Day 7 - What I did not eat

But damn if I didn't want to!

It was my daughter's 9th birthday this week & as you know - I love to bake.  I created this piggy cake for her - can you guess her favourite animal is? She asked for a cake that was green & had a pig on it.  HHHmmm - angry birds came to mind.The cake making itself wasn't so bad & the smell of it baking was incredible.  I had to stop myself from unconsciously licking the spoon as I always have when baking.

Luckily, I was prepared with my own raw vegan dessert & enjoyed it along side the family. Hopefully Mim can understand why I didn't eat her special cake as she gets older - it's nothing personal to her of course - it's about making healthy choices for me.

Her cake:

My yummy dessert from www.healthyfunkyfoods.com :

This was an interesting cake...It had peanut butter & strawberry jam - which was good - but I could have skipped the jam & just had the peanut butter & chocolate.
The chunks of chocolate were chocolate mint..odd with peanut butter & jam..so I picked them off & ate them separately :) Which was awesome & satisfied that chocolate craving I've been having lately.

Day 6 - Green is good

Almost a week & going strong.  Eating those green veggies not only tastes pretty good - but damned if it doesn't make you feel good too.  Drinking them is an even easier way to get those nutrients - especially on the go.  Rayna's green drink from www.healthyfunkyfoods.com is made with: spinach, dates, banana, blue manna & E3 Live & was sweet, filling & refreshing. Felt like a mini meal in a cup.  I actually drank almost 1/3 of it before I thought get a photo it was so good. You can just tell it's power food & making you feel strong & nourished. I could easily drink these everyday.

Day 5 - I used to bake...A LOT

I was the go to girl for baking - always. Since I was a teenager baking chocolate chip cookies for my family to put in out lunches. And yes, smuggling a few extras for myself in the meantime. I mean, I really love to bake. Banana bread, cupcakes, chocolately brownies...mmmm...sometimes all in the span of a week. A birthday coming up - I'll bake your cake! Going to friends for dinner? Guess what I volunteer to bring - you got it - dessert.
You know how some things from your childhood stick with you, long after they should? The kind of off side comments someone makes, little jokes that are meant to be funny but are really hurtful. I remember once making chocolate chip cookies for lunches when I was about 13 years old & stashing 4 or 5 in the fridge for school the next day. When I got to school & opened my lunch there was a little note in my bag. How nice I thought, this has never happened before. As I opened it feeling special & loved I read the words: A MOMENT ON THE LIPS, A LIFETIME ON THE HIPS. That was it. These are the things that crush us. These are the words that I never forget. These are the words I think of when eating treats. These are the words I will never, ever, say to my daughters as they go through their formative years. I hope I can lead by example of good eating habits & if they pick up on it here & there - hooray! I have to say I am missing baking, the smell, the taste, the warmth of it & the homey feeling it evokes...but for now I need to make some changes & learn to enjoy other delicious treats. The ones that come without the internal guilt.
Check out these awesome (guilt free) dessert bars I got to eat from www.healthyfunkyfoods.com - Coconut hemp bars, they're dense & sweet & coconuty & chewy & just a little on the greasy side - but not in a bad way - in a coconuty way. So super yummy & you can only eat one at a time. MMMMmmm. Probably my favourite thing there to date. Go try some - you won't regret it.

Day 4 - But you could die!

I loved my daughter's response when telling her I planned on eating only RAW food for 30 days. She cares very much for her mom & was concerned that eating only fruit, veggies & nuts essentially for 30 days might kill me.
Quite the opposite effect is happening though.  I am enjoying my huge healthy meals & offering to share each item/drink/treat with my daughters. Some things they like: the crepes, pancakes, all the juices, almond mylk & salads are all hits. The actual meals - not so much.  With the volume of food I am eating & my energy not slowing down a bit - clearly I am in no danger of kicking the bucket due to mal nourishment.  On Sunday my hubby headed to Lake Louise for 3 days a photo seminar & so we had a girls day. We went to the Lilac festival, Canadian Tire, the Crossroads market (to pick up from www.healthyfunkyfoods.com) came home, weeded the garden for 3 hours solid, then cleaned the house for another 3 hours. Not the most relaxing Sunday I'll admit - but not feeling lethargic & tired either.
I drank some orange juice that was out of this world - seriously. It was like being smacked in the mouth with flavour & so incredibly sweet & delicious. I was sipping sunshine in a bottle - a perfect gardening drink. My younger daughter tried a sip & promptly made off with the rest of the bottle...then her big sister stole it from her of course. Look at these smiling faces.

