Sigh. Green smoothe fest goes really well....as long as you stay on it!

Decided to stop on saturday, as we had a party to go to. Had some wonderful salad at said party, then came home and had some of my raw pizza...eh. Started to feel some of my 'symptoms' the next day. I have been concerned about certian foods and my symptoms. Back on green smoothies I go! I feel that the more basic I eat, the better I feel. Also I am realizing that nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains are simply not things that my body does well with. I know dehydrating isn't always the best for me either, but some things are ok. So, I need to stick to what works and eat the 'other stuff' in moderation.

I believe part of this is due to the fact I have horrible digestion. It has definitely gotten better over the past couple years BUT still is far from stellar. I do really well with green smoothies as by the time the 'food' hits my gut it is already partially broken down from the blender. So, my body is able to get lots of nutrients without having to do a whole lot of work. This is why I feel the best on LOTS of green smoothies! I am ok with fruits, and salads or veggies as well as long as I don't add any nuts, etc. My body really starts to get freaked out and messed up if I start adding too many nuts, etc. Ok, note to self made :)

I am enjoying the addition of superfoods to my smoothies, and feel that could take things to the next level of health. I feel great when I use them, and again, since they are in my smoothies I can absorb them easily. I have been adding extra green powder to my green smoothies, and making 'power smoothies' with maca, lucuma, mesquite and cacao...YUM!!! I crave them! There must be something my body needs in there as I am really LOVING these superfoods! I will have to do a post on superfoods soon :)

I had the delight of chatting with a fellow runner and previous ultrarunner at the party sunday...I told him of my raw status and the predictable next question was- Where do you get your protien? AAAAAHHHHH!!!!! When I explained I got all my AMINOS from greens, he got it :) He was quite impressed that I do what I do on a raw diet :) He was very open to hearing about raw, though was not going to become a fan anytime soon...he was a big fan of carbs, lol :)
The nice thing about this party, beyond the lovely people there, was it was all vegetarian. Even some vegan dishes. The host's son is vegan/raw vegan. My desserts were a big hit as well :) I brought truffles, fudge tarts and berry tarts and people were enjoying them, for sure! To find out they were raw (and healthy) was a bonus for most :)

Well, my blender is calling my name...Santa brought me a VitaMix for Xmas!!! I am LOVING it....and trying to figure out how to bring it to FL with me....

So, while doing a green smoothie feast what does one logically do?
Research and create recipes of course! :)

I have been organizing my recipes for my uncookbook. In doing so, I have been looking through all my dessert recipes and I could seriously make a dessert cookbook! I might just do 2 books :) We'll see. I am wondering if I can get my kids on raw food by simply feeding them desserts, lol :) Seriously, though, I would love it if they were higher raw...its tough with them as they are all very fussy eaters. Max, by far, is the most interested in raw foods. He loves raw fruits and veggies, nuts, and raw desserts :) He would happily eat that all day long. Jeffrey is on an ASD diet (and no, I don't mean GFCF...) he likes starch and cheese. Period. Its been hard with him as I do believe his body does not love this stuff. Different foods do act as 'drugs' in our bodies and he is most definitely looking for that food 'high'...I am looking into other superfoods that may give him that same feeling, while being a better choice health-wise. Lilly...she is just fussy. She would live on fruit, which is great but....the fruit she wants is not in season right now and I am a big believer in eating for the season especially when one lives in a cold climate! (well, except for smoothies, I use whatever fruit I can find that is organic and frozen)She will be in heaven when we go to Florida! :)

My green smoothie for today and tomorrow is:

mango
pineapple
kale
super greens(powder)
ginger
honey
YUM!!! I am loving ginger in my smoothies. Helps me get warm! Today, I am going to make the following as a 'treat' :)
1 banana
1/4c cacao
2T mesquite
2T lucuma
2T hemp
1t vanilla
1/2c agave or honey
1t coconut butter(oil)
1T greens powder
2c water
I will let you know how it turns out! This will be my first superfood smoothie. I finally purchased all the superfoods for recipes and such, so I can give this a shot. I ahve been researching the powers of these foods and I am quite impressed. I normally stay away from superfoods but then I thought about it and ...they ARE foods. Its over-supplementing that I am not a fan of, and these are actually things that occur in nature! And, people have been using them for eons :) Once I make my smoothie, maybe I will do a post about them. Though they aren't cheap, you don't need alot and if they work.... SWEET! :)

Ok, off to smoothierize!

