What a difference a day makes

Yesterday morning, after two days of raw, I wanted to get on here and write about how great I felt already - no bloating, I actually felt lighter, my energy levels were up. I thought, Wow - if I'm already feeling this much better after just two days...imagine how I'll feel after a week, a month, a hundred days?

But, then yesterday got rolling and things changed. I knew that I wouldn't be eating 100% - or even my goal of 90% raw - yesterday. I knew I'd eat out with my husband as we celebrated our anniversary. I did my best to make good choices - well, better choices that I normally would. And I did. But by the middle of the afternoon, I felt like a slug again. And this morning, not the vibrant bundle of energy I had yesterday.

I didn't completely blow it. I do have some little victories to celebrate: when we stopped to get drinks at Sonic, instead of ordering my usual "large Diet Dr. Pepper with vanilla and very little ice," I ordered a Route 44 Water. Perfect and Refreshing. Even though we were handed ginourmous cookies when leaving the restaurant at lunch, I didn't eat it. In fact, yesterday was the third day in a row with no refined sugar or any kind. And looking back over the day, I'd say my total "rawness" was about 30%. Not my goal of 50% but still better than what I would have done in the past, which would have been to say, "It's my anniversary, I can celebrate! I can let loose! I can eat whatever I want!"

The problem with that mindset is this: I end up making every day something to celebrate. "It's Flag Day! It's Kiss a Pig Day! My son didn't have any cavities! My pinky toe didn't get stubbed today!" It can get quite ridiculous, actually.

There are a couple of realizations that I had yesterday too. I stood in the Barnes and Noble looking at the magazines, hoping to find one about raw food. I only one I found that came anything close to it was one called VegTimes...a vegetarian magazine. I didn't buy it because it seemed so...I don't know...self-righteous? Flipping through a number of books on raw eating I felt the same way. "Eat this way because it makes you a better person." It's almost off-putting, quite frankly. I want to eat this way because it's a challenge, I know it's a refreshing and healthy change, and it will be a great learning experience. I don't necessarily think it's making me a better person, though. I suppose those that care enough to make a magazine about vegetarian living are passionate about it. Just like I'm passionate about my Savior, my hubby, my kids or birth. I suppose anyone who's ever heard me talking about any of these topics might come away with the impression that I'm over-the-top about any of those things, too.

The other thing that I have come to realize in doing my research is that eating raw takes some serious preparation and time. Soak this for 24 hours, dehydrate for 12. That means for some recipes, I need to know 36 hours in advance before I want to start preparing a recipe that calls for such pre-work. I don't know if I'll be able to sustain that. I'm much more accustomed to the "here are six meals we can make this week" kind of planning. Depending on what the day brings us, we can pick from one of those meals. Some take longer to prepare than others, but none really take longer than an hour start to finish. I'm going to have to be much more diligent about meal planning and preparation. That will also be a big challenge for me. If any of you know of any short cuts, good recipe books, etc., please share!

And finally, I realized, while perusing the magazines, that I like cooked food. I like cooking food. I like eating cooked food. And when this personal challenge of mine is over, I'm sure I'll include more cooked foods in my regular eating. I foresee myself being about 70% raw when all is said and done after the 100 days are over.

All that being said, I'm committed to the next 97 days of being as raw as possible. And for now, I must go pick up my new food processor.