A happy recovery day

Today was a recovery day. Got up at 6:45 a.m. Feel really good and happy and exuberant and light.

9:45 - lots and lots of sunburst tangerines. (didn't count them...just ate 'em until I didn't want anymore).
11:30 - 1 pound grape tomatoes
12:15 - some small apple bananas (8, 9, 10?)
Afternoon - lots of leftover salad from meetings (iceberg, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes. the rest of the sunburst tangerines.

Bed by 6:00 p.m.!

Need a recovery day

Got up this morning and felt a bit stiff. Was torn between taking a recovery day, and burning off the adrenaline (I'm nervous about something that will happen at the end of this week...to be shared later). Chose to burn off the adrenaline by working out.

Morning training:
Walk to gym.
Warm-up - easy 1 mile on treadmill (13 minutes)
1 hour cycling class with Kim. It was the exact same class as Saturday and Sunday, which irked me just a little, but it was good because I wasn't feeling able to push it too hard this morning. Just kept moving. It was good in that it seems to have loosened my legs up a bit.
Walked home.

I will definitely need to get to bed early tonight. I'm dragging and need the rest/sleep.

7:30 a.m. - 6 fuyu persimmons.
11:00 a.m. - 6.5 small-medium bananas
2:00 p.m. - huge bowl of salad that was leftover from a meeting (lettuce, mixed greens, tomato, cuke, carrots) w/tangerine juice on top. 1 small tangerine.
3:30- 16 oz. tomatoes
4:30 - 1.5 oz. pistachio nuts

Definitely felt less draggy in the afternoon. Got the stress off my chest a bit early... I ended up giving my notice at work this week. My last day at my job will be February 16. I think they are pretty upset, but I know I am doing the right thing. I'll be moving out of Chicago at the end of February, then spending March in Costa Rica with Doug and friends, then doing an organic farm internship for the summer. Then, who knows?

Tried to go to bed early but felt really wound up. Ended up getting back up to call friends, do some dishes.

Ate a whole lot in the evening - oranges, tangerines, dried apricots, dates, mac nut butter. Too much of everything. I was bummed out that I didn't reach more people to talk. Should have just gone back to bed.

Ended up going to bed around 10:30.

You said it, Jinjee.

Beauty secret of the day: Enjoying your work! You spend a major chunk of your life working. If your work is fulfilling you’ll be happier and so healthier and more beautiful! If you don't know yet what it is that you love to do, then just love whatever you are doing! If you put your heart and soul into whatever it is you are doing now, that love will lead you to doing and refining the work that is the passion of your soul.

In Joy,
Jinjee

http://www.TheGardenDiet.com

Look at all I did this morning!

Went to bed around 6:20 last night. Got up around 4:30 this morning. Slept pretty well. Hamstrings are sore and tight this morning.

8th day in a row of training in the morning!

Morning training:
Walk to gym.
25 minutes on elliptical trainer. Not pushing it too hard, just warming up.
70 minutes serious upper body strength workout! 3 sets each (some to failure in less than 5 reps, others in less than 8):
-pull-ups (assisted negatives)
-chest dips (assisted)
-chin-ups (assisted negatives)
-push-ups (box position, diamond hand position)
-lat pullovers (w/lat pull-down machine)
-dumbbell shoulder presses
-incline dumbbell flyes
-dumbbell biceps curls, extended by raising arms to shoulder height
-bent-over rows
-flat bench dumbbell flyes
-lateral raises
-posterior delt flyes (on an incline bench)
-hammer curls
-tricep extensions (on a flat bench)
-leg raises on a flat bench (one set only)
-decline bench crunches (one set only)
-3 sets sit ups (2 with twists)

Wow, that was really a lot of work! It didn't feel like I had done much when I left the gym, but when I list it all...wow!

At the gym this morning, somebody told me "I've been watching you, and your weight loss looks good on you." That was really nice to hear, especially since I feel sort of puffy and don't see it myself. In fact, I'm about 8 pounds heavier than I was at the end of October (marathon time). I'm willing to believe that 3 or 4 pounds of that is muscle, since my upper body is definitely bigger and stronger, but the rest... Anyway, even after that compliment, I still didn't see it, and I still feel a bit puffy when I look in the mirror. Anyway, it felt good to know that someone else thinks I look smaller, not bigger. He's wrong, though...

Wasn't that hungry for breakfast.

Breakfast (7:30 a.m.)- 4 medium bananas. 2 hachiya persimmons.
10:00 a.m. - 20 fairchild tangerines
12 noon - 6 valencia oranges (cut up, sucked the juice out), 1 large head green leaf lettuce
3:00 p.m. - 48 oz. tomatoes

Have I mentioned that I feel puffy today?

6:00 p.m. - 2 cups blood orange juice

Evening bellydance class. was a bit grumbly about going, because I wanted to go to bed, but I ended up really enjoying it.

Bed by 8:15.

Today is the seventh day in a row that I've trained in the morning. Hooray for me. =)

Woke up at 4:25 this morning. Didn't sleep well last night...was anxious about things and had trouble falling asleep. So I didn't get out of bed until just before 5 this morning. Didn't feel particularly great, but I knew I'd feel better if I worked out (and that I'd sleep better tonight!) Still a little sore from yesterday.

Morning training:
Walk to gym
Treadmill - 2 miles total. Started really pushing it right from the beginning (6 mph, increased to 7 mph by end of first mile, and up until 7.3 or something). After 13 minutes, took a walk break, followed by another minute or so of running, followed by another walk break, followed by a one-minute sprint (7.7 mph!), followed by walking. 20 minutes total.
45 minute indoor cycling class with Tony. It was a really good class today! lots of sprints/speed work, as well as hill climbs. I was definitely challenged and sweating bullets. I've noticed I feel better and get a better workout in cycling class if I hit the treadmill first - I guess I'm just more warmed up!
After cycling class, I hit the treadmill again and did one mile (took about 11 minutes). This mile was really hard, as my legs were pretty well spent. But I figure this is good practice for when I eventually start doing triathlons or something...
Walked home.

Breakfast around 8:40 a.m. - 17 apple bananas.
11 a.m. - 12 apple bananas
1:00 p.m. - 20 oz. romaine lettuce. 24 oz. grape tomatoes. 15 valencia oranges.

Some photos

That was my breakfast this morning.

That's me and my friend Kay, at a restaurant last night.

A snowy Sunday

Got up about 7:30 this morning. Didn't sleep well, due to having eaten so close to bedtime.

Spent all morning at the gym:

Walked to the gym.
35 minutes hills on elliptical trainer
1 hour cycling class with Kim (same class as yesterday)
1 hour powerflex class with Joyce. This was good muscular endurance training (more endurance-oriented than most of my resistance training).

Walked home.

Breakfast - 21 honey tangerines
Afternoon - apple bananas (maybe 16?), fuyu persimmons (maybe 7?), lots of baby spinach.

Feeling lazy. Should be cleaning my apartment, doing laundry, but it's hard to make myself get up.

6:30 p.m. - 1 orange, 2 tangerines. Wasn't hungry, just "munchy"

"Do you ever get bored...?"

Wanted to share this discussion that occured the other day on the Vegsource board. I found it very valuable and inspiring!


From: Christy
Subject: Dr D, Q re: variety in the diet
Date: January 17, 2007 at 2:18 pm PST

Hey Doug, hope you are all having a fantastic time in CR! Think of you guys every day! :)

Q: I've heard you say several times you eat a lot of variety each year, though each days menu is kept simple. I cant remember the exact number of different foods you said you tend to eat each year, but I think it was over 100? Anyway, I looked at my diet over the last year and added up everything I could think of that I consumed, and came out about 35-40 different fruits and vegetables. For those of us who live in a Northern climate year round, is consuming what is seasonally available here sufficient year after year? I am guessing it is fine, but just thought I'd ask since you consume so much more variety than I do. Is this a case where 'more' is better? :) Should I work towards adding more variety into my yearly diet?
I can hardly wait to get to Costa Rica this year to try some new fruits!



From: Dr. Doug Graham (DrGraham.vegsource.com)
Subject: Re: Dr D, Q re: variety in the diet
Date: January 17, 2007 at 6:51 pm PST
In Reply to: Dr D, Q re: variety in the diet posted by Christy on January 17, 2007 at 2:18 pm:

Christy,
Variety in the diet is not an essential in the way you presented it, or the way you heard what I was saying, no. I was presenting essentially two concepts in one.The first is that there is plenty of variety available in the raw diet.The second is that I do not recommend eating a long-term mono diet of just one food, whatever that food is.

I think if you actually re-assessed your diet, you would likely find that you ate far more variety that that which you mention.For instance, most raw fooders eat at least 6 or 8 different types of grapes, 8 varieties or more of apples, 10 or more different types of citrus, and maybe 6 different types of melons in the course of a year. Heck, that is 32 different fruits right there. Add in 6 or more types of tomatoes and a dozen types of lettuce and you are already up to fifty. Are you really only getting 35-40 different foods in the course of the year? Some years I might taste that many different types of dates, and I hardly ever even eat dates.

Get back to me, I will respond to this one. :)

Meanwhile, if you are eating about 6 or more different foods per year, you are likely covering all your nutritional bases.

A diet that revolved around bananas, citrus, lettuce, celery, tomatoes, and mangoes would probably get you just about everything you need. I haven't done the math, and am not recommending such a diet, but I wouldn't be surprised that it did the job.
Dr D


From: Christy
Subject: A thorough answer and I'm thoroughly convinced
Date: January 18, 2007 at 10:06 am PST
In Reply to: Re: Dr D, Q re: variety in the diet posted by Dr. Doug Graham on January 17, 2007 at 6:51 pm:

Yep, you are right Dr D. I really underestimated the variety I ate this year. I grouped together oranges and melons and grapes, and lettuces, etc instead of listing the varieties consumed within each food.
I know it makes for a lengthy email, but I had to add up the numbers a little more closely, just to see. A guesstimate of what I've consumed in the last year:

Acid Fruits
Tomatoes-7 Varieties
Oranges-3
Mandarins
Tangerine
Lemon/Lime
Grapefruit-2
Kiwi
Pineapple
Strawberry
Blackberry
Raspberry

Sub Acid Fruits
Apple-5
Grape-3
Blueberry
Mango-2
Cherry
Nectarine
Peach-2
Pear
Plum

Sweet Fruits
Bananas-2
Carob
Cherimoya-only once, wish it was more!
Date-4
Fig-2
Raisins-2

Melons
Watermelon-3
Casaba
Honeydew
Crenshaw
Cantaloupe

Nuts/Seeds, and Fats
Almond
Pine Nuts
Sesame Seed
Walnut
Pecan
Pumpkin Seed
Avocado
Young Coconut
Olives

Legumes
Edible Pea Pods
Garden Peas

Vegetables
Sugar Snap Peas
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Cabbage-3
Cauliflower
Corn-2
Cucumber-2
Spinach
Sweet Pepper-3
Zucchini-2

Lettuce/Celery
Butter
Green Leaf
Iceburg
Red Leaf
Romaine
Mixed Leafy Greens-6
Celery

Mild Herbs-6(includes dill, cilantro, basil, arugula, parsley, mint)

Wow!! Wow, wow! :) That made me very hungry. So, I've definitely WAY underestimated the variety I've eaten this year. Oh, writing this list made me miss the summer and long for it again!!!!! So thats 60 items I've eaten this year(that I can even remember, there may be more), and a nice 118 foods when you include the different varieties for each item. Several of these foods I have only eaten once this year, but I suppose that is fine.

