Day 29

Here's my weight this morning. I've dropped (drum roll please) 2.4 lbs since January 2. I was hoping for something more dramatic, but I guess it's better than a poke in the eye with a crooked stick.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I did not suffer from menstrual migraine this time around. Therefore, I'm going to continue the Raw experiment for another month, to see if it was a fluke.

Brought my tabbouleh salad to work with me one day last week to share. My coworkers were impressed.

Day 25

25th Day

Here is a picture of the tabbouleh I made with sprouted quinoa. It's tasty.

I weighed in this morning. So far my weight loss has been underwhelming. An old college classmate has also gone raw, as I just found out, and she is bragging on Facebook about how slim she's getting. I wonder what I'm doing wrong? It might be better if I were exercising. Once Hubby is recovered and back to work, I'll start exercising again.

Will I continue the Raw diet after my 30-day trial? I just may. Especially if I find it to be an effective treatment for my menstrual migraines. I may invest in a dehydrator; that would avail me of some variety to my menu.

Twenty-Tooth Day

It's Day 22 Raw. I'm at the beginning of my 4th week. Feeling good. Aunt Flo is here, and so far, no menstrual migraine. However, this is Flo's first visit during my raw diet. It's not unusual for Flo to come without a headache one month and then return the next month with a vengeance. I hesitate to attribute the absence of a headache to the raw diet. I think I would have to continue the raw diet for several months to come to a conclusion. We'll see.

Hubby and I went out to Applebee's last Friday evening. I broke my Raw diet for dinner. Had one of their so-called 550-calorie-or less dishes: Sizzling Asian Shrimp and Broccoli. It was served steaming hot. This was the first hot food I've eaten since going raw. Everything on the raw diet is served cold or at room temperature.

The shrimp dish was good. When I went to bed, my stomach gurgled. You know the sound your stomach makes when it's processing a heavy meal? It was the first time my stomach has done that since going raw. I wonder if that means that the raw diet is gentler on one's stomach?

Even though there's no cooking in the Raw diet, there is still a great deal of planning ahead. For example, I have a recipe for a tabbouleh salad made from sprouted quinoa. It takes 24 hours for quinoa to sprout. I have another recipe that uses cashews soaked for three hours. If I don't stay on top of my menu & prepare things in advance, I end up having to improvise.

Forgot to weigh in this morning. Will try to remember to do it tomorrow morning.

Seventeenth Day

Seventeen days raw and I'm feeling good!

This is a picture of raw Japanese rolls that I made. Aren't they cute? So far they are my favorite raw confection. They're time-consuming to put together, but they are so yummy! I gave one to a co-worker yesterday and she was amazed that it did not have any meat in it. "You sure there's no crab? It tastes like you put crab in it." Nope. No crab.

To follow up on a couple recipes I've tried recently: My raw raspberry-cocoa pudding turned out dreamy! I think I could eat it every day. The raw corn salad was okay; I loaded it with too much onion, but I discovered that it is perfect on top of some mixed greens.

Made raw tabbouleh yesterday for today's lunch. Instead of cracked wheat, I used sprouted quinoa. I learned that quinoa does not have to be cooked to be eaten. I soak it in water for 3 hours, then drain and put it back in the bowl covered with a damp towel, and let it sit overnight. The little quinoa grains sprout little tails! It's pretty cool.

Today for dinner I made tacos. The "meat" was walnuts seasoned with sun-dried tomatoes (soaked overnight & drained), chili powder, sea salt & a sprinkle of cayenne, combined in the food processor. Stuffed it into quarters of a fresh green bell pepper & topped with chopped avocado. It was decent. Not spicy enough for my taste. Next time I'm going to add onion powder, garlic powder & cumin to the mix.

Hubby's leg is getting stronger nowadays, so he has the stamina to clean the kitchen for me. Yea!

Halfway There

I had raw pancakes for breakfast this morning. As I was putting them together I said, "This is a weird food." Hubby chimed in, "That's all you've been eating is weird food." True that.

Sorry the picture didn't turn out so good. They're on a clear plate so they're kind of camouflaged on the brown table top. They were good, but really nothing like pancakes. More like a crumbly pie crust. It consisted of 3 cups of flaxseed meal, a half cup of agave nectar and/or maple syrup (I used half of each) and 2 tablespoons of coconut butter. (BTW coconut butter is amazing, and I can't wait to find more recipes that use it.) Mixed it all up and then formed it between my palms into pancake shapes. It felt like I was forming falafel patties. Of course I topped them with blueberries, my all-time favorite fruit.
Yesterday I made a batch of raw vegan ranch dressing. It was amazing. Even Mr Meat & Potatoes sampled it and said it was good.

