Day 10 of our family's 6 week challenge!

We finally have a new computer, thanks to my husband's wonderful family! I'm hoping to get back into the groove of blogging since I loved it so much, and it definitely helped me to stay raw. I say this because, the entire time I wasn't blogging, I was only eating about 30% raw, pretty much when Rory fed it to me. I gained a lot of my weight back while not being raw, which shows me just how easy it is for me to gain weight, and how important it is for me to stay on the raw path. When I went back to a cooked diet I started at 249lbs and I gained weight and ended up at 273lbs. Still better than when I started at 306 before raw, but I knew it would only be a matter of time until I returned to my original weight.

Today marks my day 10 of being 100% raw once again, and I've lost exactly 10 lbs. I'm not the only one in the house trying to lose weight though. Rory's brother in law, Aaron, is also on a 100% raw food diet beginning 4 weeks ago and he's lost over 40 lbs already! Rory's sister, Danielle, (who doesn't have much to lose) has lost 15 lbs in the last 10 days of being 100% raw.

And what's even more exciting is that Rory's mother, Sandy, has moved in with us! She did a 50% raw transition for 3 weeks before she moved in and lost 15 lbs during that. She can only be weighed at her doctor's office, so we won't know how much she has lost until she leaves, but she intends to stay for 6 weeks. We can't wait to find out the outcome! We've been filming her since we arrived and have created 3 videos so far of her experience.

This first one is an interview during her transition period.



The next video is her moving in day:



This last one is my favorite, Thanksgiving dinner!



I'm not in any of them because I am a bit camera shy, and someone has to hold the camera!

Yesterday was International Juice Feasting Day, and in honor of it we all juice feasted for the entire day. I lost 3 lbs during the feast, Danielle lost 2, and I'm not sure how many Aaron lost, but I know he lost some. Rory's mom was not able to stick with the feast, mostly because she didn't like the juices I was making. Rory was working all day so I had to play 'chef', and I guess I can't hold a candle to Rory's food making! haha

Eating 100% raw food really is a lot easier when you are doing it with others. In the past I had done it with Rory, but it was no longer a struggle for him because he's been 100% raw for a few years now. What I needed was to share the struggle with others, and that has really helped me. That's why websites like Rawfu and Raw Food Rehab are so great, because you can share your feelings, needs, wants, pains, and happinesses with others on those sites. Even blogging helps because I used to get tons of emails from people going through the same thing I was going through. Thanks to everyone out there that has helped me or someone else through any challenge by sharing it with them!

It's good to be back!

Smoothie Feast Ends-My Conclusions and Zukay Live Foods Quick Review

I made it through my smoothie feast with no cheats! In fact, on Tuesday I saw a piece of pineapple on the table and put it in my mouth, then I spit it out remembering that I am on my feast. I feel my willpower growing with each challenge I present myself with.

The reason I went on this smoothie feast was because last week my husband and I had some company, and we made them some raw jalapeno burgers. We made this twice that week and I gained 7 lbs. I am trying so hard to lose weight, gaining 7 lbs on raw food was a big blow to me. I wanted to make sure I released those pounds quickly so that I could move on with my original weight loss goals. Before last week the scale said 251.8 give or take a few ounces. After last week it said 259!! I was horrified! So now today, I get to step on the scale and see what a 1 week long smoothie feast can do.

Drum roll please... and the scale says....251.6!! And the crowd goes wild! Yay! I completely released the 7 lbs and reached my goal! I am so proud of myself for working so hard, even when I wanted to give up and just eat. Thank you everyone for the support and love. I know I could not have done it without you!

So what conclusions have I made from doing a week long smoothie feast? Well for one, the first few days are the easiest. By mid week I was really craving solid food. But then, by the end it was easier again; it became habit. I definitely think anyone can do it. Plus, creating all those yummy smoothies was such a treat!

