Raw Food Forums

Today is my second almost raw day. I've posted my almost raw day somewhere else on the forum and it was rightly suggested that I start a thread here. And so here I am.

Today I started out my day with my usual vege juice. Made from 2 stalks of celery, 3 roma tomatoes, a large amount of broccoli, some asian greens, and a red capsicum. Yum. I love this juice. I wake up craving it. Funnily enough though, I don't like it without the broc. Broccoli helps make it sweet and light. Delicious.

After that I went shopping. And therein lies my mistake! I didn't take any snack food with me. All of a sudden I got dizzy from hunger and so I bought a sushi roll. MMMM. I LOVE sushi. Maybe my sub-conscious played an active role there! I only bought one roll but I tell you, it started my dreaded sugar cravings! I would have injected sugar if I could have! So I came home. Away from temptation and ate some dates instead while I read a really bad trash mag. (another guilty pleasure) Anyhow, an hour and a half later I was fine.

The rest of the family have been silently begging me with their eyes to cook them something and so I made them pizza. I however had my first green smoothie! What a success. Actually I've had a green smoothie before, but it had no fruit, only green vegies in it and after the first sip my tummy and tongue went on a protest march whenever I went near the fridge. Back to today, today's smoothie was a great success! So successful that my notoriously fussy daughter drank half of it! How wonderful. In it I put a big handful of spinach and some soaked almonds that I blended with half a cup of water. I then added a white peach, a banana and a mango. Oh my God. It was soooooo good.

I also drank 2 litres of water. Each time I fill my 1 litre bottle with water I add a heaped half teaspoon each of wheat and barley grass powders and some colloidal minerals. I also add the juice of half a lemon to improve the taste. It's not too bad. I've gotten used to it and it's stopped the children drinking my own water when I'm not looking!

I should also mention that two litres is such a small amount of water for me. I usually drink between four and six litres a day.

So apart from the sushi, which I really enjoyed, I've had quite a good day.

I am very calm today too which is unusual because last night I was awake nearly all night. After one of those nights I'm usually very cranky and unreasonable. Hmmmmm. There's more to raw than meets the eye isn't there?

xoxo

From one Jen to another,  welcome to the forum, and its great to read your journey!   x   x

doing well Jennie....to help with your sugar cravings,eat lots more fruit,if you are reasonably active ,eat at least 10-12 pieces of sweet fruits per day(one piece is the size of a medium sized apple...) great you have discovered the joy that is green smoothies,yum yum,extra bananas will make it nice and sweet for you too...

i love sushi too. just the raw vegan version.

thats more fun to me.

Hi Jen, Neet and Durianrider,

Thanks for your replies. I've been on a few forums about different things and I've never been welcomed before once! I've now been welcomed twice and would like to say thank you. It's so lovely to be welcomed!

Today has been an interesting day.

I started out well as usual with my vege juice. I had a mid morning snack of peach, nectarine and cherries. Lunch was the delicious cucumber and avocado soup with diced red capsicum on top.

For afternoon tea I had a smoothie (soooo refreshing!) that was made from orange juice that I made this morning, frozen pineapple, a banana and a heap of baby spinach. MMMM It was so yummy. My daughter had two glasses and my husband and I had one each! Talk about cheated... I wanted TWO dammit! Anyhow, I'm glad I've found another way to get green stuff into my notoriously fussy girl.

For dinner I had the burger that I had made as an extra for my hubby to have for lunch tomorrow. And then I thought 'well, now that I've made a complete mess of my food combining, I'll have a chocolate bikkie', and so I had 5. With each one I only intended to have one! So here I sit, uncomfortably bloated, on a sugar comedown, still craving more bikkies, sugar headache coming on and I look back and think 'was it worth it?' and that is THE question!

I think that over all today was a good day. It's definitely better than this time last week!

If I've learned anything from today it would have to be to make my meal first. I'm sure that if I had I would only have eaten the salad, at the most one bite of someone elses burger and definitely no bikkies.

If I'm learning, then I've passed! I wouldn't give myself an A for today, maybe a C+.

What do you think?

xoxo

Hey Durianrider, raw sushi? What do you do for rice or are we talking vegies wrapped in Nori? I'm interested.

hey lesson learned for the day eh Jen....today is the best day ever,and tomorrow is going to be even better... :wub:

OMG Jen,raw sushi rocks...use raw nori from rp(here)...and you can put cauli in fp and whizz down to rice size pieces,add a dash of orange juice and some chia seeds and you have sticky rice....you can pretty much add in any veges you want...lay out lettuce leaves,avo,tomatos cucumbers....sundried olives what ever you heart desires,is so delicious...

oooooh Neets, That sounds so delicious. I have some nori sheets here of the cooked supermarket variety. I'll use them before I buy anymore. I just can't throw away food. And I'm going to get a cauli tomorrow and try that! Yay. The thought of giving up sushi was just tooo depressing. I need more oranges too. And what are chia seeds? I'm learning so much on this forum! Harley speaks a whole different fruit language.

I have a question, at what temperature does food stop becoming dehydrated and become 'cooked'? I'm keen to try some dehydrating but funds won't stretch to a dehydrater just yet. I thought I'd get an oven thermometer and see if I can get the temperature low enough to do it in there.

Have a wonderful evening gorgeous gal!

xoxo

Hey Neet,

I just googled those seeds! They look great. I'm going to try and get some of those tomorrow also.

Does anyone know if they are readily available in most health shops or are they a specialty item?

xoxo

they are awesome,and i got mine through rp...

Sheryl,Karen and Miriam are the dehydrating experts here,so pick their raw brains about dehydrating and such...i don't dehydrate  my foods,as i find it too heavy and slows me down makes me sleepy...but alot of raw foodies love and thrive on adding in some dehydrated foods,still maintaining their raw goodness

Nite Nite :wub:

Hey Jen, oh yes raw sushi is divine but I don't really do that 'rice' thing, I just wrap stuff in yummy rp nori!

As for dehydrating, the commonly accepted temperature at which the enzymes in food become denatured (ie dead) is 105-118 F (varies for different foods) so to preserve these enzymes, stay below these temperatures. However, enzymes aren't the only things killed/damaged by cooking - vitamins, minerals etc also go, but at higher temperatures.

Since going 100% raw 5 months ago i have been using a very cheap dehydrator with no temperature settings that was techinically 'cooking' my food, however, it was doing nowhere near as much damage as what actual cooking does. Now i have finally bought myself a better dehydrator that is actually as cool as I want, yay, but the other one was a good start.

Hope this helps!
Freedom

Thanks Freedom, I appreciate that! You're a good woman. ^_^

Today was my first really day where I felt that I really controlled what I was eating and not my cravings. I'm very happy with myself today and will not celebrate with chocolate like usual!

My breakfast was my usual vege juice and morning tea was more stone fruit. About an hour after that my wonderful daughter asked me if she could please have one of those pretty green smoothies! Who was I to refuse? So I made up the same one as yesterday and we all guzzled it down.

Lunch was sushi Neet's style! I found in my fridge the leftover vege Tabouleh and I used this as my rice base. I then added mung bean sprouts and avocado slices. This wasn't a very successful experiment for me. Just plain cauliflower would have been better and using leftover cauli made the sushi very wet and the nori fell apart. Then I got a whopping stomach ache and felt very tired for the rest of the afternoon.

I had some dates at around 4 because I was craving sugar and was also a bit nibbly and then my daughter requested another smoothie! This time I chocked the blender with spinach, some water,  and then added frozen pineapple, banana and mango. Very awesome drink! My energy perked again about 20 minutes after that too which was wonderful. I'm sure some of the tiredness from today was from last nights burger.

For dinner I had Pea's zuccini pasta with her tomato sauce which was made from two ripe tomatoes, 1 fresh date, 6 green olives, 5 basil leaves and some parsley. I omitted the olive oil because my body is reacting to fats. I loved this meal. I'm making the sauce again tomorrow for lunch as a chilled soup. I also made carrot 'noodles'. I don't have a spiralizer or mandolin or v slicer so I used my potato peeler and that worked really well.

My natural instinct is to reward myself with ice-cream after having such a great day but I'm not. I'll live!

My only non-raw foods today were the nori and olives so I'm very very pleased.

Raw symptoms:

Insomnia- I'm waking every night and unable to get to sleep. Funnily enough I haven't really noticed any drop in energy levels during the day until today, which I'm sure is the burgers 'fault'.

Stomach cramps - I was nearly demented with pain from cramps in my lower belly earlier. When I lay down they went away. Ouch. It lasted about two hours.

Acne - skin's clearing out, at the same time the skin that isn't covered in zits looks radiant.

Persperation - I stink. Extra washing and deo.

On the other hand I'm calm. Nothing upsets me. My stress is gone and I just feel serene. Overall I'm very happy with how this is going.  ^_^

xoxo

(Pea's original pasta sauce recipe can be found in the chat section in a post about feeding her family a raw meal)

 

Woman??  :huh: I don't think anyone's called me that!  -_- But thankyou, I'm happy to help.
It sounds like you had an incredible day and your body is obviuosly really enjoying getting out all those toxins! It's wonderful that your daughter loves smoothies so much. You may have already said somewhere, but how old is she?

Oh and as for celebrating with ice-cream... why not? Chop up some bananas and freeze them for about 12 hours (or longer). Get them out and put in a food processor. It takes a while but if you keep on processing, they eventually turn into the most amazing soft serve ice-cream and don't taste anything like bananas. Meat-eating cooked fooders in my family love this and refuse to believe it is just bananas!!

you are a great woman Freedom and muchest lerved.... :wub:
Jennie,i reckon perhaps a weird combo in the sushi rolls with the tabouli eh....eek! stomach aches never good,but in the beginning when raw it's all about trial and error really,then you'll find you will settle with  a certain way of eating that works for you,and makes you feel awesome!

next time do simple sushi,lettuce,cucumber,avo tomato and roll up and enjoy,this is lush food...yum!

Hi Freedom and Neet!

I have made that 'ice-cream' before with bananas and mango sprinkled with nutmeg. Very very nice. However last night I was craving the cows milk and anti-freeze version rather than the healthy stuff. I also wasn't hungry in fact I felt a little bloated. I will treat myself tonight though if I'm hungry!

