Gooood Morning!

Just got in from my walk and took a nice cool shower.. I know I can't stop bitching about the heat but I am ready for some cooler weather! It was 90 deg already when I got in this morning (10:45am). I would sure love a little chill in the air on my walk damnit!


I would love to walk on this path! But alas I live in Orlando.

I still don't love to sweat, well I love how the walking makes me feel but I can't wait to get in the shower. I don't like to stay sweaty anyway. It's the Southern Bell in me~ *smiles*

Yesterday I was so busy that I actually missed one of my snacks and got busy and only ate half of my lunch and came in under 1000 cal for the whole day.

I have a breakfast I love now.. it's an Ezekiel wrap (sprouted grains and NO gluten!) and two egg whites with one egg added in. I saute some tomato (usually a whole small one) and a couple ounces of onion and then throw in the egg and add lots of hot sauce.. I love this and it keeps me full for quite some time. I have also been adding 50 cal. worth of cheese although I truly need to give up all dairy!

My 40's are going to be the decade of change! They already are.

Today is a good day *smile*

I love orchids.. isn't that beautiful? I just wanted to start the day off with a nice flower pix. It made me smile, hope it will you too.

Today is a better day than I have had in quite some time.

I was a bit disappointed but at least I am back where I was before our food fest this past weekend. I know I am doing it right. I started walking again last Sat. and I feel better already.

I actually tried to jog a bit on a downhill area in our neighborhood but my big toe started hurting pretty badly so I stopped. I have had issues in the past with my feet (been Dx with arthritis in my feet) and I know that hard walking like I am doing will give me almost as good results as jogging and I will try jogging again from time to time until I don’t have issues with my feet.

I have heard too many stories about people hurting their feet and knees jogging when they are still pretty overweight.

I walked 40 min. again today. It was a tiny bit easier than on Monday but still a VERY good workout and I am always extremely hot when I get back in. I can’t believe it’s Oct. and it’s still in the 90’s here. Even at 10am it’s already so steamy. I can’t wait until it cools off a bit. I truly miss the Fall.

I am keeping my commitment to myself to walk 2 miles a day, every day, until Oct. 24th when we leave for Vegas/Sedona. I want to be able to do lots of walking in Vegas and hiking on Sedona and the walking here in this heat will certainly prepare me a little for up there.

Monday thru yesterday (Wed) I kept my calories average 1350 a day. Today is going to be around 1250.

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Wow.. I had to write about something I discovered that is truly GOOD!
It's Ancient Harvest Red Quinoa. Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain and is gluten free.



Because of my previous Atkins diet I have had a fear of any grains and rarely eat them. I am changing that and adding this on a regular basis. I made it with organic veggie broth instead of water and it was divine!

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I've been reading a couple Blogs trying to get/keep motivated.

I love this one, she is doing so great! Her blog is very inspirational, she just got in the 100's! (I can't WAIT!!) check it out:

bigbottomblogger.blogspot.com

Thank you to Greta for the nice comment! I didn't think anyone at all was reading.
Your blog has helped bring me out of my funk a bit!

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Another fun site that is truly crazy (advise, don't look at it when you are hungry.. it's insane!

Well and just OMG.. this site is hilarious:
thisiswhyyourefat.com

WTF? Velveeta fudge?

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More inspirational reading:

Wow.. love this story of a woman who lost 180 pounds without bypass surgery.. one thing she says about telling God that if she got one more chance to lose weight, that she would somehow learn to love and respect her body.

I am right there right now. That is how I feel… I have abused myself for so long.. it’s time. Here is her story:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/goal/182307-lori-bells-story-180-pounds-lost.html

Doing So So...

Well honestly I did excellent all last week and then the weekend came and Patrick and I were running around shopping for clothes for our trip to Vegas/Sedona (Oct 24-Nov 2) and I guess I was just in too much of a celebratory mood because when it came time to eat I just ate whatever I wanted and I wanted rich fatty food, booze AND dessert.

I pretty much ate whatever I wanted Sat and Sun and today (Monday) I am back on.
I have to not do this on the weekends, this tends to pretty much wipe out all the good I do during the week.

I have been thru this before. This is something I fall back into if I am not careful.

I am not weighing for a couple of days.

Today I decided since I had great walking in both Sat and Sunday (hours at the mall on Sat and at least an hour walking around shopping on Sun. too) that I would start a commitment to myself to walk EVERY DAY until we leave on the 24th for Vegas.

I want to have good stamina to walk as much as we can on our trip.

So I walked 40 min. this morning and will continue on, even on Sundays, until we leave.

Still here!

Proper Way to Weigh Ones Self



It's been too long so I need to catch up.

I have been dieting still, (well on and off.. had a few fall backs) but I am doing ok.

I am a jewelry designer so I have been very busy gearing up for the holiday season.

I have four Etsy shops:

My Etsy Lovely LUXE Jewels Store:
www.LovelyluxeJewels.etsy.com

My Etsy CaryMartinDesigns store:
www.CaryMartinDesigns.etsy.com

My Etsy gemstone store:
www.GemGourmet.etsy.com

My JoeyAndRocky store:
www.JoeyandRocky.etsy.com

With the holidays soon approaching I am crazy busy making jewelry and stocking my shops. I also sell gemstones to other designers.

I was just having such a hard time focusing and something had to give and I didn't want it to be my diet so I backed off the Raw (for a while only!) and went back to my old standby of just counting calories.

It's not the best I know but for me it's better than just falling off completely..

I have actually managed to lose two more pounds.

I am unfortunately not veggie anymore right now either.

I am eating alot of convenience foods like Amy's meals at night and also a few Lean Cuisine, etc. This diet of mine is actually very simular to what you would be doing on Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem, portion controlled pre-packaged stuff. Like I said I know it's not the best long term but right now it's the lessor of two evils. No dieting or doing this.

I'm also haveing Starkist tuna kits as a snack (210 cal and high protein) almost every day in the afternoon and making my own Egg a muffins in the AM. (English muffins, canadian bacon, low fat cheese and an egg).

Staying under 1500 calories a day.. it's easy and pretty much a no brainer for me.

Several years ago I lost 50 pounds this way (of course gained it back) but it is second nature to me so it leaves my mind free to deal with business right now. You pretty much eat almost the same thing every day.

On weekends I make us a huge batch of scrambelled egg whites and tons of veggies and we have English muffins with Raw honey. It's good and it's nice to sit down together and enjoy an actual breakfast.

I AM GOING BACK TO RAW soon.. Planning on for sure Jan. 1st.

