Raw Food Challenge- Raw Fu!

2009-12-31T17:14:00.000-08:00

Wow it's the last day of 2009! Doesn't that make ya feel your age? ;) But it's all good. Here's hopin' for a better year in 2010.

As for my update of my raw fu challenge, at the moment I'm pretty insanely busy with school, work and well, holidays right now. But I'm just stickin' to the vegan thing right now. Once the weather warms up, I'll prolly switch back to the raw food diet, but honestly, Canadian winters....dude, it's freakin' cold. Not an excuse I know, but it's difficult to find fresh fruit and veggies that aren't roots that pretty much need to be cooked, not to mention the cost- I'm not even gonna go there. I'd like to use the raw food diet as something to detox with rather than as a lifestyle. I'm still dealing with the fact that I'm lactose intolerant and can't even really 'cheat' with cheese because well... google lactose intolerance and you'll see what I mean. So that's my story. 2009 was a busy year full of really insane financial stresses and my school's strike which began in Nov. 2008 and ended in Feb. 2009 was just another worry. I'm hoping to find more inner peace this coming year, and perhaps get involved in more alternative health. I'm also in a club at school (my friends got me involved) called the CSSDP- Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policies. Really interesting, educational stuff. So that's my story of 2009; certainly there is more, but those are the highlights. Best health to everyone out there in the new year!

Pretty unremarkable...

2009-07-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

So I've been looking at other blogs and noticing how beautifully designed, regularly updated and informative they are. Mine's not nearly as upscale as all that, it's pretty unremarkable. I thought maybe I'd attempt to remedy that through a small update. Not sure if it'll do anything, but I know some action is generally better than a permanent state of inertia.

I am participating in the Raw Food Rehab experiment being conducted by Penni Shelton. She's a wonderful member on Raw Fu, as well she put together the aforementioned private site where she is holding her experiment. We're half-way into the experiment and I still struggle with eating more raw than cooked, that's my biggest challenge. I'm someone who needs to get rid of everything I will potentially eat that is not pertinent to my health. Unfortunately, living at home with my parents and sisters...well, let's just say it's not possible to 'get rid' of everything.

Also, I am a writer and an artist, and am currently competing in JulNoWriMo , but not writing an original story at the moment. I did compete in NaNoWriMo last November. I've found the chatline on JulNoWriMo to be an invaluable source of help and guidance. So far I'm about 6K in for my word count, quite a bit behind the 14K that I ought to be at by now lol. I was thinking of throwing my fanfiction which takes place in the House MD universe into a blog for some feedback. It's not being edited whilst I write as that sort of discourages the actual completion of it; we want to write the 50,000 word novel in its entirty before we go back and edit. But I'm kind of allergic to poor spelling, grammar, etc.. so I often correct what I see needs correcting every word I write. That probably doesn't make sense.

On the job-front, well, let's just say a bleek economy is not exactly the most productive for jobs...plus I think I wear some sort of invisible repellant to potential employers, specifically during interviews. It's depressing so I'm trying not to think about it. I have a couple of babysitting gigs lined up, luckily I'm pretty good with kids as I grew up in a household that a daycare has been run out of for about ten years. And I've got three younger sisters that I've had to mind since I was about ten years old; though obviously not anymore.

Wow, I am boring. Okay, so I wanna post my story with a full disclaimer, obviously it being a fanfiction means I do not own the characters or original plot and don't intend to make any money off of it's creation or online posting. I kinda want to post some photographs; I'll be taking photography next year in school as my studio art credit (one of) and I took quite a few this past week and weekend at my family holiday spot. Mostly I like to photograph people but I took some nature shots too.

So yeah, that's me right now.

York U Artist?

2009-05-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

Alrighty... so officially, and this is HUGE for me simply because I've been wanting this since before I graduated high school about four years go, I am going to be taking Visual Arts at York University (where I am now)!!!! :D So September I'll be back in town (North York- Toronto basically) to study Professional Writing AND Visual Arts!!! :)

So what's happenin' with the raw food stuffs? I should like to say it's going ok at the moment... however, I know I haven't eaten as well as I was when I first began. I need to kick my ass into gear and get back into doing things more seriously. I notice some weight has come back...of course, it hasn't helped that I've had a crapload of school stuff going on (major cramage after the Strike ended bahh >.>) and well combine that with stress and the reduced number of fitness classes on, both from not being able to attend and having fewer classes offered simply because it's considered the 'off time' during the exam period. Anywho... moving back to the 'rents place for a bit til I find work and can come back to my home in TO. I love it here so much. :)

