Getting in More GREEN

(Salad, prepared by Mom)

One great thing about having my Mom at home with me while I'm immobile is that she can make my meals whenever I'm hungry.
Pictured above is a kale salad she made for me...and the photo really does not do the salad justice. The bowl I ate it out of was really deep, and it took me around 25 minutes to get through it all.
I had a bit of a grumbly stomach afterward, but my body is still getting used to absorbing lots of roughage.

Two days ago (Wednesday), I had a HUGE green smoothie that had about three handfuls of spinach, two bananas, and some goji berries. The smoothie kept me full for hours but also had me feeling sick after I woke up from my mid-day nap.
My stomach just isn't quite ready yet for all of those greens.

For the past 2 days, I cut out the 'Very Green' Trader Joe's mix that I normally do in the morning. It never left me with an upset stomach, but I don't think that mixing it with my other breakfast foods was a good idea.

Slowly but surely, my body is going to start liking the alkaline environment I'm creating for it and these foods will go down a lot easier. I don't have a juicer as of yet, but I'm thinking about buying one soon. I think juicing my greens will help me with my transition because the greens won't be as intense. When I blend the greens, everything is there, when you juice them, some of it is stripped away...am i right?
I'll eventually want to go back to blending again but for now, for transitioning purposes, I think it's best to take the easier route.
But, until I actually get my hands on a juicer, I'll have to deal with chunky green smoothies.

Quite honestly, I've been afraid to touch greens over the past couple of days. My Wednesday experience with the spinach was so tragic that it's taking me time to revert back to greens. I did have a salad yesterday that I split between two meals, but the lettuce was Foxy Lettuce which is totally nutrient deficient...so I don't even know if you could call it a salad.
Tomorrow, I am determined to hop back on the bandwagon and face my fears!

Being Hopeful

(At my graduation with my brother and sister)

I have to admit, I was largely drawn to the raw food movement for weight loss purposes. I've never been obese or anything like that, but my weight has a tendency to go a bit higher than I'd like. My weight in the middle of this past winter was quickly approaching 170lbs (I was just 2lbs shy) and that was really not something that I was happy about. Even though I was playing basketball 6 times per week and going to the gym after practice, I couldn't manage to normalize my weight. I feel that I've made lots of positive and permanent changes to my diet, and I hope I never have the 'creeping weight' issue again.

As an athlete, the skinny look never really appealed to me. I would like to look lean and toned, but certainly not pale and weak. I've gone down about 6 or 7 pounds since I broke my leg (May 8th) but I have a feeling that most of that weight was muscle rather than fat (although, I'm hoping it was fat). I'm hobbling around on crutches all day, so I know that my abs and arms are getting a good workout, but my legs aren't so lucky. I haven't done too much formal weight lifting but I'm definitely going to have to start a training regimen in the coming weeks.

I'd like to be able run by the end of the summer. I'm not sure if this is an extremely optimistic goal but I've really got my sights set on it. In order to do so, I'll have to do lots of exercises to strengthen my muscles so I don't get fatigued or injured while I'm pounding the pavement.

My diet is really going to be the determining factor here. If my diet is out of whack, there's no way that I'll efficiently lose weight or put on muscle. I've been trying to keep my diet as clean and healthy as possible to speed up my recovery. I knew they say that there is virtually no way to repair a broken bone simply with what you eat, but I have a strong feeling that my body will be able to do amazing things if/when I add more natural foods...especially greens and superfoods.

I'm about 5' 7"...and I weigh around 150lbs. Ideally, I'd like to reach somewhere between 130-135lbs before I start classes in the fall. With enough discipline, I know that I can reach that goal.

Here's the plan of attack:
-Green Juices
-Juice Feasts
-Balanced Meals
-Efficient Workouts
-STOP EATING LATE

Raw Love Baby!

A Favor for my Mom

(Nori Rolls from Bonobos)

My Mom is trying to convert her vegetarian diet to a raw diet and she is also trying to educate some of her friends about the benefits of adding more fruits and vegetables to their meals daily. Since she knows that I'm a fanatic when it comes to online research about raw foods, she had me send a few of them an e-mail about some of my discoveries. Here is a copy of the e-mail I sent them...

My Mom, asked that I forward you some information that the two of us came across concerning raw foods. She's already begun to learn about the preparation of some raw meals and I must say, as her personal taste tester, the food was amazing. I think she is ultimately striving to achieve ultimate health by way of natural foods, and I am on a similar path, so this is something we share. I do a bit more research than she does and I have access to more resources, so below I'll post some of my favorites. Enjoy!