I also think that I cleaned out my intestines a little. The first few days I was releasing much more than what I was ingesting. It evened out by the end of the week.

You can definitely lose weight on a smoothie feast. Just about anyone can! I would definitely go longer if I could afford it.

It's a great way to share the gloriousness of green smoothies. You tell anyone you are on a smoothie feast and they almost automatically want to know more. Even kids enjoy learning about the smoothies.

You have to make sure that you are getting enough calories. It's so easy to sip a smoothie or two all day long and only get a few hundred calories. The last thing you want is to put your body into starvation mode. Drink about 4 smoothies, or more each day. I added an avocado or 2 each day in one of my smoothies as well.

Smoothie feasts are a lot of fun! It's easy to stay motivated when you are enjoying yourself!

If I did it again, and I probably will, the one thing I would change is that I would buy even more ingredients. I would buy more non sweet fruit, because sometimes too much sugar is just that, too much. I would buy more high calorie foods. And I may even drink more green smoothies, and less fruit only smoothies. I do think the banana milk that I added about mid week was a great idea!

The first meal I had today was a banana. It was the best banana ever. I also ate a pear, yum yum.

This morning when I went shopping the local natural food store was giving out samples of Zukay raw fermented live products. I tried garlic dill relish, horseradish dill relish, mild salsa viva, and hot salsa viva. It was all really tasty, and I especially loved the hot salsa viva (I love hot and spicy), so I bought some. It was $4.99 for 11.5 oz, which was a little out of my price range, but after the smoothie feast, the idea of trying something new was intriguing.

So when I opened it today, it started to bubble up, a lot. I tried putting the lid back on, but I could feel the carbon dioxide pushing on the lid. For fear of breaking the glass, I took the lid off and some of the salsa spilled over the side. Rory said, "I never thought I would want to eat a salsa that bubbled like that when I opened it". I grabbed a spoon and put a spoonful in my mouth. It moved around on my tongue, splashing and playing, it felt like it was alive. It had a wonderful flavor! If you ever had fermented foods (kombucha, sauerkraut, etc.) it has that distinct fermented flavor, mixed with fresh salsa. This has to be the best salsa I ever had! The best way to enjoy it, I found, was in small quantities. Just adding a spoonful to whatever you are eating gives it just the right touch.

We didn't know what we wanted to put it on. We had no bread or chips made, so I decided to just make a simple guacamole, and put that over diced tomatoes. So it was pretty much a thick layer of diced tomatoes, a thin layer of guacamole, and a spoonful of salsa. It was heaven!

I did some research on the site and found that it is not 100% raw, but high raw. The Zukay website states, "The relishes are almost completely raw. The salsas are also mostly raw, though they do have tomato paste for taste and texture." Even so, I do plan on buying these again for their taste and probiotic properties. If you get any, let me know what you think!

Again, thank you to everyone for your support. The smoothie feast ends here, but the raw food challenge is still very much on!

Just Say No

One of the hardest parts about raising a child that's only about 70% raw is making her dinner. Tonight I made her a box of Mac N Chreese (a vegan mac & cheese) and a green smoothie for dinner. Very often when I make the mac n chreese, I dish out a small portion for myself. Mostly because I don't fell like making something seperate for me, and the mac n chreese is convenient. Well, tonight was no different in that respect. I made her a big bowl of it and then put a little in a bowl for myself. I though, "Gee I've been 100% raw today, this will totally ruin that for me". Then I thought, "Oh well, I already dished it out, now the bowl and spoon are dirty, and besides, I'm very hungry". So at this point I added a bunch of pepper to the food in my bowl and stirred it up. My next though was...actually I don't think I had a thought, it was more of a reflex...I just put the bowl down on the table in front of my daughter and walked away. I poured a big glass of the green smoothie for myself and ate a big, juicy pear.

This is a major break through for me! About the only few times I eat cooked food any more is when I am making food for someone else and I feel like "I might as well eat some". I actually said "no" and found something else! I know I can keep this up, especially since, lately we've been super stocked up on raw produce.

