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

[rawdanig]

Loving everyone's pics, food looks delicious!

Have been absolutely STARVING all day - not sure what it was but it had to be the one day I didn't pack any nuts/snacks to go.
B: Green smoothie with bananas and donut peaches
S: Small fruit salad
L: A-mazing salad from Paul (anyone know that place?) It had hearts of palm, avos, artichokes, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Not completely raw as the artichokes were definitely cooked but still delicious and so light in a lemon dressing.
S: Bought a raw chocolate bar from an organic shop - expensive, but so good! I miss being able to indulge in a chocolate bar every once in a while so it was nice having that luxury again :) The brand was Conscious chocolate if anyone wants to check it out.

Then was still out and got hungry so bought some fresh pineapple slices and proceeded to eat the whole container - bad bad BAD idea. My tongue/mouth are fried :/ has this ever happened to anyone?
D: cucumber, tomato and onion salad in a lemon dressing (which hurt to eat) topped with some buckwheaties and pine nuts for crunch. Was still hungry so had a handful of fresh dates and a few walnuts which seemed to do the trick.

I feel like I ate a lot but I was actually constantly hungry all day - nothing seemed to fill me up! Really odd feeling. Will definitely be better prepared tomorrow and pack some snacks for when I'm on the go.

I've had days like this before my bottomless stomach days. Your literally just soooo hungry and no matter what you eat in whatever quantities it's like your body burns it right up. Then the next day your good. Idk what it is but i agree its not fun cause you feel like you're being a pig!

I too agree about the pineapple it destroys my mouth if i eat too much even when it's super sweet

I have a random question are your nuts raw? Not that it matters but i'm always wondering how you afford nuts lol.

[rawdanig]

Today was a weird day. I wasn't really hungry a lot today i had made some instant pizza crust to take to work and i made cherry tomato marinara for the pizza sauce all delicious!! I even made knock off larabars today they were keylime coconut flavored and instead of nuts i used oats(i feel less guilt indulging lol) but i didn't think to finely chop my oats first so they are crunchy to chew and i dehydrated them for a few hours so they would hold together well. I made all this food and i felt like i had no appetite to eat

B: 3 keylime cookies and a green smoothie(i wasn't hungry for a really long time)
L: Failed attempt at instant pizza since i didn't think about making the crust in a dish before hand. i had small little bite sized crust that i made from smooshing the dough together lol
S:Blueberries and kale chips
D: Just ate 3 more cookies and another green smoothie as i don't feel i ate a lot today to get enough greens in and i wasn't feeling a salad or any food for that matter

Now i'm full again and i know i wont be hungry all night but i drank plenty of water today and at some point i started to feel light headed even though i wasn't ever hungry today so idk what's going on :/

[triciaRAW]

prepping for an august push. So i'm starting early, but i guess late for the July challenge. I started todayish...except for hummus.

I'm excitedly marinating some portobella mushrooms for tomorrow.

I had a big green protein shake with 2 grapefruit and some flax blended in.
Ate a red pepper and almonds
picked huckleberries and raspberries with my nephews today.
ate some cherries off the cherry tree.
Big salad for dinner. Kale and Chard, soaked almonds, nutritional yeast

[iLuvGR333N]

1 head of celery
3 Heads of Romaine
1 Large Watermelon
1 Cucumber
3 Liters Water
6 Large Apples
10 Large Banana's

A nice bicycle ride today.

[EscapeArtist]

I still don't feel very 'raw', you know? Could it be because I'm not getting enough sleep (6-8 hours a night + waking up 3 times) Am I being impatient? I don't know, it's day 26, and things haven't changed as much as I expected them to..Maybe that one cooked food blip put me back a few weeks?? I don't get it. Maybe my body isn't alkaline yet?

Maybe it's because I've stopped drinking the amount of water I was drinking before? I can't run to the bathroom 10 times at work so I lowered my water way down and stopped doing water therapy in the morning... Ever since then I haven't felt as good.



B: 4 banana+kale green smoothie
L: 5 kiwis, 1 banana, 1 small salad (yu choy, arugula, romaine, handful of purslane, + cherries and cucumber)
D: 1 cantaloupe, same salad as lunch, green juice x 2.
3 dates w/ kale


I feel a bit conflicted, what am I doing wrong? Why have I lost the good feelings? Could this be a subtle detox? I definitely don't feel as bad as when I started, so maybe I should be more appreciative, but it felt better in the beginning is all. I'll try getting enough sleep and I'll drink more water on the weekend and see if I feel it.

At the farm/garden that I work at, there was a little pile of extra fresh produce that was 1 week old and had been left untouched by the little store. I ended up bringing back around 4 small bunches of fresh kale, 1 bunch of rainbow chard, 1 radicchio (not the little kind, the big bitter head of it! yay!), 1 bunch of tiny carrots, some snap peas, and a few beets. I gave the beets and snap peas to my mother and sister but kept the rest ;) I also bought a gigantic cucumber from the farm store for 3 dollars.

Lastly I'm considering buying a Green Star/Green Life juicer. Is a juicer worth the cost? I sure hope so

[MysticTree]

personally Escapeartist, I think you could be eating more and also the water thing concerns me.
What is your total intake because water is very important.
Back to food for a moment - there is no fat listed in the above meal list. Are you eating fats? You need fats for the fat soluble vitamins and omegas etc.

[DearWanderlust]

Hi everyone!

