Still Kicking

I know I haven't updated in a while.

I will be back soon with what's happening with me.

Work is kicking my butt!

Grumpy

I am grumpy today.

I had my smoothie for breakfast and lunch and feel fine hunger-wise.  But, I just want to ease the grump I am feeling tonight by diving into a bag of candy. I am back to work this week and while the staff is amazing and I love my work environment, it's definitely more stress than sitting at home puttering around and enjoying the lazy days of summer.

That's not to mention the five dozen doughnuts and boxes of popsicles that have been floating around the staff room since the first day.  I'm proud of myself for not giving into the temptation but I am grumpy that I have to deny it to myself because I know I can't handle it.  It's a slippery slope for me and I know if I slip, it's very hard to get back on track.

I know days like this happen and I need to develop mental strategies to help me get through them.

Two weeks

Today is the start of week three.

I am down another 5.6lbs for a two week total of 16.2lbs.  While in reality I know this is a really good result for two weeks, I was hoping for a little more this week.  That's half my problem.  I get amazing results the first week and want to see that kind of number every single week and feel like I could have done more if I don't.

I need to start training my brain to accept a loss as a loss and acknowledge that it's a positive thing.  I won't see 10lb losses every week.  It's just not realistic.  My goal for the next week is another 5lbs loss and to drink at least two litres of water a day in addition to my green smoothies.

Back to work today.  Now the organization will come into play.

Confessional

I did it.  I cheated.

I have been toying with the idea of having one 'cheat' meal every two weeks.  I felt like if  allowed myself something to look forward to, then I could stay committed to the plan because I knew I only needed to get to day 'X' in order to have something that I was craving.

I went to the local grocery store today with two things on my mind - I needed another pineapple and maybe I'd grab a pizza.  I had promised myself that I would only get a cheese pizza so that way I could throw some of my own vegetables on top when I got home. I was there with friends and one asked me if I really wanted to buy that pizza.  I surprised myself when I answered no.  And I meant it.

Once I got home and started cleaning around the house, I was struck with a craving for pasta. This one wasn't the same as me thinking about the pizza.  The pizza I think was more me wondering if I needed to allow myself that treat.  The pasta craving, though?  Completely different.  I can't really describe why it happened and how it was different than wanting the pizza, but I felt like I needed a bowl of pasta NOW.

So, I promised myself that I would have just half a cup of macaroni, a blended tomato for sauce, and some shredded cheese and that would be that.  I stuck to the serving size but I can 100%, without an ounce of hesitation say that it wasn't worth it. It tasted like glue to me. I only ate half of what was in my bowl before I'd convinced myself that if I wasn't enjoying it the way I thought I would, why finish eating it?  Within 5 minutes of eating the pasta, I had really painful pains in my stomach.  I have been eating carrot and celery sticks and fruit in the last two weeks outside of the smoothies, so I know it wasn't just because I hadn't had solid food.  The pain lasted about 10 solid minutes.  I had to get up and find something to do around the house to keep my mind off of it.  They did ease off and I feel okay again now.

Holy cow, is that ever a wake-up call!?  I don't feel any of the satisfaction that I thought I would and I can feel the pasta just sitting like a lump in my stomach.  I don't like this feeling.  I have gotten used to the feeling of lightness after finishing my meals of raw, plant-based food.  I can't believe that I used to do this to myself all the time.  Sometimes more than once a day.

They say it takes 21 days of doing something until it becomes a habit.  I think these green smoothies have gotten into my system a lot more quickly than that. I've been trying to counter the pasta by drinking an extra large (with extra spinach) smoothie.  Lesson learned.

The New Favourite

I made myself a new green smoothie yesterday for dinner and it's easily now my favourite that I've tried so far.

It tasted like Jamaica to me, which is helpful since my upcoming trip to Jamaica is what really motivated me to hop on this green smoothie wagon in the first place.

This will be one that I keep coming back to again and again.  It was so yummy.

Tropical Green
2c spinach
1/4 fresh pineapple, cut into chunks
1 banana
1/2 avocado
1 1/2c of mango chunks

Blend the spinach with about 2 c of water then add the rest of the ingredients and blend on high for about 20 seconds.

On another note, I have found that sticking to the green smoothies has made me more paranoid about my teeth.  While we're eating healthy foods, I'm worried that the amount of citrus or sugar from fruit could cause damage so I'm brushing way more often than I did before starting.

Grocery Day

Ever wonder what the fridge of someone living a raw, vegan diet looks like? No?  Me either until I started the green smoothie challenge.

Our groceries arrived today.  I am disappointed with the bags of spinach.  Only about 60% of them are salvageable.  This is one of the major roadblocks we'll be faced with as we continue on this journey.  It's really difficult to get quality produce here.  If you buy it in town, the price is astronomical.  If you order it from the South, you run the risk of it being ruined in the shipping process.

We'll make do with what we have available and hope for the best.

Last night, a friend came over to visit and I popped some popcorn so that I didn't feel like such an awful hostess.  I know it's not raw but I rationalized it by saying that corn is a vegetable, so it's not as bad.  I ate it without salt, butter, or anything added.  I suppose it's better than the chips, peanuts, chocolate, and cookies I would have put on two weeks ago.

Logistically Speaking

Now that I feel I have the hard part under my belt, I've started thinking about what happens next and how I can best make this new lifestyle fit with my life.

I am a teacher and will be heading back to the classroom in the middle of next week.  That gives me a few days to organize how I'm going to continue with smoothies while I am working.  Right now, I drink about 60oz of green smoothie three times a day.  I make a container full at breakfast and drink it throughout the morning.  I do the same at lunch and again in the evening.  Being back at work will mean some organizing.

As of now, I plan to make my green smoothie in the morning and try to drink half of it before I go to work.  I will put the other half in a sealable jug and put it in the fridge at work and then at recess time, I'll fill my smoothie container and try to get the rest done before I'm back in the classroom.  It'll take some juggling on my behalf because I'm not used to leaving my end of the school for the office during recess.

I have always found in the past that I hit a wall at around 3:30pm or so as well.  I hope to bring back enough green smoothie that I'll have that to use when I have meetings and such at the end of the day.

I also have a week in September when I will be over in Iqaluit working on a committee that I am part of.  I do have a Magic Bullet, so maybe I'll start doing some test runs now in that to see if it would be reasonable to use it for the week while traveling.

What do other people do when their traveling and trying to eat a raw, vegan diet?  How do you get around the expected dinners with colleagues?  Hmmmm......I'll have to think on that one more.