Our first raw Thanksgiving!

Our breakfast fruit salad. :o) We ate this during the Macy's parade. The ingredients were my oldest daughter's idea, except the pomegranate, that was my addition.
Marinated portabello mushrooms! YUM!
The cranberry salad from Alissa's book p298
Marinated crimini mushrooms for the kids.
Alissa's mock turkey loaf with the sauce on the side. p 393 YUM!
Maraw's southern corn nut dressing. This was everyone's favorite!!
Maraw's pumpkin pie. This was yummier than any cooked pumpkin pie, seriously!

It was a success! Our first holiday without the traditional dead food! Freedom!!!!!

King Vita-Mix!

I forgot to update about what my surprise was! A Vita-Mix! The king of all blenders, with a motor as powerful as a lawnmower!! I've wanted one for so long. And it was a surprise!

I was going to have to do the 3 payment plan on their website (although I really wanted to order from Alissa's store). So I was going to place that order today for the 5000 model, and was crossing my fingers that it would get here before Thanksgiving.

So Wednesday night my mom called me from Sam's club (where I don't have a membership) and asked if this price for a Vita Mix sounded the same, I said yep, same as Costco (where I do have a membership) and same as the Vita Mix website. Then a light bulb went off- I asked, it's the 4500 model right? She said no, it's the 5000!!!! With the extra dry container at a lower cost as well!!

God bless them, they bought it for me & are letting me make the monthly payments to them instead!! Woo Hoo! By getting it at a lower price and saving the shipping costs they literally saved me over $80 easily. So I won't even have to take 3 months to pay them back, maybe 6 weeks at the longest. The demonstration was only going on till Sunday here- I'm so glad they stopped by Sam's!

I was/am SO excited, I woke up Wednesday & didn't have a Vita Mix & I went to sleep that night having one! WOW! And yes, just the little I've done so far shows me it's well worth the money! I got to put a whole entire peeled orange in my smoothie at lunch yesterday! Incredible! And my almost 6 yr old finally enjoyed a green smoothie! That alone is worth it.

We can let it run for a few minutes and the darn thing is so powerful it will warm up soup without cooking it! Raw warm soup!! I'll be able to get so many of our recipes really smooth finally! And raw ice cream too! I just about killed my food processor making ice cream from frozen bananas. Now it'll be a cinch! So far I've made 5 of the smoothest green smoothies ever, and sesame chocolate mylk! It sounds silly to say that a blender can change your life, so I won't go that far. LOL! But really, this does change a lot for us! We're all excited about it!!

Here are the girls having the sesame chocolate mylk!

3 Months Raw!!

So it's been 3 months! I'm so excited!! WOW!!!

Let me get right to it: Greg is now 185 pounds. That means he's released 55 pounds!!! :o)

I now weigh 222, which means I've released a total of 47 pounds. In the past month, I'm down 10 more pounds and 13.25 more inches! On with the photos--





I'll have to post more later, it's so late right now it's already tomorrow! My parents brought over a lovely surprise tonight & that's what kept me from posting earlier. I can't wait to tell everyone about it, but it'll have to wait till sunrise!!! :o)

12 weeks!

We started this journey 12 weeks ago today! It won't be officially 3 months until next Tuesday, but I wanted to check in and give an update! :o) As of Sat I've released 47 pounds. I won't lie, I wish it was melting off faster than that, but how can I complain? I know those are good results for 12 weeks. I just want it gone so badly! Greg's released 52 so far.

I did a 4 day water fast last week. My first time ever! It was amazing- I did it for spiritual reasons, and felt very blessed! However, by the end of it, I was craving cooked food like crazy, for the first time since starting this. I gained perspective though. It's been very easy for me so far, and now I'm reminded of what Greg's experiencing every day. I'm even more impressed with his commitment, and his resolve. My cravings are passing now, and I'm so glad!! It didn't feel fair to do something good for my spirit but have my flesh cry out like that! I guess that's the way it works though.

