Day 13: Tonsilitus!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had granola for breakfast but this time could not face almond milk so I had some orange juice. Just 1 orange but it turned out to be very sharp and it took nearly 40 minutes to have breakfast.

I took the kale salad to work, adding some lambs lettuce.

At work everything was Ok and the salad was good. However by the end of the afternoon my throat started to hurt. It continued to hurt and my tonsils swelled and my neck was painful.

Seems like I probably have tonsilitus... or I am seriously detoxing.

I went home feeling pretty lousy. I did not feel like thinking raw. I just wanted some warming and soft. I was craving bubble and squeak. I resisted the urge to buy some. At home I looked in the freezer and found some roasted vegetables. I warmed them up and ate these. Not a great taste but they were comforting and I went to bed.

Day 12: Yummy Kale Salad

Wednesday 30th July


Woke about 6.30 a little before alarm clock. I was feeling a bit groggy but no stomach pains. After loo I went to put on kettle, feed birds, make warm herbal tea, and then granola and almond milk with berries. I started to feel a bit nauseous but not too bad this time. However, the milk is thick and I think my body does not like to drink thick milk. So do I sieve or bag the milk in future. Need to figure this out more. I love almonds and just dont know why this is a problem all of a sudden.

I put some marinated veggies in a container for work, and took out all the sweetcorn kernels to see if this helpled my stomach.

I listened to more rawkin radio shows on my computer whilst eating breakfast and then went to work. Almost as soon as I got there I had to go to loo in a rush as stomach starting turning. I had lots of porridgy stools. Yuk. I felt very weak but relieved afterwards.

Had strawberries for lunch, but I could only eat a few. So then had an apple. Then felt hungry so had my marinated veggies. These were better without sweetcorn, and I ate them all

About 3.00pm I had really bad stomach pains again. I think it must be the veggies. I tried some water but it did not help I was in so much pain that I ended up having some cooked crisps. It was the only cooked food I had and I wondered if it would stop the pain. By 4.00pm I was feeling a bit better and went home early again.

I need to find alternatives to the veggies which is a pain since I really like the taste. I decided to make some kale chips. I think the apple vinegar might be strong for me. I forgot the salt but they are in the dehydrator now and so it is too late.

I then made Karen Knowler’s kale salad minus the onions and garlic. However I think I am rejecting olive oil as the smell is really offputting and it was my new bottle of olive oil. I should have put in less so I try to put in more lemon to mask it. I put in lots of mushrooms.

I opened a young coconut and enjoyed it immensely.

I feel really bad about the cooked food but I am disappointed that my stomach is being so fragile. I cant have oil, cant have almonds, cant have sweetcorn, not eating strawberries. Not sure what to eat instead. I dont want just to eat fruit as this makes me feel unbalanced. Maybe I need to just be high raw until my body calms down.

I think I am going to be on carrot juice for the weekend.

I watched a bit of TV nursing a slightly uncomfortable stomach and then read and went to sleep.

So what did I eat today?
granola and almond milk with raspberries and blueberries
1 container of marinated veggies without sweetcorn
bag of prawn cocktail crisps
taste of kale salad
water from 1 young coconut

bye for now
RawCarol

Organic Watermelon.. now that is something to faint about.

Day 11: Tuesday

Woke about 3.00am from a very sexy dream. Wow are soya burgers an aphrodisiac?
I found it difficult to sleep again but stomach was OK until I went to toilet about 5.00am and then it seemed to be in pain again, mainly around left kidney area.

I must have fallen asleep and the alarm woke me with a jolt. I got up to switch it off and nearly fainted. I had to lie down.

I dragged myself downstairs and made some almond milk, but I felt instantly nauseous from the almond smell. I decided to peel all the almonds and this made me feel a bit better. I made the milk and had granola and milk. I had no fresh berries to add. I also had a herbal tea.

I then felt very weak and had to rush to loo and had diarrohea. Felt better afterwards though. I decided to weigh myself as I had done 10 days. I was looking forward to the weight loss as my trousers did feel a bit bigger.

I weighed myself and found I had gained weight.... How can that be? Now I was 126lbs or 9 stone.
What am I doing wrong?
I measured my waist. It was 28 inches. So I have lost 1 inch on my waist. So that is good, but I am confused as to how I have put on 4lbs!