Food today:

Egg a muffin - 335
Lean Cuisine lunch - 360

Slip Sliding Away...

The last couple of days have been a struggle... It was the Labor Day weekend and Patrick and I did allot of work on the yard.. each day I started out great and did well Raw (ended my Juice Feast at 13 days and 11 pounds lost but I have gained 3 back) until late in the evening and I ended up eating Amy's meals and such because I was so hungry.

I need to start having something on hand in the house I can eat at night that is raw and more filling (have to get a new dehydrator!). Maybe a muesli with almond milk… or make some kale, or daikon or zucchini chips or some crackers or something I can munch on.

I WILL BE HAVING A GREEN SMOOTHIE TONIGHT FOR DINNER!

Food today:

Frozen banana, frozen strawberry coconut water smoothie
Sm handful goji berries
1/3 honeydew
1 Ezekiel wrap (toasted) with 1/3 C hummus
pineapple around 4pm




I am also planning on another juice feast.. This time for 14 days. I will plan on starting toward the end of the month.

I need to order the nut milk bags.

I was thinking it would be good to do planned out menus of daily juices so I can be well prepared but ahead of time but actually it’s hard to know what organic fruits/veggies the stores will have. I guess I won’t be doing that.. I will just use what good organic fruits and veggies I can find.

REALLY Struggling...

The last two days.. my poor psyche has really been in turmoil...

Well I am laying in bed this morning (just bought an amazing bed from a Friend in Fernandina Beach and my sister Stacy and her husband JB loaded it up and hauled it to us.. thank you SO much you two! It’s the most amazing bed we have ever owned)..

Anyway I am laying there in bed thinking about my out of control eating was last night (pizza pig out) and how in the past with my attempts to lose weight and change my eating lifestyle, I just seem to give in when I get really hungry. It’s like I just throw a food temper tantrum.. like an incorrigible child. It’s really like that.

It makes since I guess since I am changing my mindset and setting limits and boundaries and changing something that has been fundamental (if also WRONG) in my life for a very long time (eating whatever I what, whenever I want in as much quantity as I want).. It’s like I am having another part of me trying to rebel against the changes I want to make. It's causing serious inner turmoil.

So this morning I was reading other's blogs to work on re-focusing my mind on my Raw food world and wow, thank you to the universe for showing me this blog entry from “The Raw Model” (link is here: http://rawmodelcom.blogspot.com/2007/05/add-in-good-stuff-now-worry-about.html )

This is the entry:


‘ADD THE GOOD STUFF IN NOW, WORRY ABOUT CUTTING THE BAD STUFF OUT LATER…’



“A big thing that I learned on my path to health with living foods was that the idea of sacrifice for health will not produce a healthy person, and certainly not a happy one.

Because I was working in New York at the time, I was really trying my best to immediately lose weight and develop more lean muscle. So I cut out everything bad. Or at least I attempted to. For a few weeks, I dropped ice cream, pizza, indian food, and falafels. I was doing two green smoothies a day, plus apples. I was losing weight fast, but in my mind I was suffering. I was still addicted to those foods, and by cutting myself off right away, the weak part of me was angry and resentful towards the disciplined part of me. I was going crazy, and I would reach an occasional breaking point.

Wandering the streets of the East Village like a drug fiend, I would walk into a pizza place and order two slices. After eating them too quickly, I would realize that I was yet to be satisfied. So next, I would get a pint of Ben & Jerry's. Soon after adding that whole pint to the pizza, I was starting to feel the food-coma setting in. I would return to my apartment and lay in bed, feeling guilty and bloated. I would swear that I would learn my lesson, but these episodes would continue off and on for months.

I wasn't in the proper mindstate yet. I was too worried about what I was cutting out, and not focusing on what I should have been adding in. This is the key. Don't focus on what you want to cut out right away. Of course cooked starches and cooked oils and refined sugar are horrible and should be completely eliminated from your body, but that will happen with time. As long as you continue to feel as if you are depriving yourself of these items, you won't be ready yet. What I am saying, is that the best path early on is to just add good things in, and the rest will work itself out with time. The body will know what is good, and the idea of canceling out your healing foods with garbage again will quickly lose its appeal.

So get your green juice in everyday. Get a green smoothie in your body everyday for breakfast. Make sure you eat a grapefruit, and one avocado a day is magic. Make a superfood smoothie with coconuts and raw chocolate and goji berries and bee pollen. Eat highly mineralized raw foods. If you still desire something else, go for it. But sooner, rather than later, you will shift towards 95-100% raw without having that feeling of regret and guilt and sacrifice.

I knew the truth...I had experienced the "raw high" after those first two weeks. Nevertheless...the old habits were ingrained in my mind, and I still desired the garbage. Now, I can honestly say that I eat everything that I want. The only difference is this: What I want now isn't what I used to want. I don't miss the pizza, the burgers, the eggs and pancakes. Thats not even food in my mind anymore. I don't want it like I used to. And this will happen to you as well. Just add in the goodies, and the rest will take care of itself.

Peace and love ALL WAYS...

Anthony”


Also this reply to his post is right on:

Bless you for sharing this! It's exactly this kind of honesty that helps people that are excited about raw truly transform into people that are freed from food addictions. Raw Dogma can be really intense and misleading to the seeker. It is entirely possible to feel nutritionally elated and at the same time experience a sort of spiritual bankruptcy 'cause your mental is just not on.

Suddenly stripping yourself of all your comfort foods leaves alot of the psyche bared and ready to rumble. I'm a recovering alcoholic and I see alot of parallels between the two. Just stopping drinking is nearly impossible w/o a spiritually based program of recovery running in tandem. And if you do succeed in staying dry you're likely miserable and angry, seeing as you've just lost the only coping mechanism you had.

I find food issues to be surprisingly similar...


I could not have said it any better.. THIS is what I am dealing with right now.. I am divided in my psyche.




I WANT and need to eat Raw but my inner child is revolting. I have to be less hard on myself and take it more slow…

This is also very enlightening.. I have to STOP kicking myself and just go with the transition as I can and as it comes. I can continually re-focus back on Raw as often as I need to but most important is that I just ease up on myself.

Wednesday~ Day 10 of my Juice Feast!

I hope to lose an additional 2 pounds before coming off of juice feast on Sunday.

I REALLY need to do this juice feast for a longer period of time.. maybe after I finish my 14 days on Sunday AM, I could continue on to do most days juice feast and when I feel I HAVE to eat I can have a raw dinner or even maybe an Amy’s Organic like I was doing.

