Days 5 and 6!

All I can say is Y.U.M.

Today did not get off to a good start.

First, Emma spent the entire night coughing.  I laid awake with her from 1:15 until the wee hours of the morning.  After a generous and peaceful 2 hours of sleep, I awoke to the realization that school (for me) had been delayed, while school (for Emma) had been canceled.  This put a kink in my day.

Today had been slated for studying.  I was also supposed to attend the FANTABULOUS film, Forks Over Knives...but I discovered that it had been sold out, despite the venue's strict pre-sale policy: "no advance ticket sales...no exceptions!"  Since I had already hired a babysitter and arranged for a "date night" with Graham, I decided we should go to dinner anyway...after my 3-hour biology exam.

We found ourselves staring blankly at an unfamiliar menu, in an old familiar favorite restaurant; they had just changed and consolidated the menu that day.  Not cool.  So the raw dishes we had our taste buds set on were no longer options.  That seemed to be the theme of the day. 

I ordered the Laughing Seed Salad and added a side of Hummus and Seaweed Salad. 
Very tasty,
and plenty to go around. 

For our entrees, we each had the Raw Zucchini Manicotti, stuffed with Basil Pesto and Cashew Ricotta, over Sun-dried Tomato Marinara.  SO good.

And dessert?  Yes, they have raw desert!  Raw, vegan vanilla ice cream, with raw vegan chocolate sauce!

All in all, this one hour of my day was a success.

Friday was tough.

Emma's illness escalated to a stomach bug, complete with vomiting beginning at 6:30 AM.  Awesome.

I missed my first class, as we gauged her recovery and decided, ultimately, that she was okay to go to school.  I, however, was EXHAUSTED, after a week of late nights at work, doing homework, and caring for my sick baby.  Collectively, I may have gotten a total of 10 hours of sleep all week.  Nice.

Graham was headed out of town to see his kiddos, so we met at Greenlife Grocery for lunch.  We each made a hearty, leafy green salad, complete with every raw veggie possible.  Then I made a visit to the deli counter and added 3 "living foods" Zucchini Kofta balls to mine.  With a little Tumeric-Tahini dressing, I was raw heaven.

Dinner was nondescript, since I was at work.  The usual finger foods and snacks (veggies, hummus, nuts).

Tacking on 3 extra days to my usual 7-day cleanse has been psychologically daunting; a real test of my self-control and resolve.  Ordinarily, I'd be looking forward to a nice, home-cooked Sunday brunch tomorrow; instead, I'm counting down the hours until Wednesday.

Stick it out; this is the home stretch!

Go be rawsome!

Day 4

Who has made it through four days of Raw?  Only one week left!

By now, you should be noticing some changes in your energy level, in addition to a bit of weight loss.

For me, the third day of raw is a rough patch.  It's when I begin craving things that I don't typically eat when I'm not cleansing.  I feel hungry and tired.  I even break out a bit.  The breakouts are a good sign that the impurities are surfacing and preparing for their exit.  The low level of energy is a sign that the body has begun cleaning house, which takes a lot of work.  But it's just the prelude to Day 4: the turnaround!

I feel great today!  Plenty of energy and notably enhanced concentration.  My cravings have retreated and I'm fully enjoying the fresh fare mother earth has to offer. 

Today, I've indulged in carrots, cucumbers, peppers, green beans, mixed greens, and tomato chutney - tasty and filling!  For dessert, I enjoyed some plump, sweet blueberries, and fresh mango slices.  I also had some left-over sprouted lentil salad, raisins, a Raw Revolution Chocolate Raspberry bar, and lots of water, of course. 

My mind is clear, my body is energized, and I've lost about 2 lbs. of yuck.  With 7 days left, I should start to  notice clearer, glowing skin, brighter eyes, and the need for less sleep than usual. 

This weekend, once the chaos of the week dies down, I'm going through some old stand-by rawcipes to spice up the rest of our cleanse.  I will post some for your enjoyment, along with pics, as we devour them.

Go be Rawsome!

Day 3

Starting off with the usual smoothie (see Day 1).  And lots of water.

I did some research last night on a possible chronic case of eczema or psoriasis, which I've been "battling" for nearly 10 years.  It's always been intermittent and discrete, so I've never really pursued a solution or treatment.  However, recently (like within the past 2 years), it's become more persistent and more noticeable.

After extensive research (that goes beyond last night), I've found a few avenues to try.  I'm sharing this with my blog readers, because I know these particular skin ailments are fairly common.

