...It's getting real around here.
Today I'm feeling better than I have in quite a few days. This week has been particularly trying. I'd thought my nausea had leveled out, but it surprised me by going into overdrive, and there was a 24 hour period where I wasn't able to eat a thing. I'm having to supplement my diet, which I'll describe in full, and my exercise is more sporadic than calculated. I'm noticing a nasty cycle: Often I'm too sick to eat anything, which weakens my already tired state, making it impossible for me to workout, even though my workouts are one of the only things that can stimulate my appetite at the moment. It's getting tricky.
The worst has happened: I've developed an aversion to my dark, leafy greens. T_T These are crucial in my diet, so I've had to make some adjustments. I've added two supplements into my diet temporarily to ensure I've got enough energy to make it through the day. The first is Garden of Life's Raw Protein. This might be seen as unnecessary, and I agree: for those who are able to eat enough food, there's no need to supplement for protein, absolutely none at all. However, with the aversion to leafy greens (a huge source of amino acids), and my small appetite and inability to keep food down sometimes, it's an extra bit of insurance. At only half a scoop in a small banana smoothie, it's a very concentrated source of nutrients that doesn't require any extra stomach room.
In addition, I am also using Trader Joe's Super Green Drink in my daily smoothie, as well. One scoop of this stuff has 2000 mg of greens such as barley grass, spirulina, chlorella, and also includes both digestive enzymes and non-dairy probiotics, something that I'm having to double up on recently. Did I forget to mention that pregnancy slows your digestion to an almost complete standstill?
Here are some other natural, living tonics I'm relying on in early pregnancy.
Kombucha: Another choice that might be seen as "dangerous", but I've been drinking kombucha for the better part of a decade, and limiting my dosage to just two ounces a day, and this is mixed with ginger juice. It's sort of a last resort, since all of my homemade sauerkraut, kim chi, and other cultured vegetables make me sick to even think about them. Kombucha, however, I'm feeling strongly drawn to, so a light brew is definitely working for me at this time.
Herbal Infusions: I don't usually go a day without my strong herbal tonics, and pregnancy hasn't changed that in the least. I have, however, eliminated my strongly cleansing and adaptogen tonics and instead opted for blends that offer both strong plant based nutrition and gentle uterine toning actions. Some of my absolute favorites for pregnancy are Nettle Leaf for dark, leafy green nutrition, Yellow Dock as an iron supplement, Raspberry Leaf as a uterine tonic, and Dandelion Leaf and Root to prevent jaundice and build a healthy baby liver.
Today's Herbal Pregnancy Tonic:
Fennel (nausea)
Red Raspberry Leaf (uterine)
Oatstraw (calcium/mood)
Dandelion Root (water retention/liver)
Yellow Dock (iron)
Today I was feeling inventive, but I normally like to keep my tonics to three herbs or less. I got some fresh Oatstraw, though, and I was anxious to try it :)
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Raw Vegan Pregnancy- 6 Weeks, 6 Days Along
Let's be honest- the first trimester sucks. My first child, born back in 2006, gave me very little in the way of morning sickness, but my second child in 2008 was a nightmare of nausea. Interestingly, I was living a high raw lifestyle by the time that second pregnancy rolled around, but it had little effect on morning sickness.
Fast forward to 2012-
It's awful. The worst part is that certain fruits are making me sick just thinking about them! Important fruits! I'm having difficulty with the texture of bananas, which is problematic because they're essentially my rice. Thankfully I finished off the last of the persimmons a few weeks ago, because that melty, jelly like consistency of a really ripe persimmon is NOT as attractive as it was last month. Right now, winning fruits have a juicy, fibrous texture with little potential for mushiness.
