Stressful Week - Election Stuff & Why RAW Now

I am a precinct captain for Senator Barack Obama here in Austin. The past two weeks have been very hectic and tiring. I'm spent and tomorrow is the primacaucus. In Texas, we have a two-step process (no, that's not just a bad pun, but the truth). Voters can cast two votes for their candidate on the same day.

The primary voting takes place from 7am - 7pm. (Early voting was a possibility, which I did, from 2.19 - 2.29).

At 7.15 pm the polling locations for each precinct will host a caucus. The party platform for the city convention on March 29th will be decided as will the delegates for that convention and who those delegates will be supporting.

Texas, for the first time, in decades has a big say in the nominating process. It' s a real fight here and some of it has become ugly.

I am feeling stressed. I want people to see Obama the way I do. He's a man of integrity who says what he means and will do his best to change America. Change is not a bad thing. Hope is not a dirty word. His experience is quantitative and substantive. He's a tireless advocate of folks who don't usually get advocacy such as single parents, which I used to be, working families, which my husband and I are currently building and Americans who make their own way in this world without special interests and connections to open doors for them.

I would like to see this country become a meritocracy. With Obama we have the chance to fix some of the mistakes we've made and heal some of the ills we've caused.

These are big things for me personally and emotionally. I don't usually like to put myself out there like this and the risk makes me nervous. I am maturing, I guess.

I am also realizing that I have to live my life in line with my values. My values are to make the world better than I left it. That means less consumption, more awareness and being the change I wish to see in the world. (Thanks, Gandhi for the quote that inspires me to get out of bed each day!)

a RAW food diet will help me live the life and walk the walk so I don't have to just talk about it. I am doing it today. I am starting now. I can heal myself. I can transform. I have already.

I have to be an example to myself and others. I want an extraordinary life so I've decided what that entails and I'm now living it.

Day 1 of Green Cleanse

I am on the second course of a green cleanse with Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo. Since doing the last one, I fell off the raw food wagon. I can honestly say that I rebelled against what i know to be true. I also had a horrible meeting with a horrible endocrinologist who told me that I need meat protein - lean meats, of course, and shouldn't eat anything after 2pm each day.

He also intimated to me that I had no will power and offered me DIET PILLS and surgery.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! this makes me so angry. I hate how the medical community looks at obese people and food addicitons. I'm tired of it all and tired of being in pain.

I am ready to move on.

My goal and I want your help - keep me honest for 112 days. That's how long I have until my 35th birthday. I had always said that I would be healthier at 35 than I was at 30 and even 25. I want to be healthier at 35 than I've ever been. I can do this. I am inspired. I am jazzed. I am happy about my decision. My heart knows it's right.

I will have weaknesses. The items I ate this weekend were horrific - pizza, brownies, cupcakes and I did it knowing I shouldn't.

I am done with that SAD life. I am taking charge. I am READY!

Last night at 6pm I began this cleanse. I will 'break it' on June 23rd with a raw cake. Recipes would be appreciated. Right now, I'm looking at the Boutenko 'wedding' cake.

I am done with misery. I choose happiness. I choose joy. I choose raw. I choose life. I choose to live my life every day and treat it as the gift it is. I choose to treasure that gift and myself. I choose to be an example. I choose to be myself and allow emotions to be felt.

Am juice drink - key limes hand-juiced with two juiced stalks of celery and 3 packets of green-leaf stevia.

Day Two - Lenten Challenge

Last night was rough. I put frozen bananas and unsoaked dates into my Vita-Mix. It overheated (big shocker there, right?) and I was left hungry for an extra 45 minutes. That'll teach me to treat my blender poorly. She is my best friend these days.

My daughter was watching "Veggie Tales" videos last night and...well, I knew it was bad when I started foaming at the mouth thinking about the animated cucumbers, tomatoes and asparaguses in all sorts of tasty combinations.

This RAW thing has a hold of me :) I'm not letting it let go, either...watch out Larry the Cucumber, I'm coming for you.

Another tip - Stevia mixed with Kombucha is pretty tasty and can help curb soda cravings. At least that's what Natalia Rose of the Raw Food DetoxDiet says. Gonna try it later and will let y'all know.