I recalled also seeing fruits that were available that I didn't eat, that I could have. I passed them up because the expense at that time seemed too much. But now I am thinking-why didn't I make a least one meal of that fruit-surely it would have been well worth the expense. A mono meal of any of the summer fruits sounds AMAZING right now.

So the variety available is a real perk to eating 811-if you get bored, you actually have no excuse to do so, as there are hundreds and hundreds of new fruits to try!

Of course, what I run into is the cost of ordering tropical fruit, but it is so nice to treat myself to some cherimoya or paw paw here and there when it is available.
There are many that I haven't even tried yet that you have Dr D: Sapodilla, mammea, jakfruit, lychee, jaboticada, durian, fuongtong carambola, mamones (some folks know them as kanips), dragon fruit, niezeburra. I havent even heard of many of these, and have no idea what most of them look like.

I had to make a list of what I have eaten in the last month, approx 25 items:
Butter Lettuce
Mixed Leafy Greens
Zucchini
Tomatoes-2
Spinach
Celery
Corn
Sesame Seeds
Avocado
Oranges-2
Mandarins
Lemon/Lime
Kiwi
Blackberry
Raspberry (frozen)
Apple
Blueberry (frozen)
Mango(frozen)
Bananas
Dates
Carob (powdered)

I have felt limited this last month, and bored even-but this is a lot more than I thought it would be. I suppose it is because I am tired of bananas, as they are an everyday item and the bulk of my calories. What I wouldn't do for a fig! But i am thoroughly convinced I get enough variety in my diet. ;)
Yay for 811! ;)anything you want to add Dr D?


From: Dr. Doug Graham (DrGraham.vegsource.com)
Subject: Compare your diet to SAD
Date: January 19, 2007 at 6:38 am PST

In Reply to: A thorough answer and I'm thoroughly convinced posted by Christy on January 18, 2007 at 10:06 am:

A typical SAD eater has an EXTREMELY limited diet. It is becoming more limited as the years progress.

Breakfast is typically cereal and milk, or some fast food item that they eat almost every morning of the year. Usually, if they enjoy their breakfast, they want it to be reliably THE SAME, every time.Compare that to a breakfast of fresh fruit. Each week of the year, watermelon tastes a bit different. Almost every tomato I have ever eaten tasted different from all others. Fresh squeezed citrus juice is never the same from one day to the next, but citrus juice in a carton is guaranteed to taste the same, always, forever, as if that was a selling point rather than a drawback.

People typically slip into patterns for lunch, and raw eaters are not that much different. The difference for us lies in the fact that Nature and the seasons brings us different fresh fruit every month of the year. Compare that to someone eating a hamburger for lunch daily, or pizza, or some other fast food. Those foods are reliably the same, month after month after year after year. Heck, even if you ate bananas for lunch every day of the year you would notice that the same variety tasted differently at different times of year.

The world of food opens up to raw fooders at dinner time. The varietions available are HUGE. Compared to those on SAD, who have their "Tuesday night is spaghetti night, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are pizza nights, it's beef on Tues and Sat, and Sunday night is always chicken," regimen. I feel sorry for them.

The idea of suggesting that ketchup is a vegetable is absurd. Ketchup always tastes the same. The beauty of raw recipes is that you can almost never make them come out the same because each ingredient tastes a bit different depending upon the time of year, the growing conditions, ripeness, and a wide variety of other factors.
Dr D


From: Christy
Subject: Re: Compare your diet to SAD
Date: January 19, 2007 at 7:55 am PST
In Reply to: Compare your diet to SAD posted by Dr. Doug Graham on January 19, 2007 at 6:38 am:

You're right. I've been seeing peoples SAD diets in a new light lately. Its the excitotoxins that add the flavor and variation for them, not the actual foods for the most part. I think children these days have a horrible diet. Some kids I know for instance, will have cereal with milk for breakfast most days, and some variation of white flour and cheese for lunch and dinner, with chicken or some type of meat. They get an apple or banana here and there, a few pieces of lettuce or veggie here and there too. But they imagine they are eating something different when they have quasadillas one day and grilled cheese the next and mac and cheese the next-its all the same thing basically. Then for dinner its noodles with parmesan. :) Its all just dairy and grains.

I love it that fresh food always tastes different. The most amazing experience is to eat out of a garden. I had the best tomatoes in my life last summer out of our garden-some were indescribably sweet, some smoky. It was so good.
Thanks for sharing Dr D. :)

Christy's list inspired me, so I decided to post my own:


From: Bethany
Subject: Cool! My turn!
Date: January 18, 2007 at 10:22 am PST

In Reply to: A thorough answer and I'm thoroughly convinced posted by Christy on January 18, 2007 at 10:06 am:

Cool, Christy! This is fun! Here's what I've eaten in the last month (not counting a couple times eating "gourmet" raw at potlucks or restaurants):

Bananas (cavendish, apple, and red)
Oranges (navel, cara cara, valencia, moro)
Dates (medjool)
Tangerines (fairchild)
mandarins (satsuma)
tangelos (orlando and minneola)
Lettuce (romaine, red leaf, green leaf)
Mixed baby greens
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Celery
Tomatoes (beefsteak, grape, cherry, campari)
Avocado (haas)
Persimmon (fuyu and hachiya)
Cucumber
Bell Pepper (red and orange)
Papaya (gosa? or maridol?)
Baby bok choy
Bok choy
Carrots
Purple Cabbage
Pumpkinseeds
Macadamia nuts
Tahini
Kiwi
Red grapefruit
Blackberries
Mango
Strawberries
Pineapple
Honeydew
Cantaloupe
Basil
Grapes
Dried figs

Look at that! Who would get bored with all of that variety? So cool that even in the winter time, over the course of a month, we can really mix it up if we want.

If you made it to the end of this very long post, hopefully you are looking at your diet in a new light (no matter what your diet is! ) =)

Human beings miss the point

http://www.newstarget.com/021448.html

The above links to an article on how scientists are attempting to genetically modify animals to become more complacent to their surroundings, thereby reducing the pain and stress of factory farming.

Does anyone else find this appalling? I mean, on one level, I suppose this can be called a good thing, since it means that people aren't blind to the fact that factory farming causes animals considerable pain and stress. But...investigating this action as a solution shows the short-sightedness of looking at the issue from only one perspective (animal welfare). I mean, come on! Should we waste money, time, energy, resources, etc. just to get around the ethical concerns of eating whatever the hell people want to eat? If it takes this much effort/time/money/resources, why not consider that we weren't meant to eat it in the first place? Please tell me that there aren't better things to spend our money on...like energy efficiency and other climate change/environmental issues, education, or maybe even subsidizing fruits and veggies at least as much as we subsidize animal products and grains, so people can actually afford to be healthy and not run up such big health care bills???? I dunno, I just can't imagine that this is what God had in mind for how humans should treat their fellow creatures, the planet, and their own bodies. But, what do I know? I'm just a bad Jew who doesn't even go to synagogue on high holidays, so how the f*ck would I know what God wants? Bring on the animal zombie meat! (That's sarcasm.)

I am SO blissed out.

That's right. a week and a half ago, I just couldn't seem to get a grip. Now, everything is happy and good. Or rather, I made it that way by taking care of myself. When you love your body, it loves you back.

Last night I went to bed around 6:40ish (again!). Got up this morning at 6:20, so almost a full 12 hours of sleep!

This morning, even though it is a beautiful sunny day, it was too cold to even think about enjoying exercising outdoors.

Morning training:
Walk to gym
35 minutes treadmill hill course (!). The incline intervals were definitely challenging. Covered about 3.3 miles. Tough.
1 hour indoor cycling class w/Kim. There were a lot of sprints, and a lot of standing...I don't know whether it was being fully rested or what, but even after kicking my butt on treadmill hills, I was INCREDIBLY high energy in that class. Everything felt so easy (even the sprinting, which isn't my strong suit) - at one point, the instructor told us to take it down four full turns and I was like, "THAT was supposed to be hard???" So I didn't take it down at all, hahaha! I just kept going with the workout at that resistance level, and I didn't really feel like it was too hard until the very end (and even then, it was still doable. I even thought about getting back on the treadmill after class. Then, I came to my senses).

Then I walked to the produce shop, and it was bright and sunny, and I actually got to SEE the sun, instead of being cooped up in the office, since its Saturday.

Breakfast (around 10:50 a.m.) - 16 apple bananas (some were pretty small, some were almost as big as a small cavendish) and 1 hachiya persimmon.

Lunch (around 1:00 p.m.) - 10 fuyu persimmons

Dinner (around 4:30 ish, at a raw restaurant with friends) - salad made w/mixed greens, chopped apples, walnuts, and avocado. Then ate about 15 honey tangerines that I had brought with me.

Later at home - 2 pints grape tomatoes, 1 avocado, a lot of spinach, six more tangerines.

I'm really happy that I didn't have salt or spices at the restaurant. Today was a higher fat day, and I craved fruit afterwards, but I won't feel nearly as badly tomorrow as I would have if I ate the more complex food at the restaurant.

"Miles first, smiles later!"

Very well rested this morning!

Morning training:

Walked to gym.
Treadmill: 2 mile run (first mile started at 5.5 mph and worked up to 6.4 mph. Second mile started at 6.5 mph and worked up to 7.0 mph). Very sweaty and challenging, lung-wise, towards, the end.
Indoor cycling class w/Tony. Very good class today! Good mix of climbing/sprinting. Some cardio, some strength climbs. Definitely sweated bullets this morning!
A few sets of core work - hanging abs (2 sets), roman chair (2 sets, holding a 10 lb. weight), sit ups on bench (2 sets), sit-up with twists.
Walked home.

