Post-Raw: Day 3

So it has been three days since I've been off 100% raw and life hasn't gotten easier hahaha. It's great because we got free Mexican food at work yesterday and I could partake in the rice and beans... also today I had a cookie and it was delicious... BUT... I am now constantly worried about what I'm eating. When I was raw, I knew what I was eating was good for me and that I could basically eat as much of it as my body wanted, so my mind was free of that. But I still have weight to lose, so now that I'm free and can eat anything... the world has opened itself to me, while I try to close myself off to it haha. Here's what I ate today:

• Breakfast: Green Smoothie
• Snack: Brought grapes, but they tasted terrible, so I ended up eating some peanut butter/chocolate stuff. Unplanned Sin #1.
• Lunch: A whole-wheat wrap with greens, cabbage, rice and beans, an orange, then Unplanned Sin #2, I got a strawberry cheesecake cookie... oh man.
• After lunch- my co-workers tried to get me to eat an ice cream sandwich, but I had already snuck in two delicacies... I couldn't do it to myself.
• Then I went swimming!
• From 4-5 I had coconut water, some left-over marinated veggies, and 4 or 5 stuffed grape leaves

All-in-all, it was fairly wholesome, but I really wanted to be vegan and as all-natural as possible... and that peanut butter/chocolate stuff and cookie do not fit that description lol. In fact, I like... couldn't get out of those moments without eating one. *sigh* Food has control over me again!

And, today was great, but the first two days not being raw I was not doing so well lol. I got brain fog and was so tired that I couldn't function for awhile. The first day it made sense, lack of sleep- second day, no excuse. And my ADD was just terrible today- I got really overwhelmed in a grocery store and a nail salon. 

My body and mind are definitely reverting back to old ways already- which is lame. On the other hand, my skin has continued to improve and my weight is looking good. I am also super enjoying exercise. So the good and the bad? Just need to find that balance.

Here's to the balancing act!

Day 30- 1 MONTH!

Date: April 30, 2012

Weight: 137

Daily Goals:
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ü  Meditation/Yoga/Journal: HAD to meditate this morning- my mind was everywhere
X  Daily Physical Exercise: But there's no time!

ü  Limited Television: No time for this either :-)

X  Clean House: Heck to the no. I had other bat crazy mess on my mind.

ü  Of Course, Stay Raw: Hahaha for the most part! Of all days...
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Daily Breakdown: IT'S THE LAST DAY! I can't believe it! An entire month raw. If you had asked me to do this three months ago, I would've told you that an entire DAY raw would be a feat. The bug caught me, though. It caught me and wouldn't let go until I caved and tried the whole raw thing, and wow... it happened! It's amazing how everyone's experience was throughout the month... which will all be featured in the viral video I will be making :-) Now... when that will be finished, nobody knows because I am one busy bee.

Not sure if I posted this on here or not... actually I'm pretty sure I did, but I landed that job in New York! And now, making preparations for that has been my life. I have very little room in my life for anything else, but I do need to dedicate a day to making this video happen or else it never will.

Here's what I ate today:
Breakfast: Nothing frozen, so I just ate two bananas and some strawberries
Snack: Grapes that gave me freaking acid reflux. What?? I've barely had any acid reflux problems since I've been vegetarian. I am actually starting to think that it's the workouts I've been doing, because I had some problems with it yesterday as well. Oy vey.
Lunch: Two oranges that SUCKED with acid reflux. The acidity did not help. This is when I caved. I was in so much pain from acid rushing up my esophagus, that I ate a piece of a peanut butter cookie. It was out of SHEER desperation for comfort! I swear! Not trying to cheat, but there was nothing else.
Snack: I was starving, so half a bag of kale chips, a medjool date, and a raw brownie.
Dinner: I wasn't hungry at all, but we were having our last potluck, so eating was pretty necessary. I brought sweet potato french fries with adobo "mayo". Yvonne made a bunch of marinated veggies and fruit salad and then Jackie stuffed dates with almonds and rolled them in coconut :-) It was a fairly simple meal, but it was great to just have conversation.

