A Green Smoothie Day

Today was a green smoothie day! I had one for breakfast and one for dinner. It always makes me feel good to eat good. Sometimes I think I am really hungry and that what really sounds good is a slice of pizza or an egg sandwich, but then I drink my smoothie and find myself fully satisfied. There are times when I make a deal with myself that I can eat whatever I think I am craving if, and only if, I drink my green smoothie first and find that I am still craving it. It always works.

The first was a spinach, mango, banana, orange. The second was kale, young coconut water and meat, orange and banana. I had a salad with dried cranberries, blueberries, figs, and pistachios on it. I realize I haven't been writing a lot about what I have been eating lately. I guess it is because I am getting so used to eating this way, that I don't think of it as being something different anymore. I did cook for the kids and Wayne today. They had roasted red potatoes with rosemary and garlic, black beans, and sugar snap beans. Oh, and I have been meaning to write about the pizza crusts that I FINALLY got around to making -- they turned out great! I have eaten part of one, but tomorrow night I m making homemade pizzas with them. Emma and Wayne liked it, and Jake thought it was okay. I a eager to try the whole pizza.

Got my Bliss On!

Today I finished my Christmas shopping. The kids and I went into town to finish up and I realized that we were near Bliss Raw Food Cafe' so we went there for lunch! It was so GOOD! I had coconut kale enchiladas. I know, it sounds not so good, but it was delicious! Even Jake liked it! Jake got a Vietnamese Pho Soup, and Emma ordered a Margarita pizza. We split some brownies for dessert. They put frosting on their brownies which makes them very chocolaty -- I need to learn how to make the frosting.

We wrapped presents all afternoon. One person would have to go out of the room so we could wrap their presents and then we would switch. Our children buy Christmas presents for us and each other with their own money so they get excited just thinking about each others' reactions will be when they open the present they gave them. Jake even adopted his own angel from the Salvation Army tree this year. They are like other children in that they would much rather spend my money than theirs, and complain about how expensive things are and if I would only give them 3 more dollars they could buy something really cool. However, it is good for them to stick to a budget, and to realize that it is not how much you spend that matters.

Raw Ethical Eating

Tonight I made my first raw pie. I don't know why I have waited so long because it was so easy and delicious! It has always intimidated me a little bit to try a pie. I should really say, my mom and I made chocolate cream pie. The crust was made from macadamia nuts, dried pineapple, and dates. The filling was raw cocoa nibs, a young coconut, coconut butter, dates, and vanilla. Then we froze it it so it would set (we didn't wait quite long enough, but it did not matter that much) and topped it with fresh raspberries.

We also made raw "fried" rice, vegetable sushi, and a seaweed salad. It all made for a very good dinner. I think my dad was surprised. He was kinda hanging around the kitchen with his lip curled up a little bit as we prepared it, but when he tasted it he liked it, and even said he thought he could get used to eating like this (as long as he could occasionally have a little meat). I think that would be great for him.

A high raw diet is not for everyone, but I do think that upping your raw intake will benefit almost everyone! The key is to listen to your own body and be sensible. When I first started eating a raw diet, I did crave some things, but the longer I stuck with it the less cravings I had. Now that I have learned so much about food and the food industries I don't think I could ever eat meat or poultry again. It doesn't even sound good.

I did not start eating this way for ethical reasons, largely because I was totally ignorant of how my food got on my table. However, eating raw has opened my eyes and mind to many things I did not expect when I began. Ethical eating is increasingly becoming a large part of why I eat what I eat. Some good books to start your own food education are Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (she is not a vegetarian, but is an ethical consumer), and Food, Inc. (also a film). Just be prepared, once your read or watch them it will change how you view your meals.

Good food, good books, good music, GREAT company!

We took parents to Bliss tonight. Actually, I guess you could say that they took us -- they wanted to treat since it was my birthday last week. It was so very good! The new menu is not up yet, but they do have a couple of their new dishes available. My mom had spaghetti and "meatballs," my dad had margarita pizza, I had rawsagna, and Wayne had rawko tacos. We all tasted each others' meals and everyone had a delicious meal, as usual! For dessert my mom and I split an orange persimmon sheezecake that was so very good! I have got to learn how to make some of these desserts! Wayne and my dad split a white chocolate one, and it was also good, but ours was the bomb! Wayne and I both had a Chocolate Bliss elixir, Dad had Hemp Horchata, and Mom had Minty Hemp. They were impressed.

