I'm way behind....

...But that's okay. Where to even start? I guess I have had some trouble making this blog a regular part of my daily activities. I'm hoping that I can kind of dust it off a little and get back into it. I guess I could focus this entry on getting caught up in the last six + months.. I had a pretty good stint working at a juice bar for awhile - I met some really friendly people that I still think about and miss, even though I left over two months ago already. I still from time to time think about my favorite regular customers, and miss my daily interactions with them. But ultimately it was my time to move on, I wasn't handling my stress levels well and I was angry a lot of the time, and so, so tired.  But really I won't focus too much on the negative things, I just look back on it and am glad that I had the experience of working there.
I feel that I've been very consistent all year with my diet and even though I gave in to vegan junk food at work many times, I still remembered the fruit, I always remembered the fruit.
Summer pretty much went by in a flash - the weeks turned quickly into months.. And before I knew it, it was time to go to the Woodstock Fruit Fest in August!! I'll do another post more in detail about that, but I was very excited to go and finally be a part of it, it really was pretty amazing.

What am I doing now? Well, I'm trying to break into the dog-walking industry - at the moment that is what appeals to me, and am focusing still on a mostly raw diet. Since I haven't been working, I have been really trying to hone in on my fitness and step it up a lot. I have to say that aspect is doing really well. Other aspects of my life are lacking a bit - mainly because I don't have a regular routine of getting up, going to work, making money. I don't know why I feel that just because I am not working at a job making money that it means the rest of my life has to slow down. I can still lead a productive life, but why do I have so much trouble with that? I always have, in my past gaps of being in between jobs, had a really hard time focusing on what's really important in my life and how I want to develop as a person. So I feel like maybe this blog will help a little with keeping me focused and talking about what I really want to accomplish. I think if I can't find a job within a week, I am going to focus on a volunteer project, and that way I can still establish a routine of some sort. I am also going to post some more pictures of the food I'm eating and where I'm getting the recipes. In case anyone that reads this is interested.

I feel like I'm getting a little off topic. I mean this blog is meant to really be about raw food and its impact on me. So I want to take a little time now to focus on that, and to stop worrying about all the other inadequate areas of my life, which somehow, one day, I will maybe figure out. For now, I'm here, in the flesh, eating fruit and vegetables, and honestly I feel really good. I think that the stressors in my life would be affecting me in a completely different way if I were eating my former diet of mostly processed foods, high in salt and fat, etc. So I'm going to recap these past eight months (wow) since I last wrote and note some of the benefits.

1) Slimmer/fitter - My weight is down to about 130 pounds and I don't know if I will lose more or gain more, but I feel pretty good at this weight. I definitely have fluctuated around 130-135 for awhile and it all depends on how much I'm eating vs. expending for sure. If I stick to the program - which I mostly do - and keep the fat low and the carbs high, I wake up every morning with a flat stomach and feel pretty amazing.

2) More incentive to exercise - More than ever, especially with the more open schedule - I am really excited about the exercise program that I developed for myself. It really focuses on training for PR 5k's, which I've already reached another one - 27:54 - the other week. I'm excited, because I always struggled in the low 30's for years and now I'm finally starting to feel like I'm making progress. So four days a week I run a 5k, and the fifth day I try to run a little bit longer, like 4-6 miles. That's a challenge, so I typically take it really slow if I feel like I want to go beyond 3 miles, today I did a slow 5 miles and that felt good. I also wanted to incorporate strength training because I felt like I didn't focus enough on that at all - so three days a week (I might up it to four) I do the 8 minute exercises - 8 minute abs, buns, arms, and stretch. I really like those exercises a lot and I feel like I get a good work out every time. I've also started incorporating 30 minute vinyasa yoga sessions on the days where I'm not doing the 8 minutes. And twice a week I do 100 squats. Of course if I were working full time I would find it hard to adhere to this regimen, so we'll see how it goes when and if I finally find work again.

3) (Generally) happier - I feel like, on a good day, I have everything in the world to look forward to. And I really think that I can attribute this attitude to eating a clean diet free of additives and processed, refined garbage. I don't know, maybe it's just silly talk, saying that, but I really do feel a difference in my attitude, so how could I not say that it's because of my diet?

4) Digestion is pretty awesome most of the time - unless I eat a high fat meal or a gourmet raw meal, that can slow things down, but otherwise that feels pretty good.

A lot of people talk about changes in hair, skin, and nails, but I'm not sure I've really noticed those changes, I think possibly my hair grows faster, but it's really hard to tell, so I'm not going to really go there. I'm going for the more obvious changes.

Well I guess I'll end it on this note - I'm coming up on my one year mark as mostly raw - when I think of it in terms of my diet, it feels like a fast year, otherwise, time has really felt weird for the most part! I only left Vermont 13 months ago which feels very, very weird, it feels like 13 years ago!!

Here's a few pics from the year, mostly summer -