It's Not So Easy

So, I've been happily skating by with my raw food lifestyle, singing its praises. Then, suddenly, I get blindsided. It's like clockwork. I've read that about three weeks into your journey you start to feel the effects of your body's detoxing. 22 days in, and last night was a rough one. Granted, I have to say that I'm sure it's the combination of the meds I'm taking and the detoxing, but nonetheless it was a rough night. I started feeling icky around 8 pm. One of the meds I'm taking makes me EXTREMELY SLEEPY, which is why I take it at night. By 8:35, I called it a night. Somewhere during the night I got up to use the bathroom, then remembered I had forgotten to take one of my meds. As I made my way toward the kitchen, I started feeling dizzy, so I called out for help. The next thing I knew, I was waking up to the sound of voices. I had fainted! Luckily, I had clutched the wall, and slid down, so I didn't fall. I made my way to the ground until I could get up on my own. I started feeling dizzy again and had to sit down. I finally was able to take my pill and find my way to bed, with a little help. When I woke up this morning, I still felt woozy. I've been feeling wimpy all day long. So, I've been drinking lots of water and fresh fruit juices. I'm finally starting to feel better. I guess it's all just part of the process. It's part detox and part adjusting to these dreaded medications, that I wish I didn't have to take at all. But, as with all things, it's just for a season. It was a bit scary, but I wasn't hurt or in any danger. I'm thankful my family was around to help me.

New Weight Loss Goal

With just shy of 10 weeks 'til the new year, I'm setting my new weight loss goal. I'm setting the mark for 10 pounds in 10 weeks. I know that seems to be a lofty goal thru the holiday season, but I figure if I shoot for the moon, I might just land on a star! Keeping sight of my long-term goals during the holiday season is a good way to stay on target. My goal is to be at my ideal weight - 125 pounds, give or take 10 pounds - by Mother's Day. My main goal is to be at the weight God has for me, whatever weight that happens to be, and to maintain that weight for life. I know that when I've been 125 pounds, that's when I've felt my best, physically and energetically. I'm tired of yo-yoing back and forth between too heavy and too thin. I want to finally reach my body's set point and stay there. So, part of reaching this long-term goal is to keep setting these short-term goals, like losing 10 in 10. It's okay if I don't quite make it, as long as I do my best to strive toward the mark. My mind set is to hit the mark, not just try! So, I spent part of the day yesterday devising a plan for the holidays, specifically meal planning. I want to stay on my raw food diet, so I did some research and found 16 pages of raw food recipes specifically dedicated to Thanksgiving. I can stuff myself like the proverbial turkey if I so desire on such raw delectables as mock turkey loaf with cranberry sauce and herbed mashed "potatoes" with mushroom gravy. There's even pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. Believe it or not I found a recipe for a living lasagna for Christmas dinner! Lasagna is my all-time favorite meal, and with this recipe I'm set. Anyone can stick to their wellness goals throughout the holiday season, it just takes a little planning, some goal setting, and resolution.

Weight Loss Update

Current Weight: 150#

Well, it's four days 'til my birthday, and I've reached my weight loss goal! Officially, yesterday I weighed in at 150 pounds. This is a 14 pound weight loss since August 23rd; a very healthy rate of weight loss. I'm starting to fit into some clothes I had stopped wearing. My size 14 jeans are loose! My 12s are starting to fit, but I'm not quite muffin top-less yet. I have one pair of black jeans/slacks that are size 12 and fit perfectly, which I'll be wearing out tomorrow. My other pair of size 12 blue jeans zips up, but not without squeezing out the muffin top. What I'm really ready for is for my size 10 jeans to fit. I have several pairs in that size, as well as in size 8. I also have jeans in size 6, and a couple in size 4, which I barely ever wore. I wasn't that small for very long.

As far as my energy goes, I've still been on a rollercoaster. Last week, I was feeling great, and wasn't needing a nap in the afternoon as I had been previously. This week, however, the naps are back. So is my dip in energy. I'm not sure whether to attribute this lack of energy to the change in weather we've been having, or to part of the detox process of having adopted a raw vegan diet. I've been incorporating green smoothies in my day, at least once a day. They've been pretty tasty. I've been trying different combinations, and my favorite so far has been a mixute of spinach, kale, coconut water, a frozen banana and one peach. Yesterday I don't know what happened. Perhaps it was the not-quite-ripe mango I added, or the greenness of the kale and spinach, but I had a really tough time choking down my drink. It was giving me the chills as I swallowed down mouthfull after mouthful, when finally I just stopped half way and decided that was plenty. I do like the benefits of drinking green smoothies, especially how easy it is to swallow down a ton of greens without making my jaw sore or becoming just plain bored of chewing. Today, I'll stick with my favorite combo, and leave the experimenting for tomorrow.

