Haven't been participating much in the forums but lurking and reading when i can. So MissGiggles i would also like to join yourself and Jen for the raw for 60 days. Have been mostly raw for a few months now and only giving in to my chocolate cravings which i am happy to say are now down from a big block of chocolate a day to a snickers bar a day. I am keen to kick this unhealthy habit right out of my life.

Some things to note are that i am breastfeeding my nearly 15month old (90% bf small amount of raw solid foods through out the day and evening) & she has alleregies to avo's, bananas, cucumbers, zucs, melons, celery (most of the latex fruits) so sadly for me i have quite a restricted raw diet.

Also i was not overweight when i started to transition to raw but since mostly eating this way i have lost a lot of weight and get to that "too skinny" stage which is where i think i crave the fats and sugars of the chocolate to try to fatten myself up. So need to find the balance of what foods to try to keep me at healthy weight range.

Saturday is shopping day for us (we have no car) so dh myself and two daughters take off to our local fruit and veg shop (sadly cannot afford organic, yet!). We have to walk two trips as we cannot carry all we need in one so we get in out exercise as well. Today was all raw except a snickers bar when we got home late this arvo.

Missgiggles hope you had a lovely evening out, sounds fun!

Unhindered - fantastic!  Welcome aboard the S.S. Raw for 60 Days ship! (Definitely not the S.S. Minnow)

I hear you on the chocolate!  I suppose that is why raw cacao is such a blessing in my life, because I just  chocolate.  I'm going to be making a batch of peppermint chocolate today so that I have a little wee stash for when a girl's just got to have a little piece of chocolate!

Yesterday, I finished off the day with a few more mandarines.  I was so excited to see Imperials instore - I just love them.  I also ate a few baby romas, snow peas and a little celery as I was washing it and getting it into the fridge.

I am taking things one day at a time, and am going to focus on being prepared.  Work is where it is very easy for me to go off the rails, so I am going to be diligent in preparing my lunch to take each day.  The other challenge for me is my mind, so steely determination is required.

Today, for preparation, I'm going to:

• prepare some almond milk, so that I can have chocolate milkshakes on a whim.  *giddy*
• make some chocolate for when I need a little sweet treat.
• prepare some gado gado, so that I can enjoy that inside my baby cos lettuce leaves for lunch tomorrow.
• make Storm's sunny pate too - I haven't made that in so long, and it was a favourite when I encountered raw.

Other than that, I'll have my usual fave green juice each day - celery, green apple, ginger & a whole lemon.  I've got a big glass of chia that has been soaking overnight in orange juice, and so later I think a chia jaffa smoothie will be on the cards, but who knows, it might end up being a chia jaffa superfood pudding or anything else that I might fancy when the time comes.....

Who would have thought that already, there are only 58 more sleeps.  Not that I'm counting.

Ooh - Love Spirit your post has come in while I am typing away. 

Yes, thank you it is very sound advice on the sleep.  10:00pm will be hard, but I will do my best.  The thing is, that the more raw one is, the less sleep one needs (so it is for me).  If I go to bed at 10:00pm, I'd be up at 3:00am or 4:00am!  I'll have to work on that, but this is what always happens with me. 

I don't find 4:00am a very productive time - not when you live in an apartment and can't really make noise (do washing, domestics etc.).  Of course, there is always a beach walk or similar, I suppose.  And exercise is something I really need to focus on too.  I might have to drag my rebounder out to the back yard, and just bounce away quietly in the morning air. 

Thank you for the well wishes.  Please stop by regularly - I suspect I'll need support.  And thanks for the bon voyage - you can throw your streamers now, as we push off gently from the pier. 

Day two! Miss G you are awesome for starting this thread.

Ok, my downfall times are...

When cooking for the family
When at restaurants
When I am away from home

That's pretty much it these days.

So what to do about it?

Make my dinner before the kids and nibble on it while I make theirs. This has always worked well for me in the past and I've fallen out of the habit.

At restaurants. I'm just going to have to use will. Yes I have it. I know I do.... I'll find it. I'll plan ahead what I am going to eat and call the restaurant in advance if need be.

Away from home. I'm off to Melbourne for a few days which will be awesome. I'll go to the fruit shop and stock up on the way to our accommodation. Last time I was in Melbourne it was pretty easy.

