Rainy Days

Rainbows are always my favorite part of rain!

Alright, I lied, no pictures from walking this morning; because it didn't happen. It was dumping rain this morning. But now that the rain is gone, it's turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun is shining, being interrupted only by a few clouds. So I've decided to go for a bike ride after I'm done with todays post. I also have some good news! I'm now on Pinterest! I'll be pinning new blog posts along with recipes, quotes, and some other stuff. If you're interested in following my pins the link is down by the music video. Going back to a normal topic, I'm slowly getting my energy back, even though I still have a leftover cough from being sick. I've been eating good, no slip ups there. Even though I've had mexican salad for lunch four days straight. Or has it been five? I'm not sure. It's just been so good! I'm planning on getting a new bicycle, that way I can stop borrowing my brothers, even if he doesn't use it. I'll take a picture as soon as I get one. Also, my grandfather, who I don't get to see very often, will be coming to visit tomorrow. We will be going out to eat several times while he is here. Please be praying that I'll have the willlpower not eat something I shouldn't. And again, come check me out Pinterest. And tell your friends about my blog on Facebook. I don't have Facebook, otherwise I'd be doing it myself! Anything you do will be greatly appreciated. See you on Friday!

https://www.pinterest.com/noodledoodl1560/

Monday Apology

A large apple is a good example of a fist sized food portion.

Yep, It's Monday again. And I have a perfectly good excuse for not posting last week. Remember last Monday when I said I wasn't feeling the best and hoping it wasn't going to turn into anything worse? Well, It turned into a full blown head cold with laryngitis I'm still recovering from it. My voice still sounds like I was strangled the moment before. But, I succeeded in not eating the foods I really wanted, and ate the foods that I was supposed to. I did gain about a pound this week, so I'm at 226.5 but that was sort of expected. When you do a cleansing diet (like raw) for a week, nothing really stays in your system for very long since it's so easily digested. When you come back off of the cleansing diet, you gain a pound or two purely from foods that don't get processed as easily like meats. All I have left to do is decrease my portions and I should continue losing weight. If you keep portions small it will cut down digestion time and give your body more time to burn fat as fuel instead of food. I'm going to keep my food portions to about the size of my fist. If you've done any kind of dieting at all, then you've heard that your stomach is about the same size as your fist. That's sort of the precept that I'm going with. I'll make sure I do better writing my blog posts, I know they've been a little erratic lately. Wednesday, if it's nice out, I might just post pictures from my walk. I often encounter something interesting. One time I had a hawk land ten feet away on the ground after I watched it dive bomb for a squirrel. It missed it's breakfast, but it was cool to watch! Hopefully it'll have stopped raining by then, but either way I'll see you Wednesday!

Week Of Raw Conclusion

Week Of Raw Start Weight - 230 Lbs.

Week Of Raw End Weight - 225.2 Lbs.

I did it! I got through the week of raw and lost weight! Nearly five pounds off, It's better than I was expecting. Overall the past week was really good, even with the hot dog slip up. The first three days were the worst, mostly because of the sugar crash headache, but after that it was actually pretty easy. Plus I've been sleeping better. I feel good, and I have a normal energy level. I didn't feel deprived, I didn't feel sorry for starting it. I feel amazing. The past few days I've been thinking about how I want to continue. I think the best course is the same as I've done for the past week, only adding in some meat. I'm going to cut out grains almost entirely, and sugar completely. I don't ever want to repeat the first three days of headaches and no energy. I'm going to incorporate a daily bike ride as the bare minimum for exercise. And twice a week I'll be doing weight training. Today might end up being an exception to exercise, I woke up with a little bit of a scratchy throat. I'm praying that it doesn't turn into anything worse like a cold. I don't like being sick, but I really hate being the one responsible for getting everybody else sick. Another thing I want to implement is rewards. I won't reward myself with ice cream or cookies, but I might with something like a bottle of nail polish or a new piece of jewelry. I was thinking every ten to fifteen pounds get something small. If you have any ideas put them in the comments, I'm always open to a different perspective. I might not always try it, but I'll always think about it. My next post will be Wednesday, so I'll see you then!

