Raw Redemption

I weighed in this morning and I am now 201 lbs. That is 19 lbs gone forever!

I am so excited. I have really started changing my entire life. I used to think I had to watch my portion sizes, count my calories, and give up food that tastes good. I even thought I would have to compromise on nutrition in order to lose weight! Guess what,none of that is true!

I eat all day long. Even though for digestion purposes I am trying not to eat after dark, (I still do many nights) I don’t have any restrictions on amounts of food, calories or anything. As long as it is raw I am losing weight.

My measurements:

Day 1 Bust -48, Waist-42, Hips -50, Thighs -26

Today – Bust 47, Waist -39, Hips – 48, thighs 25 1/4

I’ve lost 6.75 inches since January 2nd, 2010

I keep looking into the future and think, if I keep doing this, where will I be in another month? Where will I be in two months, and I get really excited. My youngest birth child graduates from high school end of May and I think about that day. What will I look like that day?

Normally, any social event brings panic attacks about what I will wear. But I start actually imagining that I will look great by the end of May.  At this same rate of 2 to 3 lbs a week, lets just pick two lbs a week.  I will be on May 28th, 2010 about  26 to 30 lbs less than today. But, I suspect I will be even less because as I get better at making good choices and staying raw the weight is going to come off faster.

Also, the SUN is out! This means that I will likely start going outside again and walking, that will help too.

I’m excited about the future in ways that I never thought I would. My mental clarity is better than ever.  I am in graduate school and it just doesn’t seem as hard as it did in the past. Work seems to be a breeze and my relationship with my husband is just over the top.

My husband is eating a lot of raw foods with me. I never asked him to, but when I let him try things he likes them and instead of his normal dinner he will ask for some of what I am having instead.

When we went on a road trip on Thursday he told me that he can see us both eating 100 percent raw food at some time in the future! I couldn’t believe it. He is the king of Frozen Pizza and he said that and I believe he means it.

Tags: live food diet, losing weight on living foods, raw food diet, stephanie's story, Weigh In Day
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Today I got my order (really fast) from Twin Cakes Bakery Pure2raw. They put some nice free samples inside my order. I haven’t tried my order yet as I am not hungry (will update you about that tomorrow) but I did try the samples.

The Pumpkin Kale Cracker is DELICIOUS it is so good and exactly what I have been craving. It actually tastes a little like it has Cheese, like  Doritos to me, but I didn’t get much of the sample since my husband inhaled it. The Collard Green Onion Cracker was also soooo sooo good. Also loved the Onion Free Chard, it had quite a little bite.

I am very impressed and I can’t wait to open my order tomorrow at lunch.

Tags: raw food, raw food crackers, raw food reviews
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This is so freaking good it should be outlawed.

1TBS (or more if you like) raw nuts

1 TBS agave nectar

1 organic ripe Banana

6 Frozen Organic Ripe Strawberries

1 or 2 scoops Sproutein

1 TBS Raw Cacao

4 ice cubes

1/4 to 1/2 cup filtered water (add less then more if you need it)

Blend in blender until ice is completely crushed. You can add more ice if you like it more like a milk shake.

Tags: raw food recipes
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Another week passed and another two lbs gone forever!

I am unable to eat 100 percent raw most of the time due to not having the money to buy enough food to keep us all sustained.  But I am eating 80 percent raw. The only cooked food I am eating is in the evening at dinner.

Let me be clear, my goal is to be 100 percent raw and I will get there.

After I shop for groceries I eat 100 percent raw for a week, until I cannot do it anymore and have to finally eat something. One night I ate a can of spinach for dinner which while not raw, is still a veggie. Having always been a bargain shopper feeding my large family for PENNIES on the dollar, this is so new to me. I am sure eventually I will figure out a good budget for this food. I used to spend 50 a week on groceries. (not kidding) Now I am spending 200 to 300 a week.

I am working on increasing my income so that I can buy more raw foods. I think variety is the key to success and health. Also I am DYING to get a Vita Mix. They had a good special at Costco this week but I had to buy new tires instead so that was out.  I hope to be able to get it next month since I am WEARING OUT my magic bullet! I seem to be a big fan of smoothies and green juice. If all I have is smoothies and green juice forever, I’ll never eat cooked food again!

