Sleeeeep.

I'm rediscovering just how much proper sleep is important to live a healthy life. Only a few more days and I can get back to a regular schedule instead of working 10 hour days!! Not to mention Uni assignments and studying... and th work I'm doing is mostly manual labor helping out finish the construction of my dad's new office space. So at least not going to the gy isnt sooo bad. Although I really enjoy the gym, best time to think and plan things!

It's got me totally out of habit with my schedule that had me going sooo well. I just get so busy that I forget to eat, and that is never a good thing. My tummy is not liking me at the moment.

Soooon. Soon it will be over.

Big Things happen when you get inspired!

So I've been MIA for the past little while. I had a sudden moment of inspiration, you know the ones they talk about with the crazy clarity and motivation, the moment where you just KNOW this is what you were meant to be doing? Exactly that kind of moment, music and all! Now I am going to stay a little cryptic on what exactly I'm working on, but it absolutely is relevant to what I talk about on here. As soon as I'm ready to show the world what it is i'm preparing, it'll appear on here. :)

Food wise I've been doing ok, mostly because I'm getting so caught up in my work that I forget to eat regularly, then I realize I'm starving, and as much as I want only fruit, I can't seem to eat enough fast enough, I start off good, by having a fruit meal but then have something more densely caloric. I have been staying 811 though, and of course everything I eat is vegan. But since I'm back into somewhat of a normal schedule tomorrow, I'll be all set to get back on track.

Exercise wise, I've been realllly good! I worked doing some "hard labor" on a construction site for to long shifts, some great exerise that is! Was just helping out my family with a project that got behind. On the day I wasn't doing that, I either did a bootcamp workout at home, or went to the gym. Having a drive for life just makes such a huge difference, I feel like I have the energy to workout 10 hours a day, I also just haven't stopped being busy in the last bit. Being busy, IMO, is only detrimental if you can't keep a balance. My busy-ness has involved things from family and friends to business plans, work and spending time with my puppies. I go to bed tired, yet get 8 hours of sleep. Trying to spend some time outside, with the cold coming it isn't easy. Only thing I still need to work on is remembering to eat!

Have a great dayyy! Will try to get consistently posting again :)

Back on the wagon and a Rawk'n Recipe!

Ahhhhhh feels so good to be fruittyyyyy. Reallly. Once you go fruit, there is no turning back. The feeling of a clean body is just irreplaceable, and then when your taste buds change, you know when you are eating dead foods, they just lose their appeal.

I also ate a load today, well more than I had been lately and actually what I should be eating daily aka 2500 calories. I figured out a way to get in more earlier in the day.I've alwayyys had issues with eating in the morning. It was never a habit of mine. So what I did today was make myself 2L of citrus juice (9 large grapefruit and 9 medium oranges) and BAM 1000 cals! Then I packed in a 8 nana smoothie with peaches, in 2 "sittings" and voila! 2000 cals. Then my lovely salad of the evening, which I'll share with you in a sec, paked in my last 500 cals and completed my day.

Raw Taco Salad!

*Side note" While this does have non 811 ingredients(spices), it's nice as a occasional/transitional thing and if you consume enough fruit in the day with no other overts, it can keep you under 10% fat as long as you don't over do it on the nuts and avo, like for me it got me to exactly 10%*

Ingrediants:

Raw Taco "filling"

Walnuts

Sundried Tomatoes

2 Limes worth of Juice

Taco Seasoning (Use a salt-free version)

Cashew Sour cream (optional)(just google for a recipe!)

2 large tomatoes

1/4 medium avocado

1 Head of lettuce

For the measurements of the taco"filling", a whole recipe calls for 1 cup of whole walnuts to 1/3 cup of sundried tomatoes, add seasoning to taste. You can certainly adjust these measurements to your taste. I think that next time ill be upping the sundried tomatoes and lessening the walnuts. 

I used less than 1/4 cup of the walnut mixture for one salad

Assemble to your pleasing! 

I had a salad thief come visit me...

But he was much too cute to deny! 

I also got some exercise in at home, just some squats and such to get myself moving. 

