Bec,

How wonderful it is that your family is joining you in raw!  I'm with Speedy, what a great and caring mom you are!

Hugs,
Beth

Gina,

First, I just wanted to send some love your way!  Secondly (not that I have mastered this at all), feel good about being different.  You are likely more healthy than nearly everyone else you know...that is a good thing.  And know that there are people across oceans that admire you and are sending you loving energy.

Hugs,
Beth

Jen,

I was just here to catch up on your thread.  I really miss you guys when I can't be online.  I love reading your posts.  Do you (or have you thought about) writing for publication?  You have so much to offer!

Love ya babe,
Beth

I have decided to focus my journal around the bigger picture, instead of listing my daily food intake.  I've been trying to increase my fruit intake and have done a good job with this.  However, I still miss those avocados and occasional nut pate's.  So I'm trying not to torture myself. When I feel deprived, my body must need something - so if it craves an avo or nuts, I eat that.  It's a much kinder way to approach things.  Still, my fruit intake is on the rise.  I can't quite eat a large quantity of bananas or apples or pears in one sitting, but I can take in quite a bit as a smoothie.  And I can eat loads of mango, they are just not all that plentiful around here.  I buy them up when I can.

The scale is still inching its way down.  This week I hit 115 pounds.  Since I am 5 ft. 9 in tall, that seems very low to me.  My Dad's side of the family tends to be tall and somewhat thin & I know Neet is tall and slender and BEAUTIFUL.  But I haven't been that weight in over 25 years.  So this is taking some adjustment.  SO.....Thinking I needed to intervene, I broke over and ate some cooked food 2 nights ago.  I had grilled veggies, refried beans and a bit of rice.  I hadn't eaten that way since my "Christmas Season" fiasco.  I'm not really worried about the cooked food I ate Thursday.  If my goal was just 100% whole foods vegan, I'm there.  I just don't want to stray too far from what I consider the optimum diet, 100% raw.

I so admire all of the RP family that are 100% raw.  That has been my goal for the past 8 months now.  I just wonder, if I keep breaking over will I reach my goal?  I'm curious, do the cooked food binges lessen...do they get farther and farther apart?  How many of my raw friends here consider themselves to be 100% raw?  How many feel that 100% is an important goal?  Are some of you stiving for a goal of 90, 80,or 70%?

Just curious!

Counting My Blessings
I'm thankful for the changes that are coming my way.  I can feel them looming.  And while I'm not sure where they will take me, I want to remain focused on the blessing of growth!

Hugs to all,
Beth

Speedy, I can't wait for that day!  I remember when it happened between me and my Mom.  My baby girl tells me I am her best friend - that feels awesome.

Today I tried to remember that low fat would be nice but I was not going to torture myself.  Turns out I SERIOUSLY lowered my fat intake anyway!  It is so funny how that works.  I kept telling myself I was going to have an avo later, but I just never did.  I think I'll approach my lack of consistency in exercise the same way - that is my last great push before really feeling healthy - it too will come in time.

Today's Eats
Late Breakfast: A "barely green" smoothie - celery, 1/2 the meat and water from a young coconut, 1/2 of a pineaple, a mango, 2 small oranges
Snack: 6 dates
Afternoon: tried to create a new salad dressing using celery, lemon juice and a dried chipotle pepper.  Poured it over a tossed salad but it was WAY too hot - ended up wrapping parts of the salad in red cabbage leaves just to be able to eat and not waste.  I finally threw the remaining 1/2 salad away and ate 1/4 cup of raisins.
Dinner: two platefuls of tossed salad with a dressing of two mangos, celery, red onion, parsley, cilantro, kelp, oregeno all blended up - I used 3/4 of the dressing and will save the rest for tomorrow.
Snack: a 2 banana smoothie with agave and tiny bit of blackstrap molasses

Counting My Blessings
I'm thankful that improvements come when we learn to be gentle with ourselves, others, etc.  I'm VERY thankful for the wonderfully intelligent and caring people I have met at RF and here in the states.  I'm thankful for my wonderful Mom.  Her strength and character are like a lighthouse for me, illuminating a path for me to follow.

Love to all!

GG,

Happy belated birthday.  You have so much to offer that WE got the gift of you!

