Cecilia's Raw Journal

Raw Food : not a religion or an addiction

This past year I've been eating a lot of cooked food. I haven't been happy with that, but also decided that I don't need to be 100% raw to feel good about what I'm eating. In fact, back when I did 6 months of nearly all raw, my body began to miss something after awhile. What that something was, I still don't know. I do know that green smoothies for breakfast, and big salads for lunch, then various raw dinner recipes at night was great... in the beginning. When I started to become hungry after going to bed at night, I knew something wasn't right. 

I've been spending a lot of time avoiding going raw again, because I wanted to be sure and get it right the next time around. Meaning that if I get to the point of wanting to eat cooked food again, I won't let the first bite of rice send me into a downward spiral of (organic) SAD living. All those enticing foods at the "health food store" are really no better than junk food. I would like to try a period of all raw food again, and then transition to mostly raw, but allowing some cooked food when the time is right (no dairy, wheat, or sugar).

Eating so much cooked food has brought my energy level down again, and I've gained back some of the weight I lost when eating raw. In short, I want back the amazing feeling, and always vibrant looking self I had back then.

Though I love the idea of raw foods, I would like to avoid treating food intake as one would a religion. I realize that I have unhealthy food addictions, and I think that raw food is a good way to fix that problem. Scratch that, I don't believe in addictions. It's a matter of changing bad habits, and I know I'm capable of doing that. But I do not think a strict raw diet is the solution to my intake of sugar, dairy, and other things my body doesn't like. If I'm going to be a purist and limit myself to raw food only, eventually I'm going to get stressed out and go back to the "bad" foods.

The best approach for me right now is simple unadulterated foods. I'm living in a house that has a (very) makeshift kitchen. We're still in the process of building the house and simultaneously living in it means some inconveniences. Preparing food is a challenge, so I'm keeping it simple. Breakfasts have been consisting of blueberries (my favorite) and other fruit. Today it was cucumber and tomato.

Being that it's finally hot summer here in Northern Vermont it's easy to eat this way. Winter may be a different story.

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Living a Simple Life

Had a salad off the lawn today inspired by Shazzie's video. I washed up a nice head of red lettuce our neighbors gave us from their garden. The lettuce, a bit of avocado, and salad dressing were the only ingredients that weren't from my lawn. I found some dandelion leaves, wood sorrel, and red clover, washed, then tossed everything together. I added some maple balsamic dressing, definitely not my first choice for a healthy raw lunch, but I wasn't in the mood to make dressing, and this was left over from a salad we had bought from a local restaurant. I often like to forgo the dressing completely and just squeeze some fresh lemon or lime on top of my salad; I didn't this time because I wanted something to help mask the bitterness of the dandelion. The avocado helps in this department a little too. If I'm in the mood for making dressing I like to chop up a clove or two of garlic, put this in a little bowl, add a couple pinches of cayenne pepper, ground up milk thistle seed, and/or sunflower seeds, hemp seeds etc., and then mix it up with some olive oil, and apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice).

Today I began the day with a basket of blueberries from a local farm, shared with Liam and Jasper. Liam had his own basket of "organic" raspberries from California, and not half as good as the blueberries. He insisted though and I was just happy he was asking for fruit instead of candy.

Days like today are seriously lacking in my life. What does it take to get back on track with raw food? I can only answer based on my own experience. When I start to feel really dragged down, super cynical, negative, and crabby much of the time, I know I need a change.

Not only do I want to get back to more pure, basic foods again, I am yearning to simplify all areas of my life. A small house in the country is where I'm headed next. Above is a photo of our land in Craftsbury, a tiny town in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. As soon as we can make it happen, we plan to sell our Victorian, and build a little house up in Craftsbury. For the first time in my life it's clear to me that I could be happy in a quieter and less populated place. Having grown up in New York City, it's taken me time to adapt to Vermont. The longer I live here, the more I want less. The more I want less. What an interesting sentence. Even in New York I was a minimalist, never feeling good about waste or having too many possessions. It's just easier to find alternatives to the daily grind here. Most everyone who is in New York ultimately landed there (either by choice or circumstance) due to one motivating factor...money. Money is what makes New York tick, and you can taste the drive for more in the air. But I imagine most cities are like that, at least thriving cities. Cities house large concentrations of people who have a desire, or have set up their lives so that they "need" to be close to their jobs. What would it look like if each of these people woke up one day and decided it was okay to downsize? Whether it's cars, boats, houses, clothes, toys, electronics, cosmetics, even food, most everyone of us has at least a little too much of it. So why not have lunch on the lawn today?