I agree with the whole bad combo. I didn't feel well at all. In fact my poor tummy feels ultra acidic today so I'll be having a nice alkaline salad for dinner. Yummy.

xoxo

Today has been another great food day. As I was getting the ingredients out for my vege juice this morning my taste buds decided they definitely didn't want that! In face my whole body revolted! I actually felt ill at the thought of drinking it. I mustn't need such a strong drink any more. I'll have to look at other vege juices.

Funnily enough I'm not quite craving, but really wanting, beetroot juice! I've never had it but that's what pops into my mind each time I think of it. Mmm. I need to shop for fruit and veg AGAIN tomorrow and I'll get me a bunch then.

Today I had a mainly fruit day. I started off with a smoothie with baby spinach, water and frozen pineapple, mango and banana. Same as yesterday. I really can't get over how much my daughter loves these! I ended up with just half  a glass after greedy guts guzzled gloriously! It was by far and large the best half glass of my day...

I also ate a banana for morning tea and a big handful of lychees for lunch.

Later I had some dates and then it was dinner time. And guess what? I did well again! I'm very pleased with today.

For dinner I ate a nice salad with baby spinach, mini roma tomatoes, carrot and some of Pea's tomato sauce as a dressing. The rest of the sauce I ate with half an avocado diced into it. The whole thing was delicious. I made the sauce almost the same as yesterday except today I was out of olives! So I used capers instead.

So that was today so far. Later I plan to treat myself with banana/mango ice cream with nutmeg sprinkled on it.

So my only unraw food today would have been the capers. Yay.

Emotionally I've been less calm today. Slightly down. Slightly cranky. I put this down to the lack of sleep from the last four nights.

I'm looking forward to having the energy to exercise again. I haven't walked my dog for about a month. She has been getting her excercise by way of 'fetch'. Lucky she's a beautiful calm dog and small too so this is enough for her. We back onto reserve also and she can run out there if I watch her.

Thanks for all of your support. I wouldn't be here without it!

xoxo

love your new pic Jennie...sounds like you had a great raw eating day...how's the acid belly going?

You are doing wonderfully Jen! Great to hear that you are listening to your body lots. How exciting it is to be at the beginning of your amazing raw adventure. I look forward to more of your updates.

xoxox

Hi guys! Thanks Perillapower.

Your story is very inspiring and looooooong! Well done. I'm getting there with it slowly.

Hi Neet. Acid Belly is just the same thank you! Acidic! Hahaha

Today I went and bought myself a V-slicer! I'm very exited with my purchase. It's my very first 'bought this device for raw un-cooking' purchase and I'm very proud of it! I'll tell you what yummy I made with it later.

I awoke bright and early this morning and lay in bed reading. I didn't wake up energetic, just early, which is unheard of. I sleep like a bear in winter! I stayed there reading until the kiddies came in and woke us up with their play. It was a lovely start to the day.

I had breakfast on the run today. I grabbed a banana on the way out of the door as I rushed off to the shops to buy what I thought I'd already bought! More presents for a friends children. I'll probably find the original gifts in a year or so!

Anyhow my daughter came with me. We have a little ritual that we do every now and then. We go out for a milk shake and muffins/cake. So guess what I had this morning! I intended to be good and just have a herbal tea but when I got there the pull of the sugar was just too great for me! So I had a chocolate milk shake and two mini muffins. One double choc and one apple and blue berry. Well within 20 minutes I had the FOULEST TASTE in my mouth. It tasted like a couple of feral cats had slept in there? Manky. I was nauseous in the car on the way home and dizzy too. Gross. So while in enjoyed the eating process, the after effect just wasn’t worth it.

I didn’t eat again until about 6. I wasn’t hungry for starters and even if I was I really wanted to give my tummy time to move the junk on before I loaded it with natures goodness. I had some homemade pineapple and pear juice at about 5 that went down really well.

For dinner I made me a great meal using my new beaut v-slicer. I sliced sweet potato, carrot and zucchini as thinly as the slicer would go and arranged it beautifully in a pasta bowl. I then chopped some parsley, basil and oregano very finely and sprinkled that on top. Then I chopped up some soaked almonds very finely also and sprinkled that on the other sprinkles! I drizzled the whole concoction with lemon juice and good quality olive oil and ate it! Oh, I almost forgot, I sliced mushrooms also. Yummo. That was a great salad/pasta. I actually prefer my potato peeler for making carrot noodles but the zucchini was fine with it. More flexible. The sweet potato wasn't the best either. I would grate it next time. Better in smaller pieces.

So voila.

After my shopping spree, I went to my fruit and vege store (again!) to get more spinach. I usually stop and talk to one of the guys there. We get along really well. Of course he asked why I was buying MORE spinach and baby spinach. (I had two big bunches of silver beet/spinach and two freezer bags FULL of baby spinach). When I told him about the green smoothies his face was an absolute picture. I wish I could have taken a photo. I could see the poor man trying so hard to change his expression of revulsion into one of extreme interest. I guess I recognised it because I felt the same way when I first heard of them.

He’s given me something to laugh about all day! What a great man.

That’s all for now. I won’t be posting over the next few days as I plan to party hard and will be too ashamed to post my pig out on here. I’ll start again on boxing day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

xoxo

I just offered himself breakfast in bed and when I requested his menu guess what he asked for?

A green smoothie! Goodness me! Miracles do happen!!!   LOL

xoxo

Hello! Did everyone have a great Christmas? We did. The kids loved their scooters and other bits and pieces and we all had such a relaxing day swimming in our friends pool and playing in the park! Awesome.

I pigged out as promised but not to the extent that I thought I would. I just didn't want to! I was absolutely astonished and pleased too. I guess this means that my body is responding to raw very quickly. Happy happy happy!

This morning I had a great big sleep in. Must have been cleaning out all the stuff that I put in it yesterday. i didn't get out of bed until 10.45! Wonderful. I love a big lazy lie in. Mind you I was reading a book until nearly one in the morning and not asleep by my usual 9.30 so it's not as lazy as it sounds.

I decided not to have meals today and just have something light when I got hungry. At about 1.30 or so I had a khaki smoothie! Very nice. I started out with a blender full of spinach and some fresh oj. I added strawbs and then some dates and bananas. It looked much better than it tasted but it was the first smoothie my daughter wouldn't touch. More for me!

At about 5 I made myself  a great big vege juice with celery, cabbage, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and capsicum. Yummy. And now I'm having some wonderful fresh dates. I saw on the forum here somewhere a recipe that called for soaked dates? Can you soak dry dates or are we talking fresh dates? I'd never thought to do that!

My goal this year is to comfortably purchase a vita mix. I'm pretty sure I saw them at the mind body spirit festival a couple of years ago and loved it. I'm so glad I can buy one here from RP.

Have a great night guys!

xoxo

fresh dates Jen,but if they are slightly firm,you can soak them so they blend smoothly..
if you are suffering acid belly,combo of orange and bananas may not be the best,this is one combo that is a no go for me,but yet is one of Joss's faves...see how you go.

Thanks Neet. That could explain my tummy ache yesterday... or it could be the dreaded mix of foods I ate on Christmas eve and day.... I'm writing early today because I'm exhausted. It seems I have a bout of gastro coming on! My body has been clearing out VERY well today and I didn't think anything of it until about half an hour ago when I developed a mild headache and achy joints to match. Even then I didn't think much of it but then my temperature rose and my darling hubby is also not 100% and so it seems to be a bit of a virus rather than a detox. I don't mind a bit of gastro though. It only lasts a day and there's nothing like it for a great clean out!!! Lol.

Any how my day started well with vege juice. Funny how I'm craving that again all of a sudden. I've cut back on the celery in it though because last time I made it I found it tasting high in salt. It was last night foraging through the forum that I read the words 'naturally high sodium content' regarding celery that I realised why.

After that I went shopping. I was starving and found myself heading toward the sushi bar however as I opened my lovely handbag I found my water bottle! Salvation... I guzzled some down which held the hunger demon at bay until I reached my trusty fruit and vege store where they had the best cherries I've had in awhile! So I grabbed a bag full of those and ate them all the way home. Yummy! I must have eaten half a kg of beautiful cherries today. That'll help the gastro...

And then my downfall. I was making tonights dinner for the rest of the family. Quiche. I fry the bacon before I put in to the egg mix and I just had to eat some. I also had some of the grated cheese. That was before the temp kicked in. I only had a little bit and don't feel guilty.

When I was vege I felt so guilty for even letting my mouth water. I love entering this new phase of my life. The sugar cravings have abated. The more raw I get the less I want sugar! I'd read people saying this and just didn't believe it. Truly. I didn't think they were lying, just that they'd tricked themselves into believing it! Oh ye of little faith Jennie! But it's true. I walk past chocolate and my mind notices it but I don't break out into  a sweat trying not to eat it!

Wonderful.

Well, I'm off to bed now. Enjoy the night all.

xoxo

Great day so far. We have guests tonight so you may not get my full day.

I started with vege juice made from the usual broccoli, carrot, celery, mungbean sprouts, tomato and capsicum.

For lunch I had more cherries! Afternoon snack was a green smoothie. This one was made with white peaches blended with fresh apple and pear juice. To this I added heaps of  baby spinach and some frozen bananas and dates.

About 20 minutes after that I started to shake. My hands were shaking like I was was in the last stages of Alzieimers. I know I didn't spell that right. I think it may be the juice. I will mix them with water from now on. The shakes were scary. I asked my hubby to go and get me alcohol (nothing like it for the shakes and an immeadiate reaction to fear) but he wouldn't. They've just about gone now - an hour later thank God. Anyone else got any ideas about what caused it?

Now I'm off to eat salad while all around me have lentil burritos... whose gonna feel better in the morning? I WILL!!!

Have a good night all.

xoxo

just a drop in blood sugar babe,it happens a bit in the beginning,body just trying to balance out itself...

you will feel amazing in the morning.good for you!

Thanks Neet! I feel amazing NOW! I've just had my first raw meal in company! We had friends over and lets just say that some of them wouldn't agree with my new food choice (one of them is a regional manager for a major fast food chain!) and I just wasn't in the mood tonight to be their teacher and so I stayed low key. I had coleslaw, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, grated cheese, tortillas, lentils and avocado on the table with condiments. Tonight I only had the slaw (with it's homemade dressing which wasn't perfect as it contains a very small amount of sugar and balsamic vinegar) and some of the other salad items. I had no cheese, tortillas lentils, sour cream or taco sauce and you know what? Nobody even noticed! Couldn't believe it!

