Flashback on Being Raw in the Hospital, Post-Cesarean

I was reading over my old posts, and realized I never mentioned how things went after I gave birth, as far as eating raw in the hospital.

Fortunately for me, I did not give birth in the large city hospital, as planned. I had some bleeding a few days before my cesarean was scheduled, and my o.b. told me to go to the local hospital in the small town we were living in. I was kind of glad, since I'd been to that hospital and my experience had been good. It was a newer, clean hospital that really focuses on the patient. I'm blessed that all went well, though, as they did not have a NICU or anything like that. I took an ambulance there (we only had one car at the time, and we didn't have the time to rouse five children and put them in car seats). After being evaluated, they realized I was going into labor, and scheduled an emergency c-section. The doctor and anesthesiologist were awesome to me, as were almost all the nurses.

The really noticeable difference came after the birth. In addition to kind nurses (what a concept!) the nutrition staff was great. The nutritionist told me when ordering food, to order it like this: salad 3X. This would tell them I wanted a triple size salad (the portions in hospitals are miniscule). I also wrote in exactly how many packets of dressing I wanted (I was eating high raw at the time, and used cooked dressing). The dressing packets were the size of ketchup packets...I kid you not! They kept me fairly well fed. There was also a fridge across the hall for me to store the salads my husband brought. So all in all, the smaller hospital was a much more pleasant experience for me. Thanks be to God that my little one wanted to come a bit early!

However, the next time (no, I'm not pregnant....yet) I will be prepared ahead of time. I plan to bring a plug-in cooler, and have my husband cut up fruits and vegetables and put it in baggies, and prepare salad raw salad dressings for me. I will also try to keep a steady supply of dehydrated crackers and other snacky items on hand, so there will be some at the ready in case we have another surprise. I've always said the one good thing about cesareans is the fact that you know when the birth will be and can plan around it. Ha ha!

12.4 Pounds Gone!

As of today, I have released 12.4 pounds eating raw and living foods. I am really enjoying it so far. It is completely different this time around. So far, by the grace of God, I have felt very few temptations. The few I have experienced were very mild, and really only because I let myself get incredibly hungry. But I really don't feel any urge to eat cooked foods. They don't look that enticing, and it's not even a real consideration. That stuff is junk, it is poison, and I don't need it. What's more is, I don't want it!

Even the other day, when I was having a major mood swing (hello, Mr. Detox!) and feeling so upset and overwhelmed emotionally, I didn't turn to eating. Believe it or not, the thought never crossed my mind!!! People, do you know how amazing that is?! Usually I have to fight the urge to just grab something and stuff my mouth, or drive to the nearest fast food place, or go to the store and buy whatever junk I am craving. And sometimes I don't bother to fight it...I just tell myself I don't care, I want it, and I'm going to have it. Because you can't cry while you're eating, right? So momentarily, I would feel better.

Well, not this time! It did cross my mind that one glass of organic sulfite-free wine sounded pretty good, but eating in order to stuff down my emotions--even eating raw food--didn't occur to me. Instead, I cried for a few minutes, calmed myself down pretty quick, and fell asleep for a half hour. Now THAT is progress! Just one more thing that proves to me how amazing raw food is. And how merciful and wonderful God is for revealing this delicious, natural way of eating. I truly believe this is how He intended for us to eat.

I am so grateful to have found this lifestyle, and I know it will change my life dramatically. It already has! I just can't wait to start my children on raw. We just need to get over this financial hump, and the whole family will be raw.

My husband is doing fabulous on this diet. I think he's lost around fifteen pounds. He hasn't cheated once, and he is very committed to doing this for the whole month of February. He plans to re-evaluate after that. I hope he sticks with it. He has been tempted, but I don't think it's been too bad for him. He's already received comments at work about having lost some weight.

I don't know if my loss is showing yet. It seemed like I might have looked a bit different in the mirror. I think my face might be a bit thinner, probably from water loss. I haven't had much for detox symptoms, except a sore back one day, a few moods swings, the teensiest bit of nausea one day, and the mildest of headaches once or twice. I almost worry that I'm eating a tiny bit of cooked food, unknowingly. I'm not eating Larabars anymore, because I found out some of the bars are not 100% raw, even though the packaging implies that they are. It's pretty bad when even raw foodists become liars just to grab a few more dollars--shame on you, Larabar! I'm going to make my own version of the Larabars. It will probably taste better anyway.

One thing I'm noticing is the last few days my insomnia has gotten worse, rather than better. I expected to need less sleep, but I didn't expect to be up until five, six or even seven a.m.!

I'm still adjusting to having to think ahead and prepare things. Dehydrating takes forever, and a lot of the better recipes require it.

Day 5

I'm still having weird dreams, though I slept better last night. I woke at 7 a.m, and couldn't get back to sleep because of stuff I was worried about (I only went to bed at 3 a.m.). I weight myself, and had gained .6 of a pound AGAIN!! Well, I wasn't going to worry about it. I know if I don't sleep as much, I don't lose. Weird, huh? That we lose weight while we sleep. I tried not to worry. I knew if I got more sleep, the scale would probably change. I might not end up having lost any weight, but I hoped at least the .6 pound would disappear.

My hopes were realized after I went back to bed and got 3.5 hours more sleep. When I awoke and weighed myself, not only was the .6 pound gone, but I'd also LOST 1.2 pounds! Yaaaayy! So I'm at 268.8 again. Hopefully, I will never see the 270's again. I was hoping to have lost 10 pounds at one week raw. I know it was asking a lot, but it looks very possible. I would have to lose 1.4 pounds tomorrow and the next day. So it may not happen, but I'm sure I'll get to nine pounds at least. I expected that much, and I'll be thrilled if I get it.

