How I spend my Wednesday afternoons

Well I have had a nice little break. During my break, my anemia came back with vengeance. My hematologist feels that iron infusions were in my future. I am scheduled for 4 weeks of treatment and I have had 2. My energy is slowly coming back.

In addition to treatments, I am taking high doses of iron in the form of supplements. I am also juicing a little and eating my weight in kale. Any cooked food I cook in the iron skillet and I am eating lots of lentils.

Bulk Food Order

So last week I joined a organic bulk food co-op and I received the first load of goodies. I went a little crazy with my order or so I thought. I now realized that I did not order enough berries or grapes and I wished I would have ordered the blueberries after I saw them come off the truck. We have been happily eating up our yummy produce. We have been enjoying so much I didn't even get to take pictures of it all.

12 avocados

3 pineapples

6# cucumbers

8 mangos

Not pictured

8# tomatoes

1.5# portabella mushrooms

10 peaches

3# strawberries

5# red grapes

At the end of 30 days...

I have realized I am not a daily blogger. I try but I guess this is not my passion. I am much better at making videos so I am trying to figure out how to post them on here.

I did great the first 10 days. Then my energy level began to drag. Found out out my anemia was returning so I had some cooked foods. Mostly lentils. That worked for a few days then I would have a little bit of pits with my hummus. Then I had some raw cheese, which is OK with me but I really try to not have dairy when my iron levels are down.

I lost 10 pounds and tried many new recipes. I am most comfortable at 50% raw. For me, that is the percentage that is most sustainable.

My family for now are going totally gluten free. I will let you know how it goes.

Day 20 Raw lasagna

My anemia is back and I have been eating some high iron cooked foods. Mostly lentils. I am also uping my greens like crazy. But I am also using these 30 days to make raw dishes I have been wanting to make but couldn't find the time. Raw Lasagna. This is a little more work than I like to do since I am still making 2 dinners each night. But my husband liked it so I will be making it again.

Lots of soaking for this recipe. The recipe is from Carol Alt's The Raw 50.

Soaking sunflower seeds, cashews and macadamia nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, marinading mushrooms. This lasagna was so yummy, we warmed it up the next day in the dehydrator.

Day 19 The importance of sleep

As someone who has had insomnia in the past, I recognize the importance sleep has in all areas of our health. At first, I thought well I really do not need as much sleep as others. My dad has never slept more than 5 hours a night. I assumed that maybe my sleep pattern was genetic. Maybe it is, but I do need more sleep. I know that my lack of sleep has effected my health in the following ways:
moodiness
hormone imbalance
increased blood pressure
weight loss/gain (plateaus)
headaches
clumsiness
When I began researching the effects of sleep deprivation, I had many more of the symptoms. I now know that SD places me at a greater risk for health problems in the future.
So what am I going to do about this... go to bed. 11 pm weeknights for a few weeks. No matter what I am doing, I am getting in bed at 11pm. I may not fall asleep right away but I need to make this a habit.
Oh and by the way, I had lots of yummy green juice today!!

Day 18 A pretty good day

As soon as I got out of bed yesterday, I wanted to try a couple of new recipes. I made some yummy stuffed mushrooms with basil, pine nuts, cilantro and tomatoes. They turned out great. I did put them in the dehydrator but I preferred them cool. So I turned off the heat and let them set. My husband loved them as well and I think he felt a little guilty eating them thinking that they were like restaurant food and full of fat and junk. No guilt here, these were full of deliciousness and good for me.

Day 17 Getting back into the swing of things

Wow, I really am lame at this blogging thing. I really wanted to blog daily during this 30 day raw experience. But that isn't happening. So I will make the most of the time I do spend on here and share what's going on. In the time I missed blogging, I went out of town for 3 days to visit my parents. While there I totally fell back into my old eating habits. Needless to say, I wasn't even high raw there. It was sort of eye opening. Since I have been home, I have been back to the raw drawing board. I have several new recipes I am trying this week. I went way overboard at the farmer's market this weekend. When I came home from the visit, my first delivery of fresh and organic produce from Natures Garden Delivered was here waiting for me. It looked beautiful. Everything we have eaten so far has been delicious.