Raw for 30

S

swayzepetsitting

Cathlete
Hello! I really pigged out last time on Halloween candy and pizza so I am ready to get started! My plan for this month:

1. Lots of fruit (15-18 pieces/cups a day)
2. 1 lb of greens a day
3. Steamed veggies 3X a week, or not
4. Fats like nuts, seeds, avocado, etc. limited (180 calories a day)

That means no meat, dairy, cheese, sweets, etc. I also won't be going to any restaurants, which will be hard. Your up, Dee!:D
 
Hi Swayze!

I checked out your blog...very motivating! I was also tempted to go crazy in honor of Halloween/pre-raw experiment! But I was too tired to go shopping for any delicious junk food, so I ended up being appallingly goody-goody and eating a lovely salad and a little smoothie for dinner. I guess I missed my chance until next month...no raw cuisine restaurants in Maryland, unfortunately. There's a really good one back home in Austin, Texas that does all vegan, macrobiotic food with a raw foods buffet. *Sigh*

So, my meals for today (I eat a lot, because I ride my bike everywhere and am therefore constantly hungry):

Breakfast:
A delightful raw smoothie, containing frozen blueberries and strawberries, spinach, raw ginger, dulse (a nutrient-rich sea vegetable), raw agave nectar, 10 almonds,and raw almond milk that I made the other day. It might sound a little odd, but it was delicious. And very blue.

Snack: An apple

Lunch:
Ginormous salad of mixed baby greens, raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds, almonds, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, and sundry other raw vegetables topped with the raw dressing I learned about here: http://laurensina.com/rawveganrecipeblog/rss.xml (scroll down to the section titled "I Love Salads"). This was a BIG salad. I actually couldn't face the idea of any more salad today after I ate this.

Snack: Clementines!

Dinner:
Steamed broccoli, seaweed & miso soup, raw flax and pumpkin crackers with a raw "cheese" spread from a recipe I found at rawfreedomcommunity.info/

All in all, a lovely mostly raw day. Hope yours went well, too!

Dee
 
I love clementines! I wish I could get some here. I am also looking for persimmons, since they are now in season.

Yesterday was good. No exercise and lots of sleep, so I did not eat too much...

Food:
Breakfast: 2 cups cantaloupe, 3 bananas
Lunch: grapefruit, 2 cups grapes, honeycrisp apple, 3 bananas, decaf tea w/ tsp honey
Dinner: fuji apple, banana, 1/2 cucumber, 5-6 cherry tomatoes, 6.5 oz steamed peas and corn

Today was good, except my blender broke this morning when I tried to make a fruit smoothie! Oh well.

I had a much more active day today, as I started Cathe's Nov. rotation. As a result, I ate quite a bit more food.

Can't wait for tomorrow!

Food Log
Breakfast: 1 orange, 3 bananas
Lunch: honeycrisp apple (I love these things!), 2 cups grapes, banana-strawberry-romaine smoothie, 5 pecans, decaf tea w/ honey
Dinner: Bowl of strawberries and blackberries w/ stevia, honey crisp apple, 3 bananas, salad of romaine lettuce and cherry tomatoes (w/ a little salt and pepper), celery stalk, 3oz steamed corn
 
Third Day, so far so good! Did Cathe's Kickbox and Legs workout this morning and still feeling pretty good. I had some cravings for left-over Halloween candy, but I left it alone. I made sure to eat a lot of yummy fruit, but just wasn't hankerin' for the greens.

Food Log
Breakfast: Big, Beautiful, Red Grapefruit, fuji apple, 3 bananas, 5 almonds (about 40 mins later, of course)
Lunch: honey crisp apple, 2 cups grapes, 3 bananas
Dinner: Big orange, fuji apple, 3 bananas (just wasn't feeling the greens today, but...no tea!)
 
Day 4, another good one. I actually had very intense cravings, but they were for fruit! I ate a lot of oranges because they are soooo good right now!


Food Log
Breakfast: 1 orange, 1 cup strawberries, 1 cup blackberries, 2 bananas
Lunch: 2 oranges, large fuji apple, 2 bananas, honey crisp apple, 1 cup strawberries
Dinner: 2 cups cantaloupe, 1 cup strawberries, 1 cup blackberries, 2 bananas, salad of cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and cabbage, 3.5oz steamed corn
 
Partway through Day 5 and all's well. Well, I had a minor slip at the natural market - I ate a sample of ricemilk chocolate before I even thought about it. I'd be lying if I said I was sorry.

