This photo is SAD vs RAW diet. On the right was 6 months raw, Dec. 2002. On the left was 10 months sad (standard american diet) Dec. 2003. This is my motivation picture to stay on the raw path.

January 29
Today was my first full raw day. I have been doing raw since January 5th, but have not maintained 100%. I am starting at 170 pounds. My food for today:
raw oatmeal with chopped pecans
big salad
orange
smoothie
raw banana split

I got really motivated today to stick to this. I talked to the instructor at my gym after pool aerobics today about becoming an instructor. She was very enthusiastic and I guess they are needing daytime instructors, so I will begin training with her shortly. I am sooo jazzed about this. It's the perfect job for me right now. I will get free gym membership and free childcare as well - bonus! Just knowing that I will be up in front of people as an example makes me want to succeed with my raw journey so I can share with others.

Alright, enough for now - I was up nursing my little one, but she's back to bed, so I must go too.

January 30 - Day 2
raw oatmeal w/pecans and raisins (to borrow a rachel ray phrase - Yummo!)
raw trail mix snack
2 ears raw corn on the cob with guac butter and cracked pepper
smoothie
big salad
2 small oranges

My biggest challenge continues to be having to cook food for my husband. I made a crockpot full of split pea soup today and was soooo tempted to eat some this evening. It was one of those rare, overcast, somewhat drizzly days in the Phoenix area today - a perfect soup day. I just reminded myself that it always looks better than it actually is compared to fresh raw food, and it definitely doesn't make me feel good like raw does. Another reminder I give myself when being tempted is that I have had almost 40 years of gorging on cooked food - I have had plenty of those foods in my lifetime and I don't need more. (in case I am starting to think that I am being "deprived" somehow)

I go to the dentist tomorrow to have a deep cleaning done. Not sure how this is going to affect my eating, but I am sure my mouth will be sore when the numbing wears off.  May just be a smoothie/juice afternoon and evening.

On a positive note, my husband was jealously eyeing my raw oatmeal this morning and wanted some. I let him finish off the bowl because I want to encourage him to eat raw foods. My 2 year old always wants what mommy has, and will eat most of my raw food. (looooves smoothies, which she calls "mooothy")Was so cute to see her cleaning up my ear of corn - I saved her some on the second ear and she was delighted to eat the corn like mommy was.

Oh, yeah. Not to forget. I got a coffee grinder last night and finally ground up the millet I had bought ages ago. I plan on trying that for my breakfast grain tomorrow morning - I hope I like it cause it might be my only solid food tomorrow! I was reading the nutrition info on it at Sprouts and it has 10+ grams of protein in 1/2 cup - Wow! And people wonder how you get protein without eating meat!

January 31 - Day 3
I weighed 167 this morning - that's 3 pounds down.
soaked millet and dates w/blackberries, banana, pecans, raisins, and sunflower seeds
smoothie

As I suspected, eating wasn't a big priority today. My whole mouth was numb for so long I didn't dare try to eat or drink anything. Now I am guzzling my water to replenish myself. I had my millet this morning. Not the best. I ate about half a big bowl. The taste was "okay" and it had a grainy texture that was not too pleasant. I am going to stick with my oatmeal or maybe try it again mixed with oats rather than all millet. One of the things I am fully committed to is finding foods that I really love, not just tolerate. Another thing is ease of preparation. From my experience before as a raw foodist, a lot of recipes are quite time intensive, and with two little ones, I just can't take that kind of time. And then a lot of the time, I wouldn't even like the taste when I got it prepared. So, easy to make and really yummy are two prerequisites for me.

I had gotten the idea for the millet breakfast out of a raw book that I found at a used book sale last year by a guy named Tobin. (I think) It was published eons ago - I'll have to look it up b/c I remember being really surprised that a raw food book was out that long ago. The book gives raw recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day of the year. An absolute steal at $3!
I just looked up raw food books at the library and there are several checked in. I am going to go get them tomorrow and peruse the recipes. Also, I enjoy reading the information. There is something to be said to keeping the benefits of raw food living fresh in your mind to keep you motivated. When I was raw before, I was working for a nutrition company  and the president was big into education for all employees. That's where I learned about raw food. Two of my coworkers who also ran a clinic in conjunction with OHS were raw foodists. I found it much easier to be raw when I went to work everyday in an environment that supported and promoted that lifestyle. So I realize that I need to create my own raw environment. One thing I will do is start attending the free seminars each month at the Windhawk Clinic.

February 1 - Day 4
raw oatmeal
yam chips w/guacamole
trail mix
smoothie
big salad

My 2yo daughter had an almost all raw day today. She shared my oatmeal this morning and also sat down with the bag of raw trailmix and picked out her favorites. Then she had a larabar for a snack - which she calls candy - of her own doing, not mine! I usually slice up my yam in big pieces and then use to dip in guacamole, but I was at a friends house, and their knife wouldn't cut all the way through. So I ended up making smaller, thinner slices off the yam. My daughter loved them! (she's always been a guac fan so it was an easy sell) Once home, she had some smoothie, some raw cheese and more trail mix before bedtime. The only non raw for her today was a hershey kiss over at the friends house.

The book I mentioned in my last post was by John Tobe and published in 1969, which means it is almost as old as I am! (born '67) I checked out Raw Food for the Real World from the library today. My question is this: what real world are they talking about?! My real world has me hopping trying to keep a 2yo entertained while not completely neglecting my 4mo. I do not begin to have the time to do the very elaborate recipes in that book. What a disappointment since I had been told the recipes were delicious. No doubt they are from what I read, but certainly not quick, easy, or cheap which is what I need. Oh well. There were a few that I will copy down - just don't know when I will get the time to experiment.

