Stomach Flu and Green Juice Weekend

So, starting this past Thursday, I had the weekend from hell! My annual stomach flu decided to skip last year and apparently came back early this time. I have NEVER slept on my back before Thursday night and I didn't even have the energy to get under the covers after spending the later half of the day being violently ill. I woke up on Friday and thankfully wasn't nauseous anymore but I soon realized that the worst still wasn't over. The second I moved every single muscle, nerve and tendon in my entire body screamed out if I so much as twitched. A ten minute walk with Finn felt like a marathon, I literally couldn't even hold myself up. So I caved and once I felt certain I wasn't going to be sick again, I made myself some warm miso soup (two bowls actually).

I know that Friday and Saturday would have been great days to do a little juice fasting but the thought of putting together and cleaning my hurky juicer was as exhausting as standing up so I just stuck with fruit and other easily digestible foods. Finally, on Sunday, when I was feeling more like myself I decided I'd give the blender a shot at making me a green juice. SUCCESS!

Obviously, I'm happy with the results, much happier than when I was using the juicer...in fact, I think I may just return the thing. The blender works better and I can just save up to get an actually decent juicer...preferably a press-style juicer not a centrifuge one.

The blender way DEFINITELY takes a lot longer than the juicer but the results are a lot more juice-like and I use less fruit and more greens with this method. And clean-up is a breeze!

So what was in this juice? Well, it had one apple, a small carrot or two, I actually used celery (god I despise celery), half a cucumber, some broccoli, a TON of spinach and about a cup of water. Clearly, I don't have a nut mylk bag so I'm doing it the old school way: with cheesecloth. It was amazingly refreshing and delicious. I felt very light and invigorated after drinking this...as if I actually did get all those good nutrients that I didn't feel I was getting with the juicer.

I will certainly be doing this a lot more frequently. A few notes to self: don't use peach instead of apple...NOT GOOD. And I did find that if I strain the juice twice, less gritty stuff gets into the final result.

Happy Juicing!

The F word!

I don't believe I've ever thought about the fact that "fail" is a four letter word. How appropriate. Obviously, that's the F word that I am talking about today. I have decided I want to eliminate it from my vocabulary, from my mind and from my life. Why is that some people are so ready to see someone fail? It's as if they're giddy with the anticipation of watching this person fall flat on their face! How sick and twisted this human race is. Shouldn't we support one another's endeavors to improve upon ourselves in any way we can? We should not put others (and ourselves) down and we should not hold our breath until they (or we) fail. Waiting for failure is a self-fulfilling prophecy intended to sabotage our good intentions. Do you really want to sabotage your friend or your colleague or, most importantly, yourself?

When I decided to starting eating/living Raw, I told a few colleagues of mine about my newly found enthusiasm for a healthier lifestyle and their response was "I give you two months." And now, it's as if they are watching my every move in order to see me fail or falter. It was incredibly discouraging to hear people think so lowly of me that they don't believe I can manage a healthier lifestyle. At the same time, it was empowering because I wanted to prove them wrong. But not anymore. I've known all along that I shouldn't be doing this in order to prove someone wrong or to prove myself to anyone but it was always there in the back of my mind but I am releasing that now. I am doing this to improve myself, I am doing this to be happy. I want to let go of all my preconceived notions about what I should and shouldn't be doing and what people expect of me. I want to be comfortable and happy and if my idea of happiness does not coincide with another person's that should not be a problem. We are, after all, individuals.

My theory is that people get scared/intimidated when you try and improve upon yourself because they feel guilty that they are not living a healthier life as well. They are threatened by this. God only knows why and even though I was one of those people, I still can't really tell you why it was that I resented people who were thinner, more fit, or leading a healthier life than I was. Perhaps it was jealousy. But it's like a friend making your favorite brownies with the full knowledge that you are on a diet; it's sabotage disguised as a sweet gesture. I am done with the ulterior motives and I am done setting myself up for failure by listening to what others have to say as if it's set in stone. From this point forward I will try my hardest to live my life with only my own health and well-being in mind, I will take everything I read and hear with a grain of salt and I will only do what I feel is right for me. I am not one size fits all.

