Another Day of 80-10-10ish Success!

Beginning Raw Vegan Weight: 425

Beginning Blog Weight: 277

Todays Weight: 265 1/4

Yesterdays Weight: 268

Total Lost: 11 3/4 lbs in 3 days! Yahoooo!

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Not the most flattering photos, but here are two 'befores' when i was in the high 380's and one more recently, an 'in progress' shot, wearing my Arnolds Way 'babooshka'!

Wowy, Kazowy, this 80-10-10-ing is getting more and more encouraging!!!

Hmmm...my ankles are still a bit swollen and i still haven't gotten my period, so this is all likely still water weight...

...(Or just the release of dehydrated and heavier foods from my gut). Uch, that sounds totally gross! But it is a reality. If we overdo gourmet raw and really pack it in, it's gonna take a little bit to release. (Forgive me, but as raw foodists, i think we're all accostomed to talking about poopy).

I know one thing...i am wee-weeing like there's no tomorrow! Last Friday at Arnolds Way, i was in the intensely bloated state, and i did not wee-wee once in 10 hours. THAT is frightening.

Yesterday? Man, i couldn't stop! I even wake up in the middle of the night to go!

When i was a baby, my mother used to open my diaper to find a dry one. Since conception, i've had issues with fluid retention...

Wouldn't common sense say a SALT-FREE plan is best for me????

Holy Moses, i'm just imagining it now, a salt free, fat free life.

Squeeky dressingless bland salads, soups that elicit the initial reaction of 'blech!', trips to the mexican shops with no guacamole, oh god, no more jars of olives, no bubbie's pickles, no more salty nutspreads on crunchy raw bread, no nama shoyu on mushrooms with olive oil, no amazing food from ALL THE WAY LIVE http://www.alllivefood.com/, their corn salad and seaweed salad and kale salad...!!! I'm almost in a frenzy... , no more nori wrap from OASIS http://oasislivingcuisine.com/ with that awesome brzail nut pate, oh, the flax crackers, the buckwheat crusts, no more succulent collard wrap with lemony hummus and slippery avocado. I can't take it anymore!

I think i am destined to live as a raw NUN, put the habit on, say my prayers and abstain from a life of sinful rawfood pleasures.

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The 'Secret' says that we can manifest what we want in our lives just by envisioning it, just by feeling it, by imagining it into existence. Hopefully soon i can return to these beloved foods, in moderation, but my body is obviously lovin' what i'm doing now. Maybe it's time i listen to IT instead of my dumb 'fat' brain or tastebuds or sensual foody nature.

It was interesting eating that soup yesterday - after i got over the initial absolute horror of it, i actually enjoyed it... (blenderized beet, celery, lemon juice, zucchini, tomato, filtered water, gingerroot)

And Cliff and I celebrated Memorial Day on the patio, cool breezes, bright sun, birds chirping...having a happy little romantic dinner together. As the dry romaine of my Meditteranean Salad squeeked under my teeth, HE delved into a gorgeous big fat juicy burger, oohed and ahhed the whole time, and pierced his fork happily through crispy pierogies, popping them one at a time into his mouth, smiling.

Yes, just call me Sister Margarethe from now on!

My squeeky salad was born again by that nutritional yeast, and I must say i did enjoy the crunch of the celery and the romaine, the spicyness of the cayenne, of the long green hot pepper, the cumin - my new go-to seasoning - and the parsley gave it that israeli flavor.

It strikes me that strict 80-10-10ers do NOT use any seasonings (garlic, cayenne, cumin, etc...), so i am absolutely unequivocably not a strict 80-10-10er, and that's fine with me. I'm a little 80-10-10 sinner! I don't eat this way out of 'principle', but out of a desire to shed pounds, and cumin doesn't have any calories.

Plus, making things taste palatable is what i do as a raw chef. To be able to do it in the salt/fat free realm is an interesting challenge, and having this blog to write my recipes down is an amazing support to me. I am so jazzed about it!

