My name is Cheri. I am starting this blog for three reasons, in no certain order:
- To share my love and joy for the raw food lifestyle.
- To gain some accountability and to chart my history during my raw food weight loss journey.
- To capture and share my random thoughts and musings, and general love of life. A great way to learn more about your own life is to back-track through journals. I have been awful about keep a journal, so I am hoping keep a public one will give me the accountability to keep one up. Maybe not daily, but at least occasionally.
To be honest, I basically was forced into the raw food lifestyle. In fact, when I started, I thought it was going to be a forced life-long 'diet' that I would struggle with, and as far as lifestyle . . . that was not my thing. Little did I know, on both counts.
I guess you could say my raw food journey began in late May of 2009. But what led up to it had started very early in my life due to severe allergies. I started developing chronic ear infections when I was very young. I had already had two sets of tubes by the time I really have any memory of things. I just remember going to the doctor and having him use a giant syringe filled with water to gently force water through my ears in hopes of clearing all the build up. He considered this pretty much a last resort to avoid putting tubes in my ears a third time. Every time my antibiotics ran out, I would be back in his office within a week or two. Fortunately I had a conscientious doctor who was trying to avoid putting tubes in my ears again. He was also trying to prevent me from developing allergies to penicillin, which at that time was pretty much in all antibiotics (am I telling my age?). One day when I was in Jr. High School he told my Mom he didn't want to continue treating my ear infections in the manner we had been up to this point. He was very concerned about the rate of these infections (about every 6 weeks -- 2 weeks after running out of a month's worth of antibiotics!) and had started doing a lot of research. He had come across an article that suggested chronic ear infections were a sign of allergies! WHAT? Whoever heard of such a thing? I didn't have allergies! Well, I had those hilarious fits beginning in 3rd grade where I was sneezing so fast I couldn't catch my breath between sneezes . . . but they never lasted very long.
Long story short . . . he was right. And from there it just got worse! By 8th grade I was having some pretty serious problems. I had found out I was seriously allergic to chlorine the hard way and was having a lot of problems with "spaciness" to the extreme. At times I would seriously just run into walls! It was crazy! I, and to be honest, a lot of people around me, just thought I had gone crazy! Obviously, my parents were really concerned, but couldn't figure out what to do. In high school things deteriorated very quickly. I missed a LOT of school and started having allergy attacks that mimicked seizures at times. I eventually developed asthma. I missed a whole lot of school that year. I was homebound for most of the rest of my high school career, which brought on its own issues. Eventually my parents found an older couple 1/2 way across the state that let me stay with them for the large part of 2 years. They had "cleaned up" their home and lived a lifestyle that was pretty devoted to keeping major allergies under control. Beautiful people . . . and beautiful area! But . . . pretty lonely!
What we did not know when I moved was that I would lose my rights to home-bound schooling. At that time in Indiana, if you were home-bound due to medical reasons and moved from your original county, neither your original school nor the school in your new country were responsible for providing your education. So I, as pretty much a straight A student, suddenly was looking at a GED! How fair was THAT? Fortunately, there was a college that really wanted me to attend their music program, due to my voice, and they took me despite all this. I loved college . . . I loved once again being able to study and learn! I drank it up to the point that I got "thrown out" of some of my freshmen classes, despite having only been to about a year and a half of high school . . . or maybe because of this. You see, I had to pretty much teach myself or find tutors who were willing to work with me on a 'crash course' basis. I wasn't spoon-fed my high-school education. I had to FIGHT, CLAW, and BEG for any formal education I received along the way. This gave me a PASSION for any opportunity I might get in college. The reason I got "thrown out" of some of my college courses was because the professors in my freshman classes simply did not know what to do with me. I was asking questions that were way ahead of the pace they were trying to set with the rest of the class. And I would get so frustrated when I was told again and again that we "couldn't discuss that now" that I would just sit there and shake. You have to understand . . . I had been fighting basically since Jr. High for my right to be educated and now I was so thirsty for knowledge that I was beside myself that it took five minutes for anyone to answer the question, "So . . . what is the title of the book we are reading this week?" Don't waste my time! I am here to learn -- not rehash the obvious. My English professor ended up working with the dean to put me in a graduate level course. Me! Here I was terrified when I found out I had to take a simple entrance exam because I was sure I would flunk it as I had missed most of high school. Now they were putting me in a graduate level course? I thrived in that course. Changed my life!
