Week 2 - Day 5.....

I was planning out my day today and thinking about me being on day 12 of this new eating lifestyle. It dawned on me that while it was good for me to write out a food list on a recent post, that maybe I should write out a step by step of what goes in my mouth for 24hrs.  Maybe it can help someone else as well as help me when I look back on things. So here is today. I know it is boring but.....

-Started the day at 5:30am (not my preferred choice. It is part of being Mom.)  Sipped away a 16 oz. glass of water while getting everyone ready for their different things.

-7:30am Now that my glass of water is empty I can have a cup of coffee. I don't allow myself to put anything else into my body until I have kick started it with water.

-8:30am was time to try my new blender. I did a whole apple (minus the core) with 3 oz. Activia yogurt and 2 oz. orange juice. Then worked on a second 16oz. of water.

-12:30pm found me very hungry. I tried to eat my left over salad from dinner last night but I can say without doubt that wilted salad with day old dressing is too gross to make myself eat. So I cut up some broccoli, 3 baby bell peppers and 1/2 a cucumber. For dessert I munched a handful of raw almonds. Also had another 16 oz. of water.
*note to self...I have never ever liked nuts in my life but WOW! Raw almonds are really good. I wonder if my taste buds are changing that much already. I set some in water to sprout and I am anxious to see how they are later.

-4:30pm-ish I had a string cheese while making dinner. We had company over so I made a couple of chicken pot pies and a huge salad with all kinds of fixings. I used butter lettuce and dressed it up with carrots and cucumbers. Then I put out serving bowls of avocado, tomato, bell pepper, edemame and cranberries. 

-6:30pm We officially had dinner. I wasn't attracted to the pot pies. Well okay, they did look appealing but I didn't feel the least bit like filling my belly with them. The veggies and my glass of water called to me and I filled up happily.
*note: Our guests did not scoff at the idea of me only eating veggies. I remember when I used to diet and it was torture to have company over and not be able to eat the same foods. All of the emotional pressure....and I put it on all by myself. Tonight was so different though; so very easy.

-11:45pm Earlier in the evening while everyone else over filled on Tillamook ice cream, I chewed a couple of honey sticks. Now I am getting ready for bed with a handful of almonds and no regrets.

I am looking over my day and thinking I really didn't eat a ton of food and I feel quite happy. I wonder if there is a guideline of how much I am supposed to consume. I don't mean like a list of things to check off but more like things I should make sure to eat first in the day. For now I still think that might be over thinking it for me. Ultimately, I think I should just listen to my stomach and it says "full" so I am not going to worry about it.

It has been a good day.
Tomorrow is my Nana's 85th birthday and we are surprising her with a party here. I should get to bed so that I can enjoy getting ready for the fun.

Week 2 - Day 2.....

My mom was asking me the other day what exactly I am eating and how I get through a day. So I thought I would share my current list of foods that is posted on my refrigerator.  This list is subject to change as I do my eating and shopping but it is the basics and will help you get an idea of what I am doing.

Dairy & Travel Foods
string cheese, activia yogurt, honey sticks, fruit cups

Fruits
pineapple, apples, pears, mango, avocado, tomatoes, bananas, dried prunes, dried mango mixed with berries, dried cherries and cranberries

Veggies
carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, edemame, broccoli, lettuce, chard

I also usually have a bowl of Kashi cereal each day that is very high in fiber and protein. I started out using soy milk but found that my usual skim milk has more and less of the things I am looking for in a milk product without the larger price.

There really is too much to eat in one day and my biggest decisions now are "What do I want to enjoy next?"

I know there are tons of cookbooks out on raw foods recipes but right now a basic plate is all I have interest in. When I want to get wild and special I mix a cup of fruit in wit my yogurt and I am quite satisfied. 
Then of course we can't forget the coffee that I let myself have every day. I have read so many different things that either say it is good for you or bad for you. I have decided for now that it is what you make of it just like anything else. As long as I only have a cup or two a day and I feel good then I am not going to worry about it.