Till' Tomorrow!! Stay fruity ;)

Dusting myself off.

So I went MIA...

I fell off the wagon so to speak, not too badly, but took a tumble nonetheless. I had boiled potatoes yesterday for supper and some vegan sushi this evening. I feel like utter crap and it wasn't even worth it at all. The food was not even close to being satisfying. The rest of the day however, was filled with fruit, at least there's that!

 The only thing it did was numb my terrible pre-menstrual symptoms that made me feel like I was literally going insane. It's a been a recurring issue these last few months and for the life of me I can't figure out why exactly, although I have some thoughts on it.Being in a long distance relationship, this is the only time in the past few years that I haven't had a semi-regular sex life/affection from a partner/close friend and its really the only thing, other than detox, that I can think has changed. I'm so much less stressed out now, so much more zen in everyday life, except when i'm PMS-ing, my anxiety only comes up at this time, whereas it used to be a daily issue. It's like I become a different person!

 I'm going to be taking some herbal tinctures to help me along, because it really is the only reason I ate cooked food. I had no cravings or anything, I just wanted the feeling to go away. And there was only one thing I knew that would do that. So back to fruity goodness tomorrow. I'm not enjoying the aftermath feelings of the cooked food at all, my digestion is off, I've got a light case of brain fog, I'm dehydrated, slightly grumpy and I just want to go to bed. So as much as I have tons of things to do, that I was supposed to do over the weekend, I'm off to sleepland after a liter or two of water. I'll be getting up bright and early to start the week afresh and rested!

I think a positive outcome to all this is that I know now that I'm really ready to be 100% raw. There is nothing out there that makes me feel better, even with the detox symptoms! It's really not that difficult to understand now. After this PMS thing is fixed, it'll be smooth sailing form here on out, or it'll be much easier to remind myself of this weekend and how I felt and I'll stay on this beautiful fruity path forevermore! Cooked food is just dead stuff that just doesn't fulfill my needs of pure living fresh food!

Till Tomorrow!

Sometimes, you just need to push through to see the light at the end of the tunnel

Hey!
So today started off as such a great day, I finally got back into the gym, had a massive 2L smoothie and a decent school/work day. But then things started going off, mostly emotionally. I just got so unmotivated all of a sudden, plus a crazy attack of cravings just was not, especially with all sorts of vegan cooked foods freely available around the house since I'm the only 100% 811-er. But somehow I got through that and didn't eat anything cooked or high fat. I just did what has now become a habit instead of giving in and ruining all the effort I've put in so far!

I think that what did contribute to my moodiness was two things: I randomly used salt today, no idea why, but right after I finished I just felt like crap and had the worst breath I've had since doing it 100%. Soooo not worth it and it didn't even taste good at all, at least not as good as I thought it would! So definitively NOT doing that again. It was just one of those moments you look back on an go: WTF was I thinking? I think that I just really wasn't and let the habit take over as opposed to keeping up the changes I've been making. Definitely a lesson learned.

Another reason would be I got a little more negative comments about my lifestyle than I'm used to and usually this does not bother me at all and I can turn it into a positive experience and spread the fruity love, today was just not the day. Plus some people just don't want to see the truth. Which is fine, I can't and don't want to make anyone do anything they don't want to, all I ask for is a little respect for my own choices.  Seriously I dont get whyyy people can't just shut up and mind their own business if they are going to talk poo about someone else's life. If you don't have anything nice to say, keep it to yourself! I don't mind genuine curiosity or even total misunderstanding, even ignorance I don't mind at all. But comments that have no other purpose than to judge and spread negativity are useless and annoying to say the least.

Ok, now that I've got that out of my system I can breathe and go back to my usual positive self! I realllyyy don't enjoy going all rant-y about things, but it's useful in that it just eases all the tension some situations may cause. Now I can just let it go. Some people just can't see how unhappy they are and no one can show them that, it's something that has to be self-realized through many things, including observing others thrive.

