Living Healthy in the Real World

I’ve been hearing a fair amount about NuttZo around the blogosphere, so I was quite excited when I was given a jar by the company to sample and review.

NuttZo is a brand of nut butter, but it’s something a little special. It uses organic, all-natural ingredients: Valencia peanuts, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds. Because it uses a variety of different kinds of legumes, nuts, and seeds, this nut butter is actually a complete protein! Most of the time, when we’re eating plant-based foods, we need to combine different ingredients in order to have a complete protein- for example, the classic rice-and-beans combo. Animal sources of food provide complete proteins, but for plant-based foods, we need to eat a few different kinds to get all the essential proteins (except for quinoa. Quinoa is the only plant-based complete protein, so it’s extra special. But this blog post isn’t about quinoa. It’s about NuttZo. Carry on).

The variety of nuts, seeds, and legumes in NuttZo also provides healthy Omega-3 fats, calcium, iron, and many other essential vitamins and minerals. It’s chock-full of healthy deliciousness! Variety is indeed the spice of life.

When my jar of NuttZo arrived, one of the first things that I noticed which I was honest-to-goodness ecstatic about, was that the label on the jar is upside down (Yeah. I’m easy to please). It’s genius: with all-natural nut butters, oil separation occurs, so it is necessary to keep natural nut butter refrigerated. The other thing that we can do to prevent oil separation is to put the jar upside down in the fridge. My nut butter is always upside down to make life easier when it comes to spreading it. I’m also the kind of person who feels obliged to straighten pictures on the wall when they’re crooked, and who feels compelled to close a cupboard door if it’s slightly ajar. So you can imagine my delight upon discovering that the label was put on upside down on the NuttZo jar. It’s much more aesthetically pleasing when I can read the label when it’s on the shelf in my fridge

My one caveat was that NuttZo is chunky, not smooth. I’m a smooth nut butter girl through and through. So, I scooped out all the nut butter, put it in the food processor, and processed it until the chunks were all blended and it was nice and creamy. Much better!

The taste itself is good, but may take some getting used to if you’re only used to eating peanut butter and haven’t branched out into trying any other nut butters. The first time I ever tasted almond butter, I didn’t like it. But as I worked my way through that first jar, it grew on me and I came to really enjoy it. Nowadays, I choose almond butter just as often as I choose peanut butter, if not even more frequently. I have a feeling that NuttZo might be like that, too.

NuttZo is an incredibly healthy choice and I would strongly urge everyone to give it a try! Have you had NuttZo yet? What’s your favourite kind of nut butter? Do you like your nut butter smooth or chunky?

Don’t forget to answer this month’s poll!

Last month’s poll

Last month, we looked at the importance of hydration! Out of 21 voters, 5% are all about the coffee and/or alcohol, 33% carry a water bottle with them 24/7, 43% hydrate when they feel their body needs it, 10% tend to get their fluids through fruits and vegetables, and 10% say that they are dehydrated.  Here’s hoping that the 10% of parched voters have since re-hydrated!

Interview with an Olympic Athlete

I was fortunate enough on Wednesday to get an exclusive phone interview with U.S. speed skating Olympian J.R. Celski! I know. I’m Canadian. But who am I to turn down the chance to interview an Olympic athlete, regardless of their nationality? I figured I should probably ‘fess up, so I told him within the first couple minutes that I’m on the “opposing team”:

Me: I’m actually Canadian, so to be honest I’m more interested in you as an athlete in general rather than as an athlete representing the United States at the Olympic Games.

J.R.: Yeah, I figured you were Canadian when you said “aboot”.

Gotta love the accents. Anyways! Some of the highlights of our conversation included the following:

- Olympic training schedule: J.R. wakes up before 7am, eats breakfast, hits the ice between 9 and 11am, trains off the ice between 12 and 2pm, and then is back on the ice training between 3 and 5pm. He does this every day except for Sunday- or when his body asks for a rest day.

- Off-ice training: When he’s not training with his skates on, J.R. incorporates a variety of exercises: he runs, does weight training, and stretches. Although his sport is short track speed skating, he does plenty of endurance running as well. It’s important to train the muscles for all kinds of activity, after all, and that means both short and long distance training.

- Nutrition: A man after my own heart, J.R. said, “I eat when I’m hungry- which is just about every hour. I eat a lot.” And it’s good stuff, too! He eats whole, natural foods, including all kinds of vegetables, plenty of fruit, healthy meat such as chicken and fish (he says that he rarely eats beef), and the simple basics such as potatoes and rice. J.R. uses protein powders daily to ensure that he’s getting plenty of protein. When you’re a world-class athlete, you can’t afford for your body to get low on any nutrient. In his case, some kind of supplementation is necessary to keep himself fueled.

