It is day 21 of my 21 day raw food challenge. Honestly, I can’t believe how the time has flown and what a wonderful re-set this has been for me. What have I learned?

1. Just because you are hungry, or the clock says you should be eating, doesn’t mean you have to eat. You can wait until you are around good, clean food.

2. Bad habits can be reset in 21 days.

3. When you change your eating habits, other healthy habits become easier and more desired.

4. Eating raw is not expensive, nor is it time consuming.

5. To be successful at eating raw, you do need to plan.

6. There are so many raw food substitutions that you can use to satisfy food cravings.

7. Food cravings tend to disappear when eating raw.

8. Sweet cravings tend to disappear when eating raw.

9. 21 full days of not feeling bad after I eat.

10. 21 full days of feeling energized after I eat.

11. Making a commitment inspires creativity.

I am grateful for this challenge. I would highly recommend that you do one of your own. Amazing things can be accomplished with just a little dedication and commitment.

Just two more days left of my 100% raw challenge. I am diving in, head first to my next cookbook today, No Dehydrator Needed. It is always overwhelming when you are in the planning stage. So much work ahead, but I think this will be a great one for everyone.

It is interesting. As I sit here and contemplate incorporating cooked food back into my diet, I am finding that I am not that excited about it. I feel great right now and I know it is because of how I am eating. My body loves raw food, and isn’t a big fan of a lot of cooked food. The challenge for me will be to keep that 10-20% cooked food clean and pure, with only an occasional deviation into the dark side (cupcakes?).

One of the wonderful side effects from eating all this wonderful food is that I have been exercising more. Somehow they just seem to go hand in hand. I now take a 3-5 mile hike every morning with the dogs. There is this wonderful old growth woods by my house, filled with paths. I seem to not be able to get my day started properly now without the hike.

Have you noticed any other unhealthy habits that are slipping away when you eat healthier?

Today I want to talk about challenges on the raw food diet and how you can meet them. But first, I will report in. I am feeling great. It is so amazing to eat anything I want (within the raw realm) and never feel “bad” after I eat. I have cravings once in a while, mostly because of advertising, or seeing something like the insane food at the cooking class. But, I feel so “clean” the desire to put that food in my body is really waining.

I have great energy, I am not missing my morning coffee at all, I am sleeping better, and I am losing some extra pounds. What I find interesting is that I honestly don’t have much desire for cooked food at all. In a way, I don’t want to go back, so to speak. That will be the challenge. And the fun of the new recipes that will be on the main blog. Finding out how to make some cooked food that still makes me feel fab!

When eating 100% raw, one other thing I notice is that I eat so much less food. I am satisfied with a much smaller amount, most-likely because the nutrient availablility is so much higher. I don’t stuff myself with anything. When I am eating cooked food, I am not satisfied as easily.

I do want to address some challenges that I find and also hear about.

1. Cost. Honestly, I don’t think that I spend any more money eating raw than when I am not eating raw. But I am also not a person that buy a lot of packaged or prepared foods. I work at saving money. If I need coconut oil, I will mail order it because I can usually get it for at least 1/3 off. Even with shipping. I also know the prices for all of my staples at all the different coops. And there can be a huge difference. One store will have raw cashews for 5.35 a pound while another has them for 9.95. I know where kamut is the cheapest and even flax seeds. I schedule my shopping with my other errands. If I know I am going to be on the side of town where they have the cheapest flax for a meeting, I always make time for a quick stop to replenish my stock.

I am also a huge proponent of the Farmer’s Markets. I can get amazing buys on organic produce. It makes it hard for me to actually go to the regular grocery store. Buying things in season and then freezing them or finding other ways to put things by is another way to save some $$$.

2. It takes so much time! Honestly, I spend much less time in the kitchen when I am eating raw than when I cook more. Once again it is all about planning! I almost always have something sprouting so I make sure I can make buckwheat breads, etc. Soaking isn’t a big deal! If you take a few minutes to plan out what you are going to make, you know that before you go to bed, you should drop some nuts in water. Dehydration takes time but once again, you don’t have to sit there and attend to it the whole time it is dehydrating. You throw together some stuff and walk away!

3. Dealing with Cravings. I have found over the last 19 days, that cravings can be dealt with in a few different ways. One of my favorite ways is just to find a healthy, raw alternative that will satisfy what ever the craving is. I love cookies. So, I make some great raw cookies. The oatmeal-raisin cookies are amazing and no one thinks that they are raw! There are so many great recipes out there now, it is easy to find things that will satisfy cravings.

I hope you are all doing well with your challenge.

How was your weekend? We had beautiful fall weather here. I did a lot of hiking in the woods with the dogs. Which is a great by-product of the challenge. I did have an interesting experience on Saturday. I was photographing a cooking class. An amazing French chef who’s food makes you want to weep. Now, that was a challenge. And then again, not really.

It is amazing what happens when you get in the groove. There are still challenges, but it is so easy to say no. And when I tell people why, they actually are very respectful of what I am doing. Which, is great.

I have had a few moments, like yesterday when I was wishing for a nice hot bowl of creamy oats to greet the fall morning with. I was hungry and didn’t want to wait for the dehydrator. I had a cup of tea (satisfied the need for heat) and made my green drink.

Tomorrow I am going to talk about challenges that we have when eating raw. I would love to hear what your challenges are so I can also address them.

Happy Monday!

I am always amazed at how much will power one can muster when they just put their mind to it. I remember a book, years back called “Flipping the Switch”. And that is exactly how this feels. The decision is made, the date set and all of a sudden, it’s easy to stick to what ever you have challenged yourself to do.