Plans to change what's been happening food-wise?
- taking part in a challenge held by Penni as she is writing a book based on the experiment and results
- consuming mono-meals to detox

Exercise?
- taking part in the drop in step and kickboxing classes my mom's been talking about (until I come back to York, once I return here I'll be able to go to my regular fitness classes)
- walk-jogging and rollerblading at the beach
- kickboxing dvd
- coming up with my own routines with one of my instructor friends' CDs
- yoga and pilates

Emotionally?
- cafe visits to sip coffee and be on my own or with a friend
- talking to friends
- therapy sessions if things get too much whilst I'm visiting family
- alternative places to stay
- call centre # just in case
- doing art and writing, or journalling
- exercising, walking at the beach or just sitting there
- focussing on other things
- finding a job
- send written articles to magazines and maybe artwork
- positive self-talk

Life gets really difficult sometimes so I need to come up with alternative ways to deal with those situations. I know now I can't afford to let my mental health be compromised by anything, no matter if it's finances, difficult people who can only lay blame, my living location, etc.

Day 46 of Raw Fu Challenge! :D

2009-03-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

Today I've been feeling the most inspired to eat mostly fruit and some greens. Usually I force myself to eat a salad and then wind up eating something cooked (like a root veggie or a rice noodle stir-fry packed with veggies, albeit cooked). So I've decided to see about eating more fruit today. It's strange, you'd think I'd be craving tons of salad but I really don't. I'm a bit tired of it to be honest. Might have something to do with what I put on it but I really don't know.

I usually throw organic mixed baby greens, with spinach, green and red peppers, cucumbers, sometimes tomatoes, a bit more than a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, pinch of sea salt, and pepper. *shrug*

So instead today I ate:
a large green smoothie (2 bananas, large handful of parsley and spinach, 4 kiwi fruits, 1 navel orange)
3 bananas
1/2 red papaya
1 apple
cup of grapes
tea with raw honey (yes I know tea isn't raw...)lol
lots of water... and yeah...

exercise: 45 mins of TBC (total body conditioning) class

Mostly today though I relaxed, worked out, watched a few vids on youtube about the 80/10/10 diet which I am dying to do. I am willing to try it on my own, but I'd really like to take a look at Dr. Douglas Graham's book. I've only eaten like 1300 odd calories today but to be frank, I'm not really hungry. Anyway, I love being raw. Digestion seems to be pretty good too. Although sometimes after eating fruit...eugh a bit smelly if you know what I mean. Not sure how to fix that though. I'm sure it'll get better though. Maybe it's just a matter of not eating the fruit when it's not exactly ripe or its over ripe? Not sure about that. Still learning and loving it. :) Mood's still way up, energy is awesome too. Think the caffeine might be killing it a bit so taking that out's been hard simply because it's around me. I'm in classes during the week and you go outside, and run back in to avoid the deep chill (although it's getting better temp wise) and cave into a craving for coffee. So yeah, challenges that I still need to overcome.

OH! And I have wonderful news. My sister's decided to incorporate more raw food into her diet, after seeing how well I've been fairing and having some health problems of her own that she wants to rid herself of. My other sisters and mom have been eating the green smoothies almost daily for a couple weeks now. :) I'm glad for them, that's for sure.

Anyway, will update in the future... I don't actually have anything I feel that's really important to say to people...except try it before you judge it. Raw food that is. Even if it's only a little. ;)

Day 32

2009-02-24T23:29:00.001-08:00

I've been posting on rawfu.com lately and have neglected my own blog here! Well I'm gonna stick up my day 30's blog post from Feb. 22/09 just to give you all an idea of where I'm at. Oh besides everything, eating too big of a salad (I've learned) makes me quite nauseous. AND I've been snagging in bread in my diet that's otherwise mostly raw...so...yeah and my right eye swelled up the other night, my throat felt all stuffed up as did the rest of my sinuses. It was really unpleasant. Could be either wheat or honey, not sure. :P So I'm on a mission to discover what happened there and will be getting an allergy test this Friday which is coincidently, my birthday! :D

Oh and here's today's menu:
b- green smoothie -spinach, orange, banana, water, ice
- peach, 1/2 cup of blackberries
l- very large salad with green leaf lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, spinach, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 red pepper, vinegar, sea salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil (couldn't eat it all so had some more at 'dinner' time)
s- tea, dates, shredded coconut, honey, raw cacao nibs, dairy milk chocolate (that time of the month) , tims coffee with 1/4 of it hot chocolate
d- bit of the salad but not really hungry
s- 2 bananas

1 hour at the gym today because I wasn't in the mood to go earlier- really cramping.