My youngest daughter's birthday was Thursday! She turned 3. Where does the time go?! We had her little family party Friday evening and I made a strawberry almond cake. I think I liked it the least of everyone. Hopefully they were being honest. I tried to make chocolate "ice cream" as well but forgot to process the cashews first, just threw it all together and processed. So it was chunky. Most folks didn't like that at all. Oh well! Many a baker messed up their first baked cakes right? I can't be too hard on myself! But I really didn't want to let my daughters down. The oldest one turns 6 in 3 weeks, so she's next! Here's pic of the cake...



She & her sister seemed to enjoy it, but I know it could've been better. It also cost about $30 or so in ingredients and I spent 4 hours in the kitchen. I know I need more practice at this! My results are not typical! LOL!

Oh, Halloween! I bet you're wondering how that went. Our girls are used to full blown trick or treating (with 3/4 of the candy disappearing mysteriously during the night, never to be seen again). Well, we decided to go to a church festival, who said they would hand out candy at the end of the night so kids wouldn't be eating it all evening. Sounds good! They did give them a tiny bit of candy early in the night, which my girls gave to their cousins. They knew that at the end of the festival they could choose 2 pieces of candy apiece. They were fine with it. One of the pieces that my oldest chose was a full size Baby Ruth candy bar. I told her that wasn't Halloween sized, and to please just eat about 2 bites. She did, and I've been lazy and haven't thrown the rest away yet, it's up on a shelf. But she hasn't asked for more. I'm so proud of them! They did eat popcorn during the festival, but no hot dogs, or snow cones, etc. We concentrated on it being a fun night, not a candy night. Oh, by the way, that night was day 4 of my water fast. UGH! Those hot dogs smelled divine. YUCK! I knew what was in them, but still!!! I just drank water.... It feels good to know I'm in control though and NOT the food. Freedom!!!

2 Months RAW!!!

Yesterday was 2 months raw, 9 weeks tomorrow! I'm excited to post the stats, so I'll get right to it!! Greg now weighs 200 pounds! That's 16 pounds released this month, and 40 pounds total in 2 months! I weigh 232 now, 14 pounds released in the last month, and 37 pounds total in 2 months!!

I'm down 16.5 inches in this past month alone! Including a whole inch just from my neck, which is crazy! Not so much that it's gone, but that it was there - yuck! So that's 32.5 inches so far. :o)

Here are the photos! I couldn't wear the same outfit again (oh darn) because the pants were falling down! So, on to new, smaller clothes- woo hoo!




It feels good, let me tell you! To know that weight is being released, and health is being gained! I just know all sorts of things are healing inside our bodies!

Thank you for reading! And thank you for the support!! :o)

Week 8 & feeling great!

You know, I just have to praise the Lord for bringing this way of life to us! And He's given us the strength and zeal to stick with it! He has blessed this process & I'm so thankful to Him for that!

I still haven't had any major cravings at all! Greg is having less. That truly feels like a gift to me! If you're not raw, please imagine for a moment giving up all cooked food. Not just junk food, but all meat, all pasta, all bread and even cheese!! It really is a huge thing to do! So many of our celebrations revolve around food, our holidays, childhood memories, good old comfort food. It's amazing how ingrained it is into our lives. To give that up and step away from the norm, is something I never wanted to do! And I know I couldn't be doing it now without God's help. That reassures me that we are on the right path! He's given us such a peace about it all.

Saturday the 13th will be 2 months officially, so I'll check weight and measurements then. But we've still been releasing weight, and feeling better each day!

