From vegetarian, to pescaterian, to vegan, to raw vegan to…Part II

This is part two to my last post explaining the changes I’ve made in my eating habits. Since making these changes I’ve experienced very positive changes in my digestion, energy levels, and cardio activity. For starters my digestion is back on track which leads to constant elimination. Secondly, I’ve finally bust through my weight plateau and now weighing 134lbs with only 9 more pounds to go for reaching my goal weight. Thirdly, I’ve experiencing lots of energy I have no idea what do with and I’m loving it.

Raw until Dinner

This is a wonderful tip I’ve incorporated into my eating habit from the book “The Raw Food Detox Diet”. Simply put I eat fresh raw fruits and veggies for breakfast, lunch, and snacks all the way up to dinner. For dinner I’ll eat a “cooked” meal that follows the food combining rules. By making this very simple change has totally eliminated the “itis” that we experience after eating a big meal. Additionally, I feel light on my feet and energized throughout the day. No late afternoon naps sitting in front of my computer for me. Furthermore, my body is able to fully digest all the food I’ve eaten throughout the day and use it for energy. This leads to faster metabolism, weight loss, and regular elimination. When eating raw fruits and veggies I make sure to follow the food combining tips as well.

So you may be thinking I’m eating celery and carrots all day which is boring, right? Not necessarily but I do love to snack on carrots when I start to get cravings or feeling hungry in between meals. For a better picture of what I eat this is my food diary for today.

5:30am – workout Green Smoothie (fresh spinach, banana, tangelo, nutritional yeast, calcium supplements, flax seeds, water, ice)

7:30am – Green Smoothie or Fruit Smoothie (fruit smoothie has no veggies but at least 2/3 different fruits)

9:30am – Grapes and apples

12:30pm- Sandwich (Ezekiel bread, broccoli sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, mustard) Salad (green lettuce, kale, cucumbers, tomatoes, oil/balsamic vinegar)

3pm- apples and oranges

5pm – in the car on the way home- snack on baby carrots

7:30pm – dinner – tilapia, collards, asparagus

As you can see I get a lot of meals in the day which probably barely totals 1000 calories. Since my workout routines are intense I must increase my calorie intake and eat more fruits and veggies. For instance instead of eating 1 apple and 1 orange, I’ll eat 2 apples and 2 oranges. This is a mindset I have to get use to since calorie restrictions were the norm for me. Since I’m eating fresh raw fruits and veggies throughout the day I can eat a lot more and should eat more to make sure my body gets the calories it needs. The reason is that fruits and veggies have very small amounts of calories. Remember the body needs an adequate amount of calories to do simple functions like typing this post.

This eating plan has worked very well for me and saving my “cooked” meal for dinner works out perfectly. Eating a cooked meal for dinner allows me to have dinner with friends without feeling like an odd ball. Kiddie Kurls does not feel forced to my eating lifestyle, she’s only 10. However, I still face strong temptations when eating out because a lot of the fish dishes have some type of cream base. The few times I’ve caved to those dishes I immediately feel a difference in my body and start to regret it. Fish and steamed veggies do my body good and I have to remind myself to stick to the basics!

Stay tuned for my third post in this series. Remember to stay healthy and happy!