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

[rawdanig]

can't delete

[rawdanig]

Finally done eating for today( banana ice cream always saves the day!) I was soo hungry and i tried the stuffed portabella mushrooms but my taste buds were not diggin it so i saved the rest to throw into a wrap for tomorrow. But i was still starving and i didnt want to eat up all my salad so i made some banana ice cream threw in some vanilla bean and cut up the applepie larabar as a topping and boy am i full!! Nothing fills me up and keeps me satisfied like banana icecream/pudding/smoothies...idk why? Anyone else feel as if bananas really helps to keep them full?

B: Green Smoothie(2cups spinach 1 banana 1 apple 1 cup of leftover almond mylk)
L: Cut up Watermelon and honey dew from work. My big salad with pears,strawberries,pistachios,currants,spring mix greens and raspberry vinaigrette
snacks: few strawberries, few pieces of melon, sunflower seeds and raisins
D:just stated above lol

Picture time! The first is the PB Banana Pudding i made yesterday night for dinner with strawberries on top. Again yummy and kept me full all night. Second is the VB Banana Ice cream i made today with the applepie larabar and some cinnamon. My eating was all over today. I really think it was from doing my intense cardio today

[MyRedPanda]

That looks delish! I was still hungry too so I ate some pecan butter I made a few days ago.

[Steven]

Nothing fills me up and keeps me satisfied like banana icecream/pudding/smoothies...idk why? Anyone else feel as if bananas really helps to keep them full?

Bananas are a good calorie and carb dense fruit and are good at fueling the body which is why they are satisfying. :)

[DearWanderlust]

DearWanderlust- Congrats! I've also noticed a change in my skin it seems smoother and my even in complexion. Even this odd mole scar that i've had for years is actually turning into a scab that can fall of and finally go away. It's weird how the body starts healing itself

Right! I have a scab at the top of my nose between my eyes that looks like it's fading away. I read somewhere on here about MSM that I'm going to try as well.

[rawdanig]

Bananas are a good calorie and carb dense fruit and are good at fueling the body which is why they are satisfying. :)

Yea i hear they swell up to twice their size in your stomach lol don't know if that's true but i do need to start introducing sprouted grains/oats in my diet i think that would help me to cut back on my banana intake..don't get me wrong i love them but i can go through 3 bunches in 2 days lol not good on the wallet!

[Steven]

Yea i hear they swell up to twice their size in your stomach lol don't know if that's true but i do need to start introducing sprouted grains/oats in my diet i think that would help me to cut back on my banana intake..don't get me wrong i love them but i can go through 3 bunches in 2 days lol not good on the wallet!

I have never heard that about bananas, but. I am going to look it up. How much are you paying for bananas? Those things are dirt cheap! I buy an entire 40lb case of organic fair trade ones a week for only $36. So about 90 cents a pound. But at most stores for non organic they are from 39 to 59 cents a pound generally.

[rawdanig]

I have never heard that about bananas, but. I am going to look it up. How much are you paying for bananas? Those things are dirt cheap! I buy an entire 40lb case of organic fair trade ones a week for only $36. So about 90 cents a pound. But at most stores for non organic they are from 39 to 59 cents a pound generally.

RIP OFF!! lol jk I pay 64 cent per pound for organic bananas at my grocery store. The co-op charged me 99 cents for the same brand and organic. I just feel bad that i go through them so quickly especially when it's only 2 days later and i have 3 left lol I'm afraid to buy more cause i keep thinking i wont eat them in time before they go bad but i don't calculate the stuff that i freeze for smoothies and ice cream

[Steven]

RIP OFF!! lol jk I pay 64 cent per pound for organic bananas at my grocery store. The co-op charged me 99 cents for the same brand and organic. I just feel bad that i go through them so quickly especially when it's only 2 days later and i have 3 left lol I'm afraid to buy more cause i keep thinking i wont eat them in time before they go bad but i don't calculate the stuff that i freeze for smoothies and ice cream

I only pay about four dollars more than the average cost of a case organic bananas. And seeing as I cannot stomach most of the common brands like dole, chiquita, etc, I will pay to get a better quality brand that tastes a lot better. I wouldnt worry about feeling bad about eating the bananas, they are good for you and packed full of tons of vitamins and minerals! And at 64 cents a pound it wouldnt hurt your wallet much! Are you making sure to eat them when they are spotted? Otherwise they are unripe and too starchy, it takes quite a while for bananas to go rotten in my experience.

[MysticTree]

back to work today and I'm up much too early. Probably all the sleeping I did yesterday.

Watermelon for breakfast - the third day on the same melon it was so huge. I hope to get another the same quality on my way home from work. Such good value.

Salad for lunch with sea spag. some almonds (soaked and sprouting) for snacking on at some point and presumably another salad of a different sort for supper. I haven't decided yet.

I wish my carrots would hurry up and grow!

[MeredithLee]

I will try the "datorade"! Good idea. A friend suggested making "goo" out of coconut oil and peanut butter, but I'm not sure how to carry that.