Sustainable Eating, Hot Yoga and Food!

As promised, I brought the recipes from Sunday's kitchen adventure to share. First, however, I must advertise an article from Time Magazine about food sustainability. This is a long one but incredibly informative. It doesn't preach a certain way of eating (i.e. raw, vegan, vegetarian), it only explains how eating the standard American diet is killing our environment and ultimately killing us. It is time for a change and I hope that this article helps to open the eyes of the masses. I, personally, have never been happier to eat a diet that has such a small impact on the world.

Now some personal information: my friend, Megin and I went to hot yoga last night. I hadn't gone in about a year and the only hot yoga I had ever done before was hot hatha yoga, not hot power yoga. It's definitely not as relaxing as hatha but I can see why people go to get in shape...my arms are killing me! I will most likely go again but I can't deny that I definitely like hatha a lot better. I just hope my arms recover by the next session on Wednesday...I've had the displeasure or nursing a nearly torn ligament in my arm and it was excruciating and I don't want to experience it again.

Okay, now on to the recipes!

Sage & Sun-Dried Tomato Cashew Pate:














Ingredients:
1 cup cashews, soaked
1/2 cup water (or more if you wish)
a few slices of dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. sage
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp. agave nectar

Directions:
Process cashews in food processor first until nuts are completely crushed. Add the remaining ingredients and continue processing. Scrape sides frequently.

This is mmmmmmm-mmmmmm-mmmmmm-mmmmm gooooooooooood! It's even better when it sits overnight as the flavors get a chance to blend together (it's color even changed to red). It's amazing on a romaine leaf with some tomatoes or other veggies. Even though I wasn't at all hungry last night after yoga, I still had to have some.

Smooth Tomato Dressing:
















Ingredients:
1 large tomato (heirlooms are great but anything else will work)
2 tbsp. tahini
2 dates, pitted
1 large sprig fresh thyme
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
pepper (to taste)
salt (to taste)

Directions:
Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth, adjusting salt and pepper to your liking.

Oh so good! It tends to be dominant in a salad so make sure the vegetables you use are appropriate, i.e. no lemon cucumbers. Sweet peppers and zucchini work very well.

Well I feel like a more reliable blogger now! Enjoy and I hope the article provides some insight! TTFN!

Creamy is the Word of the Day!

I'm sorry, I've been slacking lately. There has just been too much going on at once right now: I just notified my boss that I will be leaving my wonderfully cushy, well-paying job in the middle of September to go back to school full-time and now, I'm downright terrified! To make myself feel better after my not-so-good meeting with my school counselor last Thursday, I went home and made myself some chocolate...it did the trick ;) Yay, endorphins!

Anyway, I'm extremely excited to be going back to school and I could talk about it for hours, but I think I'll move on to more food-y topics.

I finally bought a juicer this weekend. It definitely isn't the best, but it gets the job done, I got the Jack Lalanne Power Juicer. P.S. They lie to you: sure the pulp that comes out the back is dry, but they don't bother to show you what it looks like on the inside; all sorts of wet pulp stuck near the filter. But for the price, who am I to complain? I haven't been hungry in the mornings lately and I've come to the conclusion that my body is getting acclimated to my new way of eating. But I still want to get all those nutrients early on without forcing my body to consume more than it wants, so I got the juicer, made juice this morning and it was delicious! I also bought a 2 and a half pound bag of spinach ;) I look forward to my juicy mornings and Sundays!

This past Sunday, my mom, sister, nephew and I went blueberry picking so I have a ton sitting in my fridge that I've been gorging myself on; fresh and delicious! Though I think cherry season and mango season (where ever it is mango season) is over =( No more mangoes for me unless I want to wait for them to ripen...and I'm not patient when it comes to mangoes.

