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A Day of Serenity (with afternoon update) 18 y
I wish a wonderful, serene day for all of you!
(Photo: a bit of serenity at Mt. Charleston in Nevada)
I stayed out last night until about 4:00 a.m. having fun with Felicia
and a new friend. We went out to dinner (seafood and salad for Fee and
moi), did some walking and a lot of talking, some serious, some silly.
Although I went to bed by 4:45 a.m., I still woke up refreshed by 9.
Tonight I’ll be going to a ”poetry slam,” where I’ll be around a lot of
positive, intellectual energy - something I truly love. I therefore
woke up feeling that this is going to be a special weekend for me, so
instead of immediately ... read more Cleanses and Fasts- Have You Tried One? 18 y
This is a call for your input- I hope to learn from YOU.
Today topic: fasts and cleanses. I
have never done a fast or a cleanse but I’ve been more and more
interested as time goes by. To me, a fast or cleanse is symbolic of a
fresh start, getting rid of the old and providing a clean environment
for the new. I guess that’s sort of a spiritual way of looking at it,
but I also see it as a physical "spring cleaning" of sorts. From what
I’ve heard and read, there are many reasons to do a cleanse or fast,
and just as many methods for accomplishing it. One reader suggested I
try a gallbladder detox/cleanse because of the pains ... read more Back to Reality 18 y
The weekend of partying is over- now, back to the grindstone!
The
weekend is over, but what a fun weekend it was! I think it was pretty
successful. In past days when I spent extended periods of times with
friends I would have eaten hamburgers and fries or barbecued chicken
wings for my main meals, snacked on junk food in between, and drank
Pepsi throughout the day. This time, I took my vitamins daily
(including my molasses), snacked on fruit, raw nuts and vegetables, and
chose healthy foods at the two restaurants we visited. Although the
fish and vegetables were cooked, we asked for olive oil to replace the
butter called for in recipes, igno ... read more Ladies' Night! 18 y
I think I've gained a couple of pounds already!
A
dear friend of mine is staying the weekend, so this has been a weekend
of fun! We’ve spent hours gallivanting around the city and visiting
resorts (for free, of course). Resourcefulness is a necessary skill
when you are a poor student. There is a surprisingly large number of
activities you can do for free or for a nominal fee in Vegas. Sight
seeing is a good example, but we found some very cheap places to have
fun- ladies’ night at a club, a dinner special at a casino restaurant,
and a night club with no entry fee, for a few. I’ve done more
walking these past couple of days tha ... read more An Assessment of My Raw Journey Thus Far 18 y
I've made it past half a year and haven't quit yet!
Roooth
(love the name!) suggested I recap my adventures after seven months on
this raw food odyssey. I thought that was a good idea. For the first time in my
life, thanks to my mostly raw diet, I feel I have almost total control
over my eating. I won’t say 100% control - maybe 98%. I thought I
would take a Body, Mind and Spirit approach to my assessment.
BODY I started 2006 with high hopes of losing weight,
lowering my cholesterol and blood pressure, getting back into the gym
after losing about 100 lbs, and experiencing a general improvement in
all things physical. I’ ... read more Ending My 7th Month Raw 18 y
I hope I start losing weight in month 8!
This morning I seem to have returned to a total of 70 lbs lost- but since I go up and down, up and down, I’m not going to get excited about being 70 lbs down again. I could be eating too many calories to lose 1 to 2 lbs a week the way I’d like to, but I’m unwilling to eat less! Eventually I’ll lose the weight, but it’s just gonna take time.
I have a challenge coming up: a dear friend is coming for a weekend visit, and she is not a vegetarian or a raw foodist whatsoever. I don’t think she even eats sushi. I’m not sure how the weekend will turn out for me foodwise, but I’m not foreseeing ... read more Progress is Being made 18 y
I believe I see a couple of positive changes...
Whew-
I’ve been having trouble posting to this blog due to network and/or
server issues. Now, I’ve got computer problems! Hopefully these issues
won’t cause additional missed blogs in the future. I’ve had a
very good week so far. I’ve made some adjustments by going back to
eating salads daily, and cutting down just a bit on the nuts. I’ve had
no fish this week, but have eaten low-fat cottage cheese for my
protein. In fact, I’ve made cottage cheese my breakfast, eating it
before leaving for work so that I can take my biotin/MSM combo for my
hair. I’ve also cut down on the m ... read more It's Fruit and Cake! 18 y
Goodbye to the Fig Newtons, Pepsi, and whoknowswhatelse!
Here’s a snippet from the video I found of Felicia and me dumping the last of our binge foods on December 31st, 2005. Take a look at that garbage can! The last words, which got cut off a bit, are ”goodbye Fig Newtons, hello 2006!” visit the page The Dirty Deed Is Done 18 y
I survived, with a much greater appreciation for my raw diet
FRIDAY
I had my treat! And before I tell you what I had, let me say that I
can’t believe I used to eat that stuff with no problems! Well, at least
without any immediately noticeable ones, since you can’t call weight
gain, bad skin, high blood pressure and high cholesterol ”no problems”-
ha! Anyway, I decided on Kentucky Fried Chicken (they don’t fool me
with that Kitchen Fresh stuff, by the way). I got a 2 piece dinner with
a biscuit, and a side of wedges and corn on the cob. I didn’t get
anything to drink- I didn’t even want Pepsi, strangely enough. I had
ice cream for dessert, ... read more Tonight's the Night! 18 y
What to eat?
