The Many Misadventures of an Aspiring Raw-Foodist

The purpose of this blog is to give you a realistic view of the transition to a raw vegan life and the restoration of health. It isn't always easy. I don't always feel amazing. But in the end it is worth it. My hope is that I can inspire others to make positive changes in their own lives.



9.14.2011

The Reintroduction Begins

Here I am on day 15. I need to go to the grocery store and am staring out the window at the rain trying to decide which fruit to buy to eat today. I’m really leaning toward red grapes, but they used to give me stomach aches, so I’m wondering if I should start with something I didn’t have any issues with before, like an orange or ½ a grapefruit. Citrus was always good to me, as were berries, but those are a little expensive right now. My head is spinning with ideas on low sugar raw vegan desserts. I’m most excited to try my idea of Raspberry Sorbet made with fresh coconut mylk and sweetened with stevia. I’d also like to get my hands on the newest trend in raw, low glycemic sweeteners, coconut sugar, and experiment with that. I’m not jumping into desserts right away though. For the next few days I will be eating just one small serving of fruit a day and see how that affects me.
My blood sugar has improved quite dramatically, and I feel clearer headed and more creative. As excited as I am about Wellness Coaching I’ve come to the certain and contented conclusion that what I really want most to do is to write, and own a raw vegan sweet shop in Arizona. I’m toying with names… The Sweet Life, perhaps? I want it to be set up like an old fashioned sweet shop. It would give you those nostalgic warm fuzzies and have desserts made to model old favorites (pies, candies, fudges, cupcakes, ice cream sundaes, etc.)… but healthy! As for writing I am already in the process of writing a book on health specific to Latter-Day Saints (which I am) and the Word of Wisdom. I also have one children’s book nearly finished and ideas for a whole series of books inspired by a drawing my daughter created. All my children’s books will be on various aspects of wellness, with the hope of teaching children and inspiring parents to model well behavior.
I really felt (and felt that I looked) like I was gaining a lot of weight on this diet. My hope was to lose weight and bloat. In the end, all of my measurements are the same except my abdominal measurements, which are ½ to 1 inch larger, depending on the area. My weight is up 1-2 lbs (it’s hard to tell, as my scale seems to be malfunctioning, I weighed myself 15+ times this morning in different places and got 3 different weights depending on where I was standing). It’s not too bad. I’m just still baffled as to what is causing the bloating. I was pretty much bloated to the max when I started and now I’m bigger, what gives? But I do feel better. I’m considering just chucking the scale, investing in some Spanx and moving on! (Kidding, I panic at the thought of not weighing myself every morning… I have issues… but the Spanx do sound appealing.)
Before I started I took an inventory of symptoms and rated them on a scale of 1-10. I’m rerating them now and will do that again in 1 week, and then 1 week after that when I’ve tested different foods. I think it’s a good way to keep track of things. A lot of times when we start to feel better we forget how cruddy we felt before and we aren’t really able to realize or appreciate that progress we’ve made. Some of the symptoms may sound a little strange, I’ll describe them as best I can. The first number is my rating before the diet, the second number is my current state.

Starting Symptoms:
9/3 Air in tummy (the full/can’t breathe feeling I talked about that almost sent me to the ER)
7/3 Gas pain
9/6 gas (less, and it’s actually coming out of me, so that is an improvement)
8/4 BM pain (was having sharp pain daily with BM, have only had it a time or two these two weeks, but my bowels aren’t moving as much either, so it’s good and bad)
8/5 BM quality/frequency (higher is better in this category)
9/9 Abdominal bloating
8/6 Abdominal “lumps”
5/6 Energy level
4/6 Eczema (I thought this might be part of the detox so I haven’t treated it with cortisone, just letting it do its thing)
7/4 Irritability/stress level
8/3 Anxiety (I find myself now able, when I start to feel anxious, to backtrack to the semiconscious thought that started the anxiety and decide if that thought is “true” or just a worry. It’s yet to be true.)
6/1 Depression (even though I haven’t been good about taking my EFAs and I also stopped taking my 5-HTP several days ago! … I do need to get better about the EFAs)
6/4 Swollen feet
6/1 Urination frequency (as in too much frequency, so 1 would be equal output to input… I’ve heard that when you have trouble processing sugars you will urinate frequently and I’m pretty much infamous for having to pee!)
5/3 Food cravings (only craving fruits and raw foods, no cravings for unhealthy/processed foods and I don’t spend all day thinking about eating anymore)
8/5 Muscle tension
6/3 Headache
4/4 Muscle strength
6/4 Endurance (seemed to be down when exercising yesterday, I was pretty weak and faint all day)
6/5 Weight (level of content with, higher is better)
4/8 Blood sugar balance (higher is better, as in more balanced)
6/8 General “balance”
5/7 Memory
6/8 Sleep quality (and I haven’t even taken my 5-HTP to help me sleep for several days)
7/2 Compulsive eating (I used to spend most of the day stuffing myself whether I was hungry or not, and I had to overeat to some extent because I was constantly trying to balance blood sugar. I now eat about a third as frequently as I used to and can go hours without getting hungry)
7/4 Back pain
7/3 Rib pain (I’ve had a rib out of place for 7 years that is stabbing/painful and surrounded by tight muscles)

1 comment:

  1. Hi Holly!

    Hugest congrats on your sugar free diet!!
    I was so glad you left a comment and I came to see what you've been up to. Im glad to hear that you're feeling better. Re: weigh scale. Girl, ditch it! I used to be obsessed with needing to weigh and see a number. Then I realized it was obsessive and stupid. After all, a weight doesn't actually matter. What matters more is your lean body mass. You could see the number dropping but you might be losing muscle not fat. Anyway, that's just my two cents, lol. You're fabulous and beautiful and it looks like you're on the right track!
    If you open the sweet shop in Arizona, I'll definitely come there one day! :)

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