Taking a Break from Raw

I thought a lot more about it last night and made a decision. I'm going to take a break and start fresh Sep. 1st. I will continue drinking my quart of green smoothie each day plus eating some raw meals during this time. Another big factor that's making this difficult is having such a very very low amount of money for groceries each week. I am a person who enjoys having a lot of variety in my meals and I can only afford a small amount of raw food each week, thereby making it where I have to eat the same foods again and again. Not that I think that situation will be any better by Sep. 1st, but at least I will have had a break from those foods. Right now my plan is to go 100% raw again on the 1st and see how long I can stay 100% raw and then high raw after that. Who knows... maybe it'll be what I do the first half of each month. That would still be WAY healthier than how I had been eating! See you all in a couple of weeks! Thanks for everyone who has encouraged and supported me along the way.

Day 14

My husband and I fasted today as we prayed over a certain situation today. I did a liquid only fast. I had 2 glasses of milk and a quart of green smoothie today.
I haven't decided yet what to do about the raw eating. My fear is that I won't stick with the 2 raw meals a day. I'll keep praying about it. Thank you for your encouragement!

This week: Gained .6lb
Total weight loss so far: 3lb

Day 13

I am really really struggling. I've lost my desire to eat raw foods and am trying to keep going just on sheer will power. Right now, eating all but one meal raw seems to be working best. I want so much to succeed at this. Yesterday for dinner I had spaghetti casserole (not raw).
Today:
Breakfast: 1 quart green smoothie (mint leaves from my garden, mixed fruit)
Lunch: egg salad sandwich (not raw)
Dinner: yogurt
I really don't know what to do. I have considered backing up my amount of raw and then gently easing into a higher raw diet, so that I don't do a quick crash and burn. On the other hand, maybe what I need is just to push through this phase going 100% raw and then I'll overcome these huge cravings. I think it would be a lot easier if I wasn't cooking yummy looking foods for my family every day. Any thoughts?

Day 12

Hello! Sorry for skipping two days. We decided to go on a mini-vacation this weekend. It was inspired by us needing to shock the well. We went from the Chinese restaurant (DELICIOUS) to a hotel about an hour and a half from here. I was not raw on Saturday. We had a wonderful time together as a family, though. We picked up 6 gallons of raw honey for the year from a bee farm and got to enjoy a wonderful tour while there. That was so fun and educational! Our final stop on the way home was the dairy that we get our raw milk, butter, and cream from. I'm so thankful for having wonderful resources like those where we can get these wonderful real foods from! I did have my quart of green smoothie on Saturday, but neglected to have it yesterday.

Yesterday I had:
Breakfast: Banana Oatmeal Porridge
Lunch: Strawberry Yogurt
Dinner: Tacos (not raw)

Today:
Breakfast: Quart of green smoothie
Lunch: Banana Oatmeal Porridge
Dinner: I haven't decided. I'll let you know tomorrow what I picked. ;-)

Day 9

Breakfast: Banana oat porridge
Lunch: Green smoothie (mixed greens, mixed berries, bananas)
Dinner: We're getting ready to head out to the Chinese buffet. :-D

Day 8

My goal is still to eat as close to 100% raw as I can, but I'm definitely in a bit of a slip right now. In fact, we're planning on going out as a family to our favorite Chinese buffet tomorrow. We hardly ever get to go to a restaurant, so this is a special treat. Yes, I could just eat the fresh melon that's always there. I'm not, though. lol

Breakfast: Oatmeal porridge (soaked steel cut oats, milk, butter, dates, bananas)
Lunch: Quart of green smoothie
Snack: Handful of pistachios
Dinner: pizza and popcorn (neither was raw)

So, I was all raw until dinner. I'm not going to beat myself up over this. I'm still doing really really well. I feel really good, too.

I am frustrated that my chick peas never did sprout. This morning I checked on them eagerly, hoping to see cute little tails, but instead I discovered that some had turned pink and they smelled awful! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! I tossed those out.

Day 7

I ended up coming down with an awful migraine yesterday. I think I just totally overheated. The weather here has been awful. As a result, I totally missed dinner last night. I also didn't get the chance to get my "Chinese" dinner going, so couldn't have that tonight.

Today I woke up feeling both like I had a hangover due to the migraine AND feeling like I was starving. I was actually shaking a little. I decided to go with a cooked breakfast.

Breakfast: one bowl cream of wheat
Lunch: 1 quart of green smoothie
Snack: couple handfuls of cashews
Dinner: taco salad (greens, chips, corn, salsa) with big glass of milk
Dessert: chocolate cookie

I've decided I'm just going to weigh myself and post my weight weekly. Since this is the end of week one, I went ahead and did it today. I lost 2lb, which I 'm sure is in part because I missed dinner last night. So

Total weight loss: 3.6lb

Day 6

I am excited that I am starting a new record now. Previously, the longest I'd ever stayed 100% raw was 5 days. I feel really good today, except for the miserable heat!!! It's a great time to be cooking less!

