Hello to anyone who may be reading this. I am sorry that I have been away for so long. Normally that would mean that I have strayed from the raw food path. This, however, is NOT the case. I am still 100% raw, no slip-ups or cheats. I have just been very busy and have not had time to write on here. I keep thinking of things that I should write about, and then the day gets away from me and I don't get a chance. That and we have been watching the Olympics on Tivo. We generally record them and then watch later. So I have not been on the computer much period because I don't want to log on and see all of the Olympic results online before I get to watch them. See?
So a few highlights:
I beat my best time for everything on the eliptical a week ago. Here is what I did:
2 miles in 22:17
2.5 miles in 27:52
2.7 miles in 30 minutes (actualy it was 30:03)
3.1 miles (5K distance) in 34:18
5 miles in 55:49
I had my big helper write it all down for me as I was going because I knew that I would forget everything. I was very pleased with myself for doing so well. Especially considering the fact that I have not been getting on the eliptical often at all. Little Angel has decided that she hates her swing now and will only fall alseep if I hold her. And when I put her down she wakes up. And smiles at me. So that makes it hard to get a workout in.
The other day I went grocery shopping and felt like I was in another world. One that I do not belong in. Hubby generally does all the grocery shopping. It was strange for me to go in and see all the boxed up, canned up stuff and so much junk food!! I am much happier and feel more at home at a produce store, or farmers market.
My food has been constant and some may say boring. Which means that I have pretty much been eating the same stuff every day, but I am happy with it so it doesn't matter. Oranges, grapes, big salads. I have been eating lots of oranges. The first two boxes that I got from the produce warehouse were really good, but the last one I got, ( the current box) is not good. I am afraid that orange season is over now which makes me very sad. I am going to juice the oranges that I have now. Maybe the next box will be better. I really hope they are!
Not much else to report. My next "official' weigh in is Monday. I know that I have not done as well this month as I did last month. Part of that is the fact that I did so good last month. I can not expect that every month, although it would be nice! Also I have not been able to exercise regularly like I did last month. I would really like to see 10 pounds gone but I don't think that I have even lost that much this month. We shall see.
On a non scale level I am happy to report that I am able to fit into some clothes that did not fit before. One skirt in particular I can button and zip up now and before I could not even bring the two sides of together to button. Not even close! Sometimes I look in the mirror and I don't see that progress that I have made. On those days it is good to remember the skirt that I can now zip up that was way too small before. I tend to lose weight from the top of my head down and from the bottom of my feet up with the last place to lose being my look I've had 7 children stomach and my hips. So it is nice that I am fitting into new clothes now.
I will definately be on to report my next months progress and hopefully I will have some really good numbers to post! :)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Back On Track, Some Explanations And A Recipe
I finally got myself back on track tonight with exercising. I did the elliptical for 30 minutes doing the intervals of increased intensity. I do each interval for 2 minutes starting at 1, then 3, 5, 7, 3, 9, 5, 11, 7, 13, 9, 15, 5, 9, 3. It is a good workout and it is cool that what is my highest level in the beginning ends up being my lower level towards the end. I was also very happy to make it to 2.5 miles in a little under 30 minutes even doing the higher levels of intensity.
Food:
My eating has not been that varied. Lots of oranges. Big salads. Lately I have been eating pecan stufffed dates which are really yummy, but I can't do that too often. I don't have a lot of dates and I have to ration them to make them last.
In answer to a question about why I eat raw : There are a lot of articles on the web about eating raw food, why people do it and what the health benefits are. I have not gone into a lot of detail in my own blog just because I have not had time to do so and there is so much info already out there I didn't really see the need. Perhaps I should take the time to do so though.
The basics are that raw food still contains all of the living enzymes needed to be healthy. The cooked food of the Standard American Diet (or SAD) diet is mostly dead foods that have no nutritional value whatsoever. I choose not to eat the flesh of animals. I am not an animal rights activist and I have no problem with other people eating meat if they choose to do so. I even cook meat for my family when they want it. I just personally am disgusted by it, by the thought of what I am eating when I eat meat, so I choose not to eat it.
A lot of my own personal decisions about eating raw foods stem from how they make me feel. I love the feeling! I have never felt better in my life than when I eat all raw vegan. It is something that is hard to explain to another person who has never experienced it. But basically I feel alive and healthy. It is really amazing! As for what my long term plans are for eating this way....I hope to keep it up. For me it can't just be about losing weight, this isnt a quick fix, it is so much more than that. It is the health and vibrancy that I feel when I eat raw versus the lethargy and sickness that I feel when I eat SAD. I have several goals. Some involve weight loss, others involve meeting a physical fitness goal like eventually running in a marathon, and being raw will help me acheive those goals. If I am not eating raw I know that I will not meet my goals.
