HFGSC 2009: Nine Days Down

The Smoothie Collage

For nine days now I have successfully had a green smoothie for breakfast. Only 21 more days left in the challenge. Then what?

Truthfully, I plan to continue the green smoothies after the challenge is over. I’m not certain that I’ll have one every single day, but I do hope to continue having them at least five days a week. I have found that you really can make them taste like anything you want – and they will still be green. (Or brown, as happens when you add a lot of blueberries and strawberries with the greens.) (Or orange, as happens when you get carrot happy.) For instance, my favorites have been the ones that taste exactly like a strawberry milkshake. *Yum*

How do I feel after nine days of green smoothies for breakfast?

I actually feel pretty awesome. I have discovered that it really is the best way to get nutrition into my body very early on in the day without feeling overwhelmed by having to make something and/or overeating to the point I feel miserable. It’s also been great for my metabolism. I can definitely feel the difference in that I am ready to eat again about 3 – 4 hours later. Several days there has been plenty of smoothie left over to have a second one when that happens, which is awesome because then I really only have one meal for the day that needs preparing.

My exercise has been really good. I think I am finally finding a routine again. For so long I’ve been very sporadic with my exercise. It’s been hard for me to find and hold on to a rhythm. But I feel good about things again right now. Despite the sore muscles and the aching joints, I am very happy with how things are going.

I have successfully cut out all sodas and coffee, which started before the challenge actually began. In doing this, I have experience a few detox headaches and generally groggy feeling about mid-morning. I’ve been supplementing with teas, which helps a little, and drinking lots of water throughout the day. For the  most part, I feel it’s getting better and I will soon be to the point where the lack of caffeine doesn’t bother me. But it’s a much slower process.

On top of all this, I have also abstained from as much processed food as possible. In fact, I have continued to eat about 80% RAW and the rest of my diet has been vegan – meaning that I have eliminated dairy from my diet. I think this has been the absolute hardest thing for me to do. So much of our diet in the past has consisted of dairy products and processed food. Only now, after consciously making the decision to avoid processed food/dairy, do I realize exactly how much JUNK I have been putting into my body. It’s amazing.

Looking at all of this, I guess it’s easy to see why I have had a few days of extreme fatigue and general yuckiness. To say it’s been easy and smooth sailing would be misrepresenting the truth a bit. It’s been easier than I thought, but harder than I thought at the same time. I’ve had a few days of really struggling to keep my eyes open and fighting the “binge on junk food” monster. And I’m honestly not sure it’s over. Today I feel fairly good, but there is still that twinge of uneasiness that is haunting me. I’m not comfortable with it. Not yet.

I’ve been easing my doubts and calming my nerves by doing research. I have thrown myself into anything/everything RAW/vegan. I’ve been reading articles. I’ve been watching YouTube videos. I’ve been reading blogs. I’ve been posting/sharing on Facebook. This is how I deal and adjust. This is what soothes me at the moment.

And music. Music is always good.

So that’s where I am at today. I just wanted to check in and throw out a quick report. I didn’t intend to go so many days without posting. I’ll do my best to do better from now on.

HFGSC 2009 Report Card: Day Two and a Giveaway!

Day Two Smoothie

I actually consumed two of these smoothies today: one at 4:30am before I went to work and I took the remainder in a “to go” thermos for consumption at about 7:30am. The thermos really kept it cool and yummy, much to my surprise. And many thanks, again, to my hubby for getting up and having it ready to go for me. I think he’s spoiling me. Again.

The ingredients:

• strawberries
• blueberries
• mango
• banana
• fresh coconut
• spinach

The rest of the day found me eating the following:

• snack: almonds and dates
• snack: apple
• snack: banana
• lunch: watermelon
• dinner: BIG super salad (fresh homegrown tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, green and red peppers, radishes) with homemade tahini dressing, edamame beans in the shell
• drinks: lots of water, unsweetened ice tea with cran-raspberry juice, Fat Tire beer

I’m really pleased with my eating for the day. I need to focus on eliminating the cran-raspberry juice from my tea as much as possible. I can drink it unsweetened with no problem, but I’m just spoiled to that little bit of juice in it for flavor. And the beer? Well, this is one reason that I will probably never be able to be 100% raw. I have to have my beer. I don’t drink that much, but I do so enjoy the occasional beer and can’t see ever wanting to do without it.

