Day 11 Food combining.

  Here I am 11 days in and just feeling like I am getting the hang of this. I don't feel like it should have been that hard to get the hang of going raw till 4pm. I have found that it is more mental then anything. Like I said before I used to eat 1200-1500 calories and to TRY and eat 2500 in fruit and veggies is harder then you think. I feel like I am eating ALL day long. On top of that I am supposed to drink around a gallon of water a day. If you do this be prepared to be in the restroom more often than not. All that being said, I actually really do love this way of eating. I just need to get some recipes so that I can actually make food other than just the fruit itself. Not that I haven't  loved eating a ton of the different fruits but like everything if you eat to much of it you get tired of that same food.

Oh, another side affect is that your animals loose their extra fat as well. They don't much like apples, oranges, bananas, figs. Our dog does like to eat grapes and carrots now and again. She will take a bite of those but then most of the time leave it.

 So, food combining. Here is the combining that you can and should do. I would go off of how your tummy is feeling as well.

Sweet Fruits like Bananas, Dates, Papayas, Figs, Persimmons, Jackfruits, Lychees (Whatever that is) Can go with Green veggies low starch, sprouts, ect as well as Sub-acid fruits such as, all berries, Mangos, apples, grapes, cherries, and stone fruit.

Sub-acid fruits can go with Green Veggies, Acid fruits, Acid fruits are: Tomatoes, Oranges, Lemons, Limes, Grapefruits, Mandarin's, Clementine's, Pineapples, Pomegranates. Also all berries can be combine with Fatty fruits, ( Avocados, Young coconut flesh, nuts, and seeds.

Acid Fruit can be combine with, High Starch Veggies, Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Beets, Peas, Carrots, Chestnuts, Pumpkin, Squash, Zucchini, Cauliflower, Cabbage. and Green Veggies,

Fatty Fruits, Nuts and Seeds, All of these are listed above with the exception of Durian which needs to be eaten alone. All of the rest can be combine with Acid Fruits, Green Veggies.

 High Starch Veggies  can be eaten with, Green Veggies, Fatty Fruits, Nuts and Seeds, with the exception of the Durian. Again needs to be eaten alone.

  Foods to be eaten alone and not mixed with ANYTHING are all of your Melons Water and liquids.
I do know the reason for these two. Melons and water and other liquids dilute your stomach acid and makes to so that your digestive juices can not work as effectively. Therefore should be eaten alone. :0)

 This is the list and for now I will do my best to follow it and as I do I will continue to learn about the Why behind it. For now this is all. Hope this helps those out there who are like me and just trying. This has been a journey and there have been times (like tonight) where I had to question if I could really eat like this long term and why I am doing this in the first place. (Please refer back to writing down your "why") This is what keeps me going and looking at the long term. Step by step and learning the benefits is a huge help.
   
   Keep smiling :0) hugs, Emily

Day 9-10 5K with my family

  We took the kids on their first 5K. It was a good experience, but one of the hardest 5Ks I have ever done!!! We were so excited about taking them out to do our fist family run.

    Going into the race I knew that I would have to help Beeps because she is only 6 years old. For those of you who don't know a 5K is 3.1 miles. I ended up carrying her on my shoulders most of the time. Doing things like this is good for me, it is a good reminder how much I used to carry around with me all of the time.  We are doing better going out and doing things with the kids. We need to up our activity level as a family.

    I want to let you know how things are going with the diet. Both with my family and with me.

    Let's start with me, I am doing well. I have not been perfect at this, and the first week was not always easy. The thing that have been the hardest to stay away from, which I have not been successful most of the time with, is French Bread.  I don't eat a lot of bread in general but French Bread is my down fall. The times that I have fallen off of the wagon it has been because of the French Bread. I think that for the time being what I need to do is to write down what I am craving, then tell myself that at the end of the 30 days I can eat the bread, or what ever I am craving. I will let you know how that is working.

  So, how are things with the family? That has been a little tricky. The kids love the fruit and I haven't taken away the cheese, eggs, etc. However, I am not replacing them after we run out. If the kids start to miss the cooked food and ask for it over and over again then I will reassess what needs to happen. My goal it so make really yummy food so that they don't miss the cooked food for breakfast. I will keep you updated on how that is going as well.

 Tomorrow I will be making a list of the food combinations I as still learning about why the combinations are important because of this I won't be saying a whole lot about why it is important not to eat certain foods with other foods. Keep an eye out for that post coming tomorrow.
  