Awesome. This is going to be so great.

xoxoxox

Day 3, and all is still on track.  I found my eyes seeking out food upon food on the way home from work.

There's something about Day 3's.  Day 1's are a breeze, and Day 2's are solid, and Day 3's get a bit shaky.  So it is with me.

But, I enjoyed my litre of green juice, sunflower pate wraps, celery and snow peas immensely.  I might stick with salad for work, because it's a little too weird doing odd looking concoctions that you graze on over a prolonged period of time. 

Strangely, I didn't have any herbal tea at work today.  It wasn't planned, it just happened.  I treat herbal tea as medicinal, not food, and personally ignore any reference to it being "cooked".  It will always form part of my diet.

I think I might have some raw French onion soup for dinner - an idea I found in other realms.  (thanks Ginger!)

I massaged Spanish onion rings with a little olive oil and some Tamari, and then dehydrated for 24 hours until crunchy.  These are great by themselves as a snack or as a crunchy addition to salads.

I'm going to use a few tablespoons of the crunchy onions, add some warm water, let it sit for a bit, et viola!

And I really need to make peppermint chocolate.

I'm a bit twitchy, so I'm logging off.  I hope everyone has a lovely night.

I'm really enjoying this thread and am cheering you on from the sidelines with my big bowl of seaweed.

Miss g - I love that dehydrated onion idea and the French onion soup. I'm going to give that a go. I make dehydrated onion rings in a batter of orange juice and sesame seeds with a pinch of salt. They're very tasty. I only enjoy raw onion if it's dehydrated. My plans to make a batch of chocolate have been scuppered because a big food order I placed has gone astray. Apparently been delivered to one of my neighbours, but no-one's owning up to it! Looking out for smoeone blissed out on cacao and other lovely superfoods.

Jen -you are so clever to do that to a young coconut. Last time I had one (some time ago as they're hard to get hold of in these parts) I had to resort to drilling it open. Made the biggest mess. Had to drill loads of holes in it till they all joined up.

ggxx

Goji Girl I had to larf at an image of you with your drill doing that to a poor coconut!

How do you prepare your seaweed? Do you have a salad with just seaweed in it and nothing else? Brave.

I wasn't really hungry again today. I seem very switched off from my body. I hadn't been to worried about my lack of appetite until my run this morning when I couldn't even run 2kms. I'm really sore this afternoon too. I think I've just not been putting in the right fuel.

No greens and high stress equal a highly acidic Jen. So I've had loads of greens in the last 24 hours. Loads.

I started eating today at around 1. I blended a rockie with 1/2 a bunch of ceylon spinach and some mint. I still can't work out if I liked it or not. I think I put a little too much spinach in for the taste. But the body needed it...

I've just had dinner. Pretty much the same as last night. I had soaked Kombu (Kelp?) instead of olives though. I thought it was a little bland. I love the power of the olive flavour. Yummmmm!

Have felt really tired today. I'm not sure why. Low concentration and like I needed to cry but I felt happy. A day of mixed emotions.

I know that in the past my cooked eating has always been triggered by emotional need. Whether it is to fit in with the crowd I'm with (who am I kidding? I don't fit in! Who does?) or because I've been so good I deserve a treat, or just one mouthful won't hurt, or I've had a really hard day, I just want something easy. Pfft. Easy! What could be easier than blending some fruit and greens?

So I've never really done the emotional detox. I'm prepared. *Squares shoulders* I can face my emotions head on, with the help of my homeopath... she has been warned, and my chiro guy. All is going to be well.

I'm as exited about this as I was about the new year. 2008 is awesome and the next few days will be even better!

Goji, I tried to find a youtube vid of how to open a coco that way. Couldn't find one sorry. I saw David Jubb do it on a DVD the title of which is eluding me right now.... ho hum. I'll have to write and ask if he can post that on youtube. Good man that he is I'm sure he won't mind...

**************exited************* I went back to youtube and did the search without David Jubb and found another vid....  Roe Gallo, who looks fab by the way, I must read her books,  has this great lesson. I've put it in favourites.

Sacha, I'm going to put this in your journal as well just in case you are not reading here.

I hope you like it Goji. Best way to open a coconut ever. Those knives are cheap too!

xoxoxo

Olive dressing and smooth chocolate...  See you in about 2 hours Miss G!

*Jennie runs for a plane...*

xoxoxox