Monday, January 31, 2011

February 28 Day Raw Cleanse

I have signed myself up for something that has me a bit uneasy.  Not because it's something I don't want to do, but because I'm afraid it will be something I fail at.  It's a 28 day cleanse at the Raw Food Rehab mansion.  I have a game plan and I'm thinking if I write down what I plan on eating beforehand it would help keep me honest.  If my food plan is already written I know what needs to be prepared ahead of time and there is less chance for failure.  I am planning on making kale chips to have around.

Update:  Right now I am literally snow/iced in.  I tried to get out to the store for some cucumbers and celery but couldn't get out of the neighborhood.  It's a good thing I already stocked up and have enough to get me through until the roads are safe.

Here are my weekly, month, and long-term goals:

week 1:  mainly green juice with salad lunches
week 2:  mainly green smoothies with salad lunches
weeks 3 & 4:  remain juicy but start adding more salads to my day

month goal:  remove coffee as my morning pick-me-up
                     add exercise to my week, at least three times a week
                     remain 100% raw and juicy for the 28 days

Here is the plan for day one:  green juice, as much as I can afford to make.  I will be able to do carrot juices and I'll throw in green juice to keep my energy up.  During the afternoon, when the munchies attack, I will eat my salad, then more green juice/smoothie in the evening.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011
morning
green juice: collards, pea vine tips, parsley, juice of 1 lemon, 4 <old> apples
hot decaf herbal tea

lunch
green juice: same as morning juice
raw Brussels sprouts salad
hot decaf herbal tea

snack
green smoothie:  Romaine lettuce, 1 banana, 1 cup fresh pineapple
orange

dinner
green smoothie: same as snack
hot decaf herbal tea

Monday, January 24, 2011

Attitude is a Choice

This is just one of those computer forwards, but I really got the message.  Our attitude is a choice.  My reaction to an event or person is a choice... my choice.  Here is the forward.  I hope it clicks with you like it did with me.

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it!'

'You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or...you can choose to be in a bad mood

I choose to be in a good mood.'

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or...I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.

'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins...Wanna see my scars?'

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked.

He continued, '...the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity''

Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude...I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Score at the Store - #3


I had another great trip to m favorite Asian market.  The fresh produce there is like nothing I will find at Whole Foods or any other specialty market plus the prices RAWk!  Here is a shot of my score:  On the left
is a 1 lb pkg of jalapeno peppers, large top radish, Enoki mushrooms (these look like thin straws with a little ball on the tip), King Oyster mushrooms, fresh okra, pea vine tips, and four oriental eggplant.  For the King Oyster mushrooms I have some nut cheez ferementing and I plan on stuffing them and then dehydrating to warm them a bit.  I'm not sure if marinating the mushrooms would work for this, but I may do that just to add some extra flavor.
The okra is for an okra tomatoe salad I found in The Kitchen at the RFR.  It sounded so good when I found it a couple months ago but okra season was passed.  Now I can make it!  Mmmm!  The eggplant will be thinly sliced and sprinkled with some spices then dehydrated.  These make great chips.

Now these are interesting!  They are a large bottomed radish.  I have not eaten one yet.  I may just slice them up to taste them before adding them to any recipe.  See what I mean about "specialty"?!  I just love visiting this market because you never know what produce they will have.  If you have an asian market I urge you to check them out.  You will be hooked!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Not Feeling Well

This weekend I have felt very run down and unbelievably tired.  I haven't felt this tired in such a long time, over six months.  But I know what has caused this... SAD food in my diet.  I allowed myself to eat foods that I knew were going to make me feel tired and sure enough  I am tired.  On top of the fatigue I am sick.  This is a physical sick not any kind of detox.  I woke up with my throat feeling coated and thick and it took forever to get it cleared out.  I haven't made the best food choices either, but it's what sounded good.

 * thick Panera bread with almond butter and raw honey (I did use real butter under it all.)
 * 1/2 a small chicken enchilada (about 3" piece)

I finally decided my body needed a green smoothie.  Since my collards have been on the spicy side lately I chose to add Spirulina instead.  I hope that will take the place of fresh greens.

* Green Smoothie:  3 tsp Spirulina; 1/2 honeydew melon; 3 clemantines; 1/2 lemon, outer peeling
    removed; 1 persimmon

See how green the Spirulina makes the smoothie!

Am I making the best food choices right now?  Maybe not in the grand scheme of things but for now, feeling a bit crummy, I needed my "sick" foods.  No guilt because I hopped right back up and added a green smoothie to finish out my day.  Just what the doctor ordered!  I hope you all have a great week!  Have a green smoothie kind of day!!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Taffy Doesn't Make a Meal


I think the title of this post says it all.  For some reason I wasn't feeling up to snuff.  I don't know what was going on.  I wasn't sick even though three in my house had an ugly stomach virus.  But my meal/snacks yesterday was Salt Water Taffy, coffee during the day and veg. stir-fry with a red rice for dinner.  By 8pm I had serious heartburn!  Miserable.  Tired.  Yucky.  Those describe my evening.  