On Sunday I had sprouted oat groats with dried apples and currants, raw almond milk and agave nectar. A nice, cereal-like breakfast. Otherwise, breakfasts have been whole-fruit smoothies .

The clementines were a little disappointing! One of them was so bitter I had to spit it out! Ugh! Happily, most were just a little under-ripe, and perfectly OK.

The honeycrisp apples! How I love them!

Lunch for days 2,3,4 was a giant salad, like the one from Day 1.

I always crave veggies at dinnertime, so I've been doing some raw veg with raw hummus and some steamed broccoli, cauliflower, carrots. I'm trying to figure out a way to have squash raw. Last night I had a little baked acorn squash. Awesome!

I haven't actually worked out, in a gym or with a DVD, in a few days, because work lately has involved day-long hiking up and down hills. I also just replaced my old bike, so I've probably ridden the new one about 150 miles! But I finally got my copy of 4-Day Split, so I'll try to get back into my workouts tomorrow.

Dee
 
ricemilk chocolate...yum!!!!

I made a mistake this evening. I tried some Pace salsa, which I haven't eaten in over a month, with some celery. I could not even taste the salsa. It was so spicy! It just burned my insides! Yuck!

I wish I craved vegetables at dinner. All I want is mashed potatoes, soup, pretty much anything salty.

I have lost about 3 lbs so far. It's probably water weight, but still exciting!

Good luck with your workout tomorrow. I have Boot Camp and Bis and Tris scheduled!

Food Log
Breakfast: Delicious orange, grapefruit, cup of strawberries, cup of blackberries, 2 bananas
Lunch: Orange, fuji apple, 1 cup strawberries, 2 bananas
Dinner: fuji apple, 4 bananas, 1-2 tbsp of DEVIL SALSA and refreshing 3-4 stalks refreshing celery
 
That time of the month and guess what...no cramps! I usually experience very bad ones, so this is truly unexpected. It really made my day!

Food Log
Breakfast: 2 oranges, fuji apple, 2 bananas
Lunch: 2-3 cups grapes w/ seeds (suppossed to be seedless, darn it!), cup strawberries, cup blackberries, 2 bananas
Dinner: 2 oranges, fuji apple, cup steamed corn and peas, 2 bananas
 
Hi Swayze;

For those of you who are just checking in out of curiosity, it is worth noting that Swayze and I are working from two very different approaches to raw food!

Swayze is admirably tackling almost entirely raw, whole fruits and vegetables with an emphasis on food-combining. She (correct me if I'm wrong, Swayze!) eats fruits pretty much exclusively for the first two meals, and the third meal as well if she feels like it. I'd imagine that the simplicity of her plan makes it reasonably easy to follow, and there's little risk of her caloric intake being too high (so she can have extra bananas, if she wants to!).

Previous experience has taught me that for whatever reason, I cannot get away with eating a lot of fruit. I'm 32, so maybe metabolism is a factor here, but I really have to watch carbs, even healthy carbs from fruits! So I'm eating 4 or fewer servings of whole fruits daily. Happily, I simply love vegetables. I also like cooking, and I'm taking this challenge as an opportunity to try new, raw recipes that are a little more complicated than salads or steamed veggies. Not that there's anything wrong with salads and raw veggies.

The point is, while it might seem "extreme" to go on a totally raw, vegan diet, you can tailor it to your specific needs and likes.

So, in addition to my blue powerhouse smoothie breakfast (frozen blueberries, dulse seaweed for the B vitamins, spinach, raw almonds and almond milk, raw agave nectar, and some frozen mango or strawberries), I have a huge salad for lunch with raw pepitas, sunflower seeds, almonds, and a raw dressing made with unprocessed vinegar, olive oil, brazil nuts, sage and basil. Snacks were raw veggies with raw hummus. For dinner I like to try something kinda fancy.

Last night I used my dehydrator to "cook" some cubed pumpkin and made curried pumpkin-apple soup. I also created some raw "cream cheese" spread and had a little of that with raw (prepared in the dehydrator) pumpkin-flaxseed bread. It was fabulous!