So to emphasize what a space-case I am; I came up with two INCREDIBLE recipes last night, took pictures and enjoyed them immensely for lunch today...and forgot to take the list of ingredients with me. I know, how awful can I get?! So I'll just tease with some photos today and some recipes that were created by bloggers who can actually remember things.

I bought some delicious heirloom tomatoes at a farmer's market this weekend and made a wonderful dressing out of them: Smooth Tomato Dressing. This salad had some mixed greens, some sweet peppers and some yellow zucchini I bought at the farmer's market as well.

I also made a Sage & Sun-dried Tomato Cashew Pate this weekend and I'll post that tomorrow. But WOW...it is delicious, so is the dressing. I've managed to impress myself!

And now, for a recipe from someone else:

Creamy Citrus-Herb Dressing by Carmella:

Ingredients:
½ avocado
1 small orange
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ large lemon, juiced (or to taste)
½ large lime, juiced (or to taste)
1 tbsp. tahini
1 tsp. sweetener
Handful fresh parsley and/or cilantro
Dill or dried herbs of choice
Salt, Braggs or tamari (to taste)
⅓ cup water (or more)

Directions:
Blend until smooth. Add water to get desired consistency.

This had a very mild flavor, very creamy and understated.

And the last one of the day:

Creamy Spinach Sauce by Carmella:

Ingredients:
4 cups spinach
1 small garlic clove
½ cup cashews
¼ cup water
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. thyme

Directions:
Blend until very smooth. Serve with vegetable pasta or kelp noodles and top with pine-nut Parmesan if you like.

I omitted the nutmeg and went for some tarragon instead. Mine also ended up a little bit watery because I could not get my blender to combine all that spinach so I added some water...not even thinking about the fact that I COULD have taken out some spinach and blended it in batches. I added a few more cashews to make it more creamy. I also soaked the cashews for a few hours. Being the HUGE fan of thyme that I am and the small bunch that one of my coworkers gave to me from her garden, I added a bit more (okay, a lot more) than the 1/4 tsp. suggested. And of course, I served this with kelp noodles, heirloom tomatoes and some lemon cucumber.

I promise, the recipes I created will be posted tomorrow! TTFN!

Raw Dining Adventure

Yesterday, I went to a Raw/Vegan Restaurant for the very first time...I lost my raw dining virginity so to speak ;) My friend Heather, who is a newbie vegetarian was in town from college and we decided to go have dinner at Chaco Canyon.

That would be Heather (on the left) and me (in the big sunglasses!).

So needless to say, the experience at Chaco Canyon was great! The food was delicious, the selection of smoothies and juices was fantastic. I really wanted to get a juice but knew better than to do that.

I apologize in advance because though I reminded myself before we got to the restaurant to take pictures of all the food, I somehow ended up forgetting regardless. I know, I'm an awful blogger...I'll do better next time. I ended up getting a housemade raspberry kombucha tea and raw green curry (which isn't even on their online menu). It was delicious, it was served with all sorts of yummy veggies and it was very filling. Heather got herself an Elvis Smoothie (not vegan) and a pesto melt (not raw but looked yummy). For dessert we ended up splitting a raw chocolate fudge brownie. Which I did get a picture of!

Doesn't it look absolutely delicious? Good, because it was! So rich and creamy yet it didn't leave me feeling heavy and sick to my stomach! It was delicious. Actually the Kombucha was amazing too! It wasn't overpowering and it was sweet so very easy to drink.

Sadly, I am not capable of coming home and not eating so I supplemented my dinner with a banana and a plum. Just looking at that brownie makes me drool though. With it's tempting hazelnut-date crust...who could resist?

Okay, well enough salivating. Next time: Thrive it is! I've really been wanting to go there, too.

And now for the pictures from two weekends ago...the one where I ate like a pig and drank like a teenager (sort of) with my friend from the Marines. The first picture is me with my friend Tim and the second one is us taking The Rock's infamous jell-o shots out of giant syringes! Classy, huh?