My husband seems to be trying to quit soda, although not having an easy time. Also he was craving sweets tonight, which we don't have in the house right now. I suggested he put a pecan inside a date.

Okay, it's after 3am so I am back to bed now that the little one is snoozing happily in milk coma land!

p.s. forgot to mention that after getting my deep cleaning on my teeth, I had no gum pain nor did I need to take any medication after the numbing wore off - they had sent me home with these elaborate instructions on post op healing but the only thing that was bothering me was my jaw was a little sore from being open so long. I am thinking my raw diet helped me with this...

February 2 - Day 5
weight - 165, down 5 pounds
food:
raw oatmeal (only 1/2 bowl - wasn't too hungry)
1/2 larabar snack
salad
smoothie
raw tacos/raw brownie
Wow! I feel soooo good today! I have energy and feel alive! This is a major improvement over the dragging through the days I have done for the last 4 months since my second daughter was born. I didn't even get a good nights sleep. I just got back from the gym. I miss pool aerobics on Fridays b/c my 2yo has a dance class in the morning on Fridays for 5 more weeks. So I just went after her class and swam laps. I did 15 minutes last week, and 20 minutes this morning. I am going to up it five minutes a week til I am doing 30 minutes of swimming.

Meanwhile, I also wanted to post that I have noticed a couple of health improvements. First, my tailbone had been hurting me a lot lately when I would sit down. I noticed today I sat down on the bench at the gym and no pain - yeah! Also, I have this little bump on my neck that kind of looks like a chicken pox scar, but it keeps getting big and then I would squeeze it and stuff would come out. Well today I went to see if it needed to be squeezed and it is almost completely flat - if I try to find it without looking in the mirror, it's really tough to detect it. Cooool.

One more positive note - I have noticed that I am not getting angry with my toddler like I was before. I still have to get stern with her when she is willfully disobedient, but I am not losing my cool or feeling like I'm going to go ballistic. This is by far the best result I could have asked for!

February 3 - Day 6
raw oatmeal w/pecans, raisins, and banana
Bitmap
mmm
rest of yam with guacamole/brownies
smoothie
big salad

Gooood news! My DH was running late for work this morning. He came into the kitchen while I was slicing 1/2 banana onto my leftover oatmeal from yesterday. He asked if he could take the 2 raw tacos I had made last night with the leftovers from dinner, and then had a raw brownie and a big spoonful out of my cereal before heading out to work. I tried to give him the whole bowl but he wouldn't take it. But I was pretty excited to see him grabbing the raw food to eat. I was telling him yesterday about how good I am feeling and he grumpily told me, "I don't want to hear it - I feel horrible!" He's been sick most of this week. He also snacked on some yam chips and guacamole yesterday, so he had a pretty raw day.

In all fairness to my DH, he did tell me a little later that he was happy for me that I was feeling good and apologized for being grumpy.

I picked up 3 books on raw at the library today. One had no recipes. I have only had time to look through one of the others, but WOW it looks like a lot of good, easy recipes. It is called Eat Smart, Eat Raw. I can't wait to start trying some of the recipes. I may make something from it for the superbowl party tomorrow - a dip that I can also use to make a wrap.

On a bummer note - my tailbone is hurting again today.

February 4 - Day 7
raw oatmeal/millet w/raisins and pecans
1/2 larabar
apple and raw cheese
carrots and broccoli w/raw dip
smoothie

I tried a 3 to 1 ratio of oats to millet in my cereal this morning - was yummy. I think that is the way to go for me. I ended up making a new dip for the superbowl party I went to, and while it was okay, I wouldn't say it was yummy. I want the yummy factor in my food, so I am going to experiment tomorrow and see if I can doctor up my leftovers to make it something I look forward to eating instead of something I am eating up just so it doesn't go to waste.

Very good news today. My DH decided he wants to eat raw with me. He isn't going to do 100%, but I am sure it is still going to help him out. He said he is feeling better today and he feels it was the raw food he has been eating. It could also be that I picked up a supplement on Thursday from the Windhawk clinic called Prodigen that is jam packed with probiotics and enzymes. I've had him taking 2 capsules after meals while I am only taking one a day to build up my good bacteria levels and letting the extra enzymes help clean out my system. Anyway, I am pretty excited about having him on the same eating as me. That will sure make it easier. But it also makes me want to search and find some more good recipes that will fill up my hubby and have that yummy factor.

I have collected a few from the recipe forum so far. I think I would like to try the chili recipe first, but I still have no dehydrator. I may try using the sun....we'll see how that goes.

February 5 - Day 8
I weighed in this morning after one full week 100% raw.
weight - 164, down 6 pounds
raw oatmeal w/usual toppings
shared food with Trinity for lunch so I didn't eat a whole lot of anything - apple w/raw cheese, carrots and broccoli w/guacamole
chocolate banana pudding
last brownie bite
raw cheese and carrots
raw trail mix

I need to get a before shot soon. I can't get my camera to download, but eventually I will sort that out and then I will have the picture. I am making a mental note to have DH take photo this afternoon.

I didn't really sit and eat a lunch or dinner. The day just didn't allow it. We took the kids to the park this afternoon and then to the library and by the time we came home and I nursed the baby, it was time for me to run off to bible study. DH and DD1 were having pizza for dinner as I left with my cheese sticks and carrot sticks to munch on in the car. I was only mildly tempted to grab a slice of pizza. If I had time for my daily big salad or smoothie I probably wouldn't have even thought twice about it. But the fact that I hadn't had a sit down meal since breakfast made it slightly tempting. Not too bad though. I really want to stick to raw for now. I've had enough pizza in my day to last my whole life! I turn 40 in May and I want to stay 100% until then. One day at a time....