- In Between Training: In the off-season, J.R. still keeps fit by doing plenty of biking. His dad has also taken a real interest in helping with building J.R.’s nutrition, so he’s got the support of his family whether he’s on or off the ice.

While it was wonderful to get the opportunity to speak with J.R., I must admit that I am not pleased with the state of affairs of the Olympic Games itself. Because the Games are being held right here in Canada, there’s been a flurry of press all over the 2010 Olympics. And that includes the dirty side of it, too, with the focus on the devastating effects of the people who live in the area. People are being displaced from their homes and the economy is taking a hit. The environment isn’t faring too well, either; no matter how “green” the Olympics claims it’s being, there’s still a lot of damage to the environment because of the Games. And that brings me to…

This month’s poll

What’s your position on the state of affairs with the Olympic Games and competitive sports in general? I used to love watching the Olympics when I was a child, but as time goes on, I’ve found myself far less interested in them- there’s so much politics in something that should just be about the beauty of the sport and the athletes who perform! Drug use, lying about ages of athletes, the sheer cost of supporting the Games… it’s not pleasant and, I think, it really takes away from the point of the Games: to enjoy sports and appreciate what the human body can do when people put in that amount of effort and dedication.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you like to watch the Games? Are you appalled at what goes on “behind the scenes”? Answer the poll and elaborate in the comments section!

Good luck to J.R. and thanks to Renae at MS&L Worldwide as well as Crest Pro-Health for enabling the interview!

Be sure to check out Part One of the Raw Food Re-Cap if you haven’t already! In it, I address: 1) Emotions and mood, 2) Sleep, 3) Cognitive abilities, 4) Energy levels, and 5) Financial Expenses.

6. Body changes (weight and body fat percentage):

Generally my weight stays the same. It may move up or down by 1 lbs, but that’s it. Over the first three weeks, my weight fluctuated back and forth 3-4 lbs. It appears to have leveled off in the past week, however: I lost 2.8 lbs and 1% body fat from January 1st to February 1st. I’m now at the same place where I was before I gained those few stubborn pounds last summer, so I’m rather pleased about that. It’s almost difficult to not lose weight on a raw diet, but some people lose a lot of weight within a very short time period (such as 10 lbs in a week and that sort of thing). Losing that much weight is going to be water-weight, but in any case it’s not healthy to lose so much in a short time span: you’ll lose valuable muscle in addition to fat and your body won’t be able to adjust appropriately to keep the weight off in the long term. I wouldn’t recommend eating raw as a way to lose weight, although it is likely to be a side effect of the diet.

7. Detox symptoms:

“Detoxification” is the notion that you’re ridding your body of all toxins. Many raw foodists consider the typical detox symptoms that people undergo to be a good thing because it means that the raw food is “cleansing” your system. I have mixed feelings about this; I think that, in a sense, our bodies are trying to flush out the bad stuff (if we’ve been eating unhealthily), but at the same time the body is likely in shock from the drastic change in eating patterns.

From everything that I’ve read about transitioning to a raw diet- particularly a 100% raw diet- the detox symptoms are horrible. Headaches, nausea, the works. People seem to have these symptoms within a few days of starting their raw diet, and they can last from anywhere between a few days to a few weeks. Luckily, I didn’t experience any of that. There was maybe two days when I had a sore tummy, which I believe was because I was consuming a very high amount of raw nuts that I had not pre-soaked (and apparently if you don’t soak raw nuts, it can be incredibly hard on your digestive system. I didn’t learn that until after I had a sore tummy), and therefore it wasn’t related to detoxification at all. Other than that, the only “detox symptom” I seemed to get was that I slept a lot for the first couple weeks. Best detox symptom ever The reason for this may have been that I was already eating quite healthy so my body wasn’t put into too much shock and it didn’t need to flush out any toxins.

8. Preparation and clean-up:

One of the turn-offs that people seem to have with eating raw is that it takes hours to prepare food. Well, technically it takes hours to prepare food if you count vegetables in the dehydrator sitting there all day, but you don’t even have to be at home for them to “cook”! It takes no more time to chop and dice and slice ingredients for a salad than it does to throw together any other meal. And if you’re making something in the food processor or in the blender, it’s even faster.