 

 

Day 8 & 9 Feeling GREAT!!!!!! Also, cleaned out my food

                     I didn't get the chance to blog yesterday, I took the children rollerskating.

It's a little fuzzy but the blur in the black skirt is Spice. 

Today I want to talk about the energy that I feel. It is amazing!!! I was talking to a friend of mine after I left I noticed that I was talking a million miles an hour. Little confession here. I got hooked on the 5 hour energy shots. Which is part of the reason that I decided to go raw.

    To have the natural energy through the right kinds of food. I also don't want to become a slave to anything. Which is what happens when you are addicted to something. After I realized how much and how fast I was talking I realized how GOOD I felt. I can't really describe it, I felt like I had taken one of the shots. The difference was that I didn't have a crash. When I finally did get tired, it was a healthy tired. I did notice however, that I did start to get the munchies around 9:30ish. I figured out that it was because I was tired. I needed to rest but wasn't able to. I had to pick up my hubby from the airport at 11:30pm. But I slept well when I finally did crash. 

Here is my day

I was mostly raw yesterday. It was again a little tricky because we went to my sisters house. She does not do raw but I made it work. I did try some of her "Fire Dragon Chili" I really liked it. I had about 1/4 of a cup. I may have to get that recipe. 

Today, I feel a little tired but that is because I went to bed LATE and wonk up early. I couldn't  fall back to sleep so I went to the gym. I may have to take a nap a little later. Anyways, I wanted to show you what my fridge ect looked like before I cleaned it out and what it looks like now. 

I don't like to though away food so I gave it to my niece and her husband who just got into their new place.  I helped both of us, I got rid of a ton of stuff and they don't have to go and spend the money for it. 

These are not in order. But I will explain each section. 

This is the small drawer in my fridge before I cleaned it out. This is where I usually keep the cheese, sandwich makings ect. 

                                         This is the second drawer where we keep our dairy. 

                                                       
                                                     Bottom drawer is a fruit drawer.

                                                    Oh my, ya all of the sauces and milks.

                                           Freezer. this shelf is frozen veggies and grapes.

                                                       Frozen greens for shakes.

                                              Shelf where the nuts and grain type things go.

                                                 Top shelf in the fridge. Greens for salads.

 Eye level to Beeps and Bear this is what I usually have here as well as grapes or other fruit.

 Middle shelf  veggies and other things. These tomato's are going to be turned into salsa. :0) Then eggs. Hanging on the side is an onion.

                                                                        Juicing veggies

All in all not so bed right? Like I said before I was doing the "Clean Eating" 

I cleaned it up and cleared some of the stuff away so here are the pictures of the after. I also added pictures of my pantry and other placed that I put food. 

        This is now the second shelf up. Still eye level to the kids so they can pick healthy. :0)

 Bottom drawer. Ruby Red Grapefruit. (Pink doesnt work so well in my back ground), Plums. 

Dairy drawer, still kept the yogurt and butter but added more Grapefruit and Pomegranates

The door. I only kept a few of the sauces. Low Sodium Soy Sauce, Spicy Mustard. Some Ranch for my children.  I also kept my bee pollen

                           Cheese drawer, Eggs and the cheese and meat, tortillas under that.

Same as above.

      Eye level, Raspberries, Strawberries, Sugar Snap Peas, Green Beans, Had the Tomato's but I ate them all. Mmmmmm

In my cupboard Bananas, Red Pears. SOOOOO GOOD!!!!

                                             This is my pantry. Top shelf is where I keep things that I need to refill and can goods.

                                                        Grains and my sunflower head. Below are more refill and other grains ect.

 I decided to open the drawers to show you what is inside.  This one is Pop Corn.

 Roots, Sweet Potato, Onions Potatos. 

                                                         Sweeteners and Corn shells.

 Pastas, All Wheat or grain. No white here folks.

 Floor, In the buckets are my flours to make bread and then I have my Brown baking sugar.

                                          On the side of the drawers are my vinegar's and oils.

Later today we are going to take the kids to a 5K  and a kiddie run. It will be a good time. Will post those pictures tomorrow. 