Miranda, one of the chefs, was there tonight, and she was so nice and friendly. She chatted with us about why she went raw in the first place (to look better) and all of the benefits she received from being raw (health) that help her stay raw. She said, "I am no longer addicted to my food." I think that is so true! I did not realize how addicted to my Standard American Diet I was until I started eating raw foods. Sugar and flour (white stuff) were the worst culprits and I did not realize the hold they had on me until I tried to eliminate them. Now, I enjoy and love my foods without feeling like I NEED them. When I finish eating somewhere like Bliss I feel happy, fulfilled, and healthy, not full, bloated, and full of gas. I also feel good about myself. I no longer think, "Gosh, I shouldn't have eaten that," or "I feel so fat," or "I can't believe I ate all of that."

After dinner we went to Half-Price Books, one of my favorite stores! It was fun just to prowl around by myself -- no kids. It is neat to look at all of the books. I got some books for school -- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and some critical thinking books. We also got a couple of CDs, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. Good food, good books, good music, great company -- what more could I ask for?

Thirty-six and Counting!

Today was the big day -- I am now 36 years old. I can't believe it! I don't feel 36 years old, and thanks to my new found health, I don't look 36 either! Emma told me that I look much younger than other moms (I love that child!). Seriously though, it is not really anything about "how" I look; it is about feeling comfortable in my skin. It is about being happy and able to do and participate in all of the things I want. It is about feeling confident in myself and good about my choices.

Speaking of choices, I am posting pics of everything I ate today. Many of you ask what in the world I eat all day, so here one days worth. For breakfast I had a smoothie with kale, pineapple, coconut, and banana. For lunch I had a salad made with butter lettuce, raw cashews, strawberries, and blueberries. The dressing was a little olive oil and some apple cider vinegar ( not 100% raw, but pretty darn close). For dinner I had some raw salads from Whole foods (one was broccoli, dried cranberries, purple onions, and raw cashews and slivered almonds; one was julienned veggies with a little olive oil and some herbs; one was cucumbers with purple onions and dill) I also has a raw food bar made by Go Raw for a snack. I love these bars, and they are the only bar I have found that is 100% raw. They are also very yummy! There is only one thing I ate that is not pictured, it was a raw chocolate tart from a local company called Hail Merry! It was my "birthday cake," and I was so excited about eating it, that I forgot to take a picture of it -- Sorry! Take my word for it, it was delicious! Jake and Emma thought I was joking when I told them it was 100% raw because it was "the BEST chocolate cake they ever had."

The other REALLY cool thing that happened to me today is that Beatrice Johnston from http://rawpathways.com interviewed me for her blog. I am so honored! She is so inspiring and the fact that she wanted to interview me is truly humbling. She will be posting the interview soon, so watch for it! Her blog is excellent, and I am sure you are going to love it! So, her website is tonight's helpful site -- make sure to check it out! Beatrice has been a vegetarian for 23 years and currently eats a high raw diet! She continues to make choices in her life that promote her health, happiness, well-being, and relationships with God and others. She is very inspirational!!!

Nice to see my little brother

My little brother, Ed, is in town on business this week and this evening the kids and I got to spend a little bit of time with him. It was so nice to see him! I think he was surprised to actually see "in person" how much weight I have lost (about 35 pounds now) and how much healthier I look. He came back to the house with me and we went through my pantry so I could show him all of the foods I have on hand every day compared to what I had when I was eating a SAD diet.

One common misperception is that eating raw is hard. It is not. Granted, some things can be complicated to prepare, but only because they are different than what we are accustomed to preparing. However, I would never have made mom's home made lasagna on a school night when I ate a SAD diet; likewise, I don't make a difficult raw dish on a busy school night either. The biggest and hardest change that one has to make on a raw food diet is to change their mind about what they are putting in their body. The rest is easy! What could be easier than fruits and veggies? I find that green smoothies are one of the easiest things in the world to make -- throw it all in the Vita Mix and presto, 15 seconds later I have dinner. Last night I spent 15 minutes I would have spent waiting for water to boil julienning zucchini and dicing tomatoes. I literally had dinner on the table in 15 minutes -- that was almost unheard of on a SAD diet!

Anyway, my brother looked really good and it was nice to be around someone in my family. Sometimes I feel so far away from them all and I truly miss them. It was fun to sit around the kitchen table and have the kids want to tell him everything they are learning in school, show him all of their pets (we have 2 birds, 3 hermit crabs, 2 frogs, and 2 dogs so that takes a while), and want him to play with all of their toys. The kitchen table can truly be a magical place!

