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Trying to Create the "Perfect" Nutritional Menu 18 y
One would think that getting one's daily supply of nutrients from real food shouldn't be all that difficult.
TODAY’S MEALS I
spent much of today out of the house, which posed a problem for my
diet. I had protein in the morning: about 2 oz. of fish, 2 oz. of
cheese curds (from Wild Oats), Ezekiel bread and dried fruit. Yes, a
motley grouping of foods it was, but that was breakfast. While out
today I got very hungry and thirsty, so I ate a small fruit salad from
a fast food restaurant, and later had a tasteless iceberg lettuce-based
salad from another fast food place. Drank a lot of water, too! When I
got home I had more fish, Ezekiel bread and vegetables. And then-
horrors! I realized I h ... read more Review of Day One of my Updated Raw Menu 18 y
With a few adjustments, this plan just might work!
( Fig photo taken by Xerones. Click image for more images )
Mission: Regrow my hair! The Plan Get 80 to 100 grams of protein.
Get between 50 - 70 grams of healthy fats.
Increase my intake of minerals- especially calcium, magnesium, and iron
Increase my B vitamin intake
Eat between 1200 and 1700 calories.
DAY ONE (yesterday) I
tried oh so hard to meet my protein goal! It was hard to achieve it
without googobs of fat and calories. Raw foodists have said that we can
eat as much fat as we want without infringing on weight loss, but I
have not experienced consistent weight los ... read more Word from the Dietician 18 y
My dietician was quite supportive of my raw diet.
The
dietician I met with was pleased with my blood tests because they show
basically good results- especially my cholesterol of 177. My iron level
is measured by the HGB test, and at 13.1 it is at a normal level. The
albumin test confirms that I am not suffering from muscle wasting. The
tests show no clear link between the diet and my hair loss. However,
she did say that everyone is different, so certain nutritional levels
may be fine for one person and not so fine for the next. Here is a
breakdown of the advice she gave me. CALCIUM This
level came up as "borderline low." ... read more Comparing Blood Levels Pre- and Post-Raw 18 y
I found my SAD blood tests from August, 2005!
I obtained the blood test results today. I have posted only the results
that I felt were most relevant to the nutritional issue I’m dealing
with- my concern about hair
loss. The results show that everything is normal. I was happy to find a
test I had taken last August that I can use for comparison between my
non-raw days and my current diet. Now, the 2005 test was taken during
an emergency room visit for an ovarian cyst, so I had not fasted
beforehand, as I did for the latest test, and the nature of the
emergency might have played a role in some of the numbers. Stil ... read more Let the Exercising Begin! 18 y
Have you ever used the halls and stairs in your home or workplace for exercise?
I
suddenly realized this weekend that I have the perfect exercise venue
at my job: the air conditioned halls and stairs are perfect for a
lunchtime workout. My mother, who is in her upper 60s, has been
walking halls and stairs for years. She lives in a 22-floor building
and one of her exercises is to walk down the very long hallway, go up
one flight of stairs, walk down that hallway and then up another flight
of stairs. She does this until she gets to the top floor and then down
she goes, one flight and one hallway at a time. And she’s not slow
about it, either! The building I wor ... read more Gotta Keep Moving Forward 18 y
What else is there to do?
I
talked to the clinic about my blood test results and I was basically
told that everything is normal, no need to follow up. Hmm- the blood
tests were supposed to only rule out particular potential causes of my
hair loss, not just dismiss my case altogether! I was very annoyed,
because he didn’t have any suggestions for follow-up care. Finally he
suggested I see a dermatologist, because he obviously couldn’t come up
with anything else. I made the appointment, but I’m not seeing how this
will help me, since the doctor already determined there is no
infection.
Even though th ... read more Got the Blood Drawn Today! 18 y
I'm glad to get this part done with.
This morning I got my blood taken for the hair loss testing. If there’s a ”problem” found I’ll get a call, otherwise I’m to call them for a followup appointment next week. I hate my insurance plan- I have to pay up front and then fill out all these forms to get reimbursed. But since I don’t have the money, they’ll send me statements until I pay. The tests cost $145 rather than $160, but that’s still a lot of dough. I’ll be reimbursed 80% of this (about $115). visit the page I'm Finally Getting Blood Tests 18 y
$160 worth of tests (sigh...)
Well, I saw the doctor today. I weighed in at 277 - I knew it would be higher than 270 (my lowest). My blood pressure was 110/80. The doctor was puzzled that my hair loss is symmetrical, as if I did it myself -for example, a certain hairstyle or tightly fitting hats could cause this pattern. But after reviewing my situation and finding no evidence of infection or support for my doing this to myself (!) he recommended $160 worth of blood tests- YIKES! He want to check a few things, but most importantly my thyroid, iron, cholesterol, electrolytes and glucose.
I really had to think about ... read more Do I Take Thee, Raw, In Sickness and in Health? 18 y
The doubts are creeping in on me again.
