Monday, Monday...

Hey everybody!

Quite a busy day today -- this marks the 14th day off of caffeine, refined sugar, wheat, dairy, and processed chemicals, and I spent a good portion of it working on some homemade foods that I can eat that are completely raw.

Raw is an interesting definition for those of you that are unfamiliar. It is defined as food that is as close to its natural state as humanly possible. It can be heated up to approximately 120 degrees, but no further as at the 120 degree mark the enzymes within the food begin to break down from the heat. The goal of a raw diet is to monopolize on those enzymes to increase your bodies ability to digest and use the food -- rather that produce large amounts of waste.

It's not a cheap way to eat as organic vegetables and raw nuts are expensive, but I'm finding that it can be done, and can be delicious. If you take a look at my lunch today in the picture above, raw can also be versatile. What you're looking at is what's called a Gorilla Sandwich. The name is actually trademarked. Seriously. So it is a hollowed out cucumber that you cram the fillings into. Its supposed to be one whole piece so you can carry and transport it easily, but I modified it slightly. Inside the cucumber sandwich is some delicious stuff!! There is avocado, tomato, kale, lettuce, sprouts, olives (not raw.. I know. Slap my hand), sunflower seeds and some Jalepeno Jack Almond Cheese. The salad to the side is just made up of the leftovers from the sandwich, and the chips at the bottom are the honey mustard raw potato chips I made in the dehydrator yesterday. (Desmond LOVES them... he nearly ate half my jar of them today.)

I'm keeping track of my calorie intake with a program called Vida Diet and Health, its got a calorie counter, workout trackers, and a bunch of other stuff to help track weight loss and goals. My meals today: Coconut Yogurt with 2 Bananas, mid-morning snack of almonds and some chips, the lunch pictured above, and dinner tonight (1/4 of a Canteloupe) followed up by a homemade Chocolate Coconut Chew (Totally Raw Ingredients) -- totalled 2019 calories. I was STUFFED today. Breakfast was substantial, Lunch was HUGE, dinner was a little light because I had it after I came back from the gym tonight at like 8:00, but I never once felt hungry -- and my food program is telling me to consume 1440 some additional calories. Um No. I'm good. :)

P.S. Homemade Larabars are INCREDIBLE. The recipe found here is perfect as is, tastes identical to the Chocolate Coconut Chew Larabar that Shannon likes so much. It made 10 of them. The nuts are soaked and ready to make the mock tuna salad, the sunflowers are ready to go for refried beans, and with a little pico de gallo, and a lettuce wrap, I've got vegetarian burritos. :)

I'm having a lot of fun with all of this -- and feeling great.

Cheers!

Hooray for Food!

With the juice fast behind me, now I have a chance to look forward to some awesome natural foods and some different methods of preparing those foods than I have been used to.

Using the website I posted in yesterdays blog, I've started several of their recipes and am in the middle of a few projects... but let's back up to today's foods.

This morning, I woke up and had my last mug of potassium broth. It won't be necessary now that I'm taking in solid foods again. I had a bowl of non-dairy coconut yogurt, with fresh blueberries and organic banana. YUM! The coconut yogurt is not very sweet, in fact, EXTREMELY tart, so I added a bit of honey to it to take the edge off.

For lunch, I made a vegetable juice of 2 apples, 1 English Cucumber, 3 Celery Stalks, 2-3 Kale leaves, and 2 Carrots. Pretty good stuff, so far my favorite vegetable juice recipe.

I finished the juice up about 2:30, and went a while without eating. I finished off the day with a nice big salad of fresh lettuce greens, kale leaves, onions, tomatoes, avocado, and sprouts in a vinagrette dressing. SO GOOD!

I picked up all the stuff I needed tonight for homemade larabars, which I plan on doing tomorrow. I made potato chips today -- they're rad. A bit on the salty side (oops) but overall, pretty tasty. Very different texture than standard potato chips. Made them in the dehydrator.

I've got some mexican spicy almonds dehydrating on the dehydrator now for little snackies too. If I could find some good raw soy sauce that didn't cost and arm and a leg, I would do a soy/wasabi almond. They're my favorite flavored almond.

Other than that, I'm in the process of also making some "Sunflower Refried Beans", "Onion Dip", and "No-Bean Hummus". I'm also planning a dinner, perhaps tomorrow night of Raw burritos. The Sunflower Refried Beans, some almond cheese, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, raw guacamole, cilantro all wrapped in big lettuce leaves.

