Tuesday, December 8, 2009
It's Been a While...
so i can't even believe that it's been THIS long... i haven't posted anything in over a month... nearly a month and a half... so here is a BRIEF synopsis of the past 6 or 7 weeks of my life... i decided to do two 10-day rounds of what i call a "raw food challenge"... i took about a week or two break between each challenge and everything was going well... i knew that thanksgiving was coming up and i didn't want to be restricted during the holidays so i decided to stay on track with my healthy living... by the week before thanksgiving, my BGL was runnin in the 140's upon rising (which is REALLY good for me) and was normal by afternoon... but i didn't maintain... i had my ENTIRE family spend the entire thanksgiving holiday with ME... it was fabulous... all of us in the same place at the same time is a rarity... i had a BLAST and then we invited our family friends to have thanksgiving dinner with us... it was so much fun... we had soooooo much food... we watched football... ate... watched movies... had a blast... then thanksgiving was over and everyone left and i was here by myself once again (and happy to be alone)... i was SUPPOSED to go back to raw when they left... it's been a week and a half now and i'm still eating processed and cooked food... yesterday was mostly raw but i messed up last night and binged on cereal and sweet potato pie... my BGL this morning was 260 and by this afternoon was 160... clearly this is a struggle... i wish i could just report good news, but it's not always so good... i refuse to get on a scale right now because i'm convinced i gained some of my weight back... even if just a few pounds, i don't want to know right now... thankfully, my BP is remaining wonderfully normal... it was 114/76 with pulse of 77 today... in two days i'm going to a raw food cooking class/seminar... i'm going to get back on track... christmas is coming and i'm going home... i won't be raw then, but when i eat mom's food i always get healthy anyway... so it will be all good... my goal is to continue consuming at least 75% of my food in it's natural state... i just thought i needed to check in... it definitely helps me to stay focused when i journal... i'll be back in less than 6 weeks i hope... lol
Thursday, October 29, 2009
25 Prisoners Released!!!
i made it!!... 10 days on my rejuvenation challenge... 10 days at nearly 100% raw... only on a few days did i consume cooked legumes... other than that it was all raw... and this morning i woke up and knew that i needed to record some measurements... with that said, i'm happy to announce that, to date, 25 "prisoners" have been released from my domain... i refer to them as "Fat Pounds"... with good behavior they will remain free to roam the universe and, as attached as we once were, i pray that i NEVER EVER see them again!!... so i'm feeling great!... back on track with my high raw lifestyle... i haven't been measuring my blood pressure regularly, because it's been consistently NORMAL every single time (and because my home blood pressure monitor broke... lol)... BGL today was 153... still not where i wanna be but definitely not where i used to be... WT 349!!!!!! i'm soooo excited to be in the 340's again... lol... i can't begin to tell you how wonderful this is... like i've said before, perspecitive is everything... most people would be devastated to be 349 lbs... not me... i'm ecstatic!!... because i've been BIGGER!!!... and because of the direction i'm heading :)... ok... so i just took my fat analyzer measurement and my BMI is 53.1 and my FAT is 49.9%!!!!!!! i'm sooooo excited i'm almost giddy.... you can't understand this if you haven't been where i've been... i'm crying right now because i'm so happy... i just realized that it gave me a FAT measurement!!!... you don't even understand... every measurement i've EVER taken with this fat analyzer has given me the FAT result of "E4" which means i was too fat for the machine to even compute a measurement... this is the FIRST time i've gotten a reading... lol... THANK YOU LORD!!!... i just KNOW that with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!!... IT'S POSSIBLE!!!...
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Completed Day 9 of my 10 Day Challenge!!
well... tonight ends 9 days on nearly 100% raw food... i ate cooked beans occasionally... and saturday, although i continue to tell myself that this is about total health and not about weight loss, i got on the scale and it said 349.5 lbs... wow... like i said before, who in there right mind would be excited to be 349.5 lbs????... anyone who's been 350 or more... lol... as of saturday morning, i have released a total of 24.5 lbs!!!... thank you Lord!!!... my blood pressure has remained normal and my morning blood glucose levels continue to fall... they are STILL not normal at this point, but they are on there way to being normal... i have zero cravings now and i'm feeling great... i'm still not sure what i'm going to do for the holidays and i have people coming over this weekend for a potluck... so i'm going to have to devise a plan that i can stick with... playing it by ear in the past hasn't worked as well as i would have liked it to... i have to come up with something quick... i think i'll prepare some raw food for myself and eat it, and even if i decide to eat regular food i'll eat my raw stuf first so that i won't be hungry... maybe i'll even pass on the cooked stuff... who knows... i don't want this to be a religion, but i do feel sooooo much better when i'm eating this way... *sigh*... anyway, tomorrow begins day 10 and i will have officially completed the challenge by this time tomorrow... i'm so on the fence with this... Lord, please help me as i continue on my journey...
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Feeling Great! :)
so i'm on day four of my extremely high raw 10 day extravaganza and i'm feeling fabulous... i've been making some awesome meals... yesterday i had green peas sprouts salad with tomato and avocados chopped up, tossed with sea salt, dried crushed basil, olive oil and some balsalmic vinegar... don't know if the vinegar is 100% raw or not, but this is not a religion for me... lol... the day before i made an awesome green pea salad with fabulous creamy sauce made from cashews... i was licking the "batter" after making the creamy sauce... had NO idea it was going to taste that good... i'm loving the healthy feelings, increased energy... it's not rocket science... every time i do this i feel better almost immediately (at least by day 3)... anyway, i'm doing probably around 90 to 95% raw since i'm incorporating some cooked legumes into my plan... but that doesn't happen every day (only had it once so far)... most days i'm at 100%... we shall see how i do... i'm still trying to decide if i'll keep going after the 10 days are up... i don't know yet... we shall see... i need a made up mind... my desire is to have the desire to do this for at least 6 months... i'm hoping that i can make it through the holidays without going on some crazy binge... Lord, help me...