I went to work, but started to feel faint in the morning again and wanted to be sick. I managed to feel better with some mineral water and was in meetings all day so I just had to sit and pray that I got through the day.

Had some veggy salad at lunch but only half before I could not have any more

Was Ok all afternoon but was stuck in a meeting with no refreshments.

Went home and went to Tescos. I could not believe my luck. Not only were there young coconuts, but my first organic watermelon at a very good price. I have only seen 1 organic before and that was in Fresh and Wild in Bristol and was expensive. I bought loads of fruit and went home.

At home I realised that I am not really a watermelon fan. But surely organic watermelon juice must taste great... especially with some of the rind in order to stop sugar rushes. Anthony, the RawModel has a lovely video of doing watermelon juice. I decided to put off juicing it until tomorrow.

I made pina colada smoothie to finish off the pineapple from yesterday 3 glasses

I was still hungry Had 3 teaspoons of sauerkraut and went to bed with book... novel this time not a raw food book. I find that I sleep better if I read a book

So what did I eat today?
granola and a little almond milk
about 2 handfuls of marinated veggies with spinach
1 herbal tea
smoothie with milk of 1 young coconut, 1/2 pineapple and 1 banana
3 teaspons of sauerkraut

bye for now
RawCarol

Day 10: And all is Calm! Then the Storm!!

Monday 28th July

I was fed up with thinking about raw breakfast. I wanted to eat something solid but had no options. I wish I could take some time off work and make somethings. I decided to have a handful of raw granola and a herbal tea.


I took veggy salad and apples to work with me.


When I got to work, colleagues started to comment on how calm I looked. I had French lessons and my french teacher was saying how relaxed and calm I looked. This was really wierd. I was definitely not looking calm. I went to the toilets and just looked old. I need to get a photo and see what they are talking about. Maybe it was my side pony tail.

(I took a photo of me in the evening... so what do you think?)

I did not feel calm in the afternoon. I had huge stomach pains again and had to drive home early again. At home I had a young coconut. The first one had to be thrown away, but the second one was superb. It even had a bit of meat to eat. I emptied the liquid and the meat into my VitaMix and added 1/2 pineapple and a banana. The drink came out very frothy and delicious. I enjoyed sipping it slowly over the rest of the evening. However, my stomach pains were not relieved. I was sitting on the sofa, almost in tears, because of the pain. I was craving cooked food to try and stop the pain.

This challenge was getting too hard for me. I tried to think over my options. I was not trying to be 100% raw. I was trying to get to like more raw food until I chose it over cooked.

I did not want to be 100% and be miserable. Then again I was doing so well, that I did not want to cheat and feel guilty. It is amazing what conversations we have with ourselves.

I toyed with idea. Maybe I was detoxing and needed something to stop it. Maybe I was allergic to coconuts? The thought of veggy mayo with soya burger and big salad got to me.

I cheated.

I had a soya burger with salad and veggy mayo. I found one in the freezer. What more can I say.

I decided to enjoy every mouthful.. and I did.

Then about 1/2 hour later I regretted it as usual. However, I then discovered the stomachs pains were disappearing.

I was comforted and not in so much pain and went to bed and slept soundly.

Well I slept soundly after thinking about what I had done. I had failed.. no I had solved a problem... no I had failed.... I should have sat the pain out... I should eat as my body wants to.. .maybe it did not really want soya burger... maybe it did... etc etc.

So what did I eat today?
handful of raw granola
marinated veggies with spinach
apples
smoothie of coconut water, coconut meat, banana and 1/2 pinapple
salad with soya burger, spinach, tomatoes, little veggy mayo

Bye for Now
RawCarol

Day 9: A nice surprise

Day 9: Sunday 27th July 2008

Woke to sound of birds pecking at my windows. The squirrels had eaten the nuts so I made a cardboard contraption to try, yet again, to stop the squirrels. I think this might be the answer until it rains.

I had woken feeling like I was starving inside. That my stomach was shrunken. There was no pain but an uncomfortable tightening inside. I did not feel like eating but wanted a drink but not sure what, so ended up with a warm herbal tea.

I then did lots of raw food internet stuff (emails, blogs, download radio programs).