I need to not get into raw gourmet a bunch yet - I have bought 5 recipe books!.. I do want to make some of those Kale chips in the dehydrator when I come off my juice feast. I also found a recipe for marinated and dehydrated eggplant, it sounds very good.

I just need to be sure to not eat lots of nuts and seeds (fat) and get too into making bunches of gourmet raw until I lose allot more weight.

My sister and her family are coming over Friday night and spending the night before we head to St. Pete for the weekend. I Was trying to think of what I can make for everyone for Breakfast on Saturday before they we to mom’s and decided to do fruit smoothies. I can buy lots of frozen fruit and also make JB and Patricks and the boys with protein powder I guess.. I can use almond milk for them also.

I really want to get this weight off once and for all. I am tired of f*cking around with it.

Interesting enough I was VERY hungry at 1:30 pm and drank a decent size glass (maybe a cup and a third?) of almond milk and it’s an hour later and I am still not hungry.

I am a bit tired but it's just detox.

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My vitamix arrived!

I am having my first green smoothie (well that I made).. I used a half pound of spinach, 2 stalks celery, juice of one orange and flesh of one mango.. added half a dropper of stevia (almost too much sweetness though) and some superfoods greens powder, it’s pretty good, it seems to be really whipped and full of air.. I wonder if the greens powder did that?

Juice today:

3 apples
water
1 mango and ½ pineapple - 11am
Almond Milk (VERY hungry) 1:30pm
Wholefoods sparkling mineral water with whole blue berries 2:30pm)
Green Smoothie! (full of air?) spinach, celery, orange juice & mango w/ greens powder

Go, Go, Go...

Wow I have been very busy today.. It's been cool because it helps me to keep my mind off food.

I have done well today.
I started back walking yesterday(did 2.5 miles yesterday and today).

I want to be able to hike when we go to Sedona in October.

I am working on cleaning the house, doing laundry, all that freaking fun stuff. Good God does anyone else EVER get caught up? I sure never do.

Getting a delivery tomorrow, a foundation for our new King Size mattress my sweet sister Stacy and her hubbie JB are bringing Patrick and I Friday! I am so excited. We bought a beautiful antique bed and have been working on a mattress for far to long. It will be nice!

WOW I HAVE BEEN READING ON LINE TODAY ABOUT SOME RAW FOODISTS GUYS…

I find very often men who weigh/weighed what I do and are talking about how unhealthy and fat they are/were. It really freaks me out because I am in SUCH denial about how fat I really am. I just have refused for so long to really think about it for more than a few minutes at a time - I always just push thoughts of it away. I truly hate to look at the reality.

I need to realize somehow that my life is in danger at this very high weight. I know that if I could do that I would have more willpower when I get faced with inevitable temptation and just plain bored and overly hungry!



I really have to do this. I HAVE GOT TO DO THIS.

I have got to get that into my head. I have to be more serious about my LIFE!

I have got to stay on this path. I have got to re-gain my health.. if I ever WAS healthy. I know I can do this.. I can change my life, my health and my body.


I have had three large glasses of the green juice today,



it's really very good but I am wanting something hot. I have a bit of a sinus yuck right now.

I am going to have some more fruit juice and a hot tea for dinner. It's about 15 till 5pm. Now is when I usually start having issues with hunger.. going to keep on with more juice if I need it.



Today:

Juice of 2 Granny Smith and 2 Pink Lady apples
Kale, tomato, carrot, ginger, celery juice (LOTS - still working on it).
Kale, tomato, carrot, ginger, celery juice (STILL!)
Frozen Banana on a chop stick
Hot Earl Grey Lavender tea
Honeydew melon juice

Back in the Saddle...

I love Mondays!

Today is day 8...

Gained three pounds back. Sat and Sunday were off my juice feast (Chinese and then Chinese again for lunch Sunday – leftovers.. AND a soft pretzel at the mall Sunday)..

Well I am back on today.. I am going to do 7 more days. Will come off onto Raw next Monday… will be actually 14 days (minus the two I came).. but 2 more than the 10 I orig. was going for.. to make up for it!

Feeling a bit slow today.. going to go on a walk this morning and take Suki (my Pug puppy) also.. have to start walking again LOTS, in order to be able to do some hiking in Sedona. Yeah!

Patrick and I went to the mall yesterday.. I bought the COOLEST faux suede light golden jacket and a beautiful silky knit fringed fall colors scarf.




I can’t wait to wear it..

Getting back on juice feast today..

I have slight tightness/fullness over my liver still and I am a bit fatigued this morning but I know the walk will help.

Here's to an excellent, productive week.

Well Holy Crap...

Hum...
Well last night I jumped face first into a pig out. (not just a little slip) last night.. I absolutely just totally came off my plan. No ifs, ands or buts.

I started eating around 6pm.. a Raw Larabar, then almonds, then a banana.. then it was a simple and simply awful pig out the rest of the night.

Patrick and I had dinner.. I of course suggested it. I mentioned Chinese and he was all in, he loves Chinese.




Maybe subconsciously I said Chinese because I knew he would not fight me on it (he really does normally try to encourage me). Either way I smooth pigged out.

I had half an order (huge) of Orange Beef. (that's right I ate meat for the first time in 6 weeks) An eggroll and two of his cream cheese won tons. AND 2/3 a pint of Half Baked ice cream.

I simply turned into the old me for the night. I ate without thought of what I was doing. It had been 6 weeks of Vegan and 6 days of my juicefeast. I just switched myself off and went on auto "food" pilot.

This morning I feel like I ate an insane amount of food.. Like I just went crazy and...




This morning, boy do I feel like total hell! Not just guilt wise, I physically feel like crap. My gut aches from shoving so much food in it. In reality it was NO where near as much as I used to eat in a dinner – I only ate half my Chinese meal but you KNOW how large those meals are.

I have this ache under both my breasts.. in the center of my being and also I feel extremely exhausted. I can’t believe I woke up this tired. I can’t stop yawning.

It’s a HUGE difference to how well I have been feeling in the mornings over the last month.. I really want to remember that. I guess it’s a learning experience, I just don’t need to eat like that ever again. It’s such a drastic change. I feel half charged, like I only have half my normal energy.

I feel slow and very fatigued and sort of mentally fogged AND I have tons of dried mucus on the insides of my nose. I have a feeling of fullness over my liver and I just feel sort of stunned.. sort of half there mentally. Foggy and slow and SERIOUSLY tranquilized. It sucks.

