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!

I hope to see you!

Okay, so do you really want to know what I have been up to? Or did you just forget about me? haha! I didn't forget about everyone else, but I've been focusing all of my energy on a fun new project I've been working on. I was in the shower one day thinking about my biggest phobia and wondering how I could solve it. Well instead of solving it, I decided to fantasize it and make it into a children's book (a 300 page-er). I have been working so hard on this book, and so far have read it to 3 children who absolutely love it. I am not even close to done, but I wanted to share that with everyone. When I am closer to finished, I will be able to fill you in on more details.

More excitingly, I will be traveling. Of course, mostly tagging along with Rory. Myself, my daughter, Isabel, and Rory will be at Raw Spirit Fest East on August 29-30th. Rory will be doing a raw food demo, selling a dvd (hopefully) and his e-book (hopefully) but certainly he will be selling smoothie jar bags and magnets. Isabel will be doing a raw food demo with her cousins in the children's section. She is super excited and super nervous.
On September 26-2th we will be in Prescott, AZ sans Isabel for the Raw Spirit Fest as well. I am really hoping to meet some of my new blogger friends at these festivals!

August 7-9th we will be in MA for the NOFA (Northeastern Organic Farming Association)conference where Rory will be doing a raw food demo there as well. If you are going, let me know!

Fun Snack Recipes and Veggie Dip!

I have been really enjoying my raw food lifestyle the last few days! I just feel so free from cooking, making meals, planning meals, etc. This morning I woke up, and looking at the smorgasbord of fruit on our stove top, I decided to eat a tomato for breakfast. I added some dulse flakes and it was heaven. About an hour and a half later I made a giant green smoothie. I drank 85 oz of green smoothie and it lasted me all the way until dinner. I did sneak in a peach half way just for fun. Now, I am eating some pineapple, and I will retire with a big, giant salad.

I am always trying to mix up my salads, and in this season it's not so easy. So now I am mixing up my salad dressing. Some days I make a vinaigrette, some days I just use lemon. Rory made a really great dressing/veggie dip that I have been enjoying this week. It has a Mexican flavor to it, but what I really like is that it reminds me of something I used to love. It took me a really long time to remember what it reminds me of, but I finally figured it out. When I was just a vegetarian, way back, I used to make a salad and add eggs and cheese. This dressing gave my salad that exact texture and flavor, and it was fantastic!

Here's the recipe~

2 C. soaked sunflower seeds
1/2 C. of water
Juice of 1 lemon
approx 3 tbsps. of apple cider vinegar
2 dates (pitted)
1+1/2 to 2 tsp. salt

Blend thoroughly and toss in the following seasonings~

1+1/2 tsp. onion powder
1+1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2-3/4 tsp. of ground black-pepper
1+1/2 Tbsp. of oregano
1+1/2 tsp. of ground coriander
1/8th to 1/2 tsp. of chipotle powder (it all depends on how spicy ya like it!)
1/4 tsp. of cumin

Blend!

Rory and I were about to watch a movie last night and I was complaining that I wanted some sort of snacky, junk food thing. I wanted it to be raw, but crunchy and salty like chips. I was so demanding, since I also wanted it to be nut free, and quick, no dehydrator. Haha! So I really put Rory to the test and he came through for me! He made me a delicious platter with carrots and cauliflower to dip into the same sunflower seed veggie dip. He also made this really great spicy/salty carrot chip thing and "to live for" salty cauliflower. He cut up some sweet watermelon and made a tropical blend green smoothie because, when someone usually has salty chips, they then crave something sweet! I enjoyed the food so much I could barely concentrate on the movie! He called the yummy cauliflower stuff Cheezy Cauliflower Nuggets and here is the recipe ~

1/2 a head of cauliflower broken into small florets and little pieces
1 tsp. of hemp oil
1 tsp. pulverized salt
1 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast

Toss!

Here is the recipe for the carrot chips~

2 Lg carrots - washed thoroughly and cut into long diagonal slices to resemble a chip

Put them in a bowl and toss with the following~

A tsp. or so of hemp oil to get the flavorings to adhere
1 tsp. of mineral salt ground into a fine powder for even coating
1 Tbsp. of chili-powder
1 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast flakes

I pretty much ripped these recipes straight from his site if you want to check out the source.

I was just telling Rory last night what my dream kitchen would have in it. You know those refrigerated buffet tables that you see in some restaurants and cafeterias? They hold different fruits and veggies, and keep them cool at the same time. I would love that! I would wake up in the morning and prepare all sorts off fruits and veggies and place them on the buffet. Then no one will be hungry or have cravings for cooked food. They could always be picking something nutritious off the buffet and eat whenever they need to! I think that would be great for children. Now where can I get myself a refrigerated buffet? haha

My daughter wants to make another raw food video, but this time on a raw food "buckwheat groat popcorn". Hopefully I can post that for you soon!

