I did it!!

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I feel like my two year old who claps for himself and says, "hooray, I did it!"  But, it's true- the 10 day Raw Food Challenge I gave myself has come to a close as of tonight.  I can proudly say I didn't cheat, not once although the opportunity presented itself on several occasions.  I even bought some mints the other night to have during church and my husband snatched them right up and said, "no- I'm sure these have been heated over 105 degrees at some point and I don't want to be responsible for your downfall."  For his sake, let's call that helping instead of teasing, but he did have a big smile on his face, hmm...


So, here are the results/conclusions I've come to:
1. Eating only raw food is a great way to detox or challenge yourself, but definitely nothing I could make into a lifestyle.


2. There have been several raw food recipes I tried and liked so will use from now on!  Much healthier alternative to some foods.  (Example a flavorful, creamy salad dressing that's delish, made primarily from raw/soaked almonds.)


3. Although not my purpose, did loose 8 pounds and could tell a noticeable difference in how I felt; my body was literally being fueled with pure, raw food and it thanked me!


4. I was surprised by day 9 and 10.  I felt okay, but a little lethargic and unmotivated to eat much of anything.  I think physically it was not really consuming enough calories and it was starting to catch up with me, and mentally it was just being tired of fruits and veggies and longing for some carbs, meat, and sugar.


5. I got exactly what I wanted out of this whole thing which is to prove to myself I had the will power to eat nothing but water and raw foods for 10 days, and to realize that all those little snacks I seem to munch on all day should be consumed sparingly seeing how I don't literally need them.  


Overall, super glad I did it!  Will I try it again?  Maybe.

Half way there!

So tonight marks the official half way point of this raw foods business.  I have to say overall it's not bad, I'm not suffering, and really haven't had any cravings for things I'm not allowed to eat.  The whole point of this was to challenge myself' which did happen last night!  Sunday night is pizza night at our house and it was a little hard to watch the 3 boys enjoy their hot, fresh, delicious, crispy, cheesy pizza.  But hey, it gave me an opportunity to resist and it was a success!  I've had several opportunities to cheat when nobody's looking and can honestly say it hasn't happened once- you're welcome body.  


My point being, it's all going pretty well as long as I don't think about Chipotle's chicken bowl or Pei Wei's honey seared chicken with brown rice..... wait, where am I?  Oh yes, resisting temptation (ah-hem!)  


Half way there pros: I'm feeling great!  My body is being fueled the way it should be and I can really tell a difference!  Cons: I'm trying to remember what food tastes like warm?  


Lastly, my husband opened the fridge and asked what we were having for dinner, then before I could answer he said "oh yeah nevermind, your not eating real food".   We both laughed, and I think I hit him saying, "I'm the only one here eating real food!"  So, must carry on- half way there- 5 days left- you can do it Amanda!  (That was my pep talk to myself).  My next post will be at the end of day 10 and I just hope I'm not crawling to the computer saying "just give me meat, carbs, desserts, and something crunchy!"  We shall see.

Day 1 down, 9 to go.

The taste test

coconut= not yummy

So even though my morning started at 5:30am with my potty training 2 year old using the restroom right next to my bed, I've made it through the first day of my "Raw Food Experiment" and so far so good.  I actually have spent most of the day buying and washing fruits and veggies in prep for the rest of the week.  Thankfully a kind friend let me borrow a few 'eating raw' books with recipe ideas.   I attempted a smoothie from one of the books today and, oh my!  It consisted of coconut milk, the coconut flesh (I don't think it was supposed to taste the way it did), avocado, and greens of your choice and blend.  I guess I don't know what I was expecting, but it be nas-tay!  It wasn't sweet, it wasn't salty, and it was room temp.  Consistency= thick and iffy.   But on a good note I had a delish salad of fresh spinach, sprouts (I'm learning all kinds of benefits of soaked and sprouted foods), red cabbage, lemon juice, pinch of sea salt and cold-pressed olive oil.  And in between I've had lots of fruits and some walnuts as snacks.  

So here's my pros and cons observation as of day 1: Pros- I didn't feel hungry all day or like I was missing out on anything. I don't ever have to worry about burning my mouth on anything. And I felt good eating "living" food- weather mental or physical or both, does it really matter?  Cons- I am preparing my meals separate from cooking my family dinner so it takes extra time.  Also, I need a solution to resolve my desire for a salty crunch food.  Since I don't have a dehydrator I don't think I can satisfy this need straight from nature.  Will let you know how I feel after day 4 which is statistically when you "hit a wall".  Oh, p.s. I'm drinking tons of water too which helps in not being hungry.

Raw Food Experiment

photo courtesy of sproutman.com

So tomorrow morning begins my 10 day will-power test to see what it's like eating nothing but raw foods.  I'm doing it for the sole purpose of challenging myself, but if there is a noticeable difference in how I feel = bonus.  But seriously, can you go wrong eating real, unadulterated, non processed, living food?  Don't think I'm super special yet; first of all 10 days will indeed be a challenge, but it's really not that long and secondly I've chosen this time period in a window on the calendar where we didn't have any committed outings or holidays, or a plethora of other chances to turn down yummy foods.  What is it- Murphy's Law that says as soon as I start this challenge I will be offered $100 to try a new kind of decadent chocolate cupcake?  I also confess I had my husband take us out to dinner tonight so I could enjoy delicious, semi processed hot food one last time.  That actually sounds pretty lame of me, but it's the truth so there ya go.  I've mentally prepared for the next 10 days and am feeling good about it.  Here we go!

You Asked For It!

Well you asked for it and now you have it!  I'm officially a blogger.  I've always enjoyed writing so this seems like a natural outlet for me to share what goes on in my world.  I hope during this adventure I will make you laugh, encourage you, and help you to see that life is far from perfect, but our perspective on each situation is what makes the difference.  So here's to all of you who have told me I should blog and to all of you who didn't say that but wish you did. (FYI#1: There is a good chance that sarcasm will make it's way into several posts).  Enjoy!