Unfortunately, I would go to school for awhile, and then my health or money issues would catch up with me and I would have to drop out again. Since I usually lived on-campus, I would often have to move back to Indy as a result of not signing up for the next semester of classes. I ended up attending 5 different college/universities over almost 20 years before I finally got my degree. During that time, and due to my high school experience, I learned it is not about the piece of paper. A diploma does not prove you have 'smarts,' or even an education. Intelligence is about your desire and ability to learn. And the truly intelligent people (not necessarily referring to IQ numbers here, more like common sense AND learning ability), were those that could figure things out on-the-fly. I could go on-and-on about that. But I really do want to get to the point of this blog, so I will move on.
During my 20-30's, my health improved pretty dramatically. Then, when I was 37, I met this guy and moved up to southwest Michigan to marry him. I had never even seen a great lake before and I fell instantly in love! I used to say I was not evne sure what I had fell in love with or loved more . . . the lake or the man. My health dramatically improved any time I was within 10-15 miles of the lake. For those of you who are not familiar with the great lakes or even the affects of the oceans or seas, the impact of the great lakes on the weather patterns for those on their shores is intense! You can really see this during the winter. You can pretty much see a difference in inches at very certain points, over and over again, in the snowfall amounts. I have even seen points in the road as I am driving where I cross from a perfectly dry road onto a part of the road where there is standing water. Often a town 12-15 miles from here can be buried in snow while we have not received any snow. This process will reverse later in the year, depending on how much the lake has cooled down. Clouds and weather patterns are very dependent on humidity and temperature. And this huge body of water we refer to as a great lake (believe me, this is an inland ocean . . . NOT A LAKE!) has a huge impact on our weather patterns around here. There is always more breeze on the lake. I live in a wooded area on a bluff overlooking the lake (no, I am not filthy rich, I just truly lucked out, but that's another story!), and any time the mosquitoes get bad outside I can just go down the stairs to the beach and viola!, no more bugs. Mosquitoes and most non-aquatic bugs, really do not like the wind or even breezes. Who knew?! My other trick for those of you who do not have a great lake out your front window, is to take a fan outside with me. I often take a standing fan with me when I want to sit on the patio and read. Turn the fan on low and the mosquitoes leave you alone! It is amazing! Of course, the hard part is getting the fan outside and plugged in before the mosquitoes attack!
As long as I stayed near the lake, with the constant breezes and the lake acting as an air filter of sorts, my health problems all but disappeared. About 4 years ago I left my husband and I am now divorced. Our house had been in a wooded area on a bluff overlooking the lake (heritage home) and I somehow found an apartment (a separate portion of an Fortune 500 retired executive's home) in the town where I work that is in almost the exact same setting. It is in a basement, but this basement is almost all windows on one side and small windows all around one other wall and a pretty open floor plan. How lucky was that?
However, during the last two years, my health has started giving me trouble again. Last year I missed a little more than 2-months of work due to my asthma. It was the most amazing thing. I would walk outside and my lungs would immediately begin filling with fluid. I would eventually be coughing so hard, I couldn't stand up. I would sound like I had bronchitis or pneumonia, which basically I did, except there was no infection (that would come later), just instantaeous filling of the lungs with mucous. Fortunately, with today's modern technology, and due to a truly ***!!!fantastic boss!!!!*** I was able to work from home. The same thing, unfortunately, happened again this year.
This past March I went to China and Japan for 16 days. I spend the first 2 years of my life in Japan and it had been a dream of mine since about 5th or 6th grade to go back. I had run my own English as a Second Language company for years and studied Japanese on and off. This trip meant the world to me. While there, I pretty much ate fresh ingredients and mostly indigenous foods. I was in heaven!
