Raw Food Diet Diary

I’ve been out-of-pocket for awhile.  There’s news to report, and it’ll get reported over the next couple of weeks.  Meanwhile, this is just a post to let anyone who visits here know that I’m still alive and well!

I’m back.  The Raw Food Diet Diary is back, too.

While I was “gone,” I was hit by a car, walked my daughter down the aisle, helped put my mother-in-law into a retirement complex, and read my son’s wedding announcement on Facebook.

I’ve also allowed myself to get a little distracted from my raw food diet goals.  Consequently, I’ve replaced most of the weight I lost last summer.

Thankfully, I never had my November cold.  In fact, I haven’t had a cold during the current “Cold and Flu Season.”  I figure my days without getting sick are numbered, though.

So, I’m starting over from square one.

It’s 31 days until my 51st birthday.  I have resolved to eat a raw food diet for the next 30 days.  After that, I’ll reevaluate.

Since the Green Smoothie seems to be the food that best helps me to avoid temptation, it will figure prominently into the equation.  I plan to have at least one for breakfast.  And, for the next several days, one for dinner, too.

In fact, bananas and greens will be my staples for the first third of the month.  I read on the McDougall website that eating (basically) the same thing three meals a day for 10 days would jump start weight loss and recalibrate one’s appetite.  Dr. McDougall did it with potatoes; I’ll do it with bananas to provide me adequate calorie intake and to control appetite.

I’ll get my variety by picking other fruits to add to smoothies or to eat alone.

And, I’ll look at plans for the remaining two-thirds of the month.  The 80-10-10 book has some good recipes.  So does Roger Haeske’s membership site.  If I’m getting bored, I’ll look to one of those sources for some variety.

I’m thinking that it would be nice to have my weight back down in time for our family ski trip in March.  I’m thinking that it would be even better to be cold-free this winter.

We’ll see what happens . . .

Today’s post is an update of the last few days of progress towards a raw food diet.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I started the morning with 2 liters of green smoothie consisting of:

• 12 oz. water
• Collard greens to the three cup mark of the VitaMix
• Grapes (red or black) to the six cup mark
• Six or seven bananas

My apple intake was up, too.  Gala apples are in abundance at Kroger right now; I eat at least a couple a day.

No smoothies this weekend.  Plenty of apples, though.

My energy levels were high on Wednesday through Friday.  On Wednesday and Thursday, I could just about do no wrong.

Friday, I was ready to change my name to “Murphy.”  After my morning smoothie, my day went downhill.  I ran into a snag gettng a replacement title for my jeep, the Princess was accidentally placed on her daycare bus instead of being sent out the front door to meet me at the end of school, and I had to teach a room full of unprepared high school cellists that night.

Saturday, I was dog-tired.  I slept late, took a morning nap, took an afternoon nap, spent much of the day in the recliner, and went to bed at my normal, weekday bedtime.  The bright spot was a nice dinner with the girls.  Thank you, girls! 

Today, I was tired when I got up. I watched TV and ate apples for a couple of hours.  Then I went on the best bike ride yet in the last four weeks!  The temperature was perfect, the sky was clear, and I was strong enough to deal with the wind.  I rode as far as I could on the reservoir and park paths; the path was flooded inside the park, so I didn’t go as far as I had intended.  It was a great ride nonetheless!

Tomorrow starts a new, and busy, school week.  My aim is to continue my morning smoothie habit; those green smoothies seem to be making a difference in my energy and disposition.  I think they’re quite possibly the best thing about my transition to a raw food diet! 

Yesterday, I was stupid tired.

What’s “stupid tired?”

I had one of those days where my body could function, but my mind couldn’t as the day wore on.  When I finally sat down at my desk to get some paperwork done at about 4:30, I couldn’t do a damned thing.

I suspect that the two bike rides over the weekend had something to do with it.  When I return to physical activity after being inactive for awhile, fatigue–especially mental fatigue–is my constant companion for the first several weeks.

Today, two days after my last ride, I feel fine.  Last night, I slept hard and only woke up minutes before my alarm went off.  That’s unusual.  It’s also a good thing.  Today, I was more rested and focus was much better.

My elimination has been . . . shall we say, “prodigious?”  I’ve decided not to add a lot more fruit until I get through this phase.  Today, I had at least three bowel movements before lunch; usually I have about three a day.  I wasn’t done at lunch, either.  This happened during the summer when I made the transition; it took me about a week to get through it.  However, I had the luxury of being able to use the restroom at will in the summer.  Now, I can only use it every 50 minutes.  That’s working for the time being, but I don’t want to push my limits by adding more fruit and greens.  So, I’ll wait until I’m down to just a couple of morning bowel movements before I make another increase.

When I do, I plan on adding a second green smoothie for dinner.  At that point, lunch will be the only meal where I have any cooked food . . . and even now that’s only true about half of the time.

I’ll still continue to snack on fruit, too.  Dr. Graham recommends cutting back to two or three meals daily to give the digestive tract adequate time to rest.  Eventually, I’ll work on that.  Right now, I figure that swapping over from cooked food to raw food is going to provide my system considerably more rest than it has been getting.