Friday night we finally got an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator! Woo hoo! That's THE dehydrator that the experts recommend. Then we spent some time Saturday and Sunday, in between all of our errands and 2 church services, making a cover for the stove. If we didn't do that, we'd have no place to put this huge new appliance! Our small inexpensive dehydrator sits right next to it. I'm so happy with how that turned out! We used MDF cut to fit, rounded the corners facing out, then put a 1x1 on each side of the stove underneath the board to anchor it in place. That way it won't slide around. It's really sturdy, and fits perfectly. I painted it with high gloss paint so it'll be easy to clean. I'll take a picture so you can all see:

I can't wait to make some raw pizza crusts, crackers, and breads! If you use live ingredients, and dehydrate lower than 118 degrees, it's raw! Yum, I can't wait! I'll even be able to make raw cakes or brownies for my daughter's upcoming birthdays! We have many more possibilities available to us now!

The girls have been raw except at church, where they have cheese pizza. This past Saturday they had cake for the first time in 8 weeks, at a friend's birthday party. Wow, it took 2 more days for them to get that out of their system. I knew they were acting better since going raw, but having all of that processed stuff and sugar in them showed me just how much better they had been! And they were never bad, but suddenly they had meltdowns, and behavior issues Saturday afternoon, Sunday & finally starting getting back to themselves Monday afternoon! Amazing! Thank goodness they didn't have soda!!! They stuck with water, since I asked them to. Weekends like that are just going to be part of life though. I don't want them to feel like outsiders at their friend's parties. It doesn't happen all the time, anyway. During other events, they've been super about making healthy choices. Delaney apologized to me about the cake during the party while eating her cupcake. I told her not be sorry at all, to enjoy her food. It was her choice to eat that, and I was proud of her for all the great healthy choices she makes the rest of the time. I mean, if she's going to eat something else, at least enjoy it. The LAST thing I want to do is have them associating food with any feelings other than health & un-health. Like guilt, or deprivation. I've dealt with so many issues with food. I want to avoid that with my daughter's - not create it. I pray that never happens.

I'm feeling chatty, so I'll tackle another issue we've been discussing as well! Greg feels like there should be more balance with this. He thinks he should be able to eat cooked food and meat sometimes. I don't know how that fits into his conviction that God wants us to eat all raw. I do know how it fits in with mine. It doesn't! I know that God has put it on my heart to be 100% raw vegan, and to disobey that, would lead to problems for my health, and peace of mind. I'm so much more spiritual when the toxins from processed food and cooked food is not coming into my body! Everything is clearer. No mental fog! I also know for a fact that if I started to eat those foods again, even healthy ones, it would turn into a landslide, right back into junk food and no self control. I was addicted, but Greg wasn't. So he's thinking perhaps that's my truth. He's not sure about that for him. I do know that if you're putting those foods into your body, even in small quantities, your body can't cleanse and heal like it is at 100% raw. It also, from what I've read, makes cravings go through the roof. That would be hard for him to handle, since he's battled cravings since week 2. For now he's committed to 100%, and he continues to pray about this question. I know God will lead us in the right direction!

Our results of 1 month raw!

Monday was 6 weeks raw for Greg and I!! We're both thrilled, proud of ourselves & thanking God for blessing this journey!

We weighed in at the one month mark, I took my measurements & we took photos. But we didn't have internet at the time! So I guess I'll post those stats now. :o)

Greg released 24 pounds, I released 23 pounds, and 16 inches. Not bad for one month! Here are the photos, the left photo in each is taken 8/12/07 (the day before we went 100% raw) and then the new ones are on the right & were taken 9/13/07:


It's slightly embarrassing to post such specific details and pictures too. But I guess we are what we are, and we must own it. Besides, it won't be too long before we won't be this. Every day brings more progress! When Greg weighed on Saturday, he was down another 5 pounds! I had released 3!

We got a small dehydrator on Sunday, and we're excited about the possibilities that will bring! Like raw pizza, burgers, crackers, vegetable chips, etc. It was hard when we made yummy salsa for raw tacos, but then had no corn chips to dip in the leftover salsa! We were both missing the crunch of chips!

