Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ category

Stress, IBS and Eating Raw

August 17th, 2010

So I’ve discovered the one caveat to eating raw, if you are just starting out  and suffer from IBS and stress is triggering an attack, large amounts of solid veggies and nuts is a bad and very uncomfortable idea….The stress started early last week, by tuesday night my stomach was in such distress I felt like dying….maybe the broccoli salad for lunch wasn’t the best idea….and like a well trained animal I made it worse by falling back on my old standbys of  eating just about anything…after all I already feel sick…what does it matter what I eat…. The stress thankfully is over today, but it is going to take a while to repair the damage.   Not sure what to eat at this point as just about everything produces gas which just aggravates the stomach pain especially if it is cold.  If I can make it through to the weekend I’ll try a juice & broth fast as it has helped in the past.  

Anyone have some nice soothing food ideas?

Well there is less than 2 months to go until the Royal Victoria Marathon.  I’ve been using the level 1 of the  treadmill trainer program to build up my distance.  I really like how the program has multiple parts.  I set up my mp3 to repeat the 20 & 30 second sections a couple of times and I seem to be able to avoid triggering the fibromyalgia pain.  Went and saw a kinesiologist (sp?) on the recommendation of my chiro and was told that a lot of the pain in my calves & shins is from fallen arches.  I’m going to get a pair of orthotics to see if that helps.  I would love to be able to run without pain…what a thought….

With the marathon in mind, my main goal this week is to get in 4 running sessions.  And now that the heat wave has broken, I’ll actually be able to get back on the treadmill and make the goal a reality this week…

Will keep you updated on the progress on reintroducing some veggies back into my diet….

The Wagon

July 16th, 2010

Okay, so I got three days of fresh pressed juices in for this week, and I ate greens for most of the day yesterday.  I had a liver booster twice and a flu fighter once.  Not too bad for jumping back on the wagon halfway through the week.   What I mean by that is that my “week” starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday.  Unfortunately for my  quest to eat for energy, I’ve taken off for the beach and a weekend of likely bad food choices, but as I mentioned in my comment to the blog post about moderation, “everything in moderation, including moderation.”

Oh, and on another note.  My friend Janet is working on Eating for Energy herself.  She just started this week.  She is having a bit of a hard time with the whole vegetable thing.  Any recipes you can offer up that will help a vegetable hater eat for energy would be greatly appreciated.

One step at a time here….

July 14th, 2010

Greetings from Sydney Australia!!!

OK, so here I am venturing into raw foods in a bigger way than ever before.  I have dabbled a bit with it in past – in fact right before my wedding I trimmed down and was looking the best & leanest I had ever done in my life….but that was nearly 8 years ago now….two kids, too much wine, cheese & restuarants it later….

Right now…

I am on week 4 and have done fairly well in sticking to the 80% raw goal. I am to stick to the Eating for Energy snacks pretty much all the time but working on 3 meals a day x 7 leaving me roughly with 4 meals a week that I can ‘play’ with as my free meals (or simply just enjoy those things I still dont think I can live without at this point).  I certainly have found it easier than I thought I would & find I am craving raw foods over non -raw previous craves!

I have even incorporated raw into meals for my family, although I do still find myself cooking most days something for kids and husband. But greens and vegies have always been big winners at my place so at least the transistion to partial raw on the plate has been easy enough.  

Wheres the warm food?

Biggest challlenge I have right now is that it is winter here in Sydney – although not as cold as our northern hemisphere friends it is pretty cold for us right now at 16 / 17 degrees each day….. sometimes I just want something warm to help warm me up….especially for dinner when it dark & colder – I have succumbed to a few bites here and there & roasted vegies with chickpeas on the weekend as one of my ‘free’ 20%  meals (it was soooo yummy)…but the last few days a bowl of cold raw soup has left me wishing it could be warmed up a bit first!

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

July 7th, 2010

Whoa… So lots of people in the northern hemisphere are experiencing a major heat wave right now. It is HOT—like “go out for ice cream” hot. Just because I’m eating a mainly raw vegan diet doesn’t mean that I’m going to miss out on the ice cream. No way. But I don’t want the dairy or the sugar or any of the other junk that goes into traditional ice cream.

What I want is this, and it’s made  of wholesome raw ingredients:

ice cream sundae

Frozen bananas

Raspberries

Cacao nibs

Yup. That’s it.

Frozen bananas make an incredible substitute for ice cream. I run them plain through my Champion juicer with the blank plate, but you can also make banana ice cream with a high-speed blender or food processor. If you need to add a little liquid to make the frozen banana blend, I suggest a bit of almond milk or coconut milk. A drop of vanilla extract is another nice touch.

What’s that—you’re a chocolate fan? Combine a sliced frozen banana (or two), a spoonful of cacao powder, and a bit of maple syrup (enough to blend smoothly). It’s delicious!

Stay cool, folks!

Is Sprouted Grain Bread Good?

June 28th, 2010

For many people, bread is simply bread. It is white and it comes from the grocery store. It is used for sandwiches and toast, and little else. It is brand name and cheaply prices, pre-sliced and the less time you take to actually read the ingredients, the better off you’ll be.

Of course, most people who eat a raw food diet, or even a somewhat healthy diet, would not touch that bleached white bread with a ten foot bread knife. It is full of chemicals and artificial everything, as is as close to a nutritional wasteland as you can find in the pastry section of a supermarket.

Some people will simply switch to a different kind of bread – be it rye, whole wheat, or some other variation. But instead of looking for something else in the grocery store to fill the place of that phony bread, why not go a completely different – and incredibly healthy – direction and try to make your own sprouted grain bread.

Of course, the first question people will ask, when told about sprouted grain bread, is not questions about the preparation, the cost or ever a description of what exactly such a bread would look like. No, the first question, inevitably, is the question of just how good would bread like this taste?

Is sprouted bread good? If you are talking taste, then the answer is yes. Instead of consuming a baked mass of processed and bleached wheat that offers very little in the way of flavor or texture, a slice of sprouted bread is like the difference between a light bulb and the sun. Sprouted breads can be made from a single source of sprouted grain if you want a particular flavor, or from a variety of germinated nuts and seeds if you want to experience a variety within every bite.

If you are asking if sprouted grain bread is good for you, the answer once again is yes. The average mass-produced loaf of bread offers little in the way of nutrients, unless the producer has added in a few vitamins after the fact to try to make their product “health conscious”. Raw sprouted breads, on the other hand, have all of the vitamins and nutrients found in the young plants used to produce the bread. None have been killed off in the cooking process, and nothing good has been bleached away. Sprouted breads contain living food enzymes to aide in digestion and absorption; fiber to keep the body regular; and for those who suffer from wheat or gluten allergies, there are many forms of sprouted breads that can be eaten without fear of causing a negative reaction.

And if you are asking if sprouted grain bread is good for everyday use, the answer is a very big yes. This sort of homemade bread can be used for anything you would normally use bread for. You can make your own sandwiches for lunches, serve it with pasta at dinner, or load it up with homemade nut butter for a tasty snack any time of the day.