DAY 1

Today is day one of my personal 30 day raw food challenge. I am looking forward to seeing how my body changes over the next 30 days. Hopefully, at the end of my 30 days, I will have an "after" picture to post that looks significantly different than my "before" pictures! :)

One of the things that really drew me to raw foods, was the lack of guilt. No feeling bad over that milkshake, those chips. If you are eating a raw foods diet, all the foods you eat are healthy and fresh. Just eat it, be thankful for it, and move on!! Even the delicious raw ice creams are nothing more than pureed frozen fruit. But, as much as I enjoy a way of eating that is simple and freeing, sometimes (type A firstborn personality here) I want to have rules and guidelines and checklists to follow. I am fighting the urge to put those boundaries on this 30 day challenge. Despite my best attempts, I do have a few guidelines that I will loosely follow.
I will eat whenever i am hungry, regardless of the number on the clock.

An exception to this will be evening. I will do my best to not eat after 7 pm, so my food has the whole evening to digest.

I will try to exercise before breakfast, when possible.

I will not create awkward social situations or hurt feelings over my diet. If we are at someone's house for a meal, I will eat what they have prepared, and will be thankful for it. I will not feel guilty about what I eat in those situations, though I will make the best choices possible from what is available.

TODAY'S STARTING WEIGHT: 159

EXERCISE: 30 minutes on the Wii Fit :)

WHAT I ATE:
-Tropical Smoothie (pineapple, mango, banana, ice, water, ground flax seeds, spinach) 12 oz
-3 Handfuls of frozen grapes, my current snack love
-salad with mixed veggies
-key lime bar*
-salad
-roasted veggie lasagne**
-pound cake**
-wheat bread (1/2 piece)**

OBSERVATIONS:
*12:58: The key lime bars, left over from our Memorial Day cookout, were on the counter. I was talking on the phone to my mom, when I suddenly realized that I was standing at the counter with a spoon, eating the key lime bars! Arghh!! I was so caught up in the conversation, that I was eating without even meaning to! This mindless eating is another bad habit I want to kick to the curb. Already, only half way through the first day, I have spit cooked food out of my mouth at least three times. A chip, grabbed off my 5 year old's plate, discarded cheerios from the baby's high chair. Key lime bars while on the phone. I didn't mean to eat any of it, nor was I thinking about it when I did. It was there, I was preoccupied, and I ate it. Just shows me how often I am not fully present. Hmmm. Food for thought.
**Well, day one was certainly not clear sailing. My parents and Matt's parents ended up coming over for dinner...they brought apple pie and pound cake. I resisted the apple pie. I made roasted veggie lasagne, a huge salad, and wheat bread from the bakery. Yeah, I have my work cut out for me with this raw for 30 days thing. Dinner is definitely going to be the make it or break it point everyday, because I am cooking for the family. I can see that I am going to need to find some fabulous raw recipes that make me excited about eating dinner. Or, I am going to have to cook things that my family likes but that don't appeal to me. Roasted Veggie Lasagne will not be one of them, b/c I LOVE it. Here is the recipe, in case you are curious.
So, this is supposed to be a raw blog, and after three days, I have already posted two recipes for cooked foods....wow...this is going to be harder than I thought.
But, all things considered, when I did eat cooked food, it was small portions. If I hadn't been trying to eat raw, I would have been pretty happy with how I ate today. I would say I ate about 75% raw today...it's not 100%, but I can do better tomorrow!