Friday, July 30, 2010

Day Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight

Day Twenty-Six

morning
: 4 cups of green juice!! (about 6+ cucumbers and an apple juiced), cashews

afternoon: hamburger on "rye" bread with guacamole, cherries, watermelon

evening: remainder of the rye bread and guacamole, asian noodles (zucchini and squash) with tomatoes with "peanut" sauce, cheesecake!, "cookie batter" --> yea i know, im eating like a fat kid.

result: 4 poops



Day Twenty-Seven

morning: watermelon, cherries

afternoon: tortilla chips with guacamole. I think Mer makes these from flax seeds.

dinner: asian noodles (zucchini and squash) with tomatoes and onion with "peanut" sauce, cherries, scoop of "ice cream"

result: 2 poops

went over mindy's and mer showed me how to make the brownie mixture for the best cake in the world.



Day Twenty-Eight

morning: cashews, watermelon

afternoon: "hamburger" on rye "bread" with guacamole and tomato, cherries

evening: guacamole with "tortilla" chips, meredith's heavenly cake!

result: 1 poop


cravings: ted's montana grill hamburger with fries, pizza

Day Twenty-Five

Thursdays mean spoiled night. And of course Meredith did not disappoint!

morning: onion bread with nut cheese

afternoon: spring mixed salad, cherries watermelon

evening: mint chocolate cookie, tortilla chips, shish kabobs (squash, mushroom, pepper, onion) asian noodles (zuchini) with asian "peanut" sauce, chocolate cake and cheesecake!!

result: 3 poops


holy crap did the cheesecake taste exactly like cheesecake. SO GOOD.


Check out Meredith's blog because she will be posting some recipes.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Day Twenty-Four

I consumed:

morning
: carrot/cucumber/celery juice made by Meredith, pepitas

afternoon: cherries, guacamole on "bread," watermelon

evening: creamy red pepper soup, guacamole on bread, cacaonut ball, cashews, cherries, watermelon

result: 4 poops

So on Monday Meredith, Mindy and I were talking about how Mindy and I are quite spoiled raw newbies. Its totally true. Most people who start off raw are so limited in what they eat. But being exposed to people who have eaten raw for a period of time is awesome. We're lucky. Perhaps this is the reason why my transition has been easy. Yes, I have cravings. But who wouldnt after eating like the way I did for 26 years? I am already 5 days away to my original 30 day raw challenge. I believe the next step will be a 6 month challenge or even a one year challenge. But I definitely hope to make this a life change.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Day Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three

Day Nineteen:

morning: green berry smoothie

afternoon: mixed salad in olive oil with pepitas; cherries, watermelon

evening: potato pancakes with sour cream (one made out of jicama and the other with sweet potato), tortilla chipos with guacamole, 2 cookies

result: 2 poops



Day Twenty:

morning: green berry smoothie

afternon: cherries, watermelon, hamburger on onion bread with guacamole mix, nut cheese and tomato, cacaonut ball

evening: cashews, watermelon, rice cake type of bread with nut cheese and tomatoes, cacaonut ball

result: 2 poops
Day Twenty-One

morning: cashews, pepitas, watermelon

afternoon: cherries, 3 falafel balls mixed in with marinara sauce

evening: tortilla chpis, watermelon, cookie

result: 2 poops

Twenty-Two:

Today the raw gang of 4 went to NYC to eat at Quintessence.
We feasted like beasts. It was delish!! We then walked it off and hung out in central park. Then we feasted again on desserts from One Lucky Duck. Mmmm dessert heaven. This is what I feasted on:

morning
: green berry smoothie, cookie

afternoon: the gang shared the following: mexican platter, indian platter, pasta/ravioli platter, nori rolls with scallion cream cheese

evening: coconut water, moonpie, mallomar

result: 1 rabbit poo
















It was awesome and delish. Unfortunately on the way back my migraine began. Every few months I get really intense migraines. They usually come from stress or other triggers. I got home around 11 pm and went straight to bed. I woke up in the morning of day twenty three and felt ok so I went into work. At work it got progressively worst and caused some vomiting. Not pleasant. This is the first time that I felt like shit while on raw. Of course it has nothing to do with being on the diet. Im hoping ill start getting less of them in the future.