When I drink Green Juice (my favorite is a combination of spinach, cucumber, carrots, and apple) during the day I feel Amazing! I feel Energized and Full of LIFE!  When I eat cooked food I fall asleep and my chronic pain starts coming back. Case in point. Valentine’s day I had cooked food. We had a nice chicken Parmesan, a beautiful salad and cheese cake. NOT RAW. My biggest serving by far was of the salad, but I had convinced myself it was OK to eat the chicken and the cheese cake. This morning I woke up and could not move! My back was OUT.

So today I was really good I only ate raw all day long. I have had smoothies of bananas, strawberries, and grapes.  I also had 32 oz of green juice. For dinner I had a Salad (all raw). So I hope tomorrow I will feel better. But you know I can feel the difference in my energy already.

The really “funny” part about this situation is this: I prefer the RAW FOOD. I like the TASTE, I like how I feel.  I am hoping that as time goes on I can feel satisfied with LESS FOOD so that the groceries won’t be too bad.

My husband is also liking raw food, and I can hardly tell him not to eat “my” food. I mean, he is going to be healthier too if he eats more. The girls are certainly eating better too. I have tons of fruit on the table, ready for anyone to grab.

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Many people are now asking me “Why raw foods?” so I decided that I am going to start this blog and keep track of my thoughts, my reasons, my “why”, and my results here. I will also be placing results and my weekly video on Tough Love Weight Loss, which is where this all started.

When I started Tough Love Weight Loss it was actually over four years ago. I initially bought the domain name because I had lost over 100 lbs. I started as a size 22 and I got down to a 14, but then I gained weight back and got up to a tight 16 which should have been an 18  – But I think clothing manufactures are making clothing bigger now. I really do.  Anyway- I gained a lot of weight back, and I never actually reached my first goal, but I had still wrote an e-book and I planned to have a paid membership site community, you either got the book free or you got the membership for purchasing the book – THAT was the plan.

What really happened is far different. Time passed, I had graduated from college (finally) in 2005, and I was working, and after six years of not dating after my divorce, I was also dating, in addition to raising children. Life kind of just took over and I forgot everything I believed about weight loss. The pounds started packing back on until I was wearing those tight 16′s. Somewhere in there I got married, inherited another child, and just kept keeping on.

I always knew TLWL was there for me at any time. Sometime at the end of last year I contacted a friend of mine Jill who was a fellow editor at BellaOnline.com and asked for her help with getting my community going. Jill is very good at getting discussions going and I really wanted to figure out a way to lose my weight, keep it off and Yes get my e-book out there. I thought I really had the key, if only I could stick to it. I needed to Willpower my way through as I had in the past.

But the thing that was different that I had not quite grasped yet was that for the past two years I had been researching and reading about raw food. I first read about Raw Food when I was looking for a cure for my chronic pain. Chronic pain had made it impossible for me to work a normal job, and Chronic pain was turning me into an alcoholic since insurance would not cover the treatments the doctors said that I needed. Chronic pain was ruining everything. My fun with my kids, my sex life, my house was falling apart and there was nothing I could do about it.

I looked up information about chronic pain and came across raw food information. I think the first Raw Food book I read was  The Raw Food Detox by Natalia Rose. I read it, thought it was “interesting” and then I sold it on Amazon.com.

Another time I was looking up information about Psoriasis because my mom has it and I am always looking for cures for her. I ended up reading about Raw Food all day long that day. I even got my mom to try it for a few days.

Yet another time I saw some information about Raw Food on TV. It was Angela Stokes’ story. I was amazed. She looked so happy and beautiful. It wasn’t just the physical beauty that got me. It was the mental beauty too. Every time I saw before and after pictures of people who were eating living, raw food, they looked so wonderful. Sometimes people look funny after they lose weight. The look like someone let the air out of them, their eyes look dead, and their hair looks awful.

None of the Raw Food weight loss results looked like that, and for the most part, they weren’t selling much. I mean, you aren’t going to make much money by saying “Eat raw whole foods” yes, there are super-foods, and there are vitamins, there is raw and organic makeup, so there is potential for money, but overwhelmingly I don’t feel most of the people I have read about are trying to sell me something and certainly they aren’t telling a lie. In fact when I have contacted some of the “gurus” they have been very generous with their time, and even products.

The proof is to look at them. Look at the before and after stories on youtube.com(tm), look at the pictures in the books. Read the stories. See their spirit.

It all culminated in me finally trying to “be” raw for a week. That was I think three weeks ago, but it may as well be a lifetime because in three weeks something has completely changed inside me.

Tags: Becoming Raw, eating raw food, losing weight on raw food, raw food diet
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