GREEN SMOOTHIE REVOLUTION - Day 7

4:00 a.m.! I went to sleep at midnight and awoke at 4a.m. aaarrrrggghhhh! i suppose that's one of the many joyous benefits of eating tons of fruit and salads - the wonderful benefit of reduced sleep. Yes, it's so wonderful, i'd like to scream.

My body, and feet especially, are exhausted , but my mind is awake...too awake. The catering job is coming closer and closer and new ideas, improved ideas are constantly on my mind.

The party Susan and I are catering (we call ourselves "Mostly Raw Catering) on May 22nd is a dinner and celebration of sustainable living. Thus, the party amenities are all to be compostable and earth friendly. We have ordered dishes and flatwear made from compostable bamboo, cups made from corn.

The decision to include a "logo" of a dragonfly on the corn cup, or to use napkins with a butterfly print have been troubling me. Artistically, we thought it was a great idea.

The use of dyes, however, on these items, does not make their compostability quotient very appealing.

I thought to use a rubber stamper of a dragonfly on a gift bag, and realize that that's also a dye.

Are there earth friendly rubber stamper dyes out there???

~ ~ ~ ~

Yesterday was a BUSY day at Arnold's Way! We enjoyed a very busy FIRST FRIDAY there. As a special dinner entree, i offered: TRIO of raw vegan sushi (one had jicama rice with lots of veggies and avo jullianed, one included toona, one used red pepper cheeze), with a side of Creamy Thai Broccoli, a small salad, and some raw bread. I rec'd thumbed up from all who enjoyed!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I walked for 20 mins in the morning with my mother.

She's going in for her surgery on the 19th to have her bowel resectioned and her polyp removed. I wonder if it's still there? She's been 85% raw for many, many weeks now, drinking green smoothies every morning, eating salads for lunch and a cooked vegan meal for supper. She feels better in ways, and says she really "likes the green smoothies."

Her back hurts her worse than ever, though, and Mom's lost considerable weight. She was skinny to begin with, and is not convinced of the diet because he backs hurts her more now. Susan says that increased pain is often a sign of healing. Mom doesn't buy it.

Nevertheless, she connects with the value of the diet to keep her body healthier. Yet, she won't submit to foregoing surgery.

On the positive side, she promises to maintain her new diet after surgery. She says she wants to gain weight after surgery, but i hope her plan to gain does not include her former diet of icecream, cookies and cake. She still has thyroid tumors and it would be nice for them not to turn cancerous, if they're not already. [deep sigh]

Please send out your healing vibes and well wishes to my mom, Ruth.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today at work, my green smoothie routine worked again like a charm. I'm so pleased!

This morning, my mother made me green smoothie, and then when i got to work, i made 3 extra-large ones for myself, drank one and put two in the fridge for later. I used kale, a little banana, mango and blueberry. Not outrageously delish, but it was pleasant. I tried using less banana ala last summer on carlene's bootcamp. I drank those throughout the morning. I think i had some blueberry smoothie with more banana a little later, and at 3pm, i made myself a big salad with raw veggie burger, nutritional yeast, and a dressing made of water, 1/2 avo, garlic, lemon juice. No salt.

I hate to admit it, but i actually enjoyed it without salt, after i got over the initial shock of 'blah.'

My friend and coworker, Dorinda, stopped into today to Arnold's and influenced me pretty much. She's begun Weight Watchers doing mostly raw and is laying off of the salt. She had me make for her a wonderful salt free guacamole ontop of a big salad for lunch, and she'd asked me if i'd like to join Weight Watchers with her and do raw and count my points. It's an intriguing idea...

Dorinda seemed to enjoy her salt-free salad very much. (Salt-free is how i lived last summer, and, yeah, you DO get used to it.) So, i figured i'd give it a go for this one meal, not necessarily committing to being salt-free, but figured it would be interestng to see how my body and mind reacted to it. I know my body likes it, it's my tongue that would have to get used to idea again.

Mentally, I'm not sure i want to go there. I did say on the video i made that i'd be doing 80-10-10, which is a salt-free plan, and Arnold reminded me of my plans for 80-10-10 today, several times, not too delicately, when he saw me making avo dressing (i only used a 1/2!!!).

I used to use 1/4 avo last summer.

I just don't want to be TOO strict, otherwise i'll crash and burn. As a binge eater, i have to be careful of taking away all taste pleasures, otherwise, i'll binge. I've been enjoying a little flavor. Is that so terrible????? Last summer, i routinely went OFF of 80-10-10 to binge insanely on every forbidden fatty raw gourmet treat.

Yes, i want to lose weight. But, yes, i want to stop binge eating. Something tells me the wisdom in all of those binge eating books i've read might be true. Sometimes the harder you try, the worse backlash there is.

Listening to myself and pleasing myself, instead of others, might be key for me. Not sure if i do want to do Weight Watchers. On the one hand, i'll have more support to lose and i'll get more into exercise and have formal evidence of my weight loss.

On the other hand, i'll be focusing again on what i can't eat and how much on someone else's terms...instead of just listening in.

I'll meditate on it. My goal is to lose weight, AND stop binge eating.

When i got home from work, it was LATE, but i was HUNGRY! I'd worked an 11 hour day and after my lunch salad at 3pm, had only had a few bites of Thai broccoli salad and a bite or two of raw cucumber and carrot.

Cliff and i enjoyed a banana whip (evil bananas!) with cinnamon, nutmeg, date, and a little cashew in it. It tasted yum, but i started coughing soon after. Too much fat?

Taking the Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.))and my Betaine HCL seemed to calmed the cough immediately. It was only about 8 nuts, meaning i ate about 5! Mucous was coming up from my chest.

I was still hungry, so enjoyed a fresh mango, watched my guilty-pleasure favorite show, "America's Next Top Model" on youtube and hit the hay. I love that show!

For the last 3 nights or so, i'd not taken the D.E. or Betaine as i left it at my house and had slept at my mothers. I felt 'refluxy' in my throat yesterday (i get reflux laryngitis), maybe because i had some tight pants on at work. Wearing tight clothes is said to inflame reflux.

Nevertheless, Megan said i looked smokin' in my tight pants and that she could really see the weight loss...

SMOKIN', BABY!!!!

xoxo michelle joy