Today, I had red chard in my green smoothie again.  It still reminds me of the beet juice I drank years ago.  It certainly makes for a sweet drink when combined with bananas and grapes.

When I got up this morning, the thought crossed my mind that coffee and a scone would be good on a rainy morning like today.

My next thought was, “Not really!”  Somehow, coffee and a scone just didn’t seem like it was breakfast enough.  So, I trundled downstairs and made two liters of green smoothie, instead.

Today’s smoothie had:

• 12 oz. of water
• Red chard up to the 3 cup mark on the VitaMix
• Red grapes up toe the 6 cup mark
• 7 bananas

I didn’t have a fruit snack today.  After my umpteenth trip to the toilet, I decided enough was enough.  Yeah, I’m a wuss.  Like I said, I’m going to get there a little slower this time.

Today started with four yummy pears!

After the girls took off for church, I went on a bike ride out to Barker Reservoir.  I’ve done that for the past three Sundays.  This weekend, I rode both Saturday and Sunday.

I’m a little tired this evening, but that’s to be expected.  My knees are a little sore from riding two days in a row, but I’m otherwise fine.  It must be due to all of that fruity goodness I’m loading up on! 

Later, I refueled with a green smoothie made of:

• 12 oz. water
• Spinach to the 3 cup mark of the VitaMix
• Leftover grapes and strawberries to the 6 cup mark
• 6 Bananas

My raw food intake is going up, slowly but surely.

Tomorrow is a busy day.  Grades are due.  Time for this teacher to hit the sack!

The last couple of days, I’ve had to get up earlier than usual since the Sweetheart was out of town.  She returned home last night, so I didn’t need to get up as early.  However, I woke up about five minutes before my alarm, so I got up and got busy.

After showering and dressing, I went down to the kitchen to make a green smoothie.  Today’s smoothie included:

• 12 oz. of water
• Kale up to the 3 cup mark on the VitaMix
• Black grapes up to the 6 cup mark
• 6 bananas

Since I had gotten up so early, I drank the first liter in the kitchen before going back upstairs to dress the Princess.  Then, I enjoyed the second liter on my way to work.

My greatest fear doing that is that I was going to have a “bathroom emergency” in the middle of my first period class.  Recently, a sixth grader (who, for some strange reason, didn’t ask to use the restroom) had an accident in my classroom; I wasn’t looking to be the second guy with wet pants in my classroom this year.

Happily, I didn’t have any urges that couldn’t wait until passing period! 

Six bananas, in some form, seems to be the magic number to keep me sated until lunch at around noon.  Plus, I preferred having breakfast done before I started work instead of taking smoothie breaks throughout the morning.

I did a fair amount of eliminating today.  I remember this happening during the summer, too.  This, too, shall pass (pun intended)!

The other day, I found bartlett pears on sale.  I’m enjoying those, plus some more grapes, this evening.

And, yes, I had some cooked food, too.

Tomorrow, I’m thinking that I’d like to take a long bike ride before the girls get up.  Then, I think there’s some more strawberries and spinach for a nice morning green smoothie!

Or, maybe I’ll just sleep in . . .

Today, I made it a point to eat more consciously.

I made two liters of green smoothie this morning from:

• 12 oz. of water
• Spinach to the 3 cup mark of my VitaMix
• Strawberries to the 6 cup mark of my VitaMix
• 6 Bananas

Additionally, I packed another half dozen bananas to take to work.

I dropped off the Princess at day care, and drank the first liter of smoothie in the car on the way to work.  I also polished off the six bananas during the 20 minute drive.  The rest of the smoothie was finished over the next couple of hours between classes at school.

By noon, I had that “backed up” feeling that I got when I went raw back in June.  Unlike then, I don’t have immediate access to a toilet every time I need to use one, so I decided that I would conclude my raw eating for the day.

I feel like I’ve got a morning plan that’s easy for me at this point.  I know that the argument can be made that I should save the sweet fruit (i.e. bananas) until lunch and eat juicier fruits in the morning.  The lighter fruits leave me hungrier by lunch, so I’ll risk the poor combinng for now.  Later, as I reacclimate to the diet, I may opt to change my morning menu.

The Story of One Man’s Massive Brain Fart

Yesterday was a difficult day.  Everything I did turned to crap.  At the end of the day,  I was ready to retire from teaching forever.

I fell asleep while watching election returns.  The Sweetheart was packing for a business trip in our bedroom, so I went to sleep in the spare bedroom.

I woke up, looked at the clock, and it said 5 a.m.  I knew that it wasn’t quite time to get up, so I rolled over and went back to sleep.

The Sweetheart’s alarm went off.  I looked at the clock and it said 6 a.m.  Holy cow!  I overslept.  Why didn’t my alarm go off?

I went to the bathroom, where I charge my cell phone (that also serves as my alarm clock).  It said 5 a.m.  I guess we didn’t “fall back” with the guest room clock.  I went back to bed until my alarm went off half an hour later.

I got up, showered, shaved, and dressed.  All the while, I was thinking about what I could do to make my day better.