                                                   
I also have decided to put on a feast!!! I have wanted to speak for a while now about health as well as sharing my journey. I think that it is time to just jump in and DO IT!!! Sooooo, the last part of February I am planing on setting a date. I am excited!!! I will be sharing my journey from where I was a child to now. How I am feeling and what it was like to do this. And I am also going to talk about the importance of eating raw.
    It's not an all or nothing here, You don't have to start jumping headfirst into the pool here. But it is always good to continue learning about health. Anyway,s look out for that with an official date, time, place. Also please feel free to let me know if you are interested. I will need to know how much food I will need, and also get a place large enough. :0) I will let you know a price as well.
   Hugs, Emily

Day 7 Season there of.... Part 1

   So today was a near perfect day for food today. I received my book and I have been reading and learning. I also have been reading the banana girl e-book. They are both informative, and I am hoping that the 80-10-10 book will give me a lot of information in general but also about the food combination.

I did the best I have done thus far as far as raw goes. The only cooked food I had today was a bite of the kids pasta (Brown Rice and Wheat combo)  to make sure that they would eat it. I also was not to tempted to skip my salad and eat the pasta instead. Which as really nice. The only reason I did take a bite is because I make my sauces and I need to make sure that I didn't need to tweak it. Besides that I did all raw.

My tummy is not as gurgly today. Which is nice. 

Food I had today

Breakfast: Frozen Banana, Strawberries, Raspberries, Dates, blended

Chopped Banana, Plum, Mango

Lunch: Grapes, Apple, Banana

Dinner: One head of Butter lettuce, Celery, Cucumber, Salsa Raw, Tomato's, Avocado 3/4ths,

2 bites of the pasta.

Exercise: I didn't wake up this morning I was very tired and needed the sleep. Tonight I am going to get on youtube and do a yoga video in my room.

So day 7 and it was a little easier.  As mentioned my tummy isn't so gurgly and bloated from not being used to eating all/mostly raw. I also didn't need a nap today. Not sure if it is because I got about an hour extra sleep or if it is because I have more energy. Maybe a combo.

So, I wanted also to quickly talk about the two different ways to go raw. I have done them both. The first is going high fat the second is high carb low fat.

.When I fist went raw I did the high fat version. I ate a LOT of nuts and Raw deserts. I also tried to make a lot of fancy meals. It was hard and I gained weight. Not what I wanted; also my family missed cooked food. We did that for around 4 weeks before I went back to clean eating. It was hard and to much prep for me.
  The second way of going raw is what I am doing now. High carb low fat. I actually really  love that I can eat as much fruit as I want and that potatos are good, as well as brown rice. Anything that is high carb low fat and unprocessed. I am NOT hungry and so far I am eating about 2000-3000 calories a day. Which is weird because I am really not used to eating this much; thanks to the bananas and mangos I can hit that number. I am not used to thinking that eating this many calories is good for me . We have all been trained to starve ourselves and to stay within a certain calorie range, between restricting calories and working my tail off is how I lost my initial weight. I was eating between 1200-1600 calories a day and working out for about 2 hours 5-6 days a week. It was crazy!!!  I kept falling off of the wagon. Then telling myself that it was ok, I would start again tomorrow. Now, I am eating all that I feel like, more actually and I can still fit into my size 8 jeans they feel a little tight. However, I really am not worried about it. I was told when doing the research part of this that I would gain a little at first. The banana girl it was about 14ish days then she started to become less bloated and her body started to adapt to eating the high carb food and eating around 3000 calories a day. I am really taking a leap of faith and going for it!!! I wish that I would have found this earlier. Better late than never right?
    Next payday for our food shopping I am loading up on the fruit!!!! Right now I have a lot of healthy food like celery, cucumbers, lettuce, apples, pears, had grapes but the kids finished them off. Still have some eggs, as well as yogurt, cheese, some meat. Other clean eating foods as that is what I was doing before this. When those are gone I will not be replacing them!!! We are going to do this as a family. I'll keep you posted on how that is going. I will also take a picture of my fridge. I need to go through and clean it out. I do this every other Thursday to get ready for Friday and Saturday. Which are my shopping days.
     I am excited to take this journey with my family. My hubby is always asking me to "help" him loose the weight as I have done. He doesn't like that I weigh less than him. He is a smaller guy and has a small frame. I am not a big heavy muscle person but I am naturally sturdy. I like to say athletic. :0) I don't want to be "skinny". I like to look healthy and fit.

    As I started to write this part of my post I got into a lot of research about health and it might take me a little bit to put that together. I will finish that and post it at a later date. For now I want to post a list of fruits in the season there of.
   Fruit in the season. I am going to post this list as a month to month list. So according to the month of the year when it is in season. Please note that this list includes pre and post season. Which means that IF you can find it and If it isn't to expensive. If you can't get it without paying an out landish price for it. Other wise wait a month and it will be in season. :0) Not all of the fruit is on this list but the most common that you can find in the store.

