July 2011 - 30 day challenge - Join at ANYtime of the month!

[Nad]

weighing every day usually leads to moments of huge disappointment. I try to leave it for a fortnight and am aiming for monthly weigh-ins only. Loose fitting clothing is a better measure I think.

Weighing yourself daily might be misleading/disappointing due to weight fluctuations. That said however some people find it helps them stay on track so if you do weigh yourself daily, make sure you do it at the same time, preferably in the morning when you wake up and after you've gone to the bathroom. I personally weigh-in once a week, I like having a day to work towards, but I will occasionally peek mid-week just to keep myself in check :) Hope that helps!

[MysticTree]

Weighing yourself daily might be misleading/disappointing due to weight fluctuations. That said however some people find it helps them stay on track so if you do weigh yourself daily, make sure you do it at the same time, preferably in the morning when you wake up and after you've gone to the bathroom. I personally weigh-in once a week, I like having a day to work towards, but I will occasionally peek mid-week just to keep myself in check :) Hope that helps!

Nad, I think your comment was meant for Dearwanderlust - I don't weigh every day

[Nad]

It was mystic - sorry! I meant to quote you quoting her :) I'm such a n00b

[DearWanderlust]

Yeah, I think you ladies are right. Right now I'm disappointed that I'm up a pound from yesterday but yesterday I was happy because I was down a pound from the day before. I think I'll give it a break and just opt for a once a week check-in.

Anyway, I'm still excited about this way of eating. I'm still new to this so I haven't felt all of the benefits yet but I hear so many good things about raw food that I can't resist the urge to at least try.

So far today I've had a strawberry, pineapple, banana smoothie. For lunch I'm having a BIG salad and for dinner I'm thinking some raw corn.

[DearWanderlust]

Early on day 2 and I'm munching on a royal Gala apple, it's unusually sunny here in London today so I anticipate a very light day - although I do have a lunch date so that might be challenging but I'll do my best to stay 100% RAW - any tips for eating out?

Yesterday I had:
B: Green smoothie - a frozen banana, blueberries, kale and several handfuls of spinach + ground flaxseed
Snack: a carrot carrots
L: Greek salad with cashew red pepper "cheeze" and kale
Snack: apple
D: Cos lettuce wraps with the same cheeze, then was still hungry so chopped up a frozen banana with chopped walnuts and raw chocolate sauce (agave+cacao powder)

Writing that all down makes me feel like I ate a LOT! Anyone else finding they're eating more than they thought?

That doesn't seem like a lot to me but it DOES seem DELICIOUS!!!

[LunaNueva]

I think that meal sizes are very personal ... You shoud have seen the size of the 2 bowls of salad I had for dinner and at 10:30 p.m. I was having pineapple. I have learned that if I do not eat when hungry, cravings hit me so strongly that I just lose it and binge. In my case, eating when hungry and until full, even if that means eating more than the rest of the people, is what works.

[rawdanig]

Day 2 of 100% raw and as you might see in my blog not the best but then again idk what the culprit was. But all in all so far so good. Yesterday i had chia seed cereal, a grape fruit, a kiwi, some currants(raisins), carrots and then some brownie batter(it was supposed to be fudgeballs but i added too much water lol) I had pretty good energy and never felt starving. So far today i've only had a banana and lots of water. I'm trying to get to simple eating these 30days cause being raw or transitioning to raw has been a tad bit expensive(trying to buy the staples). But i found a co-op store that's 5 mins away and they have every thing a raw foodist could imagine and more. I LOVED IT and only spent 70 bucks where at whole food i was supposed to spend 120 and they had kelp noodles(bought 4 bags 3.69)!!! I've been wanting to make pad thai for a while and finally can :) They even sold sprouting jar kits and seeds specifically for sprouting. I bought the last little vanilla bean pods they had and you get 2 in a bag for 1.50 at WF it was 1 for 5 bucks! They also sell kava kava powder, maca powder, wheatgrass planted and herbs i never heard of before...it was truly beautiful. I'm going back monday for their farmers market type of event and plan to buy the sprouting jars so i can sprout my quinoa and mung beans

Glad to hear everyone is doing well!

[Horsekisses1]

I will be starting tomorrow, July 3rd.

[Nad]

rawdanig - that co-op sounds amazing! I went into the WF in London for the first time last week and literally just wandered around for an hour - heavenly. I didn't buy much because everything was pretty pricey (esp. raw crackers etc.) and partly because there was just so much to look at/choose from - I was overwhelmed! I've found a Sunday farmer's market near me though so going to hit that up tomorrow :)

Anyways, end of day 2 - not 100% but I don't want to dwell, just going to keep on keeping on.
B: Green smoothie - lots of spinach, kale and a frozen banana

Snack: 1/2 a medjool date stuffed with walnut pieces and then rolled in some shredded coconut (came up with this on the spot - it was delicious!)

