Rawsome Healthy Day 3/5 – Healing Journey Day 54

Journal:
I wasn’t as prepared for today as I wanted to be. I was exhausted, my stomach was hurting a lot from having junk food two days in a row, I didn’t sleep very much because I had so much to do, and I didn’t even prep my grapes for today. However, after reviewing the whole diet plan again, I decided the best place to start again was with the grapes breakfast because the only two breakfasts that are left include persimmons (of which mine are not ripe yet), or a smoothie of which I had no time to blend. So I chose to do Day 1 today, packed some grapes, spinach and bananas, and went off to school.

I got to eat breakfast around 10:00 am as my students were outside at recess which gave me some time.

In the afternoon, I was not able to make my smoothie because our school kitchen is not set up for me to do so at the moment as a lot of people have been using it. So, this meant that I ate a banana instead to tide me over. It’s still on the meal plan, just whole instead of blended. It was a way better option than eating more junk again today. I am breaking away from the bad habits I’ve developed in the past few days. I hate feeling miserable. Raw foods are definitely the way to go.

After I got home, I had to quickly get set up because I had a webinar to watch. So, I took my dog outside for a bit, then came in and cut up some kiwis as that was the “pre-dinner” snack. I could have made my smoothie, but sorting through spinach would have taken way longer than just slicing up some kiwis. So that’s what I did. In fact, I didn’t make the smoothie all day.

Now, after the webinar, and perhaps even during the webinar, I fell asleep. I was so exhausted. I’m literally sleeping like 5 hours a night because I stay up working so much. I keep saying I need to balance things out, but the truth is I really do. Perhaps this weekend I’ll actually draw up a schedule for every day.

After I woke up from my nap, I immediately had a huge stomach cramp and had to run to the bathroom. Three times today this happened, and it has been painful. My stomach is finally in a full rebellion of the junk food I ate and is starting to cleanse itself. Hopefully this is short-lived and my body can do its job efficiently because I didn’t even go to the gym tonight in fear of being too far away from a bathroom for too long.

I didn’t feel like eating again for the longest time, but did end up making a salad before bed. However, the salad didn’t taste the greatest (it’s very hit and miss with the dressings), so I only ended up eating about half of it. But because my stomach was fairly empty, I was so hungry and couldn’t even go to bed without eating something else. So, off the meal plan but still predominately raw, I sliced up some banana, drizzled some apple honey (honey consistency but made from apple, no bees required), and put a few vegan chocolate chips. Now, I’m not sure what was wrong with my kiwis earlier, but they were very “zingy” and it left what almost felt like some stinging in my mouth which made the late night dessert not so good. Perhaps my kiwis were not fully ripe; I really don’t know. I don’t have any food allergies and have never reacted to kiwis before, but perhaps there is more to the story than I know.

Now, tomorrow is National Sandwich Day and it is a planned, off-course day. It will still be vegan with tons of raw veggies, but I am intrigued to see how my body reacts to bread. I do suspect that bread will help stop the immediate bathroom needs which would be nice while I’m at work since the staff only have one washroom to split amongst us all, but I’ve also heard people discover their gluten intolerance when trying gluten after so long of not eating it. So this will be an experiment to see how my body reacts. Then I’m back on course with the last two days of the Rawsome Healthy Diet Plan. I’m still trying to decide where I want to go after that, but stay tuned and you’ll find out.

Review of Symptoms:
-Stomach is in an all-out war, cleansing mode!
-Tired/exhausted
-Acne is the same.
-Hair is so soft, but still a little static-y.
-Muscles are finally less sore today. Aiming for the gym tomorrow.
-Tongue/mouth seemed to react a little to the kiwis (not swollen, just like a “sting”).
-Hungry

Weight at the end of the the day = 165.6 lbs (down 4.8 lbs from yesterday)

Total Calories = 2087 (83% carbs, 10% fat, 7% protein… good macro ratio!)

Green Smoothie Day 3 – Healing Journey Day 50

Journal:
Today is the last day of green smoothies and I cannot wait! I want to have the separation of fruit and veggies again. I actually miss having fruit all day and having my veggies at night. I cannot wait to do that again (though slightly differently… stay tuned!).

I woke up late this morning. It put me in a rush to get ready for church, but also felt nice to get some good sleep for once. I did not have time to eat before I went to church. However, my stomach felt like it was still recovering from my cooked foods two days ago, so it probably was a good thing I waited a little longer to eat anyway.

Church was really good. It actually had a health focus, but in the way of relationships. Through studies, people who have good relationships with people live longer, and those that live solitary lives do not live as long. Excellent topic in a series of health talks that will be happening. I’m excited for these ones!

Once I got home, I made a smoothie using bananas and Barlean’s Naturally Very Berry Greens powder. This powder I did not like so much. The strawberry-kiwi one is AMAZING, but not so much this berry one. Oh well. I drank it anyway.