 January
Bananas, Kiwi, Oranges, Papayas, Tangerines.

February
Bananas, Kiwi, Oranges, papayas, Tangerines

March
 Bananas, Kiwi, Strawberries, Tangerines, Oranges, Strawberries (pre-season)

April
  Avocado, Banana, Mangos, Oranges, Papayas, Strawberries, Tangerines,

May
Avocado, Banana, Blackberries, Cherries, Mangos, Mellon, Oranges, Papayas, Pineapple, Strawberries

June
Apricots, Avocado, Blackberries, Blueberries, Banana, Cherries, Figs, Grapes, Mangos, Mellon, Nectarines, Papayas, Peaches, Pineapple, Raspberries, Strawberries, Cucumber, Yellow Squash, Zucchini

July
Apricots, Avocado, Banana, Blackberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Cherries, Figs, Grapes, Mangos, Melon, Nectarines, Papayas, Peaches, Pears, Pineapple, Plums, Cucumber, Tomato, Yellow Squash, Zucchini

August
Apples, Avocado, Banana, Blackberries, Blueberries, Dates, Figs, Grapes, Mangos, Mellon, Nectarines, Papayas, Peaches, Pears, Pineapple, Plums, Raspberries, Cucumber, Bell Peppers, Tomato, Yellow Squash, Zucchini

September
Apples, Avocado, Banana, Blackberries, Blueberries, Dates, Figs, Grapes, Papayas, Peaches, Plum, Pears, Persimmons, Pineapple, Pomegranates, Strawberries, Cucumber, Bell Peppers, Tomato, Yellow Squash, Zucchini,

October
Apples, Avocado, Banana, Blackberries, Blueberries, Dates, Figs, Grapes, Papayas, Pears, Peaches, Persimmons, Plums, Pomegranates, Strawberries, Tangerines, Bell Peppers, Tomato

November
Apples, Avocados, Banana,  Dates, Kiwi, Oranges,  Papayas, Persimmons, Pomegranates, Tangerines, Bell Peppers, Tomato

December
Avocado, Banana, Kiwi, Oranges, Papayas, Persimmons, Pomegranates,

Well, my friends that is all for tonight. Time to tuck my children in and do some yoga and work on my relationship with my Savior.
 Hugs, Emily

Day 6 Life is GREAT!!!

   Today is day 6 and it feels like I have had a break through. I posted earlier about how I wanted sustained energy. I have to tell you it has been a little bit of a struggle in the way of feeling like I miss meat, CHEESE!!!!, eggs, ect. I have NOT been perfect in the last 5 days but I have been trying. It is amazing what happens when you just TRY.
  This morning I woke up at my usual 5:00am to start my day. I usually roll out of bed and convince myself that this is what I do and that  I LOVE (convincing myself again) mornings. Well, today was a little different. My alarm went off and I almost jumped out of bed. Ready to go!!!!! I was surprised by this. I didn't have any extra sleep or anything like that. I just felt refreshed and ready to go to the gym. It was very nice to feel this way. I hope that I can continue having this side effect!!!
   I was asked by a friend on myfitnesspal how to do a 30 day raw till 4. That is what I am going to talk about today. I will tell you my daily schedule and what I eat and when.
   5:00 Get out of bed dress and drink a HUGE glass of water. Big enough that my tummy hurts. I think my glasses hold around 20-24oz. Sometimes  I squeeze half a lemon into that.
  5:30 Hit the gym
      a) Warm up 5-10 minutes
      b) Weights
      c) HITT workout usually on the treadmill (If I have time) or run
      d) Cool down/stretch if I am not running late.

  6:45 Home to make my kids breakfast before most of them head to school.
 (I drink another big glass of water at this time and make myself a veggie juice.)
    8:10 Those who are in school are gone and I start my fruit portion of the day.
This can look like some of the other posts that I have posted. Bananas are usually involved at this time. I will eat a big bowl full of fruit. This morning I had 4 Bananas chopped up and in the blender I had Mangos, Strawberries, and Dates. Blended up and mixed into my bananas.
   9:00 I do school with my son whom I am homeschooling this year. I will set him up then maybe get some blogging in. :0)
   11:00 We walk to go and pick up "Beeps" who is in Kindergarten.

Isn't she cute. :0) This is our baby.