Day Twenty-Three
morning: half of a green berry smoothie, cashews

afternoon: mixed salad, watermelon, cherries

evening: onion bread with nut hcese an tomato, hambuger on onion bread with guacomole mix, nut cheese and tomato

result: 4 poops

In the morning I could hardly eat and then I threw up most of the afternoon meal due to the migraine. I went home early and slept off the migraine. Thankfully it went away because at 7 pm my mom, Mindy, Mer and I were going to see Cirque Dream Jungle Fantasy featuring Deborah Gibson. It was pretty great especially the part where a ballarina performed some ballet on top of a guy's head!

Overall Impressions:
So this week has been officially week three. I no longer have restless sleep. I wake up ready to go full of energy. The weight loss has stayed the same at about 6 pounds. I feel good though. My cravings vary where I have none for a few days and an intense day on another.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Day Eighteen


I om nom nom nomed on the following:

morning: green berry smoothie

afternoon: mixed salad with avocado/tomato as dressing, watermelon, cherries, blueberries

evening: waermelon; meredith's cake aka the best cake ever; meredith's pesto pasta (zucchini as pasta) and "bread" dipped in olive oil with garlic and salt and pepper; cacaonut ball.

result: 2 poops

Day eighteen and seventeen have been difficult for some reason. My cravings for "normal" food came back. I kept thinking about greek style cheeeeesy pepperoni pizza. Then yesterday at lunch my co-workers and I went to a steak place. I couldnt stop looking at this steak they ate. While I was drinking my water with lemon an image kept running in my head. I pictured myself grabbing a piece of the steak off the attorneys plate and stuffing it in my mouth. Pathetic huh?

But it was all fine when I had dinner. How can you crave normal food when you eat like this? yumm

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Day Seventeen

Today I consumed the following:

morning: green berry smoothie

afternoon: spring salad with "meat"; pepitas; cherries; blueberries

evening: spoonful of mashed cauliflower; burg with avacado/tomato dressing and tomato slices on onion bread; cherries; cashews; watermelon; 1/4 cacaonut ball.

result: 2 poops

Yay! I actually made a delish dessert. After having Meredith's yummy dessert yesterday I had a craving for something just as good tonight. I read online some truffle like recipes and then created my own with the ingredients I had.



Cacaonut Balls:
1/2 cup of coconut butter (I used Artisana's sold at Whole Foods)
1/4 cup raw honey
1 tsp of vanilla extract
sea salt
cacao powder

Mix the coconut butter with the honey and vanilla extract and add salt to your liking. Form into little balls and roll in the cacao powder. Place in the freezer for about 10 minutes. I would suggest placing it on wax paper because when I took them out they were stuck to the plate. Then eat! Put the remainder in the fridge otherwise it will melt. Warning: these are very rich! but yummmmmmy. Recipe makes about 8 balls.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Day Sixteen

Yesterday I consumed:

morning
: green berry smoothie, a kiwi
afternoon: mixed salad with radishes, cucumbers and "meat" in olive oil; cherries
dinner: "tortilla chips" with guacamole, then two slices of "cake" that tasted better than any brownie I have ever had (of course one of Meredith's raw creations).

result: 1 poo (eek!)

After work I visited Mindy (Meredith's mother in law). She has been raw for almost 70 days now. She looks amazing and has lost at least 20 pounds. We talked about our detoxification. From reading online most people seem to experience a physical detox when turning raw. But Mindy and I seem to be experiencing more of an emotional/mental detox. I dont quite know what that means. I have definitely noticed I am far more emotional and short tempered. This detox is making me realize what I am unhappy with and I want to change that. So we'll see where all this goes.

Day Fifteen: failed attempt

So yesterday I attempted to make "steak" and "potatoes." I over used the garlic and so it didnt come out so good. In the picture it looks awesome but in the mouth it was just eh.

For the potatoes I used: cauliflower, cashews, olive oil, garlic, lemon, salt and pepper. For the mushrooms I marinated them for a few hours in olive oil, noma shoyu, garlic, onions, salt and pepper. I just looked up random recipes and made up my own with the ingredients I liked but I didnt follow the measurements so that was likely the problem. Hopefully next time it will taste better!



