The hardest thing about going raw has been no cheese. I've struggled, let me tell you and spent months cutting back on how much cheese I was consuming but honestly was no closer to "giving it up completely" but then one day something just clicked and I stopped feeling left out... and I stopped eating cheese.
This blog post is amazing and has lots of helpful information:
I Couldn't Give Up Cheese, So I Gave Up Animal Cruelty Instead
Friday, May 11, 2012
Traveling Raw
Last week I took my daughter on a vacation/birthday celebration trip to Miami...
She turned 21, I turned 48.
I cannot tell you how many fretful hours I spent worrying about food. I researched the menus of every restaurant I could find, mapquested juice bars within walking distance of our hotel and in all the nearby areas of where we were going to be sightseeing the most...
And it was all so unnecessary.
Because, here's the thing.
Raw is easy once you make the decision to embrace the lifestyle.
I actually did better adhering to the lifestyle away from home than while at home... see yesterday's post.
No griddle, no rice, no speed-dial badness...
And the reason is, because I was so afraid cheating would lead to inflammation, which would lead to joint pain, or intestinal misery, that I wasn't willing to take the chance of ruining the few days we were there.
At restaurants I chose juices, fruits, and salads. Period.
I found a grocery in walking distance of the hotel and stocked up on bananas and watermelon.
I found an amazing Thai restaurant/Sushi bar across the road from the hotel that offered a papaya salad that was to die for. Seriously. I could have ate that salad for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day of the visit.
So if you are wondering if you can maintain raw on the road: the answer is, yes you can...if you set your mind to it. Reassure yourself by doing the research before you leave, mapquest your way to juice bars and raw food restaurants if you must, but know that even iHop has a fruit bowl...and salads.
You can do it.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Staying on Course
I haven't posted in awhile...
Which oftentimes on the raw food blogs I get attached to, means the author has either a) experienced a life change which is competing for their time... or b) has fallen completely off the raw-food wagon.
I can't really claim either.
But then again, I'm not really happy with the last three months progress either.
Don't get me wrong, I FEEL GREAT!
My rheumatoid arthritis symptoms are non-existent, my intestinal issues gone... ditto for the migraines.
I've lost weight. My skin is clear. My eyes brighter and vision better than it's been in a decade. My energy is up...
So what's the problem?
Firstly, I'm hovering around 80% raw. Still. I feel like I should have made a full progression in the eighteen months or so I've been doing this and I'm just not. Oh, I could make excuses. I have a zillion or so that come to mind, but they would still be excuses, blaming other people and circumstances for my behavior... and I'm not really an excuse kind of gal. I'll accept my accountability with a spoonful of humility, thank you very much.
I'm weak. Bottom line. And the main temptation I fail to continually (and only very occasionally, but leave me guilt ridden...and usually cursing my digestive system...yes, you would think I would learn after awhile) is pizza. I have my fav pizza joint on speed dial. Oh, I deleted it...once...and I reprogrammed it not even two days later because I was smack dab in the middle of an emotional crisis.
Why does food have to be so emotionally linked?
And why don't I try my hand at a raw pizza? It might work the same magic, if I just gave it a try...
As far as my other temptations...rice (love rice) and tortillas (omg, homemade and hot off the griddle, need I say more?) I'm not sure I'm ready to say no forever to those. And in true moderation... say, as a treat once a week or once every other week...might get me over the hump to staying 95% raw for the long term.
Okay, solution: Find the perfect raw pizza recipe. Period.
And start limiting my "cheats"...
I'll let you know how the strategy goes...it seems fairly simple and straightforward. I just gotta do it.
Secondly, I've discovered I'm a lazy blogger.
Oh, it's easy to blog on days I feel like crap, tucked under a blanket, room heated to a perfect 90*F.
But when I feel good?
I'm outside. Hiking. Gardening. Mowing the lawn with a push mower. Climbing at an indoor rock wall. Learning to belly dance!
So maybe I shouldn't be complaining about this one...
The solution would be to set a time, maybe mornings, to blog a recipe, an idea, or just record how successful I am at amping my raw intake back into the 95% range... and maintaining that. Again, I just gotta do it.
I started writing this blog to record whether or not raw food works. It obviously does.
And now, I really want to keep this blog going, in the hope someone who is suffering with disease as I was finds it and is encouraged to give the raw food lifestyle a try.
So, here is to staying on course.
Wish me luck.
Which oftentimes on the raw food blogs I get attached to, means the author has either a) experienced a life change which is competing for their time... or b) has fallen completely off the raw-food wagon.
I can't really claim either.
But then again, I'm not really happy with the last three months progress either.
Don't get me wrong, I FEEL GREAT!
My rheumatoid arthritis symptoms are non-existent, my intestinal issues gone... ditto for the migraines.
I've lost weight. My skin is clear. My eyes brighter and vision better than it's been in a decade. My energy is up...
So what's the problem?
Firstly, I'm hovering around 80% raw. Still. I feel like I should have made a full progression in the eighteen months or so I've been doing this and I'm just not. Oh, I could make excuses. I have a zillion or so that come to mind, but they would still be excuses, blaming other people and circumstances for my behavior... and I'm not really an excuse kind of gal. I'll accept my accountability with a spoonful of humility, thank you very much.
I'm weak. Bottom line. And the main temptation I fail to continually (and only very occasionally, but leave me guilt ridden...and usually cursing my digestive system...yes, you would think I would learn after awhile) is pizza. I have my fav pizza joint on speed dial. Oh, I deleted it...once...and I reprogrammed it not even two days later because I was smack dab in the middle of an emotional crisis.
Why does food have to be so emotionally linked?
And why don't I try my hand at a raw pizza? It might work the same magic, if I just gave it a try...
As far as my other temptations...rice (love rice) and tortillas (omg, homemade and hot off the griddle, need I say more?) I'm not sure I'm ready to say no forever to those. And in true moderation... say, as a treat once a week or once every other week...might get me over the hump to staying 95% raw for the long term.
Okay, solution: Find the perfect raw pizza recipe. Period.
And start limiting my "cheats"...
I'll let you know how the strategy goes...it seems fairly simple and straightforward. I just gotta do it.
Secondly, I've discovered I'm a lazy blogger.
Oh, it's easy to blog on days I feel like crap, tucked under a blanket, room heated to a perfect 90*F.
But when I feel good?
I'm outside. Hiking. Gardening. Mowing the lawn with a push mower. Climbing at an indoor rock wall. Learning to belly dance!
So maybe I shouldn't be complaining about this one...
The solution would be to set a time, maybe mornings, to blog a recipe, an idea, or just record how successful I am at amping my raw intake back into the 95% range... and maintaining that. Again, I just gotta do it.
I started writing this blog to record whether or not raw food works. It obviously does.
And now, I really want to keep this blog going, in the hope someone who is suffering with disease as I was finds it and is encouraged to give the raw food lifestyle a try.
So, here is to staying on course.
Wish me luck.
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