Week Of Raw Day 7!

Thai Crunch Salad  with dressing.

Last day of the week long challenge! I'm feeling pretty good about it. Last night however we got together with our fellowship, and I had to walk away from all sorts of good looking foods. There was buttered noodles with Italian sausage, chili with crackers, and not to mention cake. It all looked so good, but then I remembered just how much I wanted to lose weight. I ate the Thai crunch salad we brought, and I was ok. I promised yesterday that I would share the recipe with you, and I'll be true to my word. It's a bit labor intensive because of all the chopping involved, but it is SO worth it! The flavors in this salad really set it apart from anything else I've had before. The Kimchi pickles on the other hand are super easy to make, and I'd bet that the recipe would be just as good on something like shredded carrot. It's amazing, I'm actually excited about weigh day tomorrow. I can't wait to see whether or not I've lost anything on this raw adventure. Hopefully I have. I guess I'll let you know tomorrow! And be sure to let me know if you try the recipes!

Hot Kimchi Pickles

Kimchi Pickles.

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbs. vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp. honey
1tsp. sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic smashed
1/4 tsp. hot pepper flakes
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions: In a bowl, toss the cucumber with the salt; let stand for 15 minutes then drain.
Add all other ingredients and toss to combine. Enjoy!



Thai Napa Crunch Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 head of napa cabbage, chopped
1/2 head of purple cabbage, shredded/chopped
5 large carrots, shredded
1/2 head or more of torn salad greens
3 greens onion stems, ends diced
1/2- 1 cup of almonds, chopped or sliced
2 chicken cooked breasts chopped or shredded (optional)

*Optional: You could also add in red bell pepper, cucumber, fresh edamame, basil, fresh sweet corn, cubed avocado, or other base ingredients to your salad as well.

Directions: Assemble all ingredients, and toss together. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve alongside of Cilantro Peanut Dressing. Garnish with additional chopped almonds, cilantro, and/or green onions

Cilantro Peanut Dressing (For Thai Crunch Salad)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
5 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
1-2 limes (or lemon) juiced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 inch of ginger, minced (cut off the peel)
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame seed oil
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
handful of cilantro

Directions: Place all ingredients into a high powered blender, blend for 10-15 seconds until thoroughly blended.

Week Of Raw day 5 and 6

Scouting is looking for signs of deer in the woods.

Alright, I know I didn't post yesterday, so I'll update you all on what went on. First off, yesterday morning was pretty normal. I woke up, made fruit salad for breakfast, and started on school. Then, one of my friends called up and invited us over for scouting and a homeschool group bonfire afterward at the camp where they live. My family accepted the offer, so around three I headed over with my brother. Three hours of walking around the woods up and down steep hills later. We met up with other people who had come for the fire. So, long story short, I had a hot dog and grapes for dinner. Which completely blows my raw food challenge out the window. But the good news is that I'm right back to it today, and that I got a lot of exercise yesterday. We played a game that had to be the most fun ever! Human foosball! Yep, it's exactly what you think it is, and you want to know for sure, google it. It was a blast! Today has been fairly easy, even though I had to watch people eating cheeseburgers and fries in front of me at lunch. That sort of stunk. But I had my salad and I was good to go! I had also made spicy Kimchi pickles. They're absolutely addicting! I'll put out the recipe tomorrow. For dinner tonight, I'll be having thai nappa crunch salad with a cilantro dressing. I'll put that one up tomorrow too. Today I'll leave you with one of my all time favorite songs by Rend Collective Experiment. I find it a good reminder that I can do anything as long as I'm doing it for Christ. See you tomorrow!

Week Of Raw Day 4

Kiwi berry (left) next to regular kiwi fruit.