Well okay, that's all for this round! I'm going to be trying a new recipe tonight and will post it tomorrow if all goes well. TTFN!

Recipes & My Weekend

Good Afternoon!

So this weekend I tried a drink called Synergy and it had vitamin B12 in it...I have to tell you, I didn't know what I was missing! The energy boost was amazing and my mood was dramatically better. The drink itself came as kind of a shock but not bad. So of course I had to go out and buy myself some B vitamins. Of course I forgot them at home this morning so I'm dragging. But they're actually vegan (it's so hard to find vegan vitamins) and they have all sorts of vitamins in the B family. Thank you Trader Joe's. Though I just wanted B12, the ones at PCC were all sold out and I didn't feel like waiting.

On Sunday, I had the inexplicable urge to take a photo of my green smoothie. It was delicious! It had a banana, a ton of spinach, some water, some frozen strawberries and half a pear. Yum! I had about 1 and a half of these cups full.

Sunday was also my recipe experimentation day so I came up with a sunflower seed pate recipe...not exactly original I know, but hey, you've got to start somewhere right?! So here it goes:

Asian Inspired Sunflower Seed Pate:

Ingredients:

1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked for 12 hours or so

1/2 cup water (or to your preference)

1 tbsp. Nama Shoyu

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. White Miso

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. agave

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Add water until the mixture reaches desired consistency.

I added some salt after adding too much agave so be careful with that squirt bottle!

It took a little bit of tweaking ultimately I got it to about where I wanted it. Still needs improvement in my opinion but who knows...maybe the flavors fused more overnight.

I was also surprisingly good this weekend. I didn't over-indulge and I don't feel painfully heavy and bloated like I did after last weekend. Hopefully the scale rewards me for my good behaviour ;) I do generally feel a lot better and a lot more optimistic (the B12 may have something to do with it) and my motivation to continue on with this lifestyle is renewed after an awful few days last week. I was so close to giving up but I'm so glad I didn't. P.S. My grocery bill for this week was HUGE! Note to self: don't buy raw Sesame Oil and Nama Shoyu (or Tahini for that matter) on a regular basis!

I also made a banana soft-serve but I added mixed frozen berries this time. It was so good but a little icy (probably because of the high water content in the berries)...I'll still eat it again.

I'm so excited to almost be done with my Nursing Assistant training course...I was getting very tired of giving up all of my Saturdays!

Okay, enough procrastinating: here are the rest of the recipes as promised.

Raw Peanut Noodles by Gena:

This one is AMAZING because it doesn't have any peanuts in it but tastes so authentic!

Ingredients:

1 inch ginger

1 cup olive oil

2 tsp. sesame oil

Juice of 1 lime

4 tbsp. mellow white miso

6 dates, pitted or 1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tbsp. nama shoyu

1/3 cup water

Directions:

Blend all ingredients on high until creamy and emulsified.

Some notes: I added an extra date because it didn't taste sweet enough to me. I would also use less miso next time as it came out a little too salty. I added more water to thin it out a bit. This sauce is DELICIOUS! It tastes so rich and creamy, you won't believe it's raw! Gena uses this with vegetable noodles but mine (of course) goes with kelp noodles. She also calls for toasted sesame oil but if you're trying to be 100% raw, stick with the raw oil. I also used lemon in place of lime.

Miso-Dill Dressing by Carmella:

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. brown rice miso (tamari or Braggs works, too)

2 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. dried dill weed

1 tbsp. tahini

1 garlic clove minced

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl or blender.

Some notes: This dressing is very tart...but tasty. I added some water to the recipe along with an extra tablespoon of olive oil. I also used garlic powder in place of a garlic clove (I was being lazy). I used white miso instead of brown. Personally, I like my dressings a bit sweeter so I added about 2 teaspoons of agave nectar. And same as the peanut noodles, I would use less miso next time.

Enjoy! And next time, I'll put up the pictures of me and my friend from last weekend.

