So here's the plan...

After trying to figure this thing out for the past week or so, I've decided that for practicality sake, I will lower my raw goal to 70% a day. This will allow me to eat raw all throughout the day and enjoy a nice meal with my family in the evening.

Really, I could eat fruits and veggies, salads and smoothies, energy bars (homemade) and snack mixes (nuts, seeds and dried fruit) all day. That's not the problem. I actually enjoy these foods. It's the amount of time to prepare the "gourmet" raw foods that help to add more variety into my food selections that is the problem. All the soaking, sprouting and dehydrating and the amount of coordination and organization that requires me to do this well is, at this stage of my life, prohibitive. What would be ideal is that I'd have a windfall of money - an astronomical amount - that would allow me to hire a raw food chef to prepare my entire family's meals every day. Of course, since that is not happening any time soon, I'll simply strive to eat raw 70% of the time. The evening meal I prepare will be comprised entirely of foods that I can both pronounce and recognize, but they can be cooked (basically, a cooked meal with God-made foods).

As for my half marathon training, I ran 3 miles yesterday. For now, it's all just prep work. The "real" training schedule actually begins week after next. I'm hoping that my hip heals up by then. It's really been uncomfortable since last October when I ran the 4.0 mile leg in the KC Marathon as part of a relay team - all up hill, too. After yesterday's run, it was really bugging me. I went to the chiropractor and he did an amazing adjustment that made me feel 1000% better - said my hip was rotating backwards. I'll see him again tomorrow. It's still tender and I'm icing it three times a day. I'm praying that it will be healed completely and quickly!

And on a final note, I just want to say "Thanks" to all of you who have asked me about my "Raw Food Adventure." I so appreciate it! It's helped me to stay accountable and focused. I never know when someone is going to say, "Hey, Loula! How's that raw food thing going?" and knowing that it could be at any moment helps me to smile and say "No" when I'm trying to justify that brownie batter could be considered a "raw" food...

New Adventures

I'm new at this blogging thing. I've thought about blogging for a while. I've even written various blog posts in my head (something I do a lot, actually). Never quite got around to making the leap into the blogosphere myself, though. Perhaps I was afraid no one would be interested in what I had to say. Or maybe I was concerned that it would be just "one more thing" to keep up-to-date in my life. Well, it's a done deal now. I've jumped in - all the way - and I'm not getting out anytime soon.

Raw Loula - today, I've embarked on a new venture - to eat raw for 100 days. I thought I'd share my journey, my thoughts, my struggles, my insights, my failures, my victories, my changes and even my attitudes here. Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I strive to be authentic. I want to be real. Too much fake, manufactured, silly, contrived nonsense in the world as it is. I don't need anymore...especially in my own life. Some of my friends - those closest to me - might say that I'm pretty transparent. Sometimes, I get pretty raw and it's not always easy. But it's good. It's right. I'm not saying that my transparency is always timed correctly. My friend "S" and I often joke about having a blurting problem. I'll say what's on my mind, when it's on my mind, without filtering it. It can be quite unfortunate, really.

That being said, I think that going raw in my eating will really be a extension of what I'm trying to accomplish in my character and life. Many have asked why I'm doing this. The reasons are numerous and plenty...here are a few:

• I'm tired - all the time. Yes, part of it is my thyroid issue, but part of it is the crap I put into my body on a regular basis.
• About a year ago, I started converting most of my family's food to natural, organic, chemical-free products. I completely cut out HFCS and trans fats. Wasn't an easy switch, but I'm so glad I did it. I've come to the conclusion, though, that organic junk food is still junk food.
  
• Having struggled with food issues my whole life (pretty much), I've tried diet after diet after diet. What I really don't want is another diet. I want to learn to eat and enjoy foods that God designed for me to eat and enjoy. I don't want to eat man-made, industrial crap. Fact is, many "diet" or "low-cal" or so-called "healthy" foods in the supermarkets are actually laden with so many chemicals and man-made food-stuffs that I need a PhD to read the ingredients list. I can't really see how that is "healthy" for us.
• I have a friend who started eating this way about a year ago. Her daughter had a ton of medical problems before they started eating (mostly) raw, and since then most of those medical problems have gone away. Plus, my friend lost some 65 pounds...just by changing the way she eats. The girl doesn't even hit the gym! She looks amazing - and not just because of her weight loss. Her skin looks lovely, her countenance has changed...she's become even more beautiful than when I first met her two and a half years ago!
• I truly recognize and believe that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I want nothing more than to honor and worship my Creator by keeping his temple in tip-top shape. 1 Corinthians 6:19 - "Do you know know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own."
  
• I like a challenge. Eight years ago, I began training for the Honolulu Marathon and in December 2002, I ran it. Those who know me know I'm not the athletic type. This was a HUGE accomplishment for me. I've challenged a dear friend of mine to run a local Half Marathon with me in the fall. I want to run with a strong, lean, well-fueled body.

So that's a partial list of why I've decided to embark on this journey. I've got lots more. I suppose the next question is, "Why blog about it?" So here are some answers to that question:

• Because I can.
• Because I want to.
• Because I love to teach. I'm excited about what lies ahead of me and where this journey will take me. I'm even more excited to share it with you.
• Because this is going to be one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life. I have 34 years of crappy eating habits to re-shift and adjust and that will be no easy task. I'm hoping that be being open and raw about my journey here on the internet will help to keep me accountable to what I'm trying to accomplish.
• Because my friend strongly suggested I should...not that I needed much prodding, mind you. I was strongly considering it myself ;)

I have so much to learn and I'm looking forward to it all! I'm off now to pick up the library books I place on hold. Raw Food for Real People and another Raw Food recipe book. And then off to pick up the dehydrator I found on craigslist.

Let the adventures begin!!!!