I went downstairs and fixed the Princess’s lunch.  Then, I went back upstairs to wake and dress her.  My wife was headed to the airport first thing, so I had drop off duty.

I got the Princess put together, took her to daycare, and headed toward work.  On the way, I stopped at Starbucks for a grab and go breakfast.

On the way to work, I thought about what I was going to do differently today.  I noticed that I hadn’t been greeting students at the door this week, and I believe that I paid for that yesterday.  I find that if I greet a kid by name when he or she enters my classroom, the class performs better.  I suspect i do, too, because I’ve already started to make my interactions more personal.

Yesterday, I could do no right.  Today, I could do no wrong.  I was on fire!

I grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch, had a chat with a couple of colleagues about some stuff coming up on the calendar, and reflected on the mornng.

I still felt a little tired, so I closed the door to my office, laid down on the floor, and closed my eyes for ten minutes.  When I got up, I felt better, and I proceeded to teach my last two classes of the day.

On the drive home, I reflected on what a good job I had done of taking care of myself today, and resolved that I needed to do that every day . . . even if it meant that I fell a little behind on paperwork and whatnot.  My time between classes seems to be better spent taking a break from everything, and saying hi to everyone.

I picked up the Princess, who wanted to go out to eat.  I told her that I was tired, and asked if I could get something from the store for her.  She wanted sushi, so we headed to Kroger.

We walked in the door.  She ran up to the cooler, where the sushi was, to pick out her dinner.

I looked past her, to the produce section, and all of a sudden it dawned on me . . .

I hadn’t eaten anything raw yet today!  What was I thinking?????

Answer: I wasn’t.  I don’t know why, but I had gone on auto-pilot back to my old way of eating during the school day.  I haven’t done that, on that scale, since last school year.

OK, I knocked myself down.  Time to pick myself back up.

Tomorrow, I’ll live, and eat, more conciously.

Happy election day!

I’m tuckered out today (it seemed like brains belonging to anyone under the age of 16 were in neutral today), so I’ll keep things short.

I had my 2 liters of green smoothie again:

• 12 oz. water
• 6 bananas
• Half a bunch of collard greens
• “3 cups” of red grapes

Today,  I used a little more collard and a little less grape.  The smoothie really had some bite!  I liked it a lot.

I didn’t eat 3 lb. of apples.  Probably more like 1 lb.  But, I increased my load of raw food over yesterday.

Little by little, I’ll get to where I’m going!

I Get Knocked Down, but I Get Up Again . . .

(with apologies to Chumbawumba)

I had the best of intentions during October.  You know what they say about good intentions, right?

October brought a storm of a different kind to my life.  Things are better now.  However, I got sidetracked big time on my raw food diet progress, and on recording that progress.

It’s my fault.  I’m in charge of me, and I chose to make decisions that weren’t always in my best interest.  One of them was “emotional eating.”  I just said “screw it,” to good habits and became incredibly self-indulgent.

I realized, though, that I was moving backwards in too many ways to ignore:

• My complaining increased.  Before October, I was switching my bracelet once every 5-7 days.  Lately, it’s been once or twice daily on average.
• I’m tired.  By the time I’ve finished with students and have time to prepare for stuff, I’m as stupid as a fencepost from fatigue.  Consequently, the only way I get things done is if I have an imminent deadline looming.
• I haven’t been writing here.  I also haven’t been posting on the board at How to Go Raw.
• I generally feel unsettled and often feel unhappy.  Truthfully, there’s no good reason for me to feel this way.

So, this morning I resolved to get back on track over the course of this week.  Today’s raw food consisted of two liters of green smoothie made from:

• 7 bananas
• Half a bunch of collard greens
• Enough grapes to register as three cups in my VitaMIx.

I tried collard greens in a smoothie for the first time a few weeks ago.  Grapes compliment them nicely.  The two, together, make a drink that is sweet . . . but also has some bite to it.  I like grapes and collard greens as much as I like the peach/nectarine and spinach combo.

I also figured out how to handle my green smoothie preparation and drinking so that it was easier on me.  I made the smoothie early this morning.  A liter of it went into a thermos.  The other liter went into a big insulated cup that I have.  I drank the first liter while going through my morning routine and while driving to work.  At work, I put the other liter into the cup and drank from it throughout the early part of the morning.

The rest of the day, I ate cooked food.  My goals were to minimize fat and maximize fiber.  I did OK, but could have done better (especially at the minimizing fat).

Tomorrow, I plan to start my day the same way.  There’s a 3 pound bag of Gala apples waiting for me for lunch.  Beyond that, I’ll see how the spirit moves me.

The last couple of weekends, I’ve taken some long bike rides.  Were it not for my hands and butt getting sore, I could have ridden a lot longer.  I’ve been thinking about how I can make a return to bicycle commuting to work.  Conditioning isn’t a huge issue for me; building endurance on a bike is easy for me.  My big issue is riding home in the dark; that scares the crap out of me!  I’m looking at some solutions to that dilemna; I’ll write more about those as I explore them.

That’s it for tonight.  I’ll check in tomorrow.  Time to go to the How to Go Raw board, now.