Raw Week

On Sunday Clark and I decided to go raw for a week.

We packed up the kiddies and visited his family up in western PA over the weekend and during our trek I took a look around our van and silently lamented what a big bunch of garbage eating punks we all were. Then I started to think about life "outside the van." All the chips, frozen pizzas, Chick Fil A, Diet Pepsi, M&M's, hot dogs, etc. etc. etc. Made me quite sick at myself. Life is hectic and busy and sometimes frozen pizzas and Chick Fil A are all you can do at mealtime to save your sanity...

But - I've been wearing out that excuse. I'm tired of feeling tired. I'm tired of my skin breaking out all the time. I'm tired of having lower back pain like a MOTHER. I'm tired of the vicious cycle that carbs and sugar provide... the high and the ridiculous low. And the craving for more. Poor Clark has to contend with NO caffeine too. Since being pregnant with Macho - I swore off that stuff. Been a decaf girl for over 3 years now. Not looking back.

Clark and I are both fairly "lean" people... good genes I guess - because our diet and exercise routine would suggest that we should both weigh over 200lbs. So really, this week isn't about weight loss. It's about hitting "reset" on our digestion, packing ourselves with healthy fiber, fats, vitamins and minerals. It's about more energy and better overall health.

I've done detoxing in the past... In fact, I had a spare one of these in the pantry. So Clark is using that in combination with our raw diet. Since I'm still nursing the little one, I didn't wanna overdo it with a lot of herbal supplements that would pass through to her. So I'm just doing the raw food part of the cleanse.

I didn't read any specific book - or follow any specific plan, per se... Just googled "raw diets" and followed a few links to find out what was "approved" and what was not. YES :: Raw Fruits & Veggies, Uncooked Nuts, Dried Fruits (unsweetened), beans... NO :: Meat, dairy, anything cooked, grains/starches, anything with refined sugars. And I watched a few YouTube videos on some good, healthy recipes.

I have found that when I'm told EXACTLY what and when to eat I begin to obsess about food and thus become ravishingly hungry all the time. It's just my personality to become obsessive about things. So I decided reading a big book would be bad...

Food just needs to be a part of my day - not the focus of my day.

On our way home on Sunday, we stopped at Whole Foods and stocked up on things like, raw cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, kale, spinach, flax oil, spirulina powder, unsweetened coconut, coconut water, dried fruits... and then went to my local grocery store and purchased just about every type of produce they sold.

Here's what my kitchen looked like on Sunday night...

(forgive the iphone photos)

Ummmm... honey? I think we need a bigger fridge.

And we got started making green smoothies, salads and other wonderful raw dishes...

Love Instagram by the way... :)

Macho wanted a "red" smoothie - little did he know there were beets and a carrot in there with his strawberries!!!

This is an adapted recipe from a site I browsed called www.thebestofrawfood.com.

Basically it's a cucumber "boat" filled with fresh guacamole (avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt). I've eaten this twice now and it's AWESOME.

For dinner one night I made this salad... Spinach, red pepper, cucumber, grape tomatoes, black olives. I had some homemade pesto in the refrigerator that I made a couple weeks ago... so I took a scoop of that - added the juice of one lemon and a bit more olive oil and made more of a pesto vinagrette for on top. Sooo delish.

At night I usually make a "green" smoothie for Clark and I. One thing I've learned - don't skimp on the water base (I've been using coconut water)... This smoothie was waaay too thick. And though the flavor was great - the consistency made it really hard to drink. This bad boy was packed with kale, spinach, carrot, avocado, strawberries, blueberries, apple, pineapple, spirulina powder, flax oil and banana... A meal in a cup.

From what I understand... the whole juicing/smoothie thing is great because it takes out the "chewing process." Therefore, the fresh foods are already semi-broken down when they enter your body and the absorption of nutrients happens in like 20 minutes. Ka-chow!

This is what I've been eating for breakfast. And, truly - I've had to stop myself from eating it multiple times a day... Fresh berries, raw nut and dried fruit mix (cashews, almonds, banana chips, sunflower kernels, raisins, cranberries), flax seeds, unsweetened coconut... with rice milk on top.... AHHHH MAZING.

On the other hand...

