Day Fourteen – Weigh-In #2, I Stop Going Nuts, and A Sauna Makes it All MUCH Better!

So after such a cruddy feeling 24 hours of lethargy yesterday, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  Doubled down on the chocolate, as I realized a few things.  Well let me back up.

First, it was weigh-in time again today, and although I lost about 8.5 pounds last week, I only lost 1.5 this week.  So I’m at 219, which is excellent, but not the kind of weight loss I wanted.  But I can tell you EXACTLY why my weight loss was so little.  I gave in this week to so many cravings, and tried to make their raw equivalents, and that meant LOTS of nuts!!!  Too oily, too heavy, too acidic and not sprouted.  I was lazy, plus I was getting a little tired of cacao, so I wanted a lot more savory things.  I can’t say anything as harsh as “I paid the price for it”, because everything was still raw, but it  certainly didn’t contribute to my weight loss or energy reserves.  Oh!  I also had raw cheese (actual dairy cheese) on my seed crackers, so my ankles started to hurt again.  I never realized how adversely dairy affects me.  No more now.  No cheese, milk or yogurt.  Just doesn’t agree with me.  I actually expressed to Jason that I felt like I was back on cooked food;  with all the pain, the drowsiness, the clouded thought.

So I got my lethargic butt to the gym today and because I felt so dizzy from detox and overly-heavy unsprouted nuts.  I didn’t chance an actual workout (didn’t wanna fall off a machine).  So instead I did lots of stretching for about an hour, hand weights on the floor, then took a 45 minute dry sauna (came out 3 times to rinse off in cool water).  I came out of the gym feeling MUCH better, with clearer vision, more energy and the knowledge and sense that I had sweated some of the sludge out.  Later in the evening, Jahn and I went for a 1.6 mile walk with little bits of running thrown in here and there.  I can’t believe how much better I feel!

I think that’s a mistake lots of people going raw make, especially during detox:  they don’t incorporate exercise and sweating.  Jay has told me for over 2 years how important those are, and while I did them sporadically, I’m ready to incorporate them for a minimum of 3 days a week, preferably 5 or 6.  I really am feeling the value of them, now.

Also, I’m hitting the superfoods and cacao much more in the future.  I really felt a sloppy energy this week from eating less chocolate with each meal.  My moods weren’t as good either.  I’m going to incorporate more green smoothies, too for bone mineralization, a full feeling and the all-important chlorophyll.

I can see how people gain weight with raw.  Nuts, nuts, nuts and oils.  I’m such a little fruit bat, it amazes me.  When I was a kid, I remember wanting oranges more than cake or candy, so I guess it makes sense that these are the foods I do best on.  This is how I’m meant to eat, and it feels so great to be getting back to it.  : )

So what did I eat today?  (Let’s get to the good stuff).  I had a large chocolate drink of bananas, water, cacao, mesquite and maca.  No coconuts in the house today.  It wasn’t as good as my usual shake, but it was still really good.  VERY energizing, because I put in extra maca and cacao today (which made the drink too bitter, needed just a bit of agave).  For lunch I had what little was left of my huge banana cacao drink,  just 2 small seed/flax crackers with lots of pesto, as I made some last night, and a small salad of spinach, nutritional yeast and my apple cider vinaigrette.  Dinner was avocado with Herby and a few spoonfuls of chocolate syrup.  And no more un-sprouted nuts.  Check out what Elaina Love has to say about nuts and sprouting on YouTube here.  It’s GREAT information about all sorts of nuts, which to soak, which to sprout and why.

So I really feel like I’m back on track and ready to seriously get back into this.  No excuses this coming week for not exercising, sweating, eating chocolate or anything else that I know is good for me.  WAY less nuts and seeds, and only if sprouted from now on!.

Day Five: Let the Cleansing Begin!

Good GRIEF!  I know that one always goes through detox when going raw, but this is ridiculous!  I woke up this morning, and my bowels were competeing with every other part of my body for the “Who can release the most” award.  I went 3 times in under 1/2 an hour!  And all afternoon, it was my bladder in the lead.  But I’m 8 pounds lighter in only my 1st 5 days, so I’m off to a freakin’ good start!    I say good riddance to the weight — as Nathalia Rose says, “waste = weight”.  Let’s get all the crud OUT!

Breakfast was a mango with chocolate, then to the gym for a workout, sauna and lots of stretching.  Let me tell you, while detoxing, there is NO substitute for moving your body and making yourself to sweat in a sauna (followed by a cool, refreshing shower!)  Moves those toxins RIGHT on through and you feel so refreshed and cool-headed afterward!