I know this is a journey and I am not going to kill myself with guilt, I do feel pretty shitty… physically and psychologically but hopefully I will be able to use this next time.

I am going to be right back on today.. actually I will probably fast as long as I can today. I certainly need to. I know logically that they say it takes quite a while to become a totally 100% Raw foodist and maybe I am not doing myself any favors by starting off with such a hard core move as a juice feast but it’s freaking only 10 damn days.. Come on!

I have even noticed that I am actually THINKING SLOWER! I am so tired and bogged down that my brain is even working slower.. I am feeling stunted and can’t seem to pull up my thoughts as quick as normal. It’s really an eye opener. I can’t stop yawning either.. It’s almost 8am and I am still half asleep.

I also have mild intestinal cramping and diarrhea. Man I can’t believe one jump into the “old” way I used to eat can so severely effect me.

Well I am right back on. I am being straight to myself about this and I am going to use this and REMEMBER next time I am so tempted with my old food desires.

Much is happening...

I actually came to Raw to lose weight.. that is happening PLUS so much more. My mind is really blown away by what I am reading about the Raw food movement.

I am discovering my compassion for the earth and for her animals. I have not had meat or dairy in over six weeks. (well except for one fall face first into my sister's addictive cheese dip! much ties to old comfort with this long time family tradition).

I have been constantly trying to Alkalize my body because I did Low Carb for so long and for me it was extremely Acid forming (studying this is what actually led me to Raw foods).

I was reading back in my blog this morning and I am down 23 pounds… that is actually pretty cool - most of the weight loss has been because of a Raw food diet.

I am SO excited to read that I can control my borderline diabetes with Raw foods (bought the 30 days raw DVD's and also the book by Dr. Cousins about controlling - he even uses the word "cure" your diabetes thru Raw foods).

I started Low Carb to help me with my sugar and junk carb cravings and because I had learned I was borderline diabetic. When I decide to do something I am all in. I don’t screw around.. I totally immerse myself in that way of life. I was militant most of the time.. It (LC) did help with the bread and sweets cravings.

I have been doing Vegetarian (mostly Raw Vegan) for about six weeks (started on July 16) (today I am on day six of my juice feast). I don’t have any cravings for any of the crap.. NOTHING (well except some good Raw solid food right now because of my liquid meals!) so this way of eating has taken care of that PLUS (and it’s a big plus) no taking tons of minerals and vitamins (and 5HT because of the depression the lack of Serotonin brought on because of the lack of carbs!) and no feeling so dragged down and constantly dehydrated! I used to put a huge glass of water in EVERY room of my house, first thing upon waking up each day, so that no matter where I was I would have a drink… I was THAT thirsty all the damned time.

I am so excited about what’s to come for me in my new Raw world .. I have been using the word Epic allot lately because this is how I feel… It’s Epic. It’s a monumental discovery for me.

Sweeeeet Saturday~

Alrighty! It's Day SIX!



I am over halfway there (if I decide on only 10 days.. we will see.. thinking about 14 days).

Last night was HARD but I made it ;-)

Down 10 pounds!!!

Wow 10 pounds in 5 days. I am so excited... I am not going to weigh again until Monday. I used to have Monday as my main weigh in day and it really helps to only weigh once a week AND planning weigh in's for Monday keeps me real thru the weekend. (most of the time ;-)

Feel VERY good and OH SO calm and relaxed this morning. I have this sort of "expanded consciousness" feeling. No!, without any use of mind altering plants! I just feel more in tune with everything. This is going to be a fantastic day, I can feel it. Good thing cuz Patrick and I have LOTS of work here at the house for the weekend!

I know this is it.. this is what is going to do it.. well I am going to do it WITH this way of eating. I am. It feels right. It's resonating with me.

I can’t wait to be the old (new) cute slim sexy moi.


Juice – supplements today:

Water with lime juice

TGIF

Well today is going to be a good day, I can feel it. I feel clear headed and my cramps are almost gone. It's day five of my juice feast. I am still counting it as day five even though I ate some raw fruit and tahini last night. I was having a very hard night. I don't think it slowed me down though really because my calories were still under 1200 and it was Raw (Tahini also) and I didn't gain any weight.

Wow.. I sold LOTS of gemstones overnight!!!!!!!!!!



(Check out My Gemstore sometime):

http://GemGourmet.etsy.com

and I am pretty busy this morning packing stuff up. It's nice as I am saving for our Vegas/Se dona trip late Oct. Thank you to all my wonderful customers!

Seriously, I don't want to work, all I want to do is READ others blogs and sites re: juice feasting and Raw foods forever. I have to force myself to get work done around the house. I know it's because I am still so new at it and have SO MUCH TO LEARN but I am frantic to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can. I can tell this is an Epic time in my life. Changes are a comin'!

Patrick got LOTS of good greens and also greens powder at the store yesterday so I will be juicing lots of greens today! I am shooting for a pound of greens a day and a good amount of celery.

We ended up not buying the MSM because I found out it contains sulfer and I am allergic to sulfer and the freaking bee pollen is crazy expensive so right now I am not using that either - Yet. Hopefully I will find some at a farmer's market or such that is local and not $15 for 6 ounces!

ALSO I didn’t have him get the hemp oil quite yet because I still have a brand new bottle of Carlson’s Finest fish oil for my EFA’s.. I know it’s not veggie but it was expensive and I am using it up first then I will get on with the hemp oil.

I am also adding in my beneficial bacteria every day starting yesterday.

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It’s 11:30 am and I just finished packing up 8 packages! Yeah GemGourmet is rockin!
I have to go to the post office, four of the packages are International (to the UK, Sweden, Switzerland and Italy!).. love the idea that my gems are going all over the world.

I really do miss making jewelry. I did it for almost 25 years. (if you want to check out my site sometime:


"Sea Swept Away" from my BeachBabe line.

http://carymartindesigns.com

I am doing so well with the GemGourmet store that I just don’t seem to have time to do much in the way of new jewelry designs. I do want to finish a couple pieces for myself though ; -)

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I just made a huge liter of honeydew melon juice.. half of a large honeydew.. it’s fantastic! The most incredible honeydew I have had in a long time, it really does pay to eat fruit in their correct season. They are in perfect season right now.. I put it in my new WhydhamGreen bottle that Patrick brought us home from work.. they are cool..

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Wow.. I just realized it’s already 2pm and I have not had any more juice! I ran right thru lunch (had to go to the Post Office) and now it’s actually time for ANOTHER juice so I am two behind. I really need to be careful to not let myself get too hungry!