Going Raw: Day 24

This has not been my week so far. Yesterday, I discovered what that odd pain was when I scratched my lip...it was a canker sore right under my lip. I've never had one and boy is this on unpleasant...found out that it occurs in people with a vitamin B12, folate and iron deficiencies. I was already low on iron but I'm sure that eating only raw food exacerbated the issue by lowering my B12 amounts as well. "Oh well," I thought "I'll just suck this up, it could be worse." And the Universe didn't disappoint. This morning I woke up with my left eye swollen half shut! I went to bed and it was fine and then this morning something felt a little funny so I looked in the mirror and BAM! There's my eye, all swollen and ugly looking. I couldn't even put make-up on...I feel so naked in my glasses and no make-up. It's so uncomfortable and I have no idea what it could be from! Going to see my optometrist this afternoon. I'm still not 100% certain that this is an eye doctor problem or a physician problem (or just Rita being paranoid) but we'll start with my eye doctor since I had to go anyway.

On the bright side. I didn't eat dessert yesterday like I told myself I wouldn't and this morning I woke up and felt pretty decent (except for the eye thing). I definitely wasn't bloated, in fact from yesterday morning I lost a 1/2 inch off of my waist and another 1/2 inch off of my hips! This from just not eating banana soft serve right after dinner?! I'm amazed. It definitely makes me want to keep not eating desserts after dinner unless I actually need it. For right now, I think I'm going to limit my heavier desserts (anything that requires more preparation than washing) to three times a week maximum. I did end up having a few cherries last night, a plum and an apricot right before bed. But this was about two hours or so after I ate dinner...thus giving myself enough time to digest the heavier foods.

So I've ultimately decided to make a "rule" list for myself. Not "rules" per-se but just some guidelines to keep me running at my optimum levels:

I will only eat desserts three times a week.

I will have one day of juice fasting per week (Sunday).

I will distract myself until I am truly hungry, not just bored, on weekends.

I will work out at least four days a week in addition to walking at least 45 minutes a day with Finn.

I think that's about all that I can handle for the time being. It's a good place to start if anything. Personally, I'm even baffled by my choice to do a weekly juice fast...I never thought that I would want to do a cleanse at all. Maybe I'll even work myself up to longer fasting periods.

Deviled Mango Dressing & Chocolate Pudding

Deviled Mango Dressing by Kristen:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon vegan, organic white wine

1 mango, peeled, pitted, and chopped

2 dates, pitted

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt

1/8 teaspoon red Limo Pepper (or cayenne)

Directions:

Blend everything together until smooth and creamy.

Some notes:

I only used 1-1/2 tablespoons of coconut oil as I found it was rich enough without the other half.

I also didn't use any wine in mine.

This dressing is incredible, it's so creamy and rich! Delicious!

Chocolate Pudding by ME!:

Ingredients:

1 avocado

1 banana (save half for garnish)

Juice of 1/4 lemon

2 tablespoons agave (or to taste)

2 tablespoons raw cacao powder (or to taste)

Directions:

Blend everything but 1/2 banana until well combined and smooth. Taste and adjust sweetness and chocolatiness to your own liking.

Slice remaining banana half and use as garnish.

Some Notes:

I really am not a big fan of avocado...actually this is the first recipe I've ever used it in...in my life so I wanted to make sure I couldn't taste it at all. I used a little bit of cacao to begin with and could still taste the avocado (which made me gag a little) so I added more. Then I realized that the only thing that could cut through the avocado taste was lemon juice. So make sure you don't forget the lemon! Other than that the recipe turned out creamy and refreshing (thanks to the lemon).