Went and looked for wild cattails before the workout, and met a nice lady at the gym named Peggy (who told me I should be writing a book about raw food with recipes) then stopped by Kent’s Garden & Nursery to look at Frost peach trees and blueberry bushes.  We’re gonna start growing some of our own food this year!  We’ve already got an apple tree on the property that came with the house.  All we have to do is fence off the remainder of the yard and we’ll be able to keep the deer and other animals out of the garden.  Plus, a little diatomaceous earth, and we’ll be able to keep the buggies off naturally.

So back to today (I do tend to get off on tangents, don’t I?)  I’m really starting to lose my appetite during the day.  All that chocolate is really keeping me full, plus the fat in the mangos is really helping.  I’ll be making frozen bananas tonight (on a stick) for dipping and rolling in chopped pecans tomorrow … who says you can’t have your favorite Disneyland food as an adult and have it raw?  Remember those frozen, chocolate-dipped bananas on a stick?  First place I tried that as a kid was Disneyland.  I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

Jason and I had late-evening cravings – he for raw tahini and I for avocados – so we went to the grocery store and got avocados, more young thai coconuts, bananas, a large mango, celery and something else I can’t remember.  Then we went to Terra Organica and got his Tahini as well as something called Rawmesan by Gopal’s Health Foods — and it is AMAZING stuff!  It’s unbelievable how tasty raw walnuts, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast and celtic sea salt can taste in the right combination!

But this isn’t about chocolate, is it.  Alas, I am rambling, yet again!  I’m just so thrilled to be finding all these fun, new things to eat.  If I’d've known raw could be this much fun, I’d've done it years ago.  I didn’t really have lunch, as I’m not too hungry during the day very often.  I think I had maybe a banana or 2, of course dipped in chocolate sauce.  For dinner, I had about a quarter of an avocado with Herby on it (the Rawmesan wasn’t too good on it, in my opinion – not a great complementary taste), and a chocolate bar I made.  Then I had a bit of the most bizarre food I’ve ever eaten.  Jason mixed raw tahini with Nama Shoyu raw soy sauce, added some water, and dipped green cabbage in it.  Now, I hate cabbage.  No, no, you don’t understand.  I HATE cabbage!  Cooked, raw, dudn’t matter.  HATE the stuff.  And this tahini mixture is fairly repugnant on its own.  Bitter, slick and just all-around odd.  All that being so stated, when you dip the cabbage IN the tahini sauce he made, something frickin’ MAGICAL happens.  This bizarre, nutty, sweet, almost meaty and fruity flavor with several layers … it just blossoms in your mouth!  I can’t explain it.  I’ve never had anything like it in my life, but it’s farking fanTAStic!!!  In fact, I want some more right now!  But how to incorporate chocolate into it ….  Maybe sometimes you just can’t eat chocolate on everything. 

Day Two: The Chocolate & Salad Diet©, Pizza, Shopping, Withdrawal & Lassis

Now doesn’t that just sound smurfect?  I did not post my day two on day two because frankly, I felt like mud all day long.  You ever tried to move 228 pounds of mud under your own power all at once?  Not too easy.  So now you see how I felt yesterday.  Not a fun day in a lot of respects, but it all came out well in the end.

Problems started when I only got 4 hours of sleep the night before due to salad cravings.  I got up and tried to make a chocolate shake for breakfast to boost my energy, and against my better judgement, I added goji berries in with it, as Jason had soaked them ahead of time and didn’t want them to go to waste.  I never have liked gojis in a smoothie or shake, because despite the uber-lovely and strong Vita Mix, they never actually get smooth.  If I could just find a way to get those darned grainy little seeds out, I might like it better.

And for whatever reason, my coconut, chocolate, banana, maca, mesquite & goji “shake” was just abysmal yesterday.  Actually made my stomach hurt.  Plus, it got all gelatinous.  Mmmmmm … grainy pudding!  Yeccchhhhhh!  Jason liked it ok, but I added too much mesquite, also.  I forgot that too much mesquite tastes a little like vomit to me.  Don’t know why.  Just does.  That’s why I usually add just about a 1/2 or 1/4 teaspoon of it to each 2 heaping tablespoons of cacao I use.  In my opinion it’s amazing as a complementary flavor, and shouldn’t be used in high concentrations.  Maybe that’s why my stomach hurt.  Who knows?  Jason ended up drinking the rest of mine, cause I just couldn’t take it.