It looks as though eczema is often the symptom of food allergies.  The primary allergies which express themselves as this chronic skin condition are:

Wheat (Gluten)
Soy
Dairy
Yeast
Sugar
Nickel (found in a lot of foods)

Clearly it's not dairy that I am reacting to, as the condition worsened around the time I eliminated dairy from my diet.  I don't eat much wheat, but there is gluten in most meat substitutes.  On that same token, I have a high-soy diet (between tofu, seitan, edamame, and tempeh), and I can probably trace some skin condition back to my late teens, when I began eating soy products, so this might be the smoking gun.  I eliminated yeast once, and didn't note a remarkable difference in the condition, but it wasn't as bad back then.  I didn't begin consuming products with yeast in them, on a regular basis, until about 2 years ago, another correlation.  The sugar claim is unclear, as I couldn't find a resource that specified if this was refined cane sugar, all cane sugar, or any kind of sugar source.  Evidently, nickel is in a lot of my diet (nuts, legumes, some fruits, soy, etc).

So here's the plan:

Since I'm doing this 10-day cleanse, anyway, and have eliminated everything except nuts from the list, I should notice a difference in the severity of my skin ailment.  If it clears and remains clear for 2 weeks, I will gradually reintroduce each food back into my diet, a week at a time, to test for reactions.

In the meantime, I've read a lot of success stories from others who suffer from the same discomfort, after adding Acidophilis to their daily supplements, as well as relief from Aquaphor Ointment.  Today, I stopped at Earth Fare and picked up a bottle of Probiotics with Acidophilis to try. 

I'm also concerned that I may be allergic to garlic, so if all else fails, I will eliminate that and see where it leads.  My fingers are crossed that this isn't the culprit, because I adore garlic and use it in most of my cooking (and un-cooking!), and it's SOOO good for you!

My meal plan today is unimpressive, due to my pressing schedule:

Smoothie
Larabar(s)
Cashews
Water
and probably lots of raw veggies and hummus for work snacks.



Raw Popcorn???

Yep!

BF, with his nightly craving for a salty snack, googled Raw Popcorn

...and found it!

We tried it.  It's darn good.  Here's how:

A head of cauliflower
A LOT of nutritional yeast (to taste, but enough to coat)
Salt

That's it.

Put it all in a ziplock bag and shake it.

You can eat it fresh, or dehydrated. 
We went al fresco, since we haven't splurged on our dehydrator yet
(though I have a feeling this will change by the end of the month).

Here's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HidehB5uyQ

Day 2

Back to the books...and the hectic schedule...and the chaos...and the time-crunching!

Mondays are tough; after a weekend of working late nights, driving the kiddo to and from a visit with dad, and catching up on homework and housework, my alarm disturbs my restless slumber at 6:30 AM for an 8:00 class (how is anyone supposed to absorb and process anything about plant biology prior to 10 AM on a Monday morning???)...every Monday.  *YAWN*

Still, it's no excuse for letting my resolve dissolve.

I left a note for BF with instructions on how to make his morning smoothie, which I will be deprived of today.  In the meantime, I grabbed the following snacks for myself, to sustain my long day on campus:

a banana
a Larabar
an apple
a box of raw nuts
and my water bottle

This should be sufficient to curb my hunger through 5:15, when I'm free to flee.

Tonight, I think we're going to hit up the delectable salad bar at Greenlife for dinner.

Cheers!

High Raw Baby!



      

          

Day 1

Breakfast:

                                 

A bag of frozen organic berries, a package of Greens+, one banana,
3 tbsp of hempseeds, and apple juice!

"Lunch:"

This is actually my second serving of mixed raw nuts today
(cashews, pepitas, peanuts, sunflower seeds).
I'm still pretty full from the smoothie and nuts from 2 hours ago,
so my portions here are small.

Of course, I'm drinking lots of water! 
Remember, you need half of your body weight in ounces of water every day! 
I'm finishing my 24th oz of water presently, with about 36 to go.

Snacks:

Larabar, Raw Revolution, Yogi Bar, Raw Organic, and...
(Yes, you read that right) Raw Fudge Brownie

Dinner:

Rice-less Sushi:
Sweet Potatoes, Asparagus, Almond Butter, Nori, Avocado
(I'm still perfecting the avocado presentation)
I soaked the veggies in very hot water (removed from heat)
for 3 hours to soften them.

Bonus:

Yep, there's a Raw One for Men, too!