Day 3 - Entering the unknown

Ok. 30 days of only RAW vegan food. What does this mean? I have been a vegetarian for almost 20 years - eating fish & eggs & dairy - so I guess the proper term is pescatarian. I have dabbled in RAW meals & desserts, eat lots of salads & veggies but what exactly are the guidelines of RAW vegan?
My first thoughts are:
Can I drink tea? (Yes, but only heated to a certain temperature - lukewarm really)
What exactly is the proper temperature that food can be heated to & still be considered RAW? (118˚) What about things on the menu named "Save the Tuna salad"& sushi - is there really tuna in it? (no) Can I heat something up & then cool it down to less than 118 & still consider it Raw? (definitely not!)  Is almond mylk ok? (only if it's not pasteurized - pretty easy to make it yourself I found out here)
Can I eat as many raw fruits & veggies & nuts as I like? (yes)
Is raw chocolate acceptable? (yes)
Can you freeze things then let them warm back up & still be considered raw? (yes)

So far I love that after 3 days I haven't been feeling low energy or hungry - quite the opposite - so much food is available & so tasty.  Though it seems like a raw, vegan diet might be really restrictive I am astounded what can be created out of simple food.
I also have to admit - I'm down 1 pound after 3 days of eating this way & my digestion is easy - so I feel really great. Light & energetic & satisfied.
Admittedly having meals created for you with the www.healthyfunkyfoods.ca 30 day challenge makes it pretty easy...but what about if I want to continue after? I will definitely need to learn a few things.
Yesterday I learned that I love the 'Save the Tuna' sushi - no rice, no fish, but it's terrific & the sauce is really good - tastes salty & strong. Fresh veggies makes it crunchy & fresh tasting. Also - portability is kind of important to me so this easily fits the bill.
I have been slightly craving sweets - I am a huge sweets person but there have been enough desserts to grab - sweetened with dates - which are very yummy. I am missing chocolate though...maybe that will be in my next batch of meals :)

Day 2 - My husband will never give up steak!

Nor am I asking him to. Though he reminds me almost daily - that he is a meat eater & it's not going to change. I laugh because I'm not trying to change anyone. Only myself.  That's all I can be responsible for. Just as you can't be responsible for anyone's action, emotions or reactions. You can only be responsible for yourself. This is something I am trying to teach my beautiful daughters. Instead of the why's & pointing fingers of blame when they brawl I ask 'How can you do things differently next time so this doesn't happen'. It''s a great perspective to have & hopefully will help make them strong independent confident women as they grow up. They are in control of themselves & their reactions.
I am being responsible for my own health by eating RAW for 30 days & Matt can be responsible for cooking his own steak :)
Check out these amazingly tasty raw pancakes I had for breakfast from www.healthyfunkyfoods.ca- nuts, strawberries, blueberries & bananas - sweet and satisfying. Filling too! I also had a delicious green drink for a snack. This day was tricky as I was shooting a very long wedding - eating most meals in the car between locations. My energy was great throughout the day though & I wasn't hungry at all. The hard part was turning down course after course of a beautiful Chinese reception meal. But I did it & feel great. Looking forward to seeing what Rayna has concocted for me tomorrow!

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Day 1 - The 30 Day Challenge

"I think I want to become a vegan" I recently told my husband one rushed Friday morning after we had gotten the kids off to school. "What? Why?" he responded skeptically. "You're already a vegetarian!". "Yes...", I replied thoughtfully, "actually, I think I might go raw vegan...you know, try it for awhile." You can imagine the disbelief on his face increase at this point. After almost 12 years of marriage he knew me well enough to know though I was mentioning this casually to him in passing, but I had already decided that I wanted to do this & was currently trying to figure out how to make this raw food plan a reality.
As fate would have it, an hour later we were over at the Crossroads Farmer's Market, & I stopped into my favourite cafe there - Healthy Funky Foods & was chatting to Rayna, picking up a few of my 'hippie treats' as matt would say. She mentioned the 30 Day Raw Food Challenge she was offering - what a coincidence! It was just the sign I needed to know that the universe was pointing me in the right direction. I've always believed when there's a will, there's a way & here it was right in front of me.
After some negotiations on dates, deliveries & preferences I'm all ready to go - put my money where my mouth is as they say - & try this raw food revolution that has everyone feeling so good. Rayna's program seems pretty easy. She supplies all the meals, drinks, snacks & treats & delivers them to your door (or pick up at the market) for 30 days. Sounds pretty simple to me. Not cheap of course - but I figure if I'm going to do it - I might as well start out easy & learn along the way. Investing in my health is something I'd rather do now - starting with what I consume - rather than paying for it later in medical expenses & poor health.
As I start on this journey I have so many questions & obstacles & a very busy life to get through. Will I be able to do it? In the span of the next 30 days I have 4 weddings to photograph, both my daughter's birthdays (cake anyone???) 9 days will be spent out of town between camping, a white water rafting trip & attending & then teaching a  seminar. Whew! But I believe there is no such thing as the 'right time ever. Procrastination will always try find a way to stop me (you know those brilliant ideas you have that don't seem quiet as cool as time goes by as reality starts throwing up an obstacle course of making it difficult) so I'm not going to let it.
This blog will document each day as I go through it for 30 days - hopefully with some pretty pictures & some learnings along the way. I figure sharing will help explain the experience to someone new who wants to try & hopefully help take away some obstacles for them. Welcome to Keeping It Raw - thanks for stopping by.

This is the amazing tapas style lunch I had on my first day - totally as delicious as it looks along with a green drink. Truthfully, I ate my breakfast parfait (fresh fruit/cocaoa cereal/cashew yoghurt) as well with it all at once. I had waited to long to eat (skipped breakfast) so enjoyed a huge lunch. Tomorrow I will enjoy meals at regular intervals...hopefully :)

Lunch: