Living (Raw) Foods

I was featured on this blog if you want to check it out: Cook. Vegan. Lover.

I have been really getting into living (raw) foods this week. It is so fun to learn new ways to do things. I felt this way when I went vegan around this time last year. I love experimenting with new things.

I thought being vegan was going to be so much cheaper because we weren't buying meat, butter or milk at all, we bought way less cheese because it was mainly for the kids, but it turns out that it's not much cheaper, we didn't save anything from changing our diet, at least the way we did it. But eating raw so far has been really cheap. It has a lot to do with already having a prepared kitchen. I have an Excalibur Dehydrator, which is top of the line and amazing, I also have a Blendtec, another top of the line piece of equipment, so I am able to do a lot because I own those already. I also have a really good set of knives which makes it fun to chop things up.

I am not 100% raw right now, I am also eating about one macrobiotic meal a day. For example, for dinner last night I had millet seasoned with veggie bouillon and rosemary, with carrots, peas, lima beans and spinach. I blanched the veggies and boiled the millet. It feels so good to fill my belly with whole grains.

I'm finding that eating mostly raw for most of the day is really amazing. I just feel so good when I eat this way. I feel happier, I feel more whole, and I feel like I am getting really good nutrition.

Right now I'm having a lot of green smoothies and salads. Today I am going to make some raw flax crackers in the dehydrator. They take a day to dry out which is insane, but after a few days like this, you really can tell the difference in your body when you eat something living than something that isn't.

And here's the weird part. I am not losing any weight at all. I haven't counted calories every day that I started doing this, but the last three days were 900 calories (because I was sewing so many hours and when I do a project I just forget to eat!) The next day was about 1500, I had company for dinner and was trying out a Thanksgiving recipe that totally rocked, and then the next day was about 1400 calories. I have been running for almost an hour most days this week. So I'm not really sure what's going on, I hope it's just an adjustment period. I am getting the best nutrition of my life right now so maybe my system is just in shock and hoarding it or something :)

I have been successful at eating my last meal around 6 or 7 and then waiting 3 hours before I go to bed as a minimum. So I go to bed feeling light, instead of stuffed from snacking all evening, and I wake up empty, which feels really good. I am starting to learn to enjoy the feeling of hunger and look forward to the new things I am eating.

How I am feeling: Hopeful that I will begin to lose weight, but I am enjoying how I feel right now. I feel good about myself, which is extremely rare for me. So I think I am going to keep up with this raw food eating for a while!