After all, tomorrow is another day, it's fridayyyy and I have an awesome field trip with my Sociology of Race and Ethnicity class ( first time on a field trip in a Uni course, and I'm a third year!). ANNND its 21 day mark! Lots of thing to make me happy before sleep time :)

Movinnng on :)

Today:
Exercise (YAYYYY!!!)
15 mins hardcore on the bike
30 mins strength training- legs

Food:
500ml Grapefruit Juice
2L Banana-Cherry smoothie
Half a Pineapple and a Tomato- Avo "salad"
Large Tomato-Romaine salad

WOOT!

Rawk'n the Hotel Room

Traveling and staying raw really isn't the big issue you may think it is. For weekend away with the girls, and as the only fruity nut, I organized myself. I brought a ton of ripe bananas, a pineapple, some dried fruit, a few cucumber and some tomatoes. I would have brought more but know that we would be eating out quite a bit.

This was my set up, all I needed was some flat space, given here in the form of a desk. I came equipped with my trusty magic bullet with blender sized thingy, cutting board and required utensils along with quite a few sealable bottles and glasses. Nothing fancy really, just efficient!

Like I said we ate out, here's what one meal looked like:

Yummy smoothies and a fruit plate, that while was just terrible combining, was pretty nonetheless and since some of it was unripe I didn't eat all of it. Next time ill just ask for a plate of one or two varieties! We went out one other time, other than for raw food and I just had a simple salad :)

Todayyyy:

Didn't get to the gym againnn. End of semester AND moving our office at the same time, not good. But tomorrow no excuses since I don't have to be anywhere before 1130 AM.

Food:
1L Grapefruit juice
1.5L Banana-mango smoothie
5 tomatoes
Large Salad (romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, 1/4 avo)

Getting my raw gourmet on! (Warning! Do NOT do this everyday)

So I had a wonderfull weekend in Toronto witha  few of my girls annd we went to 2 rawsome restaurants where I got to indulge in a little raw gourmet yummyness. Now this stuff is truly potent and really NOT something to eat on a regular basis, more on that after the pictures!

Avo Tartar with "crackers"

Pasta Bolonese

Med App Platter

Tostadas

Now, I didn't eat all this food, mine would be the App plate and the tostadas, we also shared a plate of Raw Nachos, but they were gone so fast a picture was never going to happen! But obviously I had a taste of everything!! Certainly curbed many cravings I was starting to have.

On the flip side, as delicious as it was, it just wrecked havoc on my digestive system. Bloating, cramps, not so love BM's, moodiness, I was a grumpy bunny. My body was protesting the lack of fresh fruit and simple combinations it has been loving these past few weeks, also does NOT help that we went to both restaurants in the same day. Ouch. So note to take, don't do this. Once in a while is fine, as in once every few months maybe? But I just could not handle doing that everyday! No wonder so many people feel that the raw thing doesn't work, if they are eating this stuff on a daily basis, I can understand why!

Today was nice and simple :) Day 18!

1L Grapefruit Juice
2L Banana-mango Smoothie
5 vine ripened tomatoes
Large Salad

Now I'm really getting to the gym tomorrow, I just feel so good! Plus, I really miss it!

Till Tomorrow!

Long day, Short post

I had a charged day today, a few things happened to a close friend and I spent the day sending her love and energy, plus I baked her some vegan cupcakes :) So I'll just be posting my daily intake for today and get my longer planned posts done the rest of the week

500ml OJ
1L banana-mango smoothie
Cucumber slices and tomatoes
Large salad
1L Grapefruit juice

Day 17 100% raw!! YAYY!! :)

Back from weekend away!

I had planned on blogging the whole weekend, but unfortunately the hotel was charging 13$ a day fro internet, which was sooo ridiculous IMO. I had been expecting included wifi... but you don't always get what you assume will be there!

Anyyways, had an awesome weekend, have a bunch of food pics to share! But those will have to wait for tomorrow, since its late and I drove for a gazillon hours today! Great news is that I'm just finishing off 16 days raw at this moment :) I'll detail how the whole weekend went in my next post.

Food today:
1.5L banana-pineapple smoothie
4 bananas
Large salad
Raw nachos

Certainly did not eat enough, had some indigestion related to all the gourmet raw stuff I ate over the weekend.