Going Raw: Day 22

Well this past weekend was a wash-out. Since my friend was in town, on Friday I had to say bye which, oddly enough, involved me driving out to Renton to a bar. I had a drink but didn't think anything of it. Then we decided to go to The Rock where I had a salad and caved and had some bread and a jell-o shot that came in a nifty syringe (pictures to come)...oh well. The rest of the weekend was pretty much spent the same way my pre-raw weekends were spent, especially when I had been drinking. I ate too much, did too little and the consequences were definitely evident. My face on Saturday night was puffy and I just didn't feel alive the way I had...I felt weighed down. To make things worse, I caved and had a cigarette on Saturday night with my sister...now I remember why I quit: it tasted awful. Basically, I was just not in control of myself at all this weekend. I did what I craved without so much as a second thought. And while I'm disappointed in myself, I'm proud of myself at the same time because for the first time ever, I'm not beating myself up for my mistakes; it's Monday and I'm back on schedule and eating raw and healthy again. Less dessert (i.e. chocolate) and I'm saving the Larabar in my cupboard for Friday when our bi-weekly breakfast treats show up at work and I'm tempted by the evil muffins, bagels and cinnamon rolls. Overall it may not have been the healthiest weekend but it's in the past. I'll just have to do my best this next weekend...which will be hard as well since it's my friend's birthday on Saturday. *Sigh* This has to be some kind of a test of my determination.

I did to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Saturday and WOW! It was amazing...the best of the bunch by far...I actually cried! And the music score for the movie was to die for so I bought the soundtrack and listened to it all night. Just a great experience overall. I highly recommend everyone go see it...it will not disappoint.

Freedom from Fruit!

An epiphany:

I was reading Gena's blog (again)...I'm not stalking I swear, I just really like what the girl has to say! And reading the entry on how she chooses to limit her intake of fruits and other sweeteners scared the bejeesus out of me. "How can someone possibly go without fruit?!" But then I got to thinking (okay, finishing up my grocery list) and I tried to figure out what fruit I should have in the house for next week. I just kept crossing fruit after fruit after berry off of my list. It hit me that limiting the amount fruit consumed is exactly what I'm doing. The only fruit I ever eat these days are in my morning green smoothie which only has two fruit in it (banana and mango), my afternoon fruit snack (cherries and an apple or something) and my evening banana soft serve. I used to think that the best thing about being Raw was the I could eat as much fruit as I wanted but now, I just find it a bigger hassle to eat it. What with the concern over food combining, it's just simpler to limit the fruit I eat. No, I could never completely eradicate fruit from my diet, nor do I want to, but even substantially cutting back on the amount of fruit I do eat is quite an accomplishment for me. I'm still battling with the chocolate addiction, though even this is starting to look less daunting.

Given that fruit should never be eaten after a heavier meal like one that contains nuts for example, it's hard to even find enough time in the day to eat fruit. At this rate, I may even cut the fruit snack out of my day and replace it with some carrots. I'm also finding that lately, sweet foods have been less tempting. I'd much rather enjoy some veggies with a nut pate rather than gorge myself with fruit...it's also a lot easier to control my cravings and appetite with savory foods versus sweet ones. Like I said, I'm not planning on cutting fruit (or sweeteners) from my diet but I am truly enjoying the independence from them that I have gained these past (almost) three weeks. It's immensely refreshing.

Going Raw: Day 18

Wow! What a painfully slow day it's been. I keep thinking it's Friday!

Unfortunately, my OCD is kicking into high gear today. I can't seem to get anything done because my mind is so stuck on something else. As embarrassing as it is to say...it's stuck on raw food. I'm trying to make out my grocery list...again. I thought maybe if I started earlier I wouldn't get so obsessed, alas, not so. I just get obsessed for an extended period of time instead of one day. Oh well, you live, you learn. I just keep focusing on the foods I want to have next week and it's driving me insane because I know what I want to have but I also don't want to have too much of one thing (i.e. nuts, oils, etc.) or spend an absurd amount of money. I also feel like I should be making my own recipes...as if I'm some sort of mooch or a failure if I don't come up with my own creations. I always thought I was creative...I'm just scared to try with food.