It may sound weird but eating raw also gives me a lot of freedom. Freedom to eat what I want without worrying about counting points, calories, fat grams, carbs or anything else. So it is pretty easy to do which is essential for me as a mother of 7! And while it may seem overwhelming or daunting at first it really is very easy. Especially once you get going. Then it just becomes second nature.
OK so here is one of my favorite green smothie recipes. Green smoothies are so good and they are REALLY easy. Basically you just want to put whatever you like into them. I have found that the less complicated they are the better they taste. I still like my smoothies sweet, but not overly so. I am getting to the point where I like to taste a little green in there. Another cool thing about green smoothies is that they can be adjusted to anyones taste. So if you want it sweeter add more sweet fruit, more "green" tasting, add more veggies. It is so simple! :)
"Green Smoothie #1"
2 ripe bananas
2 (ish) cups of water
1/2 - 1 cup frozen blueberries
1-2 handfuls baby spinach
ice, cinnamon
Peel your bananas and throw them into the blender. Add your blueberries, spinach and water. Sprinkle in some cinnamon and throw in a few cubes of ice. Blend everything up until smooth.
That's it. All of the measurements are approximate because I just throw stuff in. I never measure anything. Play with it and have fun. Let me know if you try one and how you like it. Remember if you want it sweeter add more sweet fruit. A ripe frozen banana or some dates. Yummy! Too thick? Add more water. Easy Peasy. :)
I guess that is it. It is late and I am tired and ready for bed.
I love raw!
Food:
My eating has not been that varied. Lots of oranges. Big salads. Lately I have been eating pecan stufffed dates which are really yummy, but I can't do that too often. I don't have a lot of dates and I have to ration them to make them last.
In answer to a question about why I eat raw : There are a lot of articles on the web about eating raw food, why people do it and what the health benefits are. I have not gone into a lot of detail in my own blog just because I have not had time to do so and there is so much info already out there I didn't really see the need. Perhaps I should take the time to do so though.
The basics are that raw food still contains all of the living enzymes needed to be healthy. The cooked food of the Standard American Diet (or SAD) diet is mostly dead foods that have no nutritional value whatsoever. I choose not to eat the flesh of animals. I am not an animal rights activist and I have no problem with other people eating meat if they choose to do so. I even cook meat for my family when they want it. I just personally am disgusted by it, by the thought of what I am eating when I eat meat, so I choose not to eat it.
A lot of my own personal decisions about eating raw foods stem from how they make me feel. I love the feeling! I have never felt better in my life than when I eat all raw vegan. It is something that is hard to explain to another person who has never experienced it. But basically I feel alive and healthy. It is really amazing! As for what my long term plans are for eating this way....I hope to keep it up. For me it can't just be about losing weight, this isnt a quick fix, it is so much more than that. It is the health and vibrancy that I feel when I eat raw versus the lethargy and sickness that I feel when I eat SAD. I have several goals. Some involve weight loss, others involve meeting a physical fitness goal like eventually running in a marathon, and being raw will help me acheive those goals. If I am not eating raw I know that I will not meet my goals.
It may sound weird but eating raw also gives me a lot of freedom. Freedom to eat what I want without worrying about counting points, calories, fat grams, carbs or anything else. So it is pretty easy to do which is essential for me as a mother of 7! And while it may seem overwhelming or daunting at first it really is very easy. Especially once you get going. Then it just becomes second nature.
OK so here is one of my favorite green smothie recipes. Green smoothies are so good and they are REALLY easy. Basically you just want to put whatever you like into them. I have found that the less complicated they are the better they taste. I still like my smoothies sweet, but not overly so. I am getting to the point where I like to taste a little green in there. Another cool thing about green smoothies is that they can be adjusted to anyones taste. So if you want it sweeter add more sweet fruit, more "green" tasting, add more veggies. It is so simple! :)
"Green Smoothie #1"
2 ripe bananas
2 (ish) cups of water
1/2 - 1 cup frozen blueberries
1-2 handfuls baby spinach
ice, cinnamon
Peel your bananas and throw them into the blender. Add your blueberries, spinach and water. Sprinkle in some cinnamon and throw in a few cubes of ice. Blend everything up until smooth.
That's it. All of the measurements are approximate because I just throw stuff in. I never measure anything. Play with it and have fun. Let me know if you try one and how you like it. Remember if you want it sweeter add more sweet fruit. A ripe frozen banana or some dates. Yummy! Too thick? Add more water. Easy Peasy. :)
I guess that is it. It is late and I am tired and ready for bed.
