Until recently, I had never eaten a date before.
Probably due to spending years and years on the “low carb” track, where dried fruit like dates or figs or raisins are “anathema”.
There is something so simple like an almond stuffed date, yet so decadent and sumptuous in its taste.
Dates, figs, and raisins are yes, high in sugar, but they are also high in minerals and nutrients and a little goes a long way; not to mention their “other” digestively beneficial qualities.
Finally got some nice organic non-medjool dates and it was like eating candy, but so much better for one’s health.
As with everything, moderation is a good thing with regards to a treat like dates! 3 or 4 stuffed with almonds are more than enough!
Walked an hour and ten minutes again today out in the fresh air with the sound of the birds like an incredible symphony. This evening, I can hear the crickets singing away just before the sun is setting.
Awesome!

Baptism of Fire

Right now I am looking back from the other side of the hardest trial I have faced since making the descision to go raw.
I was cooking a New York steak (bone in) in the rotisserie. Medium Rare. Oh Gawd!
( I am a recovering avid carnivore)
When I cook a steak for my DH, he likes it if I cut it into small pieces like they do with meat in Asian restaurants. He savors bite by bite…a very meditative eater who really enjoys his healthy food of the non-vegan variety.
It had been marinated in a sumptuous teriyaki sauce and smelled SO GOOD!
Whoa!
As I was cutting it, I was practically drooling…talk about hot coals!!
But I didn’t eat any, NONE! ZIP! AMAZING!
In the past, I would have gobbled up the fattier pieces (I trim the fat off after cooking, always have).
But NOT THIS TIME! I threw the fatty pieces away into the trash bin (meat’s not good for composting)
This is definitive PROOF that going raw was the RIGHT thing for me to do.
I am changing.
I don’t know what’s doing it, but my ability to exercise delayed gratification, willpower, choice, has grown exponentially.
Instead, I had a bowl of juicy cold fruit and my almond butter concoction (I was reversing my meals today).
Here it is 4PM (pacific time) and I’m supposed to eat around 5, and I am not hungry….no cravings, feeling satisfied, and NO REGRETS!

Ahh, semantics! I'm going to have to get the terms cook, cooking, fry, saute', blanch, roast, etc...out of my vocabulary with regards to food as far as preparing food for myself is concerned. Instead there's the generic term "preparation" which is a pretty good replacement for "cook"; then there are chop, grate, mince, liquifey (a GOOD one!...just rolls of the tongue!), juice, julienne, roll, dehydrate, blend, soak, sprout, germinate, marinate....{and insinuate onto a friends plate! ;) }
The "just add animal protein of choice" is still working well for my husband, and he is developing a taste for my nut pate's....yeah! Raw food is hard to resist when it's delicious and a delight to the eyes. He can hardly believe that I've gone three weeks without a caffeine fix or a glass of wine....hooray!
The best testimony is a personal one.
I've been gravitating to going to bed earlier, and it feels right. Which of course I'm getting up earlier, which is something I've always preferred anyway...yeah, I'm one of those people who all my life felt as if the day was half gone if I got up later than 7 AM.
Bottom Line, I've gotta do what works for me and this is working for me.

Mind you, eating raw vegan food is not a spiritual practice for me, but it facilitates my spiritual practice in that when I'm feeling better, meditation is better, exercise is better, a state of compassion is easier to reach, and I have a better attitude toward being of service since I have more energy to sustain that service.
But no, I don't think it is a sin to eat meat or fish or poultry or dairy, so long as the animals have been raised cruelty free, as in cage free, range fed, free of hormones and antibiotics, organic. There are more and more farmers who are doing this and it's a good thing. Those people who eat with this in mind and in gratitude for the life of the critter are alright in my book.
Karma free? Well, that gets into the old ideology thing....and I'm not fond of fundamentalism from any sector be it the christian right or the hindu new age, etc...
moderation in all things, even the openness or closeness of our minds.

