I feel incredible today! I have so much energy and I feel so focused and productive. I haven't been able to accomplish anything for weeks and all of a sudden everything is getting done lickety split. I can't believe.

Oh, and I don't really need to sleep any more. I have been going to be super late because I have been so wide awake at night. I've been up until 2am, sleeping well (very unlike me), having very vivid dreams (again, not like me) and then waking up totally refreshed before my alarm goes off. SO CRAZY!

I think the raw finally caught up with me!

Yesterday was great. I went to a fabulous raw dinner party and ate a ton of delicious foods. In the last 2 days, I have also consumed:

-green shake (plus mango)
--shake with cocoa, banana and peanut butter
--more green tacos (collards, mango, radishes)
--apricot kernals (amazing!)
--a cherry pie lara bar
--an apple
--raw zucchini noodles with basil/pumpkin seed pesto
--a banana or two with almond butter
--some dried prunes

Raw Dinner Party

The raw dinner party last night was a smashing success! The menu included the following:

• Corn salad with grape tomatoes and cilantro
• Pear and blackberry salad with mint and agave nectar
• Tomatoes stuffed with guac with a dehydrated spicy red pepper and corn chip stuck in the top
• A whole bunch more of those chips
• A spread of basil, jalepeno, and sundried tomatoes
• Salad with apricot kernels, grapes and cilantro
• Lemon cookies
• Apple/Carrot cake

And all the drinks!

Rawy Days and Mondays.

Yeah, I'm a little tired of raw. I did pretty well over the weekend, but I had a weak moment and ate a little soup. To be fair, though it was cooked, it was really just pureed veggies. Weekends are the hardest for me and any kind of social gathering is pretty difficult too.

I'm not really craving sweets. If you know me at all, this is shocking as I am a sugar addict. At the same time, maybe it's not. I have been eating 2-3 bananas a day (in smoothies or as a snack with almond butter) and very much of raw food seems sweet to me, even when I'm not eating fruit. I want something more savory. Or maybe just some bread and cheese.

Highlights over the last few days include:

-Green tacos? Collard greens wrapped around avocado, mango, cilantro and sprouts.
-Raw sushi. Marinated tempeh rolled in nori with avocado, carrot, zucchini, peppers and a little carrot ginger dressing.

Someone did comment that I was "sunny" and "glowing" over the weekend. Honestly, I think my skin kinda looks like shit, but who knows.

Sunny

everyone keeps remarking how sunny, cheerful and energetic i seem!! i love it!

i've been really craving something hot. just temp wise. like a bowl of scalding hot soup. sigh...

i'm trying to buy a dehydrator on craigslist. is that weird/gross? its only 20 bucks.

Cheating

So, I made it through my work dinner and all. And I at a delicious salad for dinner last night- red pepper, mango, red onion, avocado and walnuts on spinach- with a nut cookie that I made in the dehydrator. But I couldn't stop myself from having two glasses of wine. And I just may drink the rest of it tonight. I LOVE BOOZE AND COFFEE AND CANNOT BE DENIED, EVEN BY RAW. Fin.

Preparing ahead is key!!

Ugh i was running around last night cleaning and doing laundry so much so that i couldn't be bothered to prepared and pack food for me to bring to work the next day. Then i woke up late this morning and didn't have time to pack ANYTHING!! that sucked. there is a salad bar and i found raw nuts at walgreens, but the stuff i've been making is just better.

My sister picked me up last night from work and kept remarking at how happy and energetic i seemed and that i looked skinny!! For those that know said sister, this all then irked her and so she was trying to get several digs in, but i laughed them all off which made her even more irked. Ha ha!!!

I have been craving beer like crazy and there is a bottle of proseco in the fridge that i want to tear open... oh well one day soon.

Someone tell me what to make for dinner tonight. i'm outta ideas.

So far, so good.