Last
night I was devastated to realize that despite my dietary changes and
increased vitamins, my hair loss problem has obviously not let up. No
more wishful thingking- I’ll have to get serious about the medical side
of things. I think the main reasons I have delayed doing this is that,
in addition to being a poor college student who can’t afford a bunch of
medical tests, I’m really afraid of being told that a raw diet is not
good for me. My fear is well-founded because my raw diet is the only
thing that has taken away my compulsive overeating and out-of-control
bingeing and given ... read more Today's Raw Menu 18 y
I revisited Nutritiondata.com...
Today
I decided to track what I’ve eaten using Nutritiondata.com. It’s been a
long time since I’ve regularly tracked what I eat, because I wanted to
get away from depending on tracking my foods and start listening more
to my body. Today I found that I’ve had 1113 calories, give or take a
hundred, perhaps. I started my day with 2 ounces of almonds and maybe
1/2 an ounce of goji berries with a little Himalayan sea salt. For
lunch I had hummus and taboule with a little feta cheese at a
Mediterranean restaurant. The serving of taboule was quite large, but I
managed to choke it down. : ... read more The Torture of Clothes Shopping 18 y
I love having new clothes, but I hate shopping for them!
Today
as I put on a pair of black capris pants and noticed I was floating in
them, I thought about the onerous task awaiting me: shopping for new
clothes. it’s nothing short of torture.
When I got down to a size 14 a few years ago I noticed how much easier
it was to find cheap, decently-made, stylish clothing. At size 12 and
10 I even rejoiced at rarely having to try anything on- I could just
grab something off the rack, pay and leave. And what a selection! I
could really express my inner "wild child" in those days.
Today, at a size 24, shopping is even more torturous. ... read more My Changing Appetite 18 y
What is wrong with me? I love food!
Over
the past two or three weeks I’ve noticed that my tolerance for certain
flavors and textures seems to have narrowed. More and more I seem to
prefer blander, plainer, and less-processed foods. It’s strange to
realize how my enjoyment of flavorful foods has diminished. That’s not
to say I don’t like them- I loved the samosas we had at our potluck
this weekend. They were beautiful and colorful and aromatic, with deep
flavoring, but I find that one tiny piece is all I can have. (Now, why
couldn’t I have experienced this back when I was eating pizzas and
drinking gallons of P ... read more Raw Food Potluck 18 y
(And we got the leftovers -Happy happy joy joy!)
Minnie’ Raw Samosas with chutney
Felicia and I hosted a small raw food get-together at our place tonight. It really turned out to be a fabulous experience, with all of us trying recipes we’d never had before. We had samosas with chutney which used Indian spice mixtures. It was flavorful and aromatic- delicious! My camera battery conked out so I didn’t get good pictures of the wonderful sushi brought by Brian and Kat (I hope I spelled your names correctly!) but it was beautiful and tasted great!
Felicia made her raw lasagna, a mango-tomato salsa, and a dessert of strawberries and ... read more I'm Getting Smaller and Lighter! 18 y
What a good day!
Greenbeans Originally uploaded by rawallison. I had a pretty good day today. First, I checked my cod ceviche and found it had come out very nicely. I marinated the cod for a far shorter amount of time than the tilapia - maybe that helped, or maybe cod is just better than tilapia for marinating (”Plantation Chick” suggests I try kingfish- I’ll have to look into that, as I’ve never seen it at the stores). Second, I did my deep breathing exercise during my commute to work (and also back home). This is great for staying calm in heavy traffic, and hopefully is paving the way for me to get ... read more Raw Sea Foods 18 y
The sea is full of good stuff!
Radishes Originally uploaded by rawallison.
I’ve now tried raw fish in two ways: ceviche (marinated in citrus
juices, which "cook" it with the citrus acids rather than with heat)
and cold-smoked, which is another technically raw way of preparing fish
without heat. I learned that fish is sometimes cured before smoking, so
I have to make sure it wasn’t cured in sugar. Curing is supposed to be
provide extra protection against microbes. I have to say I like smoked
fish better than my homemade ceviche, but I’m a newbie at making
ceviche, so I’m not giving up. I still need to ... read more Guacaboule 18 y
What happens when food combinations go wrong
A
new raw foodist asked what to do with leftovers. I never saw leftovers
as a problem because it seems anything can be thrown into a salad! This
can work really well; for example, if I try a vegetable for the first
time and discover I don’t really like it, I can bury it in a salad
where it can be covered up with enough herbs and other flavors that I
can’t taste it. Also, if I’m bored, I might combine different foods to
come up with something that looks new and interesting. As
another example, raw spaghetti isn’t something we made up, but Felicia
wouldn’t have bothered to try it if ... read more Why I'm Ready for a Vitamix 18 y
It'll be a little while before I can afford it, but it's comin'!
Photo by tofu666. Since
January I have steadily increased the variety of foods that I consume
as a raw foodist. Along with this increase in variety has come an
increase in the complexity of food preparation. In the beginning I went
with simple fare that required chopping and mixing- easy stuff I could
do by hand using my cutting board and a knife. I made taboule, salsa,
and guacamole. I put together salads, cabbage wraps and living-bread
hummus sandwiches. I made delicious smoothies in the blender. All
pretty simple. As my interest in new flavors and textures
grew, I acquired a ... read more |