Till Tomorrow!

Living with passion!

IMO one of the most important things we should include in our everyday lives is something hat we are truly passionate about. Something that gets us excited about life! Even better would be to work in a job that doesn't feel like work. Which is my goal for the rest of my life. I've decided to never really work for anyone but myself, or help out family like I'm doing now. I may go against that if the proper opportunity comes up that gets me going. But in reality, I'd rather just do my on thing, I do better that way!

I'm getting ready for a trade show weekend away with the girls that I'm just sooo excited about! There are many things that I am interested in: the three major ones being health, makeup and what I'm studying in school at the moment. This weekend is fulfilling my makeup interest. Makeup is my art! Creative makeup is what I love best, but I'm very interested in all the forms it takes. Personally I don't wear makeup everyday, but the urge does strike me.

So another awesome 100% day! I've officially beat my partner's "record" today, and as much as being competitive isn't always very nice... Well let's just say I'm very proud of myself!

Food!
500ml OJ
1L banana-mango smoothie
0.5L blueberry-banana smoothie
1 cucumber with fresh salsa and a few flax crackers
4 ears of fresh corn

I actually ate a good quantity today! 2400 cals in and feeling great!

My view on supplementation.

People are always so surprised when I tell them that I am a raw vegan?fruitarian and that I don't "believe" in supplementation. It's sad that we've been made to believe that a pill can replace a proper diet. Science hasn't even begun to understand the delicate balance of nutrients present in food, how can anyone claim that taking calcium or vitamin C is going to keep us healthy when it is completely taken out of context?

Take an orange for example, always said to be a great source of vitamin C actually has 170 known phytonutrients. How in any perspective does it make sense to replace a food that has 170 known phytonutrients with a pill containing one? The delicate balance present in the food nature provides us is far superior for our health than anything that we can manufacture, and it will always be that way. There is a "magic" way to health, it's called fruit and veggies. No need for a synthetic chemical pill.

Now that question that always comes up. What about b12? Vitamin B12 deficiency is a result of lifestyle and it doesnt indiscriminate accroos dietary choices, people following the SAD(standard american diet) are afflicted by it just as much if not more than those who choose to go without animal products. B12 is actually a bacteria that is recycled and created in our own intestinal flora, it also comes from dirt. Where do you think the animals get it? Now the issue with B12 is actually internal, its an absorbency or  production issue that is cause by many lifestyle related habits, such as drug use.

Vitamin D is also another topic of conversation. Vitamin D in its best form for our body is a hormone produced when our skin comes in contact with the sun, I've discussed this in a previous post.

Now health isn't just about diet, it's also about lifestyle, I'll talk about that in future posts.

So today marks twelve days 100% raw. It's quite an accomplishment for me, since my previous "record" was seven! I'm feeling great and the detox is getting better, although cravings are getting worse. I just have to start eating earlier in the day, right now I don't really eat until 10AM but I'm awake at 7AM.

Food!
1 L banana blueberry smoothie
0.5 L banana cherry smoothie
1 Whole Pineapple
2 Cucumbers
Large Salad

Till Tomorrow!!

Just keep doing what works!

Ok so my typing skills arent at my best, My finger decided to get in the way of my salad preparation and suffered the consequences.

So this is the way im looking at thing at the moment, To truly succeed at anything, you have to find what works for YOU. To do that will take time, things that work and things that don't. I will take experimenting and researching what others are doing then applying the parts that work best for you, to finally give them your own twist!

I'll leave it at that for tonight, I want to get in an early night :)

(Oh and I forgot to post yesterday, but I did stay 100% raw!)

Day 11 today!

Food:
1.5 L Banana-Cherry smoothie
2 Cucumbers with fresh salsa and flax crackers
Large Salad

Raw emotions.