Today:
Breakfast: 1 quart of green smoothie (mixed greens, banana, strawberry)
Lunch: milk (was feeling a bit nauseaus from so much green smoothie this morning)
Snack: 2 bananas with almond butter
Dinner: yogurt or kefir with fresh strawberries

I'm continuing to sprout the chickpeas, although so far they show no sign of sprouting. Hope they work! I am going to get some vegetables from the garden marinating and make some "chicken" nuggets in the dehydrator plus some sweet and sour sauce for a yummy Chinese style meal tomorrow night.

My weight went back up .6lb today. I'm hoping for another drop tomorrow. Maybe I should just weigh myself weekly. I don't know.

Total loss: 1.6lb

Day 5

I'm feeling great today! I've started a 30 day Green Smoothie Cleanse Challenge where I need to drink a quart of green smoothie a day.

Breakfast: Green smoothie
Lunch: Cocoa crispies cereal in milk (oh that was GOOD!)
Snack: Green smoothie
Dinner: Taco Salad (greens, corn, salsa)
Snack: Milk

My kefir is now in my fridge. I am working on sprouting chick peas now.

My weight stayed the same.

Total loss: 2.2lb

Day 4

My headache is gone. Oh that is such a wonderful feeling! My tongue keeps getting this yucky tasting coating on it, though. I know that's toxins coming out. I'm thankful for my toothbrush.

Yesterday I ate what I posted, except that I switched the zucchini apple sauce at dinner time to a little of the banana oatmeal porridge.

Today:

Breakfast: Buckwheat porridge (blueberry, banana)
Lunch: Green peppers cut in half, filled with the Mexican Veggie Nut Stuffer, topped with raw cheddar cheese, and currently warming in my dehydrator
Snack: Chocolate Cookies, Milk
Dinner: Taco Salad

I've currently got Kefir going on my counter, thanks to a friend who blessed me with some kefir grains yesterday and I have cocoa crisp cereal (soaked buckwheat, honey, cacoa) dehydrating for tomorrow's breakfast.

This morning I had dropped 1.4lb from yesterday. I wonder if it will continue averaging out about a half pound a day. That would be great!

Total loss: 2.2lb

By the way, be sure and check the comments section. I'm trying to reply to questions there as they are asked. Feel free to ask me any questions and let me know if anyone is interested in a recipe.

Day 3

Yesterday I ate what I thought I was going to, except I didn't have the apples with almond butter.

Today I've had and am planning on having:

Pre-breakfast: Milk
Breakfast: 2 bananas
Lunch: Taco Salad
Snack: Well, I was trying to fix chocolate cookies (sprouted buckwheat, dates, pecans, cacao powder) to put in the dehydrator for tomorrow, but my 20mo old and I ended up eating at least a quarter of the batter just standing there in the kitchen. lol Guess I'll count cookie batter as my snack. ;-)
Dinner: Zucchini Apple Sauce and Yogurt (made the yogurt from raw milk overnight in my dehydrator at 95 degrees)

While still struggling with exhaustion, my headache has greatly improved. I am already starting to feel more alive. That's something difficult to explain unless you've tried going on a raw food diet.

This morning when I weighed myself, I was up .8 lb. I reminded myself that people's weight fluctuates. I was pleased to notice that I can already see my back smoothing out (where the fat is right around the middle).

Total loss: .8lb

Day 2

Yesterday I had:
Breakfast: Green smoothie (spinach, strawberry, banana)
Lunch: Buckwheat porridge (strawberry, banana)
Snack: Raw milk
Dinner: Oat porridge (banana)

Last night we had the chance to get to a grocery store and buy a few more items, which will allow me more variety in my diet. I also have a big batch of uncorn chips going in my dehydrator that I put together yesterday. Today's plan is:
Pre-breakfast: Green smoothie (spinach, mixed fruit)
Breakfast: Oat porridge (banana)
Lunch: Apple Zucchini Sauce, Apple with Almond Butter
Snack: Raw milk
Dinner: Taco Salad (uncorn chips, salsa, Mexican veggie nut stuffer, bunch of mixed greens)

I lost 1.6lb on Day 1 and am excited about that great start! I have a horrible headache today, which I know means that my body is detoxing. I'm sure a huge part of that is caffeine withdrawl. I was starting each day off with 2 cups of black tea.

Day 1

I am starting my Raw journey today. Last night I lay in bed thinking about the various health problems I have and how crazy it is that I know the answer (eating raw) but have been going back and forth for so long deciding if I want to do it! I finally decided that YES I want to do it. Today I struggle with:
1) Being very overweight (need to lose 80 lb)
2) Psoriasis
3) Lack of energy
4) Constant back pain
5) Problems with my cycles
Today is a fresh start to a whole new way of life for me! I'm going to record this journey here.