Posts Tagged ‘ goals ’

30 day challenge – 2nd week slump

September 13, 2009
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I’m still raw-king the 30 day challenge! I’ve had a few bumps along the way, however.  I think I’ll call it “the 2nd week slump.”  I rode through the 1st week of the challenge on getting-started-enthusiasm.  Plus, I lost 3.6 lbs during my first 5 days.  That’s a very strong motivator. I’m a bit sorry that’s the case.  I am focusing more on health than weight ’cause weight is just the force of gravity on my body.  That force does cause some of my aches and pains though, so I’ll give myself a get-out-of-jail-free card on that count.  I’m all about being kind to myself.

2nd week

2nd week

I lost an additional pound during the second week.  That makes a total of 4.6 lbs so far.  Not shabby.  It is a significant slow down but not unexpected.  One pound per week is a very healthy loss.  I’ll be very happy indeed if I keep this rate for the rest of the month.

My aches and pains are doing quite well.  Not completely gone, but much less noticeable.  Yay! Pain sucks and it can kiss my you-know-what.

My energy levels have gone through the roof.  I’m finding it difficult to go to sleep at my usual 9:30pm bed time (it’s not that early, I do need to get out of bed at 5:00am for work-out and cycling to work).  I’m still way less groggy in the morning as well. I’m finding it easier to exercise and that’s fabulous.  Exercise is a critical component of self-care for my medical conditions.

All in all, I’d have to say the progress is still there if slowed.  I think it’s my own fault that the momentum hasn’t sustained itself.  I mentioned that I indulged in a few beers at the end of week one.  During week two, I had a few handfuls of non-raw blue corn tortilla chips and (true confession time here) I had a cup of cooked brown rice with butter on it when I was feeling nauseous from having fresh fruit juice on an empty stomach.  It’s not an excuse, but an explanation.   Finally, I had coffee rather than teechino both this morning and yesterday morning.  My almond-milk lattes are more than caffeine to me.  It’s a weekend ritual that I share with my spouse.  We have our coffee in bed and read the news and treat ourselves to a slower than weekday start to our day.   All of these indulgences came at a cost.

I’d have to say that my second week was about 99% raw.  I’m very pleased with myself even with the indulgences.  The slow down has left me more motivated to do better during week three.  There are a few more things that I’m doing to ensure that I sustain this motivation.

  1. I’m preparing my menu plan for the week and making some items ahead of time.  On the agenda today: pine nut parmesan, carrot & currant salad,  almond cheese, and my juices and green leafy salad for tomorrow’s breakfast & lunch.  These items should see me through Wednesday.  And, I’m left with a grocery list for my mid-week food prep.  I won’t need to think about it too much during my busy work week. Flipping through my raw recipes books always gets me stoked about eating yummy nutritious food.
  2. I’m planning my raw birthday cake.  I will complete my 38th revolution around the sun this Thursday.  I’m going to have me some German Chocolate cake!  Making kick-ass raw recipes always excites me.  I’m making this baby up in my own head, inspired by the recipe in I am grateful: recipes & lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude.
  3. I’m remembering that I’m going up to Ft. Bragg in October to do a few more classes for my raw chef certification.  I feel a need to be truly raw until I get there.  The folks at Living Light are not hard-nosed evangelical raw types.  They are truly accepting of everybody whatever their place on the raw food spectrum.  It’s my own emotions that draw me into a higher percentage of eating raw.  It’s about integrity.  I want to be a truly raw raw chef.
  4. Our boyfriend is visiting for a week starting at the beginning of week 4.  I haven’t seen him in 6 weeks and I’m curious to find out how much of a difference in me that he will notice (or not).
  5. I feel great! And I know that I feel great ’cause I’m truly nourishing myself.  When I remember that, it’s easy to say no to traditional cooked vegan fare.
  6. I’m keeping my end of the bargain when it comes to all the other things I committed to doing this month.  I’ve been cycling to work.  I have already done it 3 times, which was all I said I would do. Of course I’m so excited about it that I’m going to keep it up.   I’ve been exercising at least 30 minutes a day 5 days a week.  I do count the cycling to work.  I’ve also been roller blading and walking and stretching.

Lot’s of reasons to stay on track right there.  My intentions are set.  It will be a fabulous week, the best week ever.

30 day challenge – Week 1

September 8, 2009
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I finished 7 days of eating 100% raw.  So far, I’m not feeling any better with my aches and pains.  I thought my pain wasn’t as intense, but this morning I awoke stiff and sore in the joints..  It’s probably my own fault.  I did a pretty hard inline skating workout on Sunday.  And, I drank a couple of beers at a Labor Day bbq which probably undermined all of my work from the past week.  Yet, I needed to have those beers so that I wouldn’t feel deprived while my carnivore friends indulged.  I stayed raw with everything I ate.  As I’ve said before, I refuse to be hard-core about my beverages.

Given how I feel today, I doubt I’ll be indulging in alcohol again anytime soon.

raw-food-dietI got tons of compliments from my friends at the bbq. Over and over I heard how good my skin looks.  Somebody even used the term “glowing.”  I suppose that’s a small thing which the all raw eating has brought me.

The other thing it may have brought to me is a little weight loss.  I’ve dropped 3.6 lbs since the 1st of the month. I won’t mind if this rate of loss continues for the rest of the month. I’ve been exercising a lot too. I can’t attribute the loss to raw eating alone.  Correlation is not causation.