I have had a few missteps. Like this particular smoothie.

My attempt at a savory "Bloody Mary" style green monster. Celery, tomato, carrot, kale, salt, lime juice, parsley.

Yep - the gag reflex won out on that one and I stuck to crudites and hummus for din-din.

Ahhhhhhh...

 

So... how am I feeling?

PROS::

I think it's pretty amazing how these foods sustain you. I mean, I really didn't have any sugar/carb withdrawl - and I haven't been hungry AT. ALL. That's just plain incredible in my book.

Plus - on days when MK is here watching the kiddies and I'm in my hole working... By 3pm I was usually doing everything possible to keep my eyes open... Probably because I'd had a hot dog and chips for lunch with a Diet Pepsi (caffeine free, of course) followed by some Oreo's or a handful of M&M's....Talk about JUNK right into my trunk.

But now - I cruise right along through the afternoon... no fatigue.

My skin is showing signs of improvement... Another few days and I'm thinking I'll be in better shape there. Being 33 with blemishes is just stupid. Like, enough ALREADY!

And lastly - and this may sound weird... I feel like the blood pumping through my veins is "cleaner." Sounds strange, I know.... But hey, I AM STRANGE!! Haven't you people figured that out yet?

CONS ::

I have had a pretty bad sore throat for the past few days but I'm thinking that's unrelated...

I was SUUUPER bloated last night. You'da thought I had a bun in the oven again. I need to do a little reading on how to combat that issue.

Finally - I need to do a little more research on how to get kale to taste good in the blender. Now that I "know that taste" I'm having more difficulty masking it... Where - the first night I just gulped it down and thought it tasted great because I'd never had it before. I've been saving my spinach for salads becasue I don't think I can do kale with a fork... but that may have to change.

 -----------

My brother and sister-in-law are also inspiring us. They recently purchased a Vitamix and are so in love with it. In their case, they have replaced one meal a day with a green smoothie. They've been doing that for a few weeks now with great results... Liz has offered to write another guest post on this - which I'm really looking forward to!!!

SO folks - have any of you ever done this? I'm really digging it. And I'd love to hear what you've done! Post a comment and let me know!

 

Comments

[B]

Sounds a lot like the paleo diet to me! Aaron and I did that and it's great for a while but your body does need whole grains every once in a while... which is why paleo didn't work for us (specifically me...) Check out the eat for your blood type book (that's an awesome book and shows how each of us is different (duh) and needs to eat for our own body...
And for Kale...
Try Kale chips! They are AMAZING! Just wash and spin... drizzle olive oil on them and a touch of salt if you want (I do) and bake! Satisfies the crunchy, chip craving and is loaded with calcium!

[Erin McCombie]

I'm impressed!

[heidi]

i soooo need to do this! we are on vacation right now with 3 other families and it is a great time, but i really need to detox all the crap i've been eating. my body is screamin' "why are you treating me like a tent???"

i have done a fruit and veggie diet type thing in the past and i must admit, i didn't feel like i was sluggish, had enough energy to run a marathon and really noticed an amazing feel to waking up...now, not so much.

i am looking forward to getting home this weekend and getting out of this rut that i've been in. i started reading this book, the sugar blues, it's really old...it certainly peeked my interest. i just get sortof sad when i think of a life without any sugar...

thanks for the post!!! it certainly is motivating!

[Kirsten J]

First of all: yay for you!!! I'm so impressed with that kitchen counter shot - super healthy stuff :) I've never gone quite to that extreme, but every once in a while I'll stock up on the veggies and some fruit and cut/wash/make it look inviting and it is amazing how quickly it disappears. So easy to buy a bag of chips, and they get eaten just as fast, but the cost and work are well worth it. One of my favorite breakfasts is TJ's frozen brown rice with a dab of parmesan on top. My problem is a serious aversion to the smoothie thing. My family loves them, but I can't handle shakes or smoothies at all. Gag factor?!?!? More than you know. Blechhhh....I watched and read Crazy Sexy Cancer and seriously thought I might just die if I had to drink smoothies to live. Oh! and I second the kale chips - my daughter begs for them and would take them over french fries any day :)

[Katie Pegher]

Ok that does it! Im making the chips!
Thanks for the comment!!!
:)