A lesson in healing.

I have been ignoring(or trying to, anyways) the last few days worth of not feeling well. I thought I was coming down with a cold, and recovered from that...but I am left still not quite right. A basket full of symptoms that resemble a Lyme/CFIDS 'flare' or relapse.

Thing is, I am not going there. I am convinced, in my mind, that I have cured myself, or at the very least put myself into a permanent remission. :) So, I will go back to what put me into a healing mode in the first place...a green smoothie feast.

I also have been way overdoing foods I am not used to eating. I have been an uncooking fiend as of late and of course I have to try everything! I have been eating nuts and seeds en masse and I don't usually eat those things so my body might be telling me enough is enough already! Treats are fine in moderation, as are nuts but...moderation is NOT something I have been practicing, lol. I have made desserts, dips, crackers, pizza....and sampling it all...numerous times :)

So... I am not a big fan of fasts, personally. I hear the word 'fast' and my mind goes 'lack'. I have some issues with lacking, so a fast brings that up. Though I know that fasting can be a wonderful and healing experience, I have been successful on a fast...oh, um...never. A 'feast' however, makes me think abundance. I like abundance! So, a green smoothie feast it is.

How this works for me is as follows:
Upon rising, I have a glass of warm lemon water, possibly with a dash of cayenne powder. Gets the liver going and helps release any gunk hanging around there(very scientific, I know) Then the rest of the day is made up of drinking 3 qts of green smoothie. I just got a bunch of fruit, and I have PLENTY of greens. I am soaking some dried ginger as well. I typically have not been a fan of superfoods, as I didn't think much of them. BUT, I have been doing some reading as of late and I may just give them a try. They ARE foods, not supplements. I am probably going to add some green powders to my smoothie (algae, spirulina, as well as other green goodness) and possibly some maca...I found some great recipes for maca smoothies!

Anyways, this will be my plan. I am starting today and will go 7-10 days. It would be crazy to go through the Holidays on this feast if we actually ate SAD foods, but since I don't and the family won't need a big to-do on xmas, this will be easy. Hopefully this will get me back on track! I am leaving on the 6th to go to Florida for the Goofy Challenge at Disney World (a half marathon saturday followed by a marathon sunday) and then a few days at my Grandmother's house. The warm sun, ocean water, and fresh fruit! I can't wait! I want to be healthy before then so I can enjoy it :)

Feel free to join me! Bring in the new year with renewed health!

Sure enough, several quarts of blueberry-ginger smoothie and a nice hot epsom salt bath later and I am back to feeling fine! :)

That is a good thing because baby, it is COLD outside! I have to keep moving to stay warm!

I am gearing up to create some new recipes for the cookbook this weekend...we are in for a snowstorm on Sunday so I expect to be stuck inside for at least part of the day...then we will head up to the mountain to ski! One of the benefits of living 5 minutes from a ski mountain is we only have to wait for them to plow the road and off we go :)

On my uncooking agenda:
Grawnola
Cacao-covered cranberries, ginger, and gojo berries
Buckwheat cookies
Macaroons
Pecan-Mushroom burgers

YUM!!! I am craving some more raw tortilla chips and salsa...maybe I will make some mango salsa this time! Pics to come!!!

I spoke too soon...

Here I was saying I haven't been sick in forever and lo and behold...it appears I may be coming down with a cold. Ah, well. There is a lesson in this for me. Listen to my body!!! I know stress is hash on your body, it taxes your immune system making you more susceptible to illness. I have been allowing myself to get super stressed over a variety of things lately. Noted! No more stressing about things outside my control! I also know that over-indulgence is a way to do myself in. Overdoing ANYTHING, even good things is never a wise choice. I did both :) While working on my book, I was trying all sorts of recipes and using A LOT of nuts...something I don't normally eat a lot of as my body is not fond of them. Add to that the fact that I had some wine over the weekend( and I am not much of a drinker anymore) and here I am. Feeling congested, tired, and just not the picture of health!