Today was really a hard day for me. Emotionally I was having a hard time keeping the happiness I've been feeling lately. I was down for most of the day and had a few situations where I got a little overwhelmed and ended up staying in my PJs all day and procrastinating my day away. My mom is gone for the week and so I have the house to myself, which most people would be uber happy about, but I really enjoy having her and my littlest brother around because they bring much joy and affection to my every day life. Also really difficult because I'm in a very long distance relationship, so getting emotional comfort is a tad difficult and just not the same over skype! So anyways, i've kinda pulled it all together. Took a warm bath, did some creative makeup for my other blog and am cuddling with my puppy now. Learning to deal with emotions instead of hiding them in bad food is a definite learning curve for this bunny.

A big reason for my difficulties was also my first major cravings, but really I wasnt craving anything specific food-wise, just comfort! I was also wayyy undercarbed, so I basically made myself have 1L of smoothie and I am now feeling much better. Not eating enough is your worst enemy at any time, even more so at the point where I am now.

I just made the mistake of thinking of cooked foods that I used to go to in times lie these, and I'm weirdly nostalgic. I really have no desire to eat those things anymore, but the emotional attachment I used to give them is pretty powerful stuff.

I really have to stop making the mistake of not eating enough. If I don't it'll be my downfall and I'm really wanting to make this my once and for all into a completely raw lifestyle. So tomorrow is another day. Weekdays are so much easier for me because I have a routine and its easier to eat enough when it's habitual!

Todayy:

Food:
1L OJ
1 pomegranate(first of season, wasnt great, and too much work for what I got)
Salad
1L banana-rasp smoothie

Till' Tomorrow!!

Great days are just heavenly.

I had planned a more detailed post for today, but it's late and this Bunny needs to get some sleep in!

Lovely day, drove Mama and Littlest brother and his dad to the airport, lucky ones are off to the sun for a week! And then came back to get more sleep... since it was 4AM. After that had a nice day of studies, chatting with the bf and then some lovely time with a great friend, including going out to a veg restaurant where I got to get some gourmet raw dessert made by someone I met on a raw vegan forum!

I have pictures of most of my meal, except dessert... had already eaten half by the time I remembered to take a pic... I'll upload those tomorrow!

Food o'the day:
last 1/4 of my awesome watermelon
1L Orange juice
Smoothie at restaurant (banana, pineaple, mango, coconut milk and guava)
Avo-Nori salad
Raw carrot cake

All in all a day of enjoying life!

My little secrets: Making Detox easier.

I'm definitely not trying to say that detox isn't difficult, cause I've definitely had a less than awesome day. BUT there are ways to help yourself get through the hard part. Keeping your mind on the goal is one big one. Whatever change it is you are making, there was a reason you made it, keep that in mind.

There are things you can do to mentally prepare yourself to a difficult task, or situation, such as going 100% raw. I've taken 18 months to get to this point, and there is no way in hell I am giving up at this point just because I'm uncomfortable. I am keeping a positive outlook no matter what simply because it is worth the outcome. And you know what? If I fall, I'm going to get right back up again, because there is nothing I can't do. And that applies to every human being in this world. I a be!m not a superhero, I just want to live the best life and be the healthiest greatest ME I can be! :) YAYYYYYY!!! Self-motivation FTW!

So tricks:
Epsom Salt baths:
 From what I've researched, they really help detox the body, and de-stress, relax muscles, ease headaches, aid in better absorbency of nutrients. Need I say more? Just don't soak for longer than 20 mins.

Lemon water:
Alkalizing effect on the body, helps digestion, strengthens the liver, reduces phlegm... And it makes water taste even better!

So today, I am still dealing with that sore throat and reduced appetite. I looked around and it seems to be a side effect of dehydration. So I've upped my water content to 4L a day and it seems to be doing some good at the moment. No gym again obviously, even though I'm really itching to get back in there, I have to listen to my body throughout the process to succeed at it!

Food:
600ml of OJ
Kale chips
3 persimmons
Massive salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber)

Shopping for fruit: How much a week?

One big question for raw vegans is how much to eat? How does one plan shopping to never run out of ripe yummy fruit?