Day 30
my gosh time is just flying isn't it?? :P

well today's delicious menu of raw included:

b- live oatmeal smoothie (banana, water, soaked steel cut oats, dates, honey) over a handful of blackberries

l- pita with huge heaping of veggies and a spread of regular spicy hummus (veggies: alfalfa sprouts, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, green leaf lettuce, fresh garlic)

s- pita with hummus; peach; apple (organic); banana (organic); raw sesame seeds; two cups of orange pekoe tea with raw honey; coffee with sugar (no milk this time!)

d- small salad (remains of veggie pita) with extra virgin olive oil, pepper and white vinegar
- cooked 1/2 of butternut squash with raw honey and fresh garlic on it

exercise: went for a walk today... been working on an essay so needed to get out for a bit.. :)

So that's my story lol. I'm 'Christine' on rawfu.com ;)

Day 3??!!!!

2009-01-25T20:01:00.000-08:00

Day three. Well had two green smoothies today! (Go me!) Er but unfortunately, Sunday at the parents' house means Sunday dinner...so bring on the cooked veggies, stuffing (sans meat) and pie... Dear gods. No excuses here. I figured today wouldn't be so great and I suspect things won't be much simpler till I head back to my place about two hours away from here. *sigh* So that'll be tomorrow. At least now I've got a blender and some food and will be going shopping again (for more organics and gonna see if I can get some of that nutritional yeast for B-12). I still wasn't well today (sick last night so I didn't go out with the family for my mom's birthday), but I'm really hoping tomorrow I don't feel like utter crap and wind up consuming painkillers like they were candy. Yeah, I know.

I don't feel too bad knowing I was kind of expecting today to be sort of... ugh crappy I think but at the same time I wish I had some sort of Warrior Woman Iron willpower. Being around the unhealthy foods really does me in. Hence I do not keep any junk in my apartment, aside from sugar for my coffee/tea, jam for toast and syrup for pancakes (these aren't everyday things mind, well coffee and tea I'll admit I have a sort of addiction to them...and sugar, clearly).

Bahhhhhhhh. Anyway, I'm ordering Dr. Douglas Graham's book to give me some guidance and such.. See what happens there. If the results aren't so great, then I'll be looking to Angela Stokes. I've been reading one of the free e-books she's got on her website and it's been really good. Very down to earth and honest about the culprits behind weight gain and major health problems- refined sugars and processed foods. Obviously cooked foods aren't great either but many weight loss programs that eliminate the processed foods and refined sugars can bring favourable results... It makes sense really. I did Weight Watchers before and it did give me some success but it was temporary as I would over-indulge on an occasion and feel ashamed to record what I ate and therefore wouldn't count it into my daily caloric consumption. Downfall.

So... that's that. Done with the past attempts, I'm ready to change my life for the better to make a happier, healthy me that doesn't give up easily. One good thing about therapy, they teach you to accept your emotions and not suppress them by eating or being self-destructive in some other way. Right so anyway, cheers to tomorrow: a much better day! :)

Breakfast: 2 glasses of green smoothie (water, 3 large leaves of green leaf lettuce, 1 apple, 1 orange, handful of spinach).

Lunch: cookies... :( bad I know. Cooked cookies..ugh. Water.

Dinner: cooked food again. cup of turnip, cup of mashed potatoes, 2 roasted potatoes, 2 cups of stuffing.

Snack: slice of triple layer mud pie.

yes, pitiful. Mum's birthday. Family visiting. BaHHHHHHHHHH.

Day 2 Raw

2009-01-24T17:36:00.000-08:00

Right so today wasn't great...by any stretch of the imagination and this computer is underlining every single word as if it were spelt wrong...for some reason. Anyway, I digress. It was bad because I realize why I binged but at the same time...ugh...I'm not impressed with myself.

So this morning I had a green smoothie made with an apple, orange, handful of spinach and a cup of water. Had some water throughout the day whilst going shopping for organic produce, raw organic tahini sauce, etc. and purchasing a blender. It wasn't until I got back home that all hell broke loose.