They were eager to tell Uncle Ed everything about their lives while we were at the table. Since I home school and I am a "type A" personality I sometimes wonder how much the kids are really digesting what they learn. I worry about whether or not I am getting through to them, or if they really get what we are studying. It was wonderful to hear them so excited about the things they have been working on in school. They were reciting latin words and derivatives, commenting on the geography of the Middle East, and asking him if he wanted to try one of their Raw Revolution Bars. It made me feel really good about teaching them and about being home with them. I am so glad we were able to spend some time together. It was good for my soul!

The BIG 3 - 0hhh

Today I hit the big 3....0! No, I am not 30 years old -- that was quite some time ago. I have lost 30 pounds since I started eating raw (about 4 months). I am really excited! When I began eating a raw diet losing weight was not my primary goal. Rather, I wanted to heal my body. That being said, I believe that losing weight has helped me heal my body. It is no longer under added stress, and losing weight (that doctors told me I would just have to live with because of my thyroid) has boosted my confidence and energy levels.

For two years after my surgery my primary complaint to my family was that I felt as if my surgery aged me ten years. I felt sluggish and tired all of the time. My medical complications and the medicines I had to take for them made me feel sick and sometimes, even in pain. I was not happy. When I looked in the mirror, my image of myself did not match what I saw and I felt disconnected from my body. I felt lost in my own skin.

Today, when I look in the mirror I see me! Not only do I feel like I my age again, I feel 10 years younger than my age! Tonight I am celebrating the restoration of my mind, body, and spirit!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Today is my mom's birthday! She is 63 and gorgeous! About a week and a half ago she and my dad were in line at the grocery store with their cart full of fresh fruit and vegetables. The lady standing next to her was looking at her cart and finally asked, "what are you going to do with all of that stuff?" My mom told her that she made smoothies with it (she and my dad have been enjoying raw smoothies for a few months now, and have started eating raw --not 100%, but a good deal -- in the last month). The lady asked her if they used that smoothie powder to make their smoothies. My mom laughed to herself and said no. Then she explained how they make the smoothies with banana and spinach and agave nectar, or peach\mango\ and greens\ with agave, and how they just experiment with different fruits and veggies. The lady commented that was pretty neat and then looked at my mom and dad and said, "Well, I don't know what all you are doing, but keep doing it --you both are glowing!"

They felt so good! A perfect stranger told them they were glowing! I am so glad that my parents are healthy and happy. My mom is my best friend, my hero, my goddess, my confidant, my soul mate, and I do not know what I would ever do without her! Happy Birthday mom, I love you!

Why Raw?

I have had many people ask me in the last few days why I decided to go raw. Here is the whole story. In March 2007 I was diagnosed with two thyroid tumors. After a biopsy, they determined that one of the tumors was probably cancerous and recommended I have a total thyroidectomy. Prior to being diagnosed my health changed and I began to feel tired all of the time, I had skin and nail issues, cycle problems, gained a lot of weight, and I would lose my voice every few days. It felt like I had a rock sitting on my throat. I was clearing my throat every few minutes. The tumor was pressing on my vocal cords.

The good news was that when they took my thyroid out the tumor turned out not to be cancerous. The bad news was that within 24 hours after surgery horrible things began to happen that would change my life. First I wasn't able to feel my lips and my legs kept going to sleep. Eventually my legs and arms started to spasm and draw up uncontrollably. My lips and eye started twitching constantly. They put me on a heart monitor and seizure watch. As I sat in my hospital bed I felt very scared. My parathyroid glands, though still intact, quit working. It is a rare complication of surgery. My 24 hour stay in the hospital turned into a week. Once I was released I had to get my blood drawn and my calcium levels tested every other day for about 6 months. Gradually it tapered down over the next year to 2 times a week, to once a week, and to once every two weeks. I continued to experience a great deal of numbness and extreme fatigue. Somedays it seemed getting out of bed and taking a shower would wipe me out for the rest of the day. Another side effect was depression. While I thought I had been "depressed" before, I had never even been close. I couldn't snap out of it. The doctors kept messing with the dosages of my medication trying to get all of the hormones right so that I could function. At one point I was taking upwards of 25 pills a day juts to control my calcium levels. That doesn't include my Synthroid or depression medications.

