Celebrating the New Year of the New Me!

I am ready for big things in 2010 and have started out the New Year living my intentions.

January 1st, I fasted on water with the lovely folks at the Naked Food Cafe. I have been enjoying lovely fruits and greens since then. I even served tater tots, a long-time cheat food, to my family today without popping a single one in my mouth. And I didn't feel disappointed at all. They actually kinda stink.

I got a cheapy little electric orange juicer yesterday and we made our first yummy OJ today. My 10 year-old set it up for me and read the directions, and he and the girls did a lot of the juicing while I made the rest of the dinner. Fun and delicious! It was easy to go through 8 lbs. of oranges in one meal, however, which brought up some of my fears about money and the price of feeding my family quality food. Deep breath. Letting it go for right now.

After only 3 days without salt and other junk, I am already feeling a lot less achey and bloated than I usually do. I had fun rebounding vigorously for 30 minutes, as I recovered from my respiratory illness much more easily. However, I have had a little bit of trouble with the timing and quantity of my food, so I am undereating and a bit hungry. Not to worry. I have ripe bananas and frozen raspberries, so I will have a nice big meal for breakfast and get back on track. I also have lots of Barhi dates. Mmmm.

After some research, including this article by Don Bennett, I decided that our family are all going to take a Vitamin D supplement. I am not thrilled about this, but have decided that it is the best we can do for our health in our current location. I have been dreaming a lot about our future tropical paradise where I will grow fruit trees and bask in the glorious rays of the sun year-round. (Hear that, universe?)

I am so happy to have my family and friends, especially the lovely online raw community I have found through this blog, and to celebrate the reawakening of my hope and joy in this lovely New Year.

Cleansing continues

Ester Resting on Arm by Laura Smith

Felt "ill" today. Actually, I didn't feel any strong symptoms; I just felt like I couldn't move for any reason. I slept pretty much all day and got up about 4 p.m. It is so fortunate that my husband is here to be with the children. He also harvested some cabbage and kale for me to sell tomorrow at market.

I should have probably fasted to allow for more healing to take place, but I ate anyway. At about 7 p.m., I had a very large hard ball of a bowel movement. Hmmmm, maybe that's what my body was working on cleansing.

I am battling feelings of helplessness and depression. Can I conquer my flaws? (Or is that a fundamentally flawed way of viewing myself?)

Today's Raw Food

About 5 p.m. 3 C. honeydew melon, 3 C. watermelon

About 7 p.m. About 12 C. watermelon, 2 cups raw peas

About 10:30 p.m. 6 Medjool dates, 1 oz. raw cashews

About 1550 calories, C-P-F 80-7-13

Is Greenmama Crazy?

Yes, folks, that's exactly what you think it is... jars of urine in my lovely leaded glass window. Following Jgunn's advice, I have started sprinkling my urine around my garden in an attempt to discourage the groundhogs and the rabbits who are wreaking havoc on all of my tender greens. Is it working? Well, if it's working on some of the critters, I don't know. But it's not working on all of them. Maybe my raw vegan pee isn't stinky enough to scare them. Or maybe I just don't have all right places "watered"--it is a pretty big garden! Pretty soon, I'm going to have to start camping out there! (By the way, before I get any more tips, I have already tried moth balls, Irish Spring soap, and other deterrents. Next year, I plan to invest in a fence.)

Yesterday, I did rest and fast as planned, although I chose to break my fast in the evening and eat a bit. I slept in until 12:30 in the afternoon! I haven't done that (except when very ill) since I've had children. I am feeling better.

Today, I spent a solid 6 hours weeding my corn. I wish I could say I was finished. I also had a fun time picking red and black raspberries with my daughters and planting beans with my son.

This weekend, my husband and I discovered that our son had been convincing neighbor children to give him junk food and he had a major stash hidden in his room. After talking with him, we decided to institute a reward system. If he is able to go one week without eating junk food, he will get a Transformer. He is very excited. I am not sure this is the right way to go, but it seems more productive than our earlier attempts, which included long talks and grounding him when he broke the rules. He understands why we eat the way we do and he agrees with it, but he is just simply compulsively drawn (one might say, addicted) to white flour and sugar.