Some sites and personal opinions

1) Raw Model
Anthony Anderson is a model working with on of the top modeling agencies in the country. I like him because he says that he would not have the success he's experienced without the tremendous help of raw foods. He is based in New York, so I am able to check out and visit many of the stores and restaurants he goes to. He blogs probably 3-4 times per week and he's loaded with knowledge. His body and mind are both forces to be reckoned with. The blog site is pretty easy to navigate and you can check out some of his past articles by clicking the different months on the right side of the screen.
rawmodelcom.blogspot.com

2) Running Raw
This was actually the first resource that I used for raw food help. As an athlete, I was concerned that putting too much emphasis on raw foods would cause me to lose my shape or muscle mass, but with the inspiration from this site, I've actually excelled and gotten leaner. Tim VanOrden is the mastermind behind this site. He is a 40 year-old mountain runner trying to break world records using the power of raw foods. His journey of combining running with raw foods passed it's two year mark recently and the progress he has made is unexplainable.
runningraw.com

3) Dr. Jubb
This one I can't talk about too much because I don't know enough about him. My Mother and I went to Dr. Jubbs cafe in the village and shared a slice of $12 strawberry cake. It tasted like real cake but it was totally raw; it was really tasty also. He preaches the idea of "Live" foods. While we were in the cafe, he personally came over to us and explained the difference between Living Foods and Live Foods. It was then that my Mom realized the some living foods, such as bananas, dates, and carrots, are actually cancer causing due to their molecular make-up. I can go into it deeper with you if you'd like, just shoot me an e-mail.
http://www.jubbslongevity.com/index.html

4) Green Smoothie Detox
This site boasts a free detox program that anyone can follow. The program is run by two women who are passionate about the raw movement; they call themselves the Raw Divas. I came across this site by suggestion. I had sent an e-mail to Tim VanOrden (from above - #2) asking him for advice because I was on a similar journey as him. When I received a reply e-mail from him, he suggested taking notes from the Raw Divas (one of the Divas works as his personal assistant). Take away from this whatever information you can.
www.greensmoothiequeen.com

So, that's kind of a taste of where I get most of my advice, information, and inspiration from. I have more if you are interested, so feel free to shoot me back an e-mail if you'd like to know more. On a personal note, with the incorporation of more raw foods into my diet and the deletion of things like meat and dairy, I have lost 18lbs over the last few months. Let me know how this all works out for you.
-Natalie

Taking the Next Step

(Thai coconut vendor in Chinatown, NYC)

So...I just graduated...and it's time for me to really get serious about the things that I am passionate about. While at school, I always said to myself 'man being here is really stopping me from accomplishing the things that I want to do.' Now, I have no excuse. I did make an effort over the year to mobilize on some of my plans, but my lack of time management skills served as somewhat of a barrier. Because I was unable to effectively balance school work and personal work, the time I spent on myself wasn't as efficient as it should have been.

One thing that I did consistently work at was my health. I spent the 2006-2007 school year abroad in Spain and by the time I got back, my body was trashed. I was extremely out of shape and all of the muscle I had worked so hard to put on my body virtually turned to fat. My weight probably only went up about 5 or 6lbs over the nine months I was there, but my bodyfat percentage had gone up significantly. I joined a gym when I had three months of school left in an attempt to get my shape back a bit, but once again, I struggled with balancing my personal time with school time.

This past year, I wanted to reverse all of the damage I had inflicted on my body when I was in Spain. I didn't join a sports team in the fall, but I started a running program that had me working out maybe 4 times per week. The training ceased after 6 weeks (the duration of the program). I had no race to run at the end of the six weeks, so I quickly fell of the bandwagon and didn't start up my workouts again until right before basketball season. While I was on the running program, I had this HUGE misconception that because I was running, I could take in way more calories than usual. I had done lots of running in the past and I was always able to stay pretty slim, but this time, I packed on pounds instead of losing weight.

I put on around 12lbs in the fall and I was beating myself up because I knew that what I was doing was wrong, and I knew the right things to do. If I was aware of the fact that I was ignoring what was right, why wasn't I making a change?

I had this other misconception that playing basketball would automatically get me in shape. I ended up passing out on the first day of practice. Now, I should probably note that I had donated blood a few hours prior, but I still felt that my lack of cardiovascular shape played a role.