Isn’t that funny? I’m perfectly fine with going raw with food. But don’t ask me to give up that beer, damn it! I just laugh at myself. What else can I do?

____________________

So, Sara mentioned something that really caught my eye: a Vita-Mix Giveaway! Jessie Hawkins is giving away a Vita-Mix 5200 by random drawing at the end of the month. How cool is that???!???!

I realize that all the serious raw foodies own one of these and swear by them. That’s great. I mean, if you can afford to drop $500 on a blender? More power to you, dude! But let’s be realistic, shall we? There are a lot of people who want to eat better and would love to do a challenge like this or even commit to eating predominantly raw food. But these people could very easily get discouraged once they realize that EVERYONE talks about how great these blenders are how you HAVE to have one if you decide to do this and when they research purchasing one??? *WHAM!* All of it just flies out the window. Because who can afford that? Really?

Fortunately, I’ve been in situations like this before. I consider myself a “cycler” (not a cyclist). When I first got into riding bikes, I felt like I wouldn’t be taken seriously if I didn’t own the latest carbon fiber Trek on the market like the REAL cyclists. So I dealt with it. My hubby and I fixed me up an old Schwinn Traveler. I got on it and rode. I put quite a few miles on that baby. And guess what? I was getting just as much exercise and benefit from riding an old clunker than if I had spent $3000 on a new Trek.

The moral of the story is this:  I am starting off with a $12 old clunker of a blender that I found over the weekend at a salvage place. And guess what? I’m not any less of a raw foodie in this challenge as the next person who owns a Vita-Mix. Yes, I realize that there are circumstances where you get what you pay for. I’m sure the Vita-Mix beats the HELL out of the old workhorse I am using right now. But I like to look at things as having many solutions and ways of getting the same job done. Sure, one way may take more work and time. But as long as the end result is the same, then I’m happy.

That being said, I’m not opposed to entering contests to win something that I can’t afford on my own. There’s nothing wrong with that, right??

Just like the lottery ticket I bought yesterday with a grand prize of $250,000,000, I have just as good a chance of winning as anyone else. And so do you.

HFGSC 2009 Report Card: Day One

“Ladies and Gentlemen…Start Your Blenders” — it’s day one of the Happy Foody Green Smoothie Challenge 2009.

Part of the challenge is to get some activity in every day. This was no problem since I was scheduled to get up and teach an indoor cycling class at 5am this morning. My husband, being the wonderful man that he is, made sure that I had a second important ingredient of the challenge – THE SMOOTHIE – waiting for me as soon as I got home from class. This is what was waiting for me on the kitchen table.

"Drink me" green smoothie

For the record, it was quite tasty. This is what he put in it:

• Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Banana
• Fresh Raw Coconut
• Almond Milk
• Mustard Greens
• Spirulina Powder

The rest of the day found me eating the following:

• snack: raw almonds and dates
• snack: fuji apple
• snack: cantaloupe
• drinks: lots of water and chai tea
• dinner: oven baked red potatoes, sauteed green beans, freshly picked homegrown tomato

To finish the report:

• no white sugar
• no soda
• no coffee
• no processed food

Not too shabby for the first day. Let’s see how the other 29 go, shall we?

So, how did YOU do today?

The making of raw food

Fresh veggies from our garden

I spoke previously about wanting to transition from a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet to a more vegan/raw way of eating. Now, I’m not going to go all psycho raw food fanatic and climb up on a soapbox so high that you can see my raw/edible panties (that is, if I wore any). Oh no. I’m far from being there, believe me. I do, however, plan to alter my diet a bit and incorporate more raw food into it.