I also worked out yesterday - I did the new 4DS Kickbox/Legs & Core- what a great workout! This was my first workout with the new DVD. I thought it was really fun!

Dee
 
Your are correct, Dee. I eat only fruit, between 5-7 servings, for the first two meals and then the last meal is another 5-7 servings of fruit along with some greens and/or veggies. I have been having some trouble incorporating greens in my diet, as I just do not like them.

As far as food combining, I love it! I thought it was really silly until I tested it myself. It made a world of difference in how I felt through out the day and still does. And it's super simple.

I am so jealous of your ability to make smoothies! I miss my 2 24oz of green smoothies! I really need to get a new blender. I would love the Vita-Mix, but it is too expensive.

I finally found persimmons!!! They are super expensive, but supposedly very delicious.

I ate well, except for some starbursts (left over halloween candy, of course)!

Anyway, one week down, hooray!

Food Log
Breakfast: 2 oranges, 2 cups grapes, 2 bananas
Lunch: 2 cups pineapple, 2 bananas, 6-8 starbursts
Dinner: 2 oranges, fuji apple, 2 bananas, bowl steamed carrots, green beans, peas, and corn
 
Hello!

I noticed this and thought I would have a look and see what you are all up to. I am on an almost all raw food diet -- almost -- not completely, but almost all raw food, but due to my blood sugar levels, I can't eat that much fruit -- when I did try to do the all raw diet with just veggies and fruit, it took me months to get my blood sugar (low blood sugar) back in range.

So I am on an almost all raw diet now, but it's a little different than yours, but if you don't mind, I'd like to join in now and again.

What I eat (since I can't eat much fruit) is a lot of raw milk products -- as you know they are legal in CA. It's organic and grass-fed so one gets the benefit of all the omega-3's and all the properties of raw milk -- good calcium absorption, all the vitamin C is not destoyed and the enzymes are still very much intact. In addition, I eat raw, though almost always dehydrated, beef and chicken. In addition I eat salad and chutney and ferment almost all my fruits and veggies, as well as my drinks.

So today, I had an egg and raw cream for breakfast. Raw kefir in a protein drink.

Lunch was raw cheese and chutney (fermented fruit)

Supper was cooked chicken and raw cream and raw salad with fermented veggies and fruit.

Thanks for thinking of this aubject.:7
 
Hi Swayze

Just wondering how you combine your food? My normal food pattern is five meals a day - the first four basically fruit, sometimes some nuts at lunch and then vegies for tea. I would love to know how you are combining your fruit meals.

Kim:)
 
Welcome Karen!

Kim: There are 3 easy rules that I follow:

1. No sugar and fat together (i.e. fruit and nuts)
2. No starch and acid (i.e. orange and banana)
3. Only one type of fat at a time

The 1st rule has really made a difference for me. In the past, many of my favorites foods were a combo of sugar and fat. My digestion is great since I cut these out. I even decided to have an apple with peanut butter about 2 weeks ago to see what would happen (this used to be my favorite thing to eat). My stomach was all rumbly and uncomfortable. That used to be normal for me, but not anymore.

I haven't tested the 3rd rule, as I am not eating much fat right now.

As far as my individual fruit meals, I eat acidic fruits first, then watery fruits, then berries, then heavier fruits like bananas. You can eat one type of fruit at a meal, but I get too excited about all of the different choices in my kitchen that I can't decide! Maybe one day...

I think this diet really suits me right now because I really enjoy fruit. Before I even thought about doing the raw thing, I ate a lot of fruit. I love it!
 
How exciting! New people! Huzzah! Welcome!

Swayze, I aslo decided that the Vitamix was too expensive. I got a Tribest personal blender and I really like it. I think I ordered it from Amazon, they had a really good price. I use it to whip up smoothies, salad dressings, etc. and it has storage lids so I can save things in the fridge.

I was going to write a post about cravings, too...I didn't think I was seeing much of a difference, really. Until today! I've been eating really clean, all whole foods, lots of vegetables, fruits and nuts. Usually, I eat chocolate every day! I was looking through my food diary and realized that I haven't really had any sweets (except for that piece of ricemilk chocolate...) since the start of this challenge. And I discovered today that it's "that time" for me as well. Usually I have mad cravings for several days beforehand, but it really sneaked up on me! No cravings, no cramps, no headaches, I've been sleeping well, no mood swings, and I have plenty of energy for my workouts.