So I'm officially halfway into my Thirty Days Raw, and I thought I'd share what my bathroom scale said this morning. Seems I've lost a whole pound. Woo hoo!

Tenth Day Raw

It's my tenth day raw.

I probably should have put this Raw project off until February or March. It's been especially challenging with Hubby home and recuperating from surgery. Usually he's only home about 6 days out of the month due to his job, so I cook for one most of the time. Easy! However, since Dec 31 when he came home from the hospital with a brand new prosthetic knee in his right leg, I've had to cook 2 meals every night after working a full 8-hour day at the travel agency. Additionally, Hubby, who usually does dishes, is unable to stand long enough to do dishes. So evening mealtimes have been very time-consuming.

I made a delicious raw breakfast cereal for myself this morning. It consisted of one chopped apple, a handful of raisins, a handful of pumpkin seeds, a sprinkle of whole flaxseeds, a sprinkle of cinnamon, a sprinkle of shredded unsweetened coconut, a drizzle of honey, and a few fresh blueberries, topped with cashew milk. I'm going to make that more often.

Snacked on a banana with peanut butter. Yeah, that's cheating a little... it wasn't raw peanut butter. But that's pretty good... a peanut butter and banana sandwich without the bread.

Made my chicken tacos for dinner for Hubby. It was tempting to just make a couple for myself. I love me some chicken tacos, with some cheese & sour cream & salsa & avocado! Mmmm mmmm. But instead I made a fresh corn salad. I added too much onion. Not too crazy about raw onion. The recipe kind of reminds me of calabacitas, except without the zucchini & cheese. Maybe I'll add zucchini to it next time I make it.

Dessert is in the fridge right now. I'm going to sample it in a few minutes. Raw raspberry & chocolate pudding. That sounds good!

I'm noticing that the less healthy and more processed a food item is, the more advertising it gets. Toaster Strudels, Doritos, Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup… When was the last time you saw a commercial for parsnips? If you took your child to the grocery store, what is the likelihood that he or she would recognize a box of Toaster Strudels versus, say, a parsnip? Would you recognize a parsnip? I was well into my adult years before I ever knew what a parsnip was.

Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. Mmmm. I loved it when I was a kid. But really. Tell me that Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup is anything more than oily, golden-colored, chicken-flavored salt water. How many pieces of chicken are in a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup?

One of my co-workers brought in a big pan of homemade eggplant parmesan to share. Eggplant parmesan!! That happens to be my favorite food of all time! I so wanted to have a piece. But instead I ate a green salad and a bowl of raw vegan macaroni & cheese. Which was pretty good. But not as good as eggplant parmesan!

Hubby's worried that I'm starving myself. Honestly, I'm rarely hungry on my Raw Vegan diet. I eat something about every 3 hours. And everytime I eat, it's something fresh & raw, so I don't feel bad at all about snacking between meals.

Last week on Friday I experienced a painful esophogeal spasm. Anyone experience those? Hubby gets them more often than I do, but once in a while if I eat a crisp carrot too fast on an empty stomach, it will trigger one. Last week's spasm was triggered by, you guessed it, a cold carrot eaten too quickly!... and in additon to the squeezing sensation in my chest, I also experienced pain in my back & shoulders. I think I will take it easy on fresh carrots for a while, or maybe limit the carrots to the shredded variety for salads. The Mayo Clinic link above says that esophogeal spasms can be triggered by stress. That makes sense. I have been under more stress lately than usual, nursing Hubby after his knee surgery.

Friday evening I made beef fajitas with corn tortillas for Hubby, and a fresh corn salad for myself. Raw corn! Isn't that wild? Yep, I just sliced the kernels off of two cobs of corn. Mixed in some halved cherry tomatoes, chopped purple onion, chopped cilantro & sea salt. It was good! Hubby craved his favorite rocky road ice cream for dessert, but he hesitated because ice cream upsets his stomach. So instead I shared my dessert with him, it was a raw raspberry cobbler. He said it was ok, it tasted to him like pomegranates with birdseed. Hmm. But it didn’t upset his tummy.