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Funny how it becomes so complicated when there are two other people to consider in this equation. While my husband and daughter* are both on board with incorporating more raw food into our diet, neither one of them is very excited at the concept of nothing but cold, raw meals for the rest of their lives. So just like the transition from the SAD of meat at every meal, this will have to be done in baby steps. One meal at a time. Conversations about the benefits will need to take place. More research and consideration will have to be applied by all parties. It will literally be a transition.

Have I mentioned that my husband is the cook at our  house? Well, he is. And let me tell you, he is AMAZING! That man can take the barest of ingredients and turn them into the best meal you have ever eaten. He can work wonders with a variety of spices and flavors and make even the most avid meat eater enjoy tofu. For the most part, he is happiest in the kitchen creating a masterpiece for his family to enjoy. And the smells. We all love the smell of onions and garlic sauteeing in the skillet, as that is how EVERY meal in our house starts out. So not only will there have to be a transition from the foods that we eat, there will have to be a transition from the way we make food. I didn’t realize how big of an issue this would be, especially for the one who does all of the “cooking” at our house. It’s going to take some getting used to, rethinking the way that food is created.

In addition to the green smoothies we’ll be having every day starting next week, we have agreed to have Raw Food Wednesday. And on Raw Food Wednesday, I will be responsible for preparing a raw food dinner for the family. This not only gives the hubby a break in the kitchen, it allows me to experiment with preparing raw foods and then gets us all in the habit of having at least one raw dinner per week. If all goes well, we will bump it up to two nights. Then three. Then possibly four. And so on. We’ll go until we, as a family, feel good about the amount of raw food we are consuming.

With that being said, we have  had a couple of really good raw food dishes over the past couple of days and I just wanted to share them here.

The first is a raw “spaghetti” recipe that I got from Frank over at Reasonably, Rationally, and Realistically Raw. I watched the video, wrote down all the ingredients, and then made it at home.

Raw Spaghetti with a cucumber/tomato salad side

Now, I did make my own personal tweaks to the recipe. To start with, I don’t own a spiral slicer of any kind. So I improvised and used my vegetable peeler to create more fettucini like noodles instead of angel hair pasta. In doing so, I only peeled down until I reached seeds. In order to not waste the remaining part of the zucchini, I just threw the cores into the food processor with the sauce ingredients to create a “chunky” sauce. (This turned out great, by the way.) Another modification I made was to use the juice of one fresh lemon and bottled lemon juice for the remainder. I also added both freshly ground pepper and dried oregano to both the sauce and “pasta” –  because spaghetti isn’t spaghetti without oregano, dude!

The verdict:

Me – Loved it! The sauce, especially, was just kick ass. I’ll never buy another jar of spaghetti sauce again now that I know how to make one that tastes so much better.

Jim – Said it was wonderful and that I could make it every week if I wanted to.

Lauren – Said it was ok, but she wasn’t sure about having cold spaghetti. (I think she was just in the mood for something hot and this really didn’t hit the spot for her.)

Avocado/Mango/Tomato Salad

Our second raw dish that we have made this week was an Avocado/Mango/Tomato salad. We just had all of these laying around needing to be eaten so we threw them together with some orange infused balsamic vinegar and some chopped up walnuts. It’s amazing how all of these flavors just blend together so well. It  helped a lot that the mango was just perfect and had just the right amount of smooth, sweet flavor. We enjoyed this over an organic baked sweet potato and a side of fried oyster mushrooms (a treat that we like to indulge in occasionally). I  mostly ate this salad, though. In fact, I ate so much of it that my stomach hurt. It was that good. *Yum*

There you have it. I look forward to what other raw goodness we can come up with this week. And I will also be on the lookout for a great raw recipe for Raw Food Wednesday next week. Hopefully, it will be enough to knock the socks off my hubby and daughter. Wish me luck.

* It needs to be explained that whenever I talk about the “three of us” transitioning, I do this because our son is still the only carnivore left in our house. He’s a typical 12 year old who thrives on chicken nuggets and tater tots most of the time. While we ARE also attempting to transition him to healthier eating, most of my comments will be aimed towards those o f us in the family that stopped eating meat 3 years ago. He’s just a little behind. But that’s ok. We will get him there.