Wow! I should do this more often - go to sleep EARLY and wake up and kick ass in the gym! I felt absolutely awesome walking from the bus to my office. Harley once said to me "miles first, smiles later." I see what he means =P.

Bouncing off the walls at work - in a great mood!

Breakfast (around 9 a.m.)- 7 large bananas. 5 hachiya persimmons.
Dinner (around 3p.m.) - 12 small honey tangerines. 3 large sunburst tangerines. 2 BIG bowls salad (filled 2 huge bowls with mixed lettuces, 24 oz. grape tomatoes, juice of two sunburst tangerines).

Up early (not "bright" though...won't be light out for a while!)

Last night I went straight to bed after I got home from work/shopping for more tangerines (hooray for me!), so that mid-afternoon meal of spinach and tangerines was the last meal of the day. Bedtime was about 6:30 p.m.

Got up this morning at about 4:15 a.m. - just ready to get up, I guess. =) Early bedtimes are good. Perhaps I need to stop wasting time in the evening and doing this more often.

I can't afford NOT to train hard...

...because when I train hard, I actually enjoy eating bananas very much!

When I don't train hard, and don't work up an appetite, bananas don't appeal to me at all, and I choose more expensive fruits over bananas.

Given that money will be a bit tight soon...being satisfied with bananas will save me a lot of money on food, so training hard will help save me some money =P.

Not sunny anymore

My alarm went off this morning at 5 a.m. I wasn't ready to get up, so I reset it for 5:45. Wasn't quite ready to get up then, but I did anyway.

Morning training:

Walked to gym.
Treadmill run - 32 minutes:
First 5 minutes - between 5 and 6 mph
Then increased the speed to 6.5 minutes. Meant to only do one mile at this pace, then walk, then repeat, but decided to keep going. After 1/2 mile, increased the speed to 6.6 mph. Kept increasing the speed for 2 miles. On the third mile, I increased the speed every .2 miles (got up to 7.2 mph by the end). My heart/lungs were really pushing it for the last 1/2 mile. Legs felt fine. I was happy that I was able to sustain that run for that long, though, without walking in between.

Walked a few minutes to cool down, then walked home. Stretched a bit at home.

A training revelation in terms of my building speed/endurance: As a slow marathoner, my legs can certainly handle it...it's my heart/lungs that need to get used to sustaining a higher intensity level. My marathon pace wasn't pushing it at all in terms of heart/lungs.

Breakfast at work - 7 medium-large bananas. wasn't that hungry for it, but by the third banana, I was like "wow, bananas are SOOO good." (Kinda like Doug says that exercise can dull your apetite, which often then returns once you start eating).

Lunch - 6 medium bananas. I'm amazed by how if I push myself cardio-wise, I just LOVE bananas =P. 1 plate salad leftover from a meeting (mixed greens, with a bit of shredded carrots and purple cabbage).

Mid-afternoon - more leftover salad from a meeting (this one was mixed lettuce, tomato). LOTS of baby spinach. Honey tangerines (10-15? Most were really small, like clementines or smaller). Holy sh*t, were they amazing! I'll have to go buy some more!!!!

It's still sunny!

Woke up at 5:00 a.m. to go to cycling class, and actually felt rested!

Jogged to the gym (it was so cold!)
Did some pull-up practice, and pushups, and incline chest flyes, and shoulder presses, and dumbell curls.
Indoor cycling class - focused more on climbing than sprinting today.
Walked home.

Didn't have much of an appetite for breakfast.

Breakfast - 1 papaya
Mid morning - satsuma mandarins and medjool dates
Early afternoon - bananas, fuyu persimmons, and 2 huge plates of lettuce (romaine and salad greens, leftover from a meeting).
Dinner - 16 oz. blood orange juice. 32 oz. valencia orange juice. a few (six?) medium tomatoes. 1 avocado.

Went to bed at 9:30. Should have just let the phone go into voicemail...I was tired. Ah well.

FINALLY! It's sunny in Chicago!

Went to bed last night just after 9 p.m. Got up this morning just before the alarm went of at 6:45 a.m. Hit the building stairwell for a short morning workout:

Stair workout -
Started at the top, walked down 8 flights.
Walked back up, taking the stairs two at a time.
Down.
Jumped up all 8 flights (one step at a time)
Down.
Walked up, 2 at a time.
Down.
Jumped up, one at a time.
Took about 20 minutes, total.
Stretched.

Breakfast - 2 maridol papayas (they were on the smaller side for maridols, but still pretty big, since that's the nature of the beast). Delicious!
Lunch - fruit kabobs at a lunch meeting (melon, pineapple, strawberries, grapes), followed by 6 fuyu persimmons (those ones that are imported from Israel...)
Mid-afternoon - 1 head greenleaf lettuce
Before leaving work - 2 small mandarins

Went to a bellydance class

Dinner - 2 papayas, 1 persimmon

Went to bed by 9 p.m.

A strategy note: sometimes logic works wonders (i.e., reasoning with myself). For example, last night I told myself that even if I don't feel like going to the gym for a class after work, it was definitely a better use of my time than staying home, since all I'd be doing at home was surfing the internet, eating too much, and stressing out over everything. Sometimes when I don't really feel like pushing hard, I tell myself that it's only for a few minutes, and after that, I can sit down and be lazy the rest of the day. So, talking to myself sometimes works when I'm not feeling up to things.

Duh...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6248975.stm

From gasping for air to treading water

Last week was a rough, stressful week. Sad to say I didn't get enough sleep or do much training, which didn't help. I also ate a lot during the week in an attempt to cope. Didn't help - fruits and veggies don't exactly numb you out like rich, heavy comfort foods do.

Had a chance to catch my breath over the weekend. Did some bodyweight exercises on Saturday, but not a ton. Also did some bodyweight exercises in my apartment this morning, but not a whole lot there either. Also ate on a more regular meal schedule, which helped a lot.

Harley's post (see below - my family thinks I'm crazy) couldn't have come at a more timely moment for me. =)

Breakfast today - sucked the juice out of lots of tangelos, valencia oranges.
Lunch - minneolas and mandarins (raw vegan m&m's , ha!), medjool dates, and celery
Midafternoon - more dates and celery, 1 head green leaf lettuce

After work training- 10 minutes treadmill. some pull-up practice on the assistance machine, interspersed with dips and push-ups. Kwando class (cardio kickboxing?) at the gym.

Dinner - 1 quart fresh OJ. 3 large tomatoes. 2 bell peppers. 1/2 stalk broccoli. 1 avocado.

Feel much better after that intense workout! Hope to sleep well tonight...

Timely Advice

Some more timely advice. This is from Jinjee Talifero's Daily Raw Inspiration. I know I can definitely use this right now:

If you are feeling low then just allot the next hour to exercise, the most exerting exercise you can do, even if that just means jogging or walking in place, in one spot, for an hour. You will feel better afterwards, guaranteed!

To Your Wellbeing,
Jinjee

A very timely post from Harley, titled "Oh my family things I'm crazy"

"a lot of people choose to fall victim to sincere but sincerely wrong peers whom think eating organic plant foods in their natural state is insane.

we live in a society where its considered cruel to stab one animal. but if you stab, drug, cage, bash, rape..millions of animals you are considered a fierce businesman. such is the maddness! lol!

your not alone if your friends family, kids etc are giving you a hard time.
when the couch potatoes, 400$ silk tie wearing pharmacutical puppets or drug addict athletes want to start a debate with me...i challenge these people in a friendly way to cycle accross australia with me and without drug assistance..or i just say 'lets go run a marathon tonight, just for kicks..' i dont get any takers, and cos im known for my endurance efforts people know im serious. this always drives my point home that animal products are uneccessary and infact very damaging to us , the animals and the planet.

i used to get outraged by remarks. now i just get amused and inspired. inspired to be so freaken healthy, happy and fit that my living example is absolutely undeniable. then its up to the individual to take responsibility in their own lifestyle choices.

here is a statement i read somewhere in thailand on durian safari last year...
"the majority of people permit relatives, friends and the public at large to so influence them that they cannot live their own lives because they fear criticism. huge numbers of people make mistakes in marriage, stand by the bargain and go through life miserable and unhappy, because they fear the critiscism which may follow if they correct the mistake. this lifestyle is a great way to disolve one's ambition and desire to acheive..."

my take of that is follow your own path. doing all day what you truly want to do, lets you be your true self.
do what you love, love what you do.
i find it increasingly impossible to do anything i dont want to do. no matter what the repurcussions.

mother nature never broke the heart that loved her.i live for her system rather than this freakshow option that surrounds us sometimes when we are focusing on less than the best.

all the family members that make fun of my lack of annual income,or lack of material wealth, i just send em photos of me from around the world on beaches with tropical fruit or bike shots on highways with amazing sunsets... always with a massive smile on my dial! lol!

fun is always the best revenge! "

Having a rough week

It's a rough week. Almost no training.
Foodwise, I've been doing no overt fats, to give my system a rest. Still eating too much...but nothing else that will slow things down.

Going through the motions...

I miss the sunshine. Yesterday it hit me all of a sudden that I'm feeling a bit down because I miss the sun (I mean, I knew I had been feeling a bit down...but the reason hit me). The prospect of going a couple more months before seeing a lot of daylight depressed me.

But, going to bed early last night did seem to help some. I woke up today at 5:45. Didn't feel quite ready to jump into intense training, but went to the gym anyway. Did 31 minutes on the treadmill, really pushing the pace towards the end. I'm glad I did it. I still feel a little slow/not exactly euphoric today...but at least I can go through the motions until I feel like myself again. I like what Bernadine says: "Keep going, keep going, until something inside you says 'keep going.'"

Breakfast - 8 or 9 valencia oranges, cut into sixths, sucked the juice out.
Mid-morning - 5 more oranges, just like breakfast
Lunch - 8 small bananas, sliced, mixed with date sauce (10 medjool dates, blended with water). a lot of baby bok choy.
Late afternoon - 1 bunch celery. A lot of minneolas (I love these!), eaten just like the breakfast oranges

Weekend report

It was a lazy, munchy weekend.

Was sleep deprived, lazy, and munched a lot! Mostly fruits, veggies, avocado.

Glad to be getting back into a routine today.

Woke up at 6:30. Went downtown early, and walked to work for a half hour (still feeling a bit tired/not 100% up to training hard). Hopefully that will come as I get my food back in order.

Breakfast - some red bananas
Lunch - more red bananas (which I've decided I don't like...), some oranges, some dates, some salad
Dinner - dates, oranges, red leaf lettuce, broccoli

Went to bed early.

Back to happy!