I really can't wait to say goodbye to the 260's. I was stuck at 260 for quite a while, bouncing around and ending up there every time. Then I gained even more, which was horrible! So getting below 260 and staying below that will be a great accomplishment.

I had no back pain last night or today, though I found myself in a foul mood this evening. Partly because the kids were acting up, but I think part of it could be detox. I was really overreacting, I think. Poor kids, I'll be glad to be out of detox, so I can be a nice mom!

My husband is down to 271-point-something today. Don't remember exactly how much, but he's catching up to me. I don't want my husband to weigh less than me! It's hard enough to weigh more than your husband, but when you consider that he's a foot taller than me? Ouch. But I'm so happy he's doing this with me. It makes all the difference.

I made some of Alissa Cohen's salsa the other night. I was short on tomatoes, but it was still great. I'm going to try to make some flax crackers tonight, so I can have more salsa. Yummy!
I'm also going to try to make a chocolate pudding tonight, although I expect it to be grainy--I don't have cacao powder yet, so I have to grind cacao nibs, and they never come out very fine. I'll make it with avocado and banana and agave.

My husband made fried chicken for the kids today. He's trying to use up the cooked food until we have enough money to transition them on raw. My children really love raw food, and I feel guilty telling them no, this food is for us. But we don't have a choice. Money is tight right now, and we couldn't possibly afford to feed them all raw. They each eat way more than even I do, when it is raw food. And there's four of them! (Baby isn't on solids yet.) Even though I want them on raw, I know it is important for me to get healthy so that I can be a good mom. Hopefully we can start them on raw soon. I do give them some raw food with each meal when we're not dead broke and running low...like we are today. *sigh* Well, I can only console myself with the knowledge that they'll be on raw food as soon as possible.

Salad Dressing, Mmmmm

At this moment, I am enjoying a salad of baby spinach, spring mix lettuce, cucumbers, red peppers, onions, chopped broccoli florets, and a homemade salad dressing. The recipe can be found here. Thanks for the recipe, Snowdrop! It is soooo good. At first I thought it was okay, maybe a little heavy on the lemon juice or the vinegar, I wasn't sure which. But it is addicting. I probably use way too much, but I really love it. This salad is actually my second...I just had to have another one so I could have more dressing!

I adjusted it a little bit, replacing the garlic powder, which I didn't have, with an extra garlic clove. I'm not sure why I wasn't crazy about it at first, probably because it is supposed to be a ranch substitute, and to me, it doesn't taste like ranch dressing. But as my first raw dressing, I am happy with it. My husband doesn't like it, but he is picky, and actually likes to eat salad plain. Yuck. Maybe after a while on raw I'll like salad plain, too, but right now, a plain salad is unappetizing to me. Too dry.

I did have to thin it out (it was thick like veggie dip) by adding some more purified water and shaking it up in the dressing bottle. That made almost a whole large bottle of dressing. I got it at just the right thickness. At first I thought it was too thin, but then I realized it was perfect: drippy enough to be able to pour slow drips all over the salad, thus using less of it, but thick enough that it didn't run off the lettuce or drip all over my shirt.

A whole post dedicated to salad dressing might seem a bit much, but I just had to share! ;-)

Update: Had Baby, Off Raw, On Raw

Sorry for having disappeared. I was busy with my new baby and buying a house. (YAY!) To catch you up, I had a healthy baby, unfortunately another cesarean, as the evil doctors and hospitals have forced me into not having a choice. The baby came a little early but was healthy, and still big, despite the fact that I had normal weight gain, ate a healthy high raw diet, and controlled my blood sugar. So to my doctors who thought my babies were big because I am fat and/or had high blood sugar....HA! I told you so! It runs in the family, just like I said.

Okay, putting that rant aside, everything is great. We bought a house in the country. We love it, it's huge. I did fall off the raw wagon not long after I had the baby. I tried getting back on it, but it was a tough time, and the chopping and peeling for the whole family really overwhelmed me. Plus my husband wasn't really into it. After failing at raw, I tried Kimkins again, but that didn't last long. I was sooooo hungry. Probably because I was nursing at the time. I was taking in more carbs than normal because I was nursing, but I guess it wasn't enough.

After that failure, I was really depressed. I couldn't bring myself to try another diet for a long time, because I couldn't bear failing again. So I ballooned up to 277 in two months. Yikes! After that, something HAD to be done. But what? I was desperate to try a mini gastric bypass, but my insurance doesn't cover it, and we have no money. Eventually I joined Weight Watchers again, even though I really wanted to do raw. After a few days on WW, I decided to do what I knew I had to...go back to raw. Raw foods actually fits right in with the WW core plan, except that on Core you can't eat stuff like agave, honey, or nuts. So I decided to to raw, and go to WW meetings once a month for real-world support.

I started doing semi-raw a few weeks ago, building up to high raw at the end of January. My husband, decided to join me, but this time for his own reasons. Diabetes runs in his family, and his blood sugar tested high on my monitor. Now, the strips had been left in the cold, and the reading may not be accurate, but it scared him. So he's really gung-ho about it, and I'm so proud of him.

As of February 1, 2008, we are now both 100% raw. I have not cheated, and I feel great. Detox is kind of starting to kick in, but no big deal at all, as of yet. I'm so happy about this decision, and we are really committed to doing a full 30 challenge along with others over at rawfoodtalk.com.

There you have it, consider yourselves updated!