Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

My 30 Day Raw challenge begins tomorrow!!!!

For my challenge:
All Raw Food
Learn how to meditate and do it daily (this I hope will help me to release stresses).
Work on weekly zones to organize my home and make is peaceful.
Computer off by 9PM!
Bed by 11PM!
Plan meals around in season or inexpensive veggies.
Cut and wash veggies on purchase days
Have raw goodies readily available
Continue my exercise / weight lifting

It will be interesting to see how deep my emotional connection to cooked food is and how I handle it. I think this will teach me a lot about myself.

Do to the huge amount of support I will need, I will be posting in my log here as well as a couple of Raw Boards:
Journal Area
http://s12.invisionfree.com/FLF/
Journal Area
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com
A few updates in Raw Food Section:
http://www.veggieboards.com

I'm not ready for mono eating, so I have prepared some raw dips and I'll get a few dressings together tonight. I have pre-cut veggies so they are available for really quick snacks (no excuses). And of course overflowing bowls of organic fruits. I happen to drink so organic wine (no sulfites), I'll be having a glass per evening, down from 2 or *gasp* beer. Coffee will be my BIGGEST hurdle!!!! I can not afford to go through the withdrawal caffine addicts have, my income depends on me to be functional. So I am switching to naturally caffinated tea at first (seeped at room temperature). I hope to begin eliminating the amount I drink daily, and switch over totally to naturally decaffinated herbal tea. I really hate waking up groggy like an addict looking for my next "fix".

Good luck with your challenge.

I am really looking forward to following this

Good luck with the bootcamp!

I will be here cheering for you!

I wish you well with this adventure. I have been eating much more whole fruit and have had positive changes. A total raw food diet I think would be great, but i'd really miss my chips and also protein powders.

Right on SeaSiren! You are going to feel great!

Going raw has been the best thing I've ever done for myself. Jamye and I have been raw for over 90 days now and we feel great! I'm going to post up an update with some pics soon!

Wow thank-you offense74, CollegeB, jjaj2022!

And we're off for Day 1!

I woke up this morning to meditate and keep nodding off, so I think I may need to work on that.

Next I could smell the coffee brewing and I about caved in. Since I am a coffee addict, and am REALLY groggy in the AM this was very hard. I had seeped naturally caffinated tea overnight, and had that instead.....phew made it through.

I spent my day VERY tired and unable to fully wake up, but didn't have any other withdrawal symptoms. We have a Tropical Depression running through here all day and into tomorrow so the somber weather isn't helping. I am WAY, WAY, WAY, too sleepy to work out. I generally take Friday off so I'm not beating myself up for not doing so on Day 1.

I grazed all day, so far:
Banana
Orange
Carrots w/Raw dip
Apple

I am home now and drink a glass of organic wine while watching "Break Through" with Storm, Jingee and their beautiful family. It is quite motivational, and that's what I need.

The plan for dinner is Angel Hair Pasta Marinara (the pasta is spiralized yellow squash).

My spirit is really low today, so I hope things improve tomorrow. I know like an addict I must push through the first several days and keep telling myself "it gets better".

Oh and I should add, my youngest daughter has decided to join me for my Raw Challenge. She is already vegan and I put no pressure on her, so if she decides this is best for her I am with her. If she decides it's not, that's OK too.

We went to the Health Food Store to buy more fruits and I let her select anything she wanted. I felt really, really blessed to be able to afford the raw foods she wants, not just what was cheapest. In the long run though we will adjust to in season and more reasonable priced. On the way out the starter on my vehicle decided to not work. So DH had to come by in the Tropical Depression and lay down in the water to get us running (using two screw drivers we were able to get it started). So now I need a new starter, isn't it always something?? And Murphy's Law states "anything that can go wrong will and at the worst possible moment!"

DAY 2:
Last nights dinner didn't work out as planned. I was out of squash, so dinner was cabbage stuffed with guacamole, onion, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Since I have little one's who are interested I made the raw banana "ice cream" (frozen bananas & agave mixed in food processor). I also made a Date Torte, very yummy only 4 ingredients (dates, raisins, raw nuts and lemon juice).

So today I had:
Banana
Baby carrots
And for dinner The Angel Hair Pasta Marinara I wanted last eve.