All of my thoughts about this month are in this blog and on the video that I will be putting up eventually. In the end, though, I have concluded two things:

1. I have a love-hate relationship with raw. I love how I feel/look/etc... I hate all of the work/money/social alienation. When it becomes more mainstream, it will be a lot more enjoyable.

2. This entire month has been a positive experience... even the "down" parts were overall positive. I truly believe that eating raw can lead to optimum health and even stave away cancer and disease... and I am going to incorporate a LOT of it in my life.

Right now I am trying to figure out the balance of raw-vegan that I can keep in my life while being able to afford it and actually having the time to prepare foods. That and I don't want to start eating regular foods and gain weight because I inadvertently add extra calories. Finding the balance is going to be the new struggle... but overall I am glad to be another force of health in this world :-) There's a fairly silent revolution going on and its followers are getting louder and louder. Soon, I hope that raw foods become the main staple in our lives to replace the fried, processed mess that they pass off as "okay". That time is coming :-)... Oh man this is a lame conclusion... I am obviously very tired hahaha.

Okay off to bed.

Here's to healthier, happier, lives!

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Raw Sweet Potato Fries and "Mayo"

Day 28- On the go!

Date: April 28, 2012
Weight: 137

Daily Goals:
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ü  Meditation/Yoga/Journal: One hour of yoga first thing!

ü  Daily Physical Exercise: Zee joga.

ü  Limited Television: Watched two episodes of Adventure Time- best show ever.

ü  Clean House: Was out all day!

ü  Of Course, Stay Raw: Traveled Raw!
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Daily Breakdown: Again, a ridiculous day, so I don't really feel like posting. You know what the crazy thing is- at first I kind of kept this blog/journal to stay sane during this experience, but now being raw is so habitual that I don't even feel like what I did today was a big deal! It was just a day like any other day! Of course, today, I was in Harrisonburg seeing my brother in a show, so I had to pack all of my food ahead of time and spent the entire day traveling. Here was Bebhinn on the go:

Breakfast: Green Smoothie: Spinach, frozen bananas (maybe 1 1/2?), a bunch of strawberries, some bits of pineapple, honey, and Vitamineral Green, ya'll.
Snack: Grapes. Uh DOY
Lunchish: The family ate at Buffalo Wild Wings- when the waitress asked me what I wanted, I told her, "Just a knife please!" She quickly shot back, "You're gonna eat a knife?" I told her that would be too expensive, but if she could spare, I'd like a small plate too. ... ... And this is going to be my life until raw becomes mainstream... so for a very long time haha. Eventually she brought me my "lunch" and didn't scoff when she saw my apples with nut-butter mix. She actually just told me an anecdote about her roommate trying to go vegan, but liking pasta too much. You can probably catch the holes in that story :-) She was sweet, though, so it was nice to not have someone role their eyes at me haha.
Dinnerish: Everyone ate at Outback and told the server that I have "special dietary needs", so I wasn't bothered haha. My appetizer was the new batch of kale chips I made! They turned out better, but I thought they could actually use a bit more flavor... so I'll just have to try again! My second course was an orange and then my main dish was a spinach salad with my spinach dip. I have had my fair share of greens today, I'll tell ya that much. I'm actually feeling pretty bloated after eating so much in a meal haha.
Car ride home: An orange to get the taste of garlic off my breath.

Effects: Interesting effect noticed! My brother asked me if things started to taste differently since I've been raw... at first I told him that I hadn't noticed anything, but then remembered that the water from our faucet has tasted like mold to me lately. My father hadn't noticed, so something with my pallet was able to pick that up. Also, I basically can't stand many non-organic fruits anymore because they just don't taste like anything to me... I have to get organic in order to enjoy them. I had that to a degree before, but it IS even stronger now. I guess my tastes have changed! That and I am absolutely craving things like my morning smoothies and the apples. I gotta say- I love being raw!

Here's to trying to not be obnoxiously healthy...

Day 27- Whistle While You Work

Date: April 27, 2012
Weight: 137

Daily Goals:
------------------------

ü  Meditation/Yoga/Journal: Meditated this morning... was going to do yoga, but sought revenge on the alarm at  4am

ü  Daily Physical Exercise: Body Pump and Body Combat at the gym (making up for yesterday!)