I love raw!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
I'm Still Here - Need Some Recommendations
I felt the need to pop in and comment on this blog since it has been a little while. Life is great and I am still diong really good. No slip ups and 100% raw. My exercising has not been what it should though. I have not been on the elliptical for at least 3 days and I am not sure if I will get on tonight. I really ought to. I don't want to lose all of the progress that I have made.
On another exercising note Hubby wants to get some sort of a weight machine. We are researching different types. We don't want free weights. Anyone have any good recomendations on a good weight machine? We would like to be able to do a wide variety of exercises from rowing to bench pressing and be able to work out all areas of our bodies. It will be so amazing to have such a machine here to use. Any words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated.
Right now I am enjoying some delicious grapes. I am eating a lot of oranges lately too. I love those! Also I am really enjoying my daily salads with lots of broccoli. Mmmmm! I have not been making carrot juice lately. The last batch I made was not so good. I need to get back to doing that, and I have plenty of carrots to do it, but I have been too lazy lately.
I guess that is all.
I love raw!
On another exercising note Hubby wants to get some sort of a weight machine. We are researching different types. We don't want free weights. Anyone have any good recomendations on a good weight machine? We would like to be able to do a wide variety of exercises from rowing to bench pressing and be able to work out all areas of our bodies. It will be so amazing to have such a machine here to use. Any words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated.
Right now I am enjoying some delicious grapes. I am eating a lot of oranges lately too. I love those! Also I am really enjoying my daily salads with lots of broccoli. Mmmmm! I have not been making carrot juice lately. The last batch I made was not so good. I need to get back to doing that, and I have plenty of carrots to do it, but I have been too lazy lately.
I guess that is all.
I love raw!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
I Beat My Hubby!
Last night my husband decided that he needed to get on the elliptical and beat my times for 2.5 miles and 3.1 miles. He said a little healthy competition would be good. So I told him my times and he did in fact beat me. Well, I am very competitive and I was not about to let him get away with that. So when I got on the elliptical last night I pushed really hard and I beat him right back again. I beat him by 1 second on the 2.5 miles (just barely, lol) and the by a whole minute on the 3.1 miles. I was doing a consistent pace of 5.3 mph and then doing short 30-60 second "sprints" of speed up to 5.7 and 6.2. That was exhausting and really got me working. Then I finished up my 5 miles in 57 minutes. My best time yet! Yay!! My toes were really hurting in the end. From about 42 minutes on they started to get more and more painful. I had intended on finishing off my one hour workout even though I had already reached 5 miles but I had to stop with one minute to go. My toes just couldn't handle it anymore. When I was done I could not believe how hot and sweaty I was. I have often wondered at The Biggest Loser contestants when they have sweat just pouring off their bodies. Well that was me last night. It was crazy! So I took a nice long cold shower to cool myself down and then I felt much better. It was a pretty awesome workout. If I could juat figure out how to get my toes to stop hurting things would be so much better though!
Food:
Lets see.....I had:
1 pint carrot/apple juice
green smoothie with 2 bananas/spinach and 1 cup blueberries
large salad with lots of brocolli, avocado and spinach with oil vinagrette dressing
2 dates
3 oranges
Ok, another not eating that much day. I spent the whole morning and early part of the afternoon cleaning my house. And I mean cleaning! I scrubbed the floors in the kitchen and dining room, washed down all my cupboards, finally got the last three boxes in the hallway unpacked and put away, swept all the floors, vaccuumed and had the boys clean the school room and play room. So I didn't have a lot of time to eat.
The day before I ate more and it was heavier food too, like banana ice cream with chocolate nut sauce. I am very hungry right now so I need to go find something to have. We have a busy afternoon today with PE for the children and then I need to return books to the library and hit the produce warehouse too.
I love raw!
Food:
Lets see.....I had:
1 pint carrot/apple juice
green smoothie with 2 bananas/spinach and 1 cup blueberries
large salad with lots of brocolli, avocado and spinach with oil vinagrette dressing
2 dates
3 oranges
Ok, another not eating that much day. I spent the whole morning and early part of the afternoon cleaning my house. And I mean cleaning! I scrubbed the floors in the kitchen and dining room, washed down all my cupboards, finally got the last three boxes in the hallway unpacked and put away, swept all the floors, vaccuumed and had the boys clean the school room and play room. So I didn't have a lot of time to eat.