Intrigued and excited about the possibilities as the week goes on. Shannon has become a guinea pig, ("Hey Honey!! Try this!") she is less than enthused. :)

Who knew?

Who knew a banana could taste so good!! Today marked my first day off of the 'juice fast' and as a result I began adding things into my daily schedule that I've missed. One of those things....

Chewing.

I know it sounds silly, but its really kind of cool to just sit and chew your food enjoying each of the wonderful tastes within. lol

I woke up this morning, had my normal cup of Potassium broth, drank some water, and made my first juice of the day. I call it Pop. It's Pineapple, Orange, and Plum. Super tasty, great way to start the day.

Then I had my banana. The best tasting banana ever. No really. Ever.

I made a sub-par V8 for my afternoon juice today, finishing it once we got home from services. Following that I ate some organic red seedless grapes, and later on some fresh blueberries. I also had a chance to go shopping this evening after Sabbath to pick some stuff up to start putting together for next week.

I'm going to make some Almond Cheese, some Flax Seed Crackers, some Raw Salsa, and something called "Crab Delite" which is supposed to mimic a crab/tuna salad, but apparently is pretty good with no crab whatsoever wrapped in lettuce leaves. I also picked up a couple of cucumbers to try out the 'Gorilla Sandwich". I've got plenty of greens for salads, but looking for a decent dressing recipe.

I got hungry while I was shopping this evening and broke down and bought a Larabar. Two things I noticed.

1) They are WICKED good.
2) They are definitely a treat, not a staple. With that said, I think I should probably find a good recipe and make my own, otherwise, a guy might go broke. lol

I think I'll start out tomorrow with a juice, then some Coconut Yogurt with blueberries and banana. For lunch I think a salad sounds awesome with plenty of fresh vegetables. For dinner... hmmm... have to look around and see what I can find. Found a great website with lots and lots of raw recipes here

I'll keep you posted on the adventure.

10

That's that. For the last 11 days, I have taken in no solid food, No refined sugars, wheat or dairy products, No High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sodium Benzoate, or any other junk that goes in most processed foods, and I feel pretty good!

It hasn't been easy, but it also hasn't been the hardest thing I've ever done. I never felt undernourished, 90% of the time I had incredible energy, my skin feels pretty good, and I know this sounds weird, but my teeth feel good. lol

I have detoxed quite a bit in the last 10 days on "Da Juice", I have lost a fair amount of weight -- weighed in tonight at 304 down from 325 a few weeks before I did the juice fast. The juice portion of things doesn't go away now that the 10 days is up, quite the contrary. For the next 3 day, I come off of the fast. My body has had no solid food whatsoever for the past 11 days, so its important to slowly reintroduce things, tomorrow I will be having some mashed up banana in addition to my morning juice. I made some raw organic coconut yogurt, and will be having some of that with some blueberries as well, as I slow myself back into things. Mushy food for the first day and a half or so, then slowly start adding in some roughage.

Thank you for your kind words and support -- it has been greatly appreciated, and has helped a lot! Truly, from the bottom of my heart, Thank You. Now comes the most difficult part for me in this whole thing -- free choice and options. For those of you in the church, this is the best analogy I can make. My body as just spent 10 days at the nutritional Feast of Tabernacles, but its time to be done and go back into the world. The choices that I make from here out will really dictate the success of this whole endeavor.

Following the 3 days, will be a 100% raw food diet for 8 days, then no more 'dieting' so to speak, just smart lifestyle and food choices. a.k.a. The REAL FOOD Diet. Keep checking back in as the journey continues.

Happy Sabbath to you all, may it be resting and rejuvenating, but most of all spiritually rewarding.

Ben

Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants.

Its hard to believe that I've been at this now for 9 days, and that I haven't had solid food in 10. I never would have imagined I could have even made it half this time before I started, and it feels to me like I could go on for quite some time more if I felt like it. However, I think the detoxification is mostly done. Tomorrow marks the last day of the juice fast, and I will start coming off of the fast over the following 3 days, slowly adding more and more solid foods into my diet until I reach a 100% raw diet for the next 8.