So here is what I ate for the day:

morning: cherries, cashews, water mixed in with pomegranate/mango superfood wheat grass

afternoon: 2 falafel balls with some marinara sauce, more cherries and cashews

evening: steak and potatoes, watermelon, the last bit of my ice cream =/

result: 2 poops

Monday, July 19, 2010

Day Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen: TWO WEEKS DONE

Two Week Overall Impressions:

So yesterday was officially two weeks that I have been 100% raw. I feel AMAZING. I cant get over the energy that I feel inside. Its almost like im going to burst out. I love it. I cannot see myself going back to normal food. I am also starting to look at regular food as gross. For example, I went into the convenience store the other day, and all I could think about is all the processed stuff in there. I no longer saw it as food. I also no longer have cravings. Ill think about certain foods but its not like a craving but more of I want to replicate that into raw food! I have also lost 5 pounds since starting. Yay to feeling awesome!
Day Twelve

morning: green berry smoothie

afternoon: mixed spring salad with radishes and cucumbers, and meredith's "meat"; watermelon, raspberries

evening: leftover calzone and marinara sauce!!! watermelon, and ice cream!

result: 3 poops
best of all my new blender arrived!!








I was planning on making a new batch of marinara sauce. So I asked Meredith for the ingredients and recipe but the santa clause that she is she just whipped up a whole new jar for me! So after work I picked up the marinara sauce, the recipe and a pack of sundried tomatoes bag so I know what to get in the future. She truly is amazing and I feel beyond lucky to have her guiding and teaching me.





Day Thirteen


afternoon: falafel balls, marinara sauce, cucumber, "rice cake" bread with nut cheese!

evening: hamburg on onion bread with marinara sauce, nut cheese and basil with garlic; watermelon and ice cream!

result: 3 poops


Day Fourteen


afternoon: green berry smoothie, watermelon, pepitas

evening: creamy red pepper soup, watermelon, raisins, cashews

result: 3 poops


I also went to whole foods yesterday so I stocked up on plenty of new stuff. Today I am planning to experiment and make something new!






Friday, July 16, 2010

Day Eleven: Its Christmas!

Yesterday was a great day!



Morning
: green berry smoothie

Afternoon: spring salad, watermelon, raspberries, sunflower seeds

Evening: stuffed mushroom, spaghetti made out of eggplant, marinara sauce, calzone, a siamese cherry and watermelon!!


result: 4 poops


Holy crap was this all good. Meredith is beyond awesome at this raw thing.


Yesterday was also like Christmas for me. Meredith stockpiled my weekly supply. She was totally santa clause and I was a little kid ecstatic for my goods.


I got the following: onion bread, rice cake type of bread, hamburgers, left over calzone, "meat" for my salad, falafel balls, cheese and ICE CREAM. Am I lucky or what?? So besides eating the most delicious meal and getting awesome goods we also watched Food Inc. Just watching that documentary makes me never again want to buy anything from the grocery store lol.

I told Meredith last night how I have not quite detoxed yet. I have been pooing more but no crazy change. So what happened last night? Massive poopies! haha I jinxed myself.

BUT I am still feeling awesome and continuing onto day twelve today.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Day Ten


Yesterday I actually attempted to make my first raw meal! I was suppose to pick up some goods from Meredith but she was still in NYC. I started looking up recipes of things I could make with the foods I had. I ended up making Creamy Red Pepper Soup. It was delicious! I changed up the recipe some. I used cayenne pepper instead of a jalapeno and put some chives in it. The soup definitely had a kick! It seriously only took like 15 minutes to make.

So here are the rest of the foods I ate:

Morning: green berry smoothie. And no, I am not getting tired of it yet!

Afternoon: coleslaw style salad: red cabbage, carrots, snow pears in olive oil with salt and pepper. Kaia foods sweet curry sunflower seeds, watermelon and a plum.

Dinner: soup! then cashews and watermelon.

result: 3 poops

I realize that I havent spoken much about what im drinking. Its mostly water. Prior to going raw that is mostly what I drank anyway. I dont like coffee or soda so this wasnt hard to give up. Orange juice is the only thing lacking but I can have that so long as I make it. Just lazy so far. But watermelon has served as a juice for me.

Tonight is raw night and Meredith is making a calzone. Eeek! I am so psyched for this! Onto day 11..

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Day Nine

Yesterday I om nom nom nomed on the following:


morning: green berry smoothie
afternoon: a coleslaw style salad, granola
evening: hamburger on onion bread with avocado and cucumber then I snacked on watermelon and cashews.

result: 2 poops




Cashews have become my dessert. I cant stop eating them!! Help!





So I am super excited for thursday. Meredith is making a calzone AND ice cream. yummmmm. If I love anything, it sure is ice cream. I am also going over her place tonight after work to pick up my new weekly food. Cant wait to see what deliciousness I will soon eat. I am also likely around this weekend so Ill try and make my own concoction.