So I made my first green juice for the day..
A dandelion greens, spinach, green superfood powder, mango, honeydew melon juice and it is fair. I had to add 4 drops stevia because it was a little bitter. I will be able to drink it no problem.

I actually ended up pulling all the greens out of the bin from the back of the juicer, throwing them in the bullet with some water and then straining the liquid back in my drink.. I hate to waste all those greens.. the juicer just does NOT do a good job! I ordered a Vitamix last week. They are crazy expensive but I need it. Will be glad when it gets in.

Well it’s 4:30pm and I was really hungry for something sweet (will have my other green juice for dinner) so I made banana, pineapple and coconut water juice! OMG.. this is the best ever! I didn’t strain it but I am not worrying about it. I can’t get obsessive, I am not going to develop an all or nothing mentality about this cleanse. It’s important that I don’t get too militant with myself.


Hummmm… well its’ 5pm and I am getting that “spaced out” feeling everyone talks about when they are doing the juice feast and consume too much sugar from fruit. I am spacey and feel tired all of a sudden.

I will be SO GLAD when my vitamix comes in so I can make decent green juices.. it’s hard to do good ones with the juicer… it gets practically NO juice from the greens.. I guess in the mean time I will do what I did with lunch and do the greens in the bullet with water or maybe coconut water?

Boy I am REALLY STRUGGLING with wanting to eat solid food right now! I know it’s because of the time. (it is almost 7pm) and I have eaten a solid dinner for what…. 44 years now! I can understand I guess how this feels so foreign.

The first few days were easy because it was new and I was thrilled and excited.. I am still excited but the newness is wearing off and now I have to just DO THIS!

I can make myself a green drink when Patrick eats his dinner. I can do this.. I am NOT going to fall off and eat food like last night (banana, date and raw tahini last night).. I am back on, have done good all day and will make it thru the end of the day… I sure hope this gets easier!

Forgot my EFA oil AND my beneficial bacteria.. will have to take them NOW~

Had a decent poo today. (yes we raw foodies are into our poo’s!) I had not had one in two days.
I also have a huge pimplebump coming up on my chin… definitely detox as I hardly EVER get these.

Juice/supplements today:

1 large glass ice water w/ lime juice and stevia (used a whole lime).. this is nice this morning~
1 liter of honeydew melonjuice!
Liter of Green juice – dandelion greens, spinach, green superfood powder, mango, honeydew melon
1 T soaked goji berries (forgot to add them to the juice so I just ate them)
Banana, pineapple and coconut water (2 cups).. WOW amazing!
1 T Carlson’s fish oil (I know it’s not veggie but I have it in the fridge and need to finish it)
11 oz Passionfruit Coconut water
Hot spice tea (black tea) for dinner – Nice…

Ended up forgetting my beneficial bacteria.. have to start taking the oil and bacteria at lunch.

A Bit Better Today - Day 4 of my Juice Feast~

Wow.. Ok I have LOST 9 POUNDS IN THREE DAYS.

That is an absolute record. NEVER ever have I done that.. even when fasting. It’s incredible.

I wonder if I am drinking enough.
Feel so so this morning. Have cramps (period) and woke in the middle of the night with a sharp pain under my right breast. Pretty high up. I think too high for gall bladder. Not sure but it went away quickly.

Patrick is so sweet and good to me. He said he would go to WholeFoods for me today.. need more greens and fruit and a few other supplies for this Juice Feast protocol. I sort of started right out of the gate w/o knowing and having everything I needed. I am working on it though!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Well it’s noon and I am having more Watermelon juice. It’s reallygood and I needed to finish off the watermelon.

I wanted to note that my MOOD is VERY good right now… Still have cramps but that’s expected as it’s only day 2 of my period. I made it thru yesterday and last night w/o drugs and will also today and tomorrow. I will be SO glad when my period is over and I feel the mood I do right now without cramps! It will be wonderful.

I really want to do this for a long period of time.
I just ordered bottles to put juice in if we are out and about (Sigg bottles)



A large one and small one for my juice and Patrick wanted the Yin/Yang one for water. (I love all three of these!)

and Patrick is going to get me some other stuff I need for the protocol of this juice feast (bee pollen and MSM and Hemp Seed oil).. from Whole Foods today. Yeah!

I could do this for over a month and come off the first week of Oct. and re-acclimate to raw and some vegan cooked before we go to Las Vegas.. (We are going to Vegas and Sedona for 9 nights leaving Oct. 24).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s 15 till 2 and I seem to be having some fullness (not really pain) in my liver area and I wonder how long it is going to be before my liver gets better.. I am going to do some enemas to help.. maybe coffee. Yes that's right I bought an enema bag.. crazy but true.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well it’s 5pm and I am having a very nice banana, celery and kale juice. If you had told me a month ago I would like this I would have said you were bonkers. I was very hungry and wanted to just EAT several bananas but only took one teeny bite and blended and strained the rest.

I drank Almond milk today and I know it’s not really correct to do nuts on the juice fast as far as the correct protocol but for some reason my body was really craving it. I think maybe it’s because I had not had a good amount of protein (no greens yet for the day) and also maybe I was craving some fat. Patrick is picking up my Hemp oil (for essential fatty acids while on the feast) today thankfully. I need it and the bee pollen for sure.. I am also getting some greens powder to boost up my green juices and MSM (part of the protocol).

Ok I am REALLY, REALLY wanting to eat dinner. I am very hungry. Patrick is bringing home some more fruits and veggies for me.

Well it’s 7:30pm. I really let myself get too hungry and ended up falling off and eating solid food :-(

I had a banana with three dates and 2 large T Raw tahini… well there it is. I am owning it and putting it out there.

I am not beating myself up… getting right back on.


Juice today
Water with lime juice
Watermelon juice (breakfast)
Watermelon juice (lunch)
2 C Almond Milk (around 4pm)
Banana (2), celery (lots), Kale (1/2 #) juice (5pm)
Banana, dates and tahini.. (damn)

Uggg... Here Comes Detox!

Wow.. down 7 pounds lost in two days? That’s I think a lifetime record for me! I can’t believe that. AND even more incredible? I started my period this morning.. I am SURE I am up at least 2 pounds from my actual weight because I always am when I start..

I am so excited I can’t even begin to explain how I feel. So many words come to mind! I am frantic with wanting to read and learn it ALL right now! Raw is going to save my life.

Well how I ACTUALLY feel this morning is not good because I have serious cramps.. I was thinking I want to just deal with this month’s period pain.