I'm also freaking out because I'm worried that I may be eating too much dessert. My scale told me I gained a pound this past week (though I cheated and weighed myself way before my weigh day) and the only thing I can think of is "too much raw chocolate." But then I look at all these other raw foodists and talk to people on the RFC and they seem to eat dessert pretty much nightly. It's not like I'm gorging myself on pies and cakes and cookies...I just have my banana soft serve every night with some chocolate. So why am I freaking out?! It's a learning process...if something doesn't work one week, assess it and change it for next week until you find something that works for you. The only problem is that I'm so used to counting something (calories, points, etc.) that I don't know how to gauge how much I'm eating without them. This is how distorted our perceptions have become. We can't even tell when to eat and when to stop without the assistance of some irrelevant number given to us by god knows who! It should come naturally but we've been so acclimatized to eating based on these numbers instead of on our own hunger that we've forgotten how to. I want to learn but I'm just feeling so overwhelmed right now; it's like learning a new language in a foreign country...you have to pick it up but it's painfully hard and lonely until you do.

Okay, well in other news: I actually worked out yesterday. Instead of sitting on the couch yesterday while watching two hours of So You Think You Can Dance (yes, I'm addicted), I got on the floor and did some weight training for my arms and upper abs, as well as some resistance training for my lower abs. Now ironically, out of all the groups that I worked, not one of them hurts more than my thighs...which I barely worked on! And I thought my legs were in pretty good shape given the giant hill I have to walk up to get home everyday from work. I guess not =\

And completely irrelevant to food: my dentist is worried about my teeth (I went yesterday)...not because of cavities or anything like that (which I do have) but she says that I ground them so much that they're shorter than a lot of 60 year-olds' she's seen. She says that if I keep going, my teeth will be half the length they are now in eight short years! I don't want to lose my teeth! I should have seen this coming though...my dad lost his teeth when he was young, too. Though he didn't have the benefit of a night guard when he was my age. The dentist says that should help tremendously with the headaches, cavities, lock jaw and help me keep my teeth a lot longer.

Going Raw: Day 16

Well it's been an unusually slow day for me...not that I'm complaining. There have been no crises but nothing exciting is happening either except for the weather finally cooling down.

I gave the sweet and sour sauce another shot last night and it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was...neither was the dressing. I think maybe both of them just needed some time to sit. I did have to add more salt to the sweet n' sour sauce though.

See, I actually like week days because I have a schedule and that keeps me organized and from eating when I shouldn't be. I get home, take Finn to the dog park until 6:00 and then when I get home around 6:15 I have some dinner and make my banana soft serve and chocolate sauce for dessert and after that, I'm pretty much done for the most part. I've been trying to keep the variety of fruit to a minimum in the house. That's definitely been helpful in not noshing after I've had dinner and dessert because I know that everything in the fridge has a purpose and I shouldn't deplete my supply before the week is over. I sound like I'm talking about living in a bomb-shelter...I just really hate shopping during the week.

What I do need to pick up again is exercising. It's ironic...I think I worked out more when I didn't have a gym available to me for use 24 hours a day for free. I've found that I just prefer to pop in a work-out DVD and do that for half an hour. It used to be because I didn't have a gym...and now it's because I have a dog that goes ballistic every time I leave the house for anything but work!

Whatever I figure out though, I really do have to get back into the habit of working out...walking an hour or so a day is great but I'm pretty sure I need more. I would like to get rid of this flab I've been collecting for some time.

Not to mention, I think with all the walking, I'm getting enough cardio...I just have to work on weight and resistance training...both of which I can do in the comfort of my own home...but we'll see. Maybe one of these days, I'll make it down to the gym.

BTW: That's my puppy, Finn.

Going Raw: Day 15

15 days already? I can't believe it's been two weeks now.