When I returned I ate a small bowl of granola and some soy milk. A few minutes later a colleague came up and started talking to me. While we were talking, my upper lip started going numb. I eventually said something to her about it and she said, “Yeah, your face has been swelling up the whole time we have been talking." I basically ran out of there and drove straight to my allergist's office. They decided, finally (I had been telling my doctor this for the entire two years I had been seeing him) that I might have food allergies and that I was basically going into anaphylactic shock. Gee. . . you think? Ended up I was severely allergic to corn and dairy.
For those of you not familiar with allergies, often when you are allergic to something your body can develop ways of handling it if your allergies develop over time. This is not only true for allergies, but many other things. If your body is allowed time to get used to it, your body can learn to adapt to it. Here's an interesting experiment I recently read to illustrate my point. A bird was placed in an airtight container for a period of time. As he breathed, he filled the air with more and more carbon dioxide and no fresh air was brought in to replace it. While he was not perky, he did OK. After a few days, they took this bird out and put another bird in. This bird died within minutes. The first bird's body had time to make adjustments to the lack of oxygen and high-levels of carbon dioxide. The new bird did not. It is the same thing with allergies. While I was on vacation, I ate mostly fresh foods (beautiful salads and fresh fruits, etc.) and indigenous foods (rice, seaweeds, plums, ginger, etc.). I had little or no corn. When I returned my body freaked out over the corn. While we probably could have built me up over time to corn, if you want to feel better over all, you should avoid those things you are allergic to when at all possible.
Corn had been one of my big allergies when I was younger, so I knew I was in big trouble! Corn, for those of you who are not aware, is in absolutely EVERYTHING!! It can be in your soaps, detergents, toothpastes, and even your clothing! It is often used to line food cans and many food containers are made of corn (and no, they do NOT have to list it as an ingredient in these cases). Fresh vegetables, such as cucumbers, are often covered in a waxy film, which . . . you guessed it, has corn in it! Corn is used as a sweetener. Anything in those words on the back of your packaging that end in 'ose', such as dextrose or glucose, etc., probably have corn in them. Anything with alcohol, yeast, vanilla, starch, xantham gum, etc. most likely has corn in it. Basically, if it is in a package or made up of more than ingredient, it is suspect. [If you are interested in learning more on this subject, or want a list of ingredients that often include corn, please go to: http://www.cornallergens.com/.
Within a couple of days of being diagnosed, my 'spring-time' allergic asthma kicked in. This meant I couldn't leave my apartment (which has air filters, hardwood floors, my mattress is wrapped in barrier cloth, dehumidifiers, etc.) to even go shopping. YIKES!! Between this and all the walking and exercising I had gotten in China and Japan I had lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time (a good thing, trust me, but it was concerning just how fast I was losing it, especially considering I was now getting NO exercise!). This was basically because I could not go out and find anything I knew was safe to eat. My Mom came up and brought some vegetarian cookbooks (I had been a vegetarian off and on for most of my adult life, except when I was married, and even then I only ate very occasional chicken or fish) and some vegetarian magazines. She also picked up a vegan magazine by mistake. We found lots of recipes in the magazines. She went out and got the ingredients, armed with a list of "hidden" corn items, (such as yeast, xantham gum, vanilla extract, etc.) and we cooked a bunch of recipes. This really made me feel a lot better. I could now send my friends out with a list of exact items and brands and know that what the brought me I could eat. I could not ask them to go through each ingredient on a package and compare it to a huge list of 'hidden' corn items. Of course, you can ask your poor Mom to do these sorts of things! Mom's are WONDERFUL! Not to mention, always worried silly about their children -- even their grown childern.
