The strangest thing happened this morning! I woke up (not the strange thing, reluctantly, I do this every morning) but after lying in bed for my customary 5 minutes of systems check, my whole body and brain just fired right up and I bounced out of bed as if I'd had a sleep in on a Saturday morning.
It was pretty awesome.
However I felt kinda of bloated and blech in the...ahem...lower tummy regions and I wasn't hungry at all- my fat-rich foods that I had last night for dinner were staying with me, for sure. Again, I ate dinner quite late as I didn't get home until 9, and I was in bed before 1.
So, as a result of all this I only had juice for breakfast:
2 large carrots
1 cup watermelon
1 cup blueberries
8 strawberries (the normal kind, not the giant gross mutant kind)
which made almost a pint of frothy goodness. I'm really enjoying the carrots in the morning. Get a huge dose of vitamin A, cross it off the list, get a good start on the day.
I wasn't hungry for chew-food until my mid morning snack, wherein I had a banana (surprise!) and some sugar snap peas. And about an hour later, another banana.
Lunch was basically another snack a couple of hours later, of banana, coconut water and a healthy 5 dried apricots. I ate a lot of bananas today. Which is one of the most common things to do on an 80/10/10 diet, I am told.
There may have been another banana in there somewhere, I lose track after a while and it was busy at work.
What with the sugar snap peas and the bananas, I was perfectly full and sated until on my way home for dinner.
I'm just not inspired to cook today, so dinner was a smoothie, some dill kale chips and soon to be a huge salad. Some days, you just have to Keep It Simple. Also, salad is always delicious and infinitely variable. And I have a good raw oil free salad dressing recipe from a few days ago.
dinner smoothie!
1 cup almond milk
2 cups spinach
1 cup parsley
1/2 cup blueberries
3/4 cup strawberries
as I write, I am still quite bursting with energy despite having several long walks today, and a busy day at work. Could it be that the caffeine withdrawal is abating? (ComebackIloveyoucaffeine...)
The NEAT thing was finding out how much protein sugar snap peas have. I've been having trouble finding a good protein source that wasn't also very high in fat, and these guys have it! check 'em out!
I will be eating a *lot* more of these in the weeks to come.
Here's what I ate today! Minding My Peas and Q's
I was 168.8 lbs this morning, surely due to the bloat-y feeling in my tummy due to too much fat for dinner. Today I did great with my percentages: 85/6/9
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Raw Diet Tips and Tricks Edition 1.
Some musings on how to do this successfully, from someone who hasn't been doing it long enough to be blase about it yet!
I'm interested in going raw, but isn't it expensive?
NO! I spend literally half as much as I used to spend on food. Far and away the most expensive thing I buy is raw nuts, but I eat so little of those that a small bag goes a long way. Nuts are super delish and good for you, but if you're doing an 80/10/10 you can eat about 20 a day tops or else you're going to really mess up your stats.
TIP: walk around your neighbourhood, head for the main strip. If you live in a major urban city (I live in Toronto) you'll have a local greengrocer. I've lived all over Toronto and never been more than a 10 minute walk from one. Buy your fruit and veggies there, for the love of little green apples. DON'T go to your local huge chain supermarket. Here you can easily pay 89c/lb for bananas, 99c/lb if you want organic. I can buy bananas regularly for 39-59c/lb at any one of the three green grocers by my house- and sometimes as low as 29c/lb if they're trying to clear some older ones.
TIP: if you're buying fruit to juice, it doesn't have to be super fancy. It's ok if it's a little bruised. Especially apples- we got a huge stack of enormous apples that aren't the greatest eating texture, but are super juicy and have an amazing flavour when put through the juicer-99c/lb! Compare to our local supermarkets at $1.29-$1.69/lb. Madness.
TIP: buy often. Firstly, you'll get a nice walk to the green grocer every second day. Exercise is happy making. Secondly, you can get stuff that's on sale that's way marked down that will only last a few days in your fridge with impunity- as you'll be eating it within 48 hours or so. Also the green grocer sales often change by day, so you'll get some crazy deals. I got 3 lbs of strawberries for $5.00 this afternoon.
Isn't there a lot of time-intensive food prep involved?
There can be if you choose to make complicated meals, definitely. If making food that replicates cooked food is your bag, expect to spend an couple of hours every day having fun with your food processor and dehydrator! It's good to plan a day in advance of when you want to eat things- the dehydration time of food can be as long as 12-18 hours, or as little as 2. But things also will have to marinate, often overnight. It's no more complicated than making a fancy cooked meal, it's just different and takes some getting used to.
