There's a little devil in these angel eyes...

I have a confession to make....



....I'm human. No really, I'm dead serious. Or alive serious, I guess. You've got to believe me! I make mistakes-lots of them-most of which I need to repeat (at least once) before I learn from them; I procrastinate; I've buckle under pressure; I usually suffer from time-distortion (the thought that one has more time than they do, or that they can accomplish more in a given amount of time than logically possible); I get distracted, etc...I'm sure you get the picture. But worst of all, I'm a cheater. That's right. I cheat. Alot. Not on my boyfriend and not on tests, and not even on my taxes. But I do cheat on my diet. Faaaar to frequently, though no where NEAR as often as before I started 80/10/10.
That's the glory of this lifestyle. You are filling your body with so many nutrients, so many untainted calories, and most importantly, with so many carbs that your body just doesn't NEED anything else. In fact, as the millions of other 811-ers out there proclaim, it gives you boundless energy to the point that you can't help but move around.
BUT, and there is always a "but," I still have a couple cravings that linger around, most likely from being undercarbed, or from old fixations I have from the past.

What I used to crave	What I still crave	My healthy substitutions
white chocolate	white chocolate	cherimoya
milk	vanilla almond milk	coconut milk
chewy candy	chewy candy	dried fruit
gum
hookah		fresh air or a steam facial w/ lavender oil
cheese	cheese	nutritional yeast flakes + nama soyu
garlic	garlic	I'll just have a fresh clove
butter	butter	tahini w/ nutritional yeast
salt	salt	celery or nama shoyu
sashimi	sushi in general	"crushi" or dulse flakes on a steamed potato
red bean paste mochi	red bean paste mochi	dates + 1 cherry + matcha

Some rules I unapolegetically break on a regular basis:

1. I refuse to tan in the nude. Not in Cleveland, Ohio anyways.
2. Shampoo. I just can't give up the lather or clean feeling to go no-poo. Plus, I sleep next to my bf and that's just rude to go greasing up our pillows on a daily basis. Especially in the summer.
3. Honey. This is the biggest one. I don't know what it is about it, but I L-O-V-E the stuff. I justify my consumption by supporting local farmers who I know treat their bees ethically. 
4. I use nutritional yeast flakes. It's not 80/10/10, but it's still raw. 
5. I use tampons. Sorry, environment, but there's no way I'm going to use those menstrual cups. 
6. I drink wine on occasion. But I make sure it's vegan. My fave is La Chaudouillonne Sancerre 2007.  I also drink vegan beer. Not much, because it makes me puffy (not to mention tipsy-fast). Personally, I like anything from Abita Brewing Company. Check out Barnivore to see if what you're drinking is vegan-friendly. 
7. I eat steamed potatoes. I know, I know, not raw. BUT it does help me carb up. BIGTIME. Especially before a race or long run. 
8. I also like sea veggies. I don't care if monkeys don't eat them. I realize we evolved from monkeys and should eat like them, but monkeys themselves evolved from something right? Probably something that ate sea veggies. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I love them wrapped around "crushi" and they're a life-saving replacement for salt. 
9. I don't mind vinegar in my salads though I don't have it very much anymore.

Food for thought, thought for food

Anyone who's has been on the diet roller coaster throughout their lives knows how hard it is to do away with your cravings and bad habits. My experience on this ride has been more akin to riding The Mean Streak versus Millenium Force; (for all of you non-amusement park-goers, these are mean rides at Cedar Point and Geauga Lake in Ohio). From eating like a bear to eating like a bird to I've been from one extreme to the next and everywhere in between. It wasn't until I started to eat like a monkey, though, that I noticed any positive changes. I've come pretty far in terms of my diet, but I have quite a long way to go. It's been a wonderful process of really listening to my body and purifying my diet and environment. Here's some of the changes I've noticed throughout my journey. Most of them are weird, none of them bad. I'd love to hear from others as to what they went through when going raw vegan or about any fears some of you have about making the leap into this lifestyle!

