.

So far today:
lemon, apple, ginger juice
oat groats
salad
cinnamon flax cracker w/almond butter & banana slices

janicejourney

01-08-2009, 02:19 PM

Eating a big salad right now. Loving it. I am stuck on my dressing:

Nama Shoyu
Agave
Ume Plum vinegar
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
coconut oil

It is to die for! Had green smoothie this morning with kale, 2 bananas, lots of cherries, some strawberries, cacao, and 1 apple, some lemon, and some raw local honey. Very tasty!

I woke in a bad mood and tired but after a raw oat/coconut/choc treat and my smoothie I felt much better. The smoothie is enough for breakfast tomorrow too.

I am a counselor and yesterday I found myself catching myself day dreaming about yummy raw food combos. Naughty! Do you guys daydream about raw foods a lot like me??? I get so creative in my mind about what will taste yummy.

I am thinking I am going to extend this challenge out to 60 days since this has been so pleasant and these posts have been so inspiring to me :)

I am not bruising as easily as usual. My coop is really cool about special ordering foods for me. They get their stuff from Azure natural foods, so I checked them out and found great prices on bulk nuts. I probably ordered about $200 worth of food yesterday including a case of young coconuts from the coop... psyched about those.

rawchic

01-08-2009, 02:28 PM

I'm having a great day today - lots of energy! I'm really looking forward to going to the gym. I've been trying to step up my exercise this week. I normally exercise anyway, but I had gotten stuck in a rut with my routine. This week I've been trying to add in different exercises and increase my weights & reps. It feels good and I'm starting to see more muscle tone - yay!

So far this morning I had a giant grapefruit, and then two pears with spinach. After I get back from the gym I'm going to have a mango. Then later I'll have my leftovers from last night (zucchini, tomato, red peppers & spinach).

I'm excited because I get my CSA box tonight. It's my favorite day of the week when I get all my fruits & veggies!!!

polycute

01-08-2009, 03:20 PM

Is there such thing as a raw food junkie? ;) I think I qualify.

Ok, today I definitely ate WAY too much. Not sure what is wrong with me.

First of all, I lost another pound - grand total of 4.5 lbs in 8 days.

I'm pretty happy about that.

Secondly, my digestive system is working REALLY well.

Thirdly, I ate like a well-mannered, good-natured PIG today, hee.

Breakfast: banana strawberry smoothie
(just two bananas and organic strawberries and water) + an apple + a naval orange + the tiniest tangerine you ever did see (quite a feast!)

Lunch: avocado salad with tomato, onions and cucumber + 5 coconut date almond rolls from Trader Joe's. These have got to be raw. The three ingredients listed are: Dates, almonds, coconut.

Dinner: not sure but certainly need to take it easy. Feel soooo full now.

In just 2 days, we're 1/3 of the way there!!

I'm pretty sure I'm with janice and I'll extend this since I am enjoying it so much.

For tanja, I did find out that joint pain and back pain is a definite detox symptom according to The Raw Food Detox Diet Book author Natalia Rose. So what you're experiencing SHOULD pass. Mine has subsided and is almost tolerable now.

aslraw

01-08-2009, 03:59 PM

Day 14 for me and feeling great also nails are growing long and strong, skin very smooth and bags under eyes gone. ALso TMJ clearing up! Wow Love it!!! Smile:D

marysmit

01-08-2009, 04:36 PM

Restocked at Costco. Hope I didn't buy too much. I think I may do some freezing. I tried to find an Asian store to buy some speciality stuff, but found out the one near me went out of business. :( So I continue the quest. Did check out Roadside produce market, probably be good when stuff is in season.

Breakfast: soaked oats in almond milk and pecans on top (ran out of fresh fruit)

Snack: banana and apple

Lunch: Romain, alfalfa sprouts, cilantro, refired beans(made with sunflowers) and salsa.

Dinner:???

Have a great Raw day!

janicejourney

01-08-2009, 05:22 PM

Breakfast: soaked oats in almond milk and pecans on top (ran out of fresh fruit)

With the saoked oats... can you tell me more. Do you soak for a long time or??? I ordered some oats and want to try some new things with them.

joya

01-08-2009, 05:36 PM

Just checking in again with the daily food report.