TIP: many many raw recipes online rely really really heavily on nuts and seeds for thickness, richness, creaminess and as a binder. If you eat a lot of fancy gourmet raw meals, be aware that your diet will run very fat-heavy (and more expensive)! Fat is delish and helps bring out the flavours in other ingredients AND, of course, is necessary to the body in moderation. Just be aware that raw does NOT always equal low fat.
TIP: blend things the night before, or in larger quantities and freeze 'em. Dips and sauces and such are always better the next day, anyway. Always make more dip than you'll need.
TIP: always have something going in the dehydrator. You never know when you will want kale chips, flax crackers or zucchini snaps- and 6 hours is a little long to wait for a snack attack.
Of course, you can also grab a plate of fruit or veggies and dip and be fed and full in under 10 minutes! Fruit and veggies must be the only fast food that's not bad for you, haha.
more thoughts to follow as I process this more. Next time I'll ramble about tools you'll need and tools you don't need and are fun to have anyway.
I'm interested in going raw, but isn't it expensive?
NO! I spend literally half as much as I used to spend on food. Far and away the most expensive thing I buy is raw nuts, but I eat so little of those that a small bag goes a long way. Nuts are super delish and good for you, but if you're doing an 80/10/10 you can eat about 20 a day tops or else you're going to really mess up your stats.
TIP: walk around your neighbourhood, head for the main strip. If you live in a major urban city (I live in Toronto) you'll have a local greengrocer. I've lived all over Toronto and never been more than a 10 minute walk from one. Buy your fruit and veggies there, for the love of little green apples. DON'T go to your local huge chain supermarket. Here you can easily pay 89c/lb for bananas, 99c/lb if you want organic. I can buy bananas regularly for 39-59c/lb at any one of the three green grocers by my house- and sometimes as low as 29c/lb if they're trying to clear some older ones.
TIP: if you're buying fruit to juice, it doesn't have to be super fancy. It's ok if it's a little bruised. Especially apples- we got a huge stack of enormous apples that aren't the greatest eating texture, but are super juicy and have an amazing flavour when put through the juicer-99c/lb! Compare to our local supermarkets at $1.29-$1.69/lb. Madness.
TIP: buy often. Firstly, you'll get a nice walk to the green grocer every second day. Exercise is happy making. Secondly, you can get stuff that's on sale that's way marked down that will only last a few days in your fridge with impunity- as you'll be eating it within 48 hours or so. Also the green grocer sales often change by day, so you'll get some crazy deals. I got 3 lbs of strawberries for $5.00 this afternoon.
Isn't there a lot of time-intensive food prep involved?
There can be if you choose to make complicated meals, definitely. If making food that replicates cooked food is your bag, expect to spend an couple of hours every day having fun with your food processor and dehydrator! It's good to plan a day in advance of when you want to eat things- the dehydration time of food can be as long as 12-18 hours, or as little as 2. But things also will have to marinate, often overnight. It's no more complicated than making a fancy cooked meal, it's just different and takes some getting used to.
TIP: many many raw recipes online rely really really heavily on nuts and seeds for thickness, richness, creaminess and as a binder. If you eat a lot of fancy gourmet raw meals, be aware that your diet will run very fat-heavy (and more expensive)! Fat is delish and helps bring out the flavours in other ingredients AND, of course, is necessary to the body in moderation. Just be aware that raw does NOT always equal low fat.
TIP: blend things the night before, or in larger quantities and freeze 'em. Dips and sauces and such are always better the next day, anyway. Always make more dip than you'll need.
TIP: always have something going in the dehydrator. You never know when you will want kale chips, flax crackers or zucchini snaps- and 6 hours is a little long to wait for a snack attack.
Of course, you can also grab a plate of fruit or veggies and dip and be fed and full in under 10 minutes! Fruit and veggies must be the only fast food that's not bad for you, haha.
more thoughts to follow as I process this more. Next time I'll ramble about tools you'll need and tools you don't need and are fun to have anyway.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Day 13: Peas and Love.
I love Mondays- because I have to go to work, but I can also sleep in because I don't start work until 2.
hooray!
Of course this means I don't eat dinner until 21:30, but hey. Them's the breaks.