Virtually passed out early last eve, and then went to bed with a massive headache. Woke up with the same, none functional. I used to have migraines pre-vegan and this was bordering on it. After several comments on me not functioning to par, I caved and drank coffee....headache gone! I'm not here to win a marathon or prove anything to anyone but me. So since the green tea wasn't working, I have cut my coffee intake in half. I'll work with that for a week, and so on, and so on, until I'm off of it. I literally cannot afford to function since I run and control all the income from the business.

Other than that, my day OK, I had to go shopping to fill in the "holes" in the girls wardrobe, I was hoping for yard sales (nothings better than reusing items...no more consumption) but due to the tropical depression there wasn't any this weekend. Anyway, I don't eat in the AM when I wake up. I don't care how many people tell me "that's not good” I’m not hungry and I am not stuffing food down me I don't need. So about 1PM I started to get a bit hungry, begin raw it comes on FAST! By the time I was about to leave to store (2PM) I was starved. I had the foresight to pack a bag of Raw Fruit (YAY) and had a banana, all better!

This evening’s work out was Chest, Shoulders, and Tri's. It went pretty lousy, I lifted half what I normally lift. Transition I suppose.

Good luck with the caffeine withdrawals, they really suck.
I was always tired the 2nd day.
About 48 hours after giving up caffeine, the massive headache arrives.
I've given up coffee/pop many time and gone back. That's not too smart is it?

I need to get one of those processors that spiralize squash for pasta

I need to wean myself, like I said I'm in it for me (very selfish i want to outlive you all, muhahahah) and you should be in it for you! No rules, just do it as you see fit. Regarding the Spiralizer I got it from http://www.alissacohen.com/
Very simple design, great to use and clean.

If you're not opposed to it, look on eBay too. That's where I got mine. I get most stuff like that there b/c so many people buy little appliances or get them as gifts and never take them out of the box. Good deals!

Have my eye on a Cuisinart ice cream maker next. Want some waiting for me after my last show of the year. . .mmmm. . .

BTW--Go, Sea Siren Go! Hope all is will with your challenge. Re: coffee withdrawals (as bad as the flu! ) :Right now I'm 4 weeks pre-con, so me and coffee are still good buds for now. Gotta go get some more. . . (sorry)

Thanks Denise and hmm
I'll check ebay, alissacohen is out of stock.

DAY 3:
I made through day 3 yesterday, yay me! Yesterday was cardio day, so I did 20min interval training on the tread and it kicked my behind. Not too much energy yet. Later I packed a bag of fruit and drove to Delaware to one of their state parks, hiked down some trails and walked along the waterfront. It was very beautiful and peaceful. But the hike through the sand up and down hills tore me up, although I never complained at the time. Later we were off for dinner and I found a big salad bar loaded with raw veggies...note to self remember to bring salad dressing, I had to eat it dry. By the time I got home I was exhausted more than I thought and started to fall asleep on the couch, so off to bed.

All night I was drinking water like it was going out of style....weird. :huh:

Intake for Day 3:
Coffee (I'll tackle this later)
Bananas
Huge baby spinach salad with assorted veggies for lunch including olives and some raw seeds
Handful of Baby carrots
Modest serving from the salad bar, dry
Lots of Water

Good luck, SeaSiren

Coffee is a toughie! Have you tried just watering it down? That might help you without you really having to notice it.
That worked for me once (yea, I was a back-and-forther too ) and I was a *strong coffee* drinker...I'm talkin' like an espresso in a jumbo latte mug.

Funny about the water: I had no symptoms from going raw, but I did drink a river the first several days.

I like dark coffee but not that dark! Right now I am cutting back by 1 cup in the AM and not drinking anymore during the day. I'll cut that back in a week or two then use your idea to cut it a bit with water until I don't feel I need it anymore. I'll follow the coffee with natural decaf herbal tea, so when I drop the coffee in the end I won't feel deprived psychologically (well that's the hope anyway.)

Made it through my day today but dinner was simply aweful! I made Alissa's salmon pate' and put them on wraps, only one person liked them (not me), mashed potaotes and gravy, both were horrid! No one like them and finally Jingee's Banana Lemon Coconut Pie which luckily everyone liked except one. All in all a very expensive learning experience which wound up in the trash.


I just have to chalk it up to learning and mark it off my list for meals.


I worked legs today, my workout was better then my last lifting day, but still not up to par.


Food:
coffee
bananas
hugh spinach salad with assorted veggies
Dinner was mentioned above
Also had Water and Green Tea