I've got something interesting to show you today. Anyone like kiwi fruit? how about mini kiwi fruit? My mom went to Sam's Club today and brought back a nice treat. They're called kiwi berries or hardy kiwi. The skin is smooth and edible so they don't have to be peeled. The inside tastes the same as a normal kiwi while the skin gives a very slight tartness to it. I personally love kiwi, so I found these pretty cool. Other than that, today has been pretty uneventful. I had another strawberry smoothie for breakfast and my normal salad for lunch. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing for dinner yet, but I think I'm going to skip salad and have something different. Maybe a lettuce wrap or zucchini pasta. A change up is going to be welcome after 4 days of salads and fruit. But I've felt really good both today and yesterday. Whether or not I've lost any weight, who knows. I'll be weighing next Monday like normal. So until then, I'll just be guessing. I'm going to exercise tomorrow morning to see how my energy holds up. I could have done it today, but I had other things to do like school. I may be home schooled, but that doesn't mean I get off easy. It just means I get to make my own healthy foods! If I end up making anything interesting tonight that tastes good, I'll post the recipe along with a picture tomorrow. So see you then!

Week Of Raw Day 3

Unsweetened raw almond milk.

Day 3 of the raw food challenge! Today has gone very well so far, I had a smoothie for breakfast and a GIANT salad for lunch. Plus, my headache is GONE! I'm feeling great, my energy is normal, yesterday's lack of appetite is back to a normal hunger for food. For breakfast I made raw almond milk, something I hadn't made in a few years, It turned out beautiful. Then I turned it into a strawberry smoothie. Almond milk is super easy to make and tastes way better than almond milk you can buy at the stores. At least that's what I think. All you need to do is blend a handful of almonds with a cup of water and a few ice cubes then strain it through a cheese bag. If you don't strain it the milk will just be very gritty. So if you like grit in your milk, go for it. But when it is strained it becomes very smooth, it's almost like half and half creamer. I like both drinking it plain with a little sweetener or unsweetened in smoothies. Everything I've had this week has tasted wonderful, it really shows me that healthy can also be delicious. Dinner tonight is mexican salad with fresh salsa and guacamole dressing. Mexican food is my favorite, so I can't wait for it! Alright, that's all for today. I'll be seeing you tomorrow at the halfway point!

Breakfast.

Week Of Raw Day 2

Super sweet!

Day 2, I still have a head ache. Other than that, it's going good. Something weird I noted this morning is that I didn't really care if I ate. I wasn't really hungry for anything. Raw stuff, meat, bread, none of it. It just wasn't interesting. Either way, I still had to eat something, so I had fruit salad and avocado for lunch. Breakfast got skipped, but I'm still going strong. I'll admit that I ate a pickle for a snack. As ridiculous as it sounds, but that's what I really wanted. I'm not going to make a huge fuss over a pickled vegetable. Another thing I want to mention is one of the fruits I put in my lunch salad. I diced a ripe persimmon into it, and it was amazing! Persimmon is high in vitamin A and C. Not to mention it's like eating raw candy! Next time you see one, give it a try! My dinner tonight will be a normal salad with some beans on top, unlike earlier, I'm hungry, so I can't wait! I also got a new 32 oz. water bottle today that will make keeping track of water consumption easier. Seems like it's a sturdy bottle, so it should last a while. Alright, that's all for now. I'm off to start chopping veggies!

My new water bottle.

Week Of Raw Day 1!

Lunch!

 

 Before. After is under construction. (:

Day 1 of the raw food challenge!  I'm pretty excited about this, even though I know it's going to be hard, It'll be great!. I've eaten a large apple for breakfast, and I just had a salad for lunch. It had beet, bell pepper, onion, cucumber, and my 1/4 cup of beans for the day on top. The beets turned everything pink! Including the fingers I used to put it on. I haven't excised today, but I've done good with water; 60 ounces down! I'd like to get 80 if not 100 ounces per day. I feel like I should just get a gallon jug and fill my glass with that. My before pictures sort of look like mugshots, but it works. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good. I've got a slight headache, but that was to be expected because of sugar withdrawal. I guess that is all for today. I'll be doing daily updates all this week, so see you tomorrow!