About 2 hours later, about 10.00am, I really wanted to eat but could not think of anything that I wanted. I wandered about the kitchen and then spied a melon and wanted it so much. So I spent the rest of the morning eating lots of slices of melon. This was exactly what I wanted and tasted wonderful even if it was not organic.

Felt a bit sugared out so about 11.am I had a piece of onion bread, spread with ½ of a baby avocado, with lambs lettuce and the last bit of cooked beetroot. Yummy

I also looked at my presents. I decided that I would open one each day and spread the surprise or shock. I opened the first parcel and inside was an amazing present. I started to cry. It was a big box of Liz Earle skincare. I love Liz Earle and have bought a lot of her stuff from QVC and her website. This is totally natural and I am not allergic to it. I do her cleanse, tone, moisturise and lip balm every morning. I did not know who had bought me this but I was so touched and regretted not opening this at my Mum's as she would have seen my delight. I opened a second present and found 8 yes 8 mouse-traps. Whilst my house has been renovated I have been totally over run by lots of mice. It was horrible but I have not had mice in the house for a couple of months now. So I wont need these mouse-traps any more. Still it was a practical present.

Ok I will wait to open the rest of the presents.

12.30 I want to eat, but don’t want sweet, or fatty… so what. In the end I had a lovely pink lady apple. Wow the taste was very strong and it seemed to satisfy without being heavy.

I spent the afternoon doing chores.. cleaning, washing, ironing and my blog updates. The weather is so hot that I just cant go outside. I am not a hot sun person yet. I did have to go out when the sun was cooler in the evening and water my tomatoes which were suffering in the greenhouse. I still only have a few green tomatoes.

I was so hot and humid today that I only wanted to drink but had no energy to make juice so I nibbled cherries and drank lots of cranberry juice (pasterised) with sparkling mineral water. Not a good raw option but it was exactly what I wanted. In the evening I made some marinated veggies and had some to eat.


So What did I eat today?
herbal tea
1/2 melon (Piel de Sapo)
cherries (250g)
1 1/2 pints cranberry and mineral water
2 tablespoons of marinated veggies

Bye for Now
RawCarol

Trip to See Mum in Manchester

Day 8: Saturday

Phew made my first week!

Woke up earlish (about 8.00am) and just had herbal tea and relaxed into the day. I made a raspberry, spinach, banana, water, with bit a camu camu powder smoothie and put into flask. Also took some salad and lasagne.

I took some presents and drove on one of the UK hottest days to Manchester. It was not helped with the fact that I thought I had air conditioning on and found out that I had recycle the air button on. So the air was getting hotter and hotter. Fortunately after 2 hours and nearly fainting with the heat I realised the mistake and changed the switches and got a good blast of cold air to keep me going.

Mum was diagnosed with cancer of the spine last year and nearly died 3 times, once from operation and twice from catching C difficile bug. She is now recovering (tumour on spine was not cancer but she had metal replacements to keep her spine viable). She does get depressed but spends a lot of her time watching sports on TV. I am not a TV sport addict (except formual 1) so it was not a great day. I did find out that my sister’s daughter who is nearly 2 is rejecting meat and eating lots of raw fruit and vegetables. Wow how cool is that. My sister is not a raw fooder but is now more interested in nutrition. I can be a remote raw model for my niece.

I ate my raw food during the day and enjoyed some strawberries that mum had bought for me.
I gave my mum money and then a bag of presents and told her to give them to my sister and brother. I had not got many as I wanted to be more eco-friendly. Many presents that we give are just junk and get thrown away. Mum gave me a box of christmas and birthday presents from the family from last year! I did not want to open them as I was not good at pretending to like the things that they get me.

I drove back late in the evening. My car is not too bad now that it has been mended but I found that if I drove too fast then it started to vibrate. So it is not totally mended yet.

I got home very late and almost asleep I just went to bed and slept immediately.

What did I eat today?
hearbal tea
raspberry, spinach, banana, water, with bit a camu camu powder smoothie
lasagna with salad
strawberries

Bye for Now
RawCarol

Young Coconuts... Mmmmmm

Day 7: Friday 25th July 2004

Woke up and decided to just have a herbal tea.

I took raw lasagne to work and it was gorgeous. It was a bit heavy but I put in lots of spinach as well.

I just had herbal tea in the afternoon.