Morning juice: carrot, apple, sunchokes, garlic, kale, parsley

Evening juice/smoothie: pineapple, ginger, mint, kiwis... then blended with banana and a few scoops of soy protein powder. (I was concerned I wasn't getting enough protein.)

My top lip is still swollen, sore and red. I believe fruit sugar is the culprit.

Can't believe it's been 8 days already! I feel great. Haven't had coffee in two days either.

cheers!
joya

contessa20

01-08-2009, 06:18 PM

I just made this (http://www.greenivore.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=124&Itemid=70)chili for dinner (though I subbed sunnies for pumpkin seeds) and it was DELISH!!!!! I needed something really savory and hearty and it hit the spot perfectly.

mmaynard

01-08-2009, 06:58 PM

Everything is going great here - started off with a green smoothie for breakfast and that kept me going until lunch. I tried coconut butter in the smoothie instead of oil and I don't think I like it as much as the oil. Lunch was a big salad at a restaurant. I wasn't hungry today, and only had one chocolate truffle in the afternoon. I had a pear tonight and am planning to cut up some celery for my onion dip.

Hope everyone has a great night!

crazygirlmcc

01-08-2009, 07:17 PM

had a romaine, cucumber, apple smoothie for breakfast. for lunch i had smashed banana with almonds mixed up. snacked on grapes, carrots, and dried bananas. didn't do the wheat grass today, i will tomorrow. i forgot it at home when i went to babysit. so far i have gone from 172 to 165. i think alot was water weight since i don't really notice the difference in my clothes, cept my bras not so snug. i had a friend asking alot of questions and i think she's pretty interested. my skin is also softer, not so dry, feeling better. maybe the initial shock of changing my food overnight has begun to sink in a little bit.

siren

01-08-2009, 07:23 PM

Day 3 for me. So far so good. I notice a difference in the way that I feel and I seem to fall asleep faster.

Morning: Grapes, orange
Snack Pecans
Lunch Banana
Dinner green smoothie with collards, spirulina, chlorella, blueberries, banana, bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, coconut oil, pineapple, celery and radish

I need to increase my water consumption and add more greens.

marysmit

01-08-2009, 09:22 PM

I just soaked them overnight in almond milk. Hope it works for you.

IamLoved

01-08-2009, 09:29 PM

Today was a beautiful raw day. I made a delicious and wonderfully yummy chocolate tart with chocolate whipped cream for dessert tonight. It was so insanely good, very rich and incredible. I have two more in the fridge for tomorrow, and maybe the next day, if I don't eat it tomorrow! I'll have to get a picture of one tomorrow to post. It was so so good!
Other than that I had:

OJ
grapes
clementines
green smoothie with bananas, strawberries and spinach
chocolate tart

Have a great night everyone! We are doing it!

pixelkatt

01-08-2009, 09:33 PM

Day 8 was great.. woke up and had a green smoothie.. juiced most of the day and then had a big salad for dinner.. oh and oranges and apricots for desert. Think I need to do the fruit in the morning only though. :) It's been a good day.. AND I got my copy of Purely Delicious in the mail!! Whoohoo! :D

TanjaJo

01-08-2009, 10:44 PM

Polycute, thank you for checking up on that for me. It has subsided quite a bit today. Whew. I feel like I'm back from the brink, lol...I slept from 2:00 am til ummm...well, embarassed to say it, but almost 9:00 am. I woke up because I heard my very hungry, angry donkey honking at me outside. I was sooooo grateful for the sleep.

Today I am so proud to still be raw on day #8. And also down 4.2 lbs. We went to a new Whole Foods store that we had never been to.. it was a 45 minute drive, but I was so excited. I re-stocked on a lot of things, but they didn't have a lot of what I really wanted. So will be going online to buy sprouts, nuts, raw cacao nibs and other fun stuff.

Today we had a green smoothie. then nothing until after we got done shopping at 2:00 pm at the Whole Foods store, where I just had a handful of raw cashews driving home.

Then made a really good salad tonight, big one, that V and I shared. I made the raw ceasar dressing I got from a link from a link here. I may have put too much garlic in it though, as it was like, HOT. But we ate it all.