Day One of Lenten Challenge

I completed Patenaude's 21 Day Challenge for good or ill. Actually have had a mini health crisis during weeks 2 and 3 so I didn't exercise much. I really am scared for my health and my life. My bladder is failing me...well, hurting me.

I'm infected yet again. This time they think it's in the urinary tract. Since December, I've had infections in my throat, ears, lungs and now my urinary tract. Yuckers...

I'm a candida crazed person and I'm just so tired of being sick and tired.

So, I had a long talk with myself and decided to get off the fence. As a lapsed Catholic, I figure that this - Ash Wednesday - is the best day to begin. I will undergo a 40-day Raw Reevolution (hence the name of this blog...hehe).

I am going to enjoy as many raw shakes and smoothies as I want everyday. All Raw, all the time. No soda, but oodles of kombucha and fresh fruit juices (when I get the juicer...hubby ordered me one for Valentine's Day! Yay!)

I am taking it day by day. No hunger...just RAW...and I know i'm not doing it in the purest sense of the word because I use coconut milk and purchase almond milk, but oh well!

Today, I am loving this concoction

Cuckoo for Cacao-Nana

4 frozen bananas
1/4 cup coconut milk
6 whole dates
1/4 cup cacao nibs
2 handfuls of spinach

Start by blending greens. Add in frozen bananas, nibs and dates. Add milk and wait 'til you get desired thickness.

Enjoy!

Day One of Patenaude's 21 Day Challenge

I am off the green cleanse for a total of 36 hours. Yesterday, I ate two regular, vegetarian meals and had a green smoothie of about 56 ounces for breakfast. I did my exercise and went to bed before 11pm. I was very tired.

My legs began to swell from my lymphedema and my afternoon was rough. I became a bear with the kids. I was undernourished and missing raw food.

I realize and this pains me...even though I know I have to go raw, that I must pick up the pace. I am now going to two raw meals per day for five days a week...STARTING TODAY. I am looking for RAW recipes that are quick, easy and high on flavor.

I can't go back to pain. Stepping up the RAW and picking up the pace are the name of the game today. I wish I wasn't so sad about it.

Post - Cleanse Report

Hey all,

I finished my Green Cleanse. During mid-week, I shifted from Plan B (green smoothies and raw fruits) to Plan C, two green smoothies a day, with whole foods for the third meal. Here are some figures to show that even doing what I did can be a significant improvement:

Before After
Weight
389.5 384.5
BMI
76.5 72.5
Saliva PH
7.6 7.2
Urine PH
6.0 6.6
Energy Level
1 4
Stress Level
9 6
Overall Health & Well Being
5 6
Satisfaction with life
2 5
Toxicity Score
161 94

Basically, I am closer to an alkaline state. I have lost some fat weight which will be more sustainable than water weight. I did not suffer hunger very much at all. I have improved on a variety of symptoms. My skin is clearer, my hair is softer, shinier and longer. The black circles under my eyes are going away.

I feel sexier and I have more stamina in all areas :) I can do more with my children and not need a nap.

Next step for me is Frederic Patenaude's 21 Day Challenge. It begins today. For the next three weeks I will do this each day:

1) Drink at least 32 oz of a green smoothie
2) exercise for ten minutes on the treadmill
3) Fall asleep before midnight!

As Victoria Boutenko, who spoke to us last night on Dr. Ritamarie's conference call - thanks Victoria and Dr. Ritamarie - things don't happen overnight. Good health is a process. Going from SAD (Standard American Diet) to RAD (Raw Awesome Diet) will take time. My next transition period really needs me to add support for this process. I am not going to be eating chips and pizza the rest of the day. The goal is for whole foods to be the majority of my diet when I'm not green smoothie drinking.

That, to me, is lean protein (preferably organic), lots of veggies and complex carbohydrates. No processed foods.

Progress, not perfection as the AA adage dictates.

My Detox Symptoms

Over the past few days, I've felt:

sluggish
downright exhausted
weepy, tearful, fearful, hopeless & depressed
mad
a build up of acne
poopy but not really gassy

Gross, huh!

I've also had some phantom and real pain ... in all of my fibro points. Headaches from caffeine detox and...tingling in my hands especially when typing for a while.