All the best,
hugs,
Beth

Thanks, Speedy! I'm so glad you helped shed more light on the Daniel Fast.  I kept asking everyone where the fast came from (I mean besides the Bible, I was curious as to how the interest peaked) but no one had any info.  I'm going to do a little online research on Don Tolman. 

Jen, I love your new pic.  You look great!  I felt truly in awe that so many people around me were focusing on fasting.

Gogji Girl,  Thank you so much, your advice reminded me to look at this from a positive aspect instead of from a point of feeling deprived.  You are exactly right, "what we think about, comes about."  No need to rush. 

Today's Eats
Breakfast: HUGE gs
Lunch: 2 mangos (OOOOH yum!) and spiralized carrot and some of last nights "pasta sauce"
Snack: small tossed salad with tiny bit of dressing
Dinner: spiralized beet and carrott with the rest of the pasta sauce (I just loved the flavors)
Planned Snack for later:  BIG banana smoothie

Counting My Blessings
I am SO thankful for my lovely daughter.  She is finishing her last year at university and, of course, she went through the normal "american college-girl" phase.  She thought she was Miss Independent.  This evening we chatted on the phone for a while and her roots are rising to the surface again.  She spoke of how important family is to her.  I'm so glad she recognizes how we all need to be connected and loved.
AND I'm thankful that I got to try durian, finally!  I found at this awesome market when I was out of town.  They had food from everywhere!  The whole durian was frozen, but hey, who cares.  At least I got to try it!  I think I like it.  I will buy another one when I visit there again.

I'm off to check my calories on Nutridiary......Love to all 

Hi Neet! 

Love your new pic.  I was out of town and I missed your support and encouragement.  I've have a BUNCH of pages of posts to catch up on.. ha ha

Glad to be back - catch up more later.

hugs,
Beth

Hey sweetie!  I've been out of town and I missed your great posts.  I'll have to catch up on reading everything over the weekend.  Great new pic!

Just wanted to say hi!

hugs,
Beth

Hi All! 

I missed you all so much!!!!  My precious Auntie passed away and I've been out of town for all the arrangements and memorials.  She was so awsome - she knew so many people that there were 2 services.  We are all ok now, we know she is not suffering anymore. 

I just have to write about my raw experiences while I was away.  There was always so much cooked food around because the churches and loved ones were keeping our huge extended family fed.  The smells were everywhere - it was so hard!  I had tried to survive on bananas and dates that I took with me, but I finally went to the market to buy stuff to keep a huge salad around.  I put it out with the other food and made some fresh dressing.  I also made some mango/tomato salsa and cut up some fresh veggies for dipping.  People started trying my stuff and it was a hit!  I made some green smoothies to share with anyone who dared to try, a few cousins loved them.  The funny thing is, several people (cousins and old acqaintances) were doing what they called a "21 day Daniel Fast,"  only fruits and veggies.  Some were more strict than others, but I was thrilled to see people waking up to the need to pay attention to our food.  I had never heard of this before, apparently this came from the Bible (book of Daniel).  I had cousins from distances of 800 miles apart doing the same fast and another cousin doing an all out solid food fast for 7 days.  You can only imagine my surprise.  Needless to say, food intake was a frequent topic of conversation which allowed me an open door to express my views. 

I always tried to keep food in the car with me, especially when meals were served at the church.  I did not cheat once...until the last day!  I went to a gathering where the smells just overtook me.  I ended up having one spoonful of cooked corn, one spoonful of cooked green beans, and one spoonful of cooked dumplings.  It wasn't sweets that got me, it was savory!  WELL, every since then I have struggled with, but not yielded to, cooked cravings.  Ugh!   :angry:  I need the support I get from this forum and I really missed it.  I'm glad I'm back.

I've been reading Doug Gs 80/10/10 and today I tried to limit my fats.  I've learned that I am taking in too much fat!  But I had a hard time keeping my calories up where they should be.  I just can't seem to eat that much fruit at once.  Then I got worried that food and eating shouldn't be this hard - and it made me want to give up on being 100% raw (I won't though)  I don't know if I can stick to 80/10/10 and stay raw.  I love fats, but I want to be healthy.  Any advice is welcome.

Today's Eats
Breakfast: gs
Lunch: salad with dressing of blended mango and celery and a scallion chopped in
Snacks: banana, handful of rasins and cacao
Dinner: tossed salad with olive oil based dressing (I just had to have some fat!) & spiralized carrot and pasta sauce of tomato, dried tomato, garlic, scallion, celery, red pepper, agave, avocado
I'm thinking about having a banana smoothie!