I have been experimenting with the "natural hygeine" side of rawdom for the past week, and so have been eating the main meal in the mid afternoons around 2 or 3 with good success. I thought I'd be hungry, but this is not the case. Instead, I have found myself paying attention to food preparation with an eye for beauty in presentation as well as making sure that the meal is as jam packed with nutrition and life as possible. Lots of dark leafy greens like mustard, kale, and spinach, as well as wild greens (dandylion, purslane, lambsquarters). Sprouts too, since I'm sprouting my own sunflower lettuce and spicy radish; lots of color on my plate. Juicing has been a great help in my staying committed to Raw. I don't juice sweet fruits, preferring to savor them bite by bite, but the veggie juices I've been making have been delicious and power packed. I know someone has already coined the name "rocket fuel" for one of their juice recipes, but what I'm doing sure FEELS like rocket fuel! It's really something to "break my fast" around 2 with a glass of juice and feel the energy rising to be able to meet the rest of the day...cool! Then I have the main course and it's amazing how un-hungry I feel till I go to bed.
Good transition food when I'm craving chocolate or sweets: Almond butter with a dash of maple syrup (I know it's not raw, but I haven't found any fresh dates yet to make almond date balls with....looking forward to it. I eat dessert at around 6 pm: a bowl of delectible fruit in season, and maybe my almond butter concoction.
Very satisfying, and the weight just keeps coming off. Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Ever since going "raw" almost every day has felt like a veritable FEAST!
Menu today:
Nut pate' sushi wrapped in raw untoasted nori sheet, fresh sliced avocado with lime juice and celtic salt, freshmade veggie juice with plenty of greens, sunflower sprout salad, a cup of chilled sweet young coconut water, bowl of delectible juicy fruit. What can I say? This is Living! True, I am paying a little more for my groceries, around 20 dollars a week more on the average, BUT it's a small price to pay for the way I've been feeling. Let's see, 960 dollars more a year, but feeling better, health improving, using less medications and so spending less on medications (maybe a third more than what I'm paying yearly extra for the food),
So in the long run I am SAVING money, and saving my life as well.
Not a bad trade off.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that my energy levels have gone up quite a bit!
It stopped raining, so I decided to go for a walk. There's a wonderful trail nearby (I live in a semi-rural area with farmlands, orchards, too many vineyards, and here and there some oakwoods and redwood groves. I admit I feel spoiled, it's so nice. I walked for over an hour at a pretty fast clip. A ranger saw me walking by and said, "Gee you're walking fast!" Made me feel good all over! Not two months ago, I couldn't walk 15 minutes without huffing and puffing. I still get twinges of asthma, so I carry an inhaler. I don't mind having to use it now and then, but I am focusing on the fact that it's becoming more and more "then" than "now".....
Staying the course today with 100% raw, and making some homemade sushi "california rolls" using salmon for my sweetie.

Today I was 100% Raw, YAY!
Fresh made vegetable juice,
Abundant Salad with avocado,
Almond Cashew pate' with red bell pepper and green onion,
Bowl of cold very fresh, very tasty fruit.
That's it.....but it was WONDERFUL!
Keep the momentum, roll that old snowball, keep flappin' them wings,
flight awaits!

There is NO SUCH THING as being deprived on a raw diet! There are so many combinations of beautiful and tasty raw food that a person can utilize. This morning I made a pate' of soaked almonds and cashews, with garlic, green onion, red bell pepper...YUM!
Not only can one make imitation "junk food" like pizzas and faux chocolate shakes, there are a plethora of raw food cookbooks out there with tons of wonderful recipes and ideas. I am currently using a marvelous book by Gabriel Cousens: "Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine", it's an excellent resource, and has a good guide in it for people like myself just starting out on the raw path.
I'm using the "just add animal protein of choice" for my husband's preferrences, otherwise, he's eating a lot of the same food I am.
Stats: feeling pretty good, sleeping like a log and having "process dreams"...I think it's part of the detox. Issues have been coming up for me and I welcome them, with every issue that arises, I am receiving guidance and comfort from God/Goddess/Source.
I walked for over an hour today and wasn't even tired, so that is a sure sign of energy uplift. While I walked, I listened to the trees and the green grass as they spoke with the help of the breeze...I heard my Beloved say:
So many are feeling alienated and alone, and not part of any "tribe".
The isolation is an illusion. The closer you get to realizing your connection with all life, the more the illusion drops away and the feelings of isolation disappear. And then Love can come in.