As far as clean-up goes, it’s the same as with any other appliance: if you clean it right away, it’s a non-issue. The juicer, blender, and food processor were actually often easier to clean than most pots, because I always cleaned them immediately after I used them. It took no time at all (normally my pots wind up hanging out on the stove for hours on end, resulting in the necessity of scrubbing them half to death). Except for my disastrous attempt with the chocolate pudding, in which avocado and chocolate covered the walls of my kitchen, cleaning was pretty much a breeze.

9. Cravings:

It’s rare that I eat a burger. Maybe once every few months, if that. And when I do eat burgers, it’s always a locally raised bison burger or else a healthy veggie burger (or a homemade one). Yet for some curious reason, I had massive cravings for a burger for the first couple weeks! I also really missed popcorn, eggs on toast, pita chips with hummus, wine, and banana bread, among about a dozen other foods. A few times I really craved milk and cheese- and I can’t remember the last time my body wanted either of those things- which I believe meant that I wasn’t getting enough calcium.

I really missed basic food. I couldn’t get into the juicing and there were a lot of raw dishes which didn’t quite cut it for me (such as the zucchini pasta, mashed cauliflower, and raw hummus). Cravings were tricky to deal with- but not impossible. Often it was the texture or the warmth of food that I was really craving.

10. Raw in the long term:

As you may have guessed, if you’ve been following along this challenge throughout the entire month, I will not be adopting a raw food diet for the long term. I can see that there are a lot of benefits to this way of eating (because seeds, sprouts, nuts, fruits, and vegetables are of course incredibly nutritious), but I also strongly believe that there are many benefits to cooked foods, too (the nutrient content and our ability to absorb the nutrients changes when the chemical composition of the food changes). I also believe that while some people do very well on a high raw diet, others do not. The main benefit that I see from eating high raw is that you are forced to only eat real, whole food, with nothing processed. And that is why I have constructed a plan to keep myself on track and healthy and mindful of what I eat: I want to experiment with going on a high raw diet (not 100% raw, as I did in January), for four to seven days every four to six weeks.

By adopting this technique, it will be flexible enough that I can adjust when I eat “high raw” (with just one meal cooked each day throughout the week-long period, for example), but it will also enforce very healthy eating patterns in case life gets hectic and I start to fall by the wayside. Eating high raw for about a week every one to two months will also be a really useful reminder for the importance of simplicity; the fact that eating healthy and being healthy in body and mind can be reduced to a very simple and easy level. In about a month, when I try this experiment for the first time, I will absolutely be sure to document it and let you all know how it goes.

If you’re interested in reading about what I eat on a daily basis when I’m not in the mist of a nutrition challenge, I’ve started up a little side project blog called Health Writer Eats. I always write down what I eat in a notebook anyways, so I decided to just start recording it all electronically to share with others rather than keeping a private notebook with my daily eats (I may also have a mild blogging addiction. Shhhh). If you need ideas for how to eat healthy, be sure to check out that blog!

Questions? Thoughts? You know where to leave them!

Yesterday, on Day 31 of the Raw Food Challenge, I ate:

- Smoothie with 1 1/2 cups cold water, 2 orange juice pulp ice cubes, 1/2 frozen banana, some frozen blueberries, a pile of spinach, the contents of 1 probiotic capsule, and 1 scoop calcium/magnesium powder

- 1 apple and 2 mugs green tea

- 2 cups veggie medley (frozen-then-thawed chopped carrots, corn, peas, green beans, red pepper, onion, broccoli, and cauliflower)

- Chocolate ice cream (1 1/2 frozen bananas with 1/2 tbsp cacao powder and cinnamon)

- 1 apple with cinnamon and a small handful sprouted lentils

- 1 mug chai yerba mate and 2 romaine lettuce wraps filled with tomato/cucumber/sprouted lentils

- Fruit salad with 1/2 apple and 1 banana, topped with cinnamon, plus 1 1/2 mugs yerba mate and a handful sunflower seeds

- Smoothie with 1 1/2 frozen bananas, 1 1/2 cups cold water, piles of spinach, 1 tbsp cacao powder, 1 scoop calcium/magnesium powder, and 1 tbsp water that had dates soaking in it (it was rather a banana lovin’ day!)

- Some sprouted lentils, a piece of frozen banana, and a piece of apple with cinnamon

Re-Cap of the Raw Food Challenge: Part One

I have completed the Raw Food Challenge!

There are a lot of different things I wish to cover regarding my raw food experience, so I’ve divided it into two parts to make it a little easier to handle. We’ll take a look at Part Two on Wednesday.