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
One Successful Day!
so yesterday, i did well... it was a high raw day... actually it was a 100% raw day, but just not 100% organic... so i count it as a major success... i actually gathered up all the contraband items in my pantry (mini candy bars, chewy candies, etc) and carried them into the office... lol... handed them over to the office staff and made their day... i did offer them a taste of my raw food for the day as well, but they declined... lol... i knew they would, but it helped me feel less guilty about giving them that garbage... i felt like i'd offered them a choice... it's so sad really... anyway, in just one day most aches and pains are gone and any body part that had begun to swell has gone back down to normal... amazing... thank you Lord for helping me complete yesterday successfully... now i NEED your help for THIS day...
i'm still struggling with deciding whether to "allow" myself cooked food on the weekends and/or during the holidays... i don't know yet what i'm going to do... but for at least 10 days i want to be 100% raw... let me just stick with the here and the now and deal with all that other stuff later... i'm soooo grateful :)
i'm still struggling with deciding whether to "allow" myself cooked food on the weekends and/or during the holidays... i don't know yet what i'm going to do... but for at least 10 days i want to be 100% raw... let me just stick with the here and the now and deal with all that other stuff later... i'm soooo grateful :)
Monday, October 19, 2009
The Journey Begins Yet Again...
ok... so the last time i posted i had done an entire day 100% raw... i continued on the path for 6 days and attended a phenomenal conference which helped me focus on my journey... or at least i thought it did... but that evening (the 10th) i attended a birthday party at mitchell's ocean club... it was fabulous and i decided that a beefsteak tomato salad and ginger salmon with mushrooms was a good healthy choice... it was awesome... but it was cooked... and the sauce on the salmon had sugar and butter and salt in it... the perfect combination of sugar/fat/salt to send me OFF the wagon... i hung on for about 2 or 3 days still doing raw, but began adding cooked foods like cabbage and greens and by thursday last week i was doing 100% COOKED food... in addition to this, i had a visit with my doctor on that same thursday to review my blood work... my blood pressure and all other labs were normal EXCEPT my blood sugar (182 she said)... she wanted to start me on some meds, but i asked her to give me 3 to 4 months and i'd let her do an HA1c test at that time... she agreed... needless to say i went home and made some seriously bad choices... i decided to have my own personal "farewell to toxic food" extended binge party... i went to the grocery store and bought WHITE bread (i don't even keep bread in my house anymore)... i bought turkey slices and egg salad... and i bought DIET root beer... lol... the insanity of it all cracks me up... but it's sooo sad really... i bought all kinds of soups--lentil, vegetable, split pea, chili (gotta have fiber to move the garbage along quickly of course LOL)... and 0h yeah... i also bought ORGANIC beef hot dogs... lol... over the last 4 or 5 days i consumed almost everything i bought and topped it off daily with the chewy candies and mini mars/snickers bars i'd bought a few weeks ago... but today i'm taking all the left over candy/candy bars to the office and giving them away... i'm throwing away any crap left from my cooked and seriously unhealthy food binge... i feel the negative impact from just 4 or 5 days of craziness... and now i have a support group of people who went to the same conference i went to who are going to start a 10 day raw challenge today... so i'm getting on board and beginning this journey yet again... Lord, please give me the power and the discipline i need to succeed on this journey... i need all the prayer i can get... i didn't realize what a roller coaster ride this journey was going to be... i want to and need to succeed at this... i want t0 and need to be able to achieve the TOTAL health that God intended for me to have... i want to feel ALIVE again... ok... so here i go... YET AGAIN!
Monday, October 5, 2009
100% Raw Day :)
ok... so today was my first 100% raw day in a long while... i'm going to sleep in a few minutes so i don't mess it up... lol... had a green fruit smoothie and fresh fruit for breakfast and lunch, then tonight i got home and made some "not tuna" and ate it wrapped in collard leaves... then for dessert i made a whole fruit sorbet which was awesome... i feel good... doing ok... my friends funeral is tomorrow and i've been dealing with my feelings and making much better food choices... i've fallen down, but i'm getting back up on the wagon... again... never give up... like the theme for the oprah show today, i won't stop believing... with God's help, i CAN do this...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Feeling sad...
this morning my friend lost the battle with breast cancer... i'm filled with sadness at a life cut short... she will be missed...
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Still Hanging In There...