Today:

--psyllium/bentonite - Today I took them separately, both mixed with apple juice, one right after the other. Still gross, but it kept the dry heaves to a minimum.
--green shake (plus added mango)
--salad (greens, red pepper, carrots, raisins, capers, olives, marinated mushrooms, artichoke hearts, avocado, flax seeds and sunflower seeds) I actually ate this meal out, at Sultan's, but BYO'ed my own avocado, flax and sunflower seeds. Tacky? Maybe, but a girl needs some fat/protein if she's going to last until dinner without killing a squirrel or something.
--a cup of senna tea. I never need help with my number two, but I legitimately like the stuff. Plus, it's cold out today.
--2 handfuls of grapes; a spoonful of almond butter.
--sprouted lentils salad with tomato, zucchini, parsley and lemon. I couldn't eat very much of this because it made me very full, very quickly. While I was figuring out what to make for dinner, I also ate a few more prunes and some alfalfa sprouts rolled in a piece of seaweed.

I know I'm not that far into raw just yet, but I have to say that I am not having trouble feeling sated this time around. Usually not eating carbs kills me, but I seem to be doing ok. I think it's probably because I am eating less fruit, fewer carrots and taking fenugreek. Less sugar in means less sugar wanted?

Lunch

It was fine- I had some carrots and red pepper with raw hummus and bought some dried apricots (the only dried fruit without added sugar) at Target. Both the grocery store and target had a HUGE selection of nutritiony healthy bars but no Lara bars!! WTF

Running Late is Bad For Raw

New Dilemma: Lunch

I have some raw hummus and a red pepper here, but I seriously meant to grab a whole bunch more stuff before leaving the house. I have a tone of flax crackers and delicious nut crackers, and I left them all at home!! I have an apple here too. Will that be enough? Can I get lara bars at a regular grocery store. There is a regular grocery store (and a target) within walking distance...thoughts?

Social Survival

I made it through the dinner with NO CHEATING. I was super bummed to discover that the first course was soup and not salad. And to make matters worse, the soup looked REALLY GOOD. Then I waved away the meat and potatoes and a nice, brassy girl at my table had the stones to tell the server that I was vegan and they brought me a salad. I REALLY nearly cheated with the delicious apple tart desert, but said brassy girl helped me stay strong and I ate a cherry pie lara bar instead! And people weren't mean about it! It was glorious! And I didn't even have ANY SWEET SWEET WINE. I am the captain of my ship.

The raw veteran.

It's early in the game, so I'm amped on raw.

--psyllium/bentonite grossness
--green shake
--2 fenugreek pills
--a banana + almond butter
--salad (lettuce, avocado, tomato, apple, flax seeds, sunflower seeds)
--cherry pie lara bar
--"spring rolls" (alfalfa sprouts, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, mango, mint and basil, wrapped in a collard green)
--a clementine and a few dried prunes

I wasn't feeling well yesterday, but I don't blame raw. It's been coming on for a few days. I slept a lot and am feeling better today.

I also sat at a table with all sorts of delicious snacks last night and didn't touch a single one. I didn't even feel deprived. The key really is eating before you go out.

It's really rawesome to have my bros doing this with me. I love hearing about other people's BMs even more than I love talking about my own!

Today's Nano menu

M wants lists so here we go!

Today's Nano menu:

Psyllium/benotite (sp?) drink - barf, blurg. i hate it. i drink it with icy cold water with my eyes closed and over the sink

Green shake. i love this so much i'm drinking it forever

i have a snack of raw cashews and dried bing cherries

lunch spinach with peppers, raw almonds, beets, onions and goddress dressing

other snacks: larabar, apple

dinner: tbd but i am going to test out "donut holes" for dessert

You need to plan ahead!! Eat before your event and all will be ok. Don't cheat!!

I have a freakish amount of energy. For example. Every night since Sunday i have spent the evening cleaning, doing laundry, reorganizing and cooking until 11:30 or 12pm. That is both a lot for me to do in an evening and i can never stay up that late.

My boyfriend was remarking at how happy and cheerful i seemed last night. he actually said it like three times.

I can tell i've lost weight already b/c i am THIS close to fitting into my skinny diesel jeans! and my twins are smaller too. That would bum some women out, but not me!

I made green goddess dressing last night and it was delish! pour that over any salad and its instantly fantastic.

The only bad thing i've noticed is that my skin is soo dry. i've been drinking a ton of water but nothing seems to help with that.

