Breakfast:
3 C OJ (I'm low on oranges, trying to figure out a wholesale situation here.)
Followed by 25 min run
Late Breakfast/Lunch: Banana ice cream (augh i'm obsessed!!!) There were probably at least 15 bananas in there - it's hard to count, with 2 tbsp carob, coconut sugar, 1 tbsp vanilla powder. SOOO EFFING GOOD!! I could probably eat that all day long.
Pre-dinner: 20 mixed dates - deglet noor, khadrawy, zahidi. Not loving the deglets very much, The khadrawy are my favorite next to medjools but I'm out of medjools. If I order any more I will stick with the khadrawy I think. Medjool is done for the season :-(
Din-din:
Remainder of the corn chowder - probably a cup or so left - with some romaine wraps - various veggies, some avocado, carrot, red bell pepper, cuke. Pretty yummy.
That brought my calories to 2766 for the day give or take.
I probably didn't drink enough water today.. maybe 2 L.
My sleep last night was broken up, (of course).
It's 10pm and I am planning on reading a book and hopefully falling asleep very soon. I really want to try to get on a better schedule. It's important for me. I also want to go into the city tomorrow to get some things I can't find at the stores here. I don't particularly love going to the city but it's gotta be done. Hopefully I can stock up for awhile and then I never need to go out. Still job searching and debating on whether I should apply to Wholefoods or not. I feel like I'd rather try to find a smaller business to work for, I tend to feel more respected in those environments; at the same time I probalby shouldn't be too picky at this point. It's been far too long since I last worked. Oy.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Mon/Tues:
Monday's meals:
I got some raw coconut sugar, vanilla powder, and carob in the mail and have been really enjoying them so far. Someone mentioned before a workout, they add a tablespoon or two of coconut sugar into some water to keep them going, because I'm really not used to running on an empty stomach, as many people do first thing int he morning. I am still kind of in the habit of doing mid-late afternoon workouts, and I want a little more structure, with some early morning workouts. Of course it's almost midnight (when will I learn.... to go to bed earlier?), and I'm still awake writing this, oh well.
Anyway, my point being -
I started my morning yesterday with 2 tbsp coconut water in my water bottle. I had some morning errands to run (did not exercise yesterday) and wasn't quite ready for a gigantic fruit meal yet. The coconut sugar water tasted very pleasant and kept me going for quite a while.
Breakfast: Banana ice cream with carob - oh myyyy this is my absolute new favorite thing to have, I crave it, which is never a bad thing, craving fruit. I probably had about 9 frozen bananas, with some khadrawy dates for the extra caramel gooeyness, some delicious carob powder, and a bit of vanilla powder. oh yummmmm
My 1 concern and I will continue to look into it on forums, research, etc. Some schools of thought claim frozen fruits are not optimal becuase the temperature messes with b12 absorption and other normal bacteria in the intestine?? Anyway, I'm going to need to look into that. Many people consume banana ice cream frequently and seem fine. I would hate to have to give that up becuase it's like the best part of my day, but we'll see. - anyway that breakfast was about 1000 kcal right there.
Lunch/Late lunch/dinner/these meals sometimes take me forever to finish them so i'm not sure how to label them?:
15 bananas, 2C blueberries, 1tbs coco sugar - another 1600 calories about
Dinner: zucchini pasta and sauce yum! I did add some overts to that, with some avocado and some tahini, I'm trying to slow down on the overts but it's hard at night. At leats im' not going for cheese or something though... I also have been using a different recipe for sauce that doesn't include garlic or onions. It feels a lot better. It's more of a sweet tomato sauce, as it calls for OJ and dates (though I think i used dates anyway in the last one). The sweetness of it hides the fact that there's no added salt, and that definitely helps with flavor.
Brought my total caloric intake to : 3449. That's quite a bit. But it felt good.
Water at least 3-4L, I never had a problem with water intake even before I started this lifestyle.
Exercise, none - i probably should have gotten out but alas I did not.
For sleep I think it was the usual - 7-8 hours broken up.
Feelings: Felt great yesterday, the extra calories really make a difference at night, I have no feelings of hunger at all and I felt satisfied and no cravings.
Tuesday:
Breakfast: Started my day with cantaloupe and honey dew. I had half a cantaloupe int he fridge left over from whenever, and that was eh.. I decided to blend the two giant honey dew I had been keeping for awhile. Oh man, blended honey dew is so amazing!! Although melons annoy me with the fact that they take up al ot of waste space/compost space what have you, man when they are tasty and perfect, they are so amazing... I basicaly felt like i was drinking nectar for breakfast. so delicious. i think that was almot 1000 calories maybe a bit under.