so how am i doing?... not so great... the month of september has been a rough one... i'm not complaining, not making excuses... simply documenting this journey i'm on... i'm so absolutely and totally convinced that raw food is right for me, but i'm struggling right now to even keep up my 80% raw food lifestyle... i have a good friend fighting breast cancer and these last few months were really rough... last week she coded, but was revived... this week she is expected to --- i can't say the word... i'm still praying and hoping for a miracle, but i'm asking God for the ability to deal with this whatever the outcome... food has always been my drug of choice... and these last few months i've been overdosing... i'm grateful that i've been at least able to keep up with my green juicing and although i have been making REALLY BAD CHOICES (like sugar filled snacks and candy), i've been able to hold back at least a little... i haven't had a full out binge so i know God is here helping me... and just when i thought i was going to lose my momentum, i found a book and dvd both called "raw food made easy" by jennifer cornbleet which is helping me tremendously... additionally God set up a conference JUST FOR ME (isn't He an awesome God?)!!!... it's taking place in a week and a half on october 10th... there will be a raw food chef there and i'm so excited about it i feel like a kid waiting for christmas... in the midst of this storm, God is here and i'm hanging on to Him... can't do anything by myself... praying for my friend and her family... feeling really really sad... i don't want her to suffer, but selfishly, i don't want her to go either... i know i'll see her again either here or.... i'm rambling... need to focus... blood pressure is holding steady and normal without meds... blood sugar is still high, but lower today than it has been over the last two weeks... if i can't get it under control within the next two weeks i'll have to start taking some meds to lower it... this minute it's 137 but it was up to 305 at one point this week!!!... i'd eaten a bunch of mini candy bars and crazy desserts on saturday at a potluck acting like i didn't have a problem at all... as much as food is my drug of choice, as in illicit drug use, i have also chosen to make food my drug of choice, as in medicinal healing use... i'm just having a little difficulty right now... but i feel a change coming... i've been inspired to continue my journey... to get back up again... get back up again... i won't turn back... i've come too far and i feel too good... did i mention that i'm not getting back on the scale for a while??... maybe i didn't.. well, after losing nearly 20 lbs. in the first two months of this journey, i had a 2 lb. set back and felt soooo discouraged that i made a decision... when i started this journey, it was supposed to be about health and my focus was NOT supposed to be about numbers on the scale... but i got caught up in the weightloss and my focus began to shift... so when i gained 2 lbs i had a moment where i felt like what i was doing was a total waste of time and for a fleeting moment i wanted to just quit... but then i reminded myself that this is NOT about weight for me... this journey is about HEALTH... and IF a byproduct of my healthy choices results in my losing weight, then so be it... but regardless of what a scale says, i'm continuing on my journey... my clothes definitely are saying that i'm taking up less space in the world than i was 4 months ago... lol... i even had a couple people tell me to get real and buy some new clothes... lol... not yet... i'll just stop wearing the ones that are falling off me now... anyway, this has been such a rambling post... can't stop thinking about my friend... guess i'll stop rambling now and go wipe my tears away... WAIT!... i just had a breakthrough... when i'm crying, i don't eat or feel hungry... when i DON'T allow myself to feel, i eat irrationally... guess it's ok to cry... lol... maybe i'll actually deal with how i'm really feeling today...
Monday, August 31, 2009
Time Flies When You're Having Fun
wow!!!... i just don't know what to say... i didn't realize that it had been a month and a half since i last posted anything... unreal... unbelieveable... but i seriously thought i posted my august 1 results... hmmm... well maybe i was dreaming... i posted them to facebook and twitter... ok... so i really need to be sleeping so this is just a BRIEF update... august 1st my total pounds lost to date was 19.5 lbs at that time... my bgl was falling, but still fairly high in the 150's to 180's upon wakening, but down to about 110 in the afternoons... bp was normal throughout the month... i had soooo much company it was ridiculous... had people at my house for 10 days straight during the first 10 days of august... went out to eat too much and the second week of august my bgl started climbing... that second week i began doing 10-15 minutes of interval training 3 times a week on my treadmill... working at my PACE... lol... i love it... the sweating, the workout, the fact that my ankle can now support me once again... i'm feeling pumped and fabulous... problem occurred this past weekend... i was in charge of desserts and brought gourmet cookies, honey buns, and an assorted package of pudding cake (sliced)... it was all tasty and i tasted it all... and should NOT have... i ate so much sweets that my body went into sugar overload and now i feel REALLY bad, but it seems like i'm craving sugar now... it is seriously like a drug... i'm trying to get over it, but even the knowledge that my results day is coming up in about 24 hours isn't stopping me... i don't know if i've gained or lost weight this month... overall, i feel like i'm doing better than i was this time last year, but i also know i've done way worse than i did this time last month... my bgl was high today... bp was a little elevated as well and my body is sluggish... i need to sleep and eat properly... my saving grace is that i've continued with my morning green smoothies throughout... anyway, i just wanted to check in... there are too many results to post and i stopped recording things daily anyway... i'll be sure to try and post my results on tuesday... hopefully it will be good news... i have to be honest here and i would HATE to have to post that i gained back some of the weight i lost and lost some of the health benefits i'd gained... hmmmm....
