Day 103 of 108

Sleep: 8 hrs

Sunshine: Lots of sun today. I spent several hours reading, meditating & having fun in its warm rays. Bliss.

Love: I love the color turquoise. Especially next to white or other metals like gold & silver.

Joy: I did do my kriyas & mediation sessions, plus about 30 minutes of various exercises in 3 minutes intervals till I worked up a sweat. An "all-over" sweat good enough to create little puddles beneath me as I exercised, plus drip off the tip of my chin or nose. Yay!

Gratitude: Grateful for exercise & how good it makes me feel.

Bliss: The feeling that the world is getting smaller & smaller. I talk to people online that live all over the world. Things are getting more amazing everyday.

Juicy-lusciousness: Red grapefruits / Hami melon / Frozen cantaloupe smoothie / Durian / Jackfruit

Day 58 of 108

I have a little adventure I am going to try...

It's going to be 2-3 weeks (until a friend comes to town next month, then I will take a break for a few days & go back to it after they go), then pick-up where I left off for another 1-2 weeks. I want to try 30 days in total. The plan is to get really simple. I'm going to eat organic dates, bananas & various lettuces only. I'm doing this for a few reasons. The first reason is because I want to get leaner & healthier. With a diet like this (plus plenty of sunshine, water, happy thoughts & exercise), you are bound to shine. And I want to be as shiny as I can get! :) The second is because I would like to be a fruitarian & eat mostly whole fruits. Plain & simple. I don't want to have to spend time in the kitchen preparing things or depend on recipes to feel happy at meal times. I would like to to keep 'fancy' meals to special occasions, like when my friends or family are visiting with me. The third reason is to save time & money! Two things I could definitely use more of. I did the math & buying a few cases of organic bananas & dates for a month comes out way(!) cheaper than what I was spending on all of my cucumber, tomatoes, bell peppers, avocados, etc. I'll be saving hundreds of dollars. (-organic cucumbers & tomatoes are expensive!) Organic lettuce will still cost me a bit. But I can't give lettuce up for long. I always come back to it. It will still come out really cheap, even with the lettuce as my biggest expense. So it will be nice to have a month were time & money is saved. I'm planning a few trips this year (international & continental), so getting lighter, living lighter & saving money will serve me well in the months to come. That is the plan! I will also post my exercise, feelings, sunshine, water intake, etc. So you can see where I am at with everything while I am eating like this. I might post some videos of me too. :) So you can see (really see!) how things are evolving. -Xo!

Food: 1.5 liters of datorade (dates blended with water), many soaked dates, date/lettuce wraps & a date/lettuce smoothie
Exercise: Ran stair repeats 3 sets x 10 (afap), 30min of meditation/pranayama/kriya, 15min of skin brushing & a little walking
Water: 2L (but will get in another before the day is up)
Sunshine: 60minutes of sunbathing
Sleep: 8 hours in bed, 6 hours asleep (woke up with no alarm)
Feelings: Feel excited. Happy. Grateful.
:)

Here I Go Again...

OK, I think I need another challenge. :) I eat (& work) best this way. Focusing on something really helps me. It keeps me excited & on track. I love living with a sense of purpose & passion.

I'm going to think it over tomorrow & come up with something. I would like to try a 100 day challenge. That would land me in May. It seems really far away, but that is what makes it challenging. I'll have to think it over.

I have a couple of ideas...
Mono meals for a 100 days (-no mixing, just one food type at a time)
Liquid meals for 100 days (-mostly juicing, blending, & squeezing or sucking on citrus wedges)
Fruit for 100 days (-this would be sweet & non-sweet, & anything that is botanically considered a fruit)
Fruit & greens for 100 days (-just like it says, nothing else)
Fruit, greens & veg juice for 100 days (-this would be the easiest, because I'd have the most options)

Tell me if you have any ideas. The goal is to get a great habit & experience out of it. I would love it if I permanently left out oils & salt from my diet. Even in raw food dishes. If I go 100 days with no oil or salt, that would be great. I'm pretty sure I've done 100 days with no oil before, but not no salt. Some salt always gets in there month to month. I don't use it at home or buy it (oil either), but I do eat out sometimes & I know raw food (or healthy vegetarian) restaurants use salt in their dishes. So I know I eat it from time to time. And like the other day when I had that gourmet-like salad, I woke up with really puffy eyes. I'm positive this was from the salt. My body does not like it. (Taste buds do though. But I'm sure I can train them not to.) So we will see what I chose. I'll think it over. Keep me posted if you have feedback. :) Xo!

Today & Yesterday I ate;

Oranges wedges (both days)
Persimmons (both days)
Blended bananas (both days)
Plain tomato (today)
Blended carrot-squash w/ tomato, fresh corn & mixed herbs/lettuces (yesterday)
Medjool dates (yesterday)

Today I ate;

Banana-basil smoothie

Orange wedges 

Pineapple

Soaked prunes

Red leaf lettuce & zucchini w/oregano-basil-tomato-date sauce 

Exciting news...