Well firstly, I ate a salad with the tahini sauce which was ok but not great. I added some lemon juice to it, olive oil, salt and pepper and in the end snuck in some spicy hummus on the lettuce and spinach. Then I put them between two slices of sprouted grain bread and tried to eat it all. Then I started feeling really full and not so great. Woo... then surprise surprise, hello Miss. Flow. Wasn't too impressed and then foraged for some chocolate (a half a cup of melted chocolate and peanut butter chips) and some ketchup flavoured chips. I pretty much kicked my own ass for it later in the bathroom.

Anyway, so yeah, not a great start and I didn't find 80/10/10 like I wanted over at the health food store, Goodness Me! or at Indigos (bookstore) so I may have to order it online via Amazon. Bugger.

It's also my mom's birthday this weekend, tomorrow in fact, so she'll be cooking and serving a tripple layer mud cake or something or other... my dad made it so it'll prolly be delicious but it's not raw. :( I can't wait til I can start making raw desserts. Oh and the pop and coffee. Srsly problematic. Pop not so bad if it's not around, but coffee..oh dear gods, I'd cross a mountain to get some. Luckily I did get this replacement coffee stuff but it's decaf and something-mocha or other. I'll give it a shot anyway.

Wish me better luck for tomorrow.

Going RAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

2009-01-23T20:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is true. I, Christine, am going raw for REAL for the next hundred days or so... Well the plan is, to follow the Raw Fu Challenge at rawfu.com. I've been inspired by so many wonderful people on youtube and those well-known people in the raw food world who's lives have changed so drastically and for the better because of raw food.

For some background info on me, I am a vegetarian. I have been a meat and fish-free vegetarian since April 2007 after biting into a particularly nasty chicken wing that nearly made me hurl. It was a terrible experience I can't say I'd like to repeat. Ever. I haven't touched red meat (read: beef) since I was about 14 years old (I'm now 21). Pork sort of went by the wayside around the time chicken did, maybe slightly before, I can't recall now. So now a vegetarian, I did encounter the wonders of raw food back in the fall of 2007 but didn't really commit to it. Now, I live on my own as I am a university student completing a degree in Professional Writing, so I make my own food (technically I have been for a long time, my parents weren't fond of making two separate meals) but I started trying to force more beans down my throat since I'm so terribly addicted to whole wheat bread and whole wheat pasta (I don't care for the white crap unless it's fetuccine alfredo, but that's another story...)

Anyway, so now I've decided, on behalf of the wonderful inspiration of the Raw Fu challenge, that I would like to give it my all this time around and I WILL succeed at going mostly raw. I'd like to be 100% raw, and I will give it a shot, but I won't be too upset if I only make it to 80 or 90%.

I techincally started this evening as I returned to my parents house to visit and concocted a green smoothie made from a handful of spinach, a navel orange, an apple (red delicious I think), a tsp. of hemp seed protein and about a cup of water. It was really tasty to be honest, although I probably should have blended it a bit longer, I had a few chunks of spinach to chew on lol. Lovely image, I know.

Right now, tomorrow I am going to the health food store, Goodness Me! to pick up some 'Super foods' (ie. maca, cacao, bee pollen, and anything else I can get my hands on that isn't going to cost me an arm and a leg). Also I want to get some organic produce as I don't have any, neither do my parents...it's expensive but I think I'm worth it.

Fitness-wise, I worked out everyday this week, minus today, but one hour on Monday and then two hours Tues., Wed., Thurs. So I do pretty well for physical activity (it's really just fun for me... not so much a chore or anything). Plus I get to socialize, which I don't really do much of.

School: it's on strike, so I'm a little irritated...well more than just a little but I digress. I've decided to take my future and my education into my own hands and I will be taking a fitness instructor course in March in order to receive my certification. I am also going to be looking for freelance opportunities and I will find a couple that will be productive and bring in some income.

Well, that's all for now, I'm feeling a bit hyper and pretty good to be honest. I'm cold though, it probably has something to do with the blasted fan and the cold winter weather. Trouble with living in Canada, it's freaking cold in the winter, I don't know how I'm going to hand the lack of hot soups- that might be an issue. But I'm going to focus on the positives and make my insides so they match my outsides... er...sort of. See, whatever's going on inside reflects your life outside (situations and such) so if I honour and treat myself well then the same things on the outside will be attracted to that. So yeah lol, there you go.

Go rawwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!

p.s. yes, I love Therese de Wolf aka RawDownUnder on youtube!!!!!!!!! She's awesome! :D