So I slept in to the decadent hour of 9:30 am. Because I had to eat a bunch yesterday to make up for all the exercise hungers, I was snacking literally until 5 minute before I went to bed. So, I wasn't hungry when I woke up at all, and only made myself some breakfast juice around 11:30.
Using the juicer is fun! I can throw stuff into it until I get a pint of deliciousness. It's kind of like a game. This made a pint today:
4 6" carrots
1 tangelo
1 apple
1 cup strawberries.
It was carrot heavy, but that's what I wanted. It stood me in good stead until I got to work at 2. I guess there was still a lot of yesterday's food still in my system,
Lunch was a raw buffet of a banana, a pear, some more dried apricots (what can I say, they're so good!) and a coconut water.
I didn't want to overeat this evening, so I snacked on sugarsnap peas and the occasional banana and CHERRIES, omnomnom during the afternoon. My energy levels were pretty good all day and my mood was very positive. Getting my vacation pay (WOOOT!) might have had something to do with that! Hiphip!
because I wasn't starving when I got home from work, dinner was a modest smoothie and the last mushroom burger sliced up on the last of the flax crackers. I love finishing up leftovers!
There was also pickles. Loves me some pickles.
Dinner Smoothie!
1 cup almond milk
2 cups spinach
1 banana.
My amazing boyfriend made us a surprise dessert, too. <3
It was pineapple, strawberries and blueberries with raw cocoa drizzle. One decadent serving is only 101 calories!
Life, she is goooooood.
I weighed myself this morning and I was 168.6, I suspect it was all the leftover food from yesterday in my intestines still, as I wasn't really hungry-hungry until around 2.
Here's what I ate today! snack attack
hooray!
Of course this means I don't eat dinner until 21:30, but hey. Them's the breaks.
So I slept in to the decadent hour of 9:30 am. Because I had to eat a bunch yesterday to make up for all the exercise hungers, I was snacking literally until 5 minute before I went to bed. So, I wasn't hungry when I woke up at all, and only made myself some breakfast juice around 11:30.
Using the juicer is fun! I can throw stuff into it until I get a pint of deliciousness. It's kind of like a game. This made a pint today:
4 6" carrots
1 tangelo
1 apple
1 cup strawberries.
It was carrot heavy, but that's what I wanted. It stood me in good stead until I got to work at 2. I guess there was still a lot of yesterday's food still in my system,
Lunch was a raw buffet of a banana, a pear, some more dried apricots (what can I say, they're so good!) and a coconut water.
I didn't want to overeat this evening, so I snacked on sugarsnap peas and the occasional banana and CHERRIES, omnomnom during the afternoon. My energy levels were pretty good all day and my mood was very positive. Getting my vacation pay (WOOOT!) might have had something to do with that! Hiphip!
because I wasn't starving when I got home from work, dinner was a modest smoothie and the last mushroom burger sliced up on the last of the flax crackers. I love finishing up leftovers!
There was also pickles. Loves me some pickles.
Dinner Smoothie!
1 cup almond milk
2 cups spinach
1 banana.
My amazing boyfriend made us a surprise dessert, too. <3
It was pineapple, strawberries and blueberries with raw cocoa drizzle. One decadent serving is only 101 calories!
Life, she is goooooood.
I weighed myself this morning and I was 168.6, I suspect it was all the leftover food from yesterday in my intestines still, as I wasn't really hungry-hungry until around 2.
Here's what I ate today! snack attack
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Day 12:Crackers, Please!
For some reason I just wasn't tired last night. Because of my work schedule, I tend to wake up during the week around 7, so I go to be around 12 to attempt to get a good nights sleep. Last night? Some time around 4 I fell asleep. I think the after dinner snacks' sugars gave me a sugar high that kept me up.
So, I kind of missed breakfast. And my mid-morning snack. And I sort of missed lunch. Well, I had breakfast for lunch. I woke up around 1-2.
However, I had another really, really deep solid sleep with a lot of very active, involved and interesting dreams that were very hard to wake up from. I had no problems getting started this morning-
especially after I had a super-duper juice for breakfast!
Juice This!
2 large carrots
1 orange
1 cup strawberries
1 pear
It came out of the juicer frothy and light and foamy and super good. A+
Go ahead, make one now. I'll wait. I'll have a banana.
....
OK.
It occured to me in the shower that it was really funny that on a raw food diet, I've only had one actual salad this entire time. Then of course I immediately wanted a salad for lunch (which happened around 5) Well, no sooner said than done, and I came up with this beauty.