The day before I ate more and it was heavier food too, like banana ice cream with chocolate nut sauce. I am very hungry right now so I need to go find something to have. We have a busy afternoon today with PE for the children and then I need to return books to the library and hit the produce warehouse too.
I love raw!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Quick Post
A very quick post because I want to go to bed. I am so tired! Little Angel woke me up at around 5:30ish this morning and proceeded to kick me and smack me and wiggle around in bed until she finally fell back asleep at 6:30ish by which time the boys were making noise. So I got up and showered. No more rest for me.
Today I got my dates from the Date People. Mmmmm! Two 15 pound boxes. One has Medjools and one is a mixed variety pack. I still have a little bit of the Barhi's left from my birthday order too. I plan on using the variety pack for making treats and just nibbling on the Bahri's and Medjools. They are so good but they need to last until next October/November when I can order them again. So I need to ration them!
My workout went good tonight. I beat my 5K record and went 3.1 miles in 35:40. Yippee!!
I had an awesome green smoothie today. It had 2 mangoes, 3 bananas and a handful of spinach and some ice. It was really sweet and yummy. My Big Helper had some of it too and thought that it was really good as well. Sunshine had a cup but she got sidetracked and didn't finish it. Silly girl!
Ok guess this post wasn't so short and quick! G'Night!
I Love Raw!
Today I got my dates from the Date People. Mmmmm! Two 15 pound boxes. One has Medjools and one is a mixed variety pack. I still have a little bit of the Barhi's left from my birthday order too. I plan on using the variety pack for making treats and just nibbling on the Bahri's and Medjools. They are so good but they need to last until next October/November when I can order them again. So I need to ration them!
My workout went good tonight. I beat my 5K record and went 3.1 miles in 35:40. Yippee!!
I had an awesome green smoothie today. It had 2 mangoes, 3 bananas and a handful of spinach and some ice. It was really sweet and yummy. My Big Helper had some of it too and thought that it was really good as well. Sunshine had a cup but she got sidetracked and didn't finish it. Silly girl!
Ok guess this post wasn't so short and quick! G'Night!
I Love Raw!
One Month Progress Report
The first month is past and here are my results:
I lost 23 pounds this month!!! YAY! I am very happy with these results.
This morning, Feb 1st, I weighed 192.5. Down from 215.5 on Jan 1st.
I also exerised at least 5 times each week, normally 6 times. I was able to increase my time on the elliptical from just 10 minutes the first day to an hour last night. I was also able to increase my distances as well.
Overall I am very happy with my results. I am excited about losing more weight this month. When a person has a lot of weight to lose the first 20 pounds are sort of bitter sweet. It is good to lose 20 pounds but it is still not that noticable that the weight has come off. I mean, I do look a bit smaller, but I still have a long way to go. I am encouraged by my success in January and motivated to keep on going strong. I know that I will probably not see such a gloriously big number next month (wouldn't that be nice?!) but I am hoping for a double digits. This month I successfully lost a little more than 10% of my body weight. Yay for me!
I also have a non scale victory to report. I am wearing a skirt that just last month did not fit. I could not even bring to two sides together never mind buton or zip it up, and now it fits nicely and is quite comfortaable. I neglected to take any measurements when I began. I never measure myself properly. So I will go by how my clothes fit and how I look and feel.
Guess that is all for now. I will shout it out today because I am really feelin it:
I LOVE RAW!!
I lost 23 pounds this month!!! YAY! I am very happy with these results.
This morning, Feb 1st, I weighed 192.5. Down from 215.5 on Jan 1st.
I also exerised at least 5 times each week, normally 6 times. I was able to increase my time on the elliptical from just 10 minutes the first day to an hour last night. I was also able to increase my distances as well.
Overall I am very happy with my results. I am excited about losing more weight this month. When a person has a lot of weight to lose the first 20 pounds are sort of bitter sweet. It is good to lose 20 pounds but it is still not that noticable that the weight has come off. I mean, I do look a bit smaller, but I still have a long way to go. I am encouraged by my success in January and motivated to keep on going strong. I know that I will probably not see such a gloriously big number next month (wouldn't that be nice?!) but I am hoping for a double digits. This month I successfully lost a little more than 10% of my body weight. Yay for me!
I also have a non scale victory to report. I am wearing a skirt that just last month did not fit. I could not even bring to two sides together never mind buton or zip it up, and now it fits nicely and is quite comfortaable. I neglected to take any measurements when I began. I never measure myself properly. So I will go by how my clothes fit and how I look and feel.
Guess that is all for now. I will shout it out today because I am really feelin it:
I LOVE RAW!!
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