• My nails don't have weird ridges on them anymore & are SUPER strong. 
• I don't get sunburned. It's almost like I can't. 
• I don't like gum anymore. It just tastes way too artificial and makes me uuber gassy.
• Tea makes me nauseous. This is a new thing, so I'll keep an update as to how long this lasts. 
• Just the SIGHT of meat makes me nauseous. I won't even get into the smell. Blyick! 
• As long as I keep my calories high, I'm super alert and creative. 
• Touching mango skin to my lips makes them burn; the reason, I'm guessing, is because mangoes are part of the same family as poison ivy. However, I'm not allergic to poison ivy. Seriously, I could roll around in it all day if I wanted to; and have in the past as a party trick.
• Bugs don't bother me very much anymore. Except fruit flies- but that's usually just when I'm eating. My solution for them? A cup of apple cider vinegar with dish soap set out on the counter lures them to their soapy demise.
• IF (and only IF) I keep my calories high in carbs, my muscles don't fatigue. AND they're not sore the following day, even if I forget to stretch.Which I do, alot. 
• My hair is thicker. I don't know if it's because I've switched to natural conditioners (working on shampoo), or if it's due to my diet.
• I don't use face soap or acne meds anymore. I used to stock up on Noxema and Benzoyl Peroxide/Salylic Acid treatments, and even used to be on meds for it, but now all I use is water and some herbal toner and I'm good to go. If I wear makeup, I take it off with these homemade coconut oil face wipes. If I get a zit, I dab on tea tree oil. I do supplement with 50mg of Zinc- a homeopathic remedy that seems to work wonders especially during THAT time of the month. More on "that" later...
• I used to sweat like a pig. Actually, I don't know if pigs sweat as much as I used to. Gross, yes. And it wasn't reserved to just when I was working out or when it was hot out. No, this was even while I slept. In fact, my boyfriend used to call me "his little sauna". Endearing, no? Now? I don't. Sometimes I'll get moist- especially if there's no air circulation, or I'll get a little bit of salt crystals along my hairline. 

• Poop. Everyone hates to talk about it, and I get it, it's pretty gross. But, like the children's book says, Everybody Poops. And although this may be TMI to the max, I was lucky if I had a movement every 2 days. Now I get one AT LEAST 2x per day. And it's so much easier to keep my stomach flat. 
• The biggest thing I've noticed is that I used to have edema. To the point that I could retain a 1 1/2 inch-deep pock mark in my calf for over 20 minutes. In addition to my acne meds, I used to also take a medication called Spironolactone for this excessive water retention. At first, the doctors blamed it on  my low protein intake (this was back in 2007), so I saw a nutritionist and a Naturopathic doctor and started eating eggs and protein powders= edema continued. Then I saw an endocrinologist and they blamed it on hormones, so I started this Spironolactone, which worked and allowed me to continue on a vegan diet. Then one day in 2009, about two months after I'd started raw veganism, I ran out of my prescription...AND health insurance.  So, I went against everything I'd learned in pre-med and discontinued my prescription. What I discovered was that the edema never returned. 

• Another added benefit of not taking Spironolactone anymore is that I can eat bananas and drink coconut water! Two of my FAVORITE things!! (Spironolactone is a "potassium-saving medication," and the doctors said if I consumed too much potassium that my heart could burst. Now, I eat up to 15 bananas a day-I've never gone on "banana island"-and my heart rate doesn't even increase.)
• I also used to have an extremely puffy face and hands-especially in the morning. Not so much anymore. 

welcome to my little raw blog

By stumbling upon this blog,  you've entered my personal library of raw food recipes. Some of these recipes are of my own creation, many are not. The original purpose of this blog is for my own reference to recipes I've found because I'm tired of comments on Pinterest from people I haven't seen from highschool. I will not attempt to take ownership of these recipes or their images, so if you find one of yours on here and would like me to remove it, do not hesitate to contact me and I will make sure to do so promptly. As for those that I have concocted, please acknowledge me if you do post them to another blog or website.

Now that THAT is out of the way...

...a little bit about me, just in case you're wondering. I am a mid-twenties low fat raw foodist that prescribes as closely to the 80-10-10 Diet by Dr. Graham as closely as possible in my hectic life. When I'm not preparing creative raw food meals, I am studying toward achieving a Naturopathic Doctorate, reading, running, getting out in the limited sun Cleveland, Ohio offers, Bodyrocking, and attempting to be a good employee, friend, godmother, and daughter.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm an open book! The same goes for suggestions; I'm completely open to criticism and change, so long as it's constructive. ;)

Just in case you might ask:

• My favorite fruit is a cherimoya. Or mangosteen. Or papaya. (depends on my mood)

• My favorite veggie is the humble zucchini because of its versatility. 
• My favorite book is Born to Run by Chris McDougall. My following favorites are 80/10/10 by Dr. Graham, Blended Medicine by Michael Castleman, and Dracula by Bram Stoker. Currently I'm reading Crime and Punishment by  Fyodor Dostoyevsky. If you know of any good ones, lemme know!
• I don't like any  nuts beyond pistachios, but i don't eat or cook with them. 
• My biggest pet-peeves are:1- people putting the toilet paper roll on backwards. 2-the texture of nuts (hence my issue with pistachios). 3-dirty/sticky counters. 4-knowing there is a fly indoors. I'm a self-diagnosed pteronarcophobic. Just look it up. 

• My go-to websites are: www.30bananasaday.com and www.bodyrock.tv
• This is my all-time favorite youtube video (I watch it every time I need a good laugh and I can't muster up the energy to produce one on my own.):