The End of Our 4-Week Raw Vegan Challenge

Yesterday was the last day of our 4-week Raw Vegan Challenge! And what a great day it was! Nick, my mom, and I all went to Blue Springs and spent the day there. We brought a delicious Kickass Kale Salad and some lovely mangoes! We drank coconut water, jumped off a high dock into the spring, and canoed lazily down the river. It was a beautiful day.

Nick and I both enjoyed our Raw Adventure so much! The foods were all incredible and the results were just amazing. We wanted to share how we felt about this whole raw vegan thing, so we documented our thoughts below.

************************************************

NICK'S THOUGHTS

So, where to begin? We have just completed our 4 week challenge of 100% raw foods...about halfway through we changed it to follow more of the 811 diet (80% of cals from carbs, 10% of cals from fat, 10% of cals from protein). Over the course of the month, I went from 202 lbs. to 186 lbs, a change of 16 lbs. My skin has cleared up on my face and back. I have felt clear headed at work and have had high energy. The foods we have eaten have been very good every day (except the second day, too many mushed up foods). There are many positives to this diet, and lifestyle. As far as I can tell there are almost no negatives to this diet at the same time. It just feels natural and right. For now I want to continue with these eating habits; I do not know if I am ready to 100% commit myself to a completely raw diet, but I will be taking it a week at a time. It feels like a huge change to me, but looking back over this month it hasn’t been hard at all. I don’t know why I am hesitant to commit myself to this permanently, I love the foods, the energy, and being so clearheaded. This feels biologically right to me. I suppose changing what you have known all your life is a difficult choice, coming into this I was happily an omnivore. Going from the Standard American Diet to completely raw and vegan feels like night and day… maybe it’s the change I need. Looking at my thoughts it seems like it should be plain which path I should take. I will give it some time. For now nothing is changing; I will stay with the 811 plan.

Missy's Thoughts

Alright, my turn. I’ll start with the physical stuff. During our Raw Vegan 30-Day Challenge, I lost a total of eleven pounds (going from 140 to 129 pounds). My skin has cleared up, but not quite as much as Nick’s (I still have some blackheads on my face). I have a lot more energy and motivation to get things done. My addiction to refined sugar is GONE. That is probably the best thing I could ever have done for myself…breaking my sugar addiction. Even though we have raw cacao in the house, my chocolate addiction seems to be gone, as well. When we go grocery shopping, chocolate bars, cookies, etc. don’t even really register as “food” anymore. Maybe that’s because they’re not.

As for the emotional stuff…well, it feels good to be vegan again. I’ve been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for about seven and a half years, but I was vegan for the first six months. When I started eating eggs and dairy again, I always bought free-range/organic eggs and always organic dairy as much as possible. But whenever we went out to eat, I didn’t concern myself with whether or not the eggs or dairy were organic. And there was always guilt. When I first went vegetarian all those years ago, I did it because I simply did not want to be responsible for the death of these intelligent animals. Yet, by continuing to consume eggs and dairy products, I felt quite the hypocrite. It is so freeing to know that no animals are dying for the food that I eat.

I also feel like Nick and I have gotten closer throughout this past month. It’s been so much fun to create and eat these new foods together. We have only gone out to eat once (and got big ol’ salads!) since beginning this adventure, so we spend more time together enjoying our meals at home. It feels meditative and intimate. He’s been my support person throughout this whole thing, and I’m not sure I could have done it without him. It’s just so nice to be with someone who is spontaneous and will try new things with you. I love that man.

So, I will be continuing a high-fruit low-fat raw vegan diet permanently (unless the Zombie Apocalypse happens…then I might eat cooked rice or possibly human brains). There is simply no way I could go back to eating the way I was before. I just feel too good, emotionally and physically. I’m really happy! This adventure has literally changed my life!

**************************************************

And so I don't end this post without including a bit of food porn, our dinner was an amazing mango salsa salad. The ingredients in the mango salsa were ripe champagne mangoes, tomatoes, red bell peppers, one jalapeno pepper, purple onion, garlic, celery, cilantro, and lemon juice...all mixed up in a big bowl. Then we mixed in the zucchini noodles and served it all over baby spinach. It was just incredible. Pure, simple food. It doesn't get any better than this, folks.

Day 13!!

You may be wondering why I post the day's entry at around one in the morning (which is technically the day after). Well, the reason is that Nick works a late shift and usually doesn't get home until around 11:30pm or midnight. Then we have dinner, then we clean up the kitchen, and only then do I have time to blog. I would post the next morning instead of so late at night, but I'm too afraid that I'll forget what I want to say. So until Nick no longer works late, this is how it works for us. :)

Nick's mom Lynn and her friend Whitney came over for brunch today! It was very nice to see them, and we had a lovely late morning/early afternoon meal of Raw Zucchini Spaghetti and Walnut Meatballs. You may remember that we also had this meal last week and it was such a success that we decided to make it again. And lo and behold, it was a success once again! Both Lynn and Whitney raved about how yummy and filling it was, and asked lots of questions about raw foods. Unfortunately, in the hustle and bustle of food preparation and hostessing, I forgot to take photos of the lovely meal! So you'll just have to trust me when I say it was pleasing to both the eye and the palate. ;)

Lunch: Fruit and Cream. Mmmm...something about this meal seriously reminded me of some sinful comfort food. It was soft, sweet, luscious. Ripe banana, ripe honey mango, ripe blueberries from the farmer's market, and topped with fresh cashew milk that we made yesterday. I find it so strange that this girl who used to commonly say, "I just don't like fruit. I prefer veggies." is now CHOWING DOWN on delicious ripe fruits and wanting more and more. I could seriously eat this stuff all day.