Thursday, July 16, 2009
I'm Still Here
so it's been over a week since my last posting and i think i was feeling a little discouraged about my BGL... i'll post my numbers for the week at the end of this post... it seems that after the july 4th holiday, i really was not feeling good.. i ended up with lower back spasms for a few days, then i had a neck/shoulder spasm on the left side for a few days (possibly because of how i was moving to compensate for the back spasm... then a middle back spasm... lol... it was not good... last week wednesday i had to use one of those riding carts to get around a store because i couldn't stand up straight and at the time i remember thinking, "this is why those people walk like this with a forward lean"... lol... anyway, the next day i had to use a cane... but by friday i was walking fairly straight with minimal pain... then saturday evening the neck spasm started and lasted a couple of days... i now know for SURE that eating red meat that is not organic is absolutely NOT worth it... i don't seem to have problems with organic red meat like that... but every time i've had the "bad" red meat, i end up with inflammation and pain somewhere in my body... ok... so here are my stats for the days i didn't post:
Date BP P BGL
7-09-09 143/90 80 190 (145 before bed)
7-10-09 130/82 72 178
7-11-09 131/83 83 185
7-12-09 126/81 76 173
7-13-09 132/83 69 169
7-14-09 135/88 72 161
7-15-09 117/76 70 173
7-16-09 117/74 70 159
my bgl is coming down again... i pray i continue to do what i'm doing... i feel good today and happy that i'm not craving any junk... :)
Date BP P BGL
7-09-09 143/90 80 190 (145 before bed)
7-10-09 130/82 72 178
7-11-09 131/83 83 185
7-12-09 126/81 76 173
7-13-09 132/83 69 169
7-14-09 135/88 72 161
7-15-09 117/76 70 173
7-16-09 117/74 70 159
my bgl is coming down again... i pray i continue to do what i'm doing... i feel good today and happy that i'm not craving any junk... :)
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
July 4th Saga - Falling Off The Wagon
ok... so i did my 30 days and the plan is to keep going... but the 4th of july got in the way :( ... i'm not making excuses.... but i AM human, so i'm just documenting what happened... my sister came in to town and i'd promised her, two months ago, that when she came i'd COOK for her... specifically i'd cook her some beef ribs for the 4th... she held me to that promise and i kept it... had a few people over and made an event of it... i decided to still continue with my green smoothies in the mornings and i did a lot of raw, BUT i also ate the regular cooked food... so if being 80% raw is equivalent to being in rehab, then the 4th of july is like falling off the wagon... and i don't think i just fell off --- i JUMPED off... had a good weekend though... but NOW??? my BP and BGL are back up... this morning, 136/89 and 218 respectively with a resting pulse of 73... it didn't help that last night, for the second night in a row, i ate a PINT of coconut milk ice cream... AND my back is spasming... so i'm back on track today... back to what i know i need to do... and now that i've gotten used to 100% raw breakfasts and lunches, i'm ready to begin my next change... i'm going to attempt to start going to bed earlier... don't laugh, but i need to be IN my bed by midnight... i need to write it to make it a real commitment to change... i'm also going to try to incorporate at least 10 minutes of serious exercise 3 times a week into my schedule... once again, don't laugh... i need to start at a pace that i can maintain indefinitely so that it can become a part of my lifestyle... all throughout my off the wagon weekend, i still ate 100% raw breakfasts and only on saturday was my lunch NOT a 100% raw... so this is now a HABIT for me and i'm glad, because as bad as it was, it could have been worse... i have no more pints of raw frozen desserts in my freezer, so i won't binge on them... i just need to not bring them home... we shall see how i fare on that... anyway, enough of this... i have to do what i have to do...
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
There's No Stopping Me Now
i made it!!... 30 days... and this morning i woke up and knew that i needed to record some measurements... with that said, i'm happy to announce that 14.5 "prisoners" have been released from my domain... they are collectively and generally referred to as "Fat Pounds"... with good behavior they will remain free to roam the universe and, as attached as we once were, i pray that i NEVER see them again!!... my BP was 121/69 and P 75... BGL 196... i'm not happy about this number, but it is still considerably lower than it was 30 days ago... (about 78 points lower than my day one measurement!!)... it goes down during the day, but i really want my morning measurement to be normal... i believe that if i continue on this journey, it will happen... W today was 359.5... i was laughing this morning as i headed off to work thinking that perspective is everything... i was ecstatic to see the 350's again... lol... almost giddy with excitement... and who in there right mind is HAPPY to be 359.5 pounds???... easy answer... ANYONE who's ever been at 360 or heavier... lol... my FAT measurement is still "E4"... an error because i apparently have too much fat to measure... but my BMI is now 54.7 ... if that means anything, i've dropped 2.2 points on the BMI scale... so, i'm not where i want to be, but i'm also not where i used to be :)... i've taken the first few steps of my journey and i'm feeling good...
Monday, June 29, 2009
Raw "Beef" Burritos!!!!
ok so i'm excited about what i ate last night... a variation of a raw burrito that i got the recipe for a few weeks ago and doctored up a little... it was so AWESOME!!!!... i could hardly believe i was eating raw and loving it so much... so i'm posting the instructions so i don't forget how to make it... ok so i soaked the walnuts over night, drained them and then put them in the food processor until they had ground beef consistency... dumped it into a mixing bowl, added chopped onion, cumen, chili powder, sage, savory and braggs and mixed it up... it even almost SMELLS like meat!!... and it sure LOOKS like it!!!... wow... so then i washed some collard leaves and put the "meat" on the leaves with some freshly chopped tomatoes and cilantro, wrapped it up like a burrito and ate to my hearts content... next time i think i'll try adding some avocado and maybe more onions... anyway, last night after i had that i stayed up too late and ended up chomping on some dried fruit snacks which had too much concentrated sugar in them for my blood... woke up with a good BP 123/76 with a resting pulse of 72 :) and a high BGL of 189 :( ... so tonight i'm not eating anything... we'll see if it makes a difference in the morning... anyway, results day is coming up and i'm still a little wary about it... i'd better get to bed...
Sunday, June 28, 2009
28 Days and Counting
so it's been almost a week since i posted... so much has happened... the love of my teenage life, and the creator of my favorite album of all time (Off the Wall), michael jackson, died on thursday, june 25, 2009... i'm a grown woman now... i was over him when i was still a teenager, but i've always been a fan... i truly did not believe that his passing would affect me as it did, but i literally shed REAL TEARS!!!... i'm still having odd moments when the talk radio shows play his music as a tribute... makes me misty eyed... anyway, RIP MJ...