Weight Loss Update

Current Weight: 152.2 #

Well, it's ten days til my birthday, and I'm a little more than two pounds away from my goal. I am confident that I can be rid of 2.2 pounds in 10 days. This week, my energy has been pretty low, especially during my workouts. I was just telling my boyfriend last night how I feel like my workouts have been missing something, but I wasn't quite sure what, exactly. I've been feeling lackluster, even with changing up my routine and adding "wogging" to my regimine. Then, this morning, I had a pretty cool experience. I had been dreading my morning wog since last night. In my morning prayers, I even told God how I really didn't feel like wogging today. I asked for strength, endurance, and the will power to get my workout done. Well, it started raining, and I don't wog in the rain, so I was saved! The best part is, not only did I not have to wog, but I had the endurance and strength to complete 60 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill, 45 minutes of stationary cycling, and 30 minutes of resistance training! I don't feel completely drained, either. Thank God for small miracles! I think my body is finally settling in to this raw food lifestyle. I have yet to start juicing (still waiting on my juicer), but I've been eating lots of salads and taking Vega whole food protein drinks before and after my workouts. One thing I have noticed, and I noticed almost immediately, is that when I'm eating raw I don't have headaches like when I eat cooked foods. I had been so used to dealing with a headache every day, at varying intensities, for the majority of my adult life. I hope to continue to improve in health and wellness with this newfound lifestyle.

Raw Food

I inadvertently started a raw food diet. It started Tuesday, when I wasn't feeling very hungry most of the day. I ate a couple of bananas, and had a regular dinner. I felt okay the next day, but still not very hungry. So, I ate mostly fruit during the day and had a salad for dinner. Such has been the trend all week, it seems. Yesterday I had a banana, an apple, and celery with peanut butter and raisins (a.k.a. ants on a log), then I ate an early dinner. I'm noticing that I've been feeling more alert this week. Maybe it's my body trying to tell me something. Maybe this is the missing link to my energy woes. I've been training as hard as my body will let me, and eating clean. I've removed every food imaginable that could be causing allergic reactions or sensitivities. But, finally, this week, I've gotten some relief from this seeming unending lethargy. I've been on a raw food diet three times for two to three months over the last two years. When I'm on it, I feel great. My mind feels clear, my energy is up, my recovery time is shortened. I've not been able to last past three months, though. I feel like by that time my body hits a brick wall and I start to feel sluggish, and I'm hungry all the time. I think I'm going to give this a shot again, but this time I won't go for 100% raw. I'll eat raw all day, and have a regular vegan dinner. That might help balance out the good with the not-so-good. Who knows, maybe I'll get to feeling like I don't even need the one cooked meal a day. For now, it sounds like the best of both worlds. I'll keep you posted!

Running Again

I finally started running again this week. Well, it was actually last week, maybe Friday. I was hoping the cool weather would stick around, but today was HOT! I went to Bayshore Blvd and enjoyed the smell of fresh cut grass. What I do really isn't considered running any way. It's more of a wog: a walk mixed in with a jog. I'm quite slow, but it feels good to complete a desired distance or duration. The first time I took up wogging was about 5 years ago. It was just before my 30th birthday, and the weather had cooled down. I started with just alternating a block of walking with a block of my wog. Eventually, I could complete 3-5 miles with hardly any breaks. I never thought I would be one of those people who loved to run. But, there I was, most days of the week, hitting the pavement. Then, the following October, my back and right knee simultaneously gave out on me. Old injuries resurfaced. At this point, I could barely crawl out of bed for the pain. I shuffled my feet and spent most of my days shifting positions to try to find relief. I slowly stretched and massaged my way thru the injuries. But, since then, any time I tried to wog again, I would end up in pain in a day or two. I decided that wogging would just have to wait until I felt stronger. Well, this is the first time in 4 years that I really have been feeling stronger. My workouts are well-balanced, as is my diet. I'm still working out some bumps in the road, like this medication I'm taking that makes me sleepy every day starting from about 12pm to 3pm, until about 6pm. It's a sickly kind of sleep; the kind your body forces on you when you're fighting the flu or a stomach bug. I was hoping my body would adjust, but no luck so far. I'm going to have to find out if there's something else I can take, because a three to five hour nap every day is not really conducive to getting things done. Meanwhile, I'll continue to wog every other day, taking it slow, so as not to aggravate old injuries yet again. I'll be smart about putting in my rest days and stretching after each wog. I'll stay hydrated and keep up my protein drinks pre- and post-wog. I'll replace my wogging shoes every three months. And, I'll stay positive. That should do it!