ü  Limited Television: No time! I'm a busy bee.

ü  Clean House: Again, after myself in the kitchen... *fwew*!

ü  Of Course, Stay Raw: LOVING. IT.
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Daily Breakdown: Oy- I am exhausted, so I'll try to keep this short and sweet. Yesterday I received amazing news: I have been accepted as a teaching fellow with New York City Public Schools this fall and will be working in a low-income community toward closing the achievement gap in their education system. It is going to be a wonderfully rewarding job, but a stressful one at that- so as you can imagine, I am wired UP. I had absolutely no time to write yesterday because I was trying to get my mind and life in place to move in a month-and-a-half.

Lately, though, when it comes to raw I have, number one, been enjoying the hell out of myself. Everything in life is easier except for one thing: food preparation. I feel as though I spend every free minute uncooking in the kitchen. Between thinking ahead to soak the nuts/seeds, to cutting all of the fruits and vegetables, to washing and drying my own greens, to finally cleaning up all of the equipment. I mean, you gotta use food processors, blenders, dehydrators, yadda yadda, for every recipe hahaha. It is grueling. There's hardly such a thing as convenience food when you are obsessed with variety. For folks who just do raw like eating fruit as fruit and nuts as nuts, life is EASY. For those of us wanting to make chips, dips, wraps, and whatnots- life gets expensive and time is always crunched. Stressed out, but also enjoying my proficiency in the raw kitchen these days!

Here was my day:
Breakfast: Out of greens, so just a regular smoothie + Vitamineral Green! Two bananas, pineapple, and agave nectar.
Snack: Of course! My new/old obsession: grapes.
Lunchtime Meal: Two oranges
2:00 meal (seems to be my favorite every day): Tried to eat the garlic kale chips I made yesterday, but they were disgusting. I made too much flavoring for too few chips. Ick. Making them again tonight, so we'll try em out tomorrow morning!
I worked out!
Post-Workout Snack: Another orange (mostly to get rid of the remaining garlic taste in my mouth...)
Evening Meal: Small spinach salad with shredded carrots and cabbage + some of my spinach dip
Not hungry for dessert, but very focused on preparing food- as always.

Effects: I'm looking thinner, my clothes fit wonderfully, and I am feeling more confident for it. It's like I am gaining myself back. For awhile, I had been so self-conscious that I couldn't let loose and just be me, now that my mind isn't focused on my muffin top or clouded by a caffeine-induced haze... my personality is free. Well, not completely. I think I will feel a LOT better once I lose 15-20 lbs in all, but for now... the world is just a brighter place to live in. I have to continue being mostly raw because this just feels too damn good. It's just too... damn... good.

Here's to SLEEP! G'NIGHT!
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Raw Garlic Kale Chips Recipe

Day 25- You say you want a revolution...

Date: April 25, 2012
Weight: 138... whoooommmp

Daily Goals:
------------------------

ü  Meditation/Yoga/Journal: Meditated this morning! Zen! 

ü  Daily Physical Exercise: Insanity video after work-mini

ü  Limited Television: Busy, busy, busy

ü  Clean House: Again, cleaned up after myself in the kitchen haha

ü  Of Course, Stay Raw: 100%!
----------------------------

Daily Breakdown: Wow! Today has been zoom-zoom all over the place. Being raw takes up some TIME because there's no such thing as hitting up the drive-thru for that quick bite of raw burger. Though I have been meaning to try a raw burger recipe...

I know there were a million things on my mind to discuss today, but I spent the evening uncooking for a friend who really needed some healthful camaraderie today and writing folks back-and-forth about their own paths to health! After yesterday's nay-sayers bit, I got a lot of good responses from friends all-over who are doing their own thing to be more mindful of what they eat. Anything from those currently trying to be vegetarian in not-so-supportive households, to those now eating raw for two meals a day, to even a friend who has decided to be 100% raw/juicing  for an entire week. It takes time to relearn health from what it has become in the mainstream public. If you simply add more fruits and vegetables to your diet then you've begun to heal your body and you will feel the difference! Kudos to all those free-thinking health nuts out there!

