Today's Progress

I would like to say that losing weight will only be a beneficial side effect of eating this way. I am eating this way to improve my health. I only have about 10 pounds to lose at this point. I lost much of what I needed to lose over the last few years of eating primarily raw foods.

BlogDate 10/6/2010

My major health concerns right now are my hypothyroidism, pre-diabetes (insulin resistance), osteoporosis, arthritis and my immune system which seems to have been compromised.

I have taken blood tests and did a questionnaire for my thyroid doctor and will have an appointment with her in a couple of weeks to determine her recommendations in what I can and can’t eat. Trying to make the majority of my foods raw is going to be a challenge.

A few weeks ago my immune system was completely comprised. Whether it was the extensive travel I have been doing, and the stress of that, or the environment I was in, I crashed. I had such a horrible cough, runny nose and overall body aches and fever.

Once I returned home I started making soup broths to regenerate my body. I made bone marrow broths and vegetable broths. These were my cooked foods for the day. I also made some Chinese herb teas to help with my immune system. So, I have been continuing those in the hopes that they will help my system regenerate.

This morning I had a Chinese herbal tea mixture that I make out of rehmannia, reishi, schizandra berries, licorice, astragalus, poria, and other herbs. I added in some molasses (not raw) and some Shilajit (3 immortals from the ShamanShack). This is the drink that I have most morning. I drink it warm and not boiling. I slow cook a large batch of this once a week and keep it in the refrigerator. Then I take some out and slowly warm it on the stove to body temperature.

Later in the morning I made a smoothie using the tea and some water as the liquid. I added in ½ cup of berries and some Raw Warrior powder from Health Force Nutritionals. Added in a bit of coconut milk and it was delicious.

For lunch I warmed a cup of vegetable broth and had a small 4 oz. piece of ahi tuna raw. I love sashimi just plain. Sometimes I will make nori rolls with it but today I wanted it straight up. I always buy wild-caught fish and grass fed beef and chicken.

As you can see, my diet is not vegetarian or vegan. I am eating closer to a paleo diet but eating as much of it raw as I can.

I never went raw vegan for ethical reasons although I do understand all the concerns with factory farming. That is one thing that going vegan opened my eyes to. I wasn’t aware of how our commercial food or factory farmed animals were being raised. I am thankful for having my eyes opened to those issues.

But, I am not into the dogma of the extreme vegans. I can’t be. If I follow that, I know I will die. I have followed it for many years and found that my immune system became weaker and weaker for various reasons.

For now, I will eat what I need to eat to be healthy. If I am told I need to add more than just the broths and teas into my diet, I will seriously have to consider it.

For dinner this evening I made a large salad with mesclun mix and herb mix. I added half of a cucumber, 2 tbsp. red onion, with a dressing of coconut oil, olive oil, tahini, apple cider vinegar, and a clove of garlic. Very tasty. I also ate an extremely rare 6oz. piece of buffalo tenderloin steak. Also very tasty.

Topped that off with about 3 oz. of almonds.

That was my day today.