By the time I was walking to work, I realized that I'm back to my ever-increasingly-happy self! Exuberance abounds! Happy Friday!

Went to bed last last night (just before 11 p.m.).

Woke up around 6:00 a.m., didn't feel like intense training (still digesting bell peppers, nut butter...they tend to slow everything down).

I started by playing some music and practicing some bellydance moves from class last night. I interspersed the dancing with one set each sit-ups, twist-sit-ups, pushups, and lunges. Didn't do this for very long...maybe 20 minutes or so?

Got off the bus early and walked to work (35 minutes). Felt full of joy and exuberance. =) Really happy, even though it was gray outside.

Lunch - big bowl orange salad (cara cara, navel, blood, valencia). hachiya persimmons
Dinner - big papaya. hachiya persimmons. followed later by lots of salad - green leaf lettuce (3 heads!) with some pumpkin seed/orange/tahini dressing. 1 spoonful mac nut butter.

Resolutions in Action!

Today I put my new years goal of exercising before the first meal of the day into action! I went to bed last night at 9 pm. Should have gone to bed earlier, as I really wasn't doing anything important. Woke up this morning tired, went back to bed until 6:00 a.m., then got up. Did yoga from 6:30 - 7:25 a.m. - sort of an abbreviated ashtanga half-primary series (skipped some of the jump through/vinyasas). Felt very nice.

Breakfast - 5 cara cara oranges. it was my first time trying these. Wow, are they good!

Walked to grocery store before lunch (about 25 minutes), and back (about 25 minutes, with about 30 pounds groceries - organic valencia oranges are on sale!)

Lunch - 12 small bananas, blended into a smoothie. 5 medjool dates.

Felt sleepy in the afternoon.

Tried a bellydance class this evening. This was hard, coordination-wise. I'm not used to moving this way!

Dinner - lots of valencia oranges. 3 large tomatoes.

Later - 5 bell peppers. a few bites celery. 1 spoonful tahini, 2 spoonfuls mac nut butter

Last night I went to bed at 8:20 p.m. Woke up today (with alarm) at 5:00 a.m.

Morning training:
Walk to gym.
Before cycling class: balance practice with stability ball, interspersed with some core work (plank using stability ball - tough!, sit-ups, bicycle abs) and lateral raises with dumbells.
Cycling class - tough today!!!
Walked home.
Strerched.

Breakfast - a citrus salad! Very good, and pretty! See recipe below.
Lunch - 10 kinda smallish bananas.
After lunch - walked to grocery store (about a 1.25 miles) and walked back, with groceries
Lunch II (guess I needed to eat more for lunch!) - made another citrus salad, just like the one at breakfast.
Walked to run some errands before dinner (about 1.5-2 miles total, some carrying groceries).
Dinner - 1 large maridol papaya. veggies (some blended, some not): 4 large tomatoes. 1 head romaine lettuce. 2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 orange). 1 oz. tahini.

I'm happy with my new years goals. Everything works better when I sleep well, train before breakfast, etc. So I'm pleased to be working on the goal of exercising every day (even if I need a recovery day and I"m only up to "maintaining", not "training"). If I'm only up to light activity, I can walk, or dance, or do some gentle yoga...but I'll feel so much better than if I had done NOTHING. When I work out first thing in the morning, other aspects of my health program seem to just fall into place: my eating habits are better (less emotional eating, more "meals" and less snacking, more fruit), and I fall asleep more easily at night. When I sleep more easily at night, it's easier to get up in the morning and train! When I eat more fruit and less fat, it's easier to train more intensely, which makes it easier to sleep and eat well....etc etc and round and round and round in a healthful cycle! So cool. So, I'm happy with my new years goals...I feel like it will be easy, pleasant, and rewarding to work towards these, and not a chore at all, but a reward.

Plus, when I exercise intensely in the morning, I enjoy my food infinitely more than when I don't =).

Beautiful Citrus Salad!

Wanted to share with you what I ate for a very festive breakfast today - a citrus salad:

4 satsuma mandarins
3 blood oranges, sectioned and chopped
2 navel oranges, sectioned and chopped

Mix all in big blue bowl! Beautiful!

Here we go...

Here we go...jumping right into the new year.
Woke up at around 2 a.m. and could not fall back asleep. Felt kind of sick from what I ate over the weekend...
Finally got up around 5 p.m.

Here's the goal: lose 10 pounds before Costa Rica!

Morning training - start with a bang. =);
Walk to gym
Ran on treadmill for ariound 30 minutes. I had meant to do a 90 minute continuous run, but I got a stitch in my side. So I stopped then, walked for 5 minutes, and hit my favorite machine, the assited pull-up/dip machine. Did supersets of pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, push-ups (3 or 4 of these), and planks. Then did a few sit ups. I'm getting better at these - last week I could only do 4 full sit-ups in a set. This week I got to 8 or 9 in the first set!!!! Did a few of these, then went back to the treadmill to try again. This time I did speed intervals - slow jogging interspersed with speed intervals (7 mph) for one minute (or a little more) each - about 4 "sprints" total. Then I got a stitch in my side again, so I stopped, walked a bit to cool down, did one more set of sit-ups, and walked home. Stretched at home.

A good long workout!

Breakfast - some apple bananas (around 6?)
Before lunch, walked to millenium park and enjoyed some sunshine! Finally!
Lunch - really ripe fuyu persimmons
Mid afternoon - some citrus fruit salad at an office party (grapefruit, orange, kiwi) - 2 small bowls
Dinner - mangoes, followed by soup made from blended tomatoes, yellow pepper, and romaine lettuce. Mmmm!

I've been feeling sort of bummed out. It's been an emotional holiday time this weekend, and I definitely engaged in some emotional overeating of things I wouldn't usually eat. I'm finally starting to feel like a normal person again, physically. Hopefully the emotional aspect will follow suit shortly.

New Years Goals

Ah, the first of the year! What better time to take stock and figure out things that will take you to the next level and overcome challenges. Here are my thoughts.

-Love myself MORE.
-Continue to cultivate relationships with others.
-Exercise before the first meal of the day. Even if not feeling up to intense training, some walking or dancing or yoga will do. I want to get in the habit of being active every day. =)
-If it's daylight, I eat fruit
-Begin dinner meal with fruit
-Don't buy tomatoes during the day.
-In bed by 9 p.m., unless I truly (!) have something better to do.
-TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN! =)

I started today - 20 minutes dancing before breakfast.
Had a crappy day in general.

Went for a 2 hour walk in the evening.

Thought for the New Year

How much should I (we) love myself (ourselves)?

MORE.

Happy New Year.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday log

No morning training on Friday. I found out on Thursday that my friend had to have her gall bladder removed on Friday, and I was a little preoccupied about that, among other things, so I did not sleep well at all.

Friday food -
Breakfast - persimmons
lunch -oranges, persimmons
dinner - lettuce, persimmons

Saturday food
Breakfast - 8 lbs. valencia oranges
Lunch - apple bananas (after a run with Scott - 50 some minutes and some pull-up demos)
Dinner at Chicago Diner. Salty =P.

Study on hand-holding/human touch

Check out this article on women and hand-holding:
http://health.msn.com/womenshealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100150881&GT1=8816

Sadly, no morning training today. I stayed up late last night talking to friends, so I felt more like "rolling over" than "rolling out" this morning.

Breakfast - 1 bunch bananas, blended
Lunch - 1 bunch bananas, blended, seven or so fuyu persimmons
Dinner - persimmons, celery, mango, raisins, oranges

Tee hee hee...

Someone stole $50,000 worth of broccoli: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16383005/

Wednesday's Log

After overdoing it last night, I slept in this morning. Was pretty stiff and sore (both legs and arms!).

In the afternoon, ate some navel oranges
In the evening, ate some fuyu persimmons

Navel Orange Smoothie

Peel 4 navel oranges. Blend them. Delicious!

Back to work...

Went to bed early last night, but had trouble falling asleep...feeling some uncomfortable emotions. Nonetheless, I felt rested when I got up at 6:17 a.m.

Morning training - Strength work at the gym - all exercises no more than 5 reps to failure. By the end, some of them were only 2 or 3 reps to failure!

Alternated 2 sets assisted pull-ups (assistance set so that I could only do negatives, not full pull-ups) with 2 sets assisted dips, then 2 sets assisted chin-ups (negatives) with 2 sets assisted dips.

Then giant sets with a set of 15 pound weights - alternated flat bench flys with shoulder presses with biceps curls. 4 times.

Then some sit-ups on the sit up bench. First set 7 reps. Subsequent sets much fewer. Did 3 sets total.

Breakfast - 4 navel oranges (about 30 oz.), blended into a smoothie
Midmorning at work - 8 ripe fuyu persimmons
Lunch - 8 ripe fuyu persimmons
Afternoon - 10 oz. blackberries
Dinner - 5 large tomatoes, 3 heads baby bok choy, 1 avocado
After dinner, craved sweets. Ate some mandarins.

Gotta listen to my body and eat fruit BEFORE dinner.

Also, late at night I ate more navel oranges, LOTS of brazil nuts (in the shell, but still ate about 3/4 pound worth - the krakanut makes it too easy!), and 3 oz. sundried tomatoes. I was not hungry for these things at all, but I ate them to "deal with" uncomfortable emotions that had been weighing on me all day. I'm a bit annoyed with myself, because I know from experience that this may screw up my digestion/elimination for days.

Went to bed really late (after midnight)...

Dave Klein on Raw Vegan Radio

Dave Klein talks about healing from ulcerative colitis: www.rawveganradio.com.

My own personal half marathon

Today I celebrated my day off from work by running 15 miles on the lakefront (including the warm-up/cooldown, it was probably about 16 miles total).

Lap 1 (probably about a mile, jogging to starting point to warm up) - 12.39.57
Mile 1 - 11.47.78
Mile 2 - 11.36.73
Mile 3 - 11.19.98
Mile 4 - 11.27.08
Mile 5 - 11.36.64
Mile 6 - 11.24.18
Mile 7 - 11.46.80
Mile 8 - 11.32.71
Mile 9 - 11.59.59
Mile 10 - 11.43.56
Mile 11 - 11.44.68
Mile 12 - 11.46.16
Mile 13 - 13.16.57
Mile 14 - 12.32.80
Then walked/jogged home (probably about a mile). It was a real struggle getting home, since my legs were too sore to run anymore, but I was too cold to walk!

Before running, ate 2 ripe fuyu persimmons
During run, had some date sports drink, and a few dates during the last couple of miles.
After run, ate a bunch of ripe persimmons
A couple of hours later, ate lots of banana-date smoothie.
Dinner - some mangoes (5? maybe 6, but I think 5)

One of my motivations for going for a long run was to work up the appetite to make a dent in some of that ripe, sweet fruit I have in my kitchen. It worked. =)

I behaved like a couch potato for the rest of the day. =P

What a Beautiful Morning!