I've been perusing some blogs/websites/online resources looking for raw recipes, and have found a couple of very good ones.

http://rawon10.blogspot.com/
http://www.fromsadtoraw.com/RawRecipes.htm
http://www.goneraw.com
http://www.giveittomeraw.com

As you know if you've been reading subsequent blog posts, the type of diet that I want to be partaking in when I'm done has gone back and forth several times. I'm still not sure. My primary focus in all of this was to begin eating healthier -- becoming more cognizant of what I take into my body in both amount and content. I want to ensure that the food I am eating is nutritious, healthy, and full of solid beneficial calories, not empty and wasteful calories.

That's what lead me to the 'Raw' diet and lifestyle. I love that the food is uncooked so all the beneficial enzymes are present in it. I love that there is a focus on raw organic fruits and vegetables. What I don't like about it is the cost and the lack of availability during the winter months. I also have absolutely no desire to become vegan -- I like meat. I hunt, I fish, and not just for the outdoor experience. There is nothing better than sitting down with your family and partaking in a Elk Roast, or a Salmon Fillet that you killed, butchered, and cooked. It's a satisfying feeling -- and one I'm not particularly willing to give up.

So I thought, I'll go 3/4 raw or 50% Raw, that way I can still partake in meat or dairy (in moderation) if I feel like it, and just make sure that the fruits and vegetables that I take in are raw.

Then I got to thinking... really, what I'm philosophizing over here is semantics. There is a quote by Michael Pollan on the cover of his book, In Defense of Food that sums up my maintenance diet strategy succinctly.

"Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants."

That's it. The wonderful beauty of simplicity. As I thought about it, that summed up my entire viewpoint on the matter. Really, my concept of a 'raw' food diet, was more a concept of a 'real food' diet.

The things we should stuff in our craw should be REAL food, not the 'edible food like substances' pimped in the aisles of our grocery stores. REAL FOOD! We should avoid the food that have been processed, artificially dyed, mixed with 30 different chemicals that hardly anyone knows what they are. We should be looking at it from a standpoint of family farm food. Fresh raw fruits and vegetables, farm fresh eggs from your own chickens, grass fed meats and wild game.

In addition, we should control the portions of the real food that we do eat. There's no sense sitting down at a meal and downing a 32 ounce Prime Rib. No that's not a typo, I've done it. 32 ounces in a single sitting. WITH the mashed potatoes, vegetables and roll. It was uncomfortable, but achieved. Seriously? That should have been 4-8 different meals. Portion control...

Lastly, what we eat should be mostly plants. What I thought I was talking about with my 'raw' food diet, actually was more of a mostly vegetarian diet -- increasing my intake of fruits and vegetables, most of which should be raw organic fruits and vegetables purchased from local farms or grown myself. Meat should not be the centerpiece of a meal. It should be used in moderation and as a compliment to the remainder of the meal.

We have become so reliant in the United States on CAFO's, Monoculture, GMO's, and the like -- we've failed to realize what we're even putting in our faces anymore. It's not food. It's engineered, made in a lab. It's got to stop. The sad part, is that its priced affordable for folks to eat. It's encouraged on Oregon Trail and food stamps, in fact the Organic Produce is priced so much higher than other comparable, yet pesticide laced fruits and vegetables, that many skip right over it. Why? Because the agricultural companies would go bankrupt and go under if everyone started buying from local family farms. Then those large agricultural corporations couldn't support political candidates that keep their farms alive by making laws that support them. It's time to go back to the basics folks. THAT'S what I want to do when this 21 day RAW experience is over. Get back to basics.

Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants. Rant over. Out.

What a Difference a Day Makes...

Much better day today than yesterday. Sleep is an amazing thing. My mood was good with the occasional irritability, but I attribute that to being home with my children, not this diet. LOL!

I went through the second day of inserting workouts into the juice fast template. I waited the first week, to kind of see how things went -- make sure the energy was there to get it all done with when this week started having had plenty of energy the week before, I went into the YMCA and started doing the MobileFit program.

It's a slick program, I'll give you a quick run-down -- the program starts you out based on your weight, weight loss goals, and motivation levels and sets up an individualized workout plan for you. You download your daily workouts, actually do them, and then when you're finished, you supply feedback. Based on your feedback, the system adjusts your workouts accordingly. It even has a meal tracking program that goes with it, but that costs extra. I'm using one on my computer called VidaOne. In that program, in addition to MobileFit, I can keep track of my calorie bank, and workouts.

