A quick update on the children, because that’s all I have time for these days.
They are doing absolutely fantastic. I’m actually amazed at how well behaved they have been for the last few weeks – maybe b/c I’m not there to see the problems. But it seems like we have really turned a corner and they are growing into happy, well-adjusted children who listen and obey. And no, they don’t obey all the time. Nor probably even most the time. But with a little extra instruction, a few time outs here and there, and everything seems to flow smoothly.
Jasper has had a couple big things happen in the last month or so. He got a haircut one night when I was working late – a Mohawk! It’s really kind of crazy looking. We plan on cutting it shorter again very soon—as soon, as I can be there to get some pictures.
He also started gymnastics and of course loves it. He loves to climb so there is no surprise that he would love hanging and flipping on bars, climbing up 6 foot ladders, and running around. All the other parents, and even the coaches, are quite amazed at how well he does. He can crawl on his hands and feet across two bars, walk on the balance beam mostly by himself, climb up and down the gigantic ladders, and is not scared of anything. At 17 months old, I don’t think they usually see children his age that can do all those things.
And with Jasper in gymnastics, Petra feels a little extra urge to show off. Since week 2 she’s been able to hang on a bar and bring her toes up to the bar. Now, she can nearly flip by herself. To do this she has to bring her legs up between her two arms, and flip over backwards. She usually needs just a little push on her bottom and over she goes. I think she could probably do it on her own, but enjoys hanging completely upside down. She has seen the most improvement in jumping and can hop across a room now.
She is doing absolutely fantastic at her “tot school” when I have time for it. She is learning all the time. This week I watched as her and Thomas laid on the sofa and read a book on the life cycle of the ladybug. She loves anything that you would categorize as science and simple would be happy if you could tell her everything about the world. She also loves to help cook and prepare food. As soon as I start, she drags a chair into the kitchen to stand on and helps as much as she can with everything. Usually this means, she stirring, or adding something to a bowl, or helping us cut up food using a butter knife. She is also very good at cleaning up messes and spills – grabbing a towel without us even saying a thing to take care of it.
She also loves to write letters, especially the letter “P.” And I would say she is doing a fantastic job. She gets a little carried away and sometimes writes on “other things.” Luckily she usually has a washable marker so it’s easy to clean.
And that is all I have time for. I will try to write another post about the children soon.
Days 5-9
Not much happening here. This new eating plan is actually going much better than I expected. I’m definitely having some cravings, but I seem to be doing a decent job ignoring them.
One of the ways I’ve been encouraging myself is with expected weight loss. Raw diets definitely have the tendency to take the pounds off. Every time I start craving something, for instance pizza, I distract myself with some thoughts about weight loss. And to help matters, I’m so busy at work, I don’t really have time to think of food anyways.
I have already seen a noticeable increase in my energy levels. I feel a ton better. Each day I can tell my stomach is getting flatter. I never feel heavy. However, I am tired every day around 2pm.
After one week – weight loss is 6 lbs!
Day 10 – Getting sick. The day was pretty hard. All day I felt miserable. And to top it off, I had horrible cravings. Half the day I kept thinking I should quit this challenge and start eating meat again. The glands in my throat were swelling, my sinus’ were killing me, and my body was aching. I wanted chocolate bad. And I wanted dairy, and chicken, and steak, and just about anything else you can think of. I finally gave in and had ¼ cup of chocolate ice cream and savored every bite. Yum. But I was very good the rest of the day. By evening, I started to think maybe I was in detox and had wished I hadn’t eaten that little bit of ice cream.
The idea is that with raw food – your body gets all these great disease fighting nutrients. I found this online that explains it:
“…once the body begins to assimilate a higher proportion of natural raw foods, it initiates detoxification and health-building actions since it is always striving to establish a higher state of wellness.
The new, enzymatically-active live raw foods with their nutritious, energizing sugars cause the body to spring into action, utilizing much of its energy in cleaning house: purging debris, shedding old inferior cells, and using the new raw nutrients to build a completely new, healthier body.
When a toxic load becomes too dangerous for the body, it intelligently enacts a detoxification/elimination/purging/housecleaning event or phase, manifested by any of these "symptoms": sore throat, inflammation, fever, skin outbreaks, coated tongue, mucus expectoration, body aches, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. …When we experience any of these signs of elimination, we typically feel fatigued and sleepy, as the body is directing much of its energy toward accomplishing the housecleaning. At such times, it is always wise to assist the body by heeding the calls for extra rest and sleep. All of these "symptoms" will diminish and then vanish when the body is sufficiently cleaned out, providing we adhere to a healthful lifestyle regimen.”
The fact that I am going through what obviously appears to be a detox stage has me slightly concerned about the foods I ate before that obviously caused some problems??
Day 11 – Definitely not detox, my coworker is also sick with the exact same symptoms. The good news is that hopefully my body want ache for more than a day or two. Detox can be quite lengthy for some.
Day 12 – Feeling so much better!!! I was able to get 10 hours of sleep last night and it made a world of difference. My body had a chance to start recovery. The past few days I haven’t eaten past 4pm; I haven’t been hungry. My cravings are gone. Maybe it's the stuffy nose that's causing it.
It was honestly so much work just to figure out what to eat, that I didn’t want the hassle of counting calories or fat. So I have no idea how much I’m eating, instead I’m only eating when I’m hungry. But when I look at sample meal plans, I know there are many days where I am probably not eating enough calories. I just have no desire. I’m not hungry. This was also the first day I haven’t been tired after lunch – maybe it was the 10 hours of sleep.
Weight Loss to date: 11 lbs
Day 13 – I think whatever bug I had, must have taken away a lot of my appetite. I did eat a lot more today, but I’m generally not very hungry. This morning I also woke up at 3:15 am and felt very well rested. At 4am I finally figured I was not going to be dozing back off so I got up to get some things done. It’s 9:50 now at night, I’ve not been the least bit tired today. Loving the energy.
For an idea of my meals, here’s what I had today. This is more than I’ve had most days. I feel like a little piggy now. I added some calories on purpose – I felt like if I didn’t my metabolism may drop b/c I just didn’t eat much the last few days.
Breakfast : Fruit smoothie – 3 cups fruit, coconut kefir, and water – this is twice as much as I normally have been drinking. It took me all morning to drink it all. And a banana with peanut butter.
Lunch: 2 Vegetable sushi rolls – this was just 1 avocado, 1 carrot, wrapped in seaweed
Snacks: ½ peach, homemade fruit and nut bar (made with dates, raw cashews, coconut, cocoa, and coconut oil – YUM)
And….some popcorn. Don’t tell anyone. I’ve actually had this a few times now. I see it as my one cheat, it doesn’t have anything on it. I figured 98% raw is close enough to 100% raw, right? However, I think I’m going to cut it out for the rest of the month.
Dinner: 1 grapefruit, 2 baby carrots, 2 grape tomatoes, and some nuts
