Raw Julz - Day 4

Monday, Day 4, Raw Julz Report

I weighed myself this morning - 158.6.

I did my normal vitamin B and omega routine.

I visited Caitlin at Mountain View and got my veggie and fruit juice with added vegetable protein and my favorite Chia seeds. I sipped on that for a while.

Early afternoon, I ate a yellow tomato with salt which reminded me that I needed to get some sea salt for work.

A bit later I ate a banana so I would have energy for hot yoga at 4:15.

I picked up some things at Albertsons and Mountain View:

• Veggies - cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, a couple of jalapenos, cucumbers, celery, green onions (don't like onions but there are a couple of soups I want to try)
• Raw Nuts & Seeds - sunflower, almonds, walnuts, pine, cashews
  
• Dates & Raw almond butter
• Flavorings - vanilla, nutritional yeast, Tamari or Shoya (can't remember what I chose), dill weed, mustard, pumpkin spice
  
• cacao

For dinner, I attempted some broccoli cream soup, um yeah, ugh. I took a few bites and threw it away.

I ate a few kalamata olives to clear the palette. Then had my yummy Romaine salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, mung bean sprouts, and Raw Julz Fave Dressing.

I snacked on some cashews and licorice.

That's a wrap for Monday.

Raw Julz - Day 3

Sunday, Day 3, Raw Julz Report

I did 1/2 my B vitamins and Omegas. I forget the second set.

I started Sunday with some Chia Porridge. I soaked about 1/4 Chia seeds in some almond milk (store bought, haven't made my own yet) and I added 1/2 banana, some raw honey, and some cinnamon. Couldn't quite eat it all, ate the rest about an hour before bed.

In the afternoon, I drank a 16 oz. green drink with buckwheat sprouts, spinach, couple leaves of chard, 1/2 banana, and 2 apples.

For dinner, I had a big salad with Romaine, 1/2 yellow tomato, a couple small red tomatoes, radish sprouts, and Raw Julz Fave Dressing.

In the evening, we watched movies and I drank some Kombuch in a wine glass and ate some black licorice. I recognize that black licorice isn't raw, but I needed the treat.

And that's a wrap for Sunday.

Raw Julz - Day 2

Saturday, Day 2, Raw Julz Report

My vitamins for the day included - 2 Coenzyme B-Complex, 2 Complete Omega 3-6-9, and 1 serving of Organic Life Vitamins. I split the B and Omega into 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon.

At 8am, I went to Hot Yoga. Even though I couldn't go to sleep the night before, got 5 hours sleep, I felt great and had a wonderful practice.

I went to the Farmer's market and picked up some sunflower, radish, buckweet, and mung bean sprouts. I also picked up a container of Chia seeds.

I made a yummy green smoothie with a couple apples, 1/2 banana, spinach, sprouts, my homegrown mint, and chia. I shared it with a friend, so I drank 16 oz.

Around noon, I had an apple with raw almond butter.

Around 3pm, I had a Romaine lettuce wrap with avocado, cucumber strips, yellow tomato, and radish sprouts. I made a wonderful dipping sauce with lemon juice, olive oil, apple cider vineger, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper. This dressing is going to be a staple, we'll call it Raw Julz Fave Dressing ;)

So this whole thing is new and I find myself hungry every couple of hours. I found myself completely unprepared for a reception that I went to and I had to eat. I fell off the Raw Wagon here a little bit. I had - a few tostadas with salsa and a little queso, a spring mix salad with a little ranch dressing, a bunch of steamed cauliflower, and some cooked red potatos.

That's a wrap for Saturday.

:)
~not so raw today julz

Julz goes raw!

So if you know me, you know that I've been researching and flirting with raw food concepts over the past year. I started with Green Smoothies and suddenly over the last couple of days my frustration with my weight has pushed me over the edge. Today without completely realizing it, I just did it. I went raw. And this evening I went raw shopping so I can hopefully get through the next few days and then who knows. I'm starting to think this is doable for at least a month.

