Thursday

Although cloudy and overcast, today is still brilliantly glorious. It's just shy of noon and I've had at least 1.5L of water and 1L of smoothie - the same spinach, spirulina, banana, blueberry, raspberry, etc. mix I had the other day. Yummy. I'll be rowing 6 kms this afternoon and then going to tai chi class tonight - so I'm guaranteed to sleep well. No one mentions the many other benefits of tai chi... he he he... let's just say it makes your life even more satisfying... (Now everyone should be rushing out to sign up for beginner Taoist Tai Chi classes, LOL)... If you're clueless as to what I'm hinting at, let's put it this way: When we read fortune cookie fortunes in our house, (just the adults)... we add the phrase "in bed" to the fortune. Often you'll end up laughing yourself silly over the fortune. Now go back and reread the post and add "in bed" where you want to. (Up to speed now?! lmao)

Anyways things are great; we're just at story hour at the local library for the youngest. I only have another 2 mins on this computer before it boots you off automatically so I'll have to wrap up for now.
Have a fantastic day... in bed. LOL
~n~

Find out where taoist tai chi classes are in your area at www.taoist.org

"Farewell, my Subaru"

(LOL, you didn't think I'd get rid of *MY* subaru, did you?!?!? LOL I'm quite attached to the heated seats. LMAO) You'll have to read the post to understand the title...

I've been having an absolutely grand week - it's just been going so well and I'm so content! (DD realized she has her first two loose teeth! Most exciting for her!) I've been really conscious about drinking lots of water each day - litres of water each day - and it's definitely helping. Helps keep me full, which keeps my mind off of food. I've also been trying to let myself feel hungry before reaching for food, rather than just eating "because it's time". That's a more challenging one - I think many of us have a very set belief that we should eat first thing, mid-day and somewhere around "dinner time", and it can be challenging to free ourselves from the self-imposed structure (although in some ways the structure can be helpful). Nonetheless, I feel like I'm able to still get some greens into me and also have a treat or something sweet as well... it doesn't have to be all-or-nothing.

Yesterday I had:
- 1c muesli, 1/3 banana, and 1c almond milk
- 1 orange
- 1 mug of black tea with stevia and almond milk
- 4L of water (with lemon slices)
- some flax crackers with sundried tomato sunflower herb pate and yummy homegrown alfalfa sprouts on them for lunch
- 1 oz raw clarity chocolate (goji/blue-green algae)
- 1 chocolate chip cookie & 2 mini vanilla cupcakes (see - there's the indulgence, LOL - my daughter desperately wanted to bake something with the mini-cupcake tin - she had sooooo much fun baking and decorating them)
- 1L of green smoothie for dinner (I made 2L with 1/2 bunch of spinach, 1 1/2 tbsp spirulina, 1/2 avocado, 1 banana, 1c frozen blueberries, 1c frozen raspberries, water, 1 tbsp maca powder, 1 tbsp cacao powder, 1 tbsp cacao nibs, 1 tbsp cacao butter, 1 tsp goji powder, 1/4 tsp camu camu powder) - had the other L of smoothie for breakfast this morning.

Exercising is going great. I'm focused on rowing 100 kms this month and so far I'm at 84 kms, so another 16 to go in the next 3 days. No problem. Also doing tai chi class twice a week, which while you might imagine it's not much of a workout, you'd be quite mistaken. Although you might be moving slowly... VERY slowly sometimes, you certainly get a workout. I'm often sweating by the end of the set of 108 moves. (or is that tmi?!) ;) Today I'll be swimming while the children are in their lessons - usually 1 km.

Haven't been making time to meditate although I am working at incorporating mindfulness into my daily activities - like doing the dishes, making the bed, folding laundry, whatever it may be that I'm doing. Driving - that's a big one. How many of us let our minds drift while we're driving - we call it multi-tasking - thinking about our grocery list or what to say to so-and-so when we see them next - instead of really being present while operating the vehicle. :) There's a challenge.