One of the well meaning guests had a brought a beautiful looking chocolate cake over for dessert and I didn't have any of that either! I didn't even want it. Stoked!

My tummy is still a bit funny from my green smoothie and probably not helped by the salad dressing either but I'm so pleased with how I went. I have very little will power and for me to not eat food that I love and that I've cooked when it's readily available is amazing! Astonishing.

I'm very happy with myself. And tomorrow I'll do even better. Slaw for lunch and I think I'll give raw hommus with my own sprouted chick peas a go. I'm very proud of my chick pea and alfalfa sprouts. They're doing so well!

Thanks for reading.

xoxo

Way to go Jennie! Yay! That is so amazing that you stayed strong and stuck to only the very best. Now never again can you say "I have very little will power" (since the more you think that, the truer it is). Now you must say "I'm strong and I resist temptation."
Having the shakes must have been pretty freaky, its good that your husband wouldn't give you any alcohol though! By the wa,  you spell it 'alzheimers'  but maybe you're thinking of Parkinsons, people with alzheimers don't usually shake. Anyway, doesn't matter either way.
I'm glad your sprouts are going so well, but I have a word of warning - I opened my sprouting jar last night all set to eat my alfalfa sprouts and they had gone mouldy! They hadn't been out any longer than usual but in this heat they just couldn't cope. So watch out!
Have a great day!
Freedom

Hey Freedom,

How are you gorgeous? Shame about the sprouts. I'd be quite sad about that! What can you do about that though? Lucky you to be getting the hot weather! Last night we were all in jeans and jumpers which is unheard of here at this time of year. I'm on the Gold Coast by the way.

Yes you are right about the more I say something the truer it is! You get what you focus on for sure. I do not get away with saying negative things in jest either on this forum which is great. Sometimes I need others to point out when I am being negative so a great big hug, kiss and thank you to those helping me change my ways.  :wub:

I didn mean parkinsons! My uncle has both together which is so sad. I often get the symptoms mixed up between the two because of it.

I'm great this morning beautiful, and yourself? Sitting here, catching up with my online friends and sipping a stunning green smoothie, mmm mm. I'm in Perth, the heat is amazing - this is my first summer here having lived in SA all my life so its quite a shock to the system, lol (a good one though!  -_-)
WOw, I knew adelaide and melbourne were really cold but I didn't know you were getting it on the gold cosat too!
That sucks about your uncle, I had a grandpa with alzheimers and it was hard to watch him as the disease progressed. I think I'd much rather have something that caused me great physical pain than something that affected my mind so profoundly.

Hey Jennie,doing so well beautiful...well done to you...yeh it's amazing how you can slip under the radar when you so desire,if we don't make a big deal generally others don't either,pretty cool huh!

so sorry bout your uncle  :wub:

we had thunderstorms last night,and it rained,most bizarre summer weather!
enjoying my fasting today...enjoy that gs Freedom... :wub:

Hi all! God I love this forum. When I couldn't be online last night and Christmas night I felt like I was missing out! Isn't that silly!

Hey Freedom, the weather here has been absolutely beautiful today! Not quite hot enough for me to swim but I took the little 'uns to a friends house and they happily swam in the pool for a couple of hours.

Yeah guys it sucks about my uncle but you know what? He's close to 80 years old, never been sick in his life. Has had two fantastic wives. The first one died young and his second is still trooping on. He has had a wonderful life. He told my dad not long ago that he would not change a thing. The progress of his diseases seems to be quite swift. It's not the best way he can go but it's not the worst at this stage either. I've been told that it can get ugly during the later stages. I feel more for my aunt than anything. She and my uncle are like star struck teens still. They hold hands and cosy on the couch. They're really cute!

Today is not one of my better days. I dragged yesterdays smoothie out of the fridge. I've left them overnight before and they've been fine but this one was AWFUL!!! So I threw it out and I hate wasting food. Hate it! So then I grabbed a nectarine, and it tasted foul. Same with the orange, pear and then apple. I had no luck. Eventually I found my beautiful fresh dates and got stuck into them.

For lunch I pigged out on yummy slaw made from red and green cabbage, shallots, carrots, capsicum. I laid it out all pretty on some lettuce and tried to roll it. It didn't work but gave the kids something to laugh at! I also added some avocado and a tiny little amount of tuna that would have ended up in the bin otherwise! About a tablespoons worth.

Since then I've just eaten dates. I feel a little bit down today and am craving cooked food. It's the first day that I've really really REALLY wanted cooked food. I'm not dehydrated. 3 litres so far today. I  particularly want cheese and bacon. Do they put special stuff in bacon, ham and smoked salmon to make it addictive? I swear they are harder than cigarettes to let go of. (I haven't smoked for 8 years, broken a solid 50 a day habit!) I'm not missing any other meat but today, I would almost kill for some fried bacon. Eggs would be nice too but bacon... mmmm.
 
So there you have it. Not my best day. My emotions are down. I've tried to get them back up but it's not happening at the moment. I think I need an early night. Too many late nights on this forum and reading good literature! 8:30 for me tonight folks.

For dinner I'm going to watch my family eat pizza while I have more slaw. Then the slaw will be finished.

xoxo

Sounds like you're having a tough day Jen but yuor doing so well, keep pushing on. It's 6.30 there now and an early night sounds like a great idea so just think - only two more hours then you can shut out your bacon thoughts and wake tomorrow having forgotten they ever existed.
Or you could go to http://www.savebabe.com/ (http://www.savebabe.com/) - that oughta make sure you never want bacon again!
Dates are so yummy! You'll have to make yourself some raw pizza so your family can jealously watch what you eat!
Freedom  :wub:

Thanks Freedom. I just visited savebabe and I think that's cured my pork cravings for now. The animal industry sucks.  :huh:

Could I please have a raw pizza recipe?

xoxo

So much for my early night! A friend and her little girl came over with a minor emergency. All is ok and they've just left. However while they were here I was craving sugar. Like I haven't craved it in days! And so I got myself a twister. (a long, skinny, hollow wafer type thing lined in chocolate bisuity thing) Before I knew it I'd eaten half the packet! Couldn't believe it. I guess my body is just getting energy from wherever it can. Poor thing.

Tomorrow is another day.

On my slaw tonight - before emergency - I had some of my chickpea sprouts! Very fresh and yummy. Not something I would eat all the time but nice enough.

Good night.

xoxo

Glad your friend's okay now! When the body needs energy it is so easy to grab something packed with sugar for a quick energy hit - no harm done, next time remember to go for a banana, a handful of dates, some grapes, etc.  -_-

I'm glad you liked the chickpea sprouts, although it doesn't sound like you love them quite as much as me!

As for raw pizza, i don't have a strict 'recipe' but i make it every week so I'm pretty good now I think. For the base i sprout a load of buckwheat - maybe two cups? Don't sprout it for too long, just until the tails are about 2/3 the length of the buckwheat kernal (does that make sense?) Then put it in a dehydrator for about 5 hours or until it is totally dried out and kinda crunchy. In a food processor, combine one small to medium carrot , about 3/4 of a large tomato, 1/4 of an onion and a small handful of fresh herbs (i use basil and parsley cos thats whats growing in my garden. You can also use dried herbs). Process all this until it is chopped up, then add the buckwheat and process some more, stopping occassionally to scrape down the sides so that it all gets totally mixed. It may hold together enough but if not, add a little water do that  it has a consistency which allows you to mould it into shapes. I make little mini pizzas, and get four from this. Now you just stick it in the dehydrator on a mesh sheet and dry until... well, until it's dry, lol. My ezidry operates at 35 degrees C so it takes about 24 hours but just keep checking to see if its done in the middle (Turn it upside down to see).

When your bases are ready, it's time for toppings. Some people dehydrate their pizzas post-topping but I like my toppings fresh and crisp! This is the 'cheese' recipe I use:

Macadamias
Cashews
Lemon juice
Garlic
Coconut water (young or mature)

I use ¼ cup each of the nuts and don’t really measure the rest, just chuck it in. Blend it all up in a food processor or blender until creamy and 'spreadable.' It's based on a recipe from Juliano's RAW: The UNCookbook.

Spread that on the base, then put a red sauce on top. I just combine :

tomato,
carrot
onion
red capsicum
sundried tomato

In the food processor.

Finally, I put torn basil leaves, mushrooms and pineapple pieces on top. It usually ends up looking a little something like this, although this one has flax seed base - use ground flax instead of buckwheat. I prefer buckwheat though.

wow Freedom ya makin my hungreeeeeeeeeeeee..drool drool

Jennie...dates even though fresh are very dense...just alternate with alittle celery next time....try some juicy watermelon or mango nice and sweet and water filled,this will help to kick your cooked food thoughts....don't worry each time we decide to do something different the universe will test us to see if we are for real and serious about it all.....fill up with raw and no room for cooked....

Thanks guys.

Freedom, that recipe looks so delicious. I don't have a dehydrator yet but one of my friends has an oven timer and I'm going to borrow that TODAY to see how low my oven temp will go and then I'm going to get me some buckwheat, sprout it and make it. Yummmmm. That just looks too delicious!

Last night I had some orange as well as dates. The craving for sugar was just too strong. I should have just excused myself and gone to bed. My body was screaming for sleep. I slept until 9.30. I don't do that! I have kiddies to ensure it. I just didn't hear them this morning.

Today is the day I'm going to give up my excusitis about exercising. I'm off for a big walk now with my beautiful doggie Bella. I'm going to try and attach a photo of her to this. Good luck me!  Normally I would say that it's too hot now and that I'll burn my delicate white skin but I'm going to slap on some sunscreen and WALK like a girl with a mission. I am so inspired by reading Sheryls journal. If she can do it, so can I. It's not been easy for her either.

Freedom, I've found your blog too. I'm loving it! You are such a wonderful human being. When I meet you I'm going to give you such a big hug. Love love love baby!

That goes for you too Neet, about the huggie lovies, not the blog! Thanks to you both for all of your support.

Love Jennie xoxo

well done Jennie...hey don't think i didn't want to talk via msn,i usually switch on the lap top then walk away for awhile just til it logs on...i went searching for you,but it said you are away..sorry babe

I didn't think that at all Neet! I know you are too nice to be mean! I just figured you'd switched it on and forgotten. I do it! I've been 'online' for days. I'll chat to ya one day!

