I'm going raw

As most of you probably don't know, because I don't talk about it much, my body is falling apart.

I'm 37 years old and have probably had more colonoscopies than all of you combined.

The entire left side of my colon looks like it has road rash.  I know this because I've seen pictures.  I can share them with you if you want.  But you really don't want.

My fasting glucose levels are 160.  They should be under 100.

My blood pressure was 144/95 last time they checked.  That's bad.  Really bad.

My cholesterol is 236, which is bad, but it's come down 30 points over the last few months.

I weigh 187 pounds and am 5'6".  That's overweight.  And I carry most of it in my stomach.  That's the dangerous kind of fat, by the way.  It's hard to find shirts that look nice with a 3-month-pregnant-looking belly.

I am exhausted.  But I can't sleep.  I am often awake until 1 or 2 in the morning, doing nothing other than wishing I could fall asleep.  I walk through life feeling fuzzy and tired.  I never, ever feel well rested.

I'm always sick.  Always.  If there is a virus in the area, I'll get it.  And keep it for a long time because apparently we become good friends and can't live without each other.  I just finished having pneumonia and then got a bad cold so basically I've been sick for over a month straight.  My nose is literally peeling off my face.

I've reached a health crisis in my life and something needs to change.  My doctor wants to give me more pills.  And diagnose me with things I don't want to be diagnosed with.  As my husband and I were discussing what we should do, I came across the movie Simply Raw.  Well, not so much the movie, but the website talking about the movie.  I have been watching their fascinating videos.

I have read about, heard about, learned about the raw "movement" for a while, but was not interested.  Too much work.  Too many weird ingredients.  Too many expensive things to buy like dehydrators and food processors and such.  And most of it is just plain weird...and I didn't want to eat it so I'm sure my kids didn't want to either.

Well, the thing that caught, and held my attention, on these videos (and the movie concept) is that for 30 days six people with diabetes (some with Type 1 and some with Type 2) went raw and every one of them was cured of the diabetes and no longer required medication.  They also lost 20 or more pounds.  Um, I could use that.  The other interviews talked about reserving heart disease, overcoming chronic illness, high blood pressure and the list went on.

I thought, 30 days.  I can DO 30 days.  So, I'm going raw for 30 days and my husband is going with me (bless his heart).

So, the day after Thanksgiving we'll start eating as raw as we can and will go until Christmas day.  At that point we'll discuss whether we want to continue raw, modify it or chuck it out the window altogether.

My initial thoughts are that I will most likely never be 100% raw after this initial 30 days.  I love food, maybe I love it too much.  I also think there are a lot of really healthy, wholesome, nutritious, necessary foods we should eat and they are cooked.  I can see our family moving more rawish though.  Perhaps we'll have a Raw day once a week like Monday is chicken, Tuesday is beans, Wednesday is beef, Thursday is raw.  Or maybe we'll do 2 raw meals a day and one cooked, or vice versa.  Who knows?

Once I officially start I'll be posting the recipes I use each day and how well we liked them and if they are "keepers".  At the end of the 30 days I'll get re-tested for glucose, blood pressure, etc and post those numbers.

If you want in on the fun, I'd love to have company!  Let me know if you want to accept the challenge and I'll link up with you every day so others can see your progress as well.

These are my "rules of operation" -
1.  Eat as close to 100% raw as I can for 30 days.  But I'm being realistic here.  If a recipe calls for coconut water, I might buy a young coconut and crack it or I might use a can of coconut water.  Depends on availability and price.
2.  Minimize the use of recipes require a dehydrator since I only have a cheapy one
3.  Use what I can find locally with only a few internet purchases - in other words, try to keep the price down!
4.  Buy organic if I can and not worry about it if I can't
5.  No raw meat (my son wanted me to make sure you knew that)

We plan on involving the kids in the following ways:
1.  No cow's milk for the month.  We'll be testing nut milks and such.  We'll let you know what we think.
2.  No breakfast cereals.  We'll be eating raw fruit breakfasts, or raw, sprouted grains.  I'm also going to 'allow' baked goods for the kids like muffins, bread, etc.
3.  Have them drink at least one smoothie a day.
4.  A large salad with each dinner.
5.  More fresh fruits and veggies for each meal.  I'm good with serving them at dinner, but not breakfast and lunch.

I'll continue to make regular foods for them, but will try to incorporate more raw foods with each meal.  And if they ever want to try what I'm eating I'll share.  Maybe.  If it's really delicious I just might keep it to myself!

Here are some good resources for finding more information on raw eating and raw recipes:
http://www.rawfor30days.com/VideoSeries/ (p.s. I love David Wolfe's hair.  I wish I had hair like that.)
The Raw Chef
Raw on $10 a Day (or Less!)
J&M Ranch - this is my friend Misty's site and she has a few raw recipes
Gone Raw - has a helpful forum and a great recipe section

I have found that if there is a product you really want to try, most of the time Amazon has it much cheaper than the "raw sites".  The manufacturer also, usually, sells it much more cheaply that the raw sites.  Check prices before you buy!