I just finished reading Doug Fine's "Farewell, my Subaru". HILARIOUS read. I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in going 'green' or living a more sustainable lifestyle, but is worried about what that will mean in terms of losing creature comforts like the MP3 player or laptop. (that's all of us to some extent, isn't it) LOL The book is SO well-written I couldn't put it down and ended up reading it in two evenings. Order it from your local library before word gets out and you're number 33 on the wait-list for it. ;)

This has to be my favourite part of the book (various excerpts from pages 186-189): "I was starting the goat ejection process when I realized something: I was happy. Happier than I can ever remember being in my adult life. I had rediscovered a childlike joy in the very real-life endeavor of living green.... I hadn't realized it (earlier), but I realized it acutely now: just by attempting to live with a little less oil in my life, I'd already won.... The promising turn my life had taken was the result of my decision, quite simply, to try.... I kissed the Pan Sisters as I herded them to their corral penalty box, and thanked them for the lesson...

"Living local and green was not an all-or-nothing proposal. Each day I had another chance to make good choices, to move toward a healthy, independent, sustainable life. My first year's effort was just an initial step.

"I was going to stay with it. Whether the green fad faded or gas got cheap again. And not just for planetary reasons, but for personal ones.... My neighbor Sandy was right when she told me that mine was a two-person task, but not because it made the chores easier. Rather becasue it made life inifinitely more joyful. Because it gave that crucial concept of home its depth. It gave me something manageable that I tangibly wanted to nurture into future generations. And I thought that's the greatest good I could do."

Isn't that just so very well-written? Speaking of being so very very happy with his life in that moment - that is where I feel I am a great deal of the time these days. Just so happy. I like to think it's partly because of my choice to eat raw. Every time I honour my self by eating raw food I really feel like I'm respecting my self. I'm giving my body live enzymes with which to heal and grow. It feels sooooooo good. And I love the part about just by attempting to live a life we believe in, we've already won. We do, simply, need to try. That's how I've lost more than 65 lbs now. And totally, it doesn't need to be all-or-nothing. We can make a new choice in each moment, each day, to either go with it, or not. And it doesn't mean we've failed if we change our minds or change beliefs or paths... it's all part of the ever-changing journey. :) And it seems that his biggest realization during the year was that having someone beside you to enjoy the process is life's biggest reward, and isn't that the truth! It seems to me that what really matters in life isn't about accomplishments (like "mastering" raw veganism or building a cob house), it's about relationships and the community that's built while doing things we are passionate about (like eating raw or building that cob house, LOL). The next book on my bedside table is Thich Naht Hanh's "Friends on the Path". Looking forward to it.

Today I am so grateful for every aspect of my life, I don't even know where to begin. :)

Had another terrific weekend with dh at home... we didn't go anywhere - stayed at home and got a little yardwork done and a little tidying up around the house... nothing major. We even spent time just sitting around the table talking and simply being together. How nice was that! The kids had friends over for hours each day and played happily and we had family over for dinner one night. I even stayed up until 3 a.m. Saturday night, which made Sunday morning come just a little too early, LOL, but I had a great, relaxing weekend overall. :)

Yesterday I had:
- close to 4L of water
- an orange and 1/4 of a key lime tart (jennifer cornbleet's book) for breakfast. yes, dessert for breakfast, LOL
- 1/4 of a bean quesadilla (cooked) and a bowl of mock potato salad for lunch (matthew kenney's everyday raw book)
- 1 oz clarity raw chocolate
- a few chocolate chip cookies, LOL.
- a banana cut up with 1/2 c of crisp or crumble topping and 1c of almond milk on it
- 1L of smoothie for dinner (green leaf lettuce, spirulina, banana, blueberry, raspberry, maca, camu camu, goji, dates)
And I rowed 6 kms/1/2 hr. How am I feeling overall about yesterday's food consumption? Well, I wouldn't say that this is the best I can do in terms of eating well, but otoh, it is simply one day; not every day has to be the ideal day, does it. I am reading Raw Emotions right now and finding it is helping me face some food issues that I really stuff down (with sweets & cooked food) usually. So that's a bit challenging coming face to face with things that you normally avoid. LOL Continuing to exercise daily is certainly helping in many ways. The half hour goes by sooo fast on the rower, and I could easily procrastinate it away and then have nothing to show for it at the end of the half hour, but it feels so good to accomplish 6 kms in that time and then know I've honoured my self through exercising. :)