Beet it!

I won't get into graphic detail, but try eating 2 fresh shredded beets for lunch and see what happens the next day. Just try it.

Should I forgo coffee on my raw diet? There is no consensus in the blogosphere. Coffee is not raw. I did without coffee for the first two days. The first day I had a headache half the day. The second day I felt like everything was in slow-motion. The third day I decided I missed coffee, so I had half a cup, black, with breakfast. I'm thinking there's no harm in that sole indulgence.

The raw diet would be easier, I reckon, if I had waited until March to start it. You see, Hubby travels a great deal for his job, so most nights I'm only cooking for myself. However, he just had knee replacement surgery on the 28th of December, so he will be home for up to 6 weeks recovering. Consequently, when I come home from work, I prepare a SAD (Standard American Diet) dinner for him, and then a raw dinner for myself.

Although there is no cooking involved in the Raw diet, there is a great deal of processing & assembling. The most high-maintenance Raw dinner I have made so far (but also the most delicious) was a plate of Japanese rolls. That involved making an almond-ginger paste in the food processor, then spreading that on a Nori seaweed sheet along with shredded carrots, chopped avocados & alfalfa sprouts. In fact one of my co-workers saw me eating leftovers for lunch the next day and she said they were "cute" and asked me to make more so she could sample one.

An observation having nothing to do with food

Hubby has worn the same cologne for years. That's not a bad thing; in fact it makes it easy to Christmas shop for him.

I've asked him if he would consider trying a different cologne. He said yes, in fact, he has detected a pleasant cologne once or twice on other gentlemen when he was out & about. However, when he asks what they're wearing, their response is, "I have no idea, my wife/girlfriend got it for me."

If it were a woman, not only would she be able to tell you the name of the fragrance, but also the name of the manufacturer, the day she bought it, where she bought it, how much she paid for it, how many other stores she went to before she found the best price, how many other fragrances she tried before she decided on this one, what she was wearing when she bought it, who she was with when she bought it, what else she bought when she bought it, what her girlfriends think about it, and what her husband/boyfriend thinks about it.

First Day Raw

Here's my weight first thing this morning.

So, my first day raw. Had a headache half the day. It could be caffeine withdrawal. My lovely husband made a big pot of coffee, forgetting that coffee is not on the Raw diet.

Made Hubby pancakes (gluten-free of course) and bacon for breakfast, while I slammed down a green smoothie.

Made him a turkey & cheese grilled sandwich (on homemade gluten-free bread) while I ate a salad of shredded beets and an avocado. This was the first time I've ever had fresh beets. They weren't too bad. I think I was turned off at an early age by canned pickled beets.

Dinner was the big challenge. Hubby's 2 children came over for dinner, and I served them beef roast & potatoes, with a gluten-free chocolate cake for dessert. I love beef roast! But I had a fresh salad with homemade oil & vinegar dressing, mock tuna salad, and a strawberry smoothie for dessert.

Shared a plate of fresh fruit with Hubby between breakfast & lunch.

I hope I don't have a headache again tomorrow...

T-minus one day

Back in the good old days, when Aunt Flo would visit, I’d get cramps & occasional nausea. Couple times it was debilitating, but most times it was just an annoyance that was nipped in the bud by a couple Midol and a hot pad.

Not so now. Oh no. Now I get menstrual migraines. Oh for the simple days of cramps.

To be fair, I shouldn’t kvetch too much. I know some migraine sufferers who would rather have their ears removed with a cheese grater than suffer a migraine headache.

My menstrual migraines are not that bad, but they are vexing and tenacious. The headache sometimes starts the same day Aunt Flo arrives. Sometimes it’s a week after she’s left. Sometimes it’s three days before she arrives. It always lasts for 48 solid hours. It feels like my left eyeball is a size too big for my eye socket and I’m wearing a pair of vicegrips on the bridge of my nose. If I can guess when it’s going to come, I can control it by taking naproxen sodium 2 days before it arrives. Yeah. That’s a piece of cake. Otherwise, once it arrives, nothing touches it. I’ll take a Tylenol/Advil cocktail every couple hours to take the edge off for 10 minutes, and then it’s back. Or I’ll take an Excedrin and then I’ll be useless from the caffeine overdose.

So maybe it’s another pipe dream, but maybe after Thirty Days Raw, I can flush all these OTCs down the WC...?