So this has been a lesson for me. I'm vegan for ethical reasons; I think it's totally possible to eat a healthy diet that includes animal products, but I'm a bleeding heart when it comes to critters, so I abstain from all animal products and byproducts. Eating mostly raw was an experiment, and I was pretty skeptical that it would make much of a difference. I still think I'd want to try it over several months before making firm conclusions, but it seems to be "working", in that my cravings are very manageable (My brain says, "EAT A BAG OF VEGAN CHOCOLATE COOKIES!!", I reply, "How about some carrots and raw hummus instead?", and it actually says "Well...OK." And then it shuts up for the rest of the day. It used to keep pestering me all the time), I feel energetic and focused, and even my typical daily physical aches and pains (and cramps) are diminished.

Swayze, would combining greens and fruits help to overcome your aversion to the green vegetables? For example, I'm having a spinach salad with strawberries and mandarin oranges for lunch today. It also has three kinds of sprouts, red and yellow peppers, and green beans. I made a kind of curried fruit dressing for it and it rocks!

Dee
 
Thanks for the food combining info Swazye. I will try not to eat nuts with fruit for a while and see if it makes a difference for me too.

Dee your spinach salad sounds delish. Could you please post the recipe?

Kim:)
 
I'd be happy to. It's pasted below. I was pining a little for my grandmother's warm curried fruit salad...


Curried Fruit Dressing

1 tsp of Curry powder (any type – I used salt-free red curry powder but I think any old kind would do)
½ tsp of cinnamon, ½ tsp of ground cloves
1-2 tbsp of water
1 tbsp. Raspberry-flavored vinegar
1-2 1-inch chunks of fresh pineapple, or 1 ½ thick pineapple ring
Raw Agave nectar or honey, to taste

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. I’m “guesstimating” the proportions a little – you might want to tweak it until it tastes OK to you.

Or you could just use Poppyseed Dressing:

¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 c. honey
1 tbsp. oil (canola is best)
1 tsp. poppy seeds

For the salad:

As much baby spinach as you like...
Sliced strawberries (a small handful- I guess 1/3 cup?)
½ can of mandarin orange sections (in water), or one mandarin orange, segmented and peeled
½ of a red pepper and ½ of a yellow pepper, sliced or diced
Alfalfa Sprouts, Garden Sprouts, and Crunchy Sprouts (or whichever sprouts you want), in any quantity you want – sprouts are pretty close to being calorie-free, and they’re pretty nutritious…
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives or spring onions
Slivered Almonds, if you want – if you’re doing food combining, I guess you’d leave those out.



Enjoy!

Dee
 
Thanks Dee. That sounds delicious. Will be buying raspberry flavoured vinegar this weekend so I can try it. Yummo! I have just come back from the fruit and veg shop and they have fresh apricots in. Mind you they are still very expensive, but I did get two. I absolutely love apricots. I love all the summer fruits. Got to love this time of year.

Kim:)
 
Fresh apricots...sound incredibly good.

I live in Maryland, and we're in a bit of an "awkward phase", produce-wise...the apples are great, but the citrus hasn't quite caught up yet. I'm missing the nectarines, which are always my favorite.

Dee
 
Dee I just had a fruit salad for lunch - mango, apricots, strawberries and a banana. It was very yummy.

Kim:)
 
Dee, your post made me laugh! My boyfriend actually refers to me as two different people: Rational Swayze and Hungry Swayze. I used to ask him for bites of food that he knew I could not have. He would then say, "Hungry Swayze, What have you done with Rational Swayze?" :) Luckily, I haven't had this problem in a while.

I was also surprised about the improvements I have seen so far. It's great, but a week really doesn't mean much.

I can't believe I didn't think of adding fruits to my salad! Anyway, I added some delicious oranges to my salad tonight and it made a big difference. I could eat much more. Thanks!

Food Log
Breakfast: orange, 2 cups strawberries, 2 bananas
Lunch: orange, fuji apple
Dinner: orange, green apple, fuji apple, big romaine salad w/ bell pepper and another orange
 
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