1 cup baby spinach
1/2 mango, cubed
2T diced cilantro
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup celery
1 mushroom burger patty, cut into strips
sprinkling of dehydrated herbs: parsley, oregano, tarragon.
Dressing: 1T apple cider vinegar, 1T lime juice, 1tsp home made mustard, sprinkling red pepper flakes, pepper.
Problem Solved! (If your problem is not having a delicious salad. Other problems need not apply).
The other day I figured out that raisins are pretty high carb and low fat. Guess who has a new favourite snack on this diet? This girl!! I love me some raisins. Enough that I had a bunch after my salad, and then a bunch with dinner.
For dinner, we decided to walk down and see a movie- a nice 10km round trip walk, with a movie in between. Instead of dinner, we took some snacks to the theatre (We're such rebels!) so I had a banana, more raisins, and some strawberries and blueberries. I vetoed the celery sticks. (CRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCH).
Speaking of crunchy things, I MAKE FLAX CRACKERS! Super, crazy simple except for having to anticipate 18 hours in advance when you would like them. Being on a raw diet makes me want a time machine to sit on the counter next to my juicer, blender, dehydrator and food processor.
2 cups water
2 cups flax meal
any and all spices you'd like.
(I used 2T garlic powder, 2T dehyd onion, some cayenne and 3 diced spring onions).
mix the water and the flax meal and spices, let it sit until it's gelatinous- about 15 minutes or less. Mix in the spring onions, and spread it onto the teflex sheet (s) in your dehydrator, and do at 115 for about 12 hours.
I think I had too much goo, as the initial spread was really thick. If I'd had a second sheet I would have divided it into two. This is why it took so long to dry, for sure. I also very carefully lifted it with a flipper and turned it half way through, as the top was good but the bottom was gooey still.
I tried to work out today, but I was pretty low energy most of the day. The walk perked me up, and I'm going to have more juice which will surely hit that button too. I'll try again tomorrow to life heavy things. My shoulders and biceps are still sore from the few reps I did today. I am pretty much chronically not getting enough protein on this diet, and it shows in this, if nothing else. I'm getting about 5-8% instead of 10, which is really too low. I'm not sure how to rectify this without jacking my fat way too high, since nuts are a good source of protein but way high in fat. I'll have to focus on high protein vegetables this week, I can't do without weight training!!
I weighed myself this morning, and clocked in at 168 lbs. At this rate I'm going to need new trousers.
Here's what I ate today! Cracker Party
So, I kind of missed breakfast. And my mid-morning snack. And I sort of missed lunch. Well, I had breakfast for lunch. I woke up around 1-2.
However, I had another really, really deep solid sleep with a lot of very active, involved and interesting dreams that were very hard to wake up from. I had no problems getting started this morning-
especially after I had a super-duper juice for breakfast!
Juice This!
2 large carrots
1 orange
1 cup strawberries
1 pear
It came out of the juicer frothy and light and foamy and super good. A+
Go ahead, make one now. I'll wait. I'll have a banana.
....
OK.
It occured to me in the shower that it was really funny that on a raw food diet, I've only had one actual salad this entire time. Then of course I immediately wanted a salad for lunch (which happened around 5) Well, no sooner said than done, and I came up with this beauty.
1 cup baby spinach
1/2 mango, cubed
2T diced cilantro
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup celery
1 mushroom burger patty, cut into strips
sprinkling of dehydrated herbs: parsley, oregano, tarragon.
Dressing: 1T apple cider vinegar, 1T lime juice, 1tsp home made mustard, sprinkling red pepper flakes, pepper.
Problem Solved! (If your problem is not having a delicious salad. Other problems need not apply).
The other day I figured out that raisins are pretty high carb and low fat. Guess who has a new favourite snack on this diet? This girl!! I love me some raisins. Enough that I had a bunch after my salad, and then a bunch with dinner.
For dinner, we decided to walk down and see a movie- a nice 10km round trip walk, with a movie in between. Instead of dinner, we took some snacks to the theatre (We're such rebels!) so I had a banana, more raisins, and some strawberries and blueberries. I vetoed the celery sticks. (CRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCH).
Speaking of crunchy things, I MAKE FLAX CRACKERS! Super, crazy simple except for having to anticipate 18 hours in advance when you would like them. Being on a raw diet makes me want a time machine to sit on the counter next to my juicer, blender, dehydrator and food processor.
2 cups water
2 cups flax meal
any and all spices you'd like.