Here's my day, ya'll:

Breakfast: Green smoothie with SPINACH (because turns out that nasty smoothie the day before had been made with turnip greens. Oh gravy that was... that was unbearable.), 1 banana, 1/2 cup of bluebz, 1/4 mango, 1/2 lime, agave nectar, and, you guessed it, Vitamineral Green.
Shhhhhnack: Grapes. Mmmmmmm :-)
Lunch: 3/4 mango, orange, another orange
Insanity FITNESS.
Shhhhhnack numero dos: mushed banana with dried cherries, coconut, cinnamon, and agave nectar
Dinner: Amazing little friend-date with one of my closest allies on this path to alternative living- Lizz! We had raw stir-fry, veggies with spinach dip, guacamole cabbage rolls, and another batch of those super awesome brownies. All of those recipes can be found in earlier posts! Just did what I knew :-)

Congrats to all of those who have recently made some sort of conscious change in their eating behaviors... We are one sexy, growing community and it's nice to have you as a part of it!

Effects: Well. It's become clear to me that I am allergic to almonds. Not sure if I've mentioned that here in this blog yet, but I am hahaha. Whenever I eat my beloved apples dipped in raw almond butter, half of my lip doubles in size! Soooo... needless to say I'm going to keep eating it hahaha... until May, when I'm switching back to organic peanut butter. The raw stuff is better for you, but I have an allergic reaction and it's a little pricey, so I won't feel too guilty about making that change next week.

Also, as predicted, those pounds came back. Those sneaky little buggers. Whatev- my pants are baggy and people are telling me that I look good, but they can't figure out why. It's cause I'm healthier ya'll. Health-ee-er. Got a spring in my step and vitamins in my system!... That's the spirit...

Here's to the conscious eating revolution!

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Oh! And I didn't try any new recipes today, but to just give you all a little nugget of awesome inspiration- here's the trailer for the documentary Raw for 30 Days:

Day 24- Nay Sayers

Date: April 24, 2012
Weight: 136

Daily Goals:
------------------------

ü  Meditation/Yoga/Journal: Plus some!

ü  Daily Physical Exercise: Moved around ALL day

X  Limited Television: I was exhausted when I got home from work

ü  Clean House: Cleaned somebody else's house...

ü  Of Course, Stay Raw: Mhmmmmm!
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Daily Breakdown: So firstly, I finally woke up and did some personal journaling this morning... I open my book and what do I find? $40! Apparently, the universe was happy to see me come back to my soul work haha.

Here's what I ate:
Breakfast: Made a smoothie that tasted like ... machinery... I think the pineapple was bad. So I tossed that and ate a banana, an orange, and some nasty blueberries. Not the most positive start to the morning, but I didn't let it get me down :-)
Snack: The usual suspect: grapes.
Lunch: Fruit salad from dinner last night!
Snack: In starvation mode, I did my apple slices with almond butter/cinnamon/raisin/agave nectar mix and thoroughly enjoyed it. Wanted some more food, though, so had a little bit of leftover Radish/Cucumber/Apple Salad as well :-)
Dinner: "Stir-fried" veggies from Noueveau Raw on top of spinach. Then ate some grapes to mostly calm the halitosis left from dinner haha.

At work today, we ate lunch a little early, so I was starving by the time we left and I made the mistake of mentioning my hunger status out loud. One of my (truly) beloved and well-meaning co-workers commented, "Well, if you weren't just eating fruits and vegetables!"... And I know that's how everybody thinks. Just about everyone I encounter on this diet thinks of me as doing something extreme and completely unhealthy/unnatural for the body, but I just have to look at it from a completely opposite angle. What's more extreme? Eating "food" that has been manufactured in a factory to the point where you don't even recognize half of the ingredients or the food that is naturally found on earth to be consumed and that provides all of a person's vitamins and minerals? On the contrary- I don't think that I am being deprived- I think that the majority of Americans are being deprived of the proper nutrients their body needs and that corporations/the government/ you name it have been misleading us all in what is actually healthy. It's sad when something like Quaker Stila Cookies are considered healthy and real fruit is extreme.