1. Emotions, Mood, and Relationships:

I don’t think my emotions or mood were affected very much by eating raw. Except I may have been annoying the people around me when I moaned about how much I wanted cooked food There were a few times when I was a bit grumpy because I got frustrated with this way of eating, but other than that my emotions and mood were relatively unaffected. Everyone around me was supportive, even if they didn’t understand the challenge itself; the roommate experimented with sprouting lentils and quinoa before I had even thought of doing it myself, and he also has started to drink green smoothies. The boyfriend was happy to try all of my raw creations and made a point of not eating cooked food around me so as to help with preventing any cravings. It’s nice that relationships don’t have to be based around food.

2. Sleep:

For the first two or three weeks, I was nodding off at around 8pm, and was able to sleep for a solid 8 or 9 hours every night. I managed to sleep almost completely through the night without waking. These were incredibly deep sleeps. This seemed to be my body’s way of detoxing: I had been lacking proper sleep before I started this challenge, so it was a relief to just sleep for hours on end.

However, this past week or so I’ve been waking up more frequently throughout the night and my nightmares have somewhat returned. This may be because I’m feeling more stressed out, or it may just be that my body became used to the raw food way of eating (and thus the “detox” of excess sleep ended).

3. Cognitive abilities:

As with my emotions and mood, I don’t think that my mental functioning was very much affected by this way of eating. I haven’t been having any difficulties with concentrating or feeling light-headed.

4. Energy levels:

Although I crashed early on most nights, I found that my energy levels throughout the day weren’t really all that different from usual. I could still perform my usual tasks and get in a good workout with difficulty. I think that this is because I was eating smaller meals frequently throughout the day, which kept my energy levels up. I did find, however, that when I went for longer walks, I was getting tired by the end of the walk. Normally I would be able to easily walk for a couple of hours without feeling tired at all. I’m not sure if this was related to the raw food or if it was from the effort of trudging through the snow on unploughed sidewalks.

5. Financial expenses: $230.00 for one person (me!) for one month (January)

This was dependent on several factors. First of all, I ate a considerable amount of nuts, which are very expensive; however, there were a pile of cashews at work leftover from holiday gifts from clients, and no one was eating them at work so I just took them home with me (freebies!). Second, I experimented with some more exotic foods such as avocados, but I love the challenge of bargain-hunting in grocery stores almost as much as I love comparing ingredient lists, so I bought them when they were on sale. Third, most of the food I ate was not organic, although some of it was which increased the price for foods such as the mixed spring greens. Fourth, I have not included my probiotics and digestive enzymes in the financial expenses listed above (which the mother dear bought for me- thank you mother dear!- and which would amount to about $80, I expect), or a couple times when I went out for salad or tea and another person bought for me.

I have included the cost of going out for tea at cafe’s with friends when I was the one buying, in addition to the calcium powder, but I have not included the cost of some of the foods which I had around the house before I started the challenge. Quinoa, chickpeas, and lentils were all kicking around the pantry.

Overall, when you consider these factors, I still think that the above total amount is a fairly reasonable price for what you could expect to spend on a raw food diet for one person, without feeling too hungry. Including a few supplements and going out to a few cafes will still leave you at spending about $300 total for a month, which I think is a very reasonable amount. If you were to eat more organic foods, the amount would of course be slightly higher.

On Wednesday’s post, I’ll complete this Raw Food Re-Cap with Part Two, in which I’ll address: 6) Body changes (weight and body fat percentage), 7) Detox symptoms, 8 ) Preparation and clean-up, 9) Cravings, and 10) Raw in the long term.

BlogHer 2010 in NYC: Are you going? Are you looking for someone to share a room with? Let me know!

Yesterday, on Day 30 of the Raw Food Challenge, I ate:

- Smoothie with 1 1/2 cups cold water, huge pile of spinach, 3/4 frozen banana, 2 orange juice pulp ice cubes, 1 1/2 scoops calcium/magnesium, the contents of 1 probiotic capsule, 3/4 tbsp cacao powder, cinnamon, and 1 tbsp water that had dates soaking in it

- 1 apple with cinnamon and 1 mug rooibos tea

- Plate of romaine lettuce with 1 mug rooibos tea

- 1/2 apple with cinnamon and 1/2 banana, plus a small handful of sprouted lentils and 2 1/2 cups veggie medley (frozen-then-thawed chopped carrots, corn, green beans, and peas) with 1 mug rooibos tea

- Smoothie with 1 1/2 cups cold water, a pile of spinach, 1/2 frozen banana, some frozen blueberries, 2 orange juice pulp ice cubes, and 1 scoop calcium/magnesium powder

- Banana ice cream (2 frozen bananas, cinnamon, and 1 1/2 tsp cacao powder) and 3 apricots

I can hardly believe that today is my last day! This last week has been so much easier than the first three with regards to dealing with cravings. I think that if I wanted to, I could keep this up eating 100% raw for another week or two without that much difficulty. It’s funny how we only just fall into patterns that “work” for us at the very end of our challenges! The smoothies have been a fantastic addition to my diet.