Going Lawn-Free

We just rototilled a portion of our lawn-yeah! We put a bunch of vegetables in yesterday. This makes so much more sense to me than grass. I'm letting the space around me, work for me. The price of produce these days is outrageous, and growing our own (for the extremely short season we have in Vermont) will make a difference.

We planted little pear trees in the flower garden last year, and they're doing great. One even has a couple of pears on it. They're growing like crazy. We have some other edibles already growing here, including gooseberries, currants, blueberries, chives, and some orange lillies (found out last year you can eat these). And of course, the portion of our lawn that we've been letting go wild is filled with all kinds of wild herbs.

My friend Fern introduced me to wood sorrel a couple days ago. I was amazed at the intense, lemony flavor. This would make a great salad addition. You can read about wood sorrel here.

I'm off to work on a garden of a different kind. Have a terrific day.

Spring Cleaning

Well, I was off to a great start on this blog last October, but then I got lax. I did manage to keep with mostly raw foods for six months. Now after a winter of a not so optimal diet, I am very much ready to give raw foods a go again. I started yesterday and feel better already! I'm not aiming to do all raw necessarily, but want to eliminate the sugar (yeah I went back to it) most (if not all) grains, and dairy.

Raw Reading & an Intriguing Cake

I recently finished reading three very interesting books- The 80/10/10 Diet by Dr. Douglas Graham, 12 Steps to Raw Foods, and Green for Life both by Victoria Boutenko. I've increased my fruit intake and have been drinking lots of green smoothies in response to my reading, and realize that I feel a lot better taking in less fats and dehydrated foods. I'm looking forward to seeing how I feel in a month, as a result of this.

The 80/10/10 Diet has spurred some thoughts that I didn't consider in the past, specifically the idea that most raw vegans eat far too many calories from fat, and the concept that we must consume enough calories in order to be successful with a raw diet. I simply thought I'd eat when I was hungry and everything would be fine. I've also been under the impression that raw foods have more nutrients and so those who eat them don't need to consume as much food as people on cooked food diets.The thought of consuming the volume of fruit recommended for the 80/10/10 diet is overwhelming. I don't know if I could do that. In spite of this, I'm intrigued by the idea that it's the consumption of fat that creates problems for individuals with candida and diabetes, and not the sugar from fruits themselves.

I read with interest in Douglas Graham's book that apple cider vinegar is made with acetic and not malic acid. This is confusing to me as I've always heard that apple cider vinegar was the only one safe to ingest, and contains malic, not acetic acid. Maybe it's started with acetic, and then converts to malic acid. Is this even possible? Graham also states that all salts are toxic to the body, even sea salts. Interesting.

I signed up for Victoria Boutenko's newsletter , and received a terrific sounding recipe for lemon popppy seed cake today. I love lemon and decided on the spot that this is going to be my lunch or dinner today! Not sure yet if I'll adjust it so there's less fat but I'm thinking about it. The recipe comes from the Boutenkos' good friend and raw gourmet chef Josephine Lee from Medford Oregon. I'm including it for you below since it seems that this newsletter isn't yet in Victoria's archives. Maybe you like lemon as much as I do?


Cake

1 1/2 C ground/grated jicama
1 Granny Smith apple peeled & ground
2 C almonds soaked/dehydrated ground fine
4 T golden flax ground fine
1/4 C agave
1 tsp vanilla
lemon juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/2 C poppy seeds

Mix all ingredients and form in any shape you want; I made a 5 1/2" round dish lined with saran wrap.

Then top the first layer with frosting.

Frosting

1 C coconut oil
Whip with beaters
Add 1/4 cup agave nectar, and juice and zest of 1/2-1 whole lemon
Whip again
Spread quickly as it starts to melt a little

Sprinkle poppy seeds on sides
Top with lemon zest curls or slices
Place in refrigerator for an hour or so. Serve at room temperature.

Lambsquarters

I finally looked up lambsquarters because I kept hearing how wonderfully healthy they are (particularly in Victoria Boutenko's books) and have been anxious to find out if we have them in our yard. I was shocked to learn that (according to this interesting page on weeds) lambsquarters are none other than the "invasive" weed Michael has been pulling out of our garden while remarking on the fact that his grandparents used to call it pigweed. Sounds like it's delicious and very versatile. I'm going to check if we have any outside now but doubt it due to the colder weather. We'll be in great shape next spring when it starts to grow again, along with our red and white currants, gooseberries, blueberries, maybe pears from our young new trees, and whatever other weeds we identify.