For lunch I ate nothing, as my stomach was still upset, and the idea of food, much less chocolate food, made me wanna hurl!  So no lunch.  On the way home, driving by McDonald’s actually made me shake!  I wanted to stop in so bad I was getting a little nuts!  But I prevailed!!!  )  What’s odd is that i haven’t eaten McDonald’s hamburgers in YEARS!

When I got home, I was on the war path for a salad again!  I mean I NEEDED one!  So I’m thinking that cacao and greens are a very good combo for me.  If I was craving something like pizza or lasagna or any other cooked food for that matter, I would have no real trouble keeping myself from eating it.  But if my body is crying out for green leafs, for Pete’s sake, who am I to deny it that?  And why am I referring to my body and my mind as though they are different entities?  I guess I’m just too used to it.  Well, there’s another thing to put on my to do list:  Start thinking of all parts of my body and systems as one thing, since they are.

On a completely different subject, I have long wanted some nice, thick, heavy glass serving plates and glasses, especially for the Go Raw, Not Crazy © books.  Nothing takes a beautiful dish and makes it look like crud faster than an ugly old beat up, plastic bowl, cup or plate.  So when he got home from school, Jahn and I went to Value Village (a favorite thrift store of ours), and picked up some of the most gorgeous crystal and glass serving plates, platters, ice cream social type glasses and apertif glasses known to the human race.  Since I only needed one of each of most of them, it didn’t matter that they didn’t have mates.  How many times do I need to show a chocolate shake in a book anyway, right?  Also, some of the glasses came in 3′s, so I got those for serving delights to my Valenti boys at home.  I love it when somebody gives their dishes in 3′s to Value Village — ’cause all we need are 3!

While still out, we stopped by Costco, as they are the only place in town where we can get a certain kind of mango that Jason likes.  Jahn saw the pizza on the sign and started going a little nuts for it.  Poor dear.  He’s gluten intolerant, so I couldn’t get it for him even if we ate cooked food, but he was going through a hard patch, so I told him we’d try to make some raw pizza.  Now I had to think FAST on my feet, because I didn’t have ANY idea how to do this.  We went to Terra Organica since no one else in town has such a selection of raw foods already prepared, and started our search for ingredients.  Thankfully, Livin’ Spoonful makes some of the most amazing raw crackers on the PLANET!!! I picked up a package of the Sunny Garden Herb, as they have flavors much like pizza already in them.  (The company puts the gluten-free spin on their site, but they are actually raw, too!)  I got Jahn a raw cookie as well, and gave him a taste of the cracker.  HE LOVED IT!  Whew!  One ingredient down (crust), two to go (sauce &  cheese).  So I got a few nice red, ripe tomatoes, a package of sun-dried tomatoes and out the door we went.  When I got home, I put 1 small tomato, a handful of sun-dried tomatoes, about a tablespoon (accidentally) of Italian seasoning, a pinch of Celtic grey sea salt, and a few dashes of pepper (Jahn loves his stuff spicy).  Blended it up in the Vita Mix, and it came out tasting, if not feeling, exactly like pizza sauce.  (Jason suggests water and chia be added next time to make it come out more like an actual sauce next time.  Plus, then it will be thicker and I can then blend it longer.  I think I’ll take him up on that!)

So I took a cracker, spread a bit of sauce on it, topped it with the only thing I could find which was hemp seeds (for protein, and because they look white, sort of like the color of raw cheddar), and plopped it down in front of the wee one.  Would he eat it?  Tune in tomorrow to find out.

KIDDING!

He put Herby on it (he puts that stuff on everything savory — no, I mean EVERYTHING!!!), promptly gobbled it up and said it was delicious!  I about fell on the ground in shock!

Jahn gobbles up his "pizza" with gusto!

So that’s going in the kid recipe book for SURE!  For dessert, I made him a mango lassi, as he’s been missing those, too.  He used to go out for Indian food with his dad, and really missed his lassis.  I cut up 2 mangos, a young thai coconut, and set the Vita Mix a-whirlin’.  Good LORD was it bland!  Added agave, still not quite right.  Added the juice of half a Clementine orange to give it some oomph (this batch is rather tart), and Jahn said it didn’t really taste like a lassi, but that it was very good.   “You can save the rest for Pop,” he said.  Well, I can’t win them all.

All this excitement with “pizza” and “lassis” and helping someone stay raw made me forget about what I was up to, which was chocolate.  So I had the left over mango bits with chocolate sauce (quite good!) and sent the little one to bed.

All in all, my day was more about Jahn and his diet than it was about me and mine.  But that’s ok.  I got 2 new recipes that will be highly effective in the future out of it, and some of the prettiest dishes I’ve ever owned.