Yesterday while I was at Whole Foods it suddenly occurred to me to look
at some of their offerings for my "girl night out" (God- that sounds
pathetic, doesn’t it?) One of my favorite treats used to be Amy’s
Enchiladas- she makes a line of frozen dinners, with her Mexican ones
being among the best on the market. But I didn’t buy the enchiladas.
It’s been so long since I’ve eaten a boxed frozen meal that the idea of
buying it was... alien. Since
it wasn’t Friday yet, I told myself that I should make myself come out
again if I really want it. Make myself work for it!
In ... read more Back Away from the Spices! 18 y
Rousseau was right!
Cellphone Video: Perusing the aisles of my second home, Whole Foods
I was at my second home today- Whole Foods- looking at the cottage
cheeses. The cheese will replace the salmon I’ve been eating, because I
believe the negative changes I’ve seen in my skin and digestion are due
to the fish. As I looked at the display, my heart sank because I
remembered how much I hated eating this bland stuff while on my Weight
Watchers diet. Nonetheless, I decided on an organic brand that had the
fewest weird and unnatural-sounding ingredients. This brand has a tart
flavor and touts live cultu ... read more Almost Seven Months Raw- Then and Now 18 y
I may be stuck at my current weight, but I have plenty of reasons to celebrate.
(Photo: My blood pressure and pulse reading this week- not bad!)
(Note- I know there’s a typo or two in here but I can’t find them!)
When I first started this blog, I was a pretty sad person. I was tired
of being overweight, depressed that I hadn’t figured out how to keep
the weight off, and was suffering from physical ailments that decreased
the quality of my life. They say that when you start to feel that you
are not making progress in your new healthy habits, it’s good to look
back at where you started. Since I’m thinking about having some
decidedly not-raw treats over the ... read more I Relented... 18 y
I found the biotin. And MSM, too!
I know I said I was trying to get all of my nutrients from foods rather
than from supplements, but I was at the store yesterday and came across
biotin. So many people over the past couple of months have suggested to
me that I biotin or MSM to get my hair to start regrowing that I
finally relented. But will I have the same results they do? This bottle
advertises its use for hair, skin and nails, and incudes MSM along with
the biotin. The vitamins were on sale- get another bottle of vitamins
for half price. Naturally I got vitamin D , since that’s the other bane
of my existence these ... read more Analyzing My Diet 18 y
I got some helpful information from a food analysis site
(photo: ginger-one of the ”world’s healthiest foods”)
I’m
really enjoying the website The World’s Healthiest Foods. Today I used
their ”food advisor,” which is a questionnaire that you answer for
analysis. Although I already knew from Sparkpeople that my diet is too
low in certain nutrients, I like how WHF lays out the information and
advises you on how to correct the deficiencies. It’s like NutritionData
and Sparkpeople with tailored advice. The advisor has you check
from a list your age group, ethnicity, gender and major health problems
(I checked asthma, although I rarely h ... read more Plagued by Sodium and Vitamin D 18 y
Too much of one and not enough of the other!
I’m blogging a bit earlier than usual, so I haven’t hit the gym yet. I
am not feeling well, though- the fiber from those prunes is still
having an effect on me. I had dried fruit again today and really
shouldn’t have, as it made the situation worse. No fruit for me
tomorrow! If I don’t feel well by late evening I’m not going to be able
to work out at all. That’s a let-down, because I really wanted to
establish a workout habit right off the bat.
FOOD
I ate the same old stuff today that I did yesterday, minus those
pesky prunes, of course. But I cut down on the cheese in order ... read more Day Two of the New Plan 18 y
Did I do better than yesterday?
I didn’t do too badly today. I gulped down a couple of tablespoons of
molasses before leaving for work. I skipped the nuts today, sticking to
dried fruit for breakfast: a mix of prunes, figs, apples, nectarines,
and apricots. For lunch I had pretty much the same foods as yesterday,
except I added 2 ounces of fish. Dinner was a repeat of lunch, but with
only 1 oz. of fish, and with the third tablespoon of molasses thrown
in. In the evening I added two tablespoons of dulse flakes to a snack
of taboule to get more minerals and B 12 in.
By the way, I was ill much of the day due to ... read more Great Workout at the Gym! 18 y
(But you won't believe how many calories I ate today!)
The day started out with a minor annoyance, but ended on an up beat. First, I put on the new size 22W pants I’d just bought, only to find they didn’t fit me! I could barely button them, and couldn’t do anything with the zipper. I thought I had lied to all of you about reaching size 22, but then I looked at the size and saw it was a 20W! Whew!! Don’t ask me how that happened. All I know is I had to wear my baggy size 24s today and I was quite displeased about the whole thing.
I ate all my good foods today. I started with Kombucha (mango- very tasty) on the way to work. At the office I ha ... read more |