Lunch/whatever? : Ice cream - again. Ugh. The carob really makes it extra special. I'm thinking about it right now and almost wanting a late night snack, though I'm pretty sufficiently carbed up and I think I can manage till tomorrow. Also I'd hate to cause all that racket with my super loud blender at midnight lol.
This time i kept it to just bananas and carob,i also added some blueberries..and that combo was just amazing. mmmmmmmmm!!!!
That kept me going for quite awhile and then dinner time was kind of late- I made a corn chowder which was actuallyr eally nice! It's a megan elizabeth recipe, and so far I love her recipes - I also got the tomato sauce recipe from her too. Super easy and simple
I found some corn at the store - probably GMO corn , meh.. I really want to grow my own this summer. we'll see.
So this was 2 C corn, 2 C tomato, 1 C mango, 1 C celery, 2 medjools, 1/8Cish lemon juice, and her recipe called for 1/4 avocado but I ended up just using a 1tbsp of tahini. and yumm! It was sweet and savory. I used that also to dip a few romaine leaves. I think the calories from that were about i don't know maybe 400 ish?
My total calories for the day came to 2439, significantly less than yesterday, but i still feel good and satiated at this time.
For exercise, I did a slow 2 mile run
Sleep was pretty broken up, maybe 7 ish hours? i'm tired tonight.
I feel nice right now, full and satisified and doing okay. I just need to motivate myself to find a decent employment situation... something's gotta give one of these days.
Peace
I got some raw coconut sugar, vanilla powder, and carob in the mail and have been really enjoying them so far. Someone mentioned before a workout, they add a tablespoon or two of coconut sugar into some water to keep them going, because I'm really not used to running on an empty stomach, as many people do first thing int he morning. I am still kind of in the habit of doing mid-late afternoon workouts, and I want a little more structure, with some early morning workouts. Of course it's almost midnight (when will I learn.... to go to bed earlier?), and I'm still awake writing this, oh well.
Anyway, my point being -
I started my morning yesterday with 2 tbsp coconut water in my water bottle. I had some morning errands to run (did not exercise yesterday) and wasn't quite ready for a gigantic fruit meal yet. The coconut sugar water tasted very pleasant and kept me going for quite a while.
Breakfast: Banana ice cream with carob - oh myyyy this is my absolute new favorite thing to have, I crave it, which is never a bad thing, craving fruit. I probably had about 9 frozen bananas, with some khadrawy dates for the extra caramel gooeyness, some delicious carob powder, and a bit of vanilla powder. oh yummmmm
My 1 concern and I will continue to look into it on forums, research, etc. Some schools of thought claim frozen fruits are not optimal becuase the temperature messes with b12 absorption and other normal bacteria in the intestine?? Anyway, I'm going to need to look into that. Many people consume banana ice cream frequently and seem fine. I would hate to have to give that up becuase it's like the best part of my day, but we'll see. - anyway that breakfast was about 1000 kcal right there.
Lunch/Late lunch/dinner/these meals sometimes take me forever to finish them so i'm not sure how to label them?:
15 bananas, 2C blueberries, 1tbs coco sugar - another 1600 calories about
Dinner: zucchini pasta and sauce yum! I did add some overts to that, with some avocado and some tahini, I'm trying to slow down on the overts but it's hard at night. At leats im' not going for cheese or something though... I also have been using a different recipe for sauce that doesn't include garlic or onions. It feels a lot better. It's more of a sweet tomato sauce, as it calls for OJ and dates (though I think i used dates anyway in the last one). The sweetness of it hides the fact that there's no added salt, and that definitely helps with flavor.
Brought my total caloric intake to : 3449. That's quite a bit. But it felt good.
Water at least 3-4L, I never had a problem with water intake even before I started this lifestyle.
Exercise, none - i probably should have gotten out but alas I did not.
For sleep I think it was the usual - 7-8 hours broken up.
Feelings: Felt great yesterday, the extra calories really make a difference at night, I have no feelings of hunger at all and I felt satisfied and no cravings.
Tuesday:
Breakfast: Started my day with cantaloupe and honey dew. I had half a cantaloupe int he fridge left over from whenever, and that was eh.. I decided to blend the two giant honey dew I had been keeping for awhile. Oh man, blended honey dew is so amazing!! Although melons annoy me with the fact that they take up al ot of waste space/compost space what have you, man when they are tasty and perfect, they are so amazing... I basicaly felt like i was drinking nectar for breakfast. so delicious. i think that was almot 1000 calories maybe a bit under.