After she left I started reading the magazines and kept coming across this term 'raw food diet.' [You knew we would get back round to the point eventually, didn't you!]. At first I kind of blew it off. This had to be something way radical and absolutely ridiculous. But then I got to thinking about it. I have always loved salads and fresh fruits. Before I was married, and even shortly afterwards, people often teased me about my absolute love for fresh salads. I was now in a situation where any frozen or canned foods were suspect of having corn. Did you know frozen blueberries are often processed with corn?? Perhaps I would be better off eating way more raw foods. I got on-line and started researching this raw food thing. It seemed very close to the way I used to eat anyway.
Turns out it was right up my alley! Lots of salads and fresh fruits. But, better than that, it was so popular now that you could spend years watching YouTube videos and reading blogs learning about this stuff. There were hundreds of cookbooks (un-cookbooks?) and literature on this subject and details of people's experiences. And, it gets better. Most people who started overweight on this lifestyle change, lost weight pretty much automatically! Weight has been a constant struggle for me! I shouldn't just say weight. Obesity has been a struggle for me. I am a total food addict. I pretty much always have to have food in my mouth! It is insane! And, as a lady I met last year says, "Sugar is my cocaine!" Those who started this diet and needed to gain muscle mass, were able to do so. Many underweight people were able to gain weight. The diet basically allowed their bodies to level out at an appropriate weight, no matter which way they needed to go. And, better than that??? Many people healed from a whole gamut of health concerns, including allergies and asthma! Some cancer patients even respond amazingly well to this. There are whole clinics devoted to cancer that immediately place patients, often patients who are considered at the end of their lives due to battles with cancer, on this diet and those whose bodies have enough energy to go on, get better!!!
Now . . . I know a lot of diets claim miracles and do not, or often do not, deliver. Some that do deliver, it either doesn't stick or it only works for a very few people, and I often wonder if in these cases it wasn't just the placebo effect. The diet and group support gave them enough energy that they were able to get better. Did you know Weight Watcher is statistically considered the top diet where people are able to maintain a good weight for multiple years after they reach their goals? Do you know what the success rate is for this? About 7%!!! Think about that!!! My point here is my faith in the healing aspect of this diet is shaky at best. I do not 100% believe that this diet is going to 'cure' my asthma and allergies. However, I believe it might help just by getting me further and further away from all the chemicals that exist in processed foods -- most of which I am allergic or sensitive to and which many believe cause allergies and other issues. It was getting away from all those chemicals that pulled me back into a healthy state the last time I got sick.
I DID believe, however, that this diet, if I followed it as it was outlined, would help me lose weight. And it HAS!
I started doing more and more research and pretty much decided this was for me. The ultimate test, however, was to see if I could drink a green smoothie. Could I stand the taste? I had read/watched enough information that I was pretty much convinced that in order to do this right, to get all the nutrients you needed in the long run, you would need to drink at least one green smoothie per day. So sometime during the very last week in May I found my blender (that was the first adventure), cleaned it up and plugged it in. I made a frozen blueberry and almond milk smoothie. Delicious! An hour or so later I went back for the real test. I took a really deep breath, and added one cup of water. Then, after some hesitation, I added somewhere between 3-5 leaves of spinach, a bunch of frozen blueberries and a lot of almond milk. Hmmm . . . it looked just like the smoothie I just finished. Maybe it would be safe. I took a sip. Tasted pretty much like the first smoothie . . . very fruity. The fruit covered up the veggie taste. I thought I just might be able to do this. I immediately sat down to do more research.
On June 1st I attempted, once again, to go back to work and, amazingly, even to myself, I was able to stay the whole day! And then the whole week! For the record, this was due to the spring pollens diminishing, not anything to do with my diet. This meant I could start doing my own grocery shopping (who thought grocery shopping could be so exciting?), and I immediately purchased 100% raw foods to supplement what I already had in my pantry and freezer -- my processed foods. I was so excited. That week I added a whole lot more raw foods to my diet, but for work I mostly ate my normal frozen organic meals (Amy's, Kashi's, etc.) and non-organic but mostly natural packaged oriental meals (Thai Kitchen and Simply Asia). I added in some fresh fruit, packaged hummus and veggies, etc. Nothing people weren't already used to seeing me eat at work day after day. Every evening, as much as I could (I was in the kick off period of a major project, so many hours of my evenings and nights were devoted to the project), I would read some more about raw foods or watch some more You Tube videos. Friday I got really brave and brought a green smoothie to work and spent most of the morning drinking that. And that was it. By Saturday morning I was 100% raw and I haven’t looked back yet. OK, maybe not 100% raw if you are a purist. Some of my spices and oils were not raw as i had not yet found sources for them. But, I wasn't eating much of the dry spices and the oil I only used for one or two dressings, etc. But my meals, save the condiments, were 100% raw.
