Raw Rabble

Being A Bit More Relaxed and the End of Juice Feasting

My juice feast ended on Thursday. I did 54 days in total and feel quite pleased with how long I managed to stick with it. I'll definitely be doing it again.

Towards the end I was getting very hungry and food obsessed. I'd been a bit like that earlier, but this was more intense and I was really worried I'd end up having a major binge and make myself ill. Also, next Thursday there is a pot luck at my house. It would be on day 62. If I'd started feast breaking after day 60 I would have had to sit and watch everyone eating while I was only allowed prunes. Somehow I think, being so close to eating properly, I would have been in hell. So here I am on day 3 out of 6 of the feast breaking schedule. I'm SO looking forward to eating normally again, and to that pot luck!! Don't you just love it when you get to taste other people's food for a change?

As I said in my last post, the children have been having odd bits of cooked rice and boiled potatoes this last week. They have really gone mad for it. I can't understand why. It is so BLAND! I don't use butter on the spuds, just a bit of oil. They have cut down a bit on the cashew nuts though and certainly the twins seem to be eating more apples, cucumber, berries and bananas. I really don't want to get too much into the habit of making cooked carbs, but for the moment it seems to be keeping them happy.

I've become very aware recently of the potential for creating food issues in my kids and I think things were getting a bit that way before. Cutting them a bit of slack like this does seem to be making things more relaxed. They talk about whether things are raw or not a lot, and Cameron in particular, often asks when we are going to stop being raw. I feel we need to step back a little and not be so serious. Better the kids have a few bowls of rice and potatoes with their salad than endless bags of sweeties, pizza and all the rest of it. I don't want them to grow up feeling they have to stuff their faces with junk when my back's turned in order to have some control in their lives.

Something Warm for a Change

Tonight, after watching the children eat a lot of fat today, I had a good think. It's been going on a while now. I did start my children on this raw diet in the autumn. I'm wondering if the fat thing is their way of dealing with going raw in winter. None of my kids are overweight and they don't have that much body fat to keep them warm.

Maybe starting them on raw in autumn wasn't such a great idea. Being raw in the winter is alright by me, I've been through it and it doesn't faze me. The first winter on raw can be a challenge though. It must be hard on them. Maybe in the warmer months they'll be eating less fat and more high water content food.

As a result of my deliberations, I cooked them some brown rice tonight. I wanted them to feel full on something other than cashew nuts and the avocado I put in chocolate pudding! I think I'm going to do a bit of cooked rice or quinoa occasionally for them until the weather gets warmer. I feel they need it somehow. Well, I'll see how it goes.

The thing that has made me reluctant to do this so far has been that I don't want them to think it's a free for all on cooked food. I'm going to keep a tight rein on it and make sure it isn't.

Sometimes in the wholefood shop lately I've succumbed and bought them crisps and other non raw items. I seem to be feeling a bit sorry for my kids. I think it's the juice feast I'm on. It makes me very emotional. I don't want to take the children to McD's but I feel like I'm being very hard on them. Perhaps I'm unconsciously sympathising with myself! I do have to watch them all eat such lovely raw food. (I've become really creative while juice feasting, on the culinary front.) Cameron likes wheat free cherry bakewells. I used to buy them and he wants them so much. Is it so bad to let him have them occasionally? Oh help! I'm wavering! Just wait. When the juice feast ends, I'll turn back into a mad, raw food Nazi mother again!

Juice Feasting

I'm forty days into my juice feast now and feeling pretty good. It's an interesting journey, full of ups and downs emotionally and physically. I've lost a stone (14lb) now and hope to lose a bit more before my time's up. My first goal is to get to 60 days if possible. (If I don't run out of money first. All the produce costs a fair bit on top of my normal budget for the 6 of us.) The morning routine is a bit time consuming, especially at the beginning. Lots of activities to support your "organs of elimination". Enemas, contrast showers and skin brushing are the order of the day. I find it all quite self indulgent, which is nice, as I've spent so much time running about after everyone else these last few years.

Trying to do this while feeding the family is a bit like being raw in a family of cooked food eaters again. I have to detach myself from whatever I'm making and make sure I look after my own needs first, so I don't get tempted. One of the funny things is my sense of smell has become very acute. I can actually enjoy food by just smelling it now. The idea of actually eating it seems a bit strange. I've also become very interested in making new recipes for some reason and I'm being very creative. Unfortunately I can't really taste anything, so Joe has become my official taster. Unless it's something he doesn't like the look of, which is a pain as I have to wait for hubby to give me his verdict when he comes home from work. I'm really looking forward to tasting all my newly discovered recipes later. I think I'll have to be careful to avoid full on gluttony when the time comes.

Here's one of my favourite juices. I came up with this when I was making food and had a craving for onions. It really blows the cobwebs away!

Spicy Salad Juice (makes approx 1 litre)

8 - 10 tomatoes (the redder the better)
1/2 head of celery
1/2 cucumber
1 red pepper
1 small red onion
5 or 6 sprigs basil (including stems)
small piece of fresh chilli
1/4 tsp salt

Juice everything in a juicer or blend and strain through a nut milk bag.

Raw Cake and Not So Raw Cake

Well we had our chocolate cake from Raw Living. It arrived on the Tuesday after Easter. It smelled gorgeous. Martin and Joe ate most of it. The others had a little, but I think it was too rich for them. I'm looking forward to having another cake later on after my juice feast is over.

The children are still eating a lot of fat. Cashew nuts in particular. I think it fills them up. I'd rather they ate more fruit and veg, but I'm going with the flow. I think giving them a hard time about it will probably be counter productive. They do also eat a lot of cucumber, carrot, sweetcorn, celery, bananas, apples, oranges, strawberries and dates between them. Also Rosie and Cameron are quite partial to lettuce and spinach, so I can't grumble too much.

Most weekends the kids go to see Martin's parents. Martin's mum often has home made cake and, as she's in her late 80's, it's a bit hard to say no to the kids having some. She doesn't really understand what's going on with the children's diet. I remember when I went raw. She thought I was just on a weight loss diet and kept saying, "You can make an exception now and again, can't you?" I don't think she's ever had food issues and doesn't realise that one piece of cake would likely lead to me eating the whole thing!  Martin's dad could never quite work out why I didn't eat meat. Ever since I've known him I've been at least vegetarian. He has kept offering me meat at every meal, over and over, as if he expects I'll suddenly change my mind. We really have to work hard not to offend them sometimes. They really don't get it. 

The three little ones really are hyperactive when they get home. Erin in particular, is really sensitive to what she eats. She often comes home from their house and has a major tantrum. The sugar's to blame I guess. Sometimes I think the easiest thing is to go and live miles from all the relatives. That way we'd only have to deal with all this very occasionally. Seeing the relatives on a regular basis really makes it difficult to be consistent.