Later on, I made another smoothie using bananas, frozen strawberries, frozen rhubarb, and organic kelp powder. This smoothie was decent (was going for a reminder of strawberry rhubarb pie), but a little sugar would have gone a long way with this! However, since I’m not consuming any additives right now, the sugar can wait.

As I was making a grocery list to go shopping this evening, I noticed I was not going to use the one orange, bell pepper in my fridge. I hate when things go to waste. So I did eat that as well. I could have blended it up in a smoothie, but I ate it separately. It was absolutely delicious. But in the program I will be doing for the next 5 days, bell peppers are not used. So, I ate it tonight before it goes bad.

Aside from grocery shopping, I didn’t do much else this evening. Pretty much I worked on the computer and went to bed, excited to eat different foods tomorrow.

Review of Symptoms:
-Acne doing decently better.
-Hair is doing so well.
-Stomach is feeling a little better today.
-Digestion is improving lots.
-Much more energy today.
-Feels good to wear your church dress that just fit you less than two months ago and it’s completely loose on you now.

Weight at the end of the day = 166.8 lbs (down 2.8 lbs from yesterday)

Total Calories = 1014 (87% carbs, 9% fat, 4% protein… did not eat near enough today…)

 

Fruit w/Salad Supper Day 2 – Healing Journey Day 39

Journal:
This morning I was really wishing I had time to make some homemade orange juice. However, I didn’t have ample time so I took some Fuji apples with me instead.

Throughout the day, I managed to eat four of the Mandarin oranges, and one of my Fuji apples. In total, it was less than 300 calories. This week has been insane and I literally am not even getting time to eat. Today, itself, was a day from… well, nowhere good. But, enough about my day. Tomorrow is a new day and I’m hoping for better.

So when I finally got home (after having a meeting after school), I noticed I had a letter from Animal Control that my dog’s registration expired. So, I had to go deal with that immediately. I then came home and started working on tonight’s salad.

For veggies, I chopped half of a romaine heart, two stalks of curly kale, some English cucumber, a Roma tomato, two radishes, and some white mushrooms.

I can’t remember exactly where I got this dressing recipe from, but I’m thinking it may have been from Fully Raw Kristina. Definitely check her out if you haven’t before. The recipe goes as follows:

Strawberry Vinaigrette:
1-2 Cups Fresh Strawberries
2-3 Large Navel Oranges
Half to 1 Cup Pitted Dates
Handful of Fresh Basil

I tweaked it a little bit by using about 3 cups of strawberries, only 2 large Navel oranges, 10 pitted dates, and the fresh basil. Oh my goodness. After I blended it and took off the lid to smell it and taste it, it was so heavenly. This dressing definitely won me over compared to the dressing I had yesterday. Here’s what it looked like on my salad:

You know, I think back to the days of being so careful of how much dressing you put on your salad in fear of all the fatty calories you would be consuming. To give you a comparison, most Ranch dressings are anywhere from 7-14 grams of fat per tablespoon. It’s very high. This dressing had 1 gram of fat and I had more dressing than I even needed.

Now, like yesterday, I got through about half of the salad and started losing my taste for this salad. I don’t understand what is going on exactly. I’m not eating near the calories I know I should be, and yet my body doesn’t wolf through the salad like I think it should. Perhaps it’s just the readjustment of consuming a lot of veggies again; perhaps it’s the volume and not the caloric density. I’m not really sure to be honest. But I do know that I would definitely make this dressing again; it was super tasty.

Because it took me a little over two hours to eat this salad (it seriously takes me so long to finish these salads), I didn’t end up going to the gym again. I really need to figure out how to rearrange my time again because I do want to be in the gym. The goal is to make it tomorrow. Stay tuned…

Review of Symptoms:
-Acne still bad.
-Energy good.
-Digestion starting to move.
-Hair is looking so shiny and healthy! It really struck me today.
-Muscle cramp early this morning in my calf. Ouch! Perhaps I’m missing a nutrient…
-Still not eating enough, but better than yesterday.

Weight at the end of the day = 168.4 lbs (down 0.2 lbs from yesterday)

Total Calories = 1007 (89% carbs, 3% fat, 8% protein… still need to eat more)

From Feeling “Trapped” to Feeling “Free”

My husband and I (and our pups) just spent the last two days driving back up to Canada from the states. The past two weeks in the states have been phenomenal to say the least. I’ll write a post stating more of what we did later, but I experienced something tonight that I needed to feel, something I didn’t know would be possible for a very long time.

In high school, I lived in the “big city”. It was nice for the duration I was here, but when I left, I swore never to move back. I am a small town girl, and the big city is just not my scene.