Discomfort

For awhile I was starting to wake up early in the morning (about 5:30 or so) and laying awake in bed unable to fall right back to sleep. This week I am tired at around 8 or 9pm, and waking up at about 7 or  7:30am, still tired/not wanting to get out of bed. I'm also feeling unfocused and achy during the day. I suppose this has to do with subtle variations in my diet. The most dramatic difference for me lately has been the addition of the green smoothies, and the fact that I had my first Qi Gong session ever yesterday. Maybe I'm going into a detox.

Raw Food & Chinese Medicine

I've been going to a practitioner of Chinese Medicine who offers colon hydrotherapy and Qi Gong among many other healthcare services. I really like her and the care I've received. What puzzles me is the fact that she doesn't seem to see the merits of a raw food diet. She thinks it's great for a cleanse, and fine in the summer, but suggests that I cut down on or completely eliminate raw foods at this time. She felt my pulse yesterday and was surprised that my blood wasn't as thin, less congested, and my pulse was much slower since the last time (it was actually fast then), approximately two weeks ago. I've upped my juicy fruit and greens intake considerably since then, and I think this, coupled with the fact that I'm simply further on in my raw diet have created the changes in my blood. She suggested that the weather is getting cold here in Vermont, and so I need to lessen or completely eliminate the raw foods in my diet, which she says are cooling to my body. Admittedly, I have done very little research on Chinese Medicine and need to do more, especially since it intrigues me enough to want to partake in it. I am certain of one thing, and that is I don't plan to stop eating raw. Nonetheless, health being a passion of mine, I'm very curious about this cooling/heating foods concept. Do I increase the use of ginger and cayenne, and other "heating" foods in order to counteract the cooling foods? Are the cooling foods actually creating a problem in the first place? Lots of questions to ponder!

I think a little history on my dietary/health background is in order now. I've been a vegetarian for 29 years. I'm now 35 years old. I've read a ton on vegetarianism, veganism, raw-foodism, and feel quite at home experimenting with a raw and living food diet. I've arrived at this point because I was not satisfied with my health on a vegetarian diet, which has fluctuated between lacto-ovo and veganism most of my life.

The biggest problem in my diet was my utter dependence on sugar, wheat, and dairy. Just about every day of my life I was so tired I couldn't perform the simplest tasks such as cleaning my house. I ate sugar on a daily basis, usually in the form of organic chocolate bars (sure they were organic but still saturated with sugar) and fancy pastries. I was a cheese fanatic, and I believe this was mainly because I was craving salt due to deficiencies in my diet. In spite of the fact that I live in an area of Vermont where there is a high concentration of organic vegetable farms, I ate a very small amount of raw and living foods; In fact the bad foods I was eating dulled my desire for vegetables and fruits. The minute I'd eat something processed I couldn't even force myself to eat something from nature.

My diet was just about 100% organic foods, but that didn't make a difference. Supposed health food stores and supermarkets advertising whole foods as their specialty, differ in one basic way from the typical supermarket, and that is the fact that they tend not to carry foods with artificial colors and mainstream preservatives/additives. Problem is the processed foods that dominate these stores--organic or not--are loaded with sugar and all types of fillers/additives. Cane juice, raw sugar, cane sugar, call it what you want, but it's all the same thing!

I grew up in Howard Beach, Queens in NYC, a rather tough place for those who were different, and boy was my family different! There was only one other kid I knew in my neighborhood whose family's diet was even close to ours. They weren't vegetarian, but ate a lot of whole and chemical-free foods. I remember being made fun of in school as a kid because of the different foods my mother packed me for lunch. I was so self conscious of the baggies full of sprouts, apple butter/rice cake sandwiches, raw milk (there was a company who sold and packaged this in black cartons-quite a sight for visiting school friends!) and the like. A number of times I was asked if I was eating grass. What a difference from the ever popular Wonderbread and cold-cut sandwiches, Skippy peanut butter, Ding-Dongs and Twinkies. Now "Organic" is huge, so much so that the government has decided to oversee its certification, and it's become just another product to package up and make pretty for the masses.

Changes

Some of the exciting changes I've experienced in the past two months:
-I've gone down to a size 4 (from an 8). I'd been wanting to lose the "baby weight" from giving birth just over a year ago, and finally did it in just a few short weeks.
-No more fatigue in the afternoon. I'm pretty energetic all day long, whereas before I was exhausted by 2 or 3 pm.
-I feel lighter/like I'm walking on air yet still quite grounded.

Some things that have remained the same which I'd like to keep working on:
-Mood swings/Irritability at times
-Still pretty low energy overall