Somewhere in there I discovered Phillip McClouskey from LovingRaw.com. I was mesmerized. At first I didn't even know his story. I just loved his YouTube videos. It turns out this is a man who started out at over 400 pounds! He went raw and lost over 200 pounds in about 2 years He is now BEAUTIFUL!!! Go check out his site if you do not believe me! GORGEOUS! I was even more inspired than before. This led me to my current favorites. All of these people have amazing stories of their own and do a fantastic job of teaching people about their own beliefs and diets AND also supporting other people and their beliefs. By watching their shows or reading their blogs, you will find a lot of links or references to other information and view points. But, the most important thing is, all of these people are beautiful, beautiful people. They are a joy to follow. You feel like you really get to know them and knowing them is a joy. I look forward to finding the time each week to see or read their latest updates. Many of these people now make a living off selling the raw food lifestyles in one way or another online (food stores, arranging events, etc.). However, none of them force you to spend money to follow their blogs. Please be aware, the raw food diet, to be followed successfully, to gain all the benefits, and to remain very, very health, does NOT require superfoods or anything else that you can not purchase from your neighborhood grocery store. To go 100% pure raw you may need to order some spices and condiments on-line, but I do not believe you need to have every single spice, etc., be raw to gain the benefits of a raw food lifestyle. The more of your diet that is raw and organic the better, but work into that as you are able. Bottom-line: the higher percentage of food you are able to eat per day that is raw and organic the better off you will be. The higher percentage you are able to eat raw per day the better off you will be. However, there comes a point of diminishing returns. If you are 100% raw except some condiments, I think you will be reaping about 95-99% of the benefits of raw living. If you are eating 50-70% raw, then you will still be gaining some of the benefits. The point where you stop eating meals where the main ingredients have been cooked is where you really start experiencing the greatest benefits of the raw food diet AND, shortly thereafter, the raw food lifestyle, which sneaks up on almost everyone who undertakes this diet. More on that later. Here is the listing of my favorite internet blogs/shows, in no particular order: Kevin and AnnMarie Gianni at http://www.renegadehealth.com/, Matt Monarch at mattmonarch.blogspot.com, Michelle Joy (can't remember her last name right now) at purerawjoy.blogspot.com,Angela Stokes at rawreform.blogspotcom, and http://www.rawveganradio.com/ (host is Steve Prussack). The Gianni's and Matt Monarch both have daily You Tube blogs which are fun to watch! Angela Stokes and Phillip McClouskey both lost tremendous amounts of weight and have kept it off for some time. Angela lost 160 pounds and has kept it off for over 7 years! I mentioned Phillip's weight loss earlier. Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes got married just a few weeks ago. If you are into real-life beautiful love stories, theirs is one to read up on! And what is great is that so much of it was captured on YouTube and blogs over the years! The host of Raw Vegan Radio is very good to allow multiple view points regarding raw food health and lifestyles voice their opinions on the air.