Tonight just my usual snack I'm getting used to of an avocado with tomatoes, onion and tonight added a red sweet pepper (never used to like them) and lemon juice, sea salt, pepper.

I really like the green smoothie idea. I've been telling my friends and family about it, the ones that desire to eat better, and get more nutrition in to their body.

Well, good night all. Can't wait until tomorrow!

rawshay

01-09-2009, 12:10 AM

Great day so far. I had GS, 4 oranges, RAWvolution food bar, green superfood drink, and water. I felt really tired today. Not sure if I'm not getting enough sleep or if it's detox. I'm pulling a 24 hour shift Friday - Saturday at my job. I'm going to stock up on raw foods to bring with me so that I don't cave into SAD food. I am so loving being raw and can't imagine going back to SAD. Much love to you all.

bowie

01-09-2009, 01:10 AM

welcome to day 9

contessa20

01-09-2009, 05:51 AM

Day 12 for me; that's almost two full weeks. WOOHOO!!!!!

Feeling great and expecting a great day. My major beef right now is that I don't have that light feeling in the bowel that I would like. When I was raw once before I remember that being the thing I loved the most. Don't get me wrong, whenever I eat I get the satisfied feeling instead of the excessively stuffed feeling with SAD food. This is all the time though, where the bowel just feels heavy rather than light and empty.

Here's to a great day everyone!!!!!

joya

01-09-2009, 07:49 AM

DAY 9

Didn't have a good night in terms of raw last night. Binged on both raw and non-raw foods. :( BUT am back to raw today. Oil pulling now... and going to fast for a bit today until I feel real hunger, then continue forward with my fruits & veggies. Does this mean I'm out of the challenge?

*sigh* I think once I have a dehydrator, that will help with the variety of food I am able to prepare for myself.

IamLoved

01-09-2009, 08:07 AM

Hello everyone

Very sick today. Must be detoxing. Suffering through a perputaully running nose, itchy, scratchy and sore throat and ears, watery eyes and sneezing. I also feel lathargic and tired. I want to crawl back into bed, but have little ones to look after and a writing assingment to do, so I will have to carry on.
Right now I am drinking warm herbal tea with lemon and honey. I hope that it will help with my throat.
Not sure what I am going to eat. I might stick with teas and juice today.

I hope everyone is well. Congrats on making it to day 9!

rawchic

01-09-2009, 11:54 AM

I'm so glad it's Friday! This morning I saw the most beautiful sunrise from my office. What a fantastic way to start the day :)

I treated myself this morning by coming into work a little late so that I could stop at the juice bar for breakfast. They don't open until 7, and that is what time I start work, so I only go there every now and then. My juice was all greens with red cabbage, mango and lime. It was super yummy!

I have a mango for a snack later and then my lunch is going to be collard green veggie wraps. I have celery, sunchokes, and tomatoes to chop up and roll in the greens.

Not sure what dinner is going to be. My husband suggested going out to eat, but I'd kind of rather stay home...so we'll see.

Have a great day!

TxRawGirl

01-09-2009, 12:49 PM

Good Morning all my Rawsome Friends!! Last night was truly cool - My sweet hubby wants to get onboard with us! He is leaving it up to me but said he was "game"...I'm so excited. We had to go for a stress test for him this morning - in between we went to eat breakfast - I sat across from him and had a very wonderful veggie sandwich and salad (i just took the bread off). I kept thinking to myself how good I would feel after eating these wonderful (albeit - probably NOT organic) - while my dear sweet husband had amigas with tortillas, hashbrowns and pulled pork! ARGH...I just kept telling myself that that type of food will only make my joints hurt, make my skin breakout and my waist much fatter! I was very successful! I'm going to work very hard to get hubster onboard as much as possible!

did 1 hr weight training with personal trainer (freebie)...

Feeling good, feeling stronger! ( I am having headaches but I believe i have determined it to be my eyes - time for the checkup!!).