This weekend, as is usual, I over did it just a bit. On Saturday, I had my normal breakfast smoothie and had some watermelon for lunch (I was in a care-giving class from 8:30-5:00 pm) and caved and had some cherry tomatoes with Alfredo sauce (recipe to follow). Again...I just don't learn. Then for dinner I met my friend and we went to Whole Foods and had dinner there after which I went shopping. And had a Jocalat bar for dessert. On Saturday night/Sunday morning, I had to pick my friend up from the airport. I was so excited/nervous, I hadn't seen him in two years (he's a Marine). He was my drinking buddy back in my "party girl" days. He was surprisingly understanding of my new lifestyle. But we had to have a few drinks (unfortunately they were not raw) that were hanging out in my fridge from a previous life. And wow, was everyone right: when you're eating nothing but raw food, your body processes the alcohol a lot faster and I was tipsy after just one drink. I only had one. We stayed up until five in the morning just talking.

On Sunday, I woke up at eight and had my breakfast smoothie (the dog refused to go for a walk) then a big salad with Heathy's Italian Dressing. When Tim left, I went to my parents' house and got some things that my mom picked up from Costco for me. At home, I made a sweet basil dressing and a sweet n' sour sauce and some raw chocolate. I took a nap before I made all of this and overslept and was completely rushed to make this stuff. Needless to say, the experience was not the best un-cooking one I've had. The things didn't turn out so great (except for the chocolate which was AMAZING!). And I ate so late that I didn't give myself enough time to digest and I definitely felt the consequences this morning: I overslept slightly and was so sluggish that I barely made it to work on time. Then I wasn't even hungry until lunch time rolled around (which wasn't really a big deal). So I really have to remember to give myself enough time to digest a big meal or have something lighter if I don't have the time.

So what have the results been so far? I'm not sure if it's just my mind convincing me that something is happening but I do feel better about myself, I feel happier and that is the best result I could ask for. I don't feel weighed down by my decision to change diets and I don't feel like it's a hassle or that I have to make sacrifices that I don't want to make. The sacrifices I'm making or only the ones I want to make. My friends may not understand why I'm doing this but I'm not phased by it because I'm not doing this for them or for any reason they may think I'm doing it for. I'm still not happy with my body yet but hey, it's only day 15! I think six pounds in 12 days is a pretty incredible number.

Okay...now for the recipes:

Cashew Alfredo Sauce adapted from Gena's recipe:

Ingredients:
1 ¼ cup cashews, soaked for a few hours (I just put them under water when I left for work in the morning)
¾ cup water
1 Medjool date, pitted
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
½ tsp sea salt
2 tsp miso
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:
Combine all ingredients (use only 1/3 cup water to start) in blender until everything is combined and smooth. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the remaining water until the sauce is the consistency you like and everything is well blended and smooth.














This recipe calls for using zucchini noodles but since I'm not a big fan (I find that they have too much water and dilute any sauce I put on them) I used kelp noodles and some cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas.

Chocolate by Snowdrop on RFC

Ingredients:
3 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp raw cacao powder
3 tbsp agave

Direction:
Combine all three ingredients until smooth. Add any fillers you like (i.e. nuts, dried coconut, fruit, etc.) and pour into a mold or onto wax paper or aluminum foil and place in freezer until solid. Pop out of mold (or break into pieces) and enjoy.
Another (fantastic) use for this chocolate is as a self-hardening chocolate coating. Before the chocolate has solidified, pour it on top of your favorite raw ice cream (such as banana soft serve) and give it a few seconds to a minute to solidify. Enjoy.

This chocolate really is amazing! It has a very subtle coconut taste and solidified perfectly. The only problem I see with this is that I cannot control myself around it. And it's so easy to make! I guess I should only make enough for one use on top of my ice cream to avoid temptation.

Here are the links to the other recipes I used this weekend but they weren't my favorites...the dressing was much too sour and runny (I couldn't seem to rectify the issue). And the sweet n' sour sauce was just not right...I think I may give it one more shot today after I run it through the blender one more time. By the way, I used the sweet n' sour sauce on top of kelp noodles so I added some of the tomato soaking water to thin it out.

Gena's Sweet Basil Dressing and Fairygirl's Sweet n' Sour Sauce.