When we get there I play a math game with Buddy. It goes like this "I am thinking of two numbers that when times together equal __________" If he gets it right I have to do 5 burpees. If he gets it wrong he has to do them. It is fun and I get a little more cardio in and he gets more math. :0)
   12:15 We are home and time for lunch :0) Today I want to the store and purchased some of the big plums I will eat as many of those as I want to. I am guessing around 5 of them.
   1:15 More school for Buddy and studying for me as well.
   2:45 Pick up "Spice" from school.

This is "Spice" Not real name. She is our second oldest.

3:00 If I walk back to pick up "Bear" it is time for me to leave again.

"Bear" is our second to the youngest.

 

 If I am hungry I will grab something Banana, Strawberries, Pineapple, Apple, Grapes, what ever I have in the fridge. That is easy. I can walk and eat or if I am running late I can drive and eat. :0) I will usually leave at the same time. If I want some extra reading time I take along a book and read while I wait.

4:00 Home and homework time with snack in I want it. Same kind of food as above.

5:30 Make dinner: Tonight I am going to have a salad. As will the children but I am going to make Home made mac and cheese for them as well. With Wheat Noodles.

If I am still hungry I have a bakes spaghetti squash that I will eat with salt and pepper. Mmmmm

6:30 Free time

7:30 Finish homework and clean house.

8:30 Story time and scriptures

9:30 Kids get ready for bed Family Prayer and bed

10:00 Time with my hubby. He is not home right now he is at training so this wont happen till Friday.

10:30 TRY to get to bed

11:30 Usually get to bed.

 

Now that you know my schedule and what I am going to eat today back to the question.

What is raw till 4 diet and how do you do it?

Raw till 4 simply means that everything I eat is raw and vegan until 4:00 pm. After that I am still vegan but I can have cooked foods if I feel like it. Or I can choose to stay raw for the rest of the day. It really depends on what I feel like doing but after you eat cooked you should not eat raw again for 3-5 hours after you eat cooked. Different foods digest at different speeds. :0) Like a race car. Vroom Vroom. Some things like cooked food takes longer to digest then raw food does. Especially fruit!!! You also should not mix veggies with fruit. I usually add only a LITTLE to my morning juices. Usually half an apple. 

I am still studying food combinations I will post more about that in another blog after I fully  understand it.

 I hope that this helps. :0) You should just jump in and do it if this seems like something that feels right. You don't have to be perfect you again just have to TRY!!!!

 Hugs, Emily

This is my oldest "Sugar" This was last winter at a piano recital.

Then there is "Buddy" our one and only living son. Right smack in the middle of the girls.

 

Buddy and my Hubby. Love my family!!!!

Day 5 raw til 4 Paradigm shift

   Good morning all! As I have said before, yesterday was my husbands official birthday. I always let me family choose dinner on their birthday, and my husband didn't know what he wanted. I decided to make breaded and fried pork chops, mash potatos, milk gravy,  and veggies.
Why am I telling you this? First of all I NEVER!!!!!!!!!! Cook like this. But he LOVES it when I do. I grew up eating a lot of this type of food. If you have read "about me" you know most of my story.
  I divert the reason I tell you what I cooked for dinner, is because it was his birthday I gave myself an excuse to splurge. Oh, man!!! It was soooooo...... PAINFUL!!!You thought I was going to say good huh. Well, no I was bloated, not only bloated but in actual PAIN!!!! My digestive system was doing summersaults. NOT good. Lesson to be learned. I need to have a paradigm shift.
   What is a paradigm shift? It is a change in basic assumptions. In other words a change in how I think or believe. At least when it comes to what is truly good and what is good according to my subconscious. (I will be talking about this later. Our subconscious.)
    I thought that because it was a birthday I could have the day or meal "off" and it would be ok.
Not so, and my body was the one to tell me.
   This was a good lesson for me. At first I thought about not writing about this. I don't like to "fail" again I am working on shifting my paradigm. Did I fail? Maybe? But, I can tell you that I was sure glad when I woke up today and all I wanted was my juice!!!