this week i also began my exercise journey and i'm keeping it a reasonable pace... i had some high blood sugar mornings (one morning as high as 206 i believe).... i've had some decent readings (down to 114)... but i haven't gotten to a consistently normal BGL reading yet... i'm a little disappointed, but i knew this would be a more gradual thing since i'm not doing 100% raw... when i tried doing 100% raw last year my results were phenomenal... everything except my weight was "normal" by the end of my second week... but after my 30 day commitment i was DONE... the downside this time is that i'm not "normal" yet... my BP is almost normal consistently, but only ALMOST... my BGL is fluctuating... i thought it was going down, but then it seemed that when i started exercising it went back up... and my weight is unknown at the moment... i'm kind of scared to get on the scale... i don't want this journey to be about my weight loss, although that is what people will probably see... but i'm thinking that if i get on the scale and i haven't lost anything or only lost a couple pounds, i might be disappointed... if i've lost a ton, i'll be hoping the same thing happens next month when i weigh again... i guess the upside to all of this is that THIS time i feel like i can keep going... at this moment it seems like it could be a lifestyle change... literally... yesterday afternoon/evening i had company over and i ate about 80% COOKED food for that meal.... the rest of the day was at least 80% raw though... i did have a crisis moment last night... i've found that there are some things i just can't keep in my house, because although i don't physically crave them, i have psychological cravings for them and "if i see it, i almost always eat it"... so yesterday, someone who brought the rolls either forgot or left the extras on my counter top... and last night when i noticed them, i lost my mind and ate them --- ALL SEVEN i think!!!!!!!.... i lost count and figured i should get it all down and over with... stupid i know... but it's my reality... NO BREAD IS IN MY HOUSE... i'm like a junky... a straight up addict... white flour, white sugar NOT APPROPRIATE FOR ME... i'm not saying i'll never eat it, i'm just saying that i can't at this point control it... so, only in the presence of other people, when i feel accountable, can i even consider taking a bite of "the untouchables" lol... i didn't even have a single roll with my cooked meal... i made good choices... i had a small slice of the dessert... all in all it was a good day... then --- i found the rolls... *sigh*...
today i didn't feel all that good... small aches reminiscent of the cooked food lifestyle... i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was all the excess carbs running through my body... so today i got up and did it right... i was 100% raw today... not because i'm restricting myself in anyway... just because it's what i truly felt like eating today... i'm not putting any limits on myself... for breakfast i had a green smoothie made with papaya, strawberries, nectarine, collard leaves, kale leaves and purified water... it was filling and kept me feeling good for about four and a half hours... then for lunch i had a huge sweet red bell pepper, a banana, some cherries and some water a little later... i snacked on more cherries after work because i was hungry... it got me by until i got home... i had intended to make zucchini spaghetti and meatballs, but instead i made a ground "beef" from walnuts, spices and onions.... it turned out sooooo good... then i made this recipe someone gave me a couple weeks ago with the ground "meat"... i washed some collard leaves and used them as "burrito" wraps... then i put the ground meat in the wrap with some chopped tomato and fresh cilantro, wrapped it up and chomped down on them... it was sooooooo good... it was literally mouth watering... so then i had some left over fresh lemon juice and i added some agave and pure water and made me a FRESH LEMONADE... it was awesome... totally filling and totally satisfying... i was going to have some kind of raw dessert, but i'm not feeling like it... so we'll see... maybe a few more cherries for dessert... i think i'm going to make a raw pina colada tomorrow... lol... and i'll have the pasta since i also made the meatballs tonight... i'm enjoying this lifestyle thing... i hope and pray that it lasts... maybe even a lifetime :) ... i feel so FREE! :)
this week i also began my exercise journey and i'm keeping it a reasonable pace... i had some high blood sugar mornings (one morning as high as 206 i believe).... i've had some decent readings (down to 114)... but i haven't gotten to a consistently normal BGL reading yet... i'm a little disappointed, but i knew this would be a more gradual thing since i'm not doing 100% raw... when i tried doing 100% raw last year my results were phenomenal... everything except my weight was "normal" by the end of my second week... but after my 30 day commitment i was DONE... the downside this time is that i'm not "normal" yet... my BP is almost normal consistently, but only ALMOST... my BGL is fluctuating... i thought it was going down, but then it seemed that when i started exercising it went back up... and my weight is unknown at the moment... i'm kind of scared to get on the scale... i don't want this journey to be about my weight loss, although that is what people will probably see... but i'm thinking that if i get on the scale and i haven't lost anything or only lost a couple pounds, i might be disappointed... if i've lost a ton, i'll be hoping the same thing happens next month when i weigh again... i guess the upside to all of this is that THIS time i feel like i can keep going... at this moment it seems like it could be a lifestyle change... literally... yesterday afternoon/evening i had company over and i ate about 80% COOKED food for that meal.... the rest of the day was at least 80% raw though... i did have a crisis moment last night... i've found that there are some things i just can't keep in my house, because although i don't physically crave them, i have psychological cravings for them and "if i see it, i almost always eat it"... so yesterday, someone who brought the rolls either forgot or left the extras on my counter top... and last night when i noticed them, i lost my mind and ate them --- ALL SEVEN i think!!!!!!!.... i lost count and figured i should get it all down and over with... stupid i know... but it's my reality... NO BREAD IS IN MY HOUSE... i'm like a junky... a straight up addict... white flour, white sugar NOT APPROPRIATE FOR ME... i'm not saying i'll never eat it, i'm just saying that i can't at this point control it... so, only in the presence of other people, when i feel accountable, can i even consider taking a bite of "the untouchables" lol... i didn't even have a single roll with my cooked meal... i made good choices... i had a small slice of the dessert... all in all it was a good day... then --- i found the rolls... *sigh*...