I am going to tackle a more elaborate dinner tonight b/c i'm getting a little bored with my meals. i'm thinking a nice sweet treat would be nice as well.

Last but not least. I HAD THE MOST EPIC "STUFF" OF MY ENTIRE LIFE THIS MORNING!!

i mean epic!!

My mother is concerned as well, but being from California, probably less concerned.

The big concern in my world is my work dinner tonight-- there are no food options. There will be a salad, probably with cheese, and some sort of meat, potato cooked green scenario. I don't know if I should cheat! Ask for two salads with no cheese? What do I do?

Movement.

As I predicted, day three is the day of movement! Finally! Melissa you were right it is like rolled up newspaper… but green newspaper...

I was cursing that psyllium/bentodine drink last night and this morning but its working!!

Thank goodness because i was freaking out b/c i had a food baby. You know the ones when you pig out on something and your belly goes from 0 to 60. but this one was hard and fruit filled, so really it was a fruit baby... its is gone now and i feel thinner and freakishly energetic!!

It seems that dinner is when i get really weak/bummed out about preparing food. i need some new recipes.

I let my mom know i am doing this raw thing and she is very worried b/c she is convinced i will get very sick if i dont eat meat and drink milk!

Nano, an introduction.

Since we've got some new players on board, I'd like to get started with a bit of background information. First, let's meet Nano. Nano is the most experienced of our newbies and loves a challenge. Here's what she had to say for herself:


I’ve done cleanses before. I did one that was a week long, mostly raw with a bunch of supplements from GNC. That was pretty decent. I also drink senna tea when I feel sluggish. That stuff works like a champ!

My biggest vice is chips. I LOVE CHIPS. Love love love them.

Here starts my over sharing… I am very very regular. I sorta freak out if I’m not, hence the senna tea and other home remedies…

I think my colon is probably a 7 (on a scale of 1-10). I eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies and avoid processed stuff, but can’t avoid chips. Oprah taught me that healthy “stuff” was supposed to look S shaped and mine mostly does.

My goals are to lose a little weight, and getting healthier skin. I feel like I my skin looks like shit lately. And I LOVE a challenge.

I am not going to weigh myself. Don’t own a scale, but I’ve got many clothes to use as a barometer. If I can get back into a certain few pairs of pants and a skirt I will be over the moon.

My last supper was ribs at Smoque last night and it was delish! 

So far so good on day 1. that first drink in the morning was hard to choke down. but the green smoothy thing was actually really tasty. 

i just made myself some "lunch" and it was interesting. i had zucchini as noodles and then made a delish green sauce out of spinach, green onions, cilantro, oil, garlic, almonds and avocado. it was pretty good. 

now i am off to soak nuts and prep food for my first week.

The Long Goodbye

In order to rev up for this cleanse, I have consumed the following things in the last week-

- chicken salad sandwich
- almond poppyseed bread
- garlic bagel with cream cheese
- steak sandwich
- brie, mango, and chicken grilled wrap
- burger, fries
- turkey sandwich with bacon, cajun fries
- creamy red pepper soup
- pizza, veggie and sausage
- mongolian beef, spicy orange chicken, pot stickers, crab rangoon, egg roles
- multiple girl scout cookies
- tacos- mexican sausage, steak, pork
- several bottles of wine
- several beers
- one pineapple gimlet
- one margarita

Goodbye sweet friends! I will see you in two weeks!

Coming soon.

It's that time of year; the sun is shining, buds are forming on the trees, and soon this blog will be populated once again with tales of green foods, digestive adventures, bodily processes, and of course, my colon.

Plus: This time around I have the honor of drinking the green kool aid with some brand new guest writers!

Introductions to follow.

As always, the ground rules remain the same: this cleanse is raw and vegan. Nothing cooked, no caffeine or alcohol, no dairy, and nothing heated over 104 degrees. We'll be welcoming back our old friends psyllium and bentonite (they haven't changed a bit!) and my personal fave, fenugreek. My buddies may be doing their own variations, but I'll allow them to fill in the details.

Remember: If you want to help, make me a salad or ship me a box of lara bars. There is no need to debate the scientific merit of this plan. Do not offer me a cookie.