I went to supermarket on way home but there was very little organic food. I think I have to go home very early, or very late when they get there next delivery. This was not a good time to shop.. about tea-time. I had to take conventional produce home with me.

However... there were young coconuts
But there were young coconuts... wow

Got home and had some lasagne with lambs lettuce, beetroot, sauerkraut and some sprouts (organic box mixture so not sure what was in there)
Also opened a young coconut and enjoyed its contents. I was also surprised that there was some white meat inside (last year there was little meat). I tried to get it out with a spoon, then a knife and then realised the meat was solid. I put it in the compost bin. Drat.

So what did I eat?
2 herbal tea
raw lasagna with spinach
2 herbal teas
more raw lasgna withe lambs lettuce, beetroot, mixed sprouts and sauerkraut
water from 1 young coconut

Bye for Now

RawCarol

Day 6: Thursday 24th July 2008

Woke up fresh and early and read more of my book. Had to go to loo and this time my BM was very loose and porridgy. This is usual for me on raw food and a nuisance and I don’t know the answers. I had stomach pains all morning.

I decided that my almond milk was now too old to use it had a off smell. I had prepared my fruity granola and contemplated eating it dry. Then I decided to juice 3 apples and pour apple juice on it. I think this is a lot of washing up for one meal so I need to rethink what to put on my granola.

Had some fruit (banana and passion fruit) for lunch and lost of kale chips. Stomach pains had gone and I was feeling reasonably good.


Went home and my organic delivery was waiting for me. This tends to have about 50% of things that I may wish to eat or can before they go off. The other 50% tends to end up in my compost bin. I keep thinking that I should cancel as it is not working out for me, but then I feel bad that I am not supporting UK farmers, so I continue.

I made myself another raspberry smoothie. I psyched myself up to make some raw food. I soaked some sundried tomatoes and made raw lasagne adapted from Raw World Raw Food book. It looked quite nice and I put it in the fridge for tomorrow.

So what did I eat today?
granola, rasberries, blueberries, apple juice
bananas, passion fruit, kale chips
2 herbal rosehip teas
banana, raspberry, spinach, water smoothie
taste of lasagne cheese from food processor

bye for now

RawCarol

Feeling Groogy

Day 5: Wednesday

I woke even groggier and made some fruity granola with almond milk. My friend had given me pink gooseberries so I had some of these with the raspberries and blueberries.

I have to go to a business meeting today. I took some strawberries some coconut water and some orange juice to my meeting. I had no other appropriate food to take. I knew it was going to be a light food day. I had to quickly eat the granola as I did had to leave early. I was still not enjoying the smell of almonds.

I went to the supermarket on the way home and filled up with a variety of organic fruit and vegetables. Not sure what I wuld make.

At home I made a banana, raspberry and spinach smoothie. I need to expand my range of greens but I am not a great green lover. I like spinach. Strange as before last year, I only like lettuce and did not like spinach. Now I dont like lettuce but love spinach. So I am hopeful that my taste-buds will continue to change and who knows maybe I will be loving dandelion leaves in a few years time :-)

I was still not feeling lots of energy, but I am keeping up with the washing up. I went to bed early and read Rawsome by Brigitte Mars. A great book for renewing my thoughts about Raw Food. It has a good range of sensible recipes, but also has lots of information about why to eat raw food put across in a simple and practical manner.

Huge Problems at Work - Day 4

My Marinated Veggies with Spinach

Tuesday 22nd July 2008

I woke up as usual but I felt really down. I was not feeling like being a raw foodie. I did my usual routine of bathroom and feed birds and put on kettle. I found that squirrels were eating the peanuts so had to run outside and chase them away. A woodpecker came down happy to eat the peanuts.

I made another bowl of fruity granola and the smell of almonds was still making me feel nauseous. However I managed to get it down although it took about 30 minutes for me to chew the whole thing. I don’t eat very quickly and raw food tends to be eaten even more slowly. This should be good for my digestion, but not for getting to work early. I also had a warm rosehip herbal tea and then listened to the Shazzie interview on Rawkin Radio on the Internet. I have downloaded all of these and I am listening to them all over again. I just love the high vibe of them and the simple practical advice that Alissa Cohen gives.