During this challenge, I gave up coffee, along with eating all raw. I became a coffee drinker later in life. I don’t even remember why I started. I would only have one cup first thing in the morning, never after that. It became a part of my morning ritual. Grinding the beans, heating the water, using the French Press. It was more about the ritual than the coffee itself.

Coffee and I are not friends. It may have helped me wake up, but it made me edgy. The effect lasted for hours. Giving up coffee, for this challenge was a must. The funny thing is that I don’t miss it. At all. I still boil my water in the morning but now it is for tea with almond milk. I kept a part of the ritual, but changed some of the ingredients.

Is there something in your life that you need to change? A ritual that might not be the healthiest, but because of habit, you hang on to? Can you change it to be a  more healthy ritual?

Take a moment out of the day to do a little self-examination. And then take the challenge. Change it. Change your life.

We are two weeks in! Only one more to go. I am feeling great, and other than a few moments when I was actually just bored, the challenge has gone very smoothly. I am grateful that it has really inspired me to get in the kitchen and develop a bunch more recipes!

I did some meditation today and thought, what else are we doing for ourselves on a daily basis. It is not that hard to find 10 minutes in a day that you can truly do something special for yourself. Whether it be a cup of tea and a favorite book, a few yoga poses, a meditation or what ever else you find refreshes you in a pinch!

Food is one way we nourish ourselves. What are other ways you can think of?

It has been an extremely busy. Starting with an early morning meeting, I have been going almost non-stop. I find that in these circumstances, my old stand-bys don’t work. Old standby: the coffee shop with treats, old standby: quick lunch out, old standby: throwing anything in my mouth I can find because it is “time” to eat.

But when you are doing a 100% raw challenge, the old standbys just don’t cut it. So, what do we do? We make new standbys! Carrying fruit and nuts has been a godsend. Bananas are a favorite for me as they come with their own packaging that is easy to open! Which reminds me. I saw a commercial for prunes yesterday. You can now get prunes, individually wrapped, in a container…what the…??? You can also buy prunes and zip-lock bags. Or little containers. Individual wrappers for every prune…and somehow that is a good thing?

Ok…back to new standbys. Bringing food with…a new standby. Making sure there are healthy snacks in the house…new standby. Not thinking that I have to eat, just because it is lunch time…new standby, waiting to eat until I can eat something appropriate…new standby, saying, “no thank you”…new standby.

What are the new standbys that you are developing? I would love to hear.

Today, I am having a little bit of a struggle. I have been making great recipes, developing new ones but man would it be great to be able to go to the store and just pick up some raw food treats and not have to worry about making something for a change.

Not that I mind…I love being in the kitchen. But we all go through those moments where we just don’t feel like cooking. Part of the issue is that I have been extremely busy with both Rawmazing business, promoting the cookbook, keeping up with the web-site, developing more recipes and all of the other millions of things that need to be done every day. I am also developing the photography business. It is a lot!

The other part is that I really need to go to the store! My well stocked pantry is not so well stocked at the moment. Which is a really big part of maintaining a raw food diet. I have a wonderful pantry list, available when you register on the main site. I am going to print another one out for myself today and get busy.

Stocking up is not too difficult. You want to make sure you have plenty of your nuts and seeds, any grains that you like to soak and sprout, some dried fruit, and your oils and extras. Then it is time to fill in with veggies and fruits. Greens are high on my list, followed by a few of the staples that I like to always have on hand. Bananas, apples, lemons and oranges can have multi-uses. Frozen berries are a must for a quick green drink or shake. After that, I try to see what is seasonal. I am a big supporter of the farmer’s market and usually make a couple of trips there a week.

So, for me, today is a day to pay more attention to the pantry and stock up! How about you?

Brussel Sprouts with Figs

I hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday. I ended up going to the Farmer’s Market and making a haul. Part of my haul is in the picture, above! I threw together a brussel sprout fig dish that is wonderful.

I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday about doing the challenge. He asked me how the carrot sticks were. Rolling my eyes, I realized that I have been really eating a wonderful variety of food. Whether I am creating new recipes or trying other people’s recipes, I have not wanted for anything on this challenge.

I will admit, last night, I was hungry. Normally I would have started the search. Trying to find something that satisfied. Luckily I had some kale chips in the dehydrator. They hit the spot, but I was noticing that I was missing some of my cooked favorites a little. But with so much available, I was fine.

Today, I am going to really start paying more attention to what I am eating. When we make the commitment to raw, we automatically think we are getting the best possible diet we can have. But even raw isn’t going to be the best if you aren’t balancing. If you are getting your calories and satisfaction from heavy, nut laden dishes and forgetting to do your green drinks…not balanced. If you get stuck eating the same thing over and over again, not balanced. If you aren’t mixing up your veggies and fruits, not balanced!

Take a minute today to look at what you are eating. Keeping a food diary is a great thing to do, especially when you are working on dietary changes.

Have a great Monday!

I had a fabulous time this morning at the Mill City Farmer’s Market. What a special place that is. Fully supporting organic and local, there are many merchants there that have amazing, beautiful goods.

I was down signing copies of Rawmazing Desserts! Meeting readers is always a highlight for me. And enticing people who are completely new to raw is a bulls eye! A good amount of books were bought, but mostly new friends were made.

I am going to keep this short today mostly because I am ready to not work for a bit. But I did want to mention one thing today. It is about getting stuck in a rut when you are doing raw.

It is so easy to make one thing that we really like, and because we have no idea what else to eat, we keep eating the same thing. One way to counteract that is to make sure you get your green drink every morning. If you start with the a drink packed with greens and fruit, thrown in some nuts or flax and you will have taken a huge step in making sure you get a good selection of nutrients for the day.

So, make sure you get those green drinks in and take a little time today to search out and make some new recipes!