I just want to cry right now. I know why I'm doing this and I know I've had good moments...yesterday, I felt pure joy and felt confident and like I could conquer the world. I've also lost almost ten pounds in four days. Yup!

In addition, I feel lighter and better overall. Underneath the toxicity, I know I am better, stronger and happier than I could ever have imagined years ago.

I'm ready for good health. I finally believe I deserve it so bring it on detox. I'm strong.

Green Cleanse

I got off the raw food wagon. Fell completely off and reconciled myself to a life without much raw. I had worked with an acupuncturist who thought it wouldn't work well with my body chemistry. Too damp or something. Then, I talked with a holistic nutritionist who...just by talking with me...decided that RAW wasn't the way to go for me. I needed more 'meat' she said.

Uh huh.

Then, I began to see an allergist who deals with hormone allergies. His treatment has been spot on on so many levels and he advocates a South Beach type of diet without cheese, tomatoes and so forth. I lost 17 lbs. in three weeks following his plan so I figured that he was onto something and decided that...well, I didn't have to go raw. I could escape it.

BWAHAHAHAHA (inject evil laugh here)

Truth is - that RAW has called me back. It doesn't matter what these people say. I know that I have to incorporate more RAW into my diet. It takes away the pain. It takes away the toxicity, which I know FIBRO is (see this ARTICLE if you don't believe me), and it takes away the mood swings. It makes me all the things I want to be.

I can't be scared of who I am meant to be any longer.

I was looking for a way to incorporate more RAW and jumpstart myself back into the movement (a double entendre, y'all if you've ever eaten RAW). I went away for the last few days of 2007 with my hubby and kids. We spent time at my in-laws and it was a freaky food fest. All the Standard American fare you could want...fried turkey, tamales, bunuelos (okay - Tex Mex fare), pasta, pizza, cookies (oh the cookies) and more that I just won't mention here as I feel sick thinking about it.

I partook of most of it, if not all. I felt gross. Sick. Bloated. Gaseous. Nauseous. Disgusting. Depressed. In pain. Exhausted.

Silently I prayed to be delivered. I contemplated the Master Cleanse. You know the Lemonade Flush. Eek!

But I didn't want to starve myself. My hypoglycemia makes me nuts if I do that. Besides, as a former actively practicing bulimic, who still struggles with the behavior from time to time, anything that isn't based on good solid nutrition IS NOT good for me.

I want health, not just weight loss. I know I need to lose a ton of weight. I began the the green cleanse, which I'll talk about a bit more below, at 389.5. I'm a biggun. Not as big as I used to be - I was once 441 - but big enough to scare small children. Seriously, you should see the way some of the kids at my children's elementary school stare at me.

When I got home, in my email inbox, was a note from Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, the Austin Health Coach. She was announcing a Green Cleanse. Immediately, I knew this was it for me.

Basically, the Green Cleanse requires you to drink Green Smoothies and Soups made with...greens, raw fruits and veggies. (Hey, it's not that bad). She bases a lot of the ideas on Victoria Boutenko's Green for Life and, of course, her own experience.

It's a detox process meant to rest the digestive tract and liver so you can improve your health. I'm in my fourth day - and sticking to the plan beautifully. I have moments of pure joy and clarity and spirituality. That's what I want all the time -- okay, most of the time. I know I can't have it all the time.

However, I'm also struggling with detox symptoms. My body is so nutty because i"m getting rid of the bad and putting in the good.

Day One

Today is the first day of the rest of my raw life. I am going to take things one raw meal at a time, one minute at a time if I have to. There will be more accountability here. I will slip and eat some cooked from time to time, but you'll hear about it.

I had a horrible weekend because I ate to please others so I wouldn't be "DIFFERENT". I suffered miserably for it and was humiliated. I had horrendous physical pain and struggled with stomach upset and uncontrollable gastrointestinal stuff. I could barely get off the couch and realized that there is the cooked connection to my pain.

I now believe that my ills are all related to eating crap and cooked stuff. I am ready to live my raw life in a raw and honest manner.

This morning I ate a chocolate-coconut lara bar and 10 ozzies of strawberries.

Tomorrow I will post what else I had today.

Join me on my journey to raw. I welcome your suggestions, comments and advice, but I will do in the end what is best for me as I would encourage any of you to do.