Counting My Blessings
I am SO THANKFUL for the love of friends (I had not seen in 15-20 years ) that strengthened me and carried me through this past week.  I'm thankful for the love I feel, even now.  When a seed of love is planted it doesn't have to fade away.  If You cherish it, it grows! AND I'm so thankful that people, especially some of my cousins (who are predisposed to diabetes and lung disease), are opening their eyes up to the importance of nutrition.

Speedy, I'm still laughing out loud!  It did sound like that, didn't it...poor medium, he he.

After last night's bout of indigestion, it happened again this morning when I started having my gs.  Further contemplating my diet and my recent indigestion, I decided that while my mind has been dwelling on food combining a bit lately, my body decided to join in and get my attention.  (You know, the "what you think about, comes about" thing.  Cool how that works!)  Haven't started my "12 Steps" yet, but will start it as soon as I finish posting.  The 80/10/10 book should arrive any day - and should help with the combining thing.

Today's Eats
Breakfast: gs - spinich, celery, 2 pears, 3 bananas, agave (woah - the tummy burned, so I took it slow)
Lunch: (felt better by then) lovely salad of baby lettuces, chopped mango, cherry tomatos, onion, cilantro, lemon juice, avocado
Dinner:  small green salad with my usual dressing.  Spiralized 1/2 of a beet, and  1/2 of a big carrot.  For a pasta sauce I blended young coconut meat, a red bell pepper, bit of red onion, 3 roma tomatos, soaked slices of sundried tomatos, dates, pressed garlic, and sea salt.  Then topped off the dish with chopped fresh basil and oregeno.  YUMMMMM.  I believe Freedom was the inspiration for the sauce (from an older post, I think)

Counting My Blessings
For dinner, my Dad opted to not have the pizza my husband and son ordered.  Instead, he wanted to eat whatever I was eating!  How cool!  He has some health/digestion issues and I'm so pleased he is giving more of my raw dishes a try.  I'm thankful that we do not have to succomb to and accept illness as a natural part of the aging process. Oh yeah, and I'm thankful that Dad didn't just eat it, but he really liked the dinner!

Oh Jen, how cool to have a raw friend you can have lunch with!  You are doing so wonderfully!

Love ya,
Beth

I love to peel a sweet potato and then slice it really thin.  I dip it in my guacamole or salsa.  They are crunchy - and my fave chip!

Beth

Speedy & Snoopy, thank you so much! 

We do love the doggies, but the new litter was a complete accident!  Oh well, I suppose nature will take place....LOL

There are changes taking place in my body and my eating feels a little off right now.  Trouble is, I'm not sure exactly what my body is trying to tell me.  Comes from years of ignoring it, I suppose...he he.  Just got my "12 steps to raw" by Victoria and am still waiting for my copy of 80/10/10 to arrive.  I'm sure I'll find more help there.  Since I'm feeling off a bit, I though someone might help to shed some light on things.

Today's Eats
Breakfast:  My regular gs - spinich, celery, 2 oranges, 2 bananas, water (I laid off the almonds/almond milk because I'm trying to decrease my fat intake)
Lunch:  "Medium sized" Salad - red leaf lettuce, onion, zucchini, cucumber, cherry tomatos, diakon radish, sprouts, raisins, dresing of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, tiny bit of tahini, agave
Snack:  Green smoothie - romaine (or cos), water, celery, 3 kiwi, 5 or 6 strawberries, 2 bananas, 5 dates and the soak water.
Dinner:  Blended soup - 2 grated carrots, 2 chopped celery, bit of broccoli (flowers and grated stalk), bit of squash, red onion, sea salt, water.  After blending, added a bit more of some diced veggies and lots of sprouts for crunchies.  I added no extra fats, but the whole meal felt so heavy!  I had indigestion for a while.  I tried to let my salad dressing at lunch be my only "on purpose" fat.  I though that limiting would help me feel better, but I feel weighted down.

Counting My Blessings
I'm thankful for change.  Hopefully we grow in times of change.  I'm thankful for my beautiful son! 

Neet,

You are truly, truly an inspiration to us here!

much love and hugs,
Beth