RAW Day 13

I made raw nut balls today. Is that a great name or what? They are also friggin delic!!! Here is the recipe:

Raw Date & Nut Balls

2 cups Medjool dates, pitted and soaked 30 minutes

1 cup almonds OR pecans OR walnuts, soaked overnight and drained
1 1/2 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla OR 1/2 vanilla bean, ground

Place nuts in a bowl and add 2 cups distilled water. Cover and allow nuts to soak overnight. Next morning, drain and set aside. Pit dates and place in a bowl; cover with distilled water and soak 30 minutes. With "S" blade in food processor, add soaked nuts and pulse until nuts are finely chopped; add 1 cup of coconut, cinnamon, and vanilla, and pulse until well mixed. Add soaked dates, a few at a time, processing until well mixed. Transfer to a large bowl and knead. Roll into desired size balls, and roll balls in extra coconut, or chopped nuts if desired. These date/nut balls will keep about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

ENJOY!

My dry garbanzo beans are still "sprouting," but nothing much is happening. Wondering if that's because it's been raining and they aren't getting any sun, or because they aren't really raw? I'll wait one more day.

We watched Raw for 30 Days last night. What an amazing story! Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days is an independent documentary film that chronicles six Americans with 'incurable' diabetes switching their diet and getting off insulin.

The film follows each participant's remarkable journey and captures the medical, physical, and emotional transformations brought on by this diet and lifestyle change. We witness moments of struggle, support, and hope as what is revealed, with startling clarity, is that diet can reverse diabetes* and change lives.

Had an interesting dinner with my parents. They definitely think I've gone off the deep end, but they also fully know that food can heal. Dad has become a pescatarian on the advise of his doctor, and it cured his chronic lung infection. After 9 months off meat and poultry, he at chicken for 10 days and got sick. Stopped and hasn't been sick since.

Meanwhile, no matter how well I am eating if I don't get some sleep I may get sick. Good night!

Please comment!

If you are following, I want to hear from you. What do you want more of? Less of? Do you have any tips or resources for me and my readers? I'd love this to be more interactive, so if you are reading along please let me know. Thanks!

DAY 12 Raw

This is getting easier.

Not that it was ever hard. This morning I had my usual green smoothie. I'm finding that a simple combo of 2 bananas, 3 handfuls of spinach and 2 cups of water are perfect for F and I to share. After the gym, I have a bowl of grawnola. Basically, I toss 1/4 cup of 3 different nuts, say walnuts, almonds and cashews, into the mini Cuisinart along with a handful of raw cacao nibs, sunflower seeds, and soaked goji berries. Chop it up and into a bowl along with raw agave, cinnamon and shredded coconut. Pour in some almond milk (1 tbs raw, unsalted almond butter with 2 cups of water in the vita-mix) and enjoy. I'm full for hours. Here's the recipe.

I had meetings all afternoon. There was a buffet lunch at the first meeting. I chose the fruit salad, carrots and the vegetarian sandwich. I pulled apart the sandwich, scraped the avocado off the bread, and tossed the bread and the cheese. Voila - a salad, with lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, cucumbers and avocado. A bottle of water and I was happy.

A few hours later I had a cocao mole Lara bar and a glass of water. By dinner time, I was starving. Too starving, in fact. I scarfed up the rest of last nights pie. Fortunately, it was raw and amazing from Cafe Gratitude. If it wasn't there, I probably would have eaten a handful or two of raw cashews and dates. After that, I wrapped dandelion greens, grape tomatoes and 1/2 an avocado in a sheet of nori. That was 5 hours ago, it's now bedtime and I am not hungry.

This morning I had lost 4 lbs since day one. I'm very happy about this. I feel clear and clean. Other diets I've done in the past have made me feel like, well, this is good for now. Not so with this one...I can't see myself eating any other way. I feel like I've found the fountain of youth! I don't want to jump the gun, though. Let's see what happens in the next few weeks. Still, two pounds a week...that would put me at my old Weight Watcher goal in 7 weeks, which is early March. That would be nice!

RAW Day 10...12 hours late

We went tothe SF Ballet Gala last night and had an amazing time. So fun to dress up, see and be seen, and watch the incredible dancers. It would be really nice to be able to attend on an annual basis. During the performance, I kept thinking, I can't wait till my little girls are old enough to attend this with me! But then, they are such great ages now (3.5 & 6.5) that I don't want to rush it.

I'm eating an incredible bowl of grawnola right now with almond milk. I made the almond milk with a tablespoon of raw almond butter and 2 cups of water in the Vita-mix. I tossed 1/4 cup each of almonds, walnuts, cashews, cacao nibs, and pumpkin seeds in the food processor (mini Cuisinart) and chopped it up. Once in the bowl, I added some raw agave, raw honey, cinnamon and Himalayan sea salt. OMG it's amazing! I also had a spinach/banana/water smoothie this morning. It was a a beautiful shade of green and sweet and yummy.