Today, I ate:
blood oranges
navel oranges
cara cara oranges
mangoes
blueberries
almonds
When I first was struck with the sickness, I couldn't manage to get in my greens. My digestive system slowed to a crawl, and digesting greens, even shredded romaine, became a complicated stomachache. Fats cause the same response, especially when they're mixed with the greens. Young coconut meat is a winner right now, as is half an avocado by itself. Now, I'm able to get in my greens by having them in a juice made with lemon, apples, ginger, and cucumbers. I picked up some local bok choy and baby spinach at the farmer's market, so I'll be juicing those for the next few days, in addition to the organic romaine hearts I got on sale this week. 3 organic romaine heart for 99 cents. Win.
I'm eating little meals as often as possible, which is a huge change from my usual large meals 3 times a day I was used to (and enjoying). But the longer I go without eating, the worse the nausea gets, and trying to eat the same size meals I did last month just isn't going to happen. It's almost as if my stomach shrank overnight!
Today, my workout was
Time Attack- 12 minutes plus warm up and cool down
A series of 5 body weight exercises performed at 20 reps each, as many rounds as you can before the time runs out. Video and details can be found here at BernaciseMe.com
Tomorrow should be a 30 minute run at noon.
I'm feeling less attracted to OJ and more attracted to eating my oranges chopped. I'm just going with whatever I can eat without regretting later.
Fast forward to 2012-
It's awful. The worst part is that certain fruits are making me sick just thinking about them! Important fruits! I'm having difficulty with the texture of bananas, which is problematic because they're essentially my rice. Thankfully I finished off the last of the persimmons a few weeks ago, because that melty, jelly like consistency of a really ripe persimmon is NOT as attractive as it was last month. Right now, winning fruits have a juicy, fibrous texture with little potential for mushiness.
Today, I ate:
blood oranges
navel oranges
cara cara oranges
mangoes
blueberries
almonds
When I first was struck with the sickness, I couldn't manage to get in my greens. My digestive system slowed to a crawl, and digesting greens, even shredded romaine, became a complicated stomachache. Fats cause the same response, especially when they're mixed with the greens. Young coconut meat is a winner right now, as is half an avocado by itself. Now, I'm able to get in my greens by having them in a juice made with lemon, apples, ginger, and cucumbers. I picked up some local bok choy and baby spinach at the farmer's market, so I'll be juicing those for the next few days, in addition to the organic romaine hearts I got on sale this week. 3 organic romaine heart for 99 cents. Win.
I'm eating little meals as often as possible, which is a huge change from my usual large meals 3 times a day I was used to (and enjoying). But the longer I go without eating, the worse the nausea gets, and trying to eat the same size meals I did last month just isn't going to happen. It's almost as if my stomach shrank overnight!
Today, my workout was
Time Attack- 12 minutes plus warm up and cool down
A series of 5 body weight exercises performed at 20 reps each, as many rounds as you can before the time runs out. Video and details can be found here at BernaciseMe.com
Tomorrow should be a 30 minute run at noon.
I'm feeling less attracted to OJ and more attracted to eating my oranges chopped. I'm just going with whatever I can eat without regretting later.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Surprise! My Raw Vegan Pregnancy!
Nope, it's not a joke- I'm pregnant!
After my difficult journey through my first miscarriage this past October, I've completed a wonderfully cleansing detox followed by a deeply regenerating juice feast in December. Now that January has passed and I've spent some time reaching down deep into my health on all levels to make the necessary preparations, I am once again ready to accept the gift of pregnancy.
Provided that all goes well, this will be my first high raw baby. My last pregnancy was a 50 percent raw, all vegan, all whole foods path, and it was so, so simple. In fact, my birthing ritual lasted a mere 2 and a half hours! I walked for miles a day, even just days before I gave birth. This time, I want to further my goals and record here my experiences, challenges, and successes on a high fruit and greens raw vegan diet.
Don't forget to connect with me here, on Facebook and Twitter to keep up on my fruity pregnancy journey! I'll be posting daily menus, workout routines, difficulties, and basically giving you the raw deal on what it's like to eat a TRUE whole foods diet while creating a human life! I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with all of you :)
After my difficult journey through my first miscarriage this past October, I've completed a wonderfully cleansing detox followed by a deeply regenerating juice feast in December. Now that January has passed and I've spent some time reaching down deep into my health on all levels to make the necessary preparations, I am once again ready to accept the gift of pregnancy.