(I used 2T garlic powder, 2T dehyd onion, some cayenne and 3 diced spring onions).
mix the water and the flax meal and spices, let it sit until it's gelatinous- about 15 minutes or less. Mix in the spring onions, and spread it onto the teflex sheet (s) in your dehydrator, and do at 115 for about 12 hours.
I think I had too much goo, as the initial spread was really thick. If I'd had a second sheet I would have divided it into two. This is why it took so long to dry, for sure. I also very carefully lifted it with a flipper and turned it half way through, as the top was good but the bottom was gooey still.
 |
| So Flax-y! |
I tried to work out today, but I was pretty low energy most of the day. The walk perked me up, and I'm going to have more juice which will surely hit that button too. I'll try again tomorrow to life heavy things. My shoulders and biceps are still sore from the few reps I did today. I am pretty much chronically not getting enough protein on this diet, and it shows in this, if nothing else. I'm getting about 5-8% instead of 10, which is really too low. I'm not sure how to rectify this without jacking my fat way too high, since nuts are a good source of protein but way high in fat. I'll have to focus on high protein vegetables this week, I can't do without weight training!!
I weighed myself this morning, and clocked in at 168 lbs. At this rate I'm going to need new trousers.
Here's what I ate today! Cracker Party
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Day 11: Awwww, Puddin'.
My poor body is finally getting used to no caffeine (although I did just subconsciously type 'upset' instead of 'used'. It is to laugh) and I woke up and got kicking this morning without noticeable grogginess. I even got to sleep in this morning, thanks to a midnight walk with the dog (about 5k) that just tuckered her right out!
this is my dog for reference, since I talk about her a lot.
altogether now...awwwwww.
Anyway. I decided to mix it up a little bit and have just a juice, instead of a smoothie for breakfast-
for future reference, this makes exactly a pint. If you like your juice in pints, you're in luck!
1 cup watermelon
1 tangelo
1 cup of whole medium sized strawberries (about 5)
1 cup blueberries.
and I ate the banana seperately. The juice was incredibly invigorating and I could feel it doing me good right away. Thanks, fruit sugars!
For some reason I've been hungry all damned day. Again. I am guessing it's just par for the course with this cleanse- which is so odd for me. In the past, I've associated my cleanses with also abstaining from eating a lot, fasting and such. Being able to shovel fruit and vegetables into my face is pretty much the best. The juice didn't have any almond milk in it , and I suspect that's why I got hungry again so soon. That and walking the dog.
Regardless, I needed a mid morning snack, which looked like 3 figs, a small handful of raisins and a handful of baby carrots.
...
which held me for about an hour, and then I decided to have a smoothie for lunch, since we'd recently re-stocked on spinach. Mmmm. Spinach smoothie.
You know, if you'd told me that I'd be craving spinach smoothies a month ago, I would have looked at you funny. But they're REALLY good!!!
1 cup almond milk
2 bananas
2 cups spinach.
blended well, with some more baby carrots on the side.
I can always tell when my body wants something badly, I'll just touch the glass to my lips and I blink and then I've inhaled the whole damned thing. Thanks, body! Keep up the good work.
a note on almond milk: if you're buying pre-made almond milk, not all brands are created equal. They vary *substantially* in caloric and fat contents, so always read the labels! You can get almond milk as low as 30 calories a cup and as high as 150+. Caveat Emptor.
I had a busy afternoon cleaning the house so I was in the mood for something substantial for an early dinner/afternoon 'snack'. I opted to have another of the mushroom burgers that we had last night for dinner. They are even better the next day; residual over-moisture is gone and you're just left with a nutty, mushroomy taste with spices. Delightful! They're pretty fatty though which was good since I'd had an active morning that continued into the afternoon- more cleaning, a decent walk to replenish our fruit supplies and playing with the dog (and the boyfriend).
I was still holding strong with that mushroom burger when it was dinner time, so I just had some crudite with some dip I made. Most dip recipes are super delicious because they're sneakily high in fat. Nuts, nut butters, oil etc. I'm just looking for something to jazz up my cauliflower florets, and not add a lot of extra anything except flavour.
So, I headed to the fridge for Food Science (!) and ended up with this:
1 zucchini
2 cups diced eggplant
1 cup of dill
2 T garlic
1 T dehyd onion
dash lime juice
pepper
salt
red pepper flakes
Its not bad- It would be richer if, of course, it had some cashews or tahini blended into it. But it has a tangy fresh green taste, is zero fat and zings up the raw veggies so, mission accomplished. The eggplant imparts quite a creamy texture to the dip which is nice!