The biggest deal is to drink WATER.  Always our bodies need water but especially with this detox thing right now for me. I am working at giving my body all the help it can get. If I am putting foods in to clean my system but not giving it water to flush it out then it will just make these headaches last longer.

 ~~~~~

Hubby took me out to dinner tonight and wanted me to explain why I am eating the way I am. Poor guy. I never told him what I was going to do. I just did it. I figured if I explained myself before hand then I would mentally set myself up for too much self judgement and fail before ge4tting started. I know I am twisted that I feel better keeping an online truth journal but am too scared to tell my home family.

He was very supportive and even ordered a salad right along with me. He is starting to see changes in me as well even though it has only been such a short time. He says I haven't been snoring the last few nights. I find that interesting because I was just thinking my sinuses feel more clear than they have in quite a long time.

I have to confess that I was pretty emotional tonight. I had received something in the mail that made me a swirl of mixed feelings I consequently willingly chose to eat 3 of the dinner rolls with my salad.I know it is not the end of the world and I am only human. It is okay to be extravagant at times. I just don't want to flip some imaginary switch in my head that clouds my thinking and getting me to feel like eating raw foods is some sort of twisted jail term.  It is healthier and tastes better. I did notice that those rolls didn't taste as ravenously amazing as they did the last time.

This was a longer post. It helped me to air things out so thank you. I hope in some way it helps you too.

Have a blessed and amazing day!

Day 5.....

Here I am sitting in the living room at 10pm at night watching a movie with my family and chewing on a honey stick.  It has been a good day today. It is quite a novel experience to learn to throw a few healthy snacks in my purse as I head out the door for errands. Until this past week it was my pattern to buy a candy bar....or two while out and about.

 For the record, my main meals today were as follows...
Breakfast: cheese
Lunch: pineapple, prunes, yogurt
Dinner: huge salad with cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper, broccoli, sunflower seed and cheese
Snacks throughout my day was a banana, a tea from Starbucks and a couple of honey sticks

 It is all so different from a few short days ago when crackers and cookies were my constant fill. But I am having fun and feeling good.

Thank You God!

5 days down and 2 more to go.

Day 4....

Here I sit at 11pm with a content belly and a full day behind me.
I didn't plan out the day quite so well but chose not to give up on myself.
I had the day off today from daycare and that made me want to be lazy. It wasn't until the afternoon when I was running errands on my way to pick up Puddin' from school that I realized I hadn't eaten more than a banana all day (along with coffee and water).  I decided to pull into a local smoothie shop for nourishment to make my tummy settle. Wow so many selections to choose from! I picked a concoction that promised to be only mixed fruits with ice and made it a large. Yum!

I didn't think through dinner very well for my family either. Thankfully our freezer is stocked right now. I toasted up a box of frozen popcorn shrimp and made smaller side salads for Hubby and Puddin'. I myself had a huge dinner salad with butter lettuce (my favorite), carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes.

I have to confess that I did allow myself to eat not 1, not 2 but 3 of the small popcorn shrimp while I was fixing plates.  It was quite a temptation to have made something like shrimp which is a favorite of mine. I know that it's not the end of the world to eat it and only three at that.  I just don't want to allow myself to start throwing things in my mouth with excuses all the time.  A little bite here and a little sample there is what got me to this point to begin with.

 But the positives.....no candy, no bread, I refused the chocolate chips cookies as well as the soda and popcorn offered to me at the furniture store.
And I chose well with my "fast food".
And I don't feel the need to beat myself up and give up for not having a perfect record. Now THAT is progress.  Thank You God!

Day 4 is complete and 3 more to go.

Day 3...

 It has been a busy and intense day but I can proudly say I was successful in eating only the things on my list today. I have to admit that I had waves of temptation while visiting my mom today. Food for me is associated so much with memories and habits and emotional crutches. I wasn't even hungry while visiting but had to really mentally talk myself through the idea that wanting to go to her candy jar for chocolate or crunch on something was only a habit thing and not because I needed it.

 Tonight I am feeling a bit hungry. I am not sure if it is because my body is starting to wake from the shock of not being filled with junk all the time or if it is because I was so on the go that I didn't eat quite as much as I have the last 2 days. I feel really tired but I think that is because I took care of my niece for almost 2 days and she slept in her travel crib by my bed last night. (wow I had forgotten how much energy I had and needed as a young mom with my own little babies).

What was on my eating list today? I know I did a couple of servings of Kashi cereal and a couple of servings of yogurt with a peach. I shared a couple of bananas with Angel-girl and snacked on things like carrots, cucumbers, prunes and cherries.  I guess I didn't do good on my veggie supply today.  But I never shoved  into my mouth the chocolate chip cookies or cheesy ritz crackers that were on display at tonight's meeting so I will happily pat myself on the back as I get ready for bed.

Thank you God for your encouragement and confidence in me as I walk this journey.

Day 3 is complete and 4 days left to go.

 

Day 2.....

 Here I am at 10:08pm and I feel that despite the crazy events of the day, I succeeded in doing well.
Okay, actually I did put a 1/4 of a saltine cracker in my mouth before I realized what I was doing while feeding my niece lunch....but I think we will not break out the whip of correction just yet.

So what exactly does my day look like when my tummy says "fill 'er up"?
This morning I started my day with a glass of water and then chased it down with a banana. Coffee was my next fly by and gave me an emotional "good girl you can do this" feeling.  With caring for my 16 month old niece throughout the day I have to admit that my food choices are not in a mental order of remembering. But I can say for sure that I did things like peaches and yogurt, carrots and tomatoes, prunes and cherries. Then tonight for dinner I had an apple and a big green salad with carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers.  That along with a couple measured bowls of Kashi cereal and soy milk made my day basically.

I can feel changes happening in my body. I had a little bit of a headache today but once I drank more water it went away. I think the biggest difference so far is my digestive tract. Nothing I want to go into any detail about here but definitely different, slightly uncomfortable and yes embarrassing.

Day 2 is complete and 5 days to go.