I have a little plan for the last week of October & the whole month of November. For the last week of this month I'm going to get more fruity & disciplined, I'm gonna clean up my act. Because next month I will be following a program designed by a super sweet Aussie health coach. I'm very excited about it. So, the goal for this week is to get into whole fruits & very simple combos. No fancy salad dressings, no complicated raw dishes, no crazy smoothie combos, just simple foods. Whole fruits, or raw smoothies & salads with very few ingredients. I will be posting the whole journey, so stay tuned...

Today I ate;

1.5 liters of water

Veg juice (beet top greens and carrot)

Green smoothies (lots of banana and beet top greens)

Red Bartlett pears

= 2090 calories

Today I ate;

2.5 liters of water

Grapefruit juice (6 grapefruits)

Banana-celery smoothie (6 bananas and 2 celery stalks)

Banana-heirloom lettuce smoothie (6 bananas and lettuce)

Banana-celery smoothie (4 bananas and heirloom lettuce)

Pears (4 small Red Bartlett)

= 2200 total calories

(I exercised too! I'm back to exercising daily again. My back is feeling better and it's great news. I am really excited about it. Also, the weather is getting better and spring is here, so I look forward to working out outdoors. But, I just wanted to say, ..I think I am going to list calories or nutrients daily with the day's meals instead of exercise. I think it would help me, and maybe you, get an idea of the numbers in a raw food diet. For example; you really can't get sufficient calories unless you eat sweet fruit or fat. Non-sweet fruits, medium sweet fruits and greens really don't add up to much. They have lots of good stuff, but they are really low calorie. Balancing them with sweet fruits or fats gives your total calories a big boost. As the days pass this year you will see how it all breaks down and adds up on this blog.)

Today I ate;

2 liters of water

Oranges  and  cilantro leaves blended in fresh pink grapefruit juice

Organic banana-romaine lettuce smoothie

Hand of organic bananas

Mixed heirloom baby lettuces with shredded summer squash 

and avocado/celery/carrot/red grape tomato sauce on top

Today I ate;

1.5 liters of water

Carrot-lettuce juice (<--this really is the best juice combo ever!)

Tangelo-grapefruit drink (<--whole tangelos blended w/ grapefruit juice)

Banana-celery smoothie

Chopped organic romaine lettuce/cherry tomatoes/banana

with a creamy banana-papaya sauce on top

Today I ate;

1.5 liters of water

Several banana-celery smoothies

A big red leaf lettuce-avocado-cucumber salad

with cucumber-tomato-tangelo juice dressing

Today I ate;

1.5 liters of water

The juice of 5 grapefruits

Green smoothies (banana/celery &  banana/radish tops)

1 pint of grape tomatoes

Soaked organic figs

Red leaf lettuce and chopped cucumber

with carrot/celery/red pepper dressing

[No exercise. My back is still on strike. (:() ]

As fruity as it gets..

Well, I just want to post a little "heads-up" for everyone. Starting today I am getting serious about being mostly fruit.  (You are what you eat!) This includes all sweet, acid and non-sweet fruits. Examples are; olives, tomatoes, zucchini, berries, nuts, seeds, sprouted seeds like sunflower sprouts, avocados, durian, melons, cucumbers, pineapples, peppers, plums, etc.. 

I will stay on the low-fat raw vegan side. Not necessarily 80/10/10, but something close. It might be more, it might be less, it will be whatever feels best. I will include lots of fresh leafy greens and lettuces everyday. Celery smoothies and fresh vegetable juices are really good for me. I might bring in some sea veggies or root veggies too on occasion. 

This means I will have to get creative or really simple. I've always liked a salty-fatty salad dressing. I adore avocados, coconut and durian. I could eat them everyday. Finding a new rhythm in my eating habits and in the kitchen will take some work. New fruitier recipes or simply eating fruit. We will see what is in store for me this year. 

I will be blogging what I eat everyday (if possible). If any of you have a fruit to share or a low-fat vegan recipe, please share it with me. You can post a comment. Your support would feel wonderful and make this journey more fun.

Sending you sunshine, happiness and love!

Xo, A.

Today I ate;

2.5 liters of water

2 liters of green smoothie (orange/ sweet pepper/dandelion/papaya/banana/water)

1 liter of green smoothie (mango/lettuce/sweet pepper/tomato/water)

Lots of grape tomatoes

Persimmons

Soaked figs

Baby spring mix salad with mango-tomato dressing (-It's good!)

**Mango Tomato Salad Dressing**

baby carrots (a large handful)

water (a little)

ginger

garlic

cayenne

coconut oil (1 tbsp)

1 bell pepper

mango (1 cup)

Grape tomatoes (half pint)

1 cucumber

(I exercised too: 60 minutes of mixed strength training/yoga/cardio)

Today I ate;

1.5 liters of water

4 pints of organic grape tomatoes

2 liters of green smoothie (celery/banana/dandelions/water)

Lots of soaked (dried) organic figs

Some soaked (dried) organic pear

(I exercised too;  20 minutes of running, 20 minutes of walking, and 20 minutes of jumping on my trampoline.)