Today has been another great day. This morning after my big walk I had my gorgeous green smoothie. Talk about yummy!

I didn't eat after that until dinner time. I drank so much smoothie that I felt like I could burst. After some housework we went to a friends house and while my daughter swam with her friends I lounged like a lizard and chatted to my good friend Geraldine who is 'going raw' also. Not quite at the speed that I am but each to their own.

When I returned from there it was busy busy busy in the kitchen. I hadn't prepared anything! So I whipped up a great salad and Peas raw tomato sauce again and I had the sauce with shredded zucchini while the hubby and son had it with pasta. My daughter said she wasn't hungry and went to bed!

My salad had baby spinach, carrot, snowpeas, cucumber and avocado. I poured some tomato sauce on it for dressing. Yummy. Oh! I should have put some of my sprouts on it! Oh well, lunch tomorrow...

Have a great night all!

Take care. xoxo

Yum, sounds like a great dinner! I'm glad you like my blog too *great big virtual ((((((((hug))))))))*!
YOu will definately have to come to Perth for a holiday Jen, I would love to meet you too!
It is so cool that your friend is going raw too. And Bella is just adorable!
Have a great day!  :wub:

Hi all,

I'm posting early today as I won't be home tonight. I'll be out kicking up my heels at a friends house!  :wacko:  Yay. Happy new year.

this morning for brekky, I had a Green Smoooothie. MMMM. My hubby had the same. Some iced water, a jug ful of baby spinach, a mango and some frozen and fresh banana did the trick. Very tasty and very filling! Yum.

I had a snack of about 5 soaked almonds this morning as a snack and lunch, so far, is vege juice. It's a bit different to the norm today. I've left out the celery because it was making my juice salty. My juice today was made from 1/2 bunch of kale (something I've never tried before), a head of broccoli, a cucumber and two little beetroots with their leaves. The first sip I had made me grimace! Not the best juice I thought. However halfway through the glass I like it! My bod must be appreciating all the goodness in it! I've broken out in a sweat too. Cleaning out!

I'm going to make a dip using cashews, pepper, salt, lemon juice and spinach and cut up some veges to take to the party tonight. I'll take some other stuff also for others who aren't at the same level of health that I'm aiming for! I'm sure there will be a bbq of sorts tonight. I'll stick to the salad. Yum.   ^_^

Happy new year all. See you tomorrow.

xoxo

Hi Jen,
I just found your adventure... i enjoyed it you are very exspressive as well as entertaining... congrats and happy new year too you xx joyzee ^_^

Thanks Joy! Have a happy new year and I'll look forward to seeing you soon!

xoox

Wow! Last night was sooooo much fun! I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did!

I went to a party and we all were asked to bring nibbles and there was LOADS of my favorite foods there, kabana, good cheeses, dips etc. And I didn't want any of it! I did however want the mini quiches and a few other contrabands but all in all I was pretty happy with how I did. I knew I would have cooked food. I also drank about 7 different types of alcohol and didn't get a hangover! Wow. Normally one glass gives me a headache and I drink through that and then I'm fine! Last night however I was worried because I'd drank so much and it was having no effect. Bizarre. I eventually stopped because I couldn't see the point of drinking all the delicious *tails and ruining my health when I didn't get any pleasant side effects.

I made a dip using 1 cup of raw cashews, the juice of 1 lemon, some cracked black pepper and some sea salt as well as spinach. I chopped some carrot, celery, cukes and snowpeas to dip in it and hardly anyone touched it! I loved it myself but learned a lesson. Cashews are expensive. If I'm going to use them in a dip, do it for me or for others who care for their body. At least half of it got thrown away and all the store bought dips went like wildfire!  :angry: Bugger. I've got enough cashews here to make another. I wonder how well this would freeze. Anyone out there know?


I awoke this morning tired but energetic which is suprising given what I ate and drank last night and the fact that I didn't go to bed until 2.30. Can't remember the last time I did that!

I decided to give my body and cleansing day and so with my limited knowledge in this area that's what I'm doing. For breakfast I drank a large glass of apple and pear juice that I'd just made in my trusty juicer. I intended having that all day but the family drank the rest!  -_-

For lunch I ate two banans and for dinner I had some shredded carrot, sliced tomato and a handful of MY OWN alfalfa sprouts! They were very yummy!

After I'm finished here I'm going to make myself a pudding that Rawgreengoddess gave me the recipe to that has the flesh of a young coconut, mango and banana in it. I'm using frozen banana and I'm going to sprinkle some nutmeg on it. Is nutmeg raw? Hmmm.

And that's my day folks. Thanks for reading and any replies. I love the advice I get. Keeps me raw! Except on special occasions!

xoxo

It's great that you're happy with how you went on New Years Eve - it's not so much what you eat as how you feel about it I think! For me where I am now, 100% is what I want to be doing but I do it because I want to do it, not because 100% is some magical number or something. So well done!  ^_^
PErsonally I think the dip sounds delicious and everyone else was clearly very silly! I loooooooove cashews and I can't wait till the RP truly raw ones are back in, but even the organic ones I get now are $30/kg so I know what you mean about not using too many! Although I don't ususally want more than about 1/2cup a week.
Congrats on your delicious alfalfa sprouts, isn't it exciting eating something you grew yourself?!
I've had a pudding just like that one but with some figs and cacao powder added - you may faint from the deliciousness!
Sadly all commercial herbs and spices aren't actually raw but most people are comfortable using them in small quantities.
Have a great day!!

HI Freedom.  :wub:

Shame about the spices. I would be one of those who are comfy using them for now. My goal is for a 95% raw week. How exiting. I've gone from only being able to say, next meal will be raw to today I'll be raw all day to I'm going raw for a whole week! Awesome. I'm really impressed with how easy I'm finding this. Especially now that I'm no longer craving sugar everyday. Sugar really controlled me for so long!

I'm growing some sunflower sprouts now! Today is day 2. I'm waiting for day 4 to harvest apparently. Can't wait!

That pudding last night was delicious! Yum. I went back to the summer sunshine pudding recipe and added the zest of 1 lemon and the juice of 1/2 a lemon and I swear it was the best thing I've ever eaten. I'm going to get more young coconuts somewhere somehow today so I can eat it again and again! Yay!

I'll post again tonight. xoxo

Wow! What a day. I awoke feeling wonderful naturally at 5.15 and decided that was way too early and so I went back to sleep! I wish I hadn't. I reawoke at 7.45 feeling terrible! Groggy and heavy with acid tummy. I donned my walking gear and was feeling fine within five minutes but never really regained the energy that I felt when I woke the first time!

I went for my walk and my daughter decided to accompany me on her scooter. She took such a tumble. That was early this morning and there is still a big scab on her knee that hasn't dried yet. It's been almost 10 hours. I thought they would have well and truly dried out by now. Could she be deficient in some area? It's quite a deep graze the poor little bugger. Anyhow, I got her home and cleaned her up and then went walking.

When I got back I made myself a juice using kale, broccoli and apple. I added the apple because I find kale makes a bitter tasting juice. I quite liked the result but my hubby found it repulsive! Hahaha. The look on his face was priceless...

Lunch was a green smoothie made from spinach, soaked almonds, mango and banana. I had some wheat and barley grass powders before lunch too in a glass of filtered water.

For an afternoon snack I ate 3 dates and some organic celery. I didn't like the celery. Very tough and strong in flavour. I'll get used to it though.

Dinner was  a beautiful salad made from lettuce, baby spinach, tomato, avocado, carrots, broccoli sprouts and my own chick pea sprouts with some braggs all purpose seasoning as a dressing. I saw Braggs in a raw book that was written in the 80's. The guy is all raw but very different to what I have read here and in other books. He says to eat very little if no fruit! Very boring way to be raw let me tell you. I tried it and didn't last  a week. I can't believe that Bragg's could be good for you. It tastes processed! Don't get me wrong, I like it, it just doensn't taste natural.

I've not felt well today. Acid belly and headaches. Can I be having detoxes from nye? I can't believe it took two whole days to start feeling bad! I've broken out in a sweat since dinner. Ugh.

On a positive note I went to the local supermarket today and on the off chance checked and guess what they had? They had young coconuts!   ^_^ $2.98 each. So I broke my thing about never buying fruit and veg from a supermarket and bought 3! I can't wait until tomorrow. Then I'm going to crack one open for brekkie. Might just go and sharpen my knife now! Mmmmmmmmm.

Anyhow, that's my day. All raw!!! Dunno

thanks for reading!

xoxo

Yahh for young coconuts! I love them too!

Bragg's is indeed quite processed. It came about from the company after Paul Bragg died so is really not a reflection of his beliefs in any way. Piers and I used it ALOT when we first got together (pre-raw) and noticed after 6 months of continual monthly purchase that it was feeling a little addictive and left it behind. I've tried it once or twice since and found it simply overwhelming.

You can replace it in pretty much all recipes with a little sea salt. That's what I do.

Congratulations on your continual success... you are doing so amazing! Hope to see you in Brisbane this weekend.

Cheers,
Sheryl

I'm so looking forward to Brisbane. I'm trying to get a girlfriend to come along who is quite inspired by the raw movement. It's in my diary! Yay. I love like minded people!  ^_^

That's it, the Braggs is gone! The others can eat it anyhow. I don't enjoy it like I did when I first bought it. What about Udo's essential oils?

Thanks Sheryl.

xoxo

We have a guest tonight and I have a busy day and so I'll post this morning and touch it up tomorrow.

I woke up very cranky this morning! I didn't sleep well at all last night. I awoke ever few minutes it seemed and my patience is so short today. I also have a slight headache and tension in my shoulders. Grrr.

Anyhow, my mood was not helped when I went to get one of my expensive (yet very yummy) organic peaches that I bought at the market last Sunday and it was mouldy and so were the ther remaining two. Not happy. I paid $7 for 5 of those and only got to eat two. That's $3.50 each.  :angry: Then I made myself a green smoothie with kale, mango and banana. I went to throw in my organic broccoli sprouts and they were slimy! Couldn't use them. So that's close to $10 of produce that I've thrown out and I can't stand waste.