Lunch/whatever? : Ice cream - again. Ugh. The carob really makes it extra special. I'm thinking about it right now and almost wanting a late night snack, though I'm pretty sufficiently carbed up and I think I can manage till tomorrow. Also I'd hate to cause all that racket with my super loud blender at midnight lol.
This time i kept it to just bananas and carob,i also added some blueberries..and that combo was just amazing. mmmmmmmmm!!!!
That kept me going for quite awhile and then dinner time was kind of late- I made a corn chowder which was actuallyr eally nice! It's a megan elizabeth recipe, and so far I love her recipes - I also got the tomato sauce recipe from her too. Super easy and simple
I found some corn at the store - probably GMO corn , meh.. I really want to grow my own this summer. we'll see.
So this was 2 C corn, 2 C tomato, 1 C mango, 1 C celery, 2 medjools, 1/8Cish lemon juice, and her recipe called for 1/4 avocado but I ended up just using a 1tbsp of tahini. and yumm! It was sweet and savory. I used that also to dip a few romaine leaves. I think the calories from that were about i don't know maybe 400 ish?
My total calories for the day came to 2439, significantly less than yesterday, but i still feel good and satiated at this time.
For exercise, I did a slow 2 mile run
Sleep was pretty broken up, maybe 7 ish hours? i'm tired tonight.
I feel nice right now, full and satisified and doing okay. I just need to motivate myself to find a decent employment situation... something's gotta give one of these days.
Peace
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Weekend
Well I said I would post all my raw food entries from here on out, so I want to stay true to that and continue to be accountable. I have had a successful weekend being fully raw, so here we go:
Saturday, 1/12:
Breakfast: 2 L OJ
Lunch/Dinner: Banana ice cream - 10 frozen bananas (roughly), 15 khadrawy dates
1 head Romaine lettuce immersed in:
Carrot "soup" - more like juice - 2 cups carrot juice, 2 cups apple juice, juice of 4 celery stalks, 2 lemons, blended with 2 tbsp raw tahini. Topped with: 1 red bell pepper, 2 roma tomatoes, 1 cucumber, green onion. Didn't finish it all.
I did not do any exercise today and I drank at least 3 L of water.
My total calories came to 2941
I probably got 9 hours of sleep but broken up due to cats being bad.
I felt pretty good last night except was having some pains on the left side of my head all day that were bothering me. They appear to have subsided at this point.
Sunday 1/13:
Pre-run: 2 medjool dates and 1 L of water
Post run: 11 banana, 10 medjool date, 2 cups frozen blueberries smoothie - drank that for awhile
Lunch/dinner: 5 mangoes - disappointing mangoes for the most part, they were bland and not very sweet - ugh. 4 bananas
More dinner: Another head of romaine lettuce immersed in the leftover carrot juice from last night. Added half an heirloom tomato and 1/4 avocado to the top.
Rounding my calories to ---3492 - yowza!
Water : at least 3 L, i don't really count but i drink lots of water. My pee is clear so that's good.
Exercise: 33 minute run, followed by 20 minute walk.
Sleep: I think i got around 9 hours but again, broken up (bad cats).
I feel okay today, except my tummy is kind of grumbly and I feel gassy tonight. I've been reading about food combining and consuming fats with certain sweet fruits. Pretty much right after my banana mango meal i had that salad. Maybe the combining there is not the best.. I probably should have waited a bit longer to go for the salad.
Also, I'm basically fully carbed up I would say, however the cravings are still there. I have been having major pizza cravings for quite some time now. and even though I've had more than enough to eat today, i could still eat an entire cheese pie right now. Ah well. I have to keep pressing on, and remember why I am doing this, and the results so far - over the course of this time I have lost 15 pounds and the weight continues to come off. I breathe deeply more now than I've ever been able to. I am in a good frame of mind right now, content and calm. I know I would not feel this way after consuming an entire cheese pizza.
Another thought that comes to mind, I have no health insurance or any kind of benefits right now, and while that feels scary to me sometimes, I am relying on this lifestyle and diet to eventually take the place of any kind of health insurance, and to save me a lot of hassle of illnesses or any kind of disease processes in the future. Obviously I can't predict the future and anything could happen, but if by taking on this lifestyle i am increasing my chances of longevity and healthful living, then I shoudl really give it my all. I'm not saying some catastrophe couldn't happen like a major trauma and I would still need to rely on the health care system, or who knows, I could still get sick anyway some day, but I have the opportunity now to take control of my life and my diet and my health and I'm feeling hopeful today. I still have the cooked food blues but not as bad as I did a couple of days ago... So end of rant there.