I finally also purchased a new blender. We have been using an osterizer from like the 80s. While the blender does its job, it takes ages to make a smoothie. I read a bunch of reviews online many of them suggesting vitamix or blendtec. But I seriously cant spend $400+ on a blender. I also looked into the Montel William's Healthmaster because that is what Mindy has and Meredith uses while there. It works awesome. However, all the reviews on it were horrible. Mindy just ended up getting really luck with hers. The reviews on the kitchenaid were great so I went for it. Ill write a review on how it goes.


So onto Day ten today. Woo!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Day Eight

Ahh boring Mondays. I definitely tend to snack more while Im at work.

So yesterday I had the following:

- morning: green berry smoothie. Just various mixed berries, no apple this time. With a little bit of raw honey and a scoop of the wheat grass.

- afternoon: Meredith's apple cinnamon raisin granola, salad with lots of various veggies including peas, then watermelon and kiwi!

- dinner time: hamburger on onion bread with avocado and tomato, watermelon, cashews

result: 2 poops


I am still feeling awesome minus the restless sleep. I weighed myself again and I just keep going down on the scale. Even on my period! Its nuts.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Day Four, Five, Six, Seven

I have been horrible at posting updates the past few days. However, I have been awesome at keeping raw.

Day Four:
Thursday consisted of my green berry smoothie for the morning, afternoon I ate some salad, cherries and granola. Dinner was delicious! Meredith made stuffed peppers and a salad with avocado dressing.


The peppers were stuffed with nut cheese and various veggies including onions and carrots. Omg was it good. Just looking at this picture im already craving it. For desert Meredith made us cacao milkshakes. yummmm.

result: 3 poops

Day Five:
Friday I had to pack for the entire day because I visited my friend at his beach house in RI. I packed up a salad (spring salad, radishes, cucumbers, pepitas, onion in olive oil), "hamburger" with my basil concoction and tomato. For snacks I brought cashews and the granola. On the way there I had a smoothie.
This day was definitely a challenge because Brandon's dad makes delicious food. They had lobster rolls for lunch and this chicken mixture for dinner. I literally had to leave when they were about to have dinner because I was so tempted to have some. It didnt help that his dad kept teasing me to have some, including bacon.

result: 3 poops

Day Six:
The next morning I packed up again because I headed to Boston to visit some friends. I brought cashews and pepitas for snacks. Watermelon and cherries for fruit and a salad. I picked up my friend Michelle and Jena and we headed to Newton, MA to go to the Prana Cafe for lunch. Its great that I have friends who are interested in trying out raw food.

We split "nachos" for the appetizer. I had some lasagna, Jena had tacos and Michelle had a burrito.
































The meal was DELICIOUS especially that marinara sauce I had.
I also got some coconut pie to go. On the side of the pie was some raspberry type of dressing. The pie was just alright.


That night Michelle and I's farts were out of control. The stinkiest farts we ever had - methane like. It had to of been something in the nachos.

result: 2 poops

Day Seven:

I woke up in the morning and had the leftover watermelon. On the drive down back to CT I had some pepitas. Later that day I had the leftover salad and then at night I snacked on some cashews and watermelon.

result: 1 poop

Overall Impressions:
So it has been a full week. I am definitely feeling some changes inside. I just feel more energized and lighter. I weighed myself and I am 3 pounds less. The strange effects include the restlessness nights. This continues where my sleep is not deep but more aware. Raw eating also change my period. I take birth control and normally on the Sunday where I dont take a pill I dont get my period until Tuesday or Wednesday morning. But I immediately got my period this Sunday. This has never happened. Perhaps the superfood grass im eating with goji berries is causing this?

But overall I feel awesome and motivated. More and more I feel like I want to make this as a permanent change. Even the cravings have gone down. Im also not overeating which tends to be the case with other foods. I also feel extremely lucky to have around who are supporting me including my mom, dad, meredith, mindy and dustin. Also my friends who are interested and asking great questions instead of being weirded out.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Day Three: attack of the killer potatoes

So yesterday I snacked a lot:

- green berry smoothie, added too much apple and it was the consistency of baby food =/
- salad for lunch including radishes and cucumber from garden, red onion and pumpkin seeds in olive oil
- meredith's granola, cherries, watermelon, cashews, pumpkin seeds
-"hamburger" with a piece of onion "bread" with basil garlic olive oil mix and tomato on side

result: 3 poops

All day I was looking up raw recipes and my mouth started watering. I thought about if I could have anything in the world I would want my mom's mashed potatoes. What happens when I get home? My parents were eating mashed potatoes. I am sad to say that I had a forkful. I feel guilty about it. I am really trying to do this at 100% raw so thats where the disappointment sets in. However, if this is going to be a life change I cant get angry at myself for such a small amount. If I deprive myself of these cravings in the long term I may break down and just quit.