I don’t want to take any drugs to slow down my detox.. I am very fortunate I can actually lay on my heating pad or take a hot bath in the middle of the day If I need to.. I am so truly very blessed, it’s amazing the life I have.

Thank you so much to my wonderful hubbie.. He takes such good care of me! He is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

Wow… I wonder where I will be at the end of this juice feast? I want to get to 199 NOW!~.. maybe I will just stay on this until then!

I am so excited I can’t stop thinking that maybe this is IT! Finally what is going to do it for me.

I really need to think on more ways to use greens and veggies and be careful to not do TOO many juices with lots of fruit (I think?).

Had pineapple green apple juice first thing.. Patrick liked it too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s 10:45 am and I am having some almond milk (almond breeze.. didn’t make it myself) my body really asked for it when I saw it in the fridge. I am sure homemade would be better but at least it's Organic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just ordered a new Raw cookbook:





www.rawhealingpatch.com

http://rawhealingpatch.com



Julie and Sarah have great videos on YouTube also!


http://youtube.com/user/RawHealingPatch

http://www.youtube.com/user/RawHealingPatch




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little update on all my Gastro tests:

I had two ultrasounds, a upper endoscopy, an colonoscopy, a CT scan with barium and a small bowel follow thru with barium.

They were NOT ABLE TO FIND A THING except H Pylori (causes ulcers) and said I had a "few inflamed areas".. Nothing else.

I was told it's "probably just a case of bad irritable bowel"..

I ordered Dr. David Klein's book on healing Colitis and Crohns for myself and my sister Stacy (she has Crohns)



http://www.colitis-crohns.com

and am going to be reading that soon. In the mean time I KNOW that this Raw juice feast will help!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s 1:45 and I just got out of a hot Himalayan Pink Salt bath (Thanks for the salt stones mom!) and feel pretty good.

Cramps seem to be ramping up but the hot bath helped.

10 till 3pm.
I just got up for a very quick nap. I actually was only going to lay down on my heating pad for a few minutes to help my cramps but I fell asleep. It helped a bit. They are still there but better.

Still drinking my green lunch.

I have been listening to the “Soundscapes” channel today and it almost feels like I am at a Spa.

I was reading that if we don’t colon cleanse we can re-absorb some of our toxins back in. I guess I am going to have to freaking order an enema bag. Damn..

I also just ordered some intestinal drawing formula..


20 min. till 4..
I am not feeling well really, I have liver pain again and I am just fidgety and can’t get comfortable.. have cramps, seem hungry but don’t want to drink any more juice, tired..

Think I will go lay down and read a while.

It’s 5pm and I am feeling a bit better.. having some Mango, white peach and BANANA! JUICE
I decided I could do the banana by whirling it in my bullet and then straining it thru my sieve. It worked good and this juice is fabulous!

Juice today:

Pineapple and green apple first thing – YUM!!!
1.5 C Almond milk
Water with Lemon Verbena leaves (I am growing).
Lunch is a huge green juice - 1/2 pound of kale, 2 green apples, 2 cucumbers and 1/3 bag of celery.
It's actually one of my favorites so far. Just sweet enough. I love cucumber in these juices!
Mango, white peach, banana juice

Juicy Day TWO!!!

I lost 4.5 pounds overnight! Wow.. I know I was bloated because of all the crap we ate.. sunchips and diet pepsi and then tortillas and cheesedip and crap like that and THEN Sunday night Patrick and I went to Chili’s and had a three course meal.. with volcano cake for dessert.. I was for sure retaining water…. Came off Raw for two days.

Anyway this morning I felt a little exhausted.. had a very, very mild headache and overslept about a half hour but now I feel better.. not 100% for sure but better..

Made a HUGE glass of watermelon juice and have some left in the fridge and also gave some to Patrick..

Here’s to day two!

Well it’s 11:12 AM and I am officially having hunger pains for the first time.

I just made some licorice hot tea. Hope it will hold me for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well it is noon and I am definitely having some detox symptoms.



I have turned the AC up to 78deg and I still feel like I have the chills (a hot Epsom salt bath would be so nice right now!) and I have a slight headache and a little stuffiness in my head.

I need to drink more juice but they are not appealing to me right now.. I want more hot tea.

I think a walk in the AM tomorrow will be good.. I just went and got everything together so I can just do it. I need to get back to my 2.5 mile walks and Suki (my pug puppy!) needs walks more often too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12:10pm.
Had some more watermelon juice with the juice of one orange. .. *I remembered too late that you are not supposed to mix melon with anything.. but I am sure It’s ok this one time.


I am feeling very excited about what this might bring. I keep seeing myself doing this longer than 10 days.. maybe 30? I would love to do some serious cleansing and healing. I really want to help motivate Stacy and Mom too.

I feel some kind of transformative shift going on with me. I am ready for a serious metamorphosis!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
12:45pm

I am really wanting steamy teas.. my sinus hurt and I just want to breathe the steam and drink hot teas.
I am sure tea can’t hurt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I enjoyed the steam from the tea but the tea (black English tea) felt very “drying” to me in my mouth and made me much more thirsty.. the tannins I guess.. I immediately wanted plain water.

Will have to have herbal tea next time I need something steamy.

It’s 1:45pm and I am actually really not hungry. It’s strange.. I do think that soon I should eat so that I don’t all of a sudden feel starved later today. Really trying to go with my body though.. I have a bit more of a headache now and still feel very tired.

Going out to lay in the sun and soak up some warmth.. might read, might just fall asleep, we will see.

2:30pm.

Well I laid out for a while and really worked up a nice detoxing sweat. I am for sure NOT cold anymore!

Having mild pain around my liver area. I am sure it’s GOOD.. detoxing my liver!!!!!!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s 3:15pm and I am having my lunch made a HUGE amount of garlic, beet, celery, tomato, green leaf lettuce, cucumber cilantro juice.. used a while head of green leaf lettuce and 3 med. Cloves of garlic.. it’s good. Very strong but good.

4:30pm..
still drinking this juice.. the first half was good now it’s getting a little too strong but I will finish it! I have a little watermelon/orange juice left for “dessert”..

I am not feeling great.. still achy and my sinus really is getting worse. For some reason this is always my first sign I am detoxing. I wonder why.

Made some more of my homemade "V8".. this time I used too much garlic! I used three cloves, you would think that just the juice from three cloves would not be to much but WOW it was strong.. I like garlic so I managed to drink it all but WOW!