So, now what do I do? Well, for starters I have increased my zinc, and vitamin C. I am taking Cat's Claw to boost up my immune system...I feel this works even BETTER than Echinacea. I will be drinking some Pau d'Arco tea shortly. I am also sticking to liquids today. I made up a batch of Ginger-Blueberry Smoothie- full of heat and antioxidants! I will be drinking this today to help flush out the cooties, and expect to be feeling better by tomorrow! Tonite I will use y Neti Pot, and take a VERY hot Epsom salt bath (forces your body to think it has a fever, then flushes out the toxins...this is amazing, and it works!) with some camphor oil and maybe a few drops of Eucalyptus as well.

So, illness is definitely a message to you from your body that something isn't right. LISTEN to that message! If you hear it right away and take action, chances are it won't get any worse and you will be back on your feet in no time. As it is, I don't feel THAT bad, I am simply not feeling as good as I usually do. I am listening and taking action now so it does not get worse. I've got things to do! No time for sickness :)

My Ginger-Blueberry Smoothie
1 knuckle's worth of grated fresh ginger, or several pieces dried ginger soaked for a bit to soften
2c. water or fresh OJ
1c (or more) blueberries fresh or frozen
1c spinach
1-2T honey (anti-microbial properties in honey make it a good choice when not feeling well...if you eat honey)

Blend until smooooooooth and enjoy!

This the story of how it all began..

guess the back story is in order ...well, this is the story of how I became raw. :)

I grew up eating fairly healthy. My mom wasn't all crunchy-granola, but we did not eat alot of junk, didn't drink soda, and we did not eat much red meat, sugar, etc. Despite that healthy eating, I grew up with a VILE sweet tooth and a nasty sugar addiction. I also became an emotional eater, and ballooned up to 175lbs on my 5'6" frame. I ate to feel good, and I ate candy to feel even better...for that brief amount of time it lasted. I was miserable.

The summer before my Junior year in high school, I decided a change was in order. I decided to become a vegetarian. I also became interested in triathalons. I read a bunch of books on both subjects and switched my diet that summer. I also started running and biking daily. By the end of the summer, I lost 30lbs. I was beyond thrilled. FINALLY, I felt better...or so I thought. I still had my sugar addiction, but thought as long as I ate 'fat free' candy I was good to go. Plus, my calorie intake was pretty low, and my output higher, so I was ok for a while...Then it all started to spiral out of control.

I became obsessed. I was running 8-10 miles a day, and living on less than 1000 calories. I kept this up through my freshman year of college, suffered 2 stress fractures, stopped getting my period, was tired, grumpy, and weighed 118lbs. Not anorexic by the numbers, but I was definitely living the life and I was miserable. I transfered my sophmore year and gained some weight back, ran less, but was not healthy by any stretch as now I was a poor college student living on ramen noodles and eggs...and smoking.

Fast forward through many years not worthy of rehashing, and I reached a point where I was in a decent place. I was running on a local team, eating fairly well, and maintaining a reasonable weight. I still struggled with some disordered eating issues, but overall I was ok.

Fast forward again...now I am married and having babies :).I was fortunate to marry a fellow vegetarian, so that has never been an issue. I was vegetarian through all 3 pregnancies, gained about 35lbs with each baby which was increasingly harder to take off with each baby. Throughout my years of being pregnant and nursing, I tried several diets. I wanted to be as healthy as possible for my babies, and not be carrying around any extra weight. I tried the Eat to Live, which I seemed to stick to the easiest, as well as vegan, juicing, Master Cleanses, etc.

During this time, (though this was a good 5-6 yers ago) I heard about Raw. There wasn't much out there, but I ended up buying a book by Juliano called Raw that I had seen on TV. When I got it home, I was very interested...until I started reading. Sprouts? Dehydrating? Seaweed? What the hell are all these wierd ingredients? Everything seemed complicated, time-consuming, and just plain wierd. That was the end of that.