My green smoothie was great however. I made a big jug of it and plan to drink/eat it throughout the day. Tonight I'll have a salad that's pretty much the same as last night except with some of Pea's tomato sauce as a dressing instead of the Bragg's I used last night.

Anyhow, that's my day so far. It can only go up from here right?

Thanks for reading my VENT!!!

xoxo

Wow Jen,

I've really enjoyed cathching up on your post!  You're doing so well.  Keep it up girl!

Ditto on the Braggs.  I'm finishing up my bottle and that will be the last! 

Beth

Udo's oils are great. Personally I prefer to eat a wide variety of food sources to ensure I get the nutrients I need. For people that have specific concerns or want the certainty of knowing they have their omega 3 needs net Udo's is great. I know people who feel it makes a big difference to their health.

The only extras I really use are Vitamineral Green and occasionally a B12 tablet. That's just me though. If you find it works for you then enjoy.

I've learned over time to make sure I eat those more perishable fruits right away. Sometimes they will last for weeks, and other times it seems only like days. You know what though David who runs the stall that sells the wide mix of fruit and veg stands behind everything he sells. If you tell him that you lost the peaches and broccoli within days he would replace them for you. He's fanatical about quality and would never sell anything with only days remaining in the shelf life.

Thanks for sharing... and glad there's a solution for you!
Sheryl

Beth: Thank you! I'm looking forward to reading your journey also as it continues. Have you spent hours poring over this forum for recipies and advice? I see your posts everywhere and I assume so! xoxo

Sheryl: Thanks for the advice. If it was David I bought from I'll talk to him about it next week and ask for advice as to how to store which foods.

What is Vitamineral Green? Is that the Anthony Robbins formula? I take Wheatgrass and Barley Grass and find they really are helpful.

I have 5 minutes to spare and so I thought I'd add another quick entry here.

My day has improved. I made my smoothie this morning and have been drinking that all day. I ate three dates this avo when I got hungry for a little extra.

I've made a salad for tonights dinner from lettuce, baby spinach, chickpea sprouts, mungbean sprouts, julienned carrot and beetroot and tomato. When it's dinner time I'll add some diced avocado also. Is it Ok to combine two different sprouts and avocado? Is that three types of protein?

While I was julienne-ing with my new extremely sharp v-slicer, I julienned my thumb also.  :huh: I'll be more careful next time.

On a postive note, my 'RAW -  The uncook book' by Juliano arrived today! Hooray! I'm so exited. And guess what else? As I was brooding through my bookshelf I came across a raw book called 'the raw energy bible' by Leslie Kenton there. Who knows how long I've had it for. And a raw book arrived at the library! So I have much literature at the moment.    -_-

See ya later alligator!

xoxo

Part of your thumb makes 4 types of protein!! *sorry bad humour*

That sounds like a delicious salad. Do enjoy! And what you've described is a very normal salad for many here.

Vitamineral Green is a green powder from a raw vegan MD in the USA formulated with probiotics too. You can read more in the shop. It's a green powder with wild greens too. I enjoy it as do many on the forum.

David called me earlier all excited about a group coming up to teach kids with health problems healthy food cooking classes. Ask him to tell you more if you're interested. Just ask for the David the guy that runs the market and any stall holder can point you in the right direction.

See you Saturday,
Sheryl

hahaha. Sheryl that type of humour is so far up my alley!

I'll talk to David next time I go to market!

Thanks for making me smile... again!  :wub:

xoxo

Well the guest has been and gone. He brought spaghetti bolognese for dinner! I didn't realise that he didn't know my lifestyle change. We have him over for dinner every month or so and he wanted to do us this favour. We have children and his house just isn't set out for it and so he brang my almost favourite cooked meal to thank me for all my hospitality. He was a little insulted that I'd made a salad as he was providing the meal and so to my shame the salad stayed in the fridge ready for tomorrow.

And so I ate the spag bol poison and swallowed it down with leftover bourbon and dry cans from NYE and while my emotions have calmed down I physically feel like hell! I over ate and ate a bad combo. Did I mention the chocolate? How did I manage to eat this way every night? I'll never know.

Tomorrows another day and I already have breakfast there! One glass of smoothie left and a great big salad that'll last all day!

I find it interesting that my pending anger disappeared as soon as I ate cooked food. I have a tendency to get angry before anything else. I never get sad, anger is always first. It's like I protect myself from hurt. If I'm sad I hurt, if I'm angry I hurt others. I've had serious amounts of therapy and still this is a problem for me. Any ideas anyone?

And the neighbour still doesn't know of my change of lifestyle! Bugger...

xoxo

hey jen,

wow, it took me a while to catch up in your journal.  sounds like you're having a fantastic raw journey.  sorry that your guest felt insulted about you making a salad.  gee, i guess he's a bit sensitive, ay?  I'm sure you're more than ready to start anew with your smoothie and bountiful salad. It's very inspiring to read how you've been eating (as well as others' here).  I keep stumbling by night time, so i'm constantly dusting myself off as i get back on the raw wagon. 

oh, as for your green  juice you had that was a bit too green for your husband, one way to help cut down on the green flavor is to add lemon juice.  a friend of mine added the whole thing, rind and all.  you really can't taste the lemon unless you don't add enough of the other ingredients.  if it's too tart, add another apple. 

as far as your anger disappearing with your cooked meal, it seems like since it's your favorite cooked meal, there could be a connection with your anger dissipating with comfort food, ya know what i mean?  kind of like when people deal with their problems by eating ice cream and other junk food or favorites.  I've read about people's personal experiences with being able to deal with things more calmly as they stayed on their raw path.  so I hope all of us can experience the same kind of mellowing out and being more in control by eating the right kinds of foods.

sandy

Hi All,

Today is a great day! I took Bella for a big long walk just after I awoke and let her run offlead for awhile. She loved it and I loved watching her run.

For breakfast I had the rest of my smoothie and some salad. For lunch I had more salad with lemon juice, salt and olive oil on both salads as a dressing.

This afternoon I diced up a heap of mangoes to freeze and so I ate some mango. And I also had young coconut water. Mmmmm. This coconut was a bit older than the other one. The flesh was coarser and it was much harder to open yet still delicious! I have saved the flesh for a dessert tomorrow!

For dinner I had more salad with more lemon juice, olive oil and salt. Still yummy. I also ate some dates for dessert as I was still nibbly. Hubby is NOT impressed with chickpea sprouts. At least he tried em!

And, how could I forget? This afternoon I made myself a vege juice with broccoli, cucumber, capsicum and lemon (thanks Sandy!). It was the best juice I've ever had. Vege juice that is! The lemon gave it a real lift and made it refreshing. MMMM. Lovely. I've got about 1/2 a litre for tomorrow.

No comfort eating today. I've come to realise that on the odd occasion that I do crave sugar it's because I'm exhausted. so when I got a craving this avo I went and laid down for awhile and read my book. I'm currently reading an awesome book called Shantaram. It's based on a true story. I never ever buy books based on true stories because I am constantly distracted by thoughts of 'is this bit true or not'. It detracts from the story! This was a Christmas pressie and I pretend it's not real and it's one of the best stories I've ever read. I've read just shy of 500 pages in the last four nights! Half way through it!

Thanks for reading.  ^_^

xoxo

Hi Jen,
I recall my brother saying that shantaram was one of his best books ever too,  what is it about again ??
x  x

hey jen,

that's one veggie vege juice you made.  I'm glad the lemon juice helped out.  I'm so used to having carrrots and apples as a base, that just veggies only is not to my liking.  but hey, need to test it out first before i throw out any good combo's.  it's a huge plus to have a mostly green juice as they are alkalinizing.

jen, how do you arrange your meals with the rest of your family members?  do you mind if i ask how old the kids are?  I almost gave in to tortilla chips that my son was snacking on after school but decided to eat a massive mixed green salad with cukes, nuts, and kiwi dressing i made.  yum, definitely a much better choice.  i'll be reporting this on my journal soonafter. 


It's also great that you've figured out when you crave sugar.  that way you can prepare yourself or make yourself rest instead of eating.  you could have low blood sugar and just need a pick me up, like an apple or orange. 

sandy

Wow Jen, that vege juice sounds interesting.  I'm like Sandy, I always use carrots or apples as a base.  I'm going to have to branch out, huh?

Beth

Hello!

Today has been a funny day. I’ve been emotionally up and down like a yo yo! At the moment I’m up and so I’ll write now!

This morning I slept in until 7.30. I awoke to the sounds of my cherubs fighting like you wouldn’t believe and so piled the pillows on my head and pretended I wasn’t there. When I uncovered my head a few minutes later they were settled and so I hopped out of bed and put on my walking gear and went for a walk. I took my dog and my daughter. We couldn’t walk for as long as I would have liked as Caitlyn is recovering from a nasty spill from her scooter and her knee was hurting her.

But the short walk didn’t matter coz guess what?! We have a home gym! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! (Imagine me doing happy dance) So I got home from walk, did a small amount of yoga and then devised a workout for myself. And then I did the workout. Awesome. I felt sooooooo goooooood. I love working out. Eating this way and working out I'm gonna have a tummy like a PLANK yeah!!!  :wacko:

Then I had breakfast. I had an organic orange and it was wonderful! I had something else too but I can’t remember what it was.

For lunch I had a salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, alfalfa, chickpea sprouts, avocado and olive oil/lemon juice dressing. I tried to go without the salt but not ready to ditch the salt yet! I was a bit nibbly later and so I ate some fresh organic dates which were also wonderful!

For dinner we are having sushi. The family are having traditional cooked sushi with rice while I’m going to wizz up some cauliflower to a rice like consistency and use that as rice. I’ll have vege fillings while they have what I have and chicken probably. Brock doesn’t like nori and so I’ll just mix his up in a bowl. He likes “mashed sushi”. His words!

I’m only going to have a small amount because I’m really looking forward to having summer sunshine pudding. I bought some passionfruit this morning and so I can have it just the way it was in the forum. Yuuuum. Maybe I’ll skip the sushi and just have that! Anyhow. That’ll be my day when I’m done.

Hi Sandy,

I started with raw green vege juice only and added tomatoes and capsicum. I did that because I was so low in iron. My stores were down to 9 which is apparently something to be concerned about. The toms and capsicums were for the vitamin C, which apparently helps the body absorb iron. The lemon juice makes it really yummy!