Juices today:

-Water with lime juice
-Watermelon juice
-Licorice tea
-Watermelon juice with 1 orange juiced in it*
-HUGE amount of garlic, beet, celery, tomato, green leaf lettuce, cucumber cilantro juice.. used a while head of green leaf lettuce and 3 med. Cloves of garlic.. it’s good. Very strong but good
Watermelon with 1 more orange juiced in it
Muscadine and white peach juice for dinner

OH AND I ORDERED A VITAMIX TODAY!
NEXT IS A NEW DEHYDRATOR!

RAW JUICE FEAST...

Starting juice feast.


Patrick and I went to Stacy’s (my sis) this weekend. We took their boat out. I had such a hard time getting on and off that boat while in the water.

It was really yet another sad/scary/pissing me off eye opener.

It was too hard because I am so fat. It was humiliating. I wanted to cry. Then I wanted to smoke an entire pack of cigarettes (I didn't - I have quit).

Then later at the hotel I was looking at myself in the mirror and my legs are horrid. They have fat bulges and ripples and I swear an area on the back of one of my legs looks like it has this huge damned fat LEDGE looking area on it.

It really opened my eyes. I have not seen my legs truly as they actually ARE in a long time. I LOOK at myself often but I never really see. It pretty much sucks arse.

I have to do this. I have to remember once and for all what I really ACTUALLY look like and DO THIS! I always seem to have the opposite of people with anorexia when looking in the mirror. I look at myself and see a much skinnier me. Not my true reality.

But it's just not a true image. I don’t want to live the rest of my life this way. I feel like throwing things I am so pissed off.


I AM STARTING A 10 DAY JUICE FAST/FEAST. I AM GOING TO DO THIS. I AM GOING TO BECOME A RAW VEGAN. I AM NOT, NOT, NOT GOING TO LIVE THE REST OF MY FREAKING LIFE IN THIS FAT BODY!

THIS IS ENDING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NOW!

I am going to start with watermelon and apples today.






LATER IN THE DAY...


It’s 20 till 1on and I am hungry so I made some tomato, ginger, spinach, cucumber, carrot, celery, beet juice. It’s good.

Food Today:

1 ½ Cantaloupe
tomato, ginger, spinach, cucumber, carrot, celery beet juice
1 orange in water with ice
Watermelon juice
Apple, cucumber, spinach juice
For dinner I had beet green, carrot, tomato, ½ beet, celery, cucumber, ginger and jalapeno juice.. it was nice and warm and good.


Today around 1:45 I went outside with a glass of icewater with 1 orange squeezed in it and read for a while. I am pretty sleepy so I sort of dozed a bit .. was out there an hour.. I really enjoy just getting a little sun. It's very indulgent and makes me feel guilty to spend time on myself.. that's sad..

There is so much I need to do around the house.

AND LATER...

right now (10 till 4pm) I am having some watermelon juice, man it's good.

I am so stoked to do this. I have what it takes to do this I know I do. This is important to me. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I know it could get tough.. but I am going to do this. It is going to be a new beginning for me.



6:25pm..
I just made my fav. juice so far..
I used 1 pink lady apple, one green apple, half a bag of spinach and half a large cucumber.
It’s SO GOOD!

Making my V8 for dinner later.

Raw is coming along...

I am on day 5 of eating Raw Vegan and I feel very good finally.
I had 3 days of headache and just feeling like crap but I am much better now. I am sure it was a bit of Detox and from what I understand this will come and go as my body lets go of the years worth of built up toxins.

I have been doing about 80-80% raw foods. I have a bit of cooked food when I just really feel I have to have it (they say it helps to transition). For me I wanted to go 100% right off the bat but it's very hard.

I have had a serving of cooked brussel sprouts one day, SmartPop popcorn last night after dinner (watching a movie), and today around 5pm I had an Amy's Veggie pie.

Everything I HAVE had has been Vegan.. and most has been Raw Vegan.



I have been having fruit, all I want, until at least noon each day.. and usually further into the day as long as I can.

Patrick and I made Veggie Nori rolls with Avocado, carrot, bean sprouts, cucumber, zucchini and yellow squash. We rolled them up in the Nori, sliced them like sushi and ate them with pickled ginger and wasabi.. they were so good I have made these almost every day for a late lunch (around 3-4pm).

So far I have lost about 3 pounds. I am not weighing every day though.

I made the BEST Raw meal the other night..


Raw Pad Thai

This Pad Thai-inspired raw food salad is hearty enough to serve as an entree. the flavor really comes from the freshly chopped cilantro, so whatever you do, don't substitute the raw fresh cilantro for dried. It just won't be the same if you do! Try this raw food recipe for a delicious and nutritious raw foods Pad Thai salad.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
 2 zucchinis, sliced into strips with a vegetable peeler (using a yellow squash and a zucchini)
 2 large handfuls of bean sprouts, approx 2 cups
 3/4 cup chopped nuts (use almonds or cashews)
 2 green onions sliced thin and long
 shredded carrot
 shredded cabbage
 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
 juice from one lime
 1/4 tsp sea salt
 fresh cracked black pepper
 red chili pepper flakes

Preparation:
Toss all ingredients together in a bowl until well coated. Add a dash more salt if desired and enjoy!


Note..

For my cleanse I am doing the ginger, apple, spices and rice wine vinegar dressing:
Ginger, carrot, apple, celery, lime juice, tangerine oil, dark sesame oil (last), green onion.. whirled in blender.. add dk sesame oil and serve.

This is the breakdown of the dressing:
2” peeled ginger (nice chunk) chopped up as much as possible, 1 pink lady apple peeled and chopped, 1 med. Carrot peeled and grated, 1 med. Celery destringed and chopped, squeeze of lime juice, 3 drops tangerine oil, chopped green onion.

I cut the veggies all in fine julianne pieces and we ate the salad with chop stix.. it was FANTASTIC!

I can do this.

Today on the way home from picking up Suki (he was Neutered today :(

I instantly wanted a greasy hamburger! I couldn't believe it and I got PISSED at myself. It took allot of strength and I was glad I had to get Suki home and take care of him or I might have caved. Once I got my mind off it I was fine.

I had waited too long to eat and the craving came on quickly. I almost caved!

When we got home and I got Suki resting, I ate my Amy's meal. When I finished it I truly wanted more to eat but I made myself wait. Now I am fine.

Lesson learned:
Don't go too long without eating.

It's been a pretty good day...

Good Morning!

Today starts day four of my veggie diet and I feel fabulous! I have so much energy and almost this buzzing feeling in my body.

My Flax, sunflower and sundried tomato raw crackers turned out fabulous! I didn’t have to change a thing! The parchment worked well and I can’t believe how good they are!