today i didn't feel all that good... small aches reminiscent of the cooked food lifestyle... i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was all the excess carbs running through my body... so today i got up and did it right... i was 100% raw today... not because i'm restricting myself in anyway... just because it's what i truly felt like eating today... i'm not putting any limits on myself... for breakfast i had a green smoothie made with papaya, strawberries, nectarine, collard leaves, kale leaves and purified water... it was filling and kept me feeling good for about four and a half hours... then for lunch i had a huge sweet red bell pepper, a banana, some cherries and some water a little later... i snacked on more cherries after work because i was hungry... it got me by until i got home... i had intended to make zucchini spaghetti and meatballs, but instead i made a ground "beef" from walnuts, spices and onions.... it turned out sooooo good... then i made this recipe someone gave me a couple weeks ago with the ground "meat"... i washed some collard leaves and used them as "burrito" wraps... then i put the ground meat in the wrap with some chopped tomato and fresh cilantro, wrapped it up and chomped down on them... it was sooooooo good... it was literally mouth watering... so then i had some left over fresh lemon juice and i added some agave and pure water and made me a FRESH LEMONADE... it was awesome... totally filling and totally satisfying... i was going to have some kind of raw dessert, but i'm not feeling like it... so we'll see... maybe a few more cherries for dessert... i think i'm going to make a raw pina colada tomorrow... lol... and i'll have the pasta since i also made the meatballs tonight... i'm enjoying this lifestyle thing... i hope and pray that it lasts... maybe even a lifetime :) ... i feel so FREE! :)
Monday, June 22, 2009
Week 4 Begins --- What in the world?!?!?
ok... so last night i didn't eat anything in the late evening after dinner, so it was about 5 or six hours between dinner and bedtime and all i had was water... i checked my BP before going to bed and it was 118/78 with P 75 and my BGL was 147... of course i didn't eat anything in the midst of my sleep so WHY was my BGL at 179 this morning?!?!?!... this "dawn phenomenon" thing is quite irritating... anyway, at least my BP was 129/73 and P was 69... i'm almost tempted to eat something before i go to sleep, just to see what happens to my BGL, because it seems that when i've eaten a snack before bed in the past my BGL has been normal in the morning... gonna have to test that out, but not now... hoping that this week will prove to be a great one!!... oh yeah... i'm committing to starting my exercise program this week... today is going well so far... of course i haven't done my exercises yet, but i will... for SURE...
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Raw Binging... For Real?!?!?!?
ok... so i really thought this was going to be the end of all my food issues... well last night i realized that it is not... i don't know what came over me, but i was doing well all day long and then last night i just had this crazy NEED to eat MORE... it was different from when i used to have cravings for stuff... i can't even quite explain it myself, but i just NEEDED to eat some fish... so i ate some smoked fish... technically still raw food... i also had quite a lot of watermelon yesterday... and dried fruit and nuts... and cacao nibs with raisins and macadamia nuts... i felt a little out of control, but i'm wondering if there was something in the fish that my body needed... today i got up and felt totally fine... no urges, or compulsions to eat anything in particular... i did my normal green fruit smoothie in the morning then later in the day i had some zucchini pasta with walnut "meat"balls and tomato sauce then had raw chocolate mousse for dessert... it was great... i was happy and i'm fine... i don't know how to feel about what happened last night... i'm not going to let it get to me though... tomorrow marks the end of three weeks doing at least 80% raw food living... so beginning week 4 i'm going to start incorporating a structured exercise program into my new lifestyle... just have to pace myself... i think 3 weeks to develop or replace an old habit wth something new is just about right for me... i'm into the whole raw food thing now... hope it lasts a long time... haven't measured my BGL in a couple days because i ran out of test strips and they probably won't get here until monday... anyway, i'm feeling good and my blood pressure has been normal the last couple of days... i guess i'll just have to see how the next few days go... anyway, i truly believe that my health is improving and although i'm not making this all about weight, i'm beginning to feel interested in finding out if i lost any pounds... i think i'll check next week at the end of week 4...
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Loving Raw Food
so today i got up and checked my blood pressure... it was 129/85 with a resting heart rate of 71... blood glucose level this morning was 151... then midday, i decided to check my pressure again and it was 120/78 with a pulse of 60!!!!!... i'm sooo excited about this... i feel good and even more, i'm loving the food and feeling totally satisfied every day... today i had a green/fruit smoothie for breakfast with banana, blueberries, nectarine, collard greens, barley greens and water... it was goooood... and i wasn't hungry after that for hours... then later i had tabouli for lunch and for dinner i made a new recipe i found today on another bloggers site... it was zucchini spaghetti with walnut meatballs... i've never had it with meatballs before and it was DELICIOUS... i can't believe it's raw food that i'm loving so much... wow!!... i'm still thinking about the coconut vanilla milkshake i made two days ago... i'm going to make a chocolate mousse pie for a potluck... i'm thinking about chocolate pudding... lol... it's unreal what we can do with RAW LIVING FOOD... wow...
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
It's Been a While
so i haven't posted anything for almost a week now... tomorrow will be exactly a week since my last post... don't worry... i haven't fallen off the wagon, but i did have a couple of near spills... first i'll post my numbers (with commentary as needed)...
Friday 6-12-09 BP 138/85 P 76 BGL 155
Saturday 6-13-09 BP 139/88 P 69 BGL 148
as you can see, my numbers were headed down in a nice and steady fashion... then saturday, i spent most of the day alone... and by the end of the day i think i was wanting some "comfort food" so around midnight (my timing needs to improve drastically) i decided to eat a pint of dary free gluten free coconut milk based "ice cream" with agave nectar as the sweetener... now i highly doubt that it was raw, but i had it in the freezer because i bought it on friday at the whole foods market... i love the stuff and it's supposed to be "healthy"... but choosing to eat the entire pint after midnight was not a good idea... the next morning my BGL showed it...
Sunday 6-14-09 BP 132/89 P 72 BGL 192
so then on top of that, i had dinner with a friend at the cheesecake factory... i chose to have the avocado egg rolls (definitely not a raw food) along with a seared tuna (raw) salmon salad with mixed greens... it was good, and i still maintained greater than my target of 80% raw food consumption for the week, but i think my body was still not happy with the choices i made... i had a headache that night and the next morning and my BGL was still up...