What a great morning! Slept in a bit (until 8 a.m.!)...probably because I went to bed close to 11:00 a.m. last night. I stayed up watching the rest of the Organic Athlete conference DVD.

No training this morning (and my legs were still stiff when I got up), but I did a lot of walking/moving things. To enjoy some of the sunshine, I walked to the co-op and bought more of those persimmons that were on sale for 2 for $1.00 (too bad Dan G. is out of town...Dan, if you're reading this, we should arrange to have a persimmon dinner when you get back!). Also bought some mangoes. Then walked to Hyde Park Produce for lettuce. Carried everything home! =)

Took a car today to donate some old clothing to the ARK thrift store. Also bought running shoes, and stopped at Stanley's, where they were selling 4-pound bags of organic valencia oranges for 98 cents! Bought 10 of them!

While driving home from my errands, I just felt so happy and exuberant! A sunny day, great music, and breakfast/lunch awaiting me when I got home.

1st meal (around 1:15 p.m.) - 1 bag valencia oranges (13 oranges, cut into wedges and sucked the juice out of them). 7 perfectly ripe fuyu persimmons.

Later in the afternoon - more persimmons, 2 bunches baby bok choy, 2 large tomatoes

Dinner - 2 heads green leaf lettuce, 2 small orange bell peppers, dressing made from 1 navel orange, 2 tbsp. tahini. Then had some cauliflower (1 head), blended with 2 stalks celery, a bit of basil, and 2-3 tbsp cashew butter. Later, 1 satsuma mandarin orange.

I like the taste of that cauliflower mush....but it doesn't satiate me like fruit does! I'll try eating more fruit at the beginning of the meal.

Look what's in my kitchen! I may need a little help eating some of this...

The United Nations Says..

Livestock is more damaging to the environment that CO2 emissions from our cars:

http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/global_warm_c02.htm.

Got a lot done today

No training, but got a lot done...filing and laundry. Very good. It was a cloudy, dreary day. Didn't train. My calves are very sore from yesterday's training - it hurts to stand on my tip-toes.

Food-

Late morning - persimmons (8) and bananas (6)
Late afternoon - lots of tomatoes (2 pints cherry tomatoes, 1 large tomato), 6 persimmons
Dinner - big salad - 2 heads green leaf lettuce, 1 large tomato, 2 oranges, 2.5 oz. tahini
Later - 2 large tomatoes

I'm ready to train again...frustrating that calves are sore. Frustrated that I'm still not fit enough to train like a serious athlete...but I'm getting closer. It just seems like a long way away.

As I cleaned today, I've been watching the Organic Athlete 2005 Conference DVD. So very, very inspiring...and shows me that I have such a long way to go!

Ruth Heidrich is amazing...and what is really encouraging to me is that she didn't start running until age 33, and she does Ironmans! Gives me hope. =)

I want to be able to train intensely every day! Then I'll probably lose the rest of this weight...right now, I can eat like an athlete, but I can't train that hard yet.

Fitness is free!

Went to bed around 8 p.m. last night. Woke up at 5:45 this morning. It was raining, and I didn't feel like going out to the gym, so...

Morning training:
Warmed up by dancing around to music for 25 minutes. Then hit the hallway for some training! Did lots of sideways shuffles down the hall, interspersed with stair jumping (started with 1 flight at a time, worked up to 3) for about 12 minutes. Took a water break, and then did it again for about 15 minutes, this time including skips down the hall and jumping 3 flights at a time. It really got my heart rate up, and my legs felt like jello from the jumping.
Did some stretching to cool down.

Gym-free fitness!

Breakfast - lots of persimmons (fuyu and hachiya!)
Lunch - 6 red bananas. most of a bunch of celery. 1 bag red grapes. some leftover melon from a meeting.
Dinner - persimmons (fuyu and hachiya) and lots of tomatoes (5 pints grape tomatoes). A bit later, had 2 or 3 navel oranges, and a salad (one pint grape tomatoes, 1 head of green leaf lettuce, dressing made from 1 navel oranges and 2-3 tbsp tahini. That's one of my favorite salads in the world!!!) So delicious!!!

Almost Friday

Went to bed a bit later than usual last night (10 p.m.! Wow!), and woke up today just after 7 a.m., so no morning training. Probably needed the extra sleep because I ate so much yesterday. The dried food doesn't really agree with me. The extra before-bed snack probably didn't help. =P

Breakfast smoothie - 3 mangoes, 4 navel oranges, 1 fuji apple
Sort of grazed throughout the work day - 1 bunch celery (I'm eating that stuff like it's going out of style!), 3 plates salad and some melon at a meeting, some medjool dates, some frozen apple bananas. As soon as I had the bananas, I felt better...

No dinner at home...felt like I had eaten enough and wanted to give my system a rest. I went out and bought lots of bananas.

Strategy note: must buy bananas twice a week, at least! Must keep bananas on hand! I think that's why I ate too much yesterday...not enough sweet fruit. The grapes aren't very sweet this time of year.

The good news...

...is that tomorrow is the shortest day of the year! Pretty soon, the days will be getting longer. Maybe I'll get to see the sunshine soon!

I still wasn't caught up on sleep yesterday, so I went to bed very early last night (before 7 p.m.). Probably fell asleep around 7:30. Got up around 4:45 this morning.

Before morning training: 2 medjool dates.

Morning training: indoor cycling class at the gym. We did some sprints today.

Breakfast - An excellent sunshine smoothie: tangerine juice, mango, navel orange. Yum!!!!!!!! =)
Later in the morning - big bag grapes, some medjool dates

I'm noticing that I feel good physically, but mentally, I'm not feeling very patient with people today.

Afternoon - lots of dried figs, sundried tomatoes, celery....was feeling really cranky!
Evening - soup made from dried tomatoes, fresh tomato, navel orange, bell pepper, boston lettuce, a small bit of fresh basil, and a bit of cashew butter (about 3 tablespoons).
Later in the evening - 1 pineapple, 1 pound grape tomatoes.

The dried food really bothered my teeth. Always better to stick to fresh...

Building today

Went to bed by 7 p.m. last night. Woke up at 3:15 this morning...still a bit tired, but couldn't get back to sleep. Got up just before 4 a.m., caught up on a bit of e-mail, did some dishes, and then off for morning training.

Walk to gym/warm-up on cardio machines.
Strength building (several sets of 2-5 reps each, to failure):
assisted pull-ups/negatives
assisted chin-ups/negatives
walking lunges
assisted dips
deadlifts
pushups
sit-ups
biceps curls
triceps extensions
lateral raises
rear delt raises
oblique roman chair extensions

Whew!

Breakfast - 3 large cavendish bananas, 6 small apple bananas, 4 or 5 medjool dates, blended into a smoothie.

There was a yoga class this morning at work, so I participated. It was REALLLLYYY gentle...just stretching, no exertion involved. But nice.

Lunch - lots of apple bananas
Dinner - 1 bag red seedless grapes. 1 plate leftover salad from a meeting at work. 1 pound grape tomatoes.

Smart Kids Go Veg...

Kids With High IQs Grow Up to Be Vegetarians
The smarter they are, the more likely they'll shun meat as adults, British researchers contend
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter

http://health.msn.com/pregnancykids/kidshealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100150383&wa=wsignin1.0

Busy weekend...

It was a busy weekend, without much training:

Friday - Run (including one sub-9 minute mile, but I was too tired to crank out another one. The rest was just running and walkng). Some pull-up practice at the playground. I can pull myself up an inch or two or three! Before, I couldn't pull myself up at all!

Sunday - a bit of "casual" ashtanga yoga...

Monday - Needed sleep....got some sleep...

Back to training on Tuesday...

Ate tons and tons of veggies this weekend, it seems...
Still had no desire for overt fats...

The rest of yesterday...

Yesterday I ate some bananas around 12:00 noon...not so much out of hunger, but to abate the detox symtoms while at work. Had some more bananas. Also ate 1 bunch celery, 1 pound grape tomatoes.

For dinner, had 1 bag grapes, 2 pounds grape tomatoes, and a few dates.

Downtime needed?

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like vomiting. I didn't, and the wave of nausea passed, and I went back to bed.

This morning my stomach feels a little funny, so I didn't train or eat. Just drinking water. I figure I'll wait until I feel better to eat.

Still exuberant...

Wow, the week just keeps getting better and better!

Slept until just before 7 a.m. this morning, so no morning training.

Breakfast - large maridol papaya
Lunch - 22 small fresh figs
Mid afternoon - apple bananas
Dinner - romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, persimmons

Got some sunshine this afternoon! Went to a sunny park bench and read at lunchtime. Lovely!

Probably should have skipped dinner... I was really sleepy, and not hungry, and would have fallen asleep more easily on an empty stomach.

Exuberance!

I've been following this program for 5 and a half months now - and I've noticed that more and more of the time, I feel what can only be described as exuberant! Yes, exuberant, just like a healthy child. =)

Funny that children are exuberant, but exuberance is not normally associated with adults! I guess most adults don't get enough sleep, sunshine, biologically appropriate food, physical activity, etc, etc, etc to feel anything close to exuberant.

I feel so lucky to be able to feel exuberant. =)

Germs - from Bob Farrell

Germs, per se, in and of and by themselves, don't "cause" dis-ease - they just take advantage of environments they find to their likings.
Just as flies don't cause garbage, germs don't cause colds. A cold is nothing more than the body moving some "substances" out of the body.

Life is sweet!

Morning training -
Walked the stairs a couple times, since I forgot things on the way to the gym. Walked/jogged to gym.
Strength training: assisted pull-ups, assisted chin-ups, assisted dips, walking lunges, donkey calf raises, step-ups, dead lifts, biceps curls, lateral raises, rear delt flies on bench, alphabet abs (didn't get very far!), roll-out on ball, crunches, roman chair extensions, roman chair oblique extensions.
Walked home. Took stairs.

I feel phenomenal!

Food - bananas all day. Figs and persimmons in the evening.

Yesterday I ate:
Apple bananas
Figs

I went to sleep by 6:30 p.m. Got up this morning at 5:52, and felt excellent.

Morning training:
Jog to gym
A treadmill 8K (5 miles), continuous running (no walking!). Took about 49 minutes, so averaged just under 10 minutes per mile. It was challenging, but I feel great!
Walked/jogged home.
Stretched a bit.