Smoothie Feast Continued and Rebirthing Session 2

I just wanted to check in here with my smoothie feast first. I have still been drinking smoothies all week, but I have only 1 new recipe for you. I liked some of the ones I already made this week so much that I am just repeating most of them! Although today I did have 2 new yummy creations. The first was a curry pumpkin soup that Rory made for me. It was a surprise, so I did not get the ingredients for it.

The second was a cherry smoothie that I made:

2 cups cherries
2 bananas
water
Blend!

Very simple, and very tasty!
I'm not searching in the fridge anymore, thankfully, so I am much more adapted to "smoothiehood". I am also not using the bathroom as much, so I may have adapted in other ways as well. As I promised, I did up my intake of calories the last 2 days. I've added more bananas and banana milk, which should bring me to about 1300 calories, give or take.

I am looking forward to a solid meal. I make food for my daughter, and a salad for Rory each evening, and I really am craving them. I crave solid food now more than I ever craved cooked food! I am really enjoying the smoothie feast, but at the same time, I can't wait for it to be over.

Rebirthing

So Chris came over again this week, and I bravely did another Rebirthing session with him. It started out the same as the first time. I was in a lot of pain, especially in my shoulders, and breathing was a chore, like running a marathon. He kept telling me to keep going, and I hated him for that. I just wanted to stop. But I didn't, I stayed strong because I was determined to find what Rory found his first time.

Just when the session was about to end, and we both thought that I wasn't going to get "there" my breath slowed down, and I started to feel it. I have to say, it shocked me quite a bit, and I think that shock pulled me away from it a bit. I started to feel very light, and each time I took an in breath, I started to rise. I would breathe again, and I would rise another few inches. Then the room disappeared, and I was above the ocean. Each time I breathed, I floated higher on a wave. I felt so wonderful, and free. I honestly felt like I could just float away. Then, I started sinking, and the room came back. I realized I had to use the bathroom (darn smoothie feast!) and it was over.

I asked Rory if that is what he felt, and he responded, "not at all". Apparently I only got a small "drip" of what it could feel like. If only I could let myself go a little more, I would feel it so much more powerfully.

Ironically, Rory's second session turned out to be much like my first, which goes to show you that they can be different each time.

I'll let you know on Saturday the final results of my smoothie feast. I can't wait to step on the scale and see what I have accomplished. My goal is to lose the 7 lbs I gained last week from eating too many nuts.

Rory's Blind folded Adventure

Last week Rory and I were talking about what we were going to do for his next raw food recipe video and he decided that he wanted to do his Green Vanilla Bean Shake, mostly because everyone we know loves it. What's even better is that the shake is super easy to make, so easy that it could be done blindfolded!

So that's what he did, he did the video blind folded. You have to see!



It was a really fun experience for us, so I just had to share it here on my blog. I love the part where he is trying to find a glass and he is reaching out for the cupboard and cannot find it anywhere. Anyway, hope you like it!

Raw "hot" chocolate

Our Christmas holiday was a lot of fun. On Christmas day we opened gifts, did crafts, played games, and watched a movie. The following day we went to my mother's house and did the same thing. It was like having Christmas twice! I know Isabel loved it. I hope your holiday went well!

Rory created this wonderful, easy "hot" chocolate that we enjoyed Christmas day, and every day since. Of course, it isn't actually hot, but we did warm it a little in the Vitamix. If you don't have a Vitamix, you can do it in a pan with a thermometer.

3 cups almond milk
4 Tbsp cacao
4-5 Tbsp raw honey (do it to taste)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or about 1/2' piece of bean

Blend it! if you are using a Vitamix, allow it to get slightly warm. if you are using a regular blender, transfer it to a pan and gently heat it on low until it reaches your desired raw temp (around 115F usually) This will probably make about 3 servings.

It tastes really good, and almost as if it has marshmallows melted into it.

Do you ever get tired from all this fast food?

Everything was going so well, I lost about 1.5 lbs of the 2 that I gained in CT. I've been eating all raw, until today. I wasn't even really paying much attention to what I was eating today, since I was so busy. Tonight I was sitting around with Rory and complaining about how sleepy and tired I am. I was so tired I could barely get up to go to the bathroom! He asked me what I ate today...hmm I had french fries and some hot cereal. Rory jumped right up and made me a nice green smoothie and some salad and now I feel so much better.

It's amazing, and almost scary, how much cooked, and junk food affects a person. I used to feel tired all of the time, and I never knew it was from the food that I was eating. Now, when I do eat those foods again, the tiredness is almost a shock and I can't even function. There are so many people that I know in their 20s and 30s that say they feel so old and tired. I used to think, pre-raw, that it was the stress of our fast paced world, but now I realize that it is the food that we eat!