We had searched everywhere for the cheap style WITH a temperature control and couldn't find one anywhere but online. Then, after not being in WalMart for weeks, I saw one there while looking for a large tumbler to drink my smoothies out of! I never found a tumbler, but was thrilled to find the dehydrator! It wasn't there just a few weeks ago! And I got the only one without a damaged box. When I checked out, it rang up as marked down! What a blessing! I did NOT want to go to WalMart at all, and then this was waiting for me there! Yay! We made banana chips & apple chips, which were devoured by the kids in one sitting!

Greg's still struggling a lot more than I am though with cravings and negative thoughts. The irritability seems to have passed! But he misses his cooked food & wishes there was a balance between raw and cooked. I've done so much research and I know that for me, that balance doesn't exist. Maybe it does for some people, and that's really wonderful, and very healthy! But for me, it would be such a slippery slope. But then, I was truly addicted to the SAD foods, and Greg wouldn't really qualify as addicted. I could go weeks without a salad, and live off of fast foods. Greg always enjoyed fruit & would buy it all the time. He almost always ate a more balanced diet & didn't binge like me. He still got pretty overweight though because of eating out all the time & fast foods. Not to mention desserts! I was never balanced- I was either all about health, or all about junk. So, it's 100% raw for me from now on. Greg says he's convicted about it and committed to it. He just wishes it wasn't so difficult. So he's not giving up, and I'm so proud of him, really!

I haven't had much appetite lately and I haven't been eating much at all. Yesterday I didn't eat anything all day and never even had a drink of water! I know this isn't good. I must get some calories, even when I don't feel like it. At least, I think so. Part of me wants to follow my body's cues, but I also want to get my calories and have more energy! But I must drink! What was I thinking? I didn't even realize it until around 7:30 pm or so!

I've been so tired and I'm ready to get that energy I need! I could sleep all day if I could find a way to! I keep waiting for that to pass, but no improvement yet. Perhaps it's detox? Greg has more energy than me, but he eats a lot more fruit. I suppose I should too, although it's not appetizing to me. I don't know why! I typically stick to having green smoothies, vegetables like celery, and a few nuts/seeds.

We're both feeling good though & I'm happy to not have any cravings yet. Now I need to get started on a raw pizza to make Greg happy! He thinks the dehydrator is the missing link in our raw food adventure! So, I need to master this new appliance!

Not feeling well

I realized I hadn't posted in a bit when a friend mentioned it. I suppose that's because I haven't been feeling well. Word to the wise- chew your raw almonds very carefully! I didn't, and a jagged piece got stuck in my throat Friday night. I never thought such a small thing could wreak such havoc on a body! My throat was swollen and raw for days! The glands in my throat were swollen. Everything I tried to eat, like cantaloupe or green smoothies felt like acid to my throat. I ate watermelon Sunday, and that's all. It was only thing I could eat without severe pain. Monday I was out of watermelon so I didn't eat at all, same thing Tuesday until dinner. I had to chew 3 times as much as normal to get down my celery, carrots & raw humus. Yesterday was fine, still swollen glands, but I could drink my green smoothie. Today, it hurts all over again. I just realized I haven't eaten today because of it. Man, it hurts!!!!

Greg's been feeling irritable for last week or so. He misses cooked foods. He also has lots of cravings, which I seem to have been spared (at least for now). Neither of us has wavered from our 100% raw commitment during the tough times though. I'm so proud of Greg. He's really sticking to it even though he doesn't feel very positively about it right now. I'm praying he can get a more positive perspective, only because your thoughts play such an important role in your success. It could be some detox as well though, and either way, I'm praying it passes soon for him.

I forgot to mention how we cleaned out our pantry, fridge & freezer the first week of going raw. We carried two brown paper grocery bags and one or two plastic ones to my sister's house. I don't even know how much money it all cost! I felt bad about getting rid of it all, but the money wasn't why. It's cause I'm so aware that it's not going to do them any good either, you know?

I love having a clean pantry. I also reorganized my cabinets, and that felt so good!