Patrick really likes them too. The Shoya I added really brings out the flavor of it all and I LOVE the jalapeno in them.

I just made myself some parsley, celery and green apple (only 1 apple) juice for my snack and it’s surprisingly very good and refreshing. Yum

It’s around 1:15pm and I am VERY hungry so I am planning on some raw peanut butter on a piece of Ezekiel toast and a handful of cherries. I am slowly adding more raw into my diet. Yum!.


Wow. Ok it’s already 6pm and I am very surprised I am not hungry yet.
I am making some “V8” juice tonight for myself for dinner.. (tomatoes, parsley, carrot, garlic, celery, cucumber, ginger – still wonder what the “8” is in the V8!) Patrick will be having an Amy’s organic meal and some juice too.

I feel pretty good.. have some intestinal “issues”.. but I think that is normal with any drastic diet change.

The crackers were so good and they are gone! Need to like triple the recipe next time!

Veggie diet for a while...

I am working on my liver a bit right now. I want to do the liver cleanse diet (Dr. Sandra Cabot) for 30 days. I would LOVE to go for 2 months but starting with a 30 day commitment.

Today is the start of day three on veggie. I have actually GAINED (back to 231# - blech!) but I am not concerned, I know it will come back off. I am eating too many nuts and seeds and nut butters and granolas. I need to rein myself in on these.

I got beet and green apples to juice and also I want to do my own type of "V8".. I also got tomato, garlic, cucumber, ginger, celery, carrot, parsley (not sure what the other veggie is in V “8”) but this juice sounds great.

I am also making some flax, raw sunflower seed, garlic and sundried tomato dehydrated crackers and hummus. YUM!

I have not officially started the ACTUAL liver cleanse yet as I have not finished the book but I feel I have a jump just doing veggie already.

I have LOTS of energy and I am also very interested in doing as much RAW as I can.
Mom gave me an old RAW cookbook (10 years old) that is one of the very first Raw cookbooks and the author opened the very first raw restaurant in CA.

I like the look of the book, it's very well made, fun and inspiring but some of the recipes have crazy ingredients I have never heard of (and I am a foodie) and I am not sure how practical it is, but I am really loving reading it:





I have also been talking to a lovely lady that is a Chef at a Raw restaurant. (talk about an amazing job!) her name is Michelle Joy and this is her site:

http://purerawjoy.blogspot.com

Michelle is giving me pointers and inspiration and just plain excitement. She has lost 160#!.. I am truly enjoying reading her blog, it is fantastic and has recipes and food combo ideas that are really helping me.

Check out her recipe for Raw Mumbai Spaghetti:

MUMBAI SPAGHETTI
- 1.5 large zucchini's spiralized in bowl

In cuisinart with S blade, add veggies and whir up a spicy sauce:
- 3 or 4 Roma Tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 red pepper, sliced
- 1 large clove garlic, sliced
- 2 slices fresh ginger, diced
- squeeze of fresh lemon/lime

Pour sauce over spaghetti.

Shake the following spices/seasonings on top of sauced noodles:
- 5 shakes turmeric
- 1 squirt cayenne juice
- 3 shakes coriander
- 5 shakes chili powder, salt free, Frontier brand
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

Blend and mix up with your fork and enjoy!

Barely any salt/fat...and sooo yummy. When food is spicy enough, you forget there's no salt or fat. Nutritional yeast has only 1 gram of fat and 5 mg sodium
per 2 Tbsp serving. 2 Tbsp of olive oil have like 30 grams of fat... Nama Shoyu has like 900 + mg of sodium per serving... I keep citing that, i know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*** need a spiral slicer!! anyway I think this sounds VERY good and I am going to make it soon.

Dawn and I went to a Raw restaurant here in Orlando called "Cafe 118 Deg".. I was blown away and VERY interested in how they can make such amazing gourmet food that is RAW. This is where I got turned on to the flax, sundried tomato crackers. We had some with Raw cashew "hummus".. it was delish.

I found a RAW bootcamp I have been reading about - it's very hard core.. NO fat, nuts or seeds and only raw veggies and fruits. and also I am going to search for more Raw weight loss success stories I love reading these.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been reading so much lately about the Raw foods movement.
I REALLY feel drawn to this in an incredible way.

Part of me wants to just jump in, buy all the supplies (I need a vitamix, a new dehydrator with slick mats, a spiral slicer and a mandolin.) but I know I have to take it slow. Hell a vitamix alone is $400.

Today I am making a flax and sunflower seed raw “cracker”.. I am using an old dehydrator mom gave me.
It’s an old Ronco round one. There are no temperature adjustments (my recipe said to set dehydrator on 105Deg) or a fan but I am pretty stoked.

I cut rounds of parchment to try to use instead of the slick mats (sort of like silpat) that most raw foodies use in their dehydrators. I hope and pray the parchment will work!

This is the recipe I am using:

Southwest Flax Crackers

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1/2 cup julienned sundried tomatoes
1/2 cup flax seed
2 cloves garlic, pressed – is this enough?
1 small jalapeño, seeded and minced – I started with half a large – seeds and all
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 T lemon juice (I ended up needing juice from a LARGE lemon )
1 T lemon rind
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup ground raw sunflower seed or raw pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon sea salt
Fresh ground pepper
Nama Shoya

Directions:

Soak sundried tomatoes for at least 1 hour in just enough water to cover them. (added a T of Shoya)

Soak flax seed for at least 2 hours in just enough water to keep them from clumping. (I soaked mine over night in the fridge)

Put sundried tomatoes and soaking water in a blender pitcher. Add garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, and olive oil to pitcher. Blend until you get a slightly chunky paste. Pour tomato paste into a bowl and stir in flax seed, ground sunflower or pumpkin seed, and sea salt.

Spread on teleflex sheets (I am going to try parchment first.. ) using a rubber spatula.

Also use a knife and score mix and dehydrate at 105 degrees Fahrenheit for 3-4 hours. Using a knife, carefully cut into squares (scoring first really helps). Continue to dry for and additional 6 hours. Flip crackers and dry until crisp. I generally dehydrate for a total of about 18 hours. You can use more or less jalapeño, depending on your taste.

########################
(I ended up needing juice from a LARGE lemon and added extra shoya )

I had a hard time getting my bullet to mix at all so I finely chopped everything and mixed it together by hand. It was VERY thick.

It has been in the dehydrator for about three hours and the kitchen has a wonderful smell. I HOPE these are as good as the ones Dawn and I had at Café 118Deg!