Thanks for asking about my children! You can see our family here http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjmurphy . There's not many there but you are welcome to look. Ignore the cooked food! I have 7-year-old Caitlyn and 5-year-old Brock. Brock loves veges and will only eat apple and Caitlyn loves fruit and will tolerate salad if, and only if, it has mint jelly on it! Mint jelly is quite popular here on roast lamb! Unheard of on salad… Basically if Caitlyn wants a snack I’ll get her some fruit. If Brock wants a snack I’ll get him some veges. I’ll cut up cucumber or carrot and make an avocado dip.

At dinnertime we all have salads. I’ll have a big one and everyone else eats a small one with whatever else they’ll eat. Brock loves fish and Caitlyn’s a chicken junkie. My hubby loves the odd bit of steak.

We all love lentils and occasionally I’ll have some but generally I serve them up as burritos and just have a salad for me! I try and lead by example and not push it too much!

Hi Jen,

It is SUCH a great book! I was up until nearly midnight again last night! It’s about an Aussie criminal who escapes from a max security jail and makes his way to India. It made me cry last night and I don’t do tears! Not through lack of trying, they just won’t come out. I do anger instead. Back to the book, I’d recommend it to anyone. It’s huge. About 900 pages or so but a great read.

Hi Beth!

Experiment! I figure that if I really don’t like it… the plants will!

I have typer’s cramp! Is there such a thing?

Looking forward to the picnic tomorrow. Thanks for the support everyone.  ^_^

xoxo

Ok. Fell off the wagon. Again! I ate some chicken while I was making sushi for the others. My original goal was to be 80% raw. I'm not sure when it became 100%. I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I'll get better and better at raw as I go.

Non-raw items today: Chicken, mayonnaise, nori.

Things I'm grateful for today: Thanks to Sheryl for reminding me to focus on what I'm grateful for in life! ^_^
Thanks to my wonderful husband and children who support me unwaveringly in everything I do.
Thanks for living in Qld. I'm so happy here.
Thanks to this forum and all the wonderful people on it for their support and positivity.
Thanks to myself for not giving up.
Thanks to my doggie for giving me reason to walk in the morning.
Thanks to the universe for providing what I need to grow.

xoxo Much love to all.  :wub:

hey jen,

great pics of your family.  and you are quite the birthday cake maker!  wow, you definitely have some creativity up your sleeves.  I can only imagine how you'd do with raw creations. 

wow, that pic of caitlin's knees look pretty painful.  ow.  the poor girl.  you have very cute kids. 

and you have a great attitude about picking yourself up and to just keep going with each new day.  i guess i can say that b/c i've fallen off the raw and vegan wagon many a times! 

cheers to another day!

sandy

Jen,

I loved the pics. You have a lovely family!  Keep focusing on the good!

Hugs,
Beth

Hey Sandy and Beth!

Thanks for the great comments.

Today has been a totally raw day!

I started the day with the very last of my vege juice. I could taste the difference with it being a bit older but it was still enjoyable. Next time I won't let it age!

After that I went to the awesome raw picnic in Brissy! What a great time. I met some fantastice people and tried some of the best foods I've ever eaten. Thanks to all who were there for helping us feel so at home and to Sheryl and Piers for organising it and for the beautiful cane juice. Mmmmm.

I can't list all the foods I ate at the picnic. There was just too many. But I can tell you that I ate Summer sunshine pudding for dinner and delighted in that also!

Tomorrow I'm off to Salt (A resort in Kingscliff NSW) for the day to visit a friend and I'm going to make a spinoff of a recipe I had today which I loved. I'll let you know how it goes!

For exercise today I walked this morning and had a workout on my wonderful gym straight after. yay. Even though it's been only two days of workouts I feel BUFF! Grrr. Hahaha. I know I don't look any different but I feel stronger. A mind thing I think.

Anyway, time for sleep.

xoxo

hey babe,doing well...keep it going,your going strong!

Hey All.

Welcome back Neet! I was asking about you at the picnic yesterday. I hope you enjoyed your travels.

Today was such a great day. I slept in longer than I should have because I was up until 1.30 reading Shantaram. Love that book!

I started my day out with a glass of young coconut milk. Mmmm. For morning tea I ate HALF a watermelon. A medium size one not a personal one. Yummo. Very very tasty. You can't beat good watermelon. I had a great time spitting the pips into the garden. I'll go back in a few weeks and see if any little melons are growing! LOL.

After the melon had digested I had some mango and banana. For lunch I made a delicious salad that I got the 'recipe' from yesterday at the wonderful raw picnic. I grated a small kumara and mashed 1 1/2 avocados into it with the juice of half a big lemon and some cumin and salt. God it was nice. My friend that I was visiting loved it too. Mmmm.

Dinner was salad followed by cooked food. Oh dear. Non raw foods today include chops, mashed potato and noodles.  :huh: I enjoyed it. But I'm not 100% happy with myself because I really really really wanted to be all raw today. And to top it all off I had ice-cream when I got home.

I'll focus on the earlier part of the day... I did awesomely great!

I didn't exercise this morning and noticed the difference. I find that when I exercise I'm so much more energetic and motivated to do well for my body and mind. I think more clearly and feel happier. Try telling me that first thing in the morning though. Seriously, I'm looking forward to my workout tomorrow. I just love the way I feel after doing weights.

Thanks for all of the support.

xoxo

PS: Neet, when you told me you do rowing workouts I thought you actually got in a boat/kayak/canoe and rowed around a river/dam/lake etc! Then this week in a catalogue I saw a rowing machine! I laughed and laughed at myself. I'd never heard of them.  :wub:

hee hee Jen,i would love to be rowing around a lake...but yes i have a rowing machine*grin*

keep going,keep persisting,keep believing in yourself,remember if this is what you really want -to eat raw,you can do it,fill up so oooo full on raw that there isn't one tiny crack to fill in your belly with cooked food...

go jennie! i have some catching up to do on your journal but you have been going great so far! :) eating soo much raw!!! and sounds like you're feeling really good from it! will keep reading... :)

p.s.
glad you liked the pasta sauce! i cant take the credit for it though! i think i read it from harley in the ebook but there are many variations of it around in raw books too! :)

Jen,

You have such a positive outlook!  I was so glad to hear you took part in the picinic.  I would love to find a group who does that over here.  But, alas, Australia is a bit far from home. 

Don't you love having this forum?

Hugs,
Beth

Hi Beautiful Rawbies!

I'm so overwhelmed by all of your support! Thank you so much.

Today started out on an interesting note. I awoke from a nightmare where my husband had an affair. I have these dreams every now and then and I always wake up feeling the emotions of the dream and remembering every vivid detail. Unpleasant. I’ve come to realise over the years that when I have these dreams it’s usually after a period of time where I’ve been self centered and taken him for granted. Which I have. Just as well he’s a patient man!

I barely had the energy to move and so I had a rest day. No walk, no workout. This afternoon I started to pick up but went down just as quickly. I’ve been feverish, achy and I have a patches of skin on the back of my hips and the length of my spine and the tops of my thighs that feels like they're burning. But there are no marks or redness there. It looks normal but hurts like hell. They literally feels like second degree burns!

On a positive note, I used my need for rest for the greater good and read most of Victoria Boutenko’s book 12 steps to raw food. I’ve gotten so much out of this book that I’m going to buy it. One interesting thing Victoria shared was that craving for sweet stuff equals the body needing calcium. Great! Sesame seed milk here I come… Also my nails look great and my hair is very shiny. Not today but for the last week or so anyhow!

Victoria feels that we must be 100% raw to be long term raw. This is hard to digest. I really wanted a cooked meal every now and then. I feel like I want to be 100% but I just can’t bring myself to make that commitment yet. I’d still feel like I was missing out or something.

I felt so groggy and unwell today. I put it all down to last nights meal. I had no energy which would have been a combo of the dream (I’m ALWAYS wiped out for a day or two after one of those) and the meal from last night. And so I decided to have a smoothies day. This morning I made a big blender full of green smoothies made from coconut water, young, banana, mango, spinach and rocket. The rocket was a mistake. I didn’t like it as much as the others but it was still wonderful.

During the mid afternoon I made a pudding with young coconut meat, lemon and lime zest and juice, passionfruit, banana and mango. I prefer it without the passionfruit. It was still yummy though.

For dinner I made a dip from soaked sesame seeds, pinenuts, spinach, salt pepper, lemon juice and zest. I ate it with sliced cuke and carrot. It was yummy but as I was making the dip I realised that all I wanted was juice. All of the mango and banana and coconut flesh had filled me and I just wanted light refreshment. As a result I feel heavy and bloated but I'm glad I did a 100% raw day! Hooray for me!

Thanks again for all the support. I wouldn't be here without you guys.

Love the new photo Neet!

Beth I do love having this forum and feel like I've found a new family, this one are just more positive than my other one! LOL. Better not tell my fam about this hey!!!

Pea, it will always be Pea's pasta sauce to me! xoxo

xoxo :wub:

hey jen,

that's great on your raw day!  you go, girl!

as far as being 100% raw, that would be the goal for most of us, and I know victoria said in one of her books that there's a huge difference in the benefits of even being 75% vs. 100% raw.  she had some kind of chart from zero to 100% raw.  Ideally, I'd love to  be 100% everyday.  I think it's harder to return to raw when i do eat cooked.  it's very true that it's quite addictive and it's what we grew up with, eating cooked from the time we were in our mums' wombs.  but like it's been said before, don't beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon.  i just finished skimming through alissa cohen's book.  it's always so inspirational to read testimonies and to try once again to stay raw long-term.  i've read that people who stayed raw for a while and then try a favorite cooked dish really don't enjoy the cooked meal b/c of the changes their taste buds go through.  I guess I haven't reached that point yet since i haven't been raw that long.  although i was raw for 3 1/2 weeks in december, I didn't feel that amazing energy that people talk about.  makes me think that i need to do an enema or colon cleanse and then perhaps i'll be jumping out of bed each morning.  i sure would love that.

this is a journey for all of us.  the fact that you're even high raw, that's a fantastic start.  when you're ready to commit to 100%, I'm sure that you'll be ready to go for it. 

gotta get to educating my girls.  have a rawsome day!

sandy 

Hey Jen, it's always annoying when a day gets off to a bad start due to yucky dreams! Many people describe 'emotional detox' which manifests in many forms, I know I have loads of emotional garbage to get rid of and twice in the last two weeks I've had really horrid dreams with lots of death, woke up feeling sad/scared but a bit mentally 'freer,' so I think these dreams might be getting old negative emotions out.