Yesterday, on Day 29 of the Raw Food Challenge, I ate:

- Smoothie with 1 frozen banana, a pile of spinach, 1 1/2 cups cold water, 1 orange juice pulp ice cube, cinnamon, 1 scoop calcium/magnesium powder, and just over 1/2 tbsp cacao powder

- 1 chocolate ball (made with sunflower seeds, dates, cacao, and cinnamon) and a few pumpkin/sunflower seeds

- 1 apple with cinnamon and 2 mugs green tea

- Romaine lettuce and 2 mugs green tea

- 1 apple with cinnamon plus 1 mug green tea

- Salad with romaine lettuce, tomato, hemp seeds, lentil sprouts, frozen blueberries, and frozen peas, plus 1 apple with cinnamon

- 1 chocolate ball, blueberry ice cream (I blended together 1/2 frozen banana with some frozen blueberries), some pumpkin/sunflower seeds, and a few lentil sprouts and frozen peas

- A few apricots and 2 cups veggie medley (frozen sugar snap peas, green peas, baby corn on the cob, carrots, water chestnuts, yellow pepper, and broccoli which I thawed in warm water)

- Raw fruit n’ seed cookies: I made the cookies by combining a myriad of ingredients in the food processor: sesame seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, dates, apricots, frozen pomegranate arils, cinnamon, and apple/lemon juice pulp. I just tossed in small handfuls or spoonfuls of this and that and then formed the “batter” into cookies. Then I put them into the dehydrator for an hour or so.

- More veggie medley (this time I used water chestnuts, green beans, green peas, sugar snap peas, carrots, corn, and yellow pepper), plus some chocolate ice cream with fruit n’ seed cookies crumbled into it (sudden chocolate craving; it took me by surprise!)

- Some sunflower seeds and 1 glass lemon water

So, I’m a little odd in that I like to munch on romaine lettuce leaves and frozen peas. But they’re tasty and refreshing and crunchy! Good stuff.

I’ve been really enjoying these past few days of eating raw. Choosing to not eat nuts, and to eliminate added salt, was the best move I could have made. I kind of wish I’d done it for the last half of the month instead of just the last week. My body feels great. Maybe it’s just because I know I’m in the home stretch now. Tomorrow’s my last day!

Yesterday, on Day 28 of the Raw Food Challenge, I ate:

- Smoothie with 1 1/2 frozen bananas, 1 1/2 cups cold water, big handful spinach, 1/2 tbsp cacao powder, cinnamon, contents of 1 probiotic capsule, 1 scoop calcium/magnesium powder, and 2 orange juice pulp ice cubes

- 3 eggplant pizzas (dehydrated eggplant chips that I topped with oregano, basil, tomato, spinach, and garlic before putting them back into the dehydrator for another hour), plus a few potato chips, some pumpkin seeds and sprouted lentils, and 3 chocolate balls

- Veggie medley (frozen snow peas, green beans, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green peas, and corn that I thawed in warm water) with 1 mug mint tea

- Another smoothie with 2 cups cold water, 2 orange juice pulp ice cubes, 1 1/2 frozen bananas, 2 scoops calcium/magnesium powder, big handful spinach, cinnamon, and 1 tbsp cacao powder

- Salad with romaine lettuce, tomato, sprouted lentils, and cucumber and 2 mugs mint tea

- Some potato chips and pumpkin seeds, plus 1 apple and 1 mug mint tea

- 1 apple with cinnamon

Living Healthy in the Real World gets Personal

I must admit: when I chose to adopt a raw food diet during January, I had an ulterior motive.

My nutritionist Nicole (aka my food therapist) has been working with me the past few months to try to help me separate food from my emotional well-being. A couple years ago when I got my heart broken, I used food as a control mechanism and started veering down the disordered eating path. It was worsened when I jumped into another negative relationship (by-the-by, any time a girl goes to Italy with her boyfriend and returns on ex-status with him and is cheerful about it, that’s a good sign that the relationship was anything but healthy).