If you make cooked food for other people, how do you resist the urge? Please, let me know how you keep yourself above the boiled water?

The scale moved!

It's been a few days since I posted last. Someone in my family was pretty ill, so I spent some time making "feel better' concoctions. I did get on the scale today, and it said 266! Yay, it moved! I've been working pretty hard, both with my exercise challenge and my raw challenge, but neither of them have been 100% all of the time. I am definitely working hard though.

Most of my meals are: bananas for breakfast, tomatoes for lunch, and a big salad for dinner, with a few green smoothies mixed in. Friday's are the hardest for me, because we always get something to eat at the natural food store when we go shopping. I always want to get dolmas - sometimes I have the willpower to get something else, but not always. I am hoping that when the Raw Fu challenge starts on the 15th, that will really get me motivated.

Rory is a real inspiration, he lost so much weight that today he lost his wedding ring :( We may never get it back, but now we have a plan to get it tattooed on him. I don't want to it be a tacky tattoo though, so we will have to work on the design a bit. He wants me to get one as well, but I never felt like a tattoo person, so I told him that we would wait.

Exercise challenge going great!

My 30 day exercise challenge that I have embarked on is going really well. I found inspiration from another woman from Raw Fu who said she made a chain link, and each day she ate raw she added to the link. I decided to take her idea, and incorporate it into my exercise challenge. Each day that I exercise, I add a link to my chain. I decided to make min holiday colors, since it is nearly that time of year. I am also doing it with my daughter, so she has her own chain, and when we are done, we have holiday decorations! She is super excited.
I weighed in today, and it said 270.0, so it is moving, though not as fast as I hoped. I think I will start to add juices to my menu, and see how that works out.

30 day exercise challenge

Hi! It's a great day! Except for the fact that I have no heat in my house and I GAINED weight! That's right, gained weight. I now weigh 270. I can't believe it, I've been so diligent. But, I am not going to let it get me down, instead I am going to start a new challenge for myself. I realize it will be difficult to work on two challenges at once, but I think I can do it. With the support of my family and friends, and everyone online, I know it will work.

My new challenge is to work out 30 minutes a day for 30 days. I want to see if this will speed up my weight loss (I don't doubt it). It's getting pretty cold out, and I can't handle cold weather, so I will have to do all of my work outs indoors. I am not exactly sure what I am going to do, but I plan to do some yoga, aerobics, and strength training. Not much strength training, but just enough to firm myself a bit each day. My husband has been wanting to do more strength training, so maybe I can convince him to join me on this challenge. Maybe Rawdawg Rory can do a 30 day strength training challenge! I dare him! (I know he will be reading this). SO I will keep you posted on how I do this challenge. Maybe if I am feeling outrageous, I will post pics!

Today I day 1 of the 30 days. I plan to start with some stretches, yoga, and then some aerobics. Hopefully by the time I am done, I will enjoy exercising, but I can't promise anything.

first morning thoughts

I just woke up and was looking at the news when I found this article called 5 things I learned from Jilian Micheals and she talks about weight loss, NOT being about willpower. She says "Losing weight is not about willpower--it's about moments of bravado, like the moment when you ask your waiter to take the bread away from the table right away." Wow! I guess I don't have willpower. When I go to a restuarant, I love those little freebies! I really need to be stronger if I am ever going to make it to my weight loss goal. Micheals also says that she pours candle wax from the dining table onto her food to prevent from eating it. That's hard core! Maybe I should stop worrying about how long I slaved over the meal and I don't want it wasted and start thinking about how I am wasted my own LIFE making sure I eat every bite.

So anyway, today is day 1! YAY! For breakfast I am having some raw cereal - buckwheat (soaked and dehydrated), sliced bananas, raisins, and apples in a bowl with almond milk. It should be tasty.