But after looking at my stats for the day, I realised that I was way too low on carbs so I had to eat some more as a little after dinner snack. WOE IS ME. I whipped up this little number, mint chocolate pudding.
2 bananas
3/4 cup almond milk
1 T raw cocoa powder
2-3 sprigs of fresh mint as desired or mint essence, 1 tsp.
blend and pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes and devour like rabid wolverines. OM NOM NOM.
my energy has been really good all day and my mood has been great. I feel like I got a lot done today, and that always makes me feel super. However, doing this all day has made me hungry all day and I feel a bit like I've spent the whole day eating. Which I suppose is the opposite of a problem, since I do love food. I can imagine that, for others, it could get old pretty fast though.
Here's what I ate today: I thought I saw a pudding cup! I weighed myself this morning and was 168.8lbs.
this is my dog for reference, since I talk about her a lot.
altogether now...awwwwww.
Anyway. I decided to mix it up a little bit and have just a juice, instead of a smoothie for breakfast-
for future reference, this makes exactly a pint. If you like your juice in pints, you're in luck!
1 cup watermelon
1 tangelo
1 cup of whole medium sized strawberries (about 5)
1 cup blueberries.
and I ate the banana seperately. The juice was incredibly invigorating and I could feel it doing me good right away. Thanks, fruit sugars!
For some reason I've been hungry all damned day. Again. I am guessing it's just par for the course with this cleanse- which is so odd for me. In the past, I've associated my cleanses with also abstaining from eating a lot, fasting and such. Being able to shovel fruit and vegetables into my face is pretty much the best. The juice didn't have any almond milk in it , and I suspect that's why I got hungry again so soon. That and walking the dog.
Regardless, I needed a mid morning snack, which looked like 3 figs, a small handful of raisins and a handful of baby carrots.
...
which held me for about an hour, and then I decided to have a smoothie for lunch, since we'd recently re-stocked on spinach. Mmmm. Spinach smoothie.
You know, if you'd told me that I'd be craving spinach smoothies a month ago, I would have looked at you funny. But they're REALLY good!!!
1 cup almond milk
2 bananas
2 cups spinach.
blended well, with some more baby carrots on the side.
I can always tell when my body wants something badly, I'll just touch the glass to my lips and I blink and then I've inhaled the whole damned thing. Thanks, body! Keep up the good work.
a note on almond milk: if you're buying pre-made almond milk, not all brands are created equal. They vary *substantially* in caloric and fat contents, so always read the labels! You can get almond milk as low as 30 calories a cup and as high as 150+. Caveat Emptor.
I had a busy afternoon cleaning the house so I was in the mood for something substantial for an early dinner/afternoon 'snack'. I opted to have another of the mushroom burgers that we had last night for dinner. They are even better the next day; residual over-moisture is gone and you're just left with a nutty, mushroomy taste with spices. Delightful! They're pretty fatty though which was good since I'd had an active morning that continued into the afternoon- more cleaning, a decent walk to replenish our fruit supplies and playing with the dog (and the boyfriend).
I was still holding strong with that mushroom burger when it was dinner time, so I just had some crudite with some dip I made. Most dip recipes are super delicious because they're sneakily high in fat. Nuts, nut butters, oil etc. I'm just looking for something to jazz up my cauliflower florets, and not add a lot of extra anything except flavour.
So, I headed to the fridge for Food Science (!) and ended up with this:
1 zucchini
2 cups diced eggplant
1 cup of dill
2 T garlic
1 T dehyd onion
dash lime juice
pepper
salt
red pepper flakes
Its not bad- It would be richer if, of course, it had some cashews or tahini blended into it. But it has a tangy fresh green taste, is zero fat and zings up the raw veggies so, mission accomplished. The eggplant imparts quite a creamy texture to the dip which is nice!
But after looking at my stats for the day, I realised that I was way too low on carbs so I had to eat some more as a little after dinner snack. WOE IS ME. I whipped up this little number, mint chocolate pudding.
2 bananas
3/4 cup almond milk
1 T raw cocoa powder
2-3 sprigs of fresh mint as desired or mint essence, 1 tsp.
blend and pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes and devour like rabid wolverines. OM NOM NOM.
my energy has been really good all day and my mood has been great. I feel like I got a lot done today, and that always makes me feel super. However, doing this all day has made me hungry all day and I feel a bit like I've spent the whole day eating. Which I suppose is the opposite of a problem, since I do love food. I can imagine that, for others, it could get old pretty fast though.