Thus I’ve been battling to sever the ties between my emotions and food for the past year. I was deliberately avoiding having close relationships with people so that I could try to sort out the issues on my own. I am quite happy to say that I managed to make incredible progress, to the point that although I am, ahem, slightly neurotic at times, I have become far less anxious about food than I used to be.

It just so happens that soon after I came to terms with my own issues with food, I met someone, and the happiness that has ensued from this super-positive relationship has somehow also contributed to helping a lot with my emotional issues regarding food. Win-win: I get an awesome, supportive boyfriend and clarity of mind out of it! It’s fantastic.

So what does this have to do with a raw food diet? Well, one of the nice things about eating raw is that there isn’t a lot of emphasis placed on food. Unless you want to make a fancy meal, it’s fairly easy to throw together a salad with veggies and some seeds for protein and just eat that. As much as I love to cook, I am concerned that some of my issues with food might be fueled because of the immensity of choice: there are so many different things to cook and eat, and I always want to try them all, which leads to anxiety or overeating. With raw food, you can’t really fall into that problem. De-emphasizing food and getting myself out of the kitchen has, I think, been a very good thing for me to do.

As you all know I have struggled with problems with sleeping for a long time, too. I have no idea if eating raw has had any impact at all on my sleeping patterns, but I was getting quite deep and nearly nightmare-free sleeps since the last week of December. My nightmares and waking up during the night, and having difficulty falling asleep in the first place, has returned within the past week or so, but overall I have been sleeping very well throughout this month. So I’m not sure if that’s stress-related or if the raw food was contributing to my deep sleeps.

Eating raw may have increased my consumption of calcium because of the dark leafy greens, seeds, and the calcium/magnesium powder that I’ve been taking. Nicole believes that there is a definite possibility that an insufficient amount of calcium in my diet may be associated with my amenorrhea, too. Amenorrhea is a good indicator that calcium is lacking and it is often a precursor to osteoporosis in female athletes. The idea that my bones could be brittle or could snap or break, or that they could weaken over time, is terrifying. Who would want that for their body? I am dutifully upping my intake of calcium to prevent loss of bone density.

Grateful for: Increasing strength of mind and body.

What does your way of eating remind you to be grateful for?

Yesterday, on Day 27 of the Raw Food Challenge, I ate:

- A couple potato chips and some pumpkin seeds (I seasoned both of these with black pepper, cumin, and crushed red pepper before dehydrating them overnight- I can never resist “taste-testing” them in the morning to check if they’re ready ), and a smoothie made with a big handful spinach, 1 1/2 cups cold water, 1 orange juice pulp ice cube, 1 1/2 frozen bananas, 1/2 tbsp cacao powder, cinnamon, 1 scoop calcium/magnesium powder, and the contents of 1 probiotic capsule

- I was really craving more smoothie, so I made another one: big handful spinach, 1 3/4 cup cold water, 2 orange juice pulp ice cubes, 1 1/2 frozen bananas, 1/2 tbsp cacao powder, cinnamon, 1 scoop calcium/magnesium powder. I got the roommate to try it and he was surprised at how delicious it was. Tasty tasty smoothie!

- 2 mini eggplant pizzas and a few frozen blueberries. For the eggplant “pizza”, I took one dehydrated eggplant chip (I had seasoned it with some basil and thyme and dehydrated it overnight), and topped it with more basil plus some tomato, spinach, and garlic, and put it in the dehydrator for about an hour. These were tasty!

- A glass of lemon water and a few chocolate balls: I made these the same was as the brownie, except I used sunflower seeds instead of walnuts. Not quite as good, but still a nice chocolate fix.

- 1 apple with cinnamon and 2 mugs green tea

- 5 lettuce wraps with sprouted lentils, ground flaxseed, tomato, cucumber, and red onion, plus 1 mug green tea and another apple with cinnamon

- Potato chips and pumpkin seeds (dehydrated and seasoned with cumin/black pepper/crushed red pepper), plus 4 mini mandarins and 1 mug green tea

- Veggie medley (frozen green beans, broccoli, and carrots that I thawed in warm water) and 1 mug green tea

- 2 apples with cinnamon and 3 mini mandarins

- 3 chocolate balls and 1/2 banana

Yesterday, on Day 26 of the Raw Food Challenge, I ate:

- 1 leaf romaine lettuce, a couple spoonfuls of cakey apple pie, and 1 glass lemon water with 1 digestive enzyme capsule