It is amazing how food really does determine how you feel. Yesterday after I ate that dinner I was bloated, in pain, and so drained. I actually slept it off. I did NOT like how it made me feel. After eating mostly raw and vegan in just a few short days my body was trying to heal itself. So what do I do? I put a wreaking ball through the process that is what it felt like. Today I am back on track and feeling better.
  As I was thinking through this experience the thought came to me "what do I want"? "Is it worth it"? The answer is YES I do want this and I do want to make this change.
   The changes that I am feeling in the few days that I want to keep are....
Energetic
Light Non bloated
Faster Metabolism I can tell because I am always hungry.
   I like the way that this feels. It is better than  anything  ever tasted. I am reading a book called fit2fat2fit. And I like this saying. "Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels"-Unknown. I am slowly learning this. I don't always love the way my juice tastes but I do love the way that I feel after I drink it. I like fitlife.tv On there he talks about our tastes changing over time. He uses the example of beer. When in college he didn't like the taste but he wanted the buzz so he pushed his way past the taste. After so long he actually liked how it tasted. I am hoping this is what happens to me. I like the way I feel so I am willing to plug my nose and close my eyes and drink the juice because it FEELS good. 
  I am not saying that from here on out I am going to be perfect at this. I thought that on my first day of the 30 day raw challenge. But I am sure going to try and remember how I feel eating this way vs. the way that I was eating.
I have to say that I have always tried to be healthy. I am always reading "diet" books because I like to learn. Some of the things I have tried others I have not. Some things feel right others don't. This is not my first time going raw. I will post about that in my next post.
   For now I want to go back to my question I asked earlier.  "Do I feel like I failed". No, I learned a lesson and I am back on the wagon. Getting back on IS HOW we find SUCCESS. It is a process of finding why we do things and if it is worth the effort. I can honestly say that after you get past the rumbling tummy from doing a 360 degree diet change.  That this is worth the effort, and I DO like the way I feel. I love that I can eat ALL of the fruit that my little (healthy) heart wants to.  I say 30 days but I think that I am going to make this a life style. :0) We shall see, but for now this is the way that I feel.
   Hugs, Emily

Lunch a few days ago. Mmmmm

 

This was 1 Pineapple

Frozen then thawed Mangos

Frozen then thawed Strawberries

all chopped up and placed in a bowl.

In a blender

Frozen Raspberries

Frozen Mangos

Banana

Is you like it a little sweeter add

4-6 Dates

Blend till smooth.

add to chopped fruit. Enjoy!!!!

 I always have to share with my kids. So I make extra for them.

 

Day 4 One of the Keys.

  On my first day posting about this 30 day challenge I talked about important "Key's" to fulfill goals. That is what I want to talk about tonight.
  As we all know that once you start something the excitement of it gives you "will power" or "motivation". The trick is to KEEP that motivation when you REALLY want some of your old favorites. Brownies and ice cream  are huge downfalls of mine. Tonight at the party they had both. How does one stay "motivated" when 2 of your 3 downfalls are right there staring you in the face?
 Find out your reason WHY!!!! Why are you doing ____________. You fill in the blank. Lets use health as and example.  WRITE IT DOWN!!!
    Ask: Why do you want to be healthy? Then ask it again, and again. Find your "root" purpose. Again, write this down and read it EVERY DAY!!!
  Here is how this works. I will use  my 30 day raw as an example of how this should look.
  Question: Why are you trying to do the 30 day challenge?
  Answer: Because I have been reading about going raw and I want to have the experiences that they have. Such as sustained energy, bright eyes, and I want to hit my optimum weight.
  Question: Why do you want that?
  Answer: Because I believe that my body is a temple and I know that I need to take care of it the very best I can. Also, it is a challenge, and I want to prove to myself that I can be the one in charge of my body. Also I know that I need to train my body to "crave" the things that it needs not what it craves or wants.  Because I know that I can do hard things even if at first I am NOT perfect. It is the process that brings me closer to my goals.
  Question: And Why do you want that?
  Answer: Well, God gave me this body and tells me that I am to govern it as best I can. That it is a temple and that it is the only one that I get. I want to do the best I can to live by His commandments and to do the things that He tells me to do. I also want to become more then I ever have before. I also want to help other people know their true potential.  
   True Reason; WHY I want to do this challenge.
     ROOT Answers:
               1. God gave me this body and it is a gift as well as a temple.
               2. I want to live Gods commandments as best I can and be healthy.
               3. To show others that they can achieve their true potential and that they don't have to be perfect. They just have to TRY!
   Sometimes it may take more than three times of asking and answering.  I am sure that I could go on with some of my answers like my last one but it is late and I need to go to bed but before I do. The important thing to remember is to find your reason why you want to do something. As you do this and you find that you are having a rough time sticking to it. You have already found your why. If it is truly your real reason and you truly what it then this "KEY" will help you stay or get back on track.
    I truly help that this helps you. It can be a very beneficial practice to incorporate into your life, your goals, your dreams.
  Hugs, Emily

Day 3 What to eat!?!