Monday 6-15-09 BP 136/91 P 76 BGL 189
it's important to note once again, that my measurements are taken in the morning just after i wake up... so my BGL does not run this high during the day... usually goes down to around 115, but i measure in the morning because i experience what's called the "dawn effect" with high BGL's in the morning and i can definitely corelate better health with times when my morning BGL's are in the normal range (below 120)... anyway, no more pints of ice cream at midnight... and the numbers are trending, once again, in the right direction...
Tuesday 6-16-09 BP 135/86 P 78 BGL 176
This morning 6-17-09 my BP was 139/83 with a P of 72 and BGL of 161... i'm still on track... green smoothie or equivalent for the morning fare... fresh fruits and nuts and berries and seeds for the midday snacks and meals... and usually a hefty vegetable meal or salad in the evening with some sort of raw dessert... last night i made a coconut vanilla milk shake... it was totally raw and totally yummy!!... i feel fabulous!!!
Friday 6-12-09 BP 138/85 P 76 BGL 155
Saturday 6-13-09 BP 139/88 P 69 BGL 148
as you can see, my numbers were headed down in a nice and steady fashion... then saturday, i spent most of the day alone... and by the end of the day i think i was wanting some "comfort food" so around midnight (my timing needs to improve drastically) i decided to eat a pint of dary free gluten free coconut milk based "ice cream" with agave nectar as the sweetener... now i highly doubt that it was raw, but i had it in the freezer because i bought it on friday at the whole foods market... i love the stuff and it's supposed to be "healthy"... but choosing to eat the entire pint after midnight was not a good idea... the next morning my BGL showed it...
Sunday 6-14-09 BP 132/89 P 72 BGL 192
so then on top of that, i had dinner with a friend at the cheesecake factory... i chose to have the avocado egg rolls (definitely not a raw food) along with a seared tuna (raw) salmon salad with mixed greens... it was good, and i still maintained greater than my target of 80% raw food consumption for the week, but i think my body was still not happy with the choices i made... i had a headache that night and the next morning and my BGL was still up...
Monday 6-15-09 BP 136/91 P 76 BGL 189
it's important to note once again, that my measurements are taken in the morning just after i wake up... so my BGL does not run this high during the day... usually goes down to around 115, but i measure in the morning because i experience what's called the "dawn effect" with high BGL's in the morning and i can definitely corelate better health with times when my morning BGL's are in the normal range (below 120)... anyway, no more pints of ice cream at midnight... and the numbers are trending, once again, in the right direction...
Tuesday 6-16-09 BP 135/86 P 78 BGL 176
This morning 6-17-09 my BP was 139/83 with a P of 72 and BGL of 161... i'm still on track... green smoothie or equivalent for the morning fare... fresh fruits and nuts and berries and seeds for the midday snacks and meals... and usually a hefty vegetable meal or salad in the evening with some sort of raw dessert... last night i made a coconut vanilla milk shake... it was totally raw and totally yummy!!... i feel fabulous!!!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Day 11
yesterday was an interesting day... woke up with a BP of 117/80 and P 76... BGL was 177... i did well... had a green smoothie made of kale, apple and mango that tasted pretty good... added some barley greens to the mix and it kept me feeling good all morning long... lunch time i was too busy so i had a raw food bar and some water and i was ok... then i decided later to have tabouli (a parsley salad - about 95% parsley with chopped onions, olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and tiny bits of bulgar wheat) and raw zucchinni "spaghetti" with a "meat sauce" i made from walnuts, tomatoes, garlic, onion, olive oil, sea salt, dates, sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh thyme, etc. in the food processor... also had raw corn on the cob... it was goooooood!!!... so i was feeling good, but since i knew i'd be off today i stayed up way too late last night and got hungry again around midnight... then i had a sudden urge to eat meat... so i had some smoked salmon AND some dried jerky on collard leaves... that was good too... at first i felt bad about eating the meat, but then i realized two things... 1) this is a lifestyle choice that i have made--- not a life sentence and my choices have been really good and i'm feeling fabulously wonderful and healthy and 2) i made a committment to live a high raw lifestyle to improve my health... i haven't committed to being vegetarian or vegan or even 100% raw... just high raw... and technically the smoked salmon, the smoked meat and the collard leaves are all raw... and since they were also all organic, i think i did ok... now the timing of WHEN i ate it leaves room for improvement... i just need to go to bed on time lol... anyway, i woke up today and my BP was 132/87 with P 75 and BGL 151 :)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Into the Second Week
well... i successfully completed my first week of a high raw diet and i'm feeling great... i have been keeping some numbers handy... 6-5-09 BP 177/106 P 91 then after deep breathing BP 134/86 P 82 and BGL 218... 6-6-09 BP 129/92 P 90 and BGL 183... 6-7-09 didn't record measurements... 6-8-09 BP 147/90 P 82 and BGL 169... all these measurements are taken in the morning when i wake up... this morning, BP 130/86 P 78 and BGL 170... so i'm trending in a very good direction... by choice, i have not been taking any medications... i'm letting food be my medicine of choice... anyway, i'm feeling great... lot's of energy and sleeping VERY VERY well... i love how i'm feeling and i'm breathing deeper... most of my little "normal" aches and pains are all gone, so i'm able to be more active and household chores don't seem like much of a chore any more... amazing... :) ... i'm solidly into my second week now... attended a raw food conference on sunday which was helpful... it's always nice to be around other people with similar goals... i think i'm happy with the way i'm eating... i now call it a HIGH RAW LIFESTYLE, which to me means that i'm not 100% raw... (even though i was nearly 100% raw last week... it allows me the freedom to choose to eat cooked food or not eat cooked food... the freedom of choice allows me to feel less restricted and boxed in... ironically, i think that will allow me to do this on a long term basis... anyway, time to head back to work... i'm feeling soooooo good :)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Day 4
made it through day 4 and it feels great... i've THOUGHT about food today... had an evening meeting and "dinner" was provided... THEY had pizza... i brought my water, an apple and a raw food bar... i smelled the food, but there was no craving or desire... feeling really good... didn't measure BP today, but BGL was 202 this afternoon after i ate a banana... for dinner i had lettuce wraps... hmmm hmmmm good... well, i'm doing ok... better than ok... gotta go to sleep...