Last night I ate dinner in the car on the way to the ballet - a cupful of nuts, seeds, dates and shredded  coconut. I also ate a banana. I had a few sips of champagne during the reception. I've been munching on the rawsagna wich is so super amazing!

I've been recommended to Reggie Bass and Billy Page by Dr. Liz Dobbins, a chiropractor I met at an Oakland eWomen Networking event this week. She said they prepare raw foods for their customers to take home. It would be nice to have prepared meals around! I'll be contacting them this week.

Tonight is F's birthday. I'll be calling Cafe Gratitude for a raw cake, making Simply Yum Salad, and searing some ahi tuna (which I probably won't eat). I've been on the scale and it's going in the right direction! 

Here's something suprising: I wear a heart rate monitor at the gym, and lately my exercise has been fantastic. The heart rate monitor shows a higher heart rate than normal. Typically, I have to work very hard to get my heart rate above 120 to get a decent work out. Not any more! Same workout, better results!

RAW Day 9

I almost didn't post this evening, but I run a marketing company and I know what happens when you skip a blog post. My clients do it all the time. You miss one and then it's really hard to get back on track. Kind of like taking a year off from college.

Today's been great. My Rawsagna turned out amazing! It's so fresh and delicious, that tomato sauce would be good on anything!

I started my day with the usual green smoothie. I had some raw muesli and almond milk late morning and a salad for lunch. I was at a networking event and had brought my own but I didn't need it. I did need to remove the candied walnuts, however. So sad, they ruined a perfectly good handful of nuts! 

At the lunch, we all had to say something about us that was unique. I said I've eaten nothing but raw, organic food for nine days and feel amazing! A woman told me to find Reggie Does Raw, or something like that, a local chef who prepares a weeks worth of raw foods for about $50. Sign me up! It took me two days to make that rawsagna! I love to uncook but it's tough with a business in it's third year, another business plan in the works, two little kids (6 1/2 & 3 1/2) and a workaholic husband (I'm just glad he's still employed in this economy so I don't complain anymore). 

My mid afternoon snack was a couple of apples. Dinner was a salad with avocado and two pieces of rawsagna. After dinner I had a handful of raw cashews and two clementines. Before bed I'll have the long life cocktail. 

I'm bringing my scale upstairs.  I want to know for sure if this is working.

RAW Day 8

I've made it a week! Monday to Monday! And you want to know something? It was super easy. I feel great.

I've also gotten over my parents freakout. I'm a grown-up. Whatever.

I had the usual green smoothie this morning (shared with F, I put in 2 bananas, some kale and some water. I topped it off with some raw agave. I've had a sweet tooth all day today! My mid morning snack was raw granola and an apple. I walked for 30 minutes, then had a nori wrap (nori seaweed with 1/2 avocado, dandelion greens and tomatoes) with some baby carrots. Mid afternoon I had an amazing goji berry smoothie. I started to make Rawsagna this afternoon. What a process! For dinner I redressed the leftover salad from my uncle's party with agave, sprouted sunflower seeds and avocado to make it more like the Simply Yum Salad.

I've still got a sweet tooth and may make myself a raw chocolate drink, or just eat raw cacao with shredded coconut.

I read earlier about drinking flax oil in the morning and at night followed by lots of water and a glass or two of cranberry juice as a way to get rid of cellulite. I think I'll try it tonight before bed and see how it makes me feel. Note: Make sure it's real cranberry juice, not sweetened and definitely not from concentrate!

I've just come across another Blogspot blog that I think I will follow:

http://smoothiesandrawfood.blogspot.com/

RAW Day 7

Wow, tomorrow morning will be one week!

I went to my uncle's housewarming this evening and was greeted by my favorite caterer. I looked around at all the delicious food and was very glad I had eaten that pear before I left the house. I had a glass of water (the pitcher had lemons, limes and parsley in it, very pretty!) and a plate of salad. No one even noticed. When you are eating differently, you always expect someone to say something. The truth is that most people are so absorbed in themselves that they don't notice what anyone else is doing until you mention it. This goes for more than just food, and is a bit of wisdom I wish I had realized as a teenager!

I had a green smoothie for breakfast. Truth is, it sat for a while before I had the desire to eat it. It was nice to not be starving when I woke up! I worked out at the gym, ate a banana, some flax crackers, and a giant salad of romaine lettuce, red bell pepper, 1/2 avocado, tomato and olive oil with a handful of raw cashews. It was interesting to wander the market listening to my body tell me what I want to eat.

Later I had a banana and then the aforementioned pear. Then we went to the party.

When we got home, I had celery and carrots with almond butter and a few strawberries. It's now 9 pm and I feel sated.

I spoke with my parents today about what I am doing and really wish I hadn't. They were very critical, telling me I am damaging my body, my metabolism, and why don't I just do what dad is doing, how he's lost 25 pounds recently. But that's always his way, to get everyone to do what he's doing. When will I ever learn to not talk to them about weight and food? I'm going to keep on with this for a month, weighing myself once a week, and see what happens. At the very least, I've learned how to eat more fruits and vegetables, and I love the green smoothies.