- Chocolate shake with spinach, 1 1/2 frozen bananas, 1 1/2 cups water, the contents of 1 probiotic capsule, 1 scoop calcium/magnesium powder, cinnamon, and 1/2 tbsp cacao powder. This was delicious. I think that cacao powder is the secret to eating raw

- Fruit salad (1 banana and 1 apple sliced and tossed with cinnamon) with 1 mug mint tea

- Salad with spinach, romaine lettuce, clover sprouts, hemp seeds, frozen blueberries, raisins, tomato, and cucumber and 1 mug mint tea

- 1 apple

- Potato chips with sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds (dehydrated and seasoned)

- Vegetable medley (frozen peas, carrots, green beans, and corn that I thawed in warm water) and 1 apple with 1 mug mint tea

- A few eggplant chips (seasoned with black pepper, basil and thyme), a some more sunflower/pumpkin seeds, plus 1/2 frozen banana and 1 cup lemon water

I’m surprisingly feeling more energetic with not including nuts or added salt in my diet! I didn’t have any cravings at all again today.

Raw Food Recipes

Some of you have been asking for recipes and pictures of my raw food meals. I’ve been very bad at taking photographs, but honestly, most of these things don’t look like much. My photography skills are poor at the best of times, but when I’m dealing with raw food (especially with the kind of raw food we have around here, which is not the best quality… that’s Winnipeg in the winter for you, though!), most of my meals look like sludge.

There have been recipes that I did not like, but I’ve also discovered a few real gems whilst eating raw. These are my favourite recipes:

- Chocolate Brownie:

1. Place 1/2 cup walnut crumbles in a food processor and process until it is a smooth nut butter consistency (you can also use whole walnuts, but I use walnut crumbles because it’s cheaper to buy in bulk).

2. Add 1/2 cup dates, a pile of cinnamon (I just shake and shake and shake, but would suggest 1-2 tsp), and 1/8 cup cacao powder to the food processor. Process until it’s mixed well. Press into a couple of ramekins or other small dish for a nice brownie shape.

3. Eat on its own, or slice a banana lengthwise and then top it with some slices of brownie. Tasty!

Note: Raw cacao powder has a lot of nutritional benefits, but it is only found at health food stores and I know that a lot of people may not be willing to go out and find it. If this is the case, you can use cocoa powder (yes, there is a difference between cacao and cocoa!) or even chocolate protein powder instead. I expect you can use just about any kind of nut, too. This would also be excellent with a little touch of vanilla extract.

- Chocolate Truffles/Bombs:

1. Mix together the exact same ingredients as what’s in the brownies.

2. Shape into small balls. Roll in coconut, cacao powder, cinnamon, sesame seeds, or anything else if desired. Pop into mouth!

- Chocolate Ice Cream (dare I sense a chocolate theme?):

1. Put 1 frozen banana in the food processor.

2. A couple minutes later, add 1 tsp cacao powder and a pile of cinnamon (also some vanilla extract or vanilla bean if desired). Blend; at first it might roll into a ball, but if you let it continue blending, it will become light and creamy. It helps to let the banana thaw out just a little bit (which is why I leave it in the food processor for a moment or two) so that it gets that nice creamy texture.

Note: Substitute a squeeze of lemon or some frozen berries for the cacao powder to vary up the flavours of your ice cream, or just have it as plain banana flavour.

- Cake-y Apple Pie Pudding (oh, never mind. It’s not just a chocolate them, it’s a dessert theme!):

1. Put 1 chopped apple (with peel), a pile of cinnamon, a spoonful sunflower seed butter (anywhere between 1 tsp and 2 tbsp), and 1/4-1/3 cup dates or raisins in the food processor.

2. Blend until it is mixed well and takes on a “gooey” look. Refrigerate overnight so that the substance becomes more cake-y than gooey (it tastes better after it’s been refrigerated). It will retain a more cake-y texture if you use more seed butter; if you use less butter and dates, it will be more pudding-like.

- Cookies/Granola Bars:

1. Put into the food processor about 5 dates, 1/2 cup soaked buckwheat (I soaked it for a few days, but you could probably get away with just soaking them for a few hours), a pile of cinnamon, a vanilla bean or a bit of vanilla extract, a few big spoonfuls of ground flaxseed, and some orange juice pulp if you have it. Mix well.

