No More Dairy!

This is the weekend that I try eating an all vegan, mostly-raw diet- no animal products at all! No protein powder, since the ones I've found come from animals or soy (I rarely eat soy). No more yogurt or cottage cheese. No beloved sushi. I bought my foods using McDougall's list as my guide. He is not a raw foodist; he advocates a plant & carbohydrate-based diet. Some of the foods on his list I'll have no problem eating raw, but others I will very gladly cook. My experience last year with soaked grains left much to be desired.

At Whole Foods I found cooked millet at the salad bar. On the shelves of Whole Foods and Trader Joe's I found seeds: pepitos, shelled hemp and ground flax. The flax is probably not raw, but the other two are. Also, a box of quinoa. Being 100% raw with these foods will be a challenge if I can't find a pleasant way to prepare whole grains, but I'm not terribly worried about this; I'm more concerned with getting all my nutritional needs met through whole foods that are as unprocessed as possible before I get to them.

Other foods I bought include: lentils, pinto beans, mango, bananas, kiwifruit, tomatoes, garlic, scallions, cilantro, avocados, Ezekiel sprouted bread, spinach leaves, yams and limes. These will join the couscous, sunflower seeds, almonds, kidney beans, and black beans already in the house. Another trip to the store and I'll have additional vegetables and fruits to round out my menu.

My challenge will be to see how creative I can be with foods I normally don't eat. I have no real experience with millet or quinoa, and my experience with beans often included smoked ham or, at the very least, sazon seasoning (which I cannot find down here!). I should be cutting back on the salt and spices anyway, because it's good to enjoy nature's foods plain. I'm a little worried about the beans because I know they will be bland. I will definitely need to look up recipes to make this stuff interesting and varied.

I made a test menu for tomorrow to see what the nutritional profile would be. In the morning I have a smoothie with the main ingredients being banana, mango and hemp seeds- simple, and apparently the hemp seeds will make it very creamy. For lunch I have a salad with all sorts of seeds and grains. I have 1.5 ounces of almonds as a snack. For dinner I've got lentils and broccoli, and will probably make a little salsa or salad. The profile looks like this: 48 grams of fiber (I'll probably get sick from that!), about 65 grams of protein, 188 carbs, 76 grams of healthy fat (7 gms saturated), all for 1,595 calories. I think this is decent for a first pass.

If anyone has ideas for dealing with the grains and legumes, I'd appreciate both vegan and raw recipes!!

Transitioning to All Raw

Boy, was I sick today! I couldn't even make it through a whole day at the office. I'm hoping the problem is just the added fiber in my diet; I started adding fiber over the past few days. I was not well yesterday either, but today I had stabbing cramps in my side, which felt so much like my ovarian cyst attack from a couple of years ago that I was worried. If fiber is the problem, I will feel better soon enough. Adding fiber to my diet is part of my transition to an all-raw life as I look at all the areas in which my diet is lacking and take care of those before going all-raw.

I've been looking at the McDougall Plan to see how I can use that in my transition. I like much of what is listed on his food list, except the pasta. Now, I know that raw foodists and vegetarians don't worry about a lack of protein, but my nutritional history has made me very leery of assuming that simply eating raw will provide me with ample protein. I did a little comparison of dairy products with foods on the McDougall list to see how much of those foods I'd have to eat to get the same amount of protein I get from whey, Egg Beaters, nonfat yogurt and cottage cheese. So far, it looks like I'd have to eat a whole lot more carbs and fat to get the same protein. Seeds would be lower carb/higher fat choices, and beans would be higher carb/lower fat choices. For one cup of nonfat Greek yogurt(100 cal, no fat, 5 carbs, no fiber, 3 sugar, 20 protein) I could substitute:

• 1 cup sunflower seeds: 262 cal, 23 gm fat, 9 carbs, 10 protein
  
• ½ c walnuts, black: 381 cal, 37 gm fat, 6 carbs, 15 protein
• 1 cup fava beans: 110.0 cal, .9 gm fat, 22.2 carbs, 10 protein

I have more homework to do, of course, but I can see why one meal at the local raw cafe fills me up all day- all the seeds and nuts they use are so filling (as well as very nutritious).

WEIGHT/HEALTH UPDATE
I have now lost 23.5 lbs since June 10th. My BP remains around 120/80.

FOOD UPDATE
I have cut fish out as a regular part of my diet (no more weekly sushi- just occasionally) and have added more nuts and seeds. I doubt I will buy any more tofu. The next move in my transition to all-raw will likely be to remove yogurt and cottage cheese, but hang on to the Egg Beaters and whey for a little while. At that point I may move to the McDougall plan. I noticed he suggests an egg substitute on his list- that means I can hang on to the Egg Beaters a bit longer.