Here's what I ate today: I thought I saw a pudding cup! I weighed myself this morning and was 168.8lbs.
Let's Get Physical!
This raw cleanse is really working well for my physical fitness!
The morning after I decided to see how many crunches I could do before my abs started cramping (and stopped at 120 because I got tired of counting, not because I got cramped) my abs started to really pop, which shouldn't be surprising.
The surprising this was that I had no muscle ache, either in my abs or my arms, which I had also worked out that day. I had obviously exerted the muscles and toned and gotten new muscle (I build muscle very easily, which is really funny for a long-time vegan. Take that, whey protein!) but I didn't feel like I had done *anything* the day before.
I walk a *lot* during my days at work, and I am constantly up and down the stairs, often carrying heavy boxes. I've noticed in this past week that it seems that I can feel every individual muscle in my legs and glutes as I go up and down the stairs. I'm much more conscious of the movement of the individual muscles and how the are working to move me. It's pretty neat. Also I find myself getting less out of breath during a hike than I used to. I feel internally as if my lower intestines are a little bloated, but when I look in the mirror I'm waaaay flatter through the tummy than I feel. Body dysmorphia is weird.
I'm going to work out again in a few minutes, and we'll see what my body does, this time!
I love experimenting on my body with different diets, cleanses and fasts. It's a great way to learn how your body works, what you as an individual respond best to in terms of exercises and nutrition. Our bodies are an awe-inspiring flesh machine that we have to tinker with. Really, it's the only thing we can completely call our own!
Be fearless in your pursuit of self-knowledge. It's a lot of fun.
The morning after I decided to see how many crunches I could do before my abs started cramping (and stopped at 120 because I got tired of counting, not because I got cramped) my abs started to really pop, which shouldn't be surprising.
The surprising this was that I had no muscle ache, either in my abs or my arms, which I had also worked out that day. I had obviously exerted the muscles and toned and gotten new muscle (I build muscle very easily, which is really funny for a long-time vegan. Take that, whey protein!) but I didn't feel like I had done *anything* the day before.
I walk a *lot* during my days at work, and I am constantly up and down the stairs, often carrying heavy boxes. I've noticed in this past week that it seems that I can feel every individual muscle in my legs and glutes as I go up and down the stairs. I'm much more conscious of the movement of the individual muscles and how the are working to move me. It's pretty neat. Also I find myself getting less out of breath during a hike than I used to. I feel internally as if my lower intestines are a little bloated, but when I look in the mirror I'm waaaay flatter through the tummy than I feel. Body dysmorphia is weird.
I'm going to work out again in a few minutes, and we'll see what my body does, this time!
I love experimenting on my body with different diets, cleanses and fasts. It's a great way to learn how your body works, what you as an individual respond best to in terms of exercises and nutrition. Our bodies are an awe-inspiring flesh machine that we have to tinker with. Really, it's the only thing we can completely call our own!
Be fearless in your pursuit of self-knowledge. It's a lot of fun.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Day 10: You Burger, You Brought 'er.
Learning from my smoothie fail from yesterday, I had a super simple breakfast smoothie of
1 cup almond milk
1 and a bit cups of strawberries
1 banana
1 chunk of ginger.
I love spinach in my morning smoothie but we ran out. Tomorrow morning's mission is a huge restocking of some essentials. (I may take a photo to demonstrate the ridiculous amount of fruit we've been going through).
My mid morning snack was the by-now usual of a banana and some dried fruit (yes, apricots...apparently I am a glutton for delicious punishment!) and some coconut water, and I had another banana about an hour later with some amazing fresh figs. I love figs.
I cheated at lunch and bought a Subway salad. I wasn't nutritionally hungry, I just wanted some filler for my tummy as I had to do some emergency counselling for someone and doing that with low blood sugar is a terrible idea. I also had some more coconut water. I have a total weakness for coconut water-it's zero fat, tastes like a treat, has more potassium than bananas (watch out, bananas!) and is naturally very hydrating. Potassium is good for relieving muscle cramping, so I chug it like it's going extinct around That Time Of The Month but I enjoy it pretty much constantly. You have to be careful to get the stuff that has no sugar added, though, or else it's more-or-less just fancy soda pop. I drink this stuff.
I had a couple more apricots and coconut water for an afternoon snack. I was eating light because of what was to come for dinner!