Before raw start weight - 230 lbs.

7 Day Raw Challenge

First off, sorry I missed the Wednesday post. It was a super busy day, then on top of it I had an incredibly bad headache. Ok, now onward to today. I need to restart my system. Cravings have been absolutely horrible this week, and I feel horrible. So I'm doing a seven day raw food cleanse starting Monday. It will help me get my head out of the gutter and actually help me eat healthier foods. This does not mean that the last bit of this week I'm going to eat whatever the heck I want; I'm still going to try to eat the best I can before I start. I know it's not going to be easy, but I need to be eating the fresh foods that will heal my body. This will hopefully kickstart weight loss. During the cleanse, I will likely be giving you a short update each day on how I feel, what I've eaten, and what exercise I've done.
The rules are below. If you want to do this with me or have any questions, put it in the comments below!

7 Day Raw Cleanse.

Breakfast - Juice or smoothie

Lunch - Salad

Snack - Fruit, nuts, something small

Dinner - Salad or other raw creation

Rules: No meat, dairy, grains, or artificial sweeteners. No sugar except what is naturally occurring in fruit. Nuts and beans are allowed in small amounts (No more than a quarter cup each day). 

I'll be posting before weightless full body pictures on the first day of the cleanse. I'm not thrilled about pictures, as most overweight people aren't. But I'm going to do it anyway so you can see what I'm starting with. I will see you all on day one!

Not So Good...

Sorry for posting this a day late, our company stayed over an extra day, and the rest of the yesterday was taken up. But either way I guess I owe you all a weight update since it's past Monday now. Let me just say that this weekend of eating stunk, all sorts of goodies were made and eaten because I just don't have the willpower yet to resist. So I gained all the weight back I lost, plus two pounds. How's that for lame. I believe the extra two pounds can be attributed to Chinese buffet we had yesterday. I only had a plate and a half, but the food that you get outside of home contains a large amount of salt, which causes your body to retain water. Losing weight isn't only hard, I think it's one of the hardest things a person can chose to do. Denying the flesh (Titus 2:12) is more difficult than I imagined, but this week, I know I can do better. That I will do better. On a brighter side, the visit with my friends, the ones who took over my room, went very well, we had awesome fellowship over the weekend. Plus, this upcoming weekend, friends of mine from England are coming to visit, I'm not going to allow this weekend to be as bad as the last. So please be praying for me in that respect. Sorry this is so short, this post is rushed as I'm going to be gone for the rest of today. I will be posting tomorrow as normal. No pictures, but I'll leave you with a song. See you tomorrow!

A Splash of Goodness

Tropical Goodness is another one of my favorites.

Having a harder time this week with eating, I've had a headache and a splurge day (Taco salad, pretzels and iced coffee). Plus a weird craving for milk, which I don't normally like. Other than that my eating has been ok, but I don't feel like I've lost any more weight, I'm going to keep on going and hope for the best. I think the worst part of trying to eat good, is that after about a week, you start to realize all of the little things that are in the house that are unhealthy. Stuff like like crackers and bread. Thankfully, I've found a healthy alternative for when I want a snack that tastes amazing. You've probably seen them in your local Walmart before, Bolthouse Farms juice. They're a wonderful treat, and all of the flavors I've tried have been good; my favorite being Green Goodness. They aren't too high in calorie, so they would make a good breakfast too. It was about time for some more music, and since this song's been on my mind a lot lately, that's what you get. Music really helps me when I'm down and out. Matthew West is one of my favorite artists and his music is often on in my room.  What's you're favorite healthy snack? Let me know in the comments!I'm not going to post tomorrow, I've got company using my room, and that's where my computer is. So Monday will be my next post  I'll probably get some before pictures put up. That way you can see what I'm dealing with. See you on Monday!