Also, the other thing that eating raw may be doing is increasing my energy level. I don’t find myself sleepy at all when bed time rolls around. In fact, I’m having trouble getting to sleep ’cause I’m just not tired.  Of course, it’s been over 100 degrees here for the past week and a half.  The tossing and turning from the heat isn’t helping.

I’m not feeling more energetic in the morning.  I’ve always been incredibly groggy and foggy in the morning.  So much so that I’ve been a huge coffee fan for almost 30 years.  I haven’t drank coffee since starting the challenge.  Usually I’m drinking water instead.  Or peppermint tea.  This habit was one of the “one smallest thing” I said I could do in support of my health each day.

In sum, I’d have to say that whatever effect eating 100% raw has had upon me has been subtle. I did find it incredibly difficult for the first 3 days.  I’m starting to get into the routine of it though.  I make a smoothie in the morning.  I grab a salad for lunch.  And I make some sort of tasty raw entree in the evening.  This pattern seems to be working.  I’m hoping I won’t get bored with it.  I’ve got mock salmon pate and raw marinara sauce left over from last week.   I made pizza flax crackers over the weekend.  I’ll be repeating those foods this week since I need to use them up.  I’ll have to get creative in how I use them.

I’ll also need to incorporate more green juices. I hope if I manage to go another full week of raw, with more greens, that my joint pain will eventually start to improve.

Day three done!

September 3, 2009
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I made it through the 1st 3 days of my 30-day raw challenge, so far so good.  I almost caved this morning.  A bit of marital discord and a wicked headache this morning almost led me to a latte.  I’d typically self-soothe with a treat in this type of situation.  Especially when I’m running late and feeling stressed out.  I managed to talk myself out of my usual habit.  I said, “Laura, it takes as much time to make a smoothie as it does to stop at Starbucks on the way to work.”

So I made a smoothie.  Go me!

And everything else I ate today was raw.  I’m having a bit more of the fatty nutty stuff than ideal, but not excessive.  I’m not feeling much change, either for good or ill.  Yet.  I wish I could be one of those lucky folk that have immediate and dramatic changes from eating raw. Given that I already eat a lot of raw, it makes sense that I wouldn’t see much change right away. I need to be patient and, this is critical, persistent.

It does seem like my joint and tendon pain are a little bit better.  And I’ve lost almost 3 lbs.  That’s a normal weight fluctuation for me though.  I can’t claim a scientific cause and effect from the diet.

She said habit

September 1, 2009
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Natasha posted a vid on habits.  I had to link, ‘natch, ’cause I’m all about the raw and the habits.  Go Natasha!

Monthly goals

September 1, 2009
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I wrote about my monthly goals on Sunday, but thought I’d summarize them in a single easy to reference post.  For September 2009 my goals are:

  1. Complete a 30 day 100% raw vegan challenge 09/01-09/30
  2. Exercise for 30 minutes 5 days per week
  3. Take at least 1 Iyengar yoga class this month
  4. Cycle to work 3 times, if possible, once the air quality improves.  I’m very close to the Station fire and it’s currently raining very chunky ash

That’s enough I think.  Don’t want to overwhelm myself.  Got to keep things Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-framed.   It helps that I’m already raw for two meals per day.  I made my fitday account publicly viewable, so folks can see what I’m eating.  I did pretty good staying raw yesterday.  I had some toast with cheese in the evening.  I simply forgot I was going to stay 100% raw.  I’m used to having cooked ovo-lacto veg food in the evenings.  Good thing it was still August.  I technically hadn’t started my Sept. 100% raw challenge.  Today has been 100% raw so far.   I think if I make it 3 days, I’ll be ok.  It’s like juice fasting.  Once I get through the initial hump it gets easier.  I need to watch out for the things which can interfere with my goals.  For tomorrow, I’ll figure out what the obstacles are and come up with work-arounds.

Jump Start Smoothie

August 21, 2009
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So far today I have stayed true to my word regarding my renewed commitment to healthy eating practices.  I made a kick-ass green smoothie for breakfast.

Jump Start Smoothie
1 cup pure cranberry juice
1 cup water
1/4 cup coconut kefir
1 shot glass (2 fl. oz) E3 Live
3 big collard green leaves
4 frozen bananas

Place all ingredients into high speed blender.  Blend.  Serve with love.

OMG! Nom, nom, nom.  So delicious.  I’ve been sipping on it all morning at work.  I love tart drinks.  And it’s got superfoods and lovely probiotics.  I’m having digestive issues (as usual) and I know that if I’m consistent with the friendly bacteria that it will get better.

I’ve also managed to work on my other commitments – I brought my gym bag with me to work.  Lunchtime workout here I come! This will be the 1st time in exactly 5 weeks that I’ve done more than a gentle walk or bike ride.  I suffered a most unfortunate groin pull back in July and I’ve been resting in order to heal.  I’m very prone to injury (loose tendons and joints I’m told).  I really need to be careful that I heal fully and prevent further injuries.  I know that Iyengar yoga can help me with this, but I’ve yet to put that into practice.

I will be writing my goals and objectives down.  Making commitments is one thing but in order keep my initial motivation, I need to get SMART.  SMART = Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-framed.  That means formalizing exactly what I’m going to be doing.  That should provide a framework for keeping positive and letting myself know my progress.

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