Congratulations on a day of all raw!
Freedom

Thanks Jen.... :wub:

do what's right for you,if you feel not 100% raw is achievable for you,do it! because everyone is different and if you force something that you don't really want to do,it will not last you will rebel,then you may feel like you have failed,be kind and gentle with yourself.
you are doing so well,look back 6 month 12 months too,and you are sure to see positive improvement in your eating and your health..

Jen,

I'm guessing you are experiencing some detox.  For me, the high energy came after the initial detox (even though I feel my body is still purging and healing itself in many ways).  You are on the right track.  As the others have said, be gentle with yourself.  You are great and deserve the best care.

Hugs,
Beth

Thanks everyone.

Hey Freedom, dreams about death are supposed to be great! They are apparently about getting rid of the old. A new beginning. Congratulations!

Hello beautiful Neetie Sweetie,

Thanks for the reminder about being kind to ourselves. I find I often set goals and don't check along the way to see if things are working and become quite hard on myself if all is not to plan! I'm getting better though, every day in every way... if I look back at how I was eating either a month ago I'm doing really well hey!

Hi Sandy! I've just read that book with the chart. I read the whole thing yesterday while I was chilling out. Very good information in that book. I'm going to buy three copies!

Hi Beth, Yeah pretty much all of the symptoms that have been with me today and yesterday are in the book I read yesterday. Victoria mentions getting itchy skin and says it's toxins coming to the surface and burning the skin. I had a shower last night after writing here and scrubbed my whole body and no more burning! I have some more today though and so I'm going to have another shower in a minute. I also have itchy/tingly skin around my shoulders and upper chest so it's all happening.

This morning when I woke I had more energy than yesterday but was still lethargic so I went for a shorter walk than I like and walked slower. Afterwards I did my workout and really enjoyed that! It didn't leave me bursting with energy like last week but I did feel a whole heap better.

For morning tea (I didn't eat brekky. Couldn't face anything, even water, no chance of pregnancy just in case any minds are wandering there!) I really wanted juice. So I had broccoli, celery, cucumber and orange. Orange because I'm out of lemons! It was nice and I drank a litre of it in about 20 minutes! Yay. I must have needed something in there.

At lunchtime I had two oranges but they didn't taste nice. I swear my tastebuds are playing tricks on me. Until today they have been the sweetest oranges but today they tasted almost sour. I only ate them becuase no-one else would have ended up in the bin otherwise!

At about 3 I started craving nuts! I had some cashews here and ate all of them before I remembered a conversation that I had with Piers about raw cashews and the ones I ate weren't raw. Not white enough. Bugger. The intention was there!

I'm not hungry for dinner. Tummy's a bit upset. It's probably the nuts and detox too. Been a bit off all day. So I'm just going to have water tonight and wake up starving tomorrow!

So that's my day. A step up from yesterday.  ^_^ but not up to last weeks standard  :huh:

Tomorrow is another day and I'm so glad that my body has the energy to heal itself at this early stage of raw. No wonder I'm so tired. According to Victoria it takes a lot of energy for the body to produce the symptoms I'm having. Good onya Bod!

Thanks for the support guys. ((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))

Hi Jen,

I have been reading you post for a little while now and find them very down to earth - no bs.

I must of fallen of the band wagon 6 or so times in the last year. The things i learnt were :- eat more fruit (it is easier to say no to things you want to on a full belly). Be kind to yourself, treat yourself with respect and above all love yourself  -you are doing the best you can do at the moment. If you want to be almost 100% raw that's cool, 100% raw that's cool, 80% or whatever that's cool. It is your life that's cool!

I have the biggest respect for raw mums - (mainly cause everyone is an expert at bringing up little ones) Also If im detoxing or feel anti-social, etc i ran isolate myself not mums.

Have agreat night

Hey Jen,

Just wanted to tell you how much I have learnt from reading your posts. Thank you so much for sharing the way you do. I know that it has helped me incredibly during the past two months since I started my own raw food journey and even though there are some unpleasant adjustments to expereince as our bodies detox I'm really grateful that you take time out to share those experiences with us. You are an inspiration.

BIG *hugs* cominatya xx

Oh wow guys! It's so great to know that I'm helping someone else here. I sometimes feel like I'm just taking and taking here. Thanks so much for your comments! I'm almost teary eyed! I don't do tears but I'm working on it!

I forgot to mention that sometime this arvo I was thirsty and made myself a wonderful little drink from the juice of a young coconut blended with a banana until light and fluffy. Mmmm. Delicious! And I just had some dates.

Thanks again for your wonderful comments! I feel so happy  ^_^

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Jennie...you are a giver by nature...and we all appreciate your warmth an openness,i do that is for sure...its a give and take forum...we all give and take and that's the beauty of this forum,we are all here to support and suggest and help each other out,then it is up to us to do whatever we wish with that information!

Awww thanks Neet. Coming from you who gives so much... this is truly a compliment.  :wub:

xoxo

Hi All,

Can you stand to read another day of whinging? If not, skip it for tonight!

Today will ever be known as lactic acid day. I slept really badly last night waking often with vivid dreams. So when I woke I wasn’t surprised to find myself feeling tired and a little low. I was determined to walk though and so I put the lead on the doggie and out I went. For ten minutes! By the time I was two minutes down the road I knew I was in trouble. My legs from hips to knees and shoulders felt like I’d just done a marathon! So I walked really slowly around the block and forced myself to do a workout. I did about ¾ of my usual reps but the stretching afterwards was great!

I also have dizziness and headaches. More low grade fevers and prickly skin with the odd cramp thrown in. But hey!!! My nails are the best they've ever been. Ever. I can't believe how great they look!  ^_^

For brekkie I had young coconut water blended with banana and orange juice. It tasted horrible and I’ve spent the rest of the day trying to find something that tastes good! Grapes tasted horrible as did any fruit even dates! I haven’t eaten cooked though! I won’t list everything I’ve eaten today because I’ve tried lots of little things trying to find what will suit my mouth. Everything is hurting my tongue too.

I’m so tired and looking forward to going to bed.

Today I’m grateful for:
The thank you messages I received last night. They kept me going today… thanks Speedy, Snoopy and Neet and everyone else who replies.
My good friend Jacqui who didn’t question my choice of diet (I told her I was detoxing)
The support I get from this forum and the chance to contribute also.
My family who are being so loving. Even my hubby who has practically lost his beer fridge!
My dog who loves me no matter what.
That I’m born into a country where I can do raw fairly easily
That I have a home and a car.

I could go on but that’ll do it for today! I hope I wasn’t too negative for ya!

xoxo

Jen,

No way do i think that was negative.... I think you're amazing!...sleep easy you deserve it!

snoopy + *hugs*

Hi Jen,

You must have a great husband - practically lost his beer fridge. 10 years ago i would've called your husband a wuss. (he he) - no way would i have tolerated that - wow how things have changed.

Smile and the whole world smiles with you.

Just a quick thought have your thought about asking your higher self what she wants to eat if anything?

or a Jen treat such as a massage

Jen that totally wasn't too negative! In fact I thought it was really positive. You're obviously experiencing some heavy detox but you are working through it, not turning to cooked food for comfort, not getting angry at yourself or those around you, and still managing to recognise what you're grateful for!!
Way to go, you're awesome!
As speedy said a massage might be a good idea, not just because it's a nice treat but also because it can help speed up detox, which might get all this yuckiness over a bit faster.
Hope today's is amazing and you find something that tastes good!

Freedom  :wub:

Jen,

You are doing so much good for yourself.  Your body is cleaning house and you are dealing with it so well!  I am so proud of you, I just wanted to send you huge (((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))!

XOXOXOXOXOX
Beth

JEN,you are my hero,you are a star and i love your input here,dearly! :wub:

Hi All,

I’m so humbled by your replies! I’m a hero and a star all at once! I nearly had tears in fact they were in my eyes but there wasn’t enough of them to come out!

I’m so happy to report that today has been a much better day. I didn’t exercise today as I awoke sluggish and heavy again today. I just got up, showered and made myself a mammoth green smoothies with coconut water (mature), celery, spinach and banana. Yum. It was delicious! My taste buds have returned…

I drank that all day until about four o’clock and then I spotted – out of the corner of my little eye – the coconut and my mouth started watering like Niagra. So I popped it in a pillowcase and went outside and smashed it to pieces in the driveway. And then I got it out of the shell and ate half of it. I made such a pig of myself. It must have been exactly what I needed because it tasted delicious!

We are having people over for dinner and I’m going to have a simple salad and water.

I went for a little drive today and put a loud energetic cd on. I sang at the top of my voice and loved it. I felt so much better when I got home. Usually I can’t do that because the kids want to talk or tell me to change the song or turn it off. Buggers. Just having that little bit of freedom today made such a difference!

I feel happy today which is great! ^_^

Thanks again for all the support. I don’t know how I would have coped the last few days without my raw angels there supporting me!  :wub: :wub: :wub:

xoxo

ahhh fantastic Jennie,what a great day...and there are more and more to be had....

Jen,

As always I loved reading about your day!... Great that you got some ME time... hahaha.... pictured you singing at the top of your voice as you were driving... fantastic to live in the moment like that!. :wub:

snoops

Hey Guys!

Yes today has gone so well. My body is cleaning house for sure! I forgot to make myself a salad dressing and everyone's dinner was on the table and I ended up just having sushi mayo on my salad which was sooooo nice that I really can't feel bad about it! I had a delicious salad of baby spinach, celery, cuke, tomato, olives, onion and mayo and an hour or so after that I had about four fresh dates! MMM. What a great way to end the day!

Have a great day all!  :wub:

xoxo

hey jen,

do you mind sharing what was the makeup of your sushi mayo? 

thanks

Hi Sandy,

The sushi mayo comes from the Japanese supermarket and I have no idea what is in it because I can't understand the label! It was my naughty thing for the day. Yummy though!

xoxo

You can make a nice raw Mayonnaise from -

 avocado + lemon juice +  vinegar + tamari 

Thanks Jen, That sounds really nice!