So, I'm going to grab some more water. Oh my throat! I don't want to see an almond again for a while! ;o)

Life is good!

So it's 2 weeks today! Neither of us has slipped up, even once! Greg did choose to have regular olives. It wasn't cheating, he thought about it & really felt like it wasn't that bad. He said as soon as we can find raw olives, he'll have those instead. And he really didn't eat many at all. He has a lot of temptation in his day to day life. Even more than I do. I'm SO proud of him for staying committed.

The kids aren't 100% when they leave our home. But they are here at home, and they've handled the transition really well. No one would know such major changes have been made! they really took it in stride! The only time they haven't been 100% was at church!

Greg & I made salsa this weekend and I attempted to make guacamole. The salsa turned out great! ;o) We had it with dehydrated flax crackers! I did eat the guacamole, but it wasn't so good. We'll be trying to make corn chips ourselves by dehydrating them in the oven on warm. It'll take a very long time! But I think a dehydrator would as well. Buying dehydrated crackers is very expensive! Hopefully, our attempt will be successful!

We both have had cravings during the last week, Greg more than I. But, we've pushed through.

Friday night was date night and we went to the "local" raw restaurant! Yummy! We were so happy! The food was yummy, the atmosphere was delightful, and we just really enjoyed the entire experience! It was worth the 45 min drive to get there! We hope to again next month as well! This was the first time we've gone to a restaurant since going raw. We have no plans to go to any other ones either. We always ate out before. We spent way too much money on it actually. We're saving money there and spending it on all this produce, raw nuts, and seeds! Once you go raw, and realize that at a normal restaurant you would usually get a salad (and have to bring your own dressing)- you realize how much your really paying for that salad, when you have those ingredients, or better, in the fridge! It's pointless! We'll go for social reasons, if we need to hang out with friends, but that rarely happens. This once a month date night to the raw restaurant will be all we need, I think! But back to the point, the food was incredible there, and it really inspired me!

Oh, we weighed in Saturday morning and Greg lost 6 more pounds! I lost 3 more! Hmm, a month ago I thought that would've been at the top of a post! It just seems like a really awesome side effect though- not the point of this! We're feeling terrific! God has really been blessing this process. Obedience to Him feels wonderful, and peaceful. I wish we hadn't waited so long to do it.

Rejoice!

So this is day 8 on the raw journey, and we're feeling really great! We've noticed positive health changes, subtle, but undeniable. We have more energy too! We've both lost 9 pounds, and we've seen great behavior changes in our 5 year old. I thought she was a terrific kid to begin with, but without all the SAD foods in her diet, she's even more amazing! Who knew?!

Greg's excited about the entire process and can't believe how simple it's been! I am too, but it's so neat to know he feels this way, when he's been a meat & potatoes guy since toddler-hood!. I think God has really blessed us for finally being obedient to the conviction he put on my heart. This week has gone so smoothly for such a sudden and extreme transition!

I don't have a raw un-cook book yet, so I'm limited to some recipes on the internet. We've mainly been eating fruits, salads & green smoothies. The most adventurous I've been is in making my own salad dressings, since those have to be raw as well. That's gone pretty good! But I cannot wait to get a great book, so we can have some variety! A Vita-Mix would be superb, we need to save our pennies!!

Greg really wants something crisp, like a cracker or tortilla chip! I know we can do that, I just have to get all the ingredients together. Doesn't seem like one store has all we need! We don't have a dehydrator, but I'm hoping we can make the oven work on the warm setting even with the door cracked? We bought so many tomatoes, and we'd love to make salsa, but I want to dip something other than celery in it! LOL!

This weekend was adventurous! We went to 2 new stores we'd never gone too before, and a farmers market we'd never explored. It was really neat, and we all enjoyed it! And we never needed to go out to eat! We packed celery and carrots for lunch, and also had a couple Lara bars to share between the 4 of us. With that and plenty of water, we were set! And it was lovely!!!

I'm looking forward to this week!