Saturday, 1/12:
Breakfast: 2 L OJ
Lunch/Dinner: Banana ice cream - 10 frozen bananas (roughly), 15 khadrawy dates
1 head Romaine lettuce immersed in:
Carrot "soup" - more like juice - 2 cups carrot juice, 2 cups apple juice, juice of 4 celery stalks, 2 lemons, blended with 2 tbsp raw tahini. Topped with: 1 red bell pepper, 2 roma tomatoes, 1 cucumber, green onion. Didn't finish it all.
I did not do any exercise today and I drank at least 3 L of water.
My total calories came to 2941
I probably got 9 hours of sleep but broken up due to cats being bad.
I felt pretty good last night except was having some pains on the left side of my head all day that were bothering me. They appear to have subsided at this point.
Sunday 1/13:
Pre-run: 2 medjool dates and 1 L of water
Post run: 11 banana, 10 medjool date, 2 cups frozen blueberries smoothie - drank that for awhile
Lunch/dinner: 5 mangoes - disappointing mangoes for the most part, they were bland and not very sweet - ugh. 4 bananas
More dinner: Another head of romaine lettuce immersed in the leftover carrot juice from last night. Added half an heirloom tomato and 1/4 avocado to the top.
Rounding my calories to ---3492 - yowza!
Water : at least 3 L, i don't really count but i drink lots of water. My pee is clear so that's good.
Exercise: 33 minute run, followed by 20 minute walk.
Sleep: I think i got around 9 hours but again, broken up (bad cats).
I feel okay today, except my tummy is kind of grumbly and I feel gassy tonight. I've been reading about food combining and consuming fats with certain sweet fruits. Pretty much right after my banana mango meal i had that salad. Maybe the combining there is not the best.. I probably should have waited a bit longer to go for the salad.
Also, I'm basically fully carbed up I would say, however the cravings are still there. I have been having major pizza cravings for quite some time now. and even though I've had more than enough to eat today, i could still eat an entire cheese pie right now. Ah well. I have to keep pressing on, and remember why I am doing this, and the results so far - over the course of this time I have lost 15 pounds and the weight continues to come off. I breathe deeply more now than I've ever been able to. I am in a good frame of mind right now, content and calm. I know I would not feel this way after consuming an entire cheese pizza.
Another thought that comes to mind, I have no health insurance or any kind of benefits right now, and while that feels scary to me sometimes, I am relying on this lifestyle and diet to eventually take the place of any kind of health insurance, and to save me a lot of hassle of illnesses or any kind of disease processes in the future. Obviously I can't predict the future and anything could happen, but if by taking on this lifestyle i am increasing my chances of longevity and healthful living, then I shoudl really give it my all. I'm not saying some catastrophe couldn't happen like a major trauma and I would still need to rely on the health care system, or who knows, I could still get sick anyway some day, but I have the opportunity now to take control of my life and my diet and my health and I'm feeling hopeful today. I still have the cooked food blues but not as bad as I did a couple of days ago... So end of rant there.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Cooked food blues
I got the cooked food cravings blues.... right about now. Having a really difficult time with suppressing the cravings lately. Every night for the past few nights I've given into some form of cooked food. I don't know what it is, but my inspiration is lacking lately.
I know part of the problem was that I went into the city today and didn't prepare very well beforehand, I had slept quite late today because I've been so tired and my sleep patterns have been off, so I didn't wake up until about 10:30, I didn't end up heading out the door until about noon for a 4.4 mile run. Hadn't had any food at that point yet, just water - then made a gigantic 10 + banana and maybe 5 date (I lost count at some point) smoothie that I took along with me, and had a bag of dates, but it still didn't do it for me. I had a stressful trek there, as I am almost always stressed in Manhattan - I dont' know what my problem is, I just hate being there unless I have something specific I'm going to do. And I felt like I had to chug my smoothie on the subway, which just didn't feel right to me. And I didn't quite finish it as we got into MOMA for free admission fridays- the line was going pretty fast. The crowds really got to me. All in all it was a stressful day. Maybe that's what made me crack. The subway ride on the way back was during rush hour so I stood for a portion of the time and couldn't really get into my bag of dates, nor did I really feel like having dates. It was cold and rainy... I had a headache.. wow I'm just full of complaints this evening!
When we got off the bus all I could think about was some kind of chinese food dish, like vegetable chow mein, or vegetable dumplings. Or something like that. I didn't want anything to do with the rest of my over-ripe bananas or any of the 10 pounds of dates in the fridge. Ugh...