Nad, I completely understand! For the last week I have been STARVING and eating everything and not getting satisfied. I'm thinking it may be hormonal but I still don't like the way this feels. I'm sure it will pass.

I've decided to accept the August challenge as well. I KNOW I can do better than I did this month. My body WANTS me to eat healthier. I can feel it. When I eat crap, I feel like crap and I want to feel GOOD. :-)

[MysticTree]

Nearly August and time for a new challenge ... well, the same challenge again!

Good raw day here so far apart from a bit of watercress getting wrapped round one of my tonsils!

[rawdanig]

Excited to continue on in August!! I love being raw now that it's starting to become 2nd nature and I'm allowing myself to fall in love with raw foods of every variety instead of fearing them. I'm making eggplant bacon today so i can have BSAGT(bacon,spinach,alfalfa,guacamole,and tomato :P ) for lunch today i also have some more kale chips i'm going to finish up. I plan to make a little salad to take to work in case i get hungry. I made a cheese that turned out to be a fail so i'm going to throw it out i just can't stomach it..ugh such a waste!! For dinner i'm not seeing myself wanting anything in particular might make some frozen yogurt since i haven't had that in a while. Maybe i'll use the left over instant pizza crust and try to make a pizza correctly lol. For breakfast though i'm having my usual keylime cookies and GS

Positive note: My mom found raw almonds in 12oz bags at the store for 4.50ea and i thought that was a good deal!! She even made her first green smoothie yesterday!!! And plans to make alomond milk!!! I'm so proud of her!!!

[ImSoRaw]

Day 3 for me, nice to see how everyones progressing

Breakfast: I juiced some Strawberry, Kiwi, Celery and Cucumber

went out skateboarding for a bit and noticed the difference in how much clearer i feel and my leg muscles have more energy

Lunch: a salad of Lettuce, Spinach, Spring onion, Alfalfa sprouts, Beets and Cabbage

Dinner: I will be having some celery sticks with a raw hummus dip as well as some raw cheese

Heres a photo of the salad i had:

[MysticTree]

I finally took a picture of one of the many ways I have been serving this thing I call a nut cheese but which is more of a pate really.





The dressing this evening is a less than appetising colour really but it tasted good. It was a raw mayo flavoured with sundried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, coriander leaf and garlic.

[MeredithLee]

There is one great result. My skin is amazing. I quit wearing makeup it is so nice. I'm going to try to post some pics. Maybe I'm imagining it, but I feel like I have fewer wrinkles. And I'm about to turn 31, with a 24 year old boyfriend. So it is kind of cool. ;)
This one is from 2 weeks before going raw.


This one is after almost 2 months of raw.

[November Blue]

Your skin looks younger....fresher! Good for you!!! :)

[Nad]

I've had days like this before my bottomless stomach days. Your literally just soooo hungry and no matter what you eat in whatever quantities it's like your body burns it right up. Then the next day your good. Idk what it is but i agree its not fun cause you feel like you're being a pig!

I too agree about the pineapple it destroys my mouth if i eat too much even when it's super sweet

I have a random question are your nuts raw? Not that it matters but i'm always wondering how you afford nuts lol.

We buy our nuts in bulk from the big bins at the supermarket and they are raw as far as I know because they sprout when I soak them which is good enough for me. :) Nuts and seeds are very common in Middle Eastern cuisine so they're not as overpriced as they are elsewhere which I'm VERY thankful for - especially being a student in the UK for most of the year where they're often extortionately priced. I'm going to stock up big time before I leave for school again in September! Have you tried looking for an Arabic/ethnic foods store near you? I find those are a lot cheaper for things like nuts and spices when I'm in the UK, not sure what it's like in the states though.

Oh yes, this happens to me. I have a definite pineapple quota, and I'm sorry if I eat too much! Unless I am in Hawaii, where the pineapple is incredible and sweet, and I seem able to eat unlimited amounts. Maybe it becomes more acidic during shipping?

I read online that sometimes leaving it overnight reduces the intensity of the enzyme bromelain(sp?) which is what acts as a meat tenderizer - must've been because I had a large portion that was freshly cut whereas I'll usually prepare my pineapple and store it in the fridge and then eat in small portions. Never doing that again - so unpleasant!

Hi everyone!

Nad, I completely understand! For the last week I have been STARVING and eating everything and not getting satisfied. I'm thinking it may be hormonal but I still don't like the way this feels. I'm sure it will pass.

I thought that too - about it being hormonal! Sorry if this is too private but have any of the ladies on the challenge noticed a change in their cycle? Mine seems to have completely disappeared and I'm pretty concerned because I'm definitely not starving myself

Meredith - Your skin looks great! Definitely fresher, good job.

[Nad]

Today has been way better - no bottomless pit of hunger thank God!

B: Green smoothie with bananas and donut peaches
S: Fresh dates and a couple of walnut halves
L: My mom made us a salad with greens, celery, tomatoes, red pepper, avo, and spring onion topped with pumpkin seeds and pine nuts tossed in a lemon and olive oil dressing. So simple yet so tasty - how she manages to make even a salad taste better is beyond me! I also made some raw zucchini hummus to go along with the sunflower bread that I made and sun-dehydrated this morning (most successful raw bread attempt yet ) Mom loved the hummus - not so much the bread.
S: Pistachio nuts and some guava juice
D: Tiny portion of leftover salad and some zucchini hummus on a slice of sunflower bread + 1 peach + a couple of dried dates and walnuts
Just got a little hungry now so had some dried apricots - feel like I've eaten tons again!