These potatoes also bring me back to my childhood. When I was little I was the pickiest eat. I didnt like hamburgers or pizza! My favorite meal was mashed potatoes. I even liked raw potatoes. I would deskin it and munch on it. Anyone know if raw potatoes are healthy? probably not.

Anyway, Im excited for tonight. Its raw food night !! aka Meredith is cooking up something delicious. Ill post pics!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Day Two

Day two was a great test of raw on the go. I had work from 7:45 until 5 and then I had to go to school until 8ish for journal stuff. So I packed food for the entire day.

Heres what I nom-ed on:
- green berry smoothie with apple
- snap peas and raspberries from the garden, cucumber, cherries and watermelon
- meredith's granola apple cinnamon snack
- "hamburger" with basil from garden mixed with garlic, olive oil and tomato

delish, delish, delish. I LOVED the basil on the burg.

result: 3 poops

Im definitely starting to feel more energized and not very tired. The past two days I have slept weird - not like deep sleep but aware sleep. It could be from the heat but I think its because my mind is running a lot. This could just be from the excitement of going raw.

But I am having random cravings like bread, muffins and turkey meat. I am not worried about this 30 day challenge. I can definitely go through it without a problem. But what freaks me out is making this a life commitment. But I guess I have to do this one day at a time...

Monday, July 5, 2010

Day One: continued

So today I started the morning with a green berry smoothie. Berries, spinach and wheat grass. Yum. I have been doing smoothies in the morning for about two months now and transitioned to green smoothies for a week. I love it. So this was not much of a change to my routine.

Later in the afternoon I had some cucumber and raspberries from my parents garden.

My mom and I went to whole foods. I bought a bunch of raw munchie snacks and organic fruits and veggies. It all came to a lovely $150.

After my return from the store I munched on some curry sunflower seeds and cherries.

For dinner I was spoiled. I visited Meredith and Mindy. Meredith made me some delicious raw foodz for the week: raw "hamburger," raw "bread" and granola snacks. So for dinner I had the burg with some avocado, onion and tomatoes. Very good.

So I kinda had a mental freak out today. I realized I wont be having any of the normal stuff thats lying around the house For instance a muffin, or this pasta stuff my mom made. Of course I can have creations that are similar but the simplicity will be gone. The easiness of stores providing these meals for you. But things will get easier. Its all a learning process.

But on the bright side, I am looking forward to my raw chocolate milkshake tonight! Im going to nom the crap out of it.

Day One: Hi, my name is Daria and I am an addict. A bad food addict.

So why have I decided to go raw?

Dustin and Meredith are visiting Mindy, a family friend of mine, for the entire summer. The two of them have been raw for about 2-3 years now. When I first heard about eating nothing but raw food I thought it was just plain weird. How does one not eat cooked food? But the more they talked about it the more intrigued I became. I also tried some of Mer's creations. They were delicious! So the more intrigued I became the more research I did. The health benefits of eating raw is phenomenal. Just look it up for yourself. Moreover, I believe this will be extremely beneficial to my horrible eating addictions and lazy lifestyle.

I am obsessed with food. Addicted to food. I think about food all the time. I also stress eat. Sad eat. Happy eat. Eat, eat, eat. If its on my plate I will consume you.

My lifestyle also doesnt help. Im in law school. I am always sitting on my bed reading or studying. My breaks consist of more sitting on my ass and watching tv shows. I hardly ever walk since I moved back to CT. At least in the city you were forced to walk. Here you just walk back and forth from the car to your house.

This lifestyle has resulted in constant weight fluctuations. When I was younger, I never had weight problems. They began when I moved to America. My family and I moved here when I was about 8. No one had weight problems. My mom was skinny throughout her life. Now we are all overweight. A few years ago my grandma came to live here. She came skinny but after 2 years she was fat. She moved back to Poland, and shes skinny again. The food that we eat here is bad. Toxic.

So it is time for a lifestyle change. The goal here is to make a lifetime change via a 30 day challenge. Why a 30 day challenge? Well I am a type A personality. I like a little challenge and competition within myself.

So lets do this!