Year two after surgery I saw some improvements and was able to move my blood draws out to every 3 months. I began exercising again and lost some of the weight I had gained. Iw as starting to feel good again when I began getting kidney stones. I passed 2 on my own and found out I had 7 more to go. One was way too large to pass. I was banned from exercise. I had my kidney stones blasted and then passed two more extremely painful ones. Once they were able to analyze the stones they found the calcium had effected my kidneys and they were not filtering properly. I had extremely high levels of protein in my urine and the doctors feared I was moving toward kidney failure.

My urologist and my endocrinologist agreed that I needed to go on a strict vegetarian diet. No meat, no dairy, no whey protein. They told me an occasional egg or fish would be okay. At first, I thought I would never make it. Because my family still ate meat and I was the primary chef for the family I ate mostly salads and fruits. I bought a Vitamix because my blender broke and began experimenting with smoothies. I found some I loved! The kids wanted to try them and they started requesting their favorites as well.

I noticed that I was feeling a little better eating vegetarian. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, though. That evening I saw a clip on the local evening news about a woman who had breast cancer who went on a raw food diet. Her cancer had shrunk and her incurable stage 4 cancer was now thought to be curable. The woman was young and had three children. She looked so vibrant and excited about sharing her secret. I think she went to the Hippocrates Institute in Florida. I told Wayne, "I could never do that." He said, "You pretty much are already."

The next day I began to do some research on a raw food diet. The more I looked at the information the more excited I got. When I told Wayne I was going to do it, he thought I was a little crazy. He thought I was taking things a little far, but when I showed him what I had learned he was supportive. I even happened upon a link that said two prominent raw foodists, Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes were going to be speaking in our area that weekend and he agreed to go with me to hear them talk. After their talk, I was ready and went 100% raw.

Within one week I saw such an enormous difference! I had so much more energy! I had lost about 4 pounds and I felt great! I couldn't believe it. The next few weeks I lost even more weight, my skin completely cleared up, I was having no trouble sleeping, needed less sleep, and overflowing with energy. Although I haven't seen the endocrinologist again yet, my urologist told me I looked great and my kidney labs had improved (this after being raw about 1 1/2 months) and to keep doing whatever I was doing because it was agreeing with me.

I have been raw for about 3 months now and I have lost 25 pounds. I weigh less now than before I even had surgery! I feel 10 years younger and continue to have tons of energy. I see my endocrinologist next week so we will see what he has to say. Many of my family and friends have commented on the way I look, not just the weight I have lost, but my skin and hair, my confidence and my enthusiasm for life. I am happy and enjoying life again. I feel like I can do whatever I set my mind to do. Currently, my medications include my Synthroid and I take 1 pill a week to control my calcium levels, and I am not taking anything for my kidneys. Also, I no longer take anti-depressants. This has truly been a journey for me. I am eager to see what happens next.

home again

Well, sometimes if you mess with fire you do get burned. I gave into a beach side weakness had ate crab legs and weakness, reasoning that a little cooked food wouldn't hurt me too bad and that shellfish was better than any kind of meat. However, yesterday on our way home I developed a light red rash and began itching all over my body. My ears, jawline, around me mouth, and hands were the worst. I also developed a wheezing cough and felt like I had a big rock sitting on my chest. We pulled in the driveway a little after midnight and I took two Benadryl and was able to sleep, but I woke up this morning and it started all over again, only this time my hands were beet red and swelling. Needless to say, I had to go to the doctor and get a steroid shot to help the allergic reaction. They told me to take 2 Benadryl every 4 hours around the clock until I was better. I slept for several hours and I am feeling better, but I learned a hard lesson.

A large part of going on a raw food diet was to listen to my body. When I ate 100% raw I felt so much better! I had lots of energy, no constipation or stomach upset, clear skin, and a general sense of well-being. My body spoke loud and clear to me that I was doing something good for it. It has now spoken loud and clear again, this time it said, "What the heck, we were doing so good. What did you have to go and eat that for?"

I am listening. This time it has been a little hard to ignore, actually. I've been to Whole Foods this evening and got all my favorite raw foods. I am sitting here right now drinking a G. T.'s Kombucha Mystic Mango raw tea. Tomorrow I am having my favorite spinach and banana smoothie for breakfast, a super sprouts salad for lunch, and heirloom lettuces and tomatoes for dinner. For snacks I have fruit and raw nuts and dried fruits trail mix. I am ready to feel better again and eager to listen to what my body is saying.