I have not worked out in sooooo long. Exercise was always my thing. I have got to get back to it! When our town flooded and we sandbagged for two weeks straight, I just got fried! I started bartending at that same time and that exhausts me too. I need to get back in the swing of things and choreograph some Zumba classes so when they start again in September I'll have some new dances and a hot body. ;) It has been too hot for soccer, so I haven't played in a few weeks either. But I feel like I'm getting the hand of listening to my body's needs and I eat a lot less now than I used to. I think I will be able to use food to recover from working out now instead of rewarding myself for working out. I used to do Zumba 10 hours a week and still gain weight every week. Post workout beers and hot wings don't do a body good I guess. :)

I had a really good smoothie this morning. Watermelon, celery and spinach. My boyfriend loved it too. Weird how strong of a flavor celery has. I've always thought of it as crunchy water. I do need a Vitamix at home. I have one at my restaurant but I have a cheap, old, handmedown blender at home and it is horrible. I swear at my smoothies every morning! I want happy smoothies. I begged the boyfriend for a Vitamix for my birthday.

Hope everyone has a happy, healthy, super raw day!

[MysticTree]

happy raw day

I am coming to the end of my enormous water melon and the shop has run out. They are getting more tomorrow but will they be the same type? Who knows.

The one I got was dark green and pale green strips with red flesh and it was absolutely perfect. It has lasted 3 whole days and I haven't been stingy with my portions. One of the best <£4.00 (approx US$6.50) I ever spent on fruit

I got bitten by a mosquito or something right on my neck under my chin It's really itchy! it is also very red and noticeable which is uber annoying because my skin is starting to really be so much better and my face is much slimmer.

I've had dates this evening as snack and may finish off my sea spag salad later.

[jennyfedei]

I'm interested in giving the 30 Day challenge a whirl. I met the most amazing lady at the health food store today who told me she has lost over 100 pounds on a raw diet. She looked like the epitome of health, so I came back here to see about getting started. I have never done anything like this before, so I must admit that I am completely clueless as to how to do this correctly.

I don't know what all the foods are (besides fruits and veggies) I need to eat and in what quantities daily I should be consuming them to receive the maximum nutrition.

What kind and how many nuts and seeds should I eat daily?

How many servings of fruits and veggies and what kinds are best?

What else can I eat that doesn't fit into those categories? What about whole grain breads, vinegars, nutritional yeasts, nutritional powders (such as Maca, Flax or Hemp etc..), condiments etc..?? What about Vitamins??

I can grab carrots and apples and eat a handful of walnuts with the best of them, but will I be getting enough nutrition for my body? I worry about Calcium, Protein etc..

Can someone please point me in the direction of some reliable "guidelines" before I get started so I know exactly what and how much of each food group I need??? I am getting desperate here because my doctor is hounding me to loose weight and would love to give this a try, but definitely need some daily guidelines and some form of structure.

Help!!

Jenny

[MysticTree]

Hi,

At first, don't worry if you are getting x amount of vit B or y amount of zinc just learn which foods you like.

Nuts, seeds and grains are best soaked and sprouted. This is easy to do in a jar on the draining board.

many nuts are not raw if they are out of their shells - you can decide how important that is to you. Many people whilst they eat a lot of nuts at the start don't continue to eat more than a few a day or even a week. I buy organic nuts when I can and soak them overnight until they start to sprout just a tiny point of a root. They are delicious.

fruits and veg and greens in abundance - particularly green leafy veg is good. I have a small garden so can grow a fair amount myself. If you can't do this then maybe there is a local farmers' market or even community vegetable garden.

If it is cooked or of animal origin (except honey which unless you are strict vegan is ok) then it is not part of the program. Breads are cooked. Unless they are raw vegan breads made in a dehydrator. I don't have a dehydrator so I don't have breads but you can use vegetable leaves as wraps and also seaweed if you can get it raw.

I really do recommend you take a look at Alissa's book. It answers all your questions. It's very heavy and I have to admit that I cut it in half down the spine (I hate admitting that) so I could manage reading it. It's crammed full of the whys and wherefores and lots of recipes.

Vinegars, nama shoyu, miso, braggs etc will get different answers from different people. I use organic cider vinegar but none of the others listed. I do miss miso a bit and may review my attitude about that at some point.

No coffee or tea - in theory. I've kicked a 2-4 litre a day diet-coke habit.

Cold-pressed, raw oils such as extra virgin olive oil is fine for dressings and marinades etc.

Just throw yourself into it and think about the balance of foods as you find your feet. Eat as much raw foods as you need to stop you eating cooked and non-vegan.

Enjoy it. It is a blast :)

[rawdanig]

Day 6 has been a rough day. Had an early internship interview that threw my schedule out of whack so no green smoothie but i did throw some salad,banana,apple and the left over mushroom into my lunch bag hoping that would get me through the day....boy was i wrong i'm starving!!! i tried getting a smoothie and i didn't watch her make it(got distracted by the nuts that i bought) and when i get to my car it taste like crap. I look inside they use syrups not real fruit so i tossed it out!(waste of 5 bucks) Now i'm at work starving trying to drink water but it's not helping. Idk why i've been so hungry these past two days even last night i woke up in the middle of the night half consious eating sunflower seeds and pistachios which i never do i'm ususally satisfied all night from dinner. I'm wonderig if it's because of the intense cardio work out. It's a HIIT workout from Turbofire(a beachbody program like p90x) normally i only do resistance training but i've been throwing in some cardio 1 a week and last week i didn't have this problem...idk my metabolism must be super revved! lol

On a side note i'm going to a family reunion tomorrow for the weekend and i'm worried about the food options i'll have...these are black folks we're talking about(soul food super fattening and cooked of course lol) and i wont be at a hotel and you cant bring food on planes...ugghhhghghgh hopefully my aunt atleast has fruit