So this is basically day 15 of my 2008 Raw Odyssey. It's easier to just say that then to try to subtract New Year's day and the couple of days I was sick and not eating much of anything at all. I am not feeling the need to be all scientific about this these days!
Since day one I've been doing the salads, the hummus/taboule/ezekiel pita, and the nonfat yogurt with fruit thing, and coconut water in the morning. I'm not totally sick of these foods yet, but I do need variety and I just don't want to relieve boredom by spending a lot of time making complex raw meals. Nor do I want to go to the other extreme and buy easy prepackaged raw stuff like I tried the first time around, like raw "bars" and nori-wrapped treats. Those seem more like snacks to me, and I'm trying to get away from snacks that feel like the candy bars and chips from my SAD days. When I get the VitaMix perhaps the green smoothies and other recipes I'll be trying will give me enough variety. I'm also thinking of making flaxseed crackers using my oven.
I've had more good results from eating high-raw: this week I noticed that the edema (swelling) I had in my lower legs has disappeared, so my ankles are back! I was alerted to that when I was watching the twins edition of the National Body Challenge. They had an episode with these twins who own an Italian restaurant. Their advisor showed one of the twins how his legs were swelling up, and she pressed the skin on his calf to show how the indentation remained. So there the twins were, making me laugh by poking at their legs in wonder (they looked so cute, though!), but that reminded me of how my own doctor had told me I had edema. I started poking at my legs, too! I was so happy to see that my legs aren't swollen anymore and my ankle bones are once again visible. Yay! The area of my arms right where they meet the wrist also have been swollen in the past, but the swelling has disappeared there as well. Even my pants feel a tad looser- I must've lost a lot of water weight these past couple of weeks (I still haven't weighed myself).
One problem I have noticed is that I am feeling hungry between breakfast and lunch, and after dinner. In fact, one day I was in a meeting and I felt a flash of faintness and knew I'd better eat something immediately (which I did). I haven't been counting calories, although I estimate in my head that I'm getting around 1200 a day. Today I drank more water to combat my hunger, and I haven't felt ill or faint since that one incident. I'm not sure if I'm just getting used to eating less food again, or if I really need to eat more. I'll probably start counting calories soon, just to make sure. I'm lucky that my job has started buying us fruit and cutting down on the junky treats. Today I grabbed a pear, a banana and an orange! (So much for that low carb thing I'm supposed to be doing!)
Who Am I?
- Allison
- NOTE: You are reading the archive- chock full of information but no longer updated. The new Raw Odyssey (as of 2009) includes this blog and the Farm Blog, which chronicles the efforts of my friends and I as we build a "subsistence farm" in Ohio to supply sustainably grown, organic foods for a raw diet. PROFILE (2006) I am a 42 year old grad student who has lots of weight to lose. I lost 70 lbs in 2006 through a raw food lifestyle, and learned that eating raw is not as simple as I thought it would be. The time it takes to prepare foods and the rising costs of produce are challenges for me. Despite the health improvements I experienced, I let stress get the best of me and fell off the raw wagon. In 2007 I decided to give healthy eating another try, this time focusing on whole foods both cooked and raw, and both fresh and prepared. Over time I will ease myself back into a raw lifestyle that works best for me. I've fallen off the wagon again a few times but I refuse to give up! The raw journey is not the same for all of us. I know that through my personal journey I will find the right combination of whole foods (raw and cooked) and a fitness program that work best for me.