I went to work taking the remains of the marinated veggy salad. I also took some of the cooked beetroot.. sorry but I don’t have any raw beetroot and I need some comfort food. I think cooked beetroot is a better than many other things I could choose to eat. Day 4 is going to be a hard day for raw. Work is very bad right with a new boss asserting himself in a very aggressive way. My old boss (still boss until September) and I have agreed my new role in the company and my new boss is ignoring this. I was advised that the old and new boss should argue this not me as I should not be seen as arguing with new boss. I just hope my current boss stands up for me as the new boss (new to company etc) is wanting to give me work which I cant do and do want to do and is ignoring the fact that it has taken me a long time to carve out my current research niche and I want to continue the work that is finally coming my way after the stuggles. There is no-one else to do this work so it all seems very strange. I find out later that it seems that the new boss is interested in doing this work himself with his own ideas. And he is telling me that I am not there to enjoy my work. Reallyl!

There was a lot of work crap and I did not get to eat until the afternoon. I dreamt of cooked comfort foods, but I had to keep telling myself that I would not let my work situation spoil my vision of being raw. I had a warm herbal tea as a compromise. Thank goodness for my rosehip tea. Right now I think herbal tea has to stay as this gets me through the day. I don’t have the option of warming water at work… we are not allowed to use appliances in the kitchen or work areas, we have to use the canteen or the coffee machine.. can you believe that. There is however a boiling water feed which we can use to make our own drinks. I did once start bringing in my own water in flasks but it was just too inconvenient to do this. I became the bag lady who brought her own drinks and food everywhere she went. It made me feel too isolated and an outcast. I was not enjoying being so different in environments where you were all supposed to be part of a team and bonding.

About 3.00pm I enjoyed the raw salad I had made and I own up to having the cooked beetroot (1 tiny beetroot) and enjoying it. I hope that my own home-grown beetroot will be ready soon so I can find a way of enjoying raw beetroot.

I went home very disillusioned with my new work situation and that is probably taking the shine off being raw. However, on the positive side I can only feel better with raw food. I may be feeling a whole lot worse with cooked food.

I took my car to the garage and then went back to work (only a short walk away from the garage) and took a hire car for my business meeting tomorrow. I wont have much time in the morning to make anything as I need to get to Yeovil, Somerset.

I got stuck in huge traffic jams on way home and had to bypass the supermarket route. I was not really in the mood for trying to think what I was going to eat. I thought about what I might have that evening and realised that I could juice my favourite, carrots, apples, celery and spinach. I did and it was fantastic. Then a friend called and I went to bed late and wide awake. Not good for getting proper sleep before my early trip tomorrow.

So what did I eat today?
7.15 am: rosehip herbal tea
7.30 am: fruity granola with almond milk
2.00 pm: herbal tea
3.00 pm: marinated veggy salad
7.30 pm: juice with carrots, apples, celery and spinach

Bye for Now
RawCarol

Back at Work - Day 3

Woke about 6.40am as usual and had a bad back, stiff and very sore. I went to bathroom and went downstairs to start my first raw day at work. I was very groggy and wanted to just do my usual routine which is switch on kettle and then get pitta bread and lightly warm in toaster and spread with raw almond butter. I then eat my pitta whilst getting on the internet. 20 minutes later I go to bathroom for my daily BM. Then I come back and drink my warm herbal tea. This I do every work morning and I am struggling to think raw. I need comfort food.

I fed my birds, I have problems with squirrels.. I have done everything to stop them and finally given up putting out the peanuts. but then the woodpeckers came and I knew they wanted peanuts and put out some peanuts. So far no squirrels.

I plucked up some energy to make almond milk with the almonds I had soaked overnight. I did not feel like squeezing in a nut bag so I used a sieve and sieved several times. I made a lot of almond milk. A heck of a lot. And unfortunately the smell of the almonds made me feel very sickly which has not happened before. The nuts did not seem off at all and were raw.

I put in a little vanilla, salt and dates to enhance the taste then I made granola with almond milk and add raspberries and blueberries. Great time of year to get organic fruit. Gets much more difficult later on in the UK as the fruit is never as fresh and ripe and much more expensive. Srangely I was really struggling to eat this lovely meal. My body was trying to reject it.. not sure why but I need to see if this is the same tomorrow. Could be I am rejecting the almonds? I do allow some comfort by making my herbal tea.