For some, the journey is a gradual process, little by little removing the things that hurt us and diminish our productivity, disabling us from loving service to ourselves, to each other, and to this planet that so needs it.
But little by little, the dross slips away, and clarity comes a knockin’ to remind us that we are beautiful souls living in our “faithful servants” our bodies, and we rise up to meet the challenges, renewed and ready.
For others the journey cuts like a knife, we go “cold turkey” (no offense to turkeys!) and it’s a lightning bolt of change and realization, our own revelational “road to Damascus” and we’re like an addict who’s had enough and can’t allow themselves to even go near the poisonous stuff.
I’m kind of in between the two. I’ve taken it in “stair step stages”(they actually go sideways since we are all on our own journeys) having eaten raw produce, thinking uplifting thoughts along with my “junk” thoughts and food. Now I’m at another step and I won’t let the Junk come in.
Junkie thoughts, Junkie habits, Junkie food. (and this means YOU Macdonald’s!!)
My wonderful husband is on a different step and it hasn’t been a hardship at all! I respect his food choices (thank God/Goddess/Source he’s a pretty healthy eater!) and cook what he wants and he respects my choices as well. He gets his “zone” meal at breckie, and I sit with him and eat my beautiful raw salad.
I feel very lucky that our differences haven’t so far created any “dissonance”. Evening meals are the same.
I doesn’t hurt that he likes raw fruit, and I steam his veggies when he wants them. So he’s about 50% raw anyway.
I know there are lots of people who’s stories are different, and I’m sorry about that. Sometimes the choice IS whether or not to continue one’s journey to health and happiness, and whether one has to leave people and things behind that do not support you. Yes, there are people in the world who sabotage, or as someone put it, are emotional vampires. Sometimes all you can do is bid them peace in their lives and move on. It’s not selfish to do this. Ultimately it is the most unselfish thing you can do. It allows people their own space to grow and change at their own pace, as you grow and change as well. We’re all in this together, really.

A week into rawdom (averaging around 80% raw) and there have been good changes.
Sleeping better.
Lost 7 lbs. , probably a “body re-adjustment” to get rid of water retention. But I never look a gift
horse in the mouth.
Still an occasional but very slight headache.
Not hungry and eating well.
I’m really happy that I haven’t been hungry, since it has been a drawback for me in the past.
Mood has remained pretty good, stability constant.

So all in all it’s not been the rough ride I thought it would be, so far.

I had a really heavenly “treat” today, my first taste of “young” coconut juice and meat.
Very different from the normal mature ones. The water was amrbrosial, the meat delicate and oh so tasty!

My daily menu hasn’t varied much: I am eating two “main” meals and a snack or two.
Morning:
16 oz. glass of water with a spritz of lime, or a glass of rejuvelac.
Breakfast or Brunch:
Fresh made Vegetable juice: celery, cucumber, tomato, carrot, beet. (I go very easy on the carrots and beets, adding just a little)
Large salad made with dark leafy greens like spinach, kale, collard, mustard (I save the lettuce for snacking later) tomato, cucumber, carrot, 1 whole avocado, handful of walnuts, dressing of lime juice and cold pressed olive oil.
Afternoon around 4 PM:
Bowl of fresh fruit: melon, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, or maybe local grown fruit in season like apples and pears.
Fresh Coconut meat.
Evening snack:
Maybe more coconut.
Hummus or Almond Butter on romaine leaves or on some rye krisp crackers (non raw item).
Glass of wine (the only other non-raw item).

Here I am, many years in transit, once again attempting a foray into the world of eating to live, not living to eat.
I've actually been around 50% raw for a few years now, but I've been getting "nudged" by my intuition to take the next step.
Why now?
I don't know but I've never been steered wrong when that still small voice whispers.
I've been 80% for a week now with no hardship, actually it's been fun.
Pulled out my old juicer and realized it's on its last legs, so I splurged and got a really good one (L'Equip Visor), must say I am very happy with it and think it's worth the investment.
No hunger, just a little bit of a headache on the second day, gone now, and just a little more tired than usual on the 3rd and 4th day.
Feeling pretty good today.