I'm not sure what else to conclude but that I have been under-carbed and super tired lately. Tomorrow is another day and I will start using cronometer again, as I haven't used that in several days and I bet that is making a big difference in my lack of accountability. I will also post more structured food journals every single day from here on out.. Do I sound like a broken record? haha kind of. Well I think I need these reminders and this structure to be successful.
I know part of the problem was that I went into the city today and didn't prepare very well beforehand, I had slept quite late today because I've been so tired and my sleep patterns have been off, so I didn't wake up until about 10:30, I didn't end up heading out the door until about noon for a 4.4 mile run. Hadn't had any food at that point yet, just water - then made a gigantic 10 + banana and maybe 5 date (I lost count at some point) smoothie that I took along with me, and had a bag of dates, but it still didn't do it for me. I had a stressful trek there, as I am almost always stressed in Manhattan - I dont' know what my problem is, I just hate being there unless I have something specific I'm going to do. And I felt like I had to chug my smoothie on the subway, which just didn't feel right to me. And I didn't quite finish it as we got into MOMA for free admission fridays- the line was going pretty fast. The crowds really got to me. All in all it was a stressful day. Maybe that's what made me crack. The subway ride on the way back was during rush hour so I stood for a portion of the time and couldn't really get into my bag of dates, nor did I really feel like having dates. It was cold and rainy... I had a headache.. wow I'm just full of complaints this evening!
When we got off the bus all I could think about was some kind of chinese food dish, like vegetable chow mein, or vegetable dumplings. Or something like that. I didn't want anything to do with the rest of my over-ripe bananas or any of the 10 pounds of dates in the fridge. Ugh...
I'm not sure what else to conclude but that I have been under-carbed and super tired lately. Tomorrow is another day and I will start using cronometer again, as I haven't used that in several days and I bet that is making a big difference in my lack of accountability. I will also post more structured food journals every single day from here on out.. Do I sound like a broken record? haha kind of. Well I think I need these reminders and this structure to be successful.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Some yummy (or not so yummy treats)
Well I just wanted to post a couple of pictures of some of the dishes I've made over the course of a couple of weeks, some came out yummy, some didn't, but still look yummy, so I'm posting them lol..
This is the raw fettucini alfredo I was very eager to make... Unfortunately it did not come out as great as I hoped it would, it looks absolutely delicious. The sauce is missing something very important and I haven't quite figured it out yet, and I haven't tried again. So maybe some day I will give it a try again.
This was delicious marinara that I made a week or two ago in Barryville. The issue I had with it, however, was that it called for onions and garlic. Now I'm not sure if that was what caused some stomach upset for me or not, but I suspect it might have. I had put a small shallot in there and a couple cloves of garlic, and it unfortunately did not sit well with me. However, the taste was really awesome. I will probably tweak it to not include those items and see where I end up.
This is the raw fettucini alfredo I was very eager to make... Unfortunately it did not come out as great as I hoped it would, it looks absolutely delicious. The sauce is missing something very important and I haven't quite figured it out yet, and I haven't tried again. So maybe some day I will give it a try again.
This was delicious marinara that I made a week or two ago in Barryville. The issue I had with it, however, was that it called for onions and garlic. Now I'm not sure if that was what caused some stomach upset for me or not, but I suspect it might have. I had put a small shallot in there and a couple cloves of garlic, and it unfortunately did not sit well with me. However, the taste was really awesome. I will probably tweak it to not include those items and see where I end up.
Oh yummmm... Banana/date ice cream, or "cookie dough" ice cream, with the dates acting as cookie dough. Khadrawy dates, which I've used all up unfortunately, are probably the best to use with this, they defintely have this dough-y caramel like feel to them that tastes so amazing.. But really it's just frozen bananas blended with a little vanilla and a few dates, and some dates sprinkles on top. It was so amazing.. I've been making it every day now.
This was just a fruit run with John and I from probably a week and a half ago. A trip to Sam's club. lol.
Me and Chris on Coney Island :-)
Thursday morning in Brooklyn...
Well, here I am in Brooklyn. It's been sunny mostly every day since I've been here and I can't complain about that - not to mention the "heat wave" we've been having down here, the weather really isn't that bad.. It's made for some nice runs in the park, that's for sure. I realized a little beyond the park there is a "nature preserve" as it were, (do those really exist down here?) by the water, which has some nice trails for running as well- these trails are also softer dirt trails, which might be a lot nicer on my legs and feet. I think I will give them a try today.