During all of this time, I was still a meat-eating, milk-drinking machine. My coffee with heavy cream was a morning ritual and my lunches and dinners always had a meat dish as the main staple of the meal. I started the Body-for-Life program halfway through basketball season, and I lost 4lbs in the first week. I continued the program for another 5 weeks but when I reached that point, I realized that there was something else still missing.

It wasn't until I got my hands on a copy of the book Skinny Bitch that I really started making the changes I needed to and seeing the results that I had been waiting for. A girl on my hall told me about the book. I went out and bought a copy as soon as I could and read it in 2 nights. I was immediately hooked on the message the authors were conveying and I decided that this was going to be my winning formula.

I made a slow transition into vegetarianism and an even slower transition into veganism...but I got there. I would slip up every once in awhile on the vegan side, but I haven't ingested meat at all during this whole time. I'd find myself reaching for my coffee and cream maybe once every other week, but I found a Starbucks alternative...soy hot chocolate (has no dairy, not even in the chocolate).

Finding solutions to my cravings is what has really helped me move forward. The challenge I have facing me now is accepting the raw lifestyle. Maybe 'challenge' is the wrong word...it's more like a pillar, a pillar that, once overcome, will have endless rewards. The transition will be slow, but I am motivated enough to make this work. The time is NOW.

Breakfast Reflections

(Typical breakfast for me before I switched it up a bit)

So I'm kind of lacking knowledge when it comes to getting a nourishing breakfast in. I try to do an all fruit breakfast on most days but sometimes, fruit isn't at my disposal. What I've been doing over the past couple of days is: a glass of green mix with water (trader joe's), a glass of Emergen-c with water, and a cup of chamomile tea with lemon. So basically, all liquids.

What I have pictured above is the breakfast I would have before I left school. I forgot to take a picture of it before I started eating so this was all that was left over. I like the cantaloupe...I actually had some this morning. In the styrofoam cup (I know, not so environmentally friendly), I had some grapes and half of a grapefruit. And then, obviously, there's my bottle of water. This would normally sustain me until lunch, but now that my day is structured differently, I have to plan out my eating times once again.

I took a trip to Trader Joe's yesterday and had a chance to load up on food for the week. I don't get to go there very often, so I made sure to take advantage of my time there. The Trader Joe's by me doesn't have the greatest fresh fruit selection, but I was able to get a few fresh things like cantaloupes, grapes, strawberries and mangoes. I was disappointed by the fact that they carried seedless watermelons and grapes. I actually had to search around a bit to find a package of grapes that had seeds in it.

Lately, my breakfast liquids have been limited to water and the green mix. I feel pretty energized after starting the day off with some green powder, so I think I'll continue to do that. The powder (whose ingredients and serving size I will list on a later date) is $9.99 at Trader Joe's and will probably last me two weeks or so. I only recently incorporated it into my diet, but I see it playing a major role in my daily food intake in the future.

The Comeback

(Nori Rolls at Jill's Cafe)

Wow, so it has been quite awhile since I've last blogged. A lot has taken place since my last post. For one, the thirty days of 100% raw, which was supposed to come to a close in three days, did not go over as well as I had planned. The first few days were excellent. I got to take a few days off from school to go home to New York and experience some great raw food cuisine.

My Mother and I traveled to Jill's Cafe in Brooklyn, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, drank some Tai coconut water in Chinatown, walked over to Caravan of Dreams for a raw meal, stopped at the thrift shop for a bit, and topped off the day of eating by going to Jubbs Longevity Cafe. Phew, what a day it was. Before we headed home, we stopped at Borders on 34th street and thumbed through some raw food cookbooks to get some ideas on how we could recreate some of those meals at home.

(Raw Lasagna at Jill's)

The two of us walked somewhere between 6 and 8 miles that day. We went from The Long Island Rail Road station on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn to the Long Island Rail Road station on 34th street. We definitely had reason to be exhausted by the end of the day. Almost ended up missing our stop on the way home!

So, point being, I had a really good start...but things went awry. I broke my leg on the 8th, and between hospital food and vicodin influenced binges, I didn't do a very good job staying raw. Now that my leg is broken though, I have a little more motivation to turn to raw foods. No, raw foods can't heal my bone, but I think it can certainly help my recovery along. (It sure can't hurt).

I have to keep in mind though that, even after I get my cast off, there is a lengthy recovery period. I think this period will be shortened and a lot easier with the help of a sound diet. Since I am blessed enough to have my Mom by my side whipping up great raw meals, I have no excuse for not incorporating greens in my diet more. More broken leg and diet posts to come soon.