I have struggled for a long time to find a system of how to write down my recipes. As i make everything up off the cuff and don't follow recipes (i do enjoy perusing raw cookbooks, i love cooking shows, foodnetwork, raw and regular cooking show youtubes, cooking magazines, etc...), i draw from common sense cooking know-how and inspiration, create a dish...and that's that. No documentation. At least now i can blog AFTERWARDS exactly what i did...and THAT is going to be such a help to me!

I have come up with a lot of really good recipes, the majority of which i have never written down. My head is full of recipes and recipe ideas. And, yes, i would love to one day write a cookbook. And a book on how i overcame my weight/binge eating problem.

I know this blog will be bringing me in that direction, a direction i very much want to go! (Do you hear that, G-d?!!!) I'm manifesting, i'm manifesting, i'm manifesting!!!

Feeling it, thinking it, imagining it. I see myself on Larry King promoting my books, i see myself on Oprah introducing her to raw food. I see myself handing out copies of my books at some big raw festival! Ahhh....ain't life grand?

In fact, several of my recipes and my story will be featured in Lisa Montgomery's upcoming new book "Raw Inspiration: Living Dynamically", which will soon be available at amazon.com. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Raw-Inspiration-Living-Dynamically-Food/dp/0981482236/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243342064&sr=1-3

BREAKFAST: "Vanilla Greenie" Shake - Blenderized 3 bananas, glurg agave, 2 small heads of romaine, 4 dropperfulls of organic vanilla extract, icecubes, a little filtered water - DELISH!

EXERCISE: 1 hour strenuous walk

WATER: 1/2 quart iced herbal tea

SNACK: "Vanilla Plus" Shake - Blenderized 3 bananas, 4 dropperfulls of organic vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp raw cacao, glurg agave, icecubes, a little filtered water.

LUNCH: "Summertime Picnic Bowl" - In a big bowl - 2 whole cobs of fresh raw husked corn, 3 whole yummy sweet peaches. Alternate eating cob of corn with fresh peach. YUMMM!!!!

SNACK: "Peach Pineapple Fantasy" Smoothie - Recipe below. This was super yummy!

DINNER: "Spicy Garlic Romaine" Salad - Recipe below. Heck, not bad at all for a barely any fat/salt salad. It had a lot of flavor, actually! The yeast actually makes a salad without outright oil and salt quite tolerable! The key, i think, is to make the salad spicy enough to make you forget you're not eating any salt!!!

* * * FAT ALERT! Though i had no 'overt fats' - avocado or olive oil or nuts today, I did indulge in three teensy weensy servings of very low fat add-ins (1/2 tsp cacao in a shake, 1 tsp of coconut flakes and 2 Tbsp of Nutritional yeast.) For 28 gram serving of cacao, there are 2.5 grams of fat and 20 mg of sodium. I don't think 1/2 tsp is 28 grams worth.... i hope not! In shredded coconut, there is 1 gram of fat in
1 tsp and no sodium. I had 1/2 tsp. In nutritional yeast there is 1 gram of fat and 5mg sodium in 2 Tbsp. By contrast, for one serving of nama shoyu, there are over 900 mg of sodium. For 2 Tbsp of olive oil there are 28 grams of fat. * * *

PEACH PINEAPPLE FANTASY SMOOTHIE

Blend in Vitamix:

• 3 small fresh pitted
  peaches
• 3 bananas
• 2 cups fresh pineapple
  chunks
• 1 tsp unsweetened raw coconut
  flakes
• 4 squirts of organic vanilla
  extract
• icecubes
• 1/2 cup filtered water
• glurg of agave

SPICY GARLIC ROMAINE SALAD
In a large bowl, throw in and mix up with fork to blend 'dressing' into leaves

• 1.5 small heads romaine, ripped into peices
• 1/2 medium clove of garlic, slivered thinly over
  romaine
• 1/4 cup slivered purple cabbage
• few slices red pepper
• few slices purple onion
• a few splashes of raw apple cider vinegar
• glurg of agave
• hot red pepper flakes to taste
• 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
• black pepper, a few shakes

Shawna, just read your comment - my dear, we are SOUL SISTERS! Let's please be of support to each other! Don't give up! Please email me! LaSoprana@aol.com

More later!

xoxox
michelle joy