On with the day!
~n~

home day

fantastic home day. still feeling super-content with everything. been having 4L+ of water daily the past couple days.... along with food. might seem like a lot, but it's actually quite manageable and water is the only thing I drink - no coffee, tea, pop or juice or anything... (well, most of the week i had 2L of smoothie each day as well)

Today I had:
- 6L water with lemon
- bowl of muesli with almond milk, and a grapefruit for breakfast
- some "mock potato salad" from Matthew Kenney's Everyday Raw and thai collard wraps (from Gorilla Foods in Vancouver) with this delicious chutney-type sauce.... mmmmmm
- more mock potato salad and 2 nori rolls (veggies & a little miso) for dinner
- 1/8 of a key lime tart (Jennifer Cornbleet's Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People) for dessert
- 4 chocolate chip cookies over the course of the day. although i hadn't intended on eating them when I made them, i was happy that they were homemade and i knew exactly what was in them and i'm not going to feel guilty for eating them. it's what i chose in that moment, and i'm okay with that.
- I also rowed 6 kms today. Felt great.

must get kids to bed, even if it is a saturday night house party. ;)
~n~

A week of happiness...

It's Thursday and the week is going very well. My mood is just so happy and light. It is wonderful. :) I've been rowing every day lately, 6 kms each day (~30 mins) and continue to practice (or is it practise) tai chi twice a week as well. Swimming lessons started up again yesterday so while the children had their lessons I was able to swim laps - 1.5 kms. That was awesome! Exercise DEFINITELY makes a huge difference to my mood.

Food: Also going very well this week. Very routine, though. Nothing's changed there - citrus and a bowl of muesli for breakfast with almond milk and then green smoothie around lunch - yesterday I shook it up and had 1L for lunch and another L for dinner rather than both litres at lunchtime... that's getting too filling. Trying to make sure I feel hunger at SOME point each day - learning to embrace hunger, LOL. Yesterday I had 4L of lemon water - that was a lot. At dinner I had that L of smoothie and also a small bowl of tomato & cucumber diced together with a little balsamic vinegar and salt. yummers. Have you ever tried those Clarity cacao/maca/goji/blue-green algae chocolates? I pick them up occasionally and just LOVE them as a treat. They come in a teal green foil wrapper and are 1 oz each. So yummy. realrawfood.com in naramata sells them if you want a few. :)

Made a list yesterday of things I'd like to accomplish this year. Things like "build a cob oven", "finish front deck railing, steps, path and herb garden retainer wall". And I'm aiming for rowing 100 kms a month - 5 kms a day for 20 days (I'm a little behind this month which is why I'm rowing 6 kms instead of 5 the rest of this month). And I'll continue to eat raw and hopefully at some point I'll do a 30 day juicefeast. There's more on the list, but without it in front of me, it's hard to remember. LOL ;)

Stay conscious!!
~n~

It's gonna be a bright, bright sun-shining day...

I've started some wheatgrass and some alfalfa sprouts this week. It's so easy growing sprouts; I don't know why I don't do it more often (other than the twice-daily rinsing; that can be a bit of an inconvenience sometimes). And I'm planning on repotting the aloe vera and getting some cut-and-come-again lettuce going as well. The recent glorious sunshine is reminding me spring is just around the corner. :)

I'm finding it easiest to stick to a routine as far as food goes - or at least having a plan for how much I'm going to eat each day - makes it far less likely I'll overeat or fall off the raw food wagon. LOL So I've been starting my day with a piece of citrus fruit and having a bowl of muesli and almond mylk/milk/LOL ;) Drinking more water than I had been, which helps tremendously - yesterday I had almost 3L and by 10:30 this morning I'd already had 2L. Having 2L of smoothie for lunch the past couple days (1L at a time): begin by blending your greens (for example today I put 1/2 head of green leaf lettuce (8 large leaves) in the blender and blended it down; it made about 3/4L of liquid), add fruit (1.5 bananas, 1.5c each frozen blueberries & raspberries), added in maca powder, camu camu berry, goji berry powder, cacao nibs, powder and butter and enough water to make 2L of smoothie. The VitaMix really blends it smooth. I like the smoothie as lunch b/c it's portable and really alleviates hunger for HOURS. If I had some, I'd add a couple tbsps of hemp seeds as well. High in protein. So smoothie around lunchtime and then something lighter for dinner; last night I made myself veggie 'california rolls' - nori, miso, alfalfa sprouts, avocado, carrot, sweet pepper, cucumber with some nama shoyu and pickled ginger. Soooo yummy. My kids even liked it (alright, they like most of what I eat. LOL)

