I was RAW ALL day WOO!
Click on picture below for the video 🙂
B = Banana smoothie
L = More bananas with romaine
D1 = Strawberry datorade with 14 dates
D2 = Romaine salad with mango, blended strawberry, 1.5 cups of corn, small amount of guacamole, and celery
Total cals = just over 2500
Getting ready to fit into my New Year’s Eve dress and for the Key West trip clothes!
Keepinitfruity!
I just saw this video from Plant Based Athlete, and I’m having a major revelation!
Are we…
– overestimating our fruit calories and
– underestimating our starchy dinner calories
If you have been following me for a while, you know that my weight has been “stuck” at this level and not budging. I know I have a little more jiggle to lose, so what’s the deal?
Well, I really like this guy’s answer!
He shows how a lot of us eating Raw Til 4 or raw food until dinner, and then a high carb, low fat vegan dinner may be…
– overestimating our fruit calories and
– underestimating our starchy dinner calories
Thus, causing weight gain or weight “stuckness” (my word).
I like it!
I’m going to investigate this further and see if that’s my issue!
So basically I would need to increase my fruit calories further, and reduce my dinner starches, but weigh them to know for sure where I’m at.
Because perhaps I’m eating over 4000 calories per day, when I think I’m eating 3000.
Yikes! But good to know!
Check out his awesome video which details this further… Especially if your weight is stuck, even though you are raw vegan or raw til dinner.
How do YOU handle the holidays?
I was feeling like I needed an extra detox/cleanse before the holidays. I’ve had more headaches in the last couple days. Perhaps my salt intake has been up a bit with the cooked vegan (low fat/high carb) dinners. Perhaps also due to the Halloween candy still laying around that has beckoned, and I’ve responded to slightly 😦
Banana Island sounded too boring…
So a boost to inspire me to aim more raw with mono meals, and intake less salt for a week. Also to simplify (my dinners have become complicated combo a bombos)!
My Mainly Mono Meals before the holidays (some random ones):
~ 3 cups of grapes
~ 6 bananas
~ 4 oranges
Not so mono: green juice (kale, cucumber, celery, romaine, cilantro, lemon)
It’s been helping my digestion even more and the headaches went AWAY!!! 🙂
What are you doing to prepare for the holidays? How do you handle the holidays?
Tell me in the comments what works for you!
Love & Hugs!
✿ ✿ ✿ Click on photo above for video update from Lakefront Chicago! ✿ ✿ ✿
Even though I’ve been aiming at being Raw Vegan for a year total, and having success for certain amounts of time, here and there this past year…
I did these one per month videos these last six months, to motivate myself and perhaps help others that were new to this lifestyle.
This is the final video and post for my six month challenge.
✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿
Will I continue to be Raw Vegan (or high Raw Vegan/Low Fat)?
YES!
I’ve been healed of too many health problems to go backwards!
✿ Asthma gone!
✿ Allergies gone!
✿ Arthritis gone!
✿ Digestive issues and constipation gone!
✿ Hormonal issues ~ 75% better.
✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿
Will I continue to post monthly videos, checking in about it?
Maybe.
I may focus more now on exercise updates and other insightful things about the Raw Vegan, 80/10/10 lifestyle.
We’ll see how the response goes for this video and post.
What would you most like to see in the future?
✿ ✿ ✿ Comment below on your thoughts ✿ ✿ ✿
Love & Hugs!
✿ ✿ Click on pic above for video version ✿ ✿
✿ One of my training plans and exercises is taking the stairs at lunch time, one day a week at work.
✿ 21 floors down, and 21 floors back up.
✿ I take short breaks in between a few flights going up (similar to the Peak 8).
When I first started this, I could only make it down, not back up. I gradually increased my going up to the full 21 flights.
It helped break up the monotony of sitting in a chair all day and working with a screen! ✿ ✿ ✿ Got my lymph system pumping mid-day, and got me ready to go back to the editing 🙂
How are you doing?
✿ ✿ ✿ Love & Hugs! ✿ ✿ ✿
~ Raw Jenni
✿✿✿ Click on pic above for video 1 ✿✿✿
How does a raw vegan deal with taking their food to work?
✿ If you’re gone from 8am in the morning (or earlier) until 6 pm or later… What do you do?
✿ I have over an hour commute each way to work, taking buses and trains.
So I tried 4 different things. Let’s see what you think…
✿✿✿ Click on pic above for video 2 ✿✿✿
1. Fasting
✿ A day of fasting, led to a night of bingeing…
2. Taking abundant smoothies (see video 2).
✿ Requires lifting a REALLY HEAVY wheelie bag up and down the Elevated train steps, and onto trains and busses, no thank you! (Although I guess it’s good Grand Canyon training prep!)
3. Cheat day
✿ Not really a good idea. Insta-hemmhorroids, etc.
4. Banana Island in the daytime?
✿ This kind of worked. I found it super convenient! I brought 14 bananas and a smoothie. It was nice to not have to bring anything home.
✿ It was hard to make it through ALL those bananas though. By banana #11, I was gagging!
So maybe some combination of banana island and just 1-2 smoothies (not so heavy) would be the best for me.
How about you? Do you work outside the home? How do you handle being a raw foodie or a raw vegan at work?
Love n hugs!
Quick updates on the challenge!
I’m loving the changes I’m experiencing with the 20 minutes or less of exercise daily. The squats only take 3 minutes.
✿ I love how the body adjusts and gets stronger so quickly!
✿ My mood is up overall.
✿ Clothes are looser.