  Sunday is my dear husband's birthday. Because we don't go out on Sunday and we date once a week we decided that it would be fun to go to Wingers. But being committed to this 30 day raw till 4:00 then vegan after that I had to think outside of the box. We ordered the bucket of fries. Yes I did have some. Then my MAIN dish was their all you can eat dinner Salad. with a side of sautéed Onions, and Mushrooms, Guacamole, and  Salsa. It was pretty good. My original plan was to order one of their salads and just have the meat and cheese take off. Then I looked at the price and what was left. Ya, NO!!!! I was NOT paying $9.99 for lettuce, tomato, and olives with a dressing. It was the first time that I had ever gone out and tried to put together my own concoction. It was tricky but fun as well. I felt like I was doing a treasure hunt or doing one of those word finds.
  Well, I am in a hurry and I need to get dressed for a party. Which I will blog about later tonight. Hugs for now.

This is a picture of my husband. :0)

Day 2 Old habits Or Tastes are Sometimes a Hard Thing to Kick. But its OK!!!

This post I figured that I would add some pictures!!! If you are anything like I am I LOVE looking at pictures!!! This is my morning juice which had Mint, Cucumber, Romaine Lettuce, Beet, Half an Apple. This is what it looks like before I mix it all up. Mmmmm Right!?!

                                            This is what it looks like after I mix it up. Better!!!

LOL I had to add this picture of my son. After all it is the Halloween season right? He is pretty scary in this picture.

Let me tell you a little bit about my son. He is the sweetest boy you will ever meet. He opens the door for people. Whenever we go anywhere he will almost always open my car door for me then wait and make sure that I am in then close it for me as well. He was walking past our dear neighbors house and saw that she was on a ladder and went up there and held onto it for her. He just loves people and is an all around good kid.

He always wakes up early in the morning. He came down just after I had finished making my morning juice so I asked him if he would like to spend some time with me and have some of my juice. He said yes so I put some in my fancy glasses and put a cucumber on the rim and we had a good morning chat and had a healthy juice together. He is so funny He loved these pictures that I took of him being crazy.

This is my morning breakfast. And below as you can see the kids REALLY loved it as well. It doesn't look very good but it was WONDERFUL!!! The sauce was 5 Dates, Strawberries, Banana, Coconut Water, Chocolate Powder, Blend till SMOOTH. Then I chopped up more Bananas.

I know that the kids were acting a little silly but they really loved it and started to dip strawberries into the sauce.

Here is Sugar dipping her strawberry in the sauce. She is a little crazy about berries.

For snack I had 1.5 Plums. They are the huge ones.

Lunch I had another concoction that I made at my sisters house. It was half thawed Mangos, Raspberries, Truvia, 3 packets, Blended it with water until smooth. Then added more Mangos, Fresh Raspberries, Strawberries (Half Thawed) Then for a late snack I had cooked Spaghetti Squash with Pink Salt, & Smoked Paprika,

Sounds like I had a pretty good day right. Well, for dinner we were supposed to have spaghetti with home made Sauce. Fresh from the garden, blanched, peeled, and cooked down. Well, that kind of happened. But when you visit other people who live out of town you have to be flexible right? They had white noodles and french bread. I think my biggest down fall is french bread. I LOVE the stuff!!!!

I am embarrassed to say how much I had. But, if I am going to be truthful (Which I am) I have to spill the beans. I had 3 or 4 thick slices!!!! Probably half a loaf. Ugh!!! But like I said in my heading "and its OK". This is life and I am going to have weak moments. This is where I apply "Try 'Till you Win" the only way to fail is to give up all together. I wont give up AND I did stay vegan. Except what might have been in the noodles and the bread. I have no idea what might be in the bread but noodles do have egg. I didn't think about that until now. Hmmm. I guess the same applies. Tomorrow is another day and I will do better.

 This morning I went to the gym and did weights on my shoulders. It feels wonderful to be going in the mornings again. More on that later. For now, good night.