Food today:
40 some-odd fluid ounces banana smoothie.
9 or 10 small apple bananas
Friend over for dinner - persimmons, figs, tangerines, celery

Everything feels so good today! Fruit is high-octane, high-energy, feel-good fuel! Fat slows us down...

Look what's in my kitchen!

Yesterday I went to a potluck. It was great to see friends! But I definitely overate on things I hadn't planned on eating.

So I'm taking it easy today, as far as food goes. Also, I'm starting to be honest with myself and see that I'm starting to gain weight back. Everyone does this in the winter, I know. But I need to be honest with myself about things I'm doing that are not in my best interests.

I have tons of ripe fruit though...so I'm planning on making this week a no-overt-fat week, to get back on track! Should be absolutely delicious!

This is me

Sort of an unflattering photo, but hey, I took it myself. This is what I look like, having followed Doug Graham's program for 5 months.

That was me...

That was me in March 2006.

Friday Friday Friday!!!

Woke up around 4:30. Glad I went to bed early last night!

Morning training: Indoor cycling class at the gym. Wasn't the toughest class, but my legs weren't the freshest (still recovering from being blindsided by strength training the other day!), so it was all good. We did some sprints and some strength climbs. After class, I did a few flexed arm hangs (pull-up position - assisted, chin-up position - unassisted!!!) and sit ups (2 sets on the decline bench - didn't quite make it up), and a couple reps on the flat bench. That was all I could squeeze out.

Food today:
Breakfast - banana smoothie right after workout. then lots more bananas at the office.
Lunch - one head romaine lettuce. 5 bananas. lots of dried figs. 5 stalks celery
Dinner - lots of tangerines. 3 tbsp. cashew butter. 1 spoonful pumpkinseed butter. a few spoonfuls tahini. yeah....too much nut butter probably won't sit well tomorrow...

A recovery day!

(Overload and) recovery is a great thing! Got to bed last night around 8:30 p.m., and it sure felt good. Woke up this morning at 6:47 a.m. No morning training, just recovery. I've got sore quads, hamstrings, glutes from yesterday. Why didn't I do leg strength training sooner? My legs are going to be so hot. ;)

Food today:
Breakfast - bananas (5? 6? 7? 8? I don't know...)
Midmorning - 1 head romaine lettuce, 2 orange bell peppers
Lunch - grapes, iceberg lettuce (from a meeting), bananas
Dinner - 1 persimmon, persimmon-date ice cream, bahri dates, 1 head green leaf lettuce, a few tangerines.

Weak in the legs...

Didn't wake up in time for cycling class, so I trained at home this morning: 20 or so minutes bouncing around the living room to music, followed by push-ups, chair dips, leg raises, stair jumps, and walking lunges down the hallway, each repeated once or twice. And a couple of failed handstand attempts. Didn't feel like much...but my legs have been a bit jello-like ever since. =)

Food:

Breakfast - a third of a pineapple. about 3/4 of a papaya
Mid morning at work - some medjool and bahri dates
Lunch - 9 bananas, blended into a smoothie
Dinner - 6 lbs tomatoes, 2 orange bell peppers, 1 florida avocado

I couldn't believe how great I felt today - how energetic and happy and light and clearheaded. The program really works if you follow it ;).

Monday and Tuesday's Log

On Monday morning, I woke up before 4 a.m., still sleepy, but couldn't get back to sleep. Also felt a lot of tension in the front of my head. So, I didn't go to spin class as planned; rather, I stayed in bed until about 6:30. ("If you'd rather roll over than roll out..."). Once I realized the futility of trying to fall back asleep, I got up and started streaming some dance music on my computer, just to move a little bit. So, my morning "training" was nice and easy, but great fun! I enjoyed myself as soon as I started, just bouncing around my living room to music. I also did some ab work (crunches, oblique slides, leg raises). Total workout time: about 42 minutes. And all that fun from skipping spinning.

Still felt tired all day at work. And my hamstrings were still sore from Saturday's ashtanga class, but I did take a walk over lunch.

Food on Monday:
Breakfast - 1 pineapple
Lunch - 6 small-medium bananas.
Late Lunch - 48 oz. tomatoes. 2 oranges. a few stalks celery. 1 florida avocado.
That's it. Didn't want to eat after I got home. Went to bed early instead.

On Tuesday, I woke up just before 5 a.m., feeling excellent and well rested! I haven't woken up feeling that good in at least a week! I was thrilled. =) I walked to the gym to train (too cold for outdoors):

Treadmill workout:
12 minutes warm-up jog/walk (10-12 minute miles), followed by 2.6ish FAST miles, with walking in between (the first was around 9 minutes per mile. for the second mile, I got a little ambitious and started at least that fast, and couldn't make myself finish, hence the ".6ish". took a few minutes walk, then talked myself into doing one more 10-minute mile. And boy, was that hard!) Total was probably around 4.2 miles? It was HARD today. Just getting back into it, I guess.

Pull-up training:
Used the assist machine for this. Did "negative" pull-ups (assisted), followed by "hold in the up position as long as possible, then negative" (assisted), followed by assisted chin-ups, and "hold in the up position". Don't know how many of each. Then 2 sets of biceps curls. Then 2 sets of posterior delt raises on the bench.

I'm excited though!!!!! I can hold chin-ups in the "up-position" for a few seconds!!!!!! I need some help getting "up", but once I'm up, I was able to take my legs off the pad and just hold myself in that position!!!!!! Even after doing all the "pull-up" work, I was still able to hold myself at the top of a chin-up!!!!!!!! This is a milestone!!!! =)

Was in a great mood all through the day...

Food:
Breakfast - 2 hachiya persimmons. 1 HUGE papaya
Lunch - 9 bananas, blended into a smoothie. a lot of celery
Dinner - Persimmon/date ice cream! Holy cow! so good!
Snack - 1 head green leaf leffuce. about 1/2 a pineapple

Weekend of catch-up

This is a weekend of my body catching up on all the junk I gave it to deal with over the past few weeks.

Felt really tired and had achy joints and slept a lot this weekend. Fruits only to eat - no overt fats. Went to an ashtanga class on Saturday, but didn't make it all the way through.

Finally starting to feel better on Sunday morning. By the afternoon, felt fabulous. Still a little tired, but fabulous in mood and clarity.

Breakfast - 1 pineapple, a few persimmons
Lunch - lots of banana smoothie
Dinner - 1 large papaya, 1 head romaine lettuce, 4 pints grape tomatoes.

Hope to be back up and running tomorrow! =)

Friday - Start all over again...

Didn't get to bed early enough last night, so I didn't wake up early enough to train this morning, and I'm still tired.

Breakfast - persimmons, dates, celery
Lunch - bananas, dates, celery
Snack - more dates

Went to bed at 6 p.m. and slept all night!

Wednesday - pick myself up, Thursday - dust myself off...

Wednesday I felt pretty gross, understandably. I didn't train in the morning. I ate during the day anyway, even though I felt gross (oranges and persimmons). For dinner, I had grape tomatoes, 1/2 a florida avocado, cauliflower/celery/cashew blend, with too many cashews, and some brazil nuts.

Thursday morning I felt a bit better, physically and emotionally. Didn't train in the morning, but instead spent some time cleaning and listening to a CD before work. Felt really good and optimistic on the way to work. Looking forward to feeling even better tomorrow and getting back into training.

I want to do another 8K on December 10. Time to get my butt into gear. =)

Breakfast - lots of persimmons
Afternoon - more persimmons, a few bananas, lots of celery and spinach
Dinner - 1 red bell pepper. bahri dates. followed later by spinach soup (spinach, lots of celery, lemon juice, a small bit almond butter, a small bit cabbage).

Thought for the day: Take care of the QUALITY of your foods, and the QUANTITY will take care of itself. True? let's find out...

Tuesday's log

Woke up early, feeling rested. Going to bed at 8:20 p.m. is always nice! =)

Morning training:
Jog to gym.
Treadmill - 30 minutes continuous running. Started at 6 mph, increased to 6.7 mph. So, the last 18 minutes or so was done at a sub-9-minute mile pace. It was really hard.
Jogged/walked home.
Stretched a bit more thoroughly than usual. Maybe I'll go back to yoga soon.

The morning workout really took it out of me. I moved a lot slower than usual getting to work. I was beat by the time I got to the office! Then, it was a really stressful morning at work.

During the morning/afternoon I ate tons of persimmons.
Late afternoon - 46 oz. tomatoes, more persimmons.
Evening - 1 florida avo, 1 pineapple, some nuts, the last of dad's salsa that he left (I know, I know...)....

Being gentle with myself. This time last year, I was backsliding into cooked. This is progress...

Monday 11-27-2006

Morning Training:
Jog to gym.
Some negative assisted pull-ups/chin-ups
Stationary bike easy 11 minutes
HARD(!!!) spinning class with Austin - 1 hour
Jog home.

Today I ate:
apple banana smoothie
all the persimmons in the world
cauliflower/celery/avocado blend
a few bites spinach

No calorie counting. =)

And by the way...

I'm done counting calories. =)

I'm going to be patient with my body and not force it to lose the last of the weight, but just listen to it. As I build my health to the point where I can burn more through exercise, all is coming. What's the rush, anyway? I'm doing all the right things...

Not worth it...

Wow, salt and spices may taste good, but so does fresh, unseasoned food, and the seasoned stuff just isn't worth it when you suffer from a splitting headache the next day, all day!

Yesterday was spent with a headache from the store-bought guacamole and salsa. Didn't eat until around 4 p.m. (2 large containers cut up pineapple at Whole Foods).

Later in the evening, after I got home from the symphony, I had a bunch of persimmons.

Went to bed around 11 p.m.

Today, I woke up at around 8 a.m. Was going to go for a bike ride, but by the time I got dressed and ready, all I felt like doing was resting. So I'm spending the day resting today.

For breakfast, I had some apple bananas.

Listen to Tim Trader

Steve Prussak interviews Tim Trader:
www.rawveganradio.com.

Check it out. I love Tim!

Setbacks are just that.

The goal is still in mind.

My insight about tomatoes the other day turns out to be true, every time. If I eat tomatoes during the day instead of sweet fruit, I end up overeating by A LOT in the evening.

Yesterday I ate 12 persimmons in the morning.
In the afternoon, I ate about 5 pounds of tomatoes.
Then in the evening...oh, dear. two bowls banana ice-cream with raisins. 2 bowls leftover cabbage salad. 1/2 an avo. 3 oz. sundried tomatoes. 3 handfuls cashews. Then some of the fresh salsa and guacamole that Dad brought home from the produce shop (complete with salt/onions/hot peppers that I haven't eaten in months).