It was cold this morning as the heating had not yet come on. Wow I can really say that. This time last year I was just dreaming of heating. Now I have it. Over past year or more I have been making my cold one bedroom stone cottage into a 2.5 bedroom, with new living room, kitchen, bathroom, utility and dining room. It did not all go according to plan and I am now still finishing off, well over budget. I found that the problems like lack of heating, no electricity, no kitchen really made it difficult to be raw and so I ended up eating more and more cooked. And also I needed comfort and security and had no energy to keep thinking about raw food all the time.

But I now have somewhere to put all my raw food things and I have heating! Before I had a real fire, which is lovely when someone else cleans the grate and chops the wood etc etc. For me coming home late in the evening, very cold and tired… it is not so good. I took kale chips, salad, nuts and raisins, dried sharon fruit, apples and larabar to work. I did not know what I wanted so this should give me options.

As I was driving to work I was really enjoying the beautiful views and sunlight and felt a raw glow inside. This happy feeling is why I keep returning to raw food. I do hope that my body will enjoy the raw food as much as my mind and soul.

At work crap kept happening and I was so unhappy but now is not the time to resign so I need to see what happens next. Did not make me feel like a rawfooder. I ended up having two herbal teas as my comfort foods during the day.

I went out with a colleague at lunchtime to drive my car around and get him to figure out if the noise was exhaust or not. He thought it was not and might be wheel bearings. We took car to local garage who comfirmed it was the wheel bearings and I said I would leave the car tomorrow with him as I was going away on business in the business car. So that worked out fine. Hopefully the car will be safe enough to drive to my mum’s this weekend for her birthday. She lives about 160 miles away from me.

I was not really hungry today until about 3.00pm so after my salad I nibbled a few kale chips and about 4.00pm and I had some dried sharon fruit (persimmon) at about 5.00pm.

I left work about 6.00pm as usual and arrived home about 7.10pm. I watered the greenhouse plants and then went into my kitchen and did not want to do anything raw. I really fought with myself and ended up having a smoothie of bananas, water, raspberries, and a couple of dates and a handful of spinach. I had to force it down during the evening as it was feeling very thick in my body even though it was not really thick.

I watched Tom Cruise interview on Oprah and then went to bed with an Anne Perry novel. I tried hard not to think about work and my future.

So what did I eat today?
7.15am: raw granola (with goji berries, raspberries, blueberries)
7.45am: warm herbal tea (which was cold by now)
11.00am: warm herbal tead
3.00pm salad of spinach, mushrooms, sweetcorn, red pepper and courgette with some flax oil, olive oil and salt
4.00 pm: nibbled a few kale chips
5.00pm: dried sharon fruit (persimmon)
7.45 pm: smoothie (bananas, water, raspberries, and a couple of dates and a handful of spinach)

Bye for Now
RawCarol

Just Love the Weekends - Day 2

Sunday 20th July

Woke up about 8.30 and needed a herbal tea. I was too groggy to think about raw. My back was in agony. This happens either when I go raw! There are some things which get worse on raw and some things that get better. I am hoping the things that go worse on raw are just things that raw is trying to sort out and will eventually heal… I hope anyway.

So I put kettle on because this is comforting, but I get on the computer and read blogs and forget to have my drink.

11.00 I make a carrot, apple, spinach and celery juice. I love this stuff. I sip it slowly… I have 3 glasses to get through. Sometimes I mix it with saliva in my mouth. The first glass tends to be drunk a bit too quickly as it quenches my thirst, then I sip the next more slowly. The third usually takes a lot longer to get down. But I am not going to waste any and I don’t want to keep it for later.

It has taken me 8 years to get from apple to this where I put in 3 sticks of celery and 3 handfuls of spinach. I hated celery and did not like spinach. Now I love this juice. I have to admit that a totally ‘green’ juice is not something that appeals to me right now, but my challenge this year is to move towards green juices until I begin to love them.

11.56 BM - hot, sticky, thin not like my normal ones. Late as well as I am always regular in the mornings when I eat more cooked food.

Watched grandprix whilst having some kale chips. These seemed to have mellowed in taste but I wont make them as strong next time, or perhaps just add more kale to them. The British driver Lewis Hamiliton won the grand prix which is great for my British pride.

