I've been trying to limit or eliminate my intake of the following items:
- chemicals
- preservatives
- hormone-based animal products
- synthetic materials
- food cooked in aluminum
- artificial colors and flavors
- meats
- canned foods
- cooked oils
- overcooked and packaged foods
- old and rotting food
- foods frozen for too long
- inorganic materials
- processed foods
- unknown and unpronounceable substances
- cooked fruits
- cooked vegetables
- cooked grains
- cooked beans
- frozen foods
- foods dried at high temperatures
And I've been trying to include more of the following, but I still have a lot of work to do in this area:
- raw, live, organic food
- whole food
- amino-rich food
- enzyme-rich food
- food dried at low temperatures
- rejuvenating food
- sprouts and chlorophyll-rich food
- cultured food
- medicinal herbs
- fresh, wild, hand-picked food
Items from the above lists were taken from The Raw Truth: The Art of Preparing Living Foods. The author puts them into categories that range from "Bio-Destructive" to "Bio-Regenerative". This book in particular also says that 60% of your food intake should be items from the "Fresh Foods" category, 20% should be from the "Sprouted Foods" category, 10% should be from "Cultured Foods", and the last 10% should be from "Dried Foods".
However, I have also heard that as long as at least 51% of your food intake is raw, you're set. That way, your body gets enough of a break from processing non-raw food items.
Luckily, to help me in this food-venture, I have been very fortunate to receive a gift of a Vitamix blender/food processor from my Mom. With this new toy, I have been able to try all kinds of juices and smoothies that I couldn't have tried otherwise. To give you an idea of its power, this machine will liquify carrots!!
Since the above-mentioned book spoke so highly of sprouts, I have tried twice to grow my own sprouts and have had no luck. The first time I tried lentils - and they sprouted like crazy! - but I had put way too many in the jar and I had to give it up. The second time I tried garbanzo beans, and after a few days they just turned black in the jar. I'm guessing they should have been put on a tray or damp paper towel after the initial sprouts came out.
In terms of my diet, what I've been doing during the week is having one mostly-fruit/some-veggie smoothie in the morning, a mid-morning snack of a banana, a regular lunch (sandwich, salad, yogurt, etc.), then a mostly-veggie smoothie in the evenings. On weekends, I'll have 1-2 smoothies each day, allowing for 1 meal per day to be more of a social nature. (i.e. going out with friends to a restaurant)
I'll admit, it was very difficult for me to follow the above regimen during the week-long break from work since there was no real routine. I went to the grocery store today to restock on plenty of fruit and vegetables so I can try out 5-6 new smoothies this week and get back into it.
That's that! Hopefully, I'll be able to update again with some more progress!
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