How are you celebrating your holiday? We have a family tradition of eating tacos on Christmas, and this year we will not be breaking that tradition. The non raw foodies in my family will be eating traditional tacos, and the vegetarians will be eating vegetarian tacos. We will be eating raw tacos. There are so many wonderful recipes out there for raw tacos, but since I don't like to eat a lot of nuts, and we are so busy during the holiday season, we will be making our easy raw taco recipe. So many of our non-raw friends have tried them, and they all love them. We are making enough to share with anyone who wants them.


Have a great holiday!

This is kinda a silly vid I did to share our Christmas tree on Rawfu. Rory is "singing" (you may want to turn off your speakers to avoid hearing him sing)

1 vacation lb down and resolutions

I've been trying hard to lose those 2 lbs that I gained on vacation, and so far I have lost one of them. This week I have been craving a lot of pears, so I have had about 4 or 5 a day. I am also eating a big salad each day and drinking a green smoothie. The hardest part is turning down Rory's dandy blend smoothie, it's the best in the world! But it is a nut based smoothie, so I am trying hard not to drink any. (He plans to post about that smoothie on his blog and on YouTube in the near future.) Hopefully the next pound will be just as easy, and I can concentrate on losing all of the others that I need to lose.

Have you thought of any resolutions for the new year? When I do think of one, I like to think of only one, otherwise it gets too complicated and I end up doing nothing. This year I have decided to concentrate on my own health, instead of the health of others. I keep telling friends and family all about the benefits of green smoothies and juices, nutrients of different fruits and veggies, etc. But rarely do I incorporate these things into my own diet as much as I tell others that they should. So this year, I am going to eat a much more healthy diet. This includes drinking more water, since Rory always tells me that I don't drink nearly as much as I should.

Off topic, one of my dearest, beautiful friends has a wonderful Etsy page full of gorgeous jewelry that is actually made from recycled materials. I just hope that you check it out because I know that she puts a lot of love and care into each piece, and they are all just so wonderful! Here is the link to her Etsy page: Recycled Revolution

What a fun day!

Oh my! Rory and I had so much fun last night. I was in tears, tears of joy! It was one of the happiest moments I've had on this raw food journey. I hope that in a few more months, we can do it again. Want to know what we did?

Well, I said in a previous post that I lost 42 lbs so far, but I can't see it anywhere, except maybe a little in my face. Bummer, that's a lot of weight to lose with no obvious difference. If I GAINED that much weight, I would definitely see it!

Anyway, we are going on a trip next week to see his family, whom we haven't seen since our wedding day 2 1/2 years ago. Rory is super excited to show off his new, raw, muscular, sexy bod. I feel like I look pretty much the same. In fact, because we spent so much money buying Rory 2 new wardrobes (half way through we bought him a bunch of new clothes, then he lost more weight and we had to do it again) we never had any money to buy me some new clothes. So there I was whining and complaining that Rory is going to look really good, and I am going to look like crap, wearing rags and such. Rory looked in an old box of my clothes and finds this really beautiful winter wardrobe that I haven't worn since we first met 5 years ago. I gained a lot of weight since then, so I set that in a box saying to myself "maybe someday I will fit into them". I hopelessly told Rory, "Don't bother with those, they haven't fit me in years". He pulls out this beautiful jacket, made of brown woven cloth. It was actually what I wore the very first day we met. I picked it out because I knew I was meeting him and I wanted to look nice. He always loved it on me. I told him I tried that jacket on last year, and I couldn't even zip it closed. Rory, never the one to give up hope, begged me to try it on. I begrudgingly got off my butt and put it around my shoulders, slipped my arms in ("gee, this is kinda roomy") and to my astonishment, I was not only able to zip it up, but there were quite a few inches between me and the fabric. It looked great!

For the next hour or so, we tried on everything in that box, and everything fit wonderfully. In fact, we tried on some of my winter stuff that did fit me last year, and it seems that they are much too big. I guess my weight loss is showing after all, and now I have a whole new wardrobe! Thank you Rory! Thank you raw food! And thank you ME for sticking to my raw food diet!

More weight loss and enzymes

This week I have been craving so much fruit! We bought in season fruit, so we have a lot of grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, and of course we had to buy bananas. I am in my glory. By this time next week, I will probably have sores on the sides of my mouth from all of the citrus, but it's worth it. I did lose more weight, but nothing to throw a party over. The scale this morning said 265.6. Better down than up! It moves so slow for me, but in a way I am glad for it. Dr. Doug Graham says that it is best to lose only 1 lb a week, otherwise you will be hungry. Plus, I fear that if I lose too quickly, I may have too much excess skin.

The last thing that I wanted to mention was enzymes. I don't have much to say about them, but my husband wrote a really interesting and well written post about enzymes. He really breaks the science down into something that seems so easy to understand that I wish I had him for a science professor in college! I really hope that you check it out, here is the link Rawdawg Rory - Gotta Love Enzymes.



There is currently a tornado warning here in PA, and the weather doesn't look too good. I took 4 pics of the weather 15 seconds apart. Crazy!


I am going to sign off here. Thanks for cheering me on!

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.