Day 1 Mostly Raw

  Today was the first day that I didn't eat anything with meat, or meat product in it. This is not my first attempt at going raw vegan. I do like the way that it makes me feel. I am not hungry and actually I need to get used to feeling full. I am so used to eating around 1200 calories that to eat around 2000+ is different.
  This is what I had today:
Pre-Breakfast:
  Veggie Juice- Beets w/ Tops, Ginger Root, Lemon, Cucumber, Half and Apple,
Breakfast:
  1/4 cup Pineapple, 1 Banana
Snack:
  Grapes about 2 Cups
Lunch
  2 Plums and Banana
Snack
  2 Bananas,
Dinner
2 1/2 Small-Medium Baked Potato w/Salsa, Salt, Pepper, Smoked Paprika.  
Salad w/Spinach, Carrots, Cabbage, Cucumber, Avocado, Tomato, Salsa.
1/3 Cup of Home made Chili w/ Beans, Tomato Diced (Caned), Peppers, Onions, Chili Powder, Sal

 I think that over all it was a good day. I do think that I over did it with the potato's. Good thing that there is always tomorrow.
 Like I said, "Try 'Til You Win"

   Exercise: I did 40 Minutes of weights. Working on Chest and Abs. Then 12 Minutes of Running. I was going to run longer but I hit the stop button on accident. Which was ok because I had to get home to make my children breakfast before they headed for school and before I started my day with Buddy. (My son)

Deciding To Try Something New With My "Diet"!!!!

  As I sit here and think about what I want out of life, where I long to head as to my health and where I have come from, I have decided to put my pictures up of myself at my heaviest and what I look like now. I will also journal for the next little while about my new goal. I want to get to my ideal weight and I also want to have a lot of energy. To accomplish this I will be eating a mostly raw, vegan, low fat, high carb "diet".
   Please be nice as we all have imperfections and we are all working to become better people.

Above: My starting place at 216lbs.

Not a whole lot of a change but here I was 194lbs. My hubby and I ran the haunted half marathon.

  I live by the law that "modesty is the best policy" however, I wanted to share that I still have a little bit to go before I hit my goal. With my shirt on it is not to bad. I have a few friends and family who think that I don't need to loose anymore weight. I am currently at 153.6lbs I have come a long way but I still have about 15-20lbs to go.

I get asked how I was able to lose most of my weight and I always give the easy fast answer. My Fitness Pal and going to the gym most days. Which is mostly true but I have also found some KEY things that we must do in order to make any real permanent changes. Which is a different post. But I did need to make a bold commitment to make some changes. I have been working on doing a 30 day raw challenge!!!

My plan is to do a LOW FAT,  High Carb, Vegan diet. Mostly raw.

I have done MANY "diets" in the past and have found success in most of them. The problem was that I didn't maintain the release of weight permanently. I want to not only achieve my goal and perfect weight for my frame but also to become extremely healthy!!! 

SO.... Here we go!!! Tomorrow I will be committing myself to a vegan, mostly raw low fat diet.

 You may be thinking "what is she talking about low fat, high carb, vegan?"

Here is what I have been doing for the last 2 days.

Breakfast: Juiced veggies with  little fruit. This is when I wake up to get my system going with amazing raw enzymes and minerals. When you juice your veggies your body can simulate into your bloodstream in 15 minutes!!! It makes it so that your body does not have to "sift" through the fiber to find the treasure your body needs to cleanse as well as use to feed your cells, blood, ect.

Veggies and herbs that I have been juicing include: Broccoli, Carrots (not a lot), Beets and the greens, Romaine Lettuce, Cabbage, Lemon, Celery, Ginger root, Mint, Cucumber, Peppers, Kale, Water Cress, Cilantro, Parsley, Radish. Just to name a few. Fruit that I put in it is usually half and apple.

Later when I feel hungry I will be eating fruit!!! In fact I will be eating a LOT of fruit until 4pm. As much fruit as I want. :0) No calorie counting as I have done in the past. If I am hungry I eat fruit. As much as I want. Half a Watermelon. Sure why not? Today I ate about half a Pineapple, 5-7 Bananas, 3 Pears, 3 large Plums,  1 Mango.

Tomorrow I will probably eat Grapes, Bananas, Nectarines, Plums, Strawberries, and anything else that I think sounds good. :0)

For dinner I think we will be eating Baked Potatos, with fresh Salsa. Maybe a Salad with veggies.

My goal is to write on this blog almost daily to let you know how things are going.

 Oh, I feel it important to let you know that I am planning on making this a life style if you want to know more about this way of eating please read this book called 80/10/10.

I will not be weighing myself for the 30 days. I have done some research and it is said that, at first from bloating, healing of the damage done by low calories, Processed Sugars, and many other things that we have done to hurt our system, it is normal to gain before releasing. So because of this I will not be stepping on the scale. So at the end of my 30 days I will post pictures and my numbers. 

Hope you feel free to follow my journey.