Snack: Trail Mix Part 2. I make this trail mix mainly for Nick, who takes a little baggie of it to work every night. This batch has almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, golden raisins, goji berries, chopped dates, chia seeds, and sea salt. This batch was really cool because the chia seeds all stuck to the sticky raisins, making it easier to eat them!



Dinner: Waldorf Salad. This was a delicious and unique salad! I've never had Waldorf Salad before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but this was really tasty. We used a lot of grapes and left the agave nectar out of the dressing. Also, I ran out of walnuts, so those weren't included, and also ran out of celery but used a small, crisp cucumber instead. We would definitely make this salad again!



Nick and I are going to be doing a little side experiment of raw living next week, so stay tuned for the menu and grocery list. I am exhausted tonight and didn't have time to do it, so it will be the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning. Then we're going for a bike ride! And then we'll be doing homework for the rest of the day. Oh joy. :P

P.S. I forgot to mention! My quinoa and green lentils have SPROUTED!!! Still waiting on the sesame seeds. I will take a picture tomorrow when the sprouts are a little bigger and easier to see. Good night!

Day 10 and The Great Durian Adventure

Dudes...today, Nick and I ate durian fruit for the first time.

But first...Breakfast: Mango Banana Dream. We made a similar dish after our raw samosa mishap, only that time, we topped the bananas with a mango puree. This time, I wanted to eat mango chunks, so we chopped all the fruit, put it in a bowl, and topped it with raw cashews and shredded coconut. Divine!



Now, back to the durian. What is durian?--you ask. You may remember this fruit as being the only food Andrew Zimmerman (from the show "Bizarre Foods") would not take a second bite of, after he gagged and spit out the first bite. He bit off more than he could chew! (Har har.)

You may also have heard stories of durian...that mystical tropical fruit that is banned from some airports and not allowed to be eaten in some outdoor (yes, outdoor) cafes (This is a Durian-Free Zone!).

So, I'm here to tell you that a lot of what you hear is major hype. Nick and I went to our local Asian market this morning, picked a nice, ripe-looking durian, paid 8 bucks and change for it, and brought it home. And at lunch time...we cut it open and tried it for ourselves.



The smell of the fruit before it was opened was very much like an over-ripe cantaloupe that has been sitting in the sun for a long time. It didn't smell like sewer, rotten onions, or horribly smelly feet--all descriptions that I've heard used before.



The inside of the durian had a more pungent odor. But again, it was more like over-ripe cantaloupe than anything else. It wasn't repulsive, it was just different and strong.



Above is the durian flesh after it has been removed from the spiky shell. In your hand, it feels like egg custard that has a thicker sort of skin surrounding it. If you peel the skin/membrane off, the inside is like very soft custard/pudding.



The photo above is Nick's first taste of durian. He kind of only licked it here.



As you can see, his first actual bite was a bit more intense than the first lick/taste.



Haha!! So here's me taking my first bite! And here's what I can share about the experience. When I first bit into the flesh, my senses were overloaded with the very pungent, almost egg-like odor of the durian flesh along with a SUPER sweet taste. If I had been silly (like Andrew Zimmerman) and taken a huge bite all at once, it may have been too much for me and could have caused me to immediately spit it out. But because I took such a little bite, I was able to really taste it without judging it based on the combination of smell and flavor. And the flavor truly is hard to describe. Once you get past the smell, the taste is kind of like really sweet mangoes and bananas combined. But, the skin of the flesh...the membranous part...really does have an egg-like odor, kind of sulphur-y. So...I kind of cheated. I peeled the membrane/skin off the durian flesh, and then simply scooped out the pudding-like inside. That way, I got the sweet taste without the egg smell. :)



Panda Bear, however, LOVED the skin of the durian flesh, and because I had so much of it after peeling it off my pieces, I fed a LOT of it to Panda. He kept coming back and begging for more!

Oh, and it has seeds, see?



So...would I eat durian again? I have a friend who once told me that it took him a few times of experimenting with durian before he started to like it, and now he can't get enough of the stuff. (Thanks, Tim, for the great suggestion!) So I've decided to buy it again in a month or so, taste it again, and go from there. I did not hate durian, but it was an intense, unique experience that may take some getting used to. So we'll see what happens in the future!

Lunch: Raw Leftovers. I had some fresh english peas marinated in apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, and salt & pepper, along with leftover Beet Love Salad, and some portobello mushrooms marinated in Braggs, sesame oil, and a little bit of vinegar. Great lunch that balanced my taste and smell sensations after eating that durian. ;)



Dinner: Salad with Brazil Nut Cheez. Remember last night when I blogged about making brazil nut cheez? Well, it was finished today, and we topped our salad with it. It turned out delicious and creamy with the texture of goat cheese. We will definitely make it again! I'm looking forward to spreading it on celery sticks as a snack tomorrow.



I'd say today was an AWESOME day filled with yummy, interesting raw foods! Looking forward to another great day tomorrow. :)