Oh and, when I got home, I ate more and was not starving. That's the beauty of being raw... just eat when you are hungry and keep going until you aren't anymore haha.

Effects: As predicted, I woke up and that magical 10th pound was gone and I'm back at 136. No worries, that's the way weight works and I'm not going to freak out about it. That'll be the day, though, when I can stay BELOW 135. Woop! Hmm... let's see, my skin was the worst today than it's been basically all month. We'll see how that plays out. And, I'm going to say it- I have noticed an improvement in my work ethic since I've been raw! I'm just better at my job and in a better mood. Very interesting! I'm not sure exactly what that's due to, but I am happy to be of better service to those I help.

Here's to not letting the negativity get me down!

Day 23- Did someone say brownies?

Date: April 23, 2012
Weight: 1!3!5!!! What?!?

Daily Goals:
------------------------

X  Meditation/Yoga/Journal: No, apparently I'm only capable of this on Tuesdays

X  Daily Physical Exercise: Planned it, didn't have time for it.

?  Limited Television: Em....

ü  Clean House: Cleaning up after myself in the kitchen was enough

ü  Of Course, Stay Raw: Big time!
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Daily Breakdown: So, first off... I know this is for the effects, but let's get real: I have officially lost 10 pounds!! What?? It's only been three weeks! Here's the deal though, first week, I lost 7 lbs- 5 lbs of that at LEAST was toxins being sent out the tube... if ya know what I mean... Then for two weeks I didn't lose a single pound: frustrating. Now, in two days, everything's turned back around! All of a sudden, three pounds just disappeared! I thought for SURE that I would wake up today back at 138, but no... it just went lower. Now after tonight's dinner, I'm back to thinking that about tomorrow... I am not attached to this weight loss. But... okay I'll save the rest for "effects", but I'm just way too excited.

Here's what I ate!

Breakfast: Green Smoothie with two frozen bananas, a pineapple wheel, half a package of blueberries, some of those greens my father bought me that weren't kale (but mixed in better with the smoothie...), Vitamineral Green and agave nectar. Delish.
Snack: NONE cause I was caught up in traffic court for 3 hours. I was so grumpy without having had food in 4 hours (at that point) I'm fairly certain I came across menacingly to the judge. All went in my favor, though, I guess haha.
Lunch: Leftovers! Veggies dipped in spinach dip and cabbage rolls dipped in guacamole haha. So good.
Snacks: Just ate constantly all afternoon- I was famished. Grapes, an orange, dates, and gnoshed as I unbacked some brownies for dinner with the girls!
Dinner: At Yvonne's:
- Strawberry salsa wraps
- Cucumber salad (dressing was lemon juice and salt... something simply like that)
- Fruit salad
- Another stir fry! That's like our staple now haha.
- And the brownies I made!

We feasted and all got our hair cut, so we're just going to look like all new people by the end of this video.

Updates:
- Tina folded and is no longer raw :-( And then there were three. But she has added more raw foods to her life which is a HUGE step in the right direction. I'm impressed that she made it this far having had it sprung on her last minute.
- I was made aware that agave nectar is one of the most ridiculously processed foods. Will look into that a little more...

Effects:
- My everyday pants fit better than they did when I bought them
- I fit into the clothes I bought in September again!
- Constantly feel lighter
- BMs look much better and come at regular intervals haha.
- When I'm around people eating the SAD Diet (Inform Yourself), I find myself craving what they are eating. But when I'm alone without all of those sensory/addictive factors overwhelming my system... I can actually hear what my body wants... and that's usually more fruits and vegetables! I am CRAVING them lately. What an awesome feeling.

Here's to permanent health... this is the way.
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Raw Brownies Recipe (Now calling them Medicinal Brownies. They're raw! They're good for you! eeeeeat.)

Alterations:
1. I tripled the frosting recipe
2. I used brazil nuts instead of pecans cause that's what I had...
3. Definitely used the coconut butter (not oil) and avocado- they made the texture incredible!
4. The frosting is RIDICULOUSLY good! My father has even requested that I make more and he kind of thinks this whole raw thing is nuts. Yum, yum!