Talk about combo-abombos. ;) This morning, my body is working hard to deal with all of it. I've got a slight headache, and I'm still working on digesting it all. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself - my body will make me sorry enough, I'm sure.

Maybe I should stop counting the calories and just start really listening to my body....eat fruit during the day and don't worry about the rest.

I've felt like my body's needed a rest from the constant eating for a while now. Maybe I'll wait to eat today until it tells me otherwise.

The hard thing can be to discern "body needs" from "emotional needs"....

Thanksgiving day, sans turkey, but with turkey trotting.

I had a really nice thanksgiving holiday. My dad and I started the day with a Turkey Trot 8K race. The weather was beautiful, and so was the course. Of course, energy and excitement were high. My goal was to get as close to 50 minutes as possible, and I did it in 49:45! Excellent! 5 months ago, doing it in 60 minutes would have been a real stretch. So, my average mile pace was 10:01. I ran 6 minutes, walked 1 for most of the race, since I've never run that far, that fast continuously in training. Worked out really well, I'd say. What a way to start the morning! I jogged for 15 minutes to warm up right beforehand, and walked for 25 minutes or so to cool down.

Food for the day:
Before the race - 2 bananas (in smoothie form), some medjool dates (maybe 6???)
After the race - some raisin soak water, more medjool dates (not sure how many), a few halawi dates on the way home.
Lunch - once home - persimmons, banana ice cream with some soaked raisins mixed in (VERY good!!!!)
Thanksgiving dinner with dad - Pineapple chunks, pomegranate arils, raw veggies (bell peppers, celery, tomatoes) with dip (sundried tomatoes blended with oranges and a bit of fresh basil - excellent!), cabbage-lettuce-orange-tomato-cuke-avo slaw. Some avocado. Very good. Overate just a bit....but I won't be too hard on myself - doesn't everyone on Thanksgiving?

Dad ate what I had, and loved it, before eating some cooked foods. He only ate like 3 bites of turkey, though, because he was so satisfied with what I served beforehand! Good for him!

I'm thankful for the people I love, for my ever-increasing health, and for the fact that my life is my own and keeps getting better and better...

It feels sort of wrong to list calories/ratios here today (being a holiday and all), but I can list the approximations:

Total calories/caloronutrient ratio: 3080 total calories, 84% carb, 6% protein, 10% fat

Wednesday's log - A recovery day

Yesterday I felt very underslept. Went to bed at 8:30 p.m. last night. Woke up this morning at 6:00 a.m. feeling much better. It's a recovery day, since I was underslept yesterday and will be running an 8K race tomorrow. No morning training, but since I was up early, I did a bit of shopping before work. Went for a walk with Dad - walked about 1.75 miles, so I got a little bit of daylight/fresh air.

Was in an excellnt mood all morning. Felt very well rested.

Breakfast - 14 apple bananas (about the equivalent of 7 8-inch bananas)
Lunch - 7 apple bananas (about the equivalent of 5 7-inch bananas)
Afternoon - 3 fuyu persimmons
Dinner - Big salad - spinach, green leaf lettuce, yellow pepper, tomatoes. Dressing made of blended cucumber, pineapple.

Dad's been eating my raw vegan food and liking it!

Total calories/caloronutrient ratio: 1970 caloronutrient, 91% carb, 6% protein, 3% fat

Tuesday's log

Woke up not feeling terribly rested.

Morning training:Jog to gym
Treadmill - hill course. 6 mph. 20 minutes, followed by 5 minute cooldown.
Weight training - 3 sets to failure each:
-shoulder presses
-overhand grip dumbbell curls
-anterior delt raises
-hammer curls
-posterior delt raises
-dumbbell curls
-skullcrushers
-roman chair back extensions
-roman chair oblique crunches
-hanging abs.
Jog home. Whew!
Breakfast - 7 medium bananas
Late morning - 8 small bananas
Afternoon - 5 fuyu persimmons
Evening - a couple slices orange. big salad - 1/2 head romaine, 1/2 head green leaf, a bit of arugula, 12 oz. tomatoes. Dressing: 1/2 orange, 1/4 orange bell pepper blended together.

Total calories/caloronutrient ratios: 2226 calories, 92% carb, 5% protein, 3% fat

Trigger Foods

In realizing "what went wrong" on Sunday, I'm realizing that certain foods forme are "trigger foods" - that is, there are certain foods that when I consumethem in large amounts, I almost always consume too much fat, either with thefood, or later in the day. Two foods I can think of that present that issue for me are cauliflower and tomatoes. When I eat cauliflower, I like to blend it up with avocado or nutbutter (for "mashed potatoes"), and I almost always eat too much of it - perhapsbecause it is bland and not sweet, and therefore not incredibly satisfying? About the tomatoes - oh, I love them dearly. Sometimes I do just fine withhaving a few on my salad in the evening. The problems arise when I have a lotof them lying around my house, and decide I'm going to eat some with lunch. Iusually rationalize it by saying, "well, it's fewer calories than fruit, and itwouldn't hurt me to lose a little weight..." However, what always ends uphappening is I overeat on fats later in the evening (probably my body trying tomake up the calories and then some?). So, it's probably best for me not to stock up on tomatoes for a while, and justbuy them as needed for salads. They aren't terribly good this time of yearanyway, and the ones that are good are often quite expensive anyway.

Bananas do a smart body good.

Since I hardly moved at all yesterday, I found it harder to get to sleep last night. Woke up feeling not-so-rested today, but wanted to get a good start on today, since yesterday didn't exactly go according to plan. I'm glad I did - I felt really good after training this morning.

Morning training: Jogged to gym (7:35). Spinning class (it was TOUGH today, and I loved it!). Jogged home (6:45).

Wasn't hungry immediately after training - probably still digesting last night's dinner! Didn't eat breakfast until around 9:00 a.m.

Today is a banana-heavy day - I've got tons of ripe ones lying around, and more in the freezer than I need, so I'll try to use up a lot today.

Breakfast - 4 REALLY big bananas
Lunch - 6 large bananas
Dinner - 2 large bananas while still at work . At home - 5 hachiya persimmons (one was pretty small). 10 oz. baby spinach. 2.5 stalks celery

My body is pretty smart - yesterday I was kind of hard on myself for eating so much, thinking I'd never be able to "make up the calories," but today it seems easy to eat a lot less. I don't have a big appetite at all, given the training I've done. I guess my body knows it had a lot yesterday!

Total calories/caloronutrient ratio: 2126 calories, 92% carb, 5% protein, 3% fat

Today didn't go as planned

Weight this morning: 139.6 lbs., 28% bf. Better than last week!

So, today was to be a recovery day. I was also supposed to clean my apartment, since my dad will be coming into town on Tuesday. So, I didn't train...but I ate plenty too much, as a procrastinating measure. Oh well. Back on track tomorrow...

Food today:

breakfast - 7 persimmons
lunch - 10 bahri dates. TONS of tomatoes. Some spinach and celery
Dinner - 2 persimmons. 3 oranges. more tomatoes. a spoonful pumpkin seed butter. A spoonful cashew butter. 2 handfuls cashews. Two broccoli stalks.

Total calories/caloronutrient ratio: 3152 calories, 73% carb, 9% protein, 18% fat.

Saturday - a busy day!

When you earn your food...boy, does it taste SO good!

Last night I went to bed around 6:30 p.m. Woke up this morning at 5:20 (yes, on a Saturday! It's good to be rested!)

Some INTENSE morning training:
Jog 8 minutes
Walk 2 minutes
Ran 1 mile - 9.13.36
Walk 3 minutes
Ran another mile - 9.39.50
Walk 3 minutes
Ran another mile - 9.37.78
Walk 3 minutes
Ran a FOURTH mile =) - 9.46.45
Walk 5 minutes
Jog 3.5 minutes
Walk 1 minute
Bodyweight exercises!!! (and stretching) - 15 minutes: 3 sets each, to failure:
-Playground pullups (using legs for assistance)
-Push-ups (from toe on lowering phase, from knee on push-up phase
-Playground chinups (using legs for assistance)
-Bench dips
Still not strong enough for the monkey bars...at least not with gloves on (slippery grip).
Walk 1 minute
Jog 11 minutes

Whew! I earned my breakfast, and boy did I eat it!

Spent the afternoon running errands and carrying heavy packages on the bus...my poor tired biceps! So dinner tasted pretty great, too!

Food today:
Breakfast - 6 large bananas, blended into a smoothie. 6 hachiya persimmons
Dinner - 6 navel oranges. 1.25 heads green leaf lettuce, with a bit of baby arugula thrown in. (The arugula was spicy, so I ended up picking most of it out.) 1 pound mixed color tomatoes. 1 florida avocado. (just ate the veggies straight - didn't mix it into a salad).
Snack - 2 pounds mixed color tomatoes

Total calories/caloronutrient ratio: 2507 calories, 80% carb, 7% protein, 13% fat

Friday's log

Woke up at 5:20 today (getting enough sleep is awesome!). Morning training: Jog to the gym (.5 mile), then took spinning class.

Food today-
Breakfast - 6 medium bananas, blended into a smoothie
Lunch - 8 small bananas
Snack - 4 navel oranges
Dinner - 7.5 large stalks celery, 5 oz. baby spinach, 4 pints grape tomatoes, 1 haas avocado (all eaten "straight", not cut up into a salad. sometimes I like it better that way!)

Total calories/caloronutrient ratio: 2325 calories, 80% carb, 7 % protein, 13% fat

Felt sort of cranky this morning, but it's amazing how much of this is all in the head: Louis brought in flowers for all of us at work this morning, and after that, things seemed so much better!

Thursday's log

Last night (Wednesday), I felt great on no overt fats - very light and clear, even though I my body was definitely needing sleep. I went to bed early, woke up before 5 a.m. this morning, and was ready to go! I couldn't believe how good I felt this morning - so light and clear and ready to go! Made me want to have another overt-free day today! Went to the gym - did 30 minutes on the stairmaster (breathing kinda hard, but not as hard as when I do my speed training), followed by about 40 minutes of weight training (shoulders, arms, core), which was 3 sets of each of the following, in most cases to failure:

Shoulder presses
Ball crunches
Posterior delt lateral raises
Hammer curls
Oblique Crunches
Biceps curls
Roman chair back extensions
Hanging Abs
Skullcrushers

Felt great walking home!

My food for the day was as follows:

Breakfast - 1 bag red seedless grapes, 10 bahri dates
Lunch - 7 medium bananas, 5 stalks celery
Snack - 6 halawi dates
Dinner - 4.5 hachiya persimmons, 4 pints yellow grape tomatoes, a little more than one head letttuce, total (mixed romaine and green leaf)

Total calories/caloronutrient ratio: 2245 calories, 90% carb, 6% protein, 4% fat

I'm proud of myself - later in the evening, I felt a bit moody, but I did not eat "just because." I knew it wasn't going to make me feel better. ;)

Went to bed before 9 p.m.