Have a Rawsome day!!
Much love to all,
terri

janicejourney

01-09-2009, 01:47 PM

Been having little white heads on my skin. I am sure it is a cleansing of some kind because this never happens. I get acne but not like this. Last time I was raw, I had the most beautiful skin. I can't wait for that to happen again!. I have been making raw food goodies today. Have some flax/chia seed crackers dehydrating. Have some kale chips ready to dehydrate when there is room and am in the middle of making key lime pie! I wish I had a bigger dehydrator. I got the small one and regret it. Have been nibbling on the kale and had the rest of yesterday's green smoothie as well as a chocolate/oat brownie this am.

gritsnla

01-09-2009, 01:54 PM

Had Allissa's skin repair juice recipe this morning. Pulled some Apple-pear juice out of the freezer to take with me to defrost in the car while running errands. Had some cacao nibs and some pepitas. Lunch will probably be tomato on flax cracker. Supper might be a GS if I can get some romaine or spinach.

Keeping it raw!

mmaynard

01-09-2009, 03:04 PM

Today is my day off and I am amazed at how much I am getting done. I haven't been hungry today so only sipped on a smoothie through lunch, and then just had a pear. I stopped at the store today and picked up everything I need for enchiladas and nori rolls. I haven't done so well with my dehydrator so far but wanted to give it another attempt with the enchiladas tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes!

Have a great day!

crazygirlmcc

01-09-2009, 04:42 PM

day 6, had salad with raw dressing for breakfast, followed by a shot of wheatgrass and a smoothie with romaine, pineapple, kiwi, +banana. just ate a bunch of celery dipping it in the raw sauce with some water to drink. hoping to get a dehydrator soon, i'm missing a salty crunch from my raw recipes.

rawshay

01-09-2009, 05:30 PM

Today is going well. I haven't eaten much, just 4 oranges and 1 cantelopue so far. I'm pulling a 24 hour work shift at the shelter that I work at. I'm going to bring tons of veggies and stuff to make a GS. I've got to be ready because I do not want to get tempted by some of the food they have there. Anyway, congrats to each of us for making it so far!

apple baby

01-09-2009, 05:55 PM

Hi!! Great day for me, I go out of the city and have a great time close to a lake picking some mangos and eating from the tree, picking some bananas.

A beautiful sun and a relaxing wind.

eating fruit from the trees. and drinking lots of water. I ate a piece of bread baaah, :(

TanjaJo

01-09-2009, 06:49 PM

Yeah day #9! What a great day. Contessa20....I've had the same feeling, although this is my first time going raw this long. I am hoping for a lighter feeling there as well.

Started the morning with a big salad and used up some leftover avocado/cucumber salad dressing.

Juiced a bunch of carrots, and V and I had that for lunch.

Made a big batch of the Waldorf Salad that I think is now on page #2 of the recipes thread. I left out the tomatoes (I feel the need to hoard these!) and added some jicama and used granny smith apples, celery, also added a little bit of raw honey and some lemon juice as well. I am actually starting to like peppers (sweet). Never been a big fan, but maybe because I bought a red and an orange one. So I chopped up the rest of my red pepper and added this. This is one satisfying salad. My husband loves it.

Won't be dreaming of or working on any recipes as I have to work tomorrow. This bums me out because I have been reading the recipe thread and there are so many wonderful sounding recipes to try! So will probably be a plain day at work.

I didn't do an official work out, but because I hate riding in my husband's big tractor (afraid of heights) I walked behind him to the woods to get some logs to drag back for firewood. I burned 382 calories in an hour running/walking in the snow (according to HRM). So I feel good for the day, lots of fresh, cold air, lots of great raw food. Perfection.

Bananna

01-09-2009, 08:26 PM

Hey guys...I just finished Day 2!

I have been sick with the flu for 5 DAYS now...which I think is the ultimate catalyst for change :) I truly think it was all the bad eating over the holidays combined with being surrounded by virus. I haven't been this sick since I was a child! (very sickly child, I was)

Anyways, I have mainly had a tonne of fruit. Yesterday I made my first successful batch of nori rolls which I Loved!

Today I made a raw hot chocolate which I was missing some spices for so added extra cinnamon and cayenne, which wasn't a Great idea, lol...but it was still good....till I got to the bottom and sucked up a whack of HEAT.

Oh, and I also made a creamy tomato soup, which was surprisingly awesome!

Raw is finally starting to feel like Home.

polycute

01-09-2009, 08:32 PM

Day N-I-N-E! Aren't we rawsome!?

