RawFu Challenge - Day 58

Tuesday, 06 October 2009

The past few days have been busy with a houseguest, homeschooling activities and just the general upkeep and maintenance of a home and family. I seriously feel like I just run out of time at the end of every day. Projects I intend to get to the next day, keep getting put off. This is leaving me somewhat distrustful of the fact that I will ever have enough time to feel I’ve had a fully productive day, and cognizant of the fact that I may have to make peace with this feeling and best utilize and appreciate the time I do have, rather than lamenting that which I don’t! Ya… easier said than done.

Today I finally had a day with not much on the schedule. This afternoon, I had to go into the grocery store to pick up a few things for the kids, so I ran down while Zofia was napping and Darren was working. It was good timing for napping, but not for shopping, because I went when I was really hungry. I got the few things I needed, then grabbed a couple bags of organic green and red grapes, thinking it’s the end of the season, and I’d splurge, since they looked really good. Grapes are like nature’s candy… love ‘em! But, when I eat too many at once, I find they give me the same feeling as if I’d eaten something really sugary. And, while I ran the rest of my errands, I munched on a few too many grapes, then arrived home feeling like I was on a bloated sugar high. Oh well, live and learn.

This past weekend, I decided to start a local raw foods potluck group through MeetUp.com. Two months into our raw food challenge, I’m feeling the need to commune with others and hear about some other people’s experiences. So, our first potluck will be on November 7, just a week or so before the completion of our 100 day challenge. But, I’m feeling good and having fun with this, so I won’t be changing much on day 101. I like eating this way, but if I ever crave (in a healthy, intuitive, not stressed out kind of way) something, I’ll eat it. I foresee maybe including some cooked veggies, beans and stuff like quinoa or rice in my diet over the winter, just to facilitate a few family meals that don’t involve dishes, but we’ll see.

I like the challenge of seeing what I can create with whole raw foods. So far, I do not feel deprived or like anything is missing at all. We’ve made cookies, chips, ice cream, chocolate, puddings, soups, dips, pâtés , noodles, salads, smoothies and more. Some days, it is easy to get in kind of a food rut, gravitating towards just smoothies and salads, but I don’t think being in a rut is inherent to the raw food diet, but just simply a byproduct of a busy life and fatigue. Regardless, I’ll continue to challenge myself to find balance, create tasty, nourishing foods for myself and my family, and be open to change, as it is inevitable.