Part of this journey has been to become more organized, and more deliberate about my meals and exercise routines. I've always been a shoot from the hip kind of guy, and I approach my food and my workouts in much the same way. Looking for something to eat? What's in the cupboard.... hmm.. nothing quick and easy (didn't plan accordingly and I'm out of time) so pop down to the market and get some Swedish Fish. Yup, that sounds like a solution to me. Workouts were much the same way, I think I'll do a little of this... a little of that. Maybe do some running, maybe lift some weights. MobileFit helps me to become a lot more deliberate and certain that my workouts are getting the job done.

I wondered whether I would have the kind of energy for a pretty demanding workout on top of my daily routine just on juice, and I've got to tell you, except for yesterday, lack of energy has not been a problem. Quite the contrary, there have been times where I've had nervous energy, and can't hardly sit still. Fat is a solid fuel, and when your body starts burning that, in addition to not using your digestive system, you have a large surplus of energy.

That energy is coming from the raw juices I've been taking in for the last 8 days, hard to believe its been that long. I've finally settled into a nice pattern and found some recipes that I like. Today's juices were mainstays that I have done before.

Juice 1: Apples, Carrots, Celery, Plums
Juice 2: Sorta V8

In addition to looking at juices, I've started looking forward -- in 2 days, the 'juice' portion of the cycle is over, and I start to seque from nothing but juices into a 100% raw diet until the 21 days are up. As I've been reading into the raw food lifestyle more and more, I find parts that I like, and I find parts that I don't like. I find the raw lifestyle very limiting (which isn't always a bad thing) but I think the principles of raw food, taken with the freedom of choice (with health in mind) is probably a smarter and more sustainable viewpoint for me. The stricter the diet is, the more difficult it has been for me to keep in the past. I know myself, if this starts getting really difficult to maintain, that increases the chances that I won't keep going. I've been there too many times in the past to expect a difference now. With that said, I have 8 days of eating 100% raw, I might find that using Rayetta's resources and with enough motivation, it might be easier than I think. You never know until you try. I keep on reading and printing off recipes to try.

I tried one out on Shannon today, I made some Cantaloupe Salsa. Pretty easy, except my cilantro went bad and I had to throw it out.(boo!) It's super easy, nice and cold and fresh for a hot summer day, full of nutrition (Cantaloupe is one of the most nutritious fruits you can eat) and according to Shannon -- pretty good! Aiden was eating it with a spoon. lol

Cantaloupe Salsa
1/2 Canteloupe finely diced
3/4 cup Red Pepper finely diced
1/2 cup Onion finely diced.
1 cup Cilantro (Adjust according to your like of cilantro. I LOVE IT! so I use lots.
Juice from 1 lime (I used like 8 key limes)

Mix it all up and serve. This made a normal sized kitchen bowl worth. Double it if feeding more than a couple. I just lived vicariously through them and drank my V-8.

Tomorrow, more reading about Raw foods, scouring for recipes and things I would like -- no workout -- and look forward to getting some things done around the house.

Exhaustion...

I. am. Beat.

I don't know if the exhaustion has anything to do with the fasting so much as it has to do with very litle sleep last night, but this blog post is the only thing standing between me and my bed, so this one is going to be quite a bit shorter.

I had an interesting day from the standpoint of moods: I was in a bad one most of the day -- tired, irritable, I just kind of wanted to disappear for some me-time for a while. The kids were driving me nuts, they were both tired as well. Just a bad combination.

Morning -- Melon Delight -- 1 Cantaloupe, 3-4 handfuls of Red Grapes, 3 celery stalks. YUM!
Afternoon -- Vegetable -- Handful of Kale Leaves, Handful of Collard Greens, 3 celery stalks, 1 cucumber, 2 Apples, 1 carrot. Pretty good for vegetable juice. :)

While we were out and about today, we discovered a pretty cool raw food called Larabars. I've been testing them out on Shannon so she can decide if they're any good or not. Something to keep around as treats once we're able to do food again. They're a little pricey, but if you pick them up online, they're a bit cheaper. Might be worth looking into. Shannon really likes the Chocolate Coconut and Key Lime.

I'm off to bed, and hoping for a better attitude tomorrow.