Well, to be honest, I'm amazed at how much I love eating all raw foods. It has been effortless (other than some morning back pain in the beginning). I do not feel tempted by a single cooked food because quite frankly, I'm having too much fun experimenting in the kitchen with raw foods.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner have all been extraodinary.

Breakfast: a really creamy banana based GS
Lunch: mexican sunflower scramble with green onions, cilantro, oregano and tomato
Dinner: Turnip green wraps filled with chopped carrots, green onion, white onion, red sweet peppers, sunflower seeds, flax seed, a drizzle of sesame seed tahini (just sesame seed, garlic and lemon), cucumbers, red chili flakes and a sprinkling of the sesame seeds themselves. Need to get that calcium in. The turnip wraps tasted so good!

I like to pack A LOT of flavor and spice into my food - lemon, garlic, spices, sea salt and fresh chiles have been a lifesaver.

It's all going great. I can't believe we're already almost 1/3 of the way through January. The only thing I really miss are sweets and I've not had much success (except pudding) with raw desserts so far. I'll keep trying though until I find something I can make that works to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Fern

01-09-2009, 08:46 PM

Day 9! Glad to have made it, but don't feel great. Not sure if I am coming down with something or if I am detoxing. I don't seem to want to eat anything.

Today was:
Lemon Water
Green Smoothie
Grapefruit
Blended tomato/red bell pepper/celery soup garnished with cucumber & cilantro for dinner
Lots of tea, as it is very cold in WI these days

joya

01-09-2009, 10:41 PM

Still day 9... raw all day!

Kimchi in the morning.

Spinach salad with sprouts & red pepper in the evening.

And currently munching on handfuls of raw cashew & cacao nibs.

Interesting these cacao nibs. Never had them before. Did a little research and had no idea how health-full they are.

cheerio.

raw ambition

01-10-2009, 03:15 AM

Hi, just found this. have been 100% raw since the first, so i'm with you all. i have tried to go raw so many times, but each time it's easier. the past few days i've been eating too much- nuts, dehydrated food, etc. and have gained a couple pounds :b not my intention! will do better, but overall i'm feeling energetic and happy. i've been more depressed the past several months than i have in years but feel good now, i think b/c of raw!

bowie

01-10-2009, 03:37 AM

welcome to day 10

Bananna

01-10-2009, 06:46 AM

Hi guys!

I am only on day 3, but I am going strong so far...having a lot of fun with it.

shine72

01-10-2009, 07:18 AM

Having a potluck today. So I KNOW I'll be having lasagna and truffles, but other than that, not sure yet. Hope everyone is having a GREAT day! :D

TxRawGirl

01-10-2009, 07:19 AM

I fell off the wagon and had grilled chicken wingettes last night. They were not as good as I had always thought they were - ...back on 99.9% raw today -(coffee)... Heading to the gym shortly for running 2 miles (30 mins) and 1 hr of pilates... may go this afternoon for weight training... back on board...

mmaynard

01-10-2009, 08:22 AM

Good morning,

I am feeling good today - am finally getting the mental clarity back that I love when I am eating raw foods. It always seems that it is much easier to find solutions to problems and to think creatively, so am really enjoying it.

I tried the nori rolls last night and have to say that I am not a big fan. I was excited about getting some sea veggies but it was definitely hard to stomach. I think I will wait a week and then maybe try the sweet nori rolls in Alissa's book to see if I like it better.

I'm not sure what the plan is for today. I was going to make enchiladas but we're going out this afternoon, so they may wait until tomorrow. I have everything I need for some zucchini pasta so that may be my dinner.

TxRawGirl - Sometimes slips happen, but I am glad to see that you are back on track. For me, I've found that it's all about making progress and not giving up or being too hard on myself (something I personally have a lot of experience with with).

Hope everyone has a great day! :)

IamLoved

01-10-2009, 09:21 AM

Good morning everyone!

Welcome to all the newcomers, it is nice to "see" you here.

I am feeling a but better today. I don't have the roll of tolet paper glued to my nose and I can walk away fom it for a minute without fear. So that is good. I didn't eat muc during the day yesterday but last night I felt hungry and polished off the last two chocolate tarts that I had made. Before taking a picture. Guess I'll just have to make it again! Next time I am just going to use it as a rich mouse instead of a tart. I felt that the crust, while yummy, took away from the rich creamy chocolate intensity. I'd rather focus on the chocolate.