Provided that all goes well, this will be my first high raw baby. My last pregnancy was a 50 percent raw, all vegan, all whole foods path, and it was so, so simple. In fact, my birthing ritual lasted a mere 2 and a half hours! I walked for miles a day, even just days before I gave birth. This time, I want to further my goals and record here my experiences, challenges, and successes on a high fruit and greens raw vegan diet.
Don't forget to connect with me here, on Facebook and Twitter to keep up on my fruity pregnancy journey! I'll be posting daily menus, workout routines, difficulties, and basically giving you the raw deal on what it's like to eat a TRUE whole foods diet while creating a human life! I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with all of you :)
Friday, February 3, 2012
Raw Vegan Fruit Shopping Haul! Frugal Raw Food!
I'm back again with another fruity shopping update, complete with pictures! I had a great shopping week, and I managed to snag something a little more fun than just plain old bananas. But hey, let's not knock bananas, I can't go a day without them! Good thing I found 5 bags of them, marked down, ripe, and ready to eat!
I froze quite a bit of them, especially any that looked like they might not last a few more days without getting a little too soft for my tastes. This week I also picked up a bag of Trader Joe's Very Cherry Blend in the frozen section to make cherry berry soft serve. Yum!
Here's a treat I haven't had in a few weeks, and these ones came out delicious!
These mangoes are pretty big, and I grabbed them for only 85 cents apiece! One of my favorite local ethnic produce markets had a giant pile of them, so I grabbed up 8 of them. I had my first one tonight: so soft and melty, perfectly ripe with no bruises. Just perfect, like honey.
The pineapples this week are wonderful. I know I've got a great pineapple when I can eat an entire one for breakfast and have no sore tongue afterwards, and that's just what I got with these amazing fruits. I picked up 4 of them, and each one was only $1.40
Now, my favorite find. I managed to grab this 30 pound box of blood oranges for...guess. Go on, guess how much it was.
$9.00
Yup!
They aren't all perfectly ripe, and I think it's still a little early in the season, but they're ripening up slowly, and I've been mixing these with my delicious and perfectly ripe local cara cara navels I picked up for only 49 cents a pound. Mixing the two juices makes a beautiful blazing sunset appear in my glass, since the two are so thick with pulp that it's difficult for them to mix together. I am so grateful that I am able to start my day with so much nutrition and energy for mere pocket change! Get on out into your own neighborhood, because you can do the same :)
I froze quite a bit of them, especially any that looked like they might not last a few more days without getting a little too soft for my tastes. This week I also picked up a bag of Trader Joe's Very Cherry Blend in the frozen section to make cherry berry soft serve. Yum!
Here's a treat I haven't had in a few weeks, and these ones came out delicious!
These mangoes are pretty big, and I grabbed them for only 85 cents apiece! One of my favorite local ethnic produce markets had a giant pile of them, so I grabbed up 8 of them. I had my first one tonight: so soft and melty, perfectly ripe with no bruises. Just perfect, like honey.
The pineapples this week are wonderful. I know I've got a great pineapple when I can eat an entire one for breakfast and have no sore tongue afterwards, and that's just what I got with these amazing fruits. I picked up 4 of them, and each one was only $1.40
Now, my favorite find. I managed to grab this 30 pound box of blood oranges for...guess. Go on, guess how much it was.
$9.00
Yup!
They aren't all perfectly ripe, and I think it's still a little early in the season, but they're ripening up slowly, and I've been mixing these with my delicious and perfectly ripe local cara cara navels I picked up for only 49 cents a pound. Mixing the two juices makes a beautiful blazing sunset appear in my glass, since the two are so thick with pulp that it's difficult for them to mix together. I am so grateful that I am able to start my day with so much nutrition and energy for mere pocket change! Get on out into your own neighborhood, because you can do the same :)
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