On a daily basis at the moment I am eating 2000 cals, but the optimal amount would be 2500-3000. I'm slowing working my way up to eating that much. It really all depends on your fitness level, but optimally you should be eating 10g of carbs per kilo of body weight. (to figure out your weight in kilos, just divide it by 2.2 if you're using lbs). The more you eat, the more energy you will have and the fitter you will be. Your health will improve and you will feel so much better than you ever thought possible, physically, emotionally and psychologically.

As for shopping I'll give you an example of what my stash looks like atmo.

On the counter: Cavendish bananas, red bananas, raw flax crackers, royal gala apples, pomegranates, sangria watermelon, green avocado, pineapples.

 In the bins:grapefruit, lemons and limes, mandarins, tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, avocado, persimmons and dates!

In the fridge: half a case cavendish bananas(they don't ripen much when refrigerated, so I take them out as I go), half a case juicing oranges, romaine lettuce, cucumbers, other various veggies. 

So my strategy involves buying cases of bananas and juicing oranges about every week and a half. The rest I buy as I go, usually shopping 1-2 times a week. The key is to experiment with how much you'll need, and striking a balance between too much and too little. I also share some of this with my mum and littlest brother, whom I live with :)

So todayyyy:

No exercise again. Had a sore throat (I've had serious issues with my tonsils in the past and so this is completely expected during detox for me) and mucus. Although I really must say I can't wait to feel better so that I can go to the gym! 

Food-wise:

500ml OJ

650ml Banana-Rasp Smoothie

almost half of a 17lbs Sangria watermelon

Massive salad (2 heads of lettuce, one large tomato and a small avo, although my littlest brother ate most of that lol)

Till Tomorrow!

Detoxification: Oh joyyyyy.

Detox is something that we must all go through. Today was a reminder of that! Symptoms: achy feeling, mood swings, bad breath, cravings, no appetite. I know how much it's worth it though, so I'm pushing through the last moments of the day and heading to bed early. Day 5 raw! That's definitely something to celebrate despite the detox joys!

The longest I had been 100% before now was 7 days when I first started raw, much different than the raw lifestyle I'm living now as I hadn't read 80-10-10 yet. (Side note: best book to buy on beign a raw vegan!) After that stint I went on and off it for periods of time, doing 3 day stints now and again and then my 5 day OJ fast. Then I went the progressive way, which has led me to where I am now! For the longest time I was eating fruit for breakfast and lunch and cooked for supper. In my personal experience, it's definitely the way to go! You'll know when you're ready for the next step.

So today:

No exercise again, not much energy for it given the detox intensity

Food:
750ml OJ
6 x-large bananas
large salad

Definitely did not eat enough today, which probably contributed to my energy levels as well. Just saw persimmons on sale though!!Going to purchase me a few boxes tomorrow! I also think I really haven't been giving myself enough variety, will be working on that in the next week.

Taking care... of sleeping goooooddd.

A good night's sleep is so vtally important to maintaining good health! I went to bed much later than usual on sunday because I went out for Halloween, yet still woke up at my usual 7AM. So the last 2 days have seen me tired and off schedule. I was never one to sleep well, or much for that matter. I was the one up till 4am and only waking up after 1030, and that's being generous! My sleep was always very precious, and I always woke up feeling groggy and unrested. No worst way IMO to start off a day then already tired!

So the past few months, with the help of some jetlag from South Africa, I've been getting up at a normal hour, latest being 8:30. And I'm usually sleeping before 11:30. I like to get a minimum of 8 hours, although that doesn't always happen. I've been making it more and more of a priority to get to sleep eaarly. Also helps me procrastinate less because I know that if I do, it's my sleep that will be affected.

Sleep should be as much of a priority as diet and exercise, because its the time that your body heals and recuperates. So invest in a good firm mattress and turn off any light that will prevent you from sleeping deeply! Get some nice Zzzzzzzzz people!!

Todayyyyy:

Exercise:
Play and took the stairs, not much but something is better than nothing!

Food:
750ml Orange juice
10 dates
3 x-large bananas
6 clementines
Tomato-zucchini salad with a touch of tahini
Handful of kelp chips

YAYYY for another 100% raw dayyy :) I really feel like I've got it now. Happinesssss.