I know I'm not alone on this journey. I had the opportunity to talk with Melissa Mango herself yesterday and am so grateful for that conversation. I think in addition to my personal frustration, Melissa's confidence and supportive attitude made it possible for me to finally just do this. I'm looking forward to reading her ebook, Melissa Mango's Green Cuisine Live Food Recipes. I also ordered Get Naked Fast! A Guide to Stripping Away the Foods That Weigh You Down, suggested as a great resource by Melissa.

I also visited Jenna Norwood's site last night and watched some of her videos. And yes, I'm a bit of a shopaholic so I've ordered her video, Supercharge Me! 30 Days Raw.

So let's do a report.

I just turned 41, and I'm about 5'3.5" tall. My weight this morning was 160.2 lbs.

My vitamins for the day included - 2 Coenzyme B-Complex, 2 Complete Omega 3-6-9, and 1 serving of Organic Life Vitamins. I split the B and Omega into 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon.

Throughout the day, I drank an Herbalife tea with mango aloe.

At about 10:30am I stopped at Mountain View Co-Op, visited with Caitlin and she made me a fabulous 16 oz. juice with apples, beet, cucumber, celery, lemon, ginger, and chia seeds.

At about 1:30pm I made 32 ounces of green smoothie with kale, spinach, banana, frozen mango chunks, some goji berries, and coconut water. It took about 2 hours to finish it.

Here we have a cheating moment to confess. I shared a Dagoba Milk Chocolate with Cherries bar with my writing team. I ate 1/4 to 1/3 of it.

At 4:30 - 5:30, I went to Downtown Desert Yoga for some fabulous Flow Fusion Yoga with Sky.

Then I did a little raw shopping. What did I get?

• Chard, Spinach, Romaine, Basil
• 4 heads of garlic and some ginger
  
• 3 Yellow Tomatoes and a package of vine ripened red tomatoes
• 6 avocados
• shiitake mushrooms
  
• 2 oranges and 2 pears
• a bag of apples
• 3 lemons and 3 limes
• celtic and himalayan sea salt
• extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
• coconut oil
• raw honey
• 3 bottles of some local kombucha
• a treat - black licorice
  

Finally, for dinner, I'm having a raw soup that I wanted to try with 6 small tomatoes, an avocado, a lemon, 4 cloves garlic, a little ginger, about a teaspoon of coconut oil, and himalayan sea salt. I blended it in my Vitamix. I still love my Vitamix and will probably order another one because I've been taking mine back and forth from home and work and that's just a pain. Honestly, the soup is a little bitter, maybe the ginger and the white part of the lemon? But it's satisfying and I'm enjoying that I'm doing this! I don't even think I'll be able to eat all of it, it's very filling.

So that's it for today. Wish me luck, I NEED it!

Good luck on your journey whatever it may be...
:)
~julz

Great grocery salsa for those who are salsa-prep-impaired

I just discovered this salsa and I love it! I tried the Thick and Chunky style in medium and it's perfect. Not authentic NM salsa style, but the flavor is close. Lots of fresh tomato, onion, jals, and cilantro, and little acidity taste that makes similar brands not so good.

Garden Fresh Salsas

Gonna revist low-carb!

Well, I've gotta do something to lost some weight. I've increased my exercise, but that's just not enough. I am already in trouble with my doc for cholesterol, so I know I am cutting back in that area. I am always trying to reduce sugar, but that one's tough. I did low-carb a while back and I am going to give that a shot again. I'll try to come up with some recipes and I'll post what I find/do here and tag it low-carb. Wish me luck!!! :)

Oh, and a friend in Germany had great luck quitting smoking with help from a homeopathic doctor. I don't need to worry about the smoking, but I am wondering if they can do anything about a sweet tooth! I'll see what I can find out.

Very Interesting Reading...

It was a bit fortuitous. I saw Sex and the City 2 and this book was prominently featured which just made me laugh a bit. Then, I was having dinner with a friend and we were talking about how weird and not quite right we've been since about our mid-30s and she noted this book that someone told her she needed to read. And it was the same book. So now I'm reading it. It's really just confirming what I was already thinking and learning about just in way more depth and compiled very nicely. The hard part is finding the right doctor to get going...