2. Add 1/2 apple and a small handful each raisins and sesame seeds. Mix again.

3. Shape into bar or cookie shapes and dehydrate overnight. Spread a little bit of nut butter on top and enjoy!

- Lettuce Wraps (I do, on occasion, eat my greens, as opposed to just dessert for every meal):

1. Take 1 romaine lettuce leaf and place it on a plate; add desired toppings (this can include any chopped/diced/sliced vegetable, fruit, nut, seed, and/or sprout that you can think of, or crumbled juice pulp cracker).

2. Place another lettuce leaf on top to hold the filling inside. Enjoy!

Note: My favourite combination is to crumble some juice pulp cracker and then also add lentil/clover sprouts, red pepper, and tomato to my lettuce wraps.

- Juice Pulp Crackers:

1. Toss any juice pulp you have into the food processor (preferably vegetable juice pulp as opposed to fruit, but both will work), along with a small handful each chopped onion and carrot. Add a few big spoonfuls of ground flaxseed, a couple spoonfuls of hemp seeds, and whatever spices you like (I prefer cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, black pepper, and cumin. As you might have noticed, my go-to spices are added to just about everything But you can also add thyme, marjoram, basil, Herbs de Provence… the sky’s the limit!).

2. Mix well until it is quite smooth. Spread onto parchment paper or the fruit roll tray on the dehydrator and dehydrate for about 8-10 hours; flip halfway through. You can also make these at night and flip them in the morning instead.

Note: These crackers are super easy and fun; you can be creative with them. Add whatever ingredients and spices you have on hand. Every time I made them they were a little different. I preferred them crunchier to crumble on top of my lettuce wraps, so I spread them out fairly thin on the dehydrator sheets.

- Vegetable Chips:

1. Slice vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, or beets) and dust with cumin, black pepper, and crushed red pepper (also sea salt if desired).

2. Dehydrate overnight (anywhere between 7-12 hours is fine). Enjoy as is!

- Butternut squash or Pumpkin Seeds:

1. If the seeds are store-bought, rinse them with a bit of water so that they’re a little damp. If they are from a squash, remove as much goop as you can. It works best for seeds that come directly from the squash as opposed to store-bought seeds.

2. Take the seeds and mix them with desired seasonings. I like sea salt, black pepper, cumin, and crushed red pepper. Spread out on parchment paper (or the fruit roll tray) in the dehydrator and dehydrate overnight.

Will I make these recipes again once I’ve completed the Raw Food Challenge?

The chocolate brownie, ice cream, and lettuce wraps: yes. The other items, probably not. They were enjoyable, but I prefer the taste of making vegetable chips and squash seeds in the oven. The juice pulp crackers are decent enough but I wouldn’t ever have a “craving” for them if I were eating non-raw, and the cookies/granola bars weren’t quite tasty enough for me to make them if I could make a (healthy!) baked version instead. I’m still undecided on the cake-y apple pie pudding.

Yesterday, on Day 25 of the Raw Food Challenge, I ate:

- Lemonade (1 apple and 3/4 lemon in the juicer; this was actually very good!), plus a few potato chips (dehydrated and seasoned with black pepper, cumin, and crushed red pepper) and a few pumpkin seeds (dehydrated and seasoned with black pepper, cumin, crushed red pepper, and garlic)

- Mixture of Goo: 1/2 apple, cinnamon, a few dates, and some sunflower seed butter whirred in the food processor. It wasn’t too bad, especially after it had sat in the fridge for a while. Kinda tastes like apple pie. Looks like goo though.

- 2 cups veggie medley (I thawed some frozen corn/peas/green beans/carrots in a bowl of warm water) with 2 mugs green tea

- 1 apple with cinnamon and 1 mug green tea

- Salad with spinach, frozen blueberries, 2 mini mandarins, clover/alfalfa/radish/mustard sprouts, tomato, and red onion

- Small handful potato chips and dehydrated pumpkin seeds with 1 mug green tea

- Veggie bites: cucumber slices topped with tomato and mini mandarin orange slices. Sounds weird but tasted really good. And they were pretty, too; green and red and orange!

- 2 apples with cinnamon and 1 mug green tea

- Small bowl potato chips, small handful seasoned/dehydrated pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and 1 mug Nighty Night tea

- Some more Mixture of Goo (I think that “apple pie pudding” sounds nicer), along with a piece of frozen banana, a few frozen peas, and 1 mug Nighty Night tea

Yesterday was my first day going nut-free and also added-salt-free! I’ve decided that for the last seven days of the Raw Food Challenge, I’m not going to eat any nuts and I’m not going to add any salt to my food. Fun times indeed. Yesterday went really well; I didn’t have any cravings and I felt quite satisfied. Success!