This is one warning I have to give you. If you start studying or following raw foods, you are going to see lots of pioneers and authorities out there with totally 100% opposing views. For example, there are 'fruitarians,' who believe you should only be eating, or at least mostly eating, . . . you guessed it, fruit! There are others who feel you should be mostly consuming vegetables, with a little fruit, nuts and seeds, but not much. You will also get those who strongly support the 'gourmet' raw vegan lifestyle, which includes raw food energy bars, pies, cakes, and other meals that are made to look and taste like the real things. Most of these are fairly, if not obscenely, filled with fats and sugars all derived from raw foods. Others will be 'purists' and only or mostly consume raw foods with little fats and sugars -- just enough fats to remain healthy, at about 10% of the daily diet. Some believe you should only eat fruits in the morning and veggies at night to aid in digestion. Others believe, of course, the exact opposite. The variety of methods for the raw food diet are almost as varied as the variety of diets in "normal" diet programs! If you are at all interested in beginning a raw food diet, I would strongly encourage you to listen to as many of these shows (not just my favorites) and read as many articles as possible. Then you will need to find what works best for you. At first, please be careful to include as many fats as you need or want and eat absolutely as much as you are hungry for! You WILL FAIL at this diet if you try to restrict yourself from fats or overall calories at first! Your appetite will diminish over time, but at first your body will beg for a lot of food. If you try to ignore this, you will eventually give up and start cheating or give up on the diet altogether! This is one of the few facts almost everyone in the raw food world agree upon!!
I have only been on this diet for just under a month (6/6/09-07/04/09), which is very hard for me to believe! I feel like I have never NOT been on it! Little by little I am finding what works best for me. I actually started out with pretty much what worked best for me, and then tried some other things. I am still trying other things, to prevent boredom (which will throw me off a diet faster than anything else) but so far I have found the way I started, with a green smoothie in the morning and then for lunch salads with lots of veggies with a dressing made of few ingredients, if any, along with lots of fresh whole fruits for snacks, works best for me. After the first week I started adding in avocados and more oils, etc., to get enough fats. My biggest challenges have been the time and the money! My food bills have been outrageous this first month!! Not to mention all the money I have been spending on books, e-books, and equipment. I have seriously slowed down on the books and equipment expenditures, etc., now that the first month is over. I now have a much better idea what I am looking for and I have found enough free sources for recipes, etc., to last a lifetime!
As far as the time goes . . . I bought an Excalibur dehydrator (this dehydrator allows you to keep control the temperature -- raw foods can not heated to over 115 degrees or you start losing the whole point -- enzymes and other nutrients are cooked out at this point! Dehydration should be about drying things, not cooking them as most other dehydrators do) and will be sprouting a lot of seeds and soaking a lot of nuts this weekend to dehydrate and store. This should save some time, or at least some of the required work-ahead for some of the recipes that call for sprouted or soaked seeds. I am also hoping to make some dehydrated wraps and crackers, which I hope will fill me up a little more so I will not need quite the volume of salads. I am hoping the crackers and wraps will be something I can take along when I am traveling or going out to eat with others, etc. However, I am going to have to watch them carefully as these are made of seeds and nuts and therefore will add to the amount of fats and calories. Until I lose my weight, I would really prefer to stick mostly to the fruits and vegetables. Even after I lose my weight I will probably need to stick more to the fruits and vegetables as many people find the higher fat diets really impede many of the benefits they gain from the raw food lifestyle. I tried a recipe the other day for Pad Thai, as that was one of my very favorites prior to going raw. I about DIED!! It was delicious, but I just about passed out! About 1/2 of the way through I had two choices; either go for a walk on the beach immediately, or stop fighting it and allow my eyes to close knowing I would sleep for hours and wake up feeling drugged. I had been wondering why I didn't feel as good as I had felt after the 1st week on this diet and now I knew for sure. I had added fats back in! The Pad Thai sauce was pretty much a mixture of almond butter, tahini (a Mediterranean sauce made from sesame seeds and water) and agave (a sweetener popular with the raw foodies that is derived from catus in the U.S., has a lower glycemic index impact than sugar or honey and was originally thought to be raw, but now this is being questioned). So, I learned a serious lesson there. The more fats I add, the less energy I will have.
I have to go to the farmer's market before it closes today as it is only available in this area on Saturdays. Later today I will go into my current status and the benefits I have experienced thus far on the raw food diet.
Have a super day!
Cheri
No comments:
Post a Comment