Well I'm happy to report my morning weight was at 152, down another 3 pounds. I have had a few slip-ups since I got down here - some toast, part of a bagel, some hummus, some brown rice with a little tamari. It's not the end of the world, as I've been saying. It's hard to control the cravings with all this deliciously smelling food constantly surrounding me, but I am determined to keep pressing on..
I'd say on average my days have consisted of mostly bananas, either in smoothie form or ice cream form - (the ice cream is absolutely delicious. I'm going to do another post after this with pictures over the last couple of weeks of things I've made, and maybe comment a bit on each about how they tasted/worked for me.)
I am also pushing the green smoothies lately, because greens have not really been my forte lately.. And I know I can get more greens in with smoothies. I have also been avoiding overt fats most of the time, except for maybe 2-3 days a week. Last night I did indulge in some raw tahini on my romaine "taco" - which consisted of red pepper, cuke, date, and some left over brown rice, it was absolutely delicious...
I haven't been plugging my calories into cronometer lately like I should, but I think i've been getting around 2500 most days. Except for the day before yesterday, which I'm sure I got way less than that because I binged on all those things.
Cantaloupes in a smoothie also taste really great. - I put 4 in the blender and just blended them up, and it was a very pleasant taste.
I continue to have some concerns with how I'm going to find affordable produce in the area, but I have two places that I wuold like to visit probably starting tomorrow. I am pretty stocked up on bananas for now, so I may wait a day or two before I buy a box. I was told about New Generation Produce in Green Point, which is about a 30 minute drive from here (always depending on time of day and traffic), and then there is the Brooklyn Terminal Market, which is supposedly only a short drive from here as well. So I will certainly check out those places and see what I can find for wholesale deals. Wholesale is absolutely going to be the way to go for me down here if I'm going to try to do this right.
I haven't done a lot of research on composting opportunities in the city, but that is another issue that I am running into, is all the food waste so far. It really adds up sooo fast. I know that it will just end up biodegrading and I'm not too worried about it, but if I can contribute to a composting facility (if those even exist), or a farm or somewhere, that woudl be great. I may have to look into Long Island or somewhere otuside of the city. The waste department doesn't look like it has a lot of options for composting. Anyway, it's a work in progress.
I still feel good, and energetic, tired a lot, probably due to sleep deprivation and a small amount of stress. My digestion continues to be a bit wishy washy, but i think in general it is improving somewhat. Every time I have a binge it probably like.. reboots the entire process and goes back to square 1, but I don't really know if that's the case or not hah.
If I were writing this on like 9 hours of sleep, I'm sure I would feel way more solid than I do now. So I will focus on the fruit, more greens, and more sleep. I guess that's all for now!
Well I'm happy to report my morning weight was at 152, down another 3 pounds. I have had a few slip-ups since I got down here - some toast, part of a bagel, some hummus, some brown rice with a little tamari. It's not the end of the world, as I've been saying. It's hard to control the cravings with all this deliciously smelling food constantly surrounding me, but I am determined to keep pressing on..
I'd say on average my days have consisted of mostly bananas, either in smoothie form or ice cream form - (the ice cream is absolutely delicious. I'm going to do another post after this with pictures over the last couple of weeks of things I've made, and maybe comment a bit on each about how they tasted/worked for me.)
I am also pushing the green smoothies lately, because greens have not really been my forte lately.. And I know I can get more greens in with smoothies. I have also been avoiding overt fats most of the time, except for maybe 2-3 days a week. Last night I did indulge in some raw tahini on my romaine "taco" - which consisted of red pepper, cuke, date, and some left over brown rice, it was absolutely delicious...
I haven't been plugging my calories into cronometer lately like I should, but I think i've been getting around 2500 most days. Except for the day before yesterday, which I'm sure I got way less than that because I binged on all those things.
Cantaloupes in a smoothie also taste really great. - I put 4 in the blender and just blended them up, and it was a very pleasant taste.
I continue to have some concerns with how I'm going to find affordable produce in the area, but I have two places that I wuold like to visit probably starting tomorrow. I am pretty stocked up on bananas for now, so I may wait a day or two before I buy a box. I was told about New Generation Produce in Green Point, which is about a 30 minute drive from here (always depending on time of day and traffic), and then there is the Brooklyn Terminal Market, which is supposedly only a short drive from here as well. So I will certainly check out those places and see what I can find for wholesale deals. Wholesale is absolutely going to be the way to go for me down here if I'm going to try to do this right.