About 16.00 I make myself some chopped veggies (courgette, red pepper, mushroom, sweetcorn) with spinach, olive oil, salt and some lemon juice and leave to marinade. I think this will be too salty as I ran out of salt and then had to make some more and by the time I had it coming out of the mill OK I think there was too much. Oh well it tasted reasonably OK. This might last me for 3 days of lunches.

About 16.15 I made a smoothie made of water, banana, raspberry, spinach with a little camu camu berry, little purple corn and a little agave just incase the raspberries were not sweet. The drink is OK but something not quite right It seems to have a plastic sweetness to me right now. I will drink this slowly this afternoon whilst I surf the net and get some washing and ironing done.

It is getting towards 18.43 and I am still getting through my smoothie. I am starting to get a tickly throat which seems like it could be a reaction to something in the smoothie. I need to start getting ready for work tomorrow. The weekends are way too short for me. I also have to face the crap that has been going on at work. Not sure if the universe is setting me up with battles to fight or battles to ignore and send love to. I really don’t know whether to stand my ground or give in. I will see what the Universe brings.

Bout 7.00pm I washed my hair, soaked some almonds and then ate some of the marinaded veggys whilst watching a bit of TV. Later I had my bath and went to bed about 10.00pm

I have survived the weekend and I am feeling proud of myself. But the weekends are the easy part. Now is the difficult part.. getting through the week when I don’t have time or energy to make food for myself.

So what did I eat tday?

11.00 am: a carrot, apple, spinach and celery juice

3.00pm: some kale chips ( 2 handfuls)

4.15am: smoothie (water, banana, raspberry, spinach with a little camu camu berry, little purple corn and a little agave)

7.15pm: some marinated veggies (spinach, sweetcorn, mushrooms, red peppers, courgette, oil, salt - about 1 handful)

Bye for Now

RawCarol

100 Day Raw Food Challenge: Day 1

I am starting my 100 day raw food challenge to enjoying raw food including green juices. Let me introduce myself.

Here I am with the 47 year young cooked food look relaxing at the weekend. I hope to get clearer skin and sparkling eyes and look 21 again!! :-))

I am currently 122 pounds... I have put on 14 lbs since last year so I need to get them off again.

I have a 29.5 inch waist which I want to reduce.

I planned to go raw yesterday but I had a depressing day and was too upset so I am starting today.

Day 1: Saturday 19th July 2008

This morning I was without food and still upset. I decided to just have a warm roship herbal tea and nothing else and went off to the garage to see if they could mend my car. They said it was not the exhaust but a tyre making the horrid exhaust noise. £90 later I had a new tyre ( I had new tyres last year!) I drove off from the garage to the supermarket, the noise even louder than before!!

In the supermarket I just bought everything I could find organic in the fruit and veggy section, and some non-organic kale and avocado as there were not organic versions. I had so much and it is exciting. I got home and found homes for everything… just.. and then got overwhelmed… where do I start… what do I eat…. Help. I decided to tidy up the kitchen and then reward myself with a green smoothie. I made my first one with apples… I have never blended apples before.. seems strange but I thought it would be fun to try. I put in 1 cup water, 2 bananas, 2 apples (without cores) 1 slice pineapple and 2 handfuls of spinach. I decided to put in a tiny pinch of celtic sea salt (well ½ turn of my salt mill) and a teaspoon of agave. I do have a sweet tooth and I was worried this might not be comforting enough. The first glassful turned out to be wondeful, but the second was too sweet and the third went down a bit more slowly. I don’t think I need the agave in this. But I will do this again.

One hour later I was starving and grabbed some dried sharon fruit (persimmon in the US). A sugar blast, but I wanted something to chew. I was feeling good but ½ hour later I felt very tired and had to go to the loo several times to get rid of the smoothie.

Not sure what to eat today, and I am not really feeling like the energy to make anything. I did buy some cooked beetroot as this is one of my favourite foods and I think a simple salad with some cooked beetroot might help me get over my fed up ness for all raw salads. I think transitioning to all raw will not be done today. I could not find any raw beetroot so I did succumb to the cooked version. Still I may find the will-power to eat something else.

In the afternoon I wanted bread or something to chew so I took a piece of onion bread, spread on mashed avocado and then sprinkled on some seaweed sprinkles.