L: I dined out and had a large chef's salad but substituted raw mushrooms and avocado for prosciutto and mozerella (to which the waiter responded "so, just leaves then? ) Also some freshly squeezed orange juice.
Then just grazed for the rest of the day, handful of red grapes, cocoa orange nakd bar (I LOVE these, anyone else a fan?), some blueberries and now some cold-brewed Yogi tea.

[rawdanig]

L: I dined out and had a large chef's salad but substituted raw mushrooms and avocado for prosciutto and mozerella (to which the waiter responded "so, just leaves then? ) Also some freshly squeezed orange juice.
Then just grazed for the rest of the day, handful of red grapes, cocoa orange nakd bar (I LOVE these, anyone else a fan?), some blueberries and now some cold-brewed Yogi tea.

Ugh! I hate ordering out now because i feel like such a pain lol. I tried ordering smoothies on my birthday and every place i was at said they didn't know if it had dairy since its just a mix...um what happened to fresh fruit smoothies in america! Luckily at my bday dinner i was able to get orange sorbet dairy free!
Are naked bars raw? I've had them before they're delicious but didn't know they were raw. Definitely will stock up for school if they are lol

[rawdanig]

Ending day 2 on a good note! Even though i had a horrible morning my stomach is much happier and i filled it with yummy food today. I had a banana, some applesauce a wet burrito(cabbage leaf, shredded red cabbage, red onions, cucumbers, green bell pepper, spicy tomato salsa, little lime juice and cilantro along with half of an avocado as my "cheese") It was a yummy mess lol a made up recipe that i definitely need to perfect. Snacked on some currants still had a sweet tooth so i made some banana ice cream with 1/2 tbsp of honey, splash of cinnamon and 1 tsp of cocoa powder(never using again) and i was feeling adventurous so i through in a tbsp of organic natural pb so what that made me 98% raw today lol Just glad to be feeling better!

[apples0687]

This is my first time posting on any thread. I think it's so exciting that you guys have started the July challenge, since I just started the raw diet yesterday. I'm going for a month. If you knew how horrible my eating habits were you would be in shock! I recently started working at a grocery store since I have the summer off from school, and I had no idea what zuchini/radishes were.. good example? hahah. But anyway, today was my first day. I ate a lot- 3 bananas, 1 apple, 2 cups of grapes, 2 large bowls of salad (spinach and romaine lettuce) with tomato and pico de gallo (sp?). But, I wish you all the best! :). I really want to cave in, I think I need to throw away all my old junk!

[MysticTree]

This is my first time posting on any thread. I think it's so exciting that you guys have started the July challenge, since I just started the raw diet yesterday. I'm going for a month. If you knew how horrible my eating habits were you would be in shock! I recently started working at a grocery store since I have the summer off from school, and I had no idea what zuchini/radishes were.. good example? hahah. But anyway, today was my first day. I ate a lot- 3 bananas, 1 apple, 2 cups of grapes, 2 large bowls of salad (spinach and romaine lettuce) with tomato and pico de gallo (sp?). But, I wish you all the best! :). I really want to cave in, I think I need to throw away all my old junk!

Welcome aboard

I think you'd feel less like caving if you ate more. You are starving there!!

For the first month of raw you really can eat huge amounts of food. You actually may need to as your digestive system adjusts to the new foods. Learn how to eat raw first and then learn to moderate it afterwards.

First-timers often report eating lots of soaked, raw nuts and lots of avocados at first. Then the feeling that these are needed tends to drift away and a moderate diet follows.

Try sprouting grains and seeds. A moderate amount of these adds to the variety.

Ask questions :)

[Jayla]

Hi,


I am trying to go raw for all of July. If it works well, I want to stay raw or atleast vegan. My problem is I live overseas, I am teaching here, and there are not really many veggies here. I can find fruit, bananas, apples, mellons, plumes, mangoes, and frozen strawberries. Sometimes I may be able to find other fruits, but the thing is my diet will be maybe 90% fruit.

My goal is to lose weight and feel better. I have been feeling horrible. I think my body need a break from all the junk I usualy eat. I am very overweight and a very slow loser. I have been on all kinds of diets and have never loss more than a pound or two a week, even in the first week. So, I doubt if I will have any great weight loss with this lifestyle either. But I want to do this becasue its more about feeling better than losing weight for me.

Anyway, can I do a 90% fruit diet and not gain weight or have too much sugar?

Thanks in advance
Jayla

[MysticTree]

Yes you can but don't forget that you can sprout seeds and grains in your kitchen and that will give a bit more variety. Depending on where you are, you may be able to forage wild leaves and that again will be helpful.

Where there is a will there is a way.

You say you have never lost more than one or two pounds a week. This is healthy weight loss. You shouldn't be losing more than that a week. Raw is not a quick fix - although you will start to feel the benefits right away - any large amounts of weight lost in the first week or so will be fluid so you need to keep well hydrated. Water seems to solve an amazing number of apparent problems.