When I graduated from university, I was able to get a job for the first year in a small town. Bingo! But when that maternity leave position ran up, so did my other plans.

I received a phone call from my superintendent that I had an interview scheduled in the “big city” on such-and-such a date at such-and-such a time. I hadn’t even been asked, I had simply just been told.

On that day, I drove to the city, did my interview, and of course, got the job. I couldn’t believe what was happening. The one place I never wanted to end up was the one place I was being told I had to be. I was angry for a very long time.

Eventually, I got to the point where I simply went around saying “God certainly has a sense of humour!” But my one year employment turned into two, then three, and currently on year four.

Reflecting on it, I knew God wanted me to be here. There were certain situations I had to encounter as a teacher to grow. There were painful moments I had to experience to become wiser. There were children who needed someone to advocate for them, and there were relationships built with students who just needed someone to listen that wouldn’t judge them. I was able to fill that place. As much as they think they have learned from me, I learned ever so much from them.

This year, when my big change from 6th grade to 2nd grade came, I couldn’t believe it was happening. As much as 6th graders stressed me out, I loved the counselling aspect; I loved the difficult questions. I felt like a stranger in grade 2. But of course, as time went on, it became easier and I was able to find aspects I liked. But I couldn’t help thinking, is this really where I’m supposed to be? Is this really what I’m still supposed to do?

I can’t really say it’s teacher’s burnout (though I’m sure some things are similar). It’s just the feeling of being “stuck”. No matter how many ways I looked at our situation financially, I could see no better opportunity to survive than where we were. We both hate living in the city, though I’ve come to see good parts about it and don’t hate it as bad as I used to. But when I can hear parts of my neighbour’s conversations, when my neighbours that I strive to be so nice to turn around and stab me in the back, and when I no longer see a way that Canadians are nicer than Americans anymore (sad reality from what I see here in the city), I know we aren’t really happy here. It’s not where either one of us want to be. So that’s when I realized something this weekend.

When we were finally finishing our drive, doing the same maneuvers through the city as we had done for years, we had come to the house, walked in, and I suddenly felt like I was in someone else’s house. I felt like a stranger walking into someone else’s life. It was a strange feeling. My husband did not experience the same thing, but for some reason, it was like I was that “spirit” looking at someone else’s world, an outsider looking in. Of course that feeling is over now, but that wasn’t the only feeling that came.

After driving for 2 days, we absolutely did not have the energy to go grocery shopping. So we went out for supper (our fridge is bare). On the way home from supper, it hit me. This city is no longer my jail. I no longer feel like I strapped to this city, unable to move. I no longer feel like the city is the pit that is going to swallow me whole to keep me here with no escape. I suddenly realized, with options my husband, my mother-in-law, and myself had talked about after Christmas break, the world is at our fingertips. It may not be a fun ride to make change, but to get out of the rut of tiredness, depression, and feeling “stuck”, a few months of painful change would be so worth it. It’s no longer an impossibly large, looming, unattainable vision, it is now a totally possible, difficult but doable task. And taking those chains off was the best feeling I could have ever experienced.

I know this post is kind of vague, but this year is a huge year of change. I cannot leak more information than is timely, but I can assure you this year is going to difficult but good. Stay tuned!

Gym Adventures: Rowdy at the Gym!

I had the most frightening gym experience this past weekend.

It was Saturday evening, and our gym closes at 8, so we were only there for the last couple of hours.

There is an open balcony section to our gym which just happened to be where my husband and I were talking when we – all of a sudden – heard a big commotion going on downstairs. We looked over the balcony and noticed everyone else staring as well.

To the side of the gym, it appeared that a fight was about to happen. There was yelling, what looked like threats, looks of disbelief on faces, and many people looking uneasy. We watched as the two jacked-up guys walked away from the smaller ones twice. Both times, the other men followed and continued to yell.

Thankfully, a man that seems to be friendly with everyone at the gym calmly walked over and said something to diffuse the situation. However, as can be imagined, the mood of the gym was changed.

After listening to the members talking, it seems to be unanimous that this was an occasion of where the younger guys want to take down the “big guys”. The gym worker called her manager, and the ones who started the fight will have their memberships reviewed. She also apologized to the “big guys” but of course, they did not blame her.

It was crazy: to think a fight was about to happen at your gym where testosterone is an obvious high. Would everyone jump in the fight? Who knows?

I’m so happy a fight didn’t actually happen. But I think it’s important to look at the safety of the members because this isn’t the first time those younger guys have caused problems. My husband and I saw (and reported) when they put holes in the walls of the group class room, and walked through trainer’s offices when they weren’t in them. I do agree with second chances, but I think that people do need to understand that there is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour no matter where you are. There are consequences that come (or at least should come) with disrespect and causing problems.

I’m not sure what the gym’s decision will be, but I am interested to find out. Stay tuned…