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Day 3 RAW
i'm coming to the end of my third day raw and i'm feeling fabulous!... much more energy today... no headache.... a sense of well being... and a raw buzz.... lol... even though i've never done illicit drugs, i've been telling people that the "high" i get when i'm on raw foods must be the high that drug addicts are seeking but never achieve... if they only knew!!! wow... this feels great... last night i slept like a baby and woke up refreshed BEFORE the alarm went off... lol... anyway, my basic stats this morning were, BGL 232 (higher than yesterday morning but i'm not worrying about it), BP 124/82 (back to normal and of course i have NO headache this morning) and P 85 (a little higher than normal for me, but i'm sure it will come down eventually)... oh i almost forgot to mention.... yesterday i had some veggies and avocado wrapped in raw nori sheets... they were pretty tastey... i'm keeping it simple today with fruits and veggies, but i'm gearing up to do some gourmet raw stuff... i do enjoy experiencing food this way-- GUILT FREE and FABULOUS!!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Day 2
this morning i woke up with the WORST headache of my life... now i've done detox's before and i've done a raw cleanse (for 30 days) before... usually i don't get the headache until about day 5 to 7... but today, i wasn't sure i was going to live... i checked my blood pressure and it was 177/105 .... then i panicked thinking i was going to have a stroke... i did some deep breathing exercises for about 10 minutes and the headache subsided somewhat and my pressure at that time was down to 136/95... i was definitely relieved... so i decided to go to work... MISTAKE... shoulda stayed home... pressure went up again at work and i cancelled my appointments for the rest of the day and came back home... stopped at the whole foods market on the way home for a large fresh celery juice and by the time i got home my pressure was down again to 123/85... MUCH better... i'm not sure what that was about, but i'm just going to take it easy for the rest of the day... oh yeah... BGL was 211 this morning... and i don't intend on getting on a scale or doing body fat analysis for at least a week... perhaps i'll leave it alone and only measure those monthly since i truly don't want this journey to be about numbers on a scale... improved health is my goal and the hope that my body picks a different size when it's healthy... anyway, i'm still eating fruits and had a sprouted seed bar today... think i might make some seaweed wraps tonight... not sure though... tried the cauliflower "popcorn" yesterday and it was ok... crunchy...
Monday, June 1, 2009
The Journey Begins
today is june 1, 2009 and i'm starting on my raw journey... i got up this morning with a made up mind and took some baseline measurements... i have several issues that need to be resolved and i'm doing this primarily to improve my health... i'm also ready to lose some weight... carrying the extra weight of a large man is getting to be exhausting... anyway, just for the purposes of documenting this process and staying accountable to myself and to whoever decides they want to follow my progress, i'm going to put some numbers in print that i never would have been able to publish ten years ago... don't be alarmed... i'm taking full responsibility for my health and current status... i don't want to use drugs because i have very unusual side effects with most prescription meds i have been prescribed in the past, so currently i'm not on any medication and that is totally by my choice... so for the baseline numbers, here goes... 1) blood pressure (BP) 150/87 and five minutes later 136/89 ... you should know that i've been borderline hypertensive ever since i was placed on birth control pills to regulate my hormone levels at the age of 19... i had a MAJOR hypertensive response to the meds and was taken off of it after only 1 week of use... my blood pressure dropped but never again returned to normal which prior to that had ALWAYS been well below 120/80... 2) pulse or resting heart rate (P) 89... 3) blood glucose level (BGL) 274... this is the highest it has ever been and probably so high because i've had too many refined carbs in the last week... when i decided i was going to change my lifestyle, it seemed that i went on a kind of binge... i ate things that i don't even usually eat... so i know i have some sort of weird psychological issue... lol... i can't really restrict myself, because i'll rebel against my very own rules... but the BGL is definitely troubling... i used to say i was borderline diabetic, but right now i'm admitting that i must be a diabetic in denial... that's GOT to change... 4) weight (W) 374... need i say more???... this is the heaviest i have ever been... last year my top weight was 373 and i dropped about 20 pounds but never got below 350... it's sobering to know that at a height of about 5'8" i weigh more than big huge football players... more than the heavyweight wrestling champions... my goal this year is to be as healthy as i can be... i hope my choosing a different lifestyle will allow my body to choose a different weight... 5) body mass index (BMI) 56.9 ... i have this little machine that measures my BMI and my FAT... above 25 is bad... above 30 is very very bad, and i'm almost double that... nothing more to say on that... my FAT measurement was "E4"... that means i'm so fat that the machine can't even measure it... i was off the scale... my current goal with that is just to be able to be measured... lol... anyway, those are my baseline measurements for the day... i'm only eating fruits today... i know that some people are going to think, "is she crazy????... her bgl is that high and she's eating FRUITS????"... relax... there are several theories on what is best... i'll monitor myself and keep you posted on how i'm doing... i'm responsible for my own health... i need to be the one to understand what is going on and how i'm going to deal with it... don't get me wrong -- if i break bones or have a critical care crisis, i want a hospital, good allopathic doctors and drugs... but for chronic, lifestyle related diseases i believe that with the right kind of support, i can be my best health care provider...
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