Food as Medicine

I've had a few more self-discoveries these past couple of weeks regarding my raw diet and my lifestyle which have led me to make some adjustments.

1) I have seen that it is important for me to get as much protein during the early part of the day as possible so that I am not playing catch-up at the end of the day.

2) I need to greatly increase the amount of fiber I get each day. I thought all the fruit I was eating was doing the trick, but just because something is full of carbs doesn't mean it is high in fiber (yes, figs, I'm talking about you!).

3) I don't always reach my minimum of 60 grams of fiber by the end of the day. Whey protein is a great way for me to get to the 80 to 100 grams I really want, without the extra carbs. Smoothies are a convenient, tasty way to get the whey in.

4) I cannot wait until I can afford a VitaMix- I need a blender now! But no blender seems to stand up to the abuse I give it.

In light of the above issues, I've made some changes. First, I went out and bought an immersion blender- one of those handheld blenders that you stick into a container holding your ingredients. Set your speed and get to mixing! I'm hoping this thing will at least get my smoothie-making off the ground until I can afford the VitaMix.

Next, in an attempt to increase my fiber intake I will make an effort to reach 35 gms of fiber daily - my nutritionist's recommendation. If I can get at least a third of that in my breakfast, that will help a lot. I found that figs have a lot of fiber and so I bought some at Trader Joe's. Figs have a sweet taste and, to me, a flowery aroma. I wouldn't want to just pop them into my mouth because I don't particularly like their soft texture, but they are perfect for smoothies.

This morning I felt like some nutritional alchemist, putting together whole foods in order to create the medicine I needed this morning. My quest was to create a less-sweet, fruit smoothie high in fiber and protein, but not exceedingly high in carbs. I consulted NutritionData.com -it's still my all-time favorite place for nutritional education. Based on the foods in the house I made a smoothie that I thought would fit the bill, but thanks to the three figs it was so high in carbs it was ridiculous. Guess I forgot to check that part in NutritionData! Despite the amount of sugars in the fruits, it wasn't overly sweet-tasting, and had 10 grams of fiber.

My recipe was: 1/2 small papaya, 1/2 medium banana, 4 large strawberries (another good source of fiber), 4 oz. of carrot juice, 1 scoop of whey protein (23 gms of protein), and 3 figs. NutritionData judged my smoothie as good for optimum health, and better for weight loss than for weight gain (thank goodness). I would make this again, but I would try to lower the amount of sugars in it and find another way to raise the fiber content. I could, for example, add grind one ounce of flax seeds and eliminate the banana and figs. This would give me even more fiber than the original recipe, and also more protein. It would raise the fat content (and calories) but since only 2 grams would be saturated fat, it wouldn't be a big deal.

I like the way my raw diet is helping me to see raw and whole foods as both fuel and medicine. I experienced this transformation in my thinking last year during my first go-around with the raw life. I even find myself judging McDonald's or Krispy Kremes more on their nutritional offerings than on how many minutes of pleasure I'll get from them (though that doesn't mean I won't fall prey to temptation). The more deeply I delve into a mindset of raw eating, the less junk and unhealthy foods I'll be eating over time.

Pretty Good Day

Today I realized I have not consistently eaten enough fiber over the past couple of weeks, so I added FIBER to my short list of nutrients to track- an easy thing to do on Sparkpeople.com. I made sure to get extra fiber in today, and I will strive to reach the top of the recommended range in fiber daily. Today I had over 1600 calories but because I had a turkey burger instead of fish for dinner, I ate below the recommended fat amount (drats- I forgot the sliced avocado. The broccoli and cauliflower must've thrown me off!).

So now that I'm getting my eating squared away, I am trying to increase my fitness efforts. I haven't been losing anywhere close to 2 lbs a week, so I'm kinda bummed. But I feel very proud of my fitness efforts. I played racquetball this morning before work and I wasn't in pain all day as I thought I'd be (but I was sleepy). Now I'm thinking of trying to run- it'll be slow, of course, and I'll probably limit it to after dark/before sunrise when it's coolest. I just want to get this weight off of me ASAP without starving myself. I know that eating raw will accomplish that quickly, but I live in dread of losing more hair. I'm thinking that I should start eating vegetarian during my weight loss and then incorporate raw very slowly as I continue to lose weight but am much closer to my goal. I don't know though- I change my mind every few days!!

NUTRIENTS:	GOAL	6/20	6/21	6/22	6/23	6/24	6/25	TODAY
Calories:	1260 - 1610	1,461	1,482	2,611	2,608	1,402	1,549	1,646
Fat:	34 - 59	53	58	120	87	46	57	23
Carbohydrates:	170 - 245	186	149	306	307	162	152	290
Protein:	60 - 132	79	101	92	152	87	103	76
Fiber, total dietary:	25 - 35	25	35	21	24	22	40	40