A sore recovery day. =)

In the grand scheme of "overload and recovery," today is definitely a "recovery"day. I had set the alarm for 5:30 this morning to go to spinning class, butwhen it went off, I definitely felt more like rolling over than rolling out of bed, so I went back to sleep until 6:50 and had a quiet morning. I feel a bit sore today. Time to recover and come back stronger!

Breakfast - 1 bag seedless grapes
Lunch (early) - 26 wet bahri dates, 4 stalks celery, 2 empire apples, almost onebag seedless grapes (one of my coworkers had some!)
Dinner - 3 hachiya persimmons, 2 heads lettuce (1 romaine, 1 green leaf), 3 pints grape tomatoes

Total calories/caloronutrient ratio: 2107 calories - 91% carb 5% protein 4% fat

When will my bananas be ripe???? I wanted bananas today. It was a sore, but happy afternoon.

Nutrients vs. toxins

Someone on the vegsource board (www.vegsource.com/talk/raw/index.html) asked about the food value of dulse and it's place in the diet today. Ric was kind enough to compile some past posts on the subject. I find a lot of the thoughts in there valuable (not just about seaweed per se, but about the mentality of modern science/nutrition and the "negative knowledge" people must overcome in order to understand health. I'm posting the compilation here.


Past posts below... Hope they are of assistance to you.ric

Funny, dulce and other seaweeds are known to contain "all the elements of the sea" I have heard various raw food presenters proclaim. This includes uranium, all the heavy metals, lithium, and a wide assortment of toxins .Eating dulce "for the minerals" is like eating belladonna for the minerals . Both are rich in minerals, but both also contain many toxic substances .When people say to me that I shouldn't get close to them because I might catch their cold, I am reminded of eating seaweed for the minerals. We know that there are approximately 1,000 microbes essential to our well-being for every 1 that could exert a negative influence upon our health. Why, I wonder, don't people hug simply to catch health? It should be 1,000 times more effective than catching a cold.
Turning a blind eye to the nutritively negative side of any substance is how doctors recommend alcohol, a protoplasmic poison, to lower blood pressure. I am currently working with a raw food patient who was given pills for pain that ate a hole almost completely through her stomach. That, to me, is akin to eating dulse "for the minerals." :)
Hope this helps,Dr D

I do not recommend the consumption of salt. Our foods are salty enough.
Seaweed, you actually eat it right off the beach? There are several problems. The biggest one is that all the oceans are more polluted than either our air or our land . All pollution finds its way to the water. The water is cleaned by the seaweeds, as they are filter feeders. So the most toxic foods in the world stand to be seaweeds, plus they are the saltiest.
The stimulating impact these foods give is often misconstrued to be well-being. I do not believe it is.
The issue of whether seaweeds are actually vegan fare is a separate matter.I could go on and on, but time is an issue today.
Dr D

Janie said:
Isn't it also true that seaweeds are often mistaken to contain B12, when in fact it's a precursor or something else (that I can't remember the name for) that is likely to fool the body into thinking it's B12, resulting in possible B12 deficiency issues due to the B12 'receptors' of sorts being taken up by the psuedo-B12 of the seaweeds?
It's one of the main reasons I rarely eat it as well (besides that it's usually so darn salty and of course, the pollution already mentioned).

Dr. Graham replied:
Yes, the B12 in seaweeds have been shown to be analog versions. They don't work in the body like B12, but will raise your B12 test results. Nice, eh? Apparently, this is true of the B12 in all dried foods.
Dr D

An awesome day!

Woke up at 6:00 a.m. (alarm), still a bit tired. Had an awesome training session:
Warmed up by going from my apartment to the mile marker at 52nd street on the trail (jog 8 minutes, walk 2)
Ran one mile (8.54.44!!!!!!)
Walked (2.40.24)
Ran another mile (8.47.46!!!!!!)
Walked (3.03.82)
Ran another mile (9.36.65 - into the wind this time; the wind must have been at my back for the others).
Walk (5.26.74)
Jog (4.04.62)
Walk (1.09.12)
Bodyweight exercises at the playground (9.23.07):
-3 sets max reps "chin-ups" (first set was "negatives", second and third were supported)
-3 sets max reps "push-ups" (negative phase on toes, push-up phase on knees)
-3 sets max reps abs (first set crunches, second and third were bench leg lifts)
-3 sets max reps bench dips
Jog home (7.52.04)
Walk home (3.47.13)
Some stretching

Some thoughts I had today.:

-With regards to the FIT acronym (frequency-intensity-time): If there isn't any wiggle room in my schedule for increased frequency and time, then I need to up the intensity!!! If I only have about an hour a day to train because of other responsibilities (read: a full time job!), then I can't afford to be f*cking around when I train if I want to get maximum benefits! This is definitely cool - with this in mind, as well as "overload and recovery", I can improve my fitness by leaps and bounds while working a full time job and sleeping all I need!

-I'd like to point out that I ran two sub-9 minute miles! Yay overload and recovery! (Harley called it, that I would be doing sub-9's soon!)

-I'm not only overloading my skeletal muscles, I'm overloading my heart and lungs as well! (My previous LSD training didn't do that...)

-I put in a vigorous effort in bodyweight exercises - made some strange noises that probably sounded kinda sexual - good thing there is nobody else on the playground at 7 a.m.!

Food today:
Breakfast - 1 bag red seedless grapes
Lunch - 3 large hachiya persimmons, 6 medjool dates
Afternoon snack (3:30 p.m.) - 6 small bananas, 8 stalks celery
Dinner - Big salad made from 1 bunch broccoli (four stalks - florets and stems), 1 pint yellow grape tomatoes, 1 avocado, juice of one orange.

It was an all organic day. Very cool. =)

Total calories/caloronutrient ratio: 2466 calories - 81% carb, 7 % protein, 12% fat

Lennie Hits the Nail on the Head.

Add her to the list of people I know who inspire me. Check her out. She will inspire you, too:

http://www.archive.org/details/OrganicAthlete_2006_09_30_Lennie_Mowris

Back in action - On purpose, and people who inspire me.

It's more challenging in the winter to keep up stellar habits. I just have to keep reminding myself that I must do so in order to reap the benefits of stellar health!

No excuses - just action! Here's my day:

Woke up at 6:50 a.m. without the alarm. Was still sleepy from getting in so late last night (train back to Chicago experienced some long delays). No morning training. Was sleepy at work as well, so will make sure to get plenty of rest tonight. I feel very inspired today - inspired to do what I need to do to pursue personal fulfillment of my goals, inspired to put my beliefs into further action, inspired to inspire others to live in a more healthful, ecologically sound manner. Last night on the train, I started drafting an essay on how switching to a raw vegan diet is a more ethical, environmentally sound course of action than a regular (cooked) vegan diet, and how when we consider ethics, we must also consider ethical issues beyond animal cruelty/suffering. Yes, indeed, I'm feeling a bit too inspired to get work done at the office - my mind is full of creative, productive thoughts that I can't wait to put into action. I love the low-fat raw vegan lifestyle - I've been so pleased with how clear my mind is lately, and how "un-lazy" I feel. I'm convinced that the cause of laziness is to find purpose. No wonder I felt so lazy the last two years - I had no clear purpose in mind! Or rather, perhaps I was afraid to put it into action, since it isn't so "well-behaved"/acceptable in the mainstream.

It's so cool to meet people who inspire you to live more fully according to your principles/philosophy/beliefs. Some people I know who inspire me to be the person I want to be (or some aspect thereof), because they are living examples of "putting your money where your mouth is":

Harley Johnstone - see today's earlier post. Need I say more?

A new friend in Michigan (who may not want to see his name in my blog!, so I'm not using it)- who is constantly thinking of how he can reduce his ecological footprint and bring about positive change in the world, and lives by his conviction in many ways. So far, he is inspiring me to examine my own ecological footprint, and to think about how I can best bring about positive change in the world, too.

And some people I haven't met, who I also find very inspiring:

Richard Blackman (www.rawfitnessbootcamp.com) - the ultimate in "put your money where your mouth is about your fitness goals, in a down-to-earth manner! I know I am going to learn tons from his experience.

Tonya Kay - like my new friend in Michigan, always tries to live in such a way that reduces her ecological footprint while education those around her who are curious about why she does what she does. Like Harley, is a free spirit who is doing exactly what she wants to be doing with her life.

Food - 8:40 a.m. - 1 bag red seedless grapes (Kinda early)
Lunch - 2 fuyu persimmons. 5 empire apples. 22 halawi dates. I just can't seem to get into apples this fall. I think I will stop trying. =)
Went home early from work and took a nap - my body really needed sleep from the late evening yesterday.
Dinner - Tons of tomatoes (maybe 100 oz?), 2 tablespoons tahini

Calories/ratio for day: 2106 calories, 82% carb, 7% protein, 11% fat

Burn Brighter - by Harley Johnstone

The following is a copy of a post by Harley on the Vegsource Raw and Sports Board (www.vegsource.com/talk/raw/index.html). Standard tough love butt-kicking, Harley style. I love it!

"this is me, raw vegan.
to me my dearest bro aint lookin a picture of health. what can i do? i can accept his lifestyle choices for a start. most importantly i can be the change i want to see in the world. be a shining example of health , vitality and fitness.
am i gonna burn out like the system wants or am i gonna burn brighter n brighter and be an undeniable beacon of light that will burn against the darkest night....
sometimes its hard to handle seeing our friends n family take less than optimum choices in life. what to do? go harder, go further, build your conviction towards the lifestyle you know is serving yourself , the animals and the planet.
you are worth living your true purpose.
smash the day like a watermelon. detach from the system that wants us to believe our doubts and doubt our beliefs.what industry do you want to thrive? cooked, chemical, animal crazyness, death , pain, fire destruction?
or raw organic plant happieness, life, pleasure, hydration, creation?
your life , your choice?
what do you stand for?
cos if we dont stand for something, we stand for nothing!
true happieness arrives when we push our minds, hearts and bodies to our limits and beyond. only when we go too far , do we know how far we can go.
i read a book about a dude uncovering landmines in africa, he lost a leg and started running marathons. the last sentence of the book was like " we can do way more than we think. the human potential is yet to be reached.."
be all you can be, do what ever it takes. no down time, no holiday time, no free time, no spare time..JUST LIFE TIME!
the time is now! lets do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"