I haven't done a lot of research on composting opportunities in the city, but that is another issue that I am running into, is all the food waste so far. It really adds up sooo fast. I know that it will just end up biodegrading and I'm not too worried about it, but if I can contribute to a composting facility (if those even exist), or a farm or somewhere, that woudl be great. I may have to look into Long Island or somewhere otuside of the city. The waste department doesn't look like it has a lot of options for composting. Anyway, it's a work in progress.
I still feel good, and energetic, tired a lot, probably due to sleep deprivation and a small amount of stress. My digestion continues to be a bit wishy washy, but i think in general it is improving somewhat. Every time I have a binge it probably like.. reboots the entire process and goes back to square 1, but I don't really know if that's the case or not hah.
If I were writing this on like 9 hours of sleep, I'm sure I would feel way more solid than I do now. So I will focus on the fruit, more greens, and more sleep. I guess that's all for now!
Saturday, January 5, 2013
It almost could have been a month...
Well today would have marked one month since I embarked upon this journey. However, I've strayed several times over the course of this month, so I guess I can't really count it as one month. Ah well. Maybe once I get settled in my own place and perhaps there aren't as many temptations, I can really give it a go. I had some rice tonight and more crackers, and two rice cakes. Really hard to suppress that salt craving, SO hard. There are SO many salty snacks in this house, it's so hard to resist!!! I just have to get more creative with my salads I guess. Because the dressings I make are so bland and they are so hard to eat.
Anyway, this will be a short post but I wanted to acknowledge the one-month mark, even though it really hasn't been one month straight. I did make it 13 days straight without a binge, let's see if I can make it two full weeks from here on out!
Here we go! :-)
Anyway, this will be a short post but I wanted to acknowledge the one-month mark, even though it really hasn't been one month straight. I did make it 13 days straight without a binge, let's see if I can make it two full weeks from here on out!
Here we go! :-)
Friday, January 4, 2013
Rampant cravings..
I should be writing more often, I think it will help me try to stay in check and keep me accountable for each day's intake. Once I'm back in my own space and have my own desk/computer area I can dedicate more time to focusing on cronometer and my journal. I want to stress how important it is for me to feel healthy and happy, and use this as a continual reminder of why I am doing this. So I promise to be more accountable and present. Honestly I didn't make any new years resolutions, I mean in general I don't really believe in that, because a lot of times it ends up being pretty superficial.. But I felt like the end of 2012 was a pretty good start for me, and I just wanted to do my best to keep it going and keep running and feeling good..
Yesterday and today, I had some slip-ups, they're not the end of the world, as always, and I'm not going to focus on it, I'm just going to let it go and move on. Well I'll discuss it a little here, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it. Yesterday I had two gluten-free wraps with my salad. Ohhhh myyyy goddddd. lol. I know, it's not a big deal, but again it's not on the 811 menu.
Clearly I was under-carbed, (as I was today when I had two more of those wraps -warmed up in the microwave?!?!?!- with a dollop of dijon mustard and baby spinach... ), and I was craving that savory salty taste. Another reason to get out of this house, there are too many temptations and smells. I got through what I thought was the worst of it at Christmas, as both my mom and brother got Chinese food take out while I consumed my banana smoothies. I was eating enough calories then. The smells were still really amazing, but since I was so full from the fruit, it made me not want to indulge as much. Not to mention, they were both meat dishes, and I don't really have a problem with resisting meat, I've not had meat in over 2 years now. But anyway. Oh right, I also had several black bean tortilla chips, which definitely had plenty of added salt. I can imagine all the water I'm going to be drinking as a result. It's not like I had a big mac, i know. But I was a bit disappointed that I had to go for the chips. I also had half of a cooked sweet potato in my salad, and that I'm not as worried about.
I guess I just have to face it, my cravings have been out of control these past couple of days! I think in instances such as these, I am going to make sure I have brown rice and/or quinoa on hand and potatoes to steam up, and have as an emergency back-up, continuing to not have any added salt.
It's SOOO HARD to be without salt right now, and I'm not sure why - well I know why, I'm addicted of course! I was mostly successful these past two weeks in Barryville though, in fact I was very successful up until yesterday.
I also have plenty of fruit that's ripening and basically ready to go, plenty of bananas, PLENTY of dates that I ordered online, like a lifetime supply of dates. Why am I still going for the crap? I don't know. One thing I'm not craving right now is chocolate, which is a miracle. I'd typically go for the chocolate this time of day..