Oh, and per the challenge rules we are not suppossed to post our slip ups on here. So if you did not stay all raw please do not tell us what you ate. I am not trying to be mean here, these are in the rules for the challenge forum. No talking about non raw foods. You can read more about it here:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?p=324194#post324194

Have a great day everyone!

rawshay

01-10-2009, 10:27 AM

Applebaby: Where do you live? Sun and picking mangoes from a tree. I need to move there :-)

rawshay

01-10-2009, 10:39 AM

Today is going great so far. I'm working my 24 hour shift at the shelter today. I brought tons of fruits and veggies for a GS and just eating whole fruits out of hand. I also have my sweets (rolled dates that are sprinkled with coconut). They are simle and yet so delicious. Today so far I've had 32 ounces of water and 8 of those ounces was mixed with Green Superfood. It's 11:30am and I'm not hungry yet. I did make a GS (6 kale leaves with the stem, 3pears, 1 banana, & 1 avocado) this morning and when I get hungry I'll drink it. Anyway, so far to day is absolutely great. I'm so thankful that after trying to go raw (I wasn't completely raw but I tried to do it for at least half of the day) for almost a year, this time it almost feels effortless. The cravings are barely noticiable compared to the past year. It's like this time it just makes so much sense and it's really my time. I'm so happy and I'm thankful for each of you because reading the daily challenge threads are a huge reason why this time around the committment to stay 100% raw is so fun and easy. So I want to give a huge and sincere THANKYOU to everyone of you. Much love!

janicejourney

01-10-2009, 12:32 PM

Ditto rawshay, well said.

I also feel this time has been effortless. Weird. I cook for my husband who is not raw and there are a gazillion left over chocolate treats from Christmas but I am not even tempted... really. I whipped up some more crackers this morning and plan on making chili and some kind of dip for the crackers. My key lime pie turned out great and the kale chips are amazing. I think I ate to many complex raw foods yesterday and was not hungry after mid-day and only had an apple and a few kale chips as they came out of the dehydrator.

rawchic

01-10-2009, 01:53 PM

I have tons of energy today! I woke up and drank a ton of water and did some yoga. Then I ate two bananas wrapped in collard greens while watching a movie. Then I went to the gym and did 45 min on the treadmill, followed by 30 min in the sauna reading a book. I came back home and had 3 satsuma oranges.

Now it's time for lunch and I'm going to make veggie wraps with cucumber, celery and cherry tomatoes wrapped in romaine leaves.

This afternoon we're going to a basketball game and I sliced up some celery, carrots and cucumber that I'm going to take with me so I won't have to have any nasty stadium food.

All this raw food makes me feel so vibrant - I love it!

contessa20

01-10-2009, 03:42 PM

Day 13 for me! This has been a ridiculously stressful day but I've managed to stay 100%.

I felt pretty icky last night so I didn't eat anything after I got home from school (work). I wasn't even terribly hungry this morning until much later than usual.

apple baby

01-10-2009, 04:18 PM

Hey Rawshay!! I live inEl Salvador in Central America!! :)

apple baby

01-10-2009, 04:23 PM

Day 5 for me and keeping Raw!!!!

Thanks everybody por this post, because read each one of you make me kee inthe raw side.

have a great Day!!!

polycute

01-10-2009, 05:41 PM

Having a great raw day: 10 days and going strong.

Breakfast: a GS with banana and date + raw vegan strawberry crumble (ground up some hazelnuts, cacao nibs, andagave nectar + pureed organic strawberries on top, yum!)

Took a little 2 mile hike today and then ate carrot salad (I made it so I know it's raw), raw pumpkin seeds, turnip greens (totally raw with a ginger-orange dressing), raw portabello mushrooms and green bell pepper (grabbed them before they were thrown on the grill) and a clementine for dessert

I know I am not eating high raw but I'm not concentrating on anything other than being 100% raw for the first 30 days. If I can do that, then I can move on to food-combining, mono-meals, 80/10/10 and all that other crazy stuff. ;)

Keep on keepin' on everyone, you all keep me SO inspired.

TxRawGirl, don't even sweat it, just keep your chin up and make sure your next meal is raw.