Today's Food

10 a.m. 4 cups iceberg lettuce, 4 blended bananas over the top
12 p.m. 3 cups red and black raspberries, while picking
5:30 p.m. Some purslane while weeding in the garden, 1 Greek fig (a present)
7 p.m. 4 cups iceberg lettuce, 1 cup raspberries, 8 bananas (4 blended for salad dressing, 4 blended for "ice cream")

Approx. 1700 calories

*I have not lost any weight since June 5th, people. I need to get back on the exercise wagon ASAP!

Transition Slowly?

I am reposting the above picture of my beloved junk heap because it went to junkyard heaven this week. The final straw was a major gas leak. So, Greenmama's family just got greener now that we're down to a single vehicle. Less money for insurance should mean more banana money, too!

I recently joined Nora Lenz's Raw School Yahoo group and have enjoyed reading through old posts this evening. One of her early teachings that intrigues me is her suggestion that transition foods, such as dehydrated foods, nuts, and non-optimal combinations, are a good idea for many people to use in the beginning. Her argument is that many people try to go to a 100% optimal raw diet too fast, and then give up quickly when the going gets tough. (I don't know if she still advocates this... the posts I was reading were from 2005.)

My first reaction is to reject this option... why continue to poison the body unnecessarily? I know that dehydrated foods are downright difficult for the body to process and salt and onion powder and cayenne are basically excitotoxins (emphasis on the toxins). If my intention is to adopt an optimal diet, why not just DO IT and not look back?

On the other hand, Nora's approach certainly would allow me to not beat myself up today for again indulging in those darn Sprouted Salad Crunchies, that I promised that I WOULD NOT eat again after my discomfort 2 weeks ago. The question is why. After thinking about this for awhile, I think I am trying to numb myself from feeling the fear and pain of making so many "radical changes" and having many decisions and anxieties about the way forward for me and my family in many areas of our life.

In the short term, I am thinking about lending my dehydrator to a friend and buying some dates. The middle road?

Tomorrow, I plan to rest and read in bed for much of the day and fast. If the last time I ate like this was any indication, I will probably not be feeling well.




Today's Eating (and eating and eating and eating)



7:30 A couple of tablespoons of Sprouted Salad Crunchies
9:30 5 bananas, 1 small head bok choy
12:00 4 bananas blended over a lot of Four Seasons and Black-seeded Simpson lettuce
1-2 p.m. About 3 cups of black raspberries while picking
4 p.m. About 1 1/2 cups of Sprouted Salad Crunchies, 1 avocado
6 p.m. About 1 cup of bok choy with a bit of lime juice
8:30 p.m. A banana "shake" with 4 bananas



Approx. 2200 calories

Detox or "cleansing"

Picture from www.herbsforhealth.com

I am finally experiencing the dreaded detox that everyone tells you about. I have had four days of acidic nasal discharge, sore throat and fatigue. On The Path of Health list, we have been encouraged to use the word "cleansing" rather than detox, because the connotation is positive. I am trying to stay positive. My symptoms are telling me that my body is cleaning house and I am happy that it is doing so.

Of course, part of the problem is that I have been "too busy" to rest. (Of course, it's just that I haven't been making rest a big enough priority.) So, I've been cheating on my sleep, and generally just working myself to the point of exhaustion.

Now my body is DEMANDING that I pay attention. Today, I have really felt awful, and I'm finally taking the time to really rest. The most strenuous thing I've done is read blogs and sort through blueberries. Actually, I stayed in bed until 1 p.m.

I felt that maybe I should fast, but was conflicted since I am breastfeeding my active 2 year-old and do not want to jeapordize my milk supply. I visited Dr. Graham's VegSource Forum and he advised me to not fast more than 36 hours, but to monoeat and REST. I waited until 4 p.m. to eat, and then ate watermelon to the point of satiation--about 12 cups. What a wonderful resource his forum is--I encourage anyone to go there with questions.

I plan to rest as much as possible tomorrow, but Saturday is Farmer's Market, and my partner must be away, so there's no avoiding getting there.

However, I must say, that I do feel much better than I did this morning. So, we can hope.