Starting off: In the Raw

I haven’t eaten beef or pork in over 12 years.

I haven’t eaten the flesh/meat/organs/etc. that come from an Earthling that has a face and can run away from me if I were to try to chase it down and murder it with my fork in 3 years.

Three  years of no meat whatsoever. Never in my (previous) life would I have ever imagined  being able to make that statement.

Truth is, however, that I have actively taken part in the daily ritual of consuming dairy products. This has caused me quite a bit of grief, both mentally and physically, lately.

Mentally because I know that dairy cows aren’t any better off than other cows. Mentally because I honestly don’t think I would walk up to a nursing cow momma and suck from her teets, so why do I keep consuming products created by the same process? It’s kind of disgusting, when you think about it.

But cheese is my downfall. I have to admit it. I love cheese. Sharp cheese, muenster cheese, pepperjack cheese, brie cheese, smoked gouda cheese —- my mouth waters just thinking of them.

Physically because lately I’ve noticed that the more dairy products I consume, the more my stomach bothers me. Now I’m not sure if I am lactose intolerant but I’m thinking it would be a very good way to stop eating it if I just convince myself of this.

If you took the time to read over the ABOUT page (I highly recommend this, by the way) then you’ll know that I have been doing some serious research into going vegan/raw. I’m pretty stoked about it. After proving to myself that I would not just curl up and die without eating meat, being successful at it for 3 years, and now reaching the point where the mere thought of it turns my stomach – I think I’m ready to tackle the next phase.

It just so happens that Sara, from Happy Foody, is starting a 30 day Green Smoothie Challenge next week. This is GREAT because I just so happened to buy a lot of fresh fruits and veggies at the store this past weekend in an effort to increase my green smoothie consumption. So I look at it as a way to kind of get in a trial run before the real competition starts. Some may call that cheating, but I don’t listen to those people.

Here are the rules for the challenge, from the page:

We will begin on August 17 and end on September 17. Here is what you are committing to:

• Drink at least 16 oz. of green smoothie per day (a quart would be even better!)
• Do some sort of activity every day. This could be an intense workout, or just dancing with your kids around the living room. It could be a 15 minute yoga session or a walk around the block.
• Add a green leafy salad to your lunch or supper (with light dressing…stay away from the creamier sauces).
• Stop drinking pop
• Cut out all white sugar.

Doesn’t that sound exciting?

16 ounces of green smoothie a day — This is going to be challenging, indeed, but fun. I look forward to coming up with all sorts of combinations and maybe even finding a couple that I really like. Experimentation is where it’s at, baby!

Activity every day — What awesome timing! I just started a new workout routine last week and still in the midst of tweaking it to fit. But this will be awesome. By next week, it should all be lined up and ready to go.

Add Salads to lunch/supper —  This should be fairly easy in that we all love salad (well, except my son) and we have a lot of homegrown tomatoes that are about to ripen and be ready for eating. I foresee lots of good, yummy salads in our future for sure.

Stop drinking pop (or soda, or coke, or whatever you call it) —  Dr. Pepper is one of my weaknesses. I confess. They are awesome and I love them. And up until six days ago, I was drinking ONE (I only allowed myself one) a day. But now I’ve gone six days without one and am holding up fairly well. If I can just resist temptation, this one should be totally doable.

Cut out white sugar — This one will be the trickiest of them all, believe it or not. While we have done everything within our power to never purchase items with High Fructose Corn Syrup in them, we often do so at the expense of purchasing items with regular sugar in them. After reading about all of the nastiness that is HFCS, I surrendered to the extra calories a good while back. I don’t regret doing so and I still to this day will refuse HFCS if I possibly can. But the white sugar will be hard. I’m thinking if I stick with vegan/raw as much as possible, though, it should be easier. We’ll see.

So there you have it. My first entry on this blog and a quite courageous challenge to accompany it. It may be hard to top this one. Stay tuned to find out.