Another thing I've noticed yesterday and today during my runs was my energy levels, they were definitely down. I'm not sure what that's all about and perhaps my caloric intake was lower than it should have been, but I was definitely dragging ass after a mile both days. Another issue is my sleep, and that may be affecting my energy too. My sleep is constantly interrupted - mostly by the cats - and that is problematic becuase I usually can't get back to sleep after. Fran starts in at 5 most mornings and I can usually shut her up until 6, but after 6 she just won't stop.. Bad girl!! So I'll probably need to just lock her up in the basement most nights, but we'll figure it out...
Anyway. These blog posts are never really organized, but that's just kind of how my thoughts flow out, disorganized, so whatever..
Today I did make a really yummy banana ice cream - the recipe was called cookie dough ice cream, from 40belowfruity, with frozen bananas, a bit of vanilla extract (powder is definitely a better alternative than extract, because the extract has alcohol, and I will look for that), and some gooey khadrawy dates that acted as the "dough". Man that was pretty delicious actually I must say. It tasted just like ice cream! I took a picture earlier and will upload it at some point in a future post.
Tomorrow is another day, and all is okay. I'm looking forward to getting down to Brooklyn and getting settled into a routine. I'm remaining as positive as I can and hoping for a good experience down there. Most importantly I can't wait to see Chris who I haven't seen in over two weeks. I'm excited to see where our running takes us :-)
Yesterday and today, I had some slip-ups, they're not the end of the world, as always, and I'm not going to focus on it, I'm just going to let it go and move on. Well I'll discuss it a little here, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it. Yesterday I had two gluten-free wraps with my salad. Ohhhh myyyy goddddd. lol. I know, it's not a big deal, but again it's not on the 811 menu.
Clearly I was under-carbed, (as I was today when I had two more of those wraps -warmed up in the microwave?!?!?!- with a dollop of dijon mustard and baby spinach... ), and I was craving that savory salty taste. Another reason to get out of this house, there are too many temptations and smells. I got through what I thought was the worst of it at Christmas, as both my mom and brother got Chinese food take out while I consumed my banana smoothies. I was eating enough calories then. The smells were still really amazing, but since I was so full from the fruit, it made me not want to indulge as much. Not to mention, they were both meat dishes, and I don't really have a problem with resisting meat, I've not had meat in over 2 years now. But anyway. Oh right, I also had several black bean tortilla chips, which definitely had plenty of added salt. I can imagine all the water I'm going to be drinking as a result. It's not like I had a big mac, i know. But I was a bit disappointed that I had to go for the chips. I also had half of a cooked sweet potato in my salad, and that I'm not as worried about.
I guess I just have to face it, my cravings have been out of control these past couple of days! I think in instances such as these, I am going to make sure I have brown rice and/or quinoa on hand and potatoes to steam up, and have as an emergency back-up, continuing to not have any added salt.
It's SOOO HARD to be without salt right now, and I'm not sure why - well I know why, I'm addicted of course! I was mostly successful these past two weeks in Barryville though, in fact I was very successful up until yesterday.
I also have plenty of fruit that's ripening and basically ready to go, plenty of bananas, PLENTY of dates that I ordered online, like a lifetime supply of dates. Why am I still going for the crap? I don't know. One thing I'm not craving right now is chocolate, which is a miracle. I'd typically go for the chocolate this time of day..
Another thing I've noticed yesterday and today during my runs was my energy levels, they were definitely down. I'm not sure what that's all about and perhaps my caloric intake was lower than it should have been, but I was definitely dragging ass after a mile both days. Another issue is my sleep, and that may be affecting my energy too. My sleep is constantly interrupted - mostly by the cats - and that is problematic becuase I usually can't get back to sleep after. Fran starts in at 5 most mornings and I can usually shut her up until 6, but after 6 she just won't stop.. Bad girl!! So I'll probably need to just lock her up in the basement most nights, but we'll figure it out...
Anyway. These blog posts are never really organized, but that's just kind of how my thoughts flow out, disorganized, so whatever..
Today I did make a really yummy banana ice cream - the recipe was called cookie dough ice cream, from 40belowfruity, with frozen bananas, a bit of vanilla extract (powder is definitely a better alternative than extract, because the extract has alcohol, and I will look for that), and some gooey khadrawy dates that acted as the "dough". Man that was pretty delicious actually I must say. It tasted just like ice cream! I took a picture earlier and will upload it at some point in a future post.
Tomorrow is another day, and all is okay. I'm looking forward to getting down to Brooklyn and getting settled into a routine. I'm remaining as positive as I can and hoping for a good experience down there. Most importantly I can't wait to see Chris who I haven't seen in over two weeks. I'm excited to see where our running takes us :-)
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