Today I woke up feeling energised and refreshed. So I rationalised that I was hallucinating and went back to sleep waking an hour later feeling like crap! That'll teach me!
I figured though that if I had energy before, the first time I opened my peepers, then I should be able to get it back. So I hummed and hawed and eventually went for a big long walk. No lactic acid today! It was wonderful. I walked for about an hour and twenty minutes and then did a workout on the gym when I got home. Then I felt great!

I made myself a green smoothie this morning from spinach, celery and mango. I loved it this morning and really didn't like it this afternoon. In fact, I had a glass this afternoon and felt really sick so I watered the rest down and fed my plants with it!

For lunch I had a delicious salad with baby spinach, celery, onion, olives, beans, orange capsicum,parsley, olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Yummo! I made hubby the same and he really liked it. I added jalapenos to his.

For dinner I made a lovely little salad with cucumber that I'd julienned with my evil v-slicer (thumb nearly completely healed thank you!) capsicum, beans, lemon balm, parsley, orange/lemon juices, salt and pepper. It was so nice and very very pretty. Hubby liked that one too which is nice.

I also had an orange at some point during the day. I'm pleased to say that they are once again tasting lucious and sweet!

I cooked all day today. When I wasn't working out! I made a big pot of mexican lentils for my daughter who loves them more than life itself and a big lasagne for my hubby and son. The lasagne was a mistake. I'm a bit of a Garfield you see... lasagne is my favourite food. I really feel deprived and like I'm cheating myself by not eating some. I've been telling my mind that I've done so well and my bod is cleaning house and that I'll have to go through the whole detox thing again if I don't LEAVE THE LASAGNE ALONE!!! So I haven't had any. I feel like I have severe heartburn which I think is just from the stress of being disciplined. It's not my strong point. I'm just waiting for dinner to go down before I slice up the rest of it and put it in the freezer. That way I can eat some dates while I do it! Forward thinking!!!

Anyhoo, that's my day.

I hope you all have a great one and I know that tomorrow I'll feel so good about not having the poison pasta (maybe if I think of it like that I won't want it!!!) that it will make it all worth it!

Hugs and joy and happiness to everyone.

xoxo

Hey Jen,

Well done. You jumping in leaps and bounds.

I  used to use Emotional Freedom Techniques to overcame lasagne type episodes. Gary Craig developed it (www.emofree.com). It works off accupressure points and is easy to do. there is alot of free stuff there. You can look alittle weird doing it public - I use to use when I really wanted something like a chocalate (b4 raw choc - although i have never tried that yet either) whilst doing supermarket shopping. It is a long time since i have cared what strangers thought of me - I read somewhere - what someone else thinks of me is none of my business.

This form of energy works off  discovering the underlying patterns and emotions and releasing them. The trick is to keep releasing whatever comes up without judgement or interference. Who knows you might enjoy  - also could easily develop it into a lucrative side line business. It works on everything from golf games to chronic health issues.

I no longer use this because it interferes with my qigong practice but it definetly works.

Thanks a bunch Speedy. You have so much information up your sleeves don't you!!! This will seriously come in handy.  :wub: ^_^

I've just wrapped up the lasagne. It was tough but I did it! I ate 6 dates while I did it but they were yummy and eliminated the smell of the poison pasta also.

I'll get onto that site later.

Thanks again!

xoxo

Hey beautiful Jen,

Great to read about your day with evil v-slicers and poision pasta... hahaha.. I love those descriptions... helps to bring some light relief to these sort of situations don't you think. I was with you every step of the way... through your story of managing the situation.... kudos to you for getting through it and suppoting your decision to move away from attachments to 'dead' food with your actions. Sometimes the thinking part is so much easier than the doing part... anyway... a BIG round of *applause* cominatcha.

Thanks for the EFT info Speedy I'll definitely check it out. I agree with Jen... you're a wealth of information... we are lucky to have you here.

love 'n' hugs rawpeople..... mmmmmwah!

snoops

Jenn,

Good job managing the temptation!  So glad you're feeling back to normal.  What would you say is the most obvious change from this raw adventure?

MUCH Love and Hugs to you,
Beth

Hi All,

Today started off well. I went for a big walk when I woke up and did a workout after.I've reached a funny stage with my workouts. Exercises that were easy last week are now getting more difficult. Does anyone have any idea about why that would be? I'm having difficulty with weights and walking. This morning I had to keep stopping and stretching on my walk which was annoying. I like to just walk really fast until I get home but I just couldn't. The only way I could keep going was to stop and stretch. With the weights my muscles hurt. They didn't hurt with the exact same exercises and  the same weights last week. Bummer.

I had an orange for breakfast and some mature coconut flesh for a mid morning snack. Yummy, healthy and well done to me! I was feeling fine. We did a spot of shopping and then it was off to McDonalds. I had promised the kids that I would take them there once over the holidays. This is great for us. Last Chrissy hols it was once a week.

I thought I'd be strong and get one of their wilted salads with no dressing... but the smells! I knew as soon as I walked through the door that I was done for. I put it down to a weakened state from being strong last night and having no pasta. I would have been better off eating lasagne last night! Althought that's no guarantee that I would have been any better behaved today. So I'm glad I abstained from it! Today I had a burger, fries and a sundae. So I not only fell off the raw wagon, I did it spectacular style and got run over by the wheels! And I loved it.  ^_^ For awhile. About two hours later I got what I'll call 'tummy's payback'.   :wacko:  The worst indigestion that I can recall since my peptic ulcers (Caused by smoking). Full on hey. My tummy certainly let me know who was the boss there. I think for dinner I'll have some cucumber shredded with snow peas and beans with olive oil and lemon juice and herbs. That should help it!

Hi Beth. How are you gorgeous? I like your new photo. I'd love to hear some more about your dogs. I'll put a photo of mine at the end of this days writing. I'd have to say that during my raw adventure the biggest change I've noted would be that I'm a lot calmer. My temper is on holiday! It's great. Also my body. I was saying to my hubby this morning that I really am enjoying my new body. I've always been fairly thin compared to the other women in my family but I've always been flabby with a big tummy. Not like a 40 year old male alcoholic or anything just bloated. Now my tummy is flatter and when I was drying myself after my shower this morning I could see the muscles playing in my arms and shoulders which was awesome! I've never been toned and I'm really enjoying that. There is something else I was going to mention also but it's slipped my mind and so I'll post it later after dinner if I remember what it was.

PS I just tried to post this with a photo of my doggie on it and it wouldn't let me. It said my upload folder was full and I don't know how to fix that yet. I'll work on it! I must have written too much...  :rolleyes:

theres some problem with uploading pics at the mo...am sure that sheryl and piers are on to it...

Thanks Neet. Boy you're onto things quick!!! I have to go. Screaming 4 year old. Over tired, McD's probably not helping not to mention three hours in ikea!!!

Thanks again  :wub:

xoxo

I just had dinner. I ended up having julienned cucumber, capsicum, beans, asparagus (all chopped or sliced) with olive oil, lime juice (I prefer lemon I just found out!), salt and pepper. Oh and parsley and lemon balm. Yummy. I'm craving something heavy so I'll probably have some dates later.

Good night and thanks for all the support!!!

xoxo

Hey Jen, sounds like that wagon didn't do too much damage as it ran you over, lol! I am constantly amazed by your ability to jump up and leap head on back into raw. I can't imagine going from a 'normal' cooked, meat-eating SAD diet straight to raw - I'm always stunned that people who haven't made the transition to vegetarian and then vegan go straight to raw vegan. Way to go!
Freedom

P.S I am so much more toned now than I used to be, it's great isn't it? Oh and I'm not sure why you would be finding your exercise so difficult except the fact that the muscles you use doing weights and walking might just be totally exhausted from all the use last week, especially if you are using them a lot more now than you used to. It's important to do a variety of exercises so that all your muscles get a workout.

Hi Freedom.

That makes sense. I guess if I haven't used them for awhile they are bound to go into shock sooner or later! I dug out the old skipping rope this morning and thought I'd do that and some yoga alternating days with the weights and walking. How does that sound? I'm giving myself a couple of days off too.

Yeah it's not an easy transition especially when my vegetarian days made me so damn sick! I'm so scared of going there again that I'm probably subconscioulsy sabotaging myself... now there's a thought. It's funny what comes out of ones head when we are writing and not speaking!!!

I'm so glad that you are getting fit and healthy. I've been reading your blog by the way and love it! You have a flair for writing. I can see you being a great freelance journo for raw and vegetarian/vegan publications...

Thanks Freedom, as always you are wonderful!!!  :wub:

xoxo

Wow, thanks so much Jen. Maybe I'll be a writer part time when I've finished my vet course! Last year I had two articles published in my uni guild magazine, one about veganism one about raw, it was so exciting. I was going to post links to them but they aren't working for some reason.
I've always loved writing, entered short story and poetry competitions when I was little and said I wanted to be an author as well as a vet.

I wish I had a skipping rope, I could really go for some skipping at the moment! You've made me jealous, lol! Although it is sooooo hot here today already, I'm almost sweating just typing!
Have a great day!
Freedom

P.S Just a question - can you see the pctures on my blog? They have been being really funny and not showing up lately, don't know why.  :huh:

Hi Freedom,

You don't have a skipping rope? When is your birthday? I'll buy you one. I'll need an address though, I can't see the post office getting it to "Freedom, Perth, Aus". Their service just isn't that great anymore!!!

I was on your blog last night and could see the most recent pic but some pics that I could see days before I now couldn't. They seem to chop and change all the time. Great blog though! Love your work.

What kind of vet do you plan on being? I could see you being a vet natropath or homeopath or something like that!

I've got a friend whose son is going to medical school and plans to then do natropathy then homeopathy. Clever laddie! He feels that he'll get more patients if he's a GP.

xoxo

Hehe, my bday isn't till way way away in October - but thanks for the thought!  -_- No, post probably isn't that good anymore although when i sent my best friend back in SA her chrissie card I just sent it to : Amy Feutrill, Main St Mt Torrens SA, cos I don't know her actual address just where the house  is (terrible, i know!) and it found her just fine. The total population of Mt Torrens is about 196 though, so that probably helps!  ^_^

I don't know anymore what type of vet I'll be - when I was little I just knew I wanted to help animals but now I know that there are much larger-scale ways of doing that than treating peoples pets in a normal pra