I picked up some more spirulina powder today as I'm right out of E3Live, Chlorella & Spirulina. I have grown to really LOVE blue-green algae and really miss it when I don't have it near-daily. E3Live is probably my favourite; when I was on the juice-feast I swear it was the reason my hair was regaining its natural colour!! LOL Anyways, try it... seriously.

We've been thinking of getting chickens - 'we' being the kids & I, LOL. Looking at heritage breeds: Marans, Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds and Sussex (maybe 3 of each?). I'm hesitant because I don't want to have to deal with the inevitability of them dying. We had chickens when I was growing up. I actually didn't mind collecting eggs, or feeding them and checking their water each day. Hanging out with them. That part was fine. It was the part when my dad decided 'it was time' and *I* (why me, anyways) had to be the one holding them as he 'did the deed'. I think I was all of about 10 or 12 at the time. Sorry if that's tmi (I edited out the gory details!), but you can understand my hesitation at getting some of our own. It's sort of the same with getting another dog. Soooo hard to let ourselves get attached to and love our pets/animals and then dealing with the inevitability of their passing on. Ahhh well.

Off to the library now and then on to Aikido class for ds. Have a great evening and I'll try and get our computer fixed soon so I can blog more often. I am grateful for your patience. :)

Rut?

I tried posting from the computer at the library yesterday but the R key was sticky, so I decided to wait. It's been a busy week... we have been housesitting and the owners have been delayed on their trip home b/c of weather concerns, so instead of 4 days it's turned into 7. No big deal. They're really great to housesit for.

Classes are starting up again after the holidays. I taught my first Tai Chi class earlier this week and ds had his very first Aikido class, which he REALLY seemed to enjoy. Next week we go full throttle with classes every day. I don't usually structure our week like this - I'm more likely to arrange two classes on the same day so we can minimize our car use. It's rather unfortunate we'll be driving into town every weekday for the next several weeks. I packed up all the holiday decorations this week and the cleaners were here today, so it's like the house has had a good spring cleaning. There is still a decently-sized pile that needs to be decluttered, but progress is being made!!!

otoh, I'm feeling like I'm in a rut this week with raw food. Because of housesitting we are driving a lot between the two homes - feeding pets here and also there; it also means I haven't had the time to spend thinking of and planning raw meals. So I go for simplicity. Raw muesli nearly every day for breakfast with almond mylk (and usually for a snack as well at some point during the day) and then something simple at home for lunch - a salad or zucchini noodles with pesto and a little red pepper and avocado on top (I had made little jars of raw pesto in the summer and put them in the freezer; i'm finding them great for quick meals), and something simple for dinner - green smoothies the past several nights, because they're quick and portable (1L canning jars). And partly because of hormones or partly because I haven't made the time to exercise, I feel like I'm gaining weight (even though the scale insists I'm not... much. LOL). Since Dec 1st when I ended the 45 day juicefeast I've put on ~10 lbs, which for post-feast isn't unheard of, I'm told by others, especially since I easily dropped 30 in 45 days. I'd really like to get back into drinking juice each day - starting the day with juice was really nice. And I REALLY need to exercise each day. It's such an important part of the equation for me. 25 or 30 minutes on the rowing machine makes such a HUGE impact on my mental (and physical) health. No worries. I *am* drinking water each day and I *am* REALLY enjoying the sunshine yesterday & today... like Aleesha I've been missing it dearly (not realizing how much so until it shone brightly yesterday!).

LOL my 4 yr old is rowing right now - playing the Fish game on our rower... what a good role model she is for mom!!! :)

Have a great weekend! Rawk on!