RawFu Challenge - Day 95

Friday, 13 November 2009

Unfortunately, our attempts to defer purchasing a new computer were thwarted by the sudden demise of our old PC. So, we spent an unpleasant hour or two at Best Buy, trying to pick out the most affordable, yet functional, desktop computer. That accomplished, I spent the next two days trying to salvage stuff from the old computer, transfer it to the new one, and set things back up the way there were. Needless to say, the only time I have to do such things is late at night when the kids are sleeping. Thus, I'm feeling the disagreeable effects of sleep deprivation, and will shortly be heading to bed. At least I have the blissful opportunity of not having to get up TOO early tomorrow, so I have the chance at a decent night sleep.

When I'm chronically tired, I tend to eat more, under the false impression that food will somehow negate the effects of fatigue and give me the energy to forge onward through my day. Thankfully, my only potentially over consumed foods have been an extra cup of tea with almond milk, some frozen bananas or hemp seeds and raisins. Darren and I are quite ensconced in the daily routine of green smoothies and creative salad making, so those tend to be the staple meals. In the past couple days, I made another batch of granola, so we've alternated that once or twice, just to mix things up. We've also made more soups recently in the VitaMix, maybe for a little warmth. In addition, we've been adding kelp noodles to soups and salads, too, which give a little more texture and added minerals. We even tried some fresh yacon (fruit) this week from our produce co-op. So, we're not in a food rut anymore than we were ten years ago, eating the same three Lean Cuisine meals over and over!

One minor revelation I had the other day was that it has been a couple weeks since I had any coffee. I have drank a daily cup or two of decaf organic coffee with non-dairy milk for years. I really love the taste of coffee, and figured it was a minor vice that I wasn't willing to part with quite yet. However, the other day, I was making myself a cup of tulsi tea with fresh almond milk, possibly my newest vice, when it occurred to me that I couldn't remember when I'd last had a cup of coffee. My jar of Mount Hagen instant organic decaf coffee sits idly on the counter waiting for me to revisit, but I've not felt compelled recently. This may be due, in part, to the fact that I'm just drinking tea instead. But, I felt the draw to coffee, even decaf, to be strong, and for it to so casually lose its grip that I hardly noticed was interesting. Of course, I don't think we'll part ways with any finality right now, but the lessened degree of moderate dependency is probably a good thing for our relationship.

Tomorrow, Darren is taking Flo and Joe up to York, PA for a hockey game. Knowing that he would be gone most of the day, I helped him concoct a couple treats to take along. Using the pulp from the apple carrot juice we made today, I made a carrot cake-ish dish by just adding a little of the juice back, a squirt of agave, some raisins and coconut. Mushed that into a small container and topped with a little more coconut. Voila... portable dessert. For his dinner, we made a sauce out of hemp and pumpkin seeds, garlic, a little nutritional yeast, butternut squash, sea salt and spices, and poured that over kelp noodles, adding some chopped kale, red onion and diced carrot. It actually looks rather gourmet. The kids, on the other hand, get the econo-vegan option of black beans and rice. I don't have the energy to be anymore creative right now.

As the 100 day raw food challenge is coming to a close, I feel I've somewhat hit a plateau, both physically and emotionally. I'm aware of the need for change in order to facilitate some further forward movement. I'm open to some further moderate dietary challenges, though I like my changes in lifestyle, especially food, to be gradual and sustainable, so I don't think anything too radical is going to spark my interest right now. I'd love to do a juice fast sometime, and I know I should further tweak my diet if I want to really max out the health benefits of raw foods, but I'm in no rush. Therefore, as I reflect a bit upon the things that this challenge has revealed to me, I'm starting to ponder my next challenge. The possibilities are endless... no frivolous spending for 90 days, writing so many words per day for a story, going to bed by 11 every night, reading a challenging book, an exercise challenge, relationship challenges, creative challenges, social challenges... hmm... much to consider. After all, I like a good challenge!