½ hr later I got some stomach pains, then a bit later lots of gurling. Then I got very cold and had a small headache. 1/2 hour later I was very hungry, or was it thirsty, or was it cravings?
My stomach hurt but it could be period pains as I get them bad at end of period. Drat I have just remembered that I used to get stomach pains after having dried sharon fruit last year. It could be the same thing. But I only had a few pieces.

Then my stomach hurt really badly, I did not know what to do. I tried some water. The water helped at first but then the pain just got worse. I also had a severe headache across top of nose. I am watching some TV and resting but I could not lie on the sofa for long so I keep changing from looking at Bunny Berry blog on internet and formula 1 on TV which I had recorded.

I need to get out more but I have to confess that I am not an exercise or even an outside kind of person. I prefer to relax with TV, internet or book. I need to start to change this, but it is not going to happen overnight. I have tried in the past and fail. This challenge is to find an easy way to transistion to the raw fit and healthy woman that I can be. I don’t want to keep failing or hating it. This time I want to find joy which is why I am not going to force myself to take anything but tiny jumps. Right now stopping my craving for veggy mayo is good enough for todays challenge.

About 6.00pm I needed to start thinking of eating before I got too hungry but I did not have any thoughts about what I was motivated to make to eat. I could definitely do this diet if I had a raw chef pop by each day with a load of food for me, already made…. But I am in the UK not US so that is not a real option right now.

I had bought some kale to make Chrissy’s goddess kale chips as so I looked up the recipe on the internet and made some. I had a bag of kale, so not sure what 2 heads were so I made 1/2 the sauce bit and left out the scallions. For some strange reason I could not find my tahini so I had to use almond butter. Not sure if this is a no no, but infact I dont like tahini so this might be better for me. I used almond butter and put it in my dehydrator, the smell is disgusting so I am not sure this will work out OK.

I just can't get the energy to make anything else to eat so I just ate a few apricots. They were not organic and though a beautiful colour they were still a bit hard. I am listening to Doris Day and I think I am going to end the day with a herbal tea as I need some comfort. I am proud that I have washed up twice today and that is enough for me in one day.

Finally much too late, I decided that I wanted to to eat and ate bananas cut in half, coated in almond butter and sprinkled with goji berries and small amount of honey. Then I went off to bed after watching more television. I love to record Oprah and Cold Case during the week and then watch them when I am resting. I will start thinking about exercise once I am back in the flow of raw.

So what did I eat today?

7.30 am: warm rosehip herbal tea

1.00pm: smoothie (1 cup water, 2 bananas, 2 apples (without cores) 1 slice pineapple and 2 handfuls of spinach.with tiny pinch of celtic sea salt and a teaspoon of agave)

4.00pm: onion bread, spread on mashed avocado and then sprinkled on some seaweed sprinkles

6.30pm: apricots

7.30pm: bananas with almond butter and goji berries

Bye for Now

RawCarol

The RAW Wagon

I fell off the raw wagon big time this year. I have to admit to enjoying this time for various reasons. Just living on convenience food, not having to keep thinking of raw food shopping and chopping. Eating what others are doing. However it soon started to go wrong because I have a number of allergies/intolerances and I soon got ill and wanted to get back on raw. But my big problem.. I dont really like vegetables, hate greens and get very hungry if I eat just fruit. I also have problems digesting lots of raw food. However, my soul loves raw food. My mind is clearer and I dont get depressed. I also dont get ill.

I have tried nearly everybody's version of raw and failed with them all. I got to the point where I did not enjoy it and realised this year that I was forcing myself to eat things that my body did not want to eat just because some guru was saying I should eat this and I should not eat that. I was beating myself up over failure and I decided to have the best ever cooked food life for a while. However, whilst cooked food is good for my business lunches and working away in hotels I missed the adventure of raw food and what it might bring to my life.

Raw food is much more exciting and seems spiritual. It is supposed to make you younger, fitter and healthier... how can you resist this. And so I am chasing the wagon to try and get back on. But this time I do it my way and I am not going to force myself to eat 100% pure low fat, low sugar etc etc. I am just going to find out what I like and search for the fun in raw. I am also going to challenge myself to finding a healthy green juice that I like. Ok wagon I can see you in the distance I am running up to you and I am ready to jump back on and find my way back to the raw glow.

Meanwhile I have prepared some onion bread and some granola to help me transition to the rawdiet that MY body loves. I will become my own Raw Guru.