✿ Weight is actually up a bit.
I’m eating more calories… suddenly around 3000 or more a day. I’m hungrier and adjusting to it all. Also, I’ve been eating more fat these last few days. Hopefully that will adjust back down as I learn to get the right number of fruit carbs in.
✿ Feeling good.
✿ Sleeping well!
I’ve been doing the Peak 8 on my stationary bike, 100 squats, and skating this week. Something each day!
Skate video below (click on pic).
DAY 1
I wanted to issue myself a 30 day challenge to UP MY LEVEL of exercise a notch or two.
~~~ THE GOAL: 30 days alternating Peak 8 exercises* and 100 squats.
I put up my picture of me today at 164 pounds, and putting this out there, so I keep accountable to doing the full 30 days.
What are the Peak 8’s?
*Peak 8 exercises can be any exercise I choose, but pushing it as hard as I can for 30 seconds, then resting until I recover completely. Then do again (8 times total).
So in this 30 days, I will alternate between…
15 days of Peak 8 exercises (every other day) in the following formats:
~ Stairs in preparation for my Grand Canyon hike training
~ Stationary cycling
~ Skating (roller :)) because I LOVE IT! And I’m a product of the 70’s and Xanadu!!!
~ Possibly some rebounding (jumping on the trampoline)
And 15 days of 100 squats on the days in between
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
WHY AM I DOING THIS?
1. I’ve been curious to see if what my chiropractor says is true. He tells me that I only need the Peak 8’s every other day for my body’s optimal health (as far as exercise is concerned). I’ve never quite gotten to that point of keeping it up faithfully.
2. NOW, that I’m pretty stable on a high raw vegan diet, I’m ready AND CRAVING to up my exercise and see what happens!
Even though I’ve been high raw vegan for over a year, my weight has lingered around the same 160’s lately, perhaps because I don’t have a consistent exercise routine, perhaps because I haven’t been raw/vegan long enough, etc, etc. But I’m ready and motivated to up the exercise to what I believe is a healthy minimum (more than what I’ve been doing). I don’t think it’s overdoing it (I’m not out running for hours or something, no offense to those who like that).
3. Plus I love Freelee’s 100 squats a day (and the other people who started it).
So I’m combining these two minor things, and seeing what results come in a month! I’M NOT AT THE POINT OF DOING ANYTHING REALLY STRENUOUS YET… I think a lot of people relate to that and where I’m at, YA?
So JOIN IN with me if you like!
Comment below if you are IN! I’ll check in occasionally on a post and/or video, and definitely at the end of the 30 days (around Thanksgiving)! LET’S DO THIS & LET’S SEE HOW WE DO!
LOVE & HUGS!!!
I don’t think everyone does.
Click on my picture/video below to find out why:
I believe 1 or more of these factors have to be present to really THRIVE on a raw food diet:
1. You are sick and tired of being sick and tired.
2. You just KNOW this is the BEST way to eat. It feels clean. It feels natural. It fits our design (for me that means designed in a garden… given fruit trees and greens to eat).
3. You have a “NOT give up” mentality. You are in it for the long term. If you fail and fall off the wagon, you shake the dust off and move forward in this direction.
4. You try it, and realize you feel better than ever before. You’re digestion improved (once you figured out food combining), your skin improved, your stamina and endurance for whatever sport you like got significantly better over time! Your enjoyment of sex improved, your libido is up.
5. You are open minded, not closed to alternatives to all the medicines, doctors, and t.v. ads out there!
6. You do your own research. You don’t need a Ph.D. or Scientist to tell you how to live your life, or how to eat right for optimal life. But if you find a good one that supports your raw food beliefs, great! You go with it, making sure it’s really what you believe as well.
7. You are sick of side effects of medicines, that have not cured you (most of the time), but cover up the pain of your symptoms.
8. Perhaps you have tried every thing else. You have tried every other diet, and they haven’t helped you maintain your weight for the long term, or help you really THRIVE in your life with optimal energy and health.
9. You may HATE exercising at first when you start a raw food diet, but as your energy improves, you CRAVE it, and you find what you love the most.
Share with me in the comments what you think- what it takes to live successfully on a raw food diet?
Like…
Subscribe…
Love and Hugs!
Click on the picture above for my video to find out 🙂
I was a dancer in my younger years through adult years.
By age 18, I was diagnosed with pre-arthritis in my knees.
I was living on fast food, canned foods, processed foods, doughnuts, etc. The dancing probably helped me keep the weight down, but lots of exercise did NOT keep every ailment away.
In the last 10 years, the arthritis grew very menacing! The pain spread to my neck, back, legs, feet, etc.
We definitely have a winter season here in Chicagoland, and the pain was the worst in winter, from November to March or April.
I initially took Ibuprofen to mask the pain, until we were trying to get pregnant. Then the doctors told us to stay off of Ibuprofen, because it could hinder fertility.
In 2010, as you may already know, I began my raw food diet, eating mainly gluten free and dairy free as well as raw food. Very quickly, ALL arthritis symptoms were gone gone gone!
In 2012, I became raw vegan. The healing continued. I’m off all medicines now for arthritis and everything else!
If you come from a Biblical perspective, or are interested, as I am, you will see in Genesis, we were designed in a garden 🙂 We were given the lay of the land of fruit trees to choose from. The greens were given to the animals. So to me, this means this was our perfect food and is our perfect food. My testimony of healing I’ve received supports all I need to know!
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Check out my Coaching page if you are interested in receiving help with your raw food journey.
Raw Jenni 