Fast forward again, (I am sensing a theme) and now I have 3 beautiful kiddos, and we are a mess. I am depressed and tired, everything hurts and I am sick constantly. My kids are sick all the time as well, and are varying degrees of psychotic- tantrums, manic behavior, uncontrollable raging, etc. I was at a complete loss. I thought I was doing everything right, I nursed, feed them whole, organic foods, healthy snacks...so I sought out a Holistic Dr. to help. Turned out all of us had Candida, food allergies, and I was dx'd with Lyme Disease. We had every test under the sun done, and I was told I had to put the kids on a very restrictive rotation diet, and avoid all the foods they were sensitive to. I was devastated. So were they. Being a research freak, I decided there had to be something we could do, some way we could eat that would be better than what we were doing.

I somehow stumbled upon raw again. Raw had come a long way in 4 years. There was a ton of info out now, lots of books, websites etc. I read until my eyes bled and decided this was what we were going to do. I put myself and the kids on a high raw diet the next day. I got rid of all foods not conducive to our new diet. (except hubby's foods as he was not convinced to try this yet...)The kids and I basically ate raw all day and ate an allergy-free cooked dinner. I ate raw all day. We had smoothies, puddings and lots of fruits, veggies and dips. I did this with them for 6mo. They improved. Their skin cleared up. The circles under their eyes went away. They slept better, behaved better, tantrums almost disappeared, and were generally happier.At the end of 6mo, I started carefully trialing them with some of their old foods and...they were fine. Sadly, I succumbed out of sheer joy that they could eat 'normal food', to going back to a cooked vegetarian diet with them, though I stayed predominantly raw. And ate candy. This is an important fact. Throughout all of this, my sugar addiction was alays satisfied. I never gave it up for longer than a month.

Now to the recent past...I started getting sick at the begining of last summer...really sick. Everything hurt, more than normal. I was tired all the time. I was a good 20lbs heavier than I wanted to be, having never lost the weight from my 3rd child. Though I was running, working around the house, etc I was constantly exhausted, yet I had insomnia. By September, I could hardly stay awake during the day. I was freezing all the time wearing jeans and sweatshirts on 75 degree days. I was nauseaus all the time, and could hardly eat. I spent my days bundled up on the couch, watching my children play, thinking it would be better to be dead than live like this. Finally, I went to the Dr. My Dr. is wonderful and is completely open to my philosophy. After MANY many blood tests, a visit to an allergist, and much research it was determined that I had been suffering from Chronic Fatigue Immune Defficiency Syndrome- CFIDS. I believe this went along with the Lyme disease. I was also allergic to shellfish, nuts and honey bees, along with dust, mold, all weeds, all pollens, grasses....yeah. Good times. Then I was later dx'd with Hashimoto's, which is an autoimmune thyroid disorder. I knew I had Hypothyroidism, but when my thyroid kept getting worse despite medication, they decided to test further and this is what we found.

I was devastated. My Dr. told me there was no cure, only hope for a remission which I had been in before, and was now in a very bad flare. She wanted me to be vaccinated. On medications. I tried going the 'natural' route. I tried herbs, vitamins, fasting...I wasn't getting better, and wasn't sure how long I could deal with this. I read every book I could get my hands on regarding CFIDS and Hashimoto's and one thing they all said was to eat a whole food diet with as much RAW as possible. Light bulb...I immediately went completely raw. No cheating, and FINALLY quit sugar. I drank green smoothies daily, ate salads, raw desserts and flax crackers. I did go on 2 meds after MUCH research, as I was willing to do anything at that point to get better. And it worked. Slowly but surely I started to feel better. I had energy. I was sleeping better. I could actually keep food down, which I wasn't able to before. I lost that last 20 lbs. for good.

Presently, I feel fantastic. I eat a raw diet that consists of green smoothies, salads, and of course DESSERTS! I am predominantly raw, close to 90% most of the time as that is how I feel the best. I am currently running 6 days a week most weeks, and training for Ultra marathons(that is races in which the distance is MORE than a marathon, which is 26.2 miles) I have completed several 50 mile trail races on raw food and green smoothies. I have more energy, sleep better, recover from training easily, and best of all have not been sick- not even a cold- in over a year. I am on no medication for the CFIDS or Lyme, I only take something for my thyroid. I take very few supplements, and I owe my health to raw foods!!!