Dinner was some amazing dehydrated mushroom burgers, served on a lettuce bun with home made guacamole, home made salsa, home made mustard and chopped peppers and cucumbers (not home made). As with all fancier raw foods, these guys were preparation heavy but well worth it. They had a great texture and density although even though with putting in half the amount of oil as they called for they are still quite high in fat (walnuts). Even with eating light I managed to eat waaaayyy too much fat for my carb balance today. If I'm hungry later, I'll have to eat some more fruit to try to balance myself off a bit. Right now I can't *imagine* being hungry, but I've noticed on this raw diet that things move out of my tummy very quickly and I have to eat something about ever 70-90 minutes.
I really feel like I'm getting into the swing of what I can/can't eat to balance my 80/10/10 more or less properly. I know I ate too much fat for dinner this evening, but I wanted a Friday night treat and a burger and pie was too good to pass up. But, honestly, if my idea of cheat food is a home made dehydrated vegan mushroom burger with from-scratch trimmings-well. I have very few problems, then.
I felt quite good all day, even though that counselling session totally aborted my plans for some salon time for myself and I forgot my phone at work so I won't have it for the weekend. I had a slight energy dip in the early afternoon, around 1, where I usually would have some caffeine but it wasn't as bad as previous days. Compared to most Fridays, when I'm a rage beast who can't wait to clock out, today was a cinch.
Here's what I ate today: pie in the sky!
as you can see, I should not have had pie AND burger...but it was the last piece of pie, and I am a weak weak woman when presented with appley-cinnamon-y goodness.
1 cup almond milk
1 and a bit cups of strawberries
1 banana
1 chunk of ginger.
I love spinach in my morning smoothie but we ran out. Tomorrow morning's mission is a huge restocking of some essentials. (I may take a photo to demonstrate the ridiculous amount of fruit we've been going through).
My mid morning snack was the by-now usual of a banana and some dried fruit (yes, apricots...apparently I am a glutton for delicious punishment!) and some coconut water, and I had another banana about an hour later with some amazing fresh figs. I love figs.
I cheated at lunch and bought a Subway salad. I wasn't nutritionally hungry, I just wanted some filler for my tummy as I had to do some emergency counselling for someone and doing that with low blood sugar is a terrible idea. I also had some more coconut water. I have a total weakness for coconut water-it's zero fat, tastes like a treat, has more potassium than bananas (watch out, bananas!) and is naturally very hydrating. Potassium is good for relieving muscle cramping, so I chug it like it's going extinct around That Time Of The Month but I enjoy it pretty much constantly. You have to be careful to get the stuff that has no sugar added, though, or else it's more-or-less just fancy soda pop. I drink this stuff.
I had a couple more apricots and coconut water for an afternoon snack. I was eating light because of what was to come for dinner!
Dinner was some amazing dehydrated mushroom burgers, served on a lettuce bun with home made guacamole, home made salsa, home made mustard and chopped peppers and cucumbers (not home made). As with all fancier raw foods, these guys were preparation heavy but well worth it. They had a great texture and density although even though with putting in half the amount of oil as they called for they are still quite high in fat (walnuts). Even with eating light I managed to eat waaaayyy too much fat for my carb balance today. If I'm hungry later, I'll have to eat some more fruit to try to balance myself off a bit. Right now I can't *imagine* being hungry, but I've noticed on this raw diet that things move out of my tummy very quickly and I have to eat something about ever 70-90 minutes.
I really feel like I'm getting into the swing of what I can/can't eat to balance my 80/10/10 more or less properly. I know I ate too much fat for dinner this evening, but I wanted a Friday night treat and a burger and pie was too good to pass up. But, honestly, if my idea of cheat food is a home made dehydrated vegan mushroom burger with from-scratch trimmings-well. I have very few problems, then.
 |
| The Dehydrated Mushroom Burger in it's Natural Habitat. |
I felt quite good all day, even though that counselling session totally aborted my plans for some salon time for myself and I forgot my phone at work so I won't have it for the weekend. I had a slight energy dip in the early afternoon, around 1, where I usually would have some caffeine but it wasn't as bad as previous days. Compared to most Fridays, when I'm a rage beast who can't wait to clock out, today was a cinch.
Here's what I ate today: pie in the sky!
as you can see, I should not have had pie AND burger...but it was the last piece of pie, and I am a weak weak woman when presented with appley-cinnamon-y goodness.
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