Please don't ask me why I chose such unhealthy foods.  I can't tell you why.  Maybe it was because I had cabin fever (lots of snow and I'm a bit of a coward when it comes to driving in it).  It could have been boredom.  Unfortunately I learned to eat when bored as a child and that is a hard habit to break.  There are plenty of raw vegetables to make salads and smoothies but I chose not to eat that.  I paid for it though!  Today I am nursing my tummy with a green smoothie.

Just a note for all you folks:  Taffy does not make a meal!  Trust me!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Dealing with Emotional Eating

Right now I am dealing with some emotional eating issues.  I figured at some point on my raw journey I would deal with emotional eating so I am not surprised that I'm not dealing with it as well as I would want.  Too much candy, coffee and toast today and now I have heartburn.  Ugh!  After writing this blog I plan on blending up a nice green smoothie.   I know that will definitely put the cool-down on the discomfort.

Now I just have to deal with the cause of the stress that causes me go into "Mindless Eating Mode". Easier said than done as we emotional eaters know.  It still is frustrating to realize that I don't really have a handle on emotional eating and my not ever.  This just may be something I'll deal with all my life.  Maybe it will get easier to make better eating choices or even the choice not to eat at all when I am stressed.  Who knows.  I have always said this is a journey and there is a lot to see while on it.  I'll get there but the fun is in the adventures of the ride!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Starting the new year right!

CHEERS!

What a great way to begin 2011... with a glass of delicious green smoothie.  I will list the ingredients below in case you want to join me in a toast.   I have really been rawkin' it out this week in the new Raw Food Rehab initiative called Resolve 2 Evolve.  This time I decided to set a weight goal for myself, 20 lbs in 11 weeks.  

It has been interesting to see what happens when food no longer becomes the main focus in the day.  I have learned so many things about myself in the past six months.  Not all of it has been pleasant.  I had to admit to myself that I stuffed emotions down with food instead of dealing with the circumstances.  But using raw foods, while better health choices, is still using food as a ramming rod.  
So the first initiative I participated in at The RFR Mansion, Rawk Star Initiative I dealt with dealing with my emotions.

During the next initiative at The Mansion, Falling Into Raw, I put what I had learned in the Rawk Star Initiative into practice.  I had to apologize to my husband at one point because I became quite snarky during all of this.  Food was what I used to not deal with emotions.  And it was during Falling Into Raw that being 95% became easier.  Not second nature, but easier and more natural.  I will say that being at home makes it harder to stay raw.  The food in the house for the rest of the family sometimes call to me.  Some days i will make the choice to eat some and other days I can pass it up.  The second initiative, Falling Into Raw, I put into action what I learned the in Rawk Star.

The next initiative at RFR is Resolve 2 Evolve.  During the next six weeks I will be adding movement/exercise to my days.  This is hard for me because I really don't enjoy exercise.  Hopefully I can learn to like it through fun movements.  A Bollywood exercise video is on its way to me and I will be looking into belly dance lessons.  

If you have a chance please check out Raw Food Rehab.  The love, acceptance and support is fantastic.  We are all on a journey and some of us want to be healthy as we travel.  At RFR we are all at different points of interest on our journeys.  We help each other and the recipes!   Never ending, let me tell you!  If you even think you want to learn more about raw food, visit The Mansion at RFR!  You won't regret it!


Ingredients for the GREEN SMOOTHIE pictured above.
2 large handfuls raw spinach
1/4 to 1/3 honeydew melon, seeds removed
3 to 4 Persian cucumbers*
1/2-inch nubbin fresh ginger
Enough water to make it blend-able*


Blend all ingredients until smooth.  If using a VitaMix add ice or freeze the fruit so your smoothie doesn't get warm.  
*Use 1/2 a regular cucumber, peeled
*Add water until it reaches the consistency you like.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Raw Cream of Mushroom Soup

HAPPY 2011!  The new year has started out in it's typical fashion for the Midwest:  cold and blustery.  The best way to ward off a cold winter night is with warm raw soup!  Warm raw soup you ask?  Yes!  It is possible!  This recipe is from the Gone Raw blog.

I think I would like to add some soaked cashews to the sunflower seeds.  Cashews seems to make a creamier cream.  I ended up adding more sunflower seeds to the two cups of water to make a thick soup.  But all in all this was wonderful!  I have four different types of mushrooms so I will try each one.

The Oyster mushrooms have a sweeter flavor than other mushrooms.  Each mushroom has it's own distinct characteristics and flavors and so each soup would be a new taste adventure!  As my mom would say, '"This recipe is a keeper!"'
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