Cha-Cha-Cha-Chia

I'm well under way with my raw eating adventure.  I've been making green smoothies every morning and I feel great!  My appetite has significantly lessened, I don't feel deprived of anything, I've noticed a big change in my energy level and finally the scale is starting to show some results as well!

My dessert book by Ani Phyo arrived and I experimented with a couple of recipes.  I made my first raw chocolate cake.  I have to say it wasn't bad, but it was really, really rich.  A couple of bites was about all I could take, but my daughter who is a chocolate lover gobbled down an entire piece.   Most of my family had some and although I did not receive a chorus of "Ummmm"s,  "Wow, this is great!", or "OoOOOOO"s,  I did not completely offend their taste buds either.  (I will say that everyone agreed that after sitting in the fridge for a day it was much tastier)

I also made a raw ice cream.

I am the only one who likes it.....

And that brings us to my next creation, Cha-Cha-Cha-Chia pudding. Yes, these are the very same seeds you put of the terra cotta chia heads/pets from years past.   I'd seen various recipes for this in the umpteen raw "cook" books I'd checked out of the library so when I happened upon a bag of chia seeds at Whole Foods I figured it must be destiny.  Following a recipe from Mimi Kirk's Live Raw I made a bowl of chia pudding.  Basically you soak the chia seeds in almond milk (or liquid of your choice), throw in some sweetener and flavoring of your choice, stir it a few times, let it sit for awhile and you're done.

Now seems like a good time to throw in some interesting facts about Chia seeds.  Chia seeds come from a flowering plant belonging to the mint family. The scientific name is Salvia hispanica.  Historical records that survived the Spanish conquest show that the crops of the Valley of Tehuacan, near present day Mexico City, had included chia since 3400 BC (Schery, 1972; Solbrig and Solbrig, 1990; Harlan, 1992; Rodriquez Vallejo, 1992).  The Aztecs and Mayans both used this valuable plant to supplement their diets, in Mayan, the word “Chia” means strength.  Aztec warriors and runners are believed to have sustained themselves for an entire day on just a tablespoon of chia.  The Aztecs found Chia to be so important that for some time it was used as currency by them.  The seeds were also used in their religious rituals, as offerings to their gods.  After the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, the cultivation and use of Chia was suppressed, as it had been used in Aztec religious rituals. (The Spanish conquerors were attempting to impose a new culture on the indigenous people and everything associated with the Aztec culture was actively discouraged. Chia and most of the other crops formerly grown by the Aztecs were replaced by European grains and vegetables.)  Today, Chia seed is being rediscovered and embraced as a "superfood", and it is quickly becoming popular among nutritionists and herbalists alike.

Some of the nutritional benefits:

In 2 tablespoons of Chia Seeds:

omega-3 fatty acids:  5 grams (Unlike flax seed, you don't have to grind chia seed in  order for your body to use it)

fiber: 7 grams

protein: 4 grams

calcium: 205 milligrams

Chia seeds are an excellent source of antioxidants containing even more antioxidants than fresh blueberries.

Besides EFAs, Chia seeds also provide fiber, iron, calcium, niacin, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus. 

Some of the health benefits:

• can help reduce blood pressure
• can help stabilize blood sugar
• Athletes have reported that Chia seeds help them perform at optimal levels for much longer periods of time  
• have anti-Inflammatory properties, numerous arthritis sufferers have reported reduced pain and inflammation after a few weeks of taking Chia seeds
• can help with weight loss, the balance of fatty acids (Omega 3), fiber and abundance in protein help build muscle and burn fat. The seeds have the ability to absorb up to 10 times their weight in water/liquid which also helps to cleanse and soothe the colon, absorb toxins while lubricating and strengthening peristaltic action, provide bulk and are low in calories.

OK, you now know more about Chia than you thought you ever would!  

So, back to my Chia creation.  (Mind you, I did NOT know any of this information before consuming my Chia pudding).  I had let my Chia pudding sit in the fridge overnight.  The next morning I put a bunch in a container and off to work I went.  Normally I would sip on my green smoothie all morning but as I was excited to try out my Chia pudding I ate that first.  I had a small taste and wow, it was pretty good so I dove right in!  I must have gobbled down 5-6 more spoonfuls when I realized I was really full.  I mean REALLY full. I put my Chia pudding away.  

You know that super icky, heavy, uncomfortable feeling you get when you have grossly overate, well that was me for the next 8 hours!  I kid you not.  I was sooo uncomfortably full that on 3 separate occasions I found myself standing in the bathroom seriously debating on jamming a finger down my throat until everything came back up!  Eventually everything did come back up, well I should say everything came back out....you know that tidbit I gave you earlier about cleansing the colon and strengthening peristaltic action, my colon could be likened to Mt. Vesuvius.  AHAHAHAHAHA.........ewwww.

I had over dosed on Chia.  Just goes to prove the point, everything in moderation.

It wasn't until this morning that I actually felt OK again.  While I am now a true believer in the wonderous power and benefits of Chia, it will be some time before the Chia and my lips meet again.....
 

In the beginning....

Brand new to eating raw, brand new to blogging, it doesn't get more beginning than this =)  I started my raw journey exactly one week ago.  I wish I had started blogging a week ago as well as my memory is horrible and I already can not remember exactly how I stumbled upon all this raw eating business.  My best guess is at work while surfing the innertubes something caught my attention and wham, bam, thank you OCD I'm now on a raw eating expedition! 

I can tell you the first book I read was Victoria Boutenko's Green For Life.  I couldn't read it fast enough, I was fascinated with the idea of a green smoothie.  How is it that I'd never heard of such a concoction?  I quickly checked out every book my local library had on the topic and  I promptly began whining to my fiance about absolutely NEEDING a Vitamix 5200. (If you've read any of Boutenko's books or are already familiar with green smoothies then you know a high speed blender, such as a Vitamix or Blendtec are, is highly recommended)  How on earth were we supposed to get healthy if we didn't have a Vitamix?!?!?!?  I was going to have one by Christmas one way or another, even if it meant my fiance having to donate sperm to pay for it!  Well, lucky for him he has lucrative employment and lucky for me I have a very, very sweet, understanding and generous fiance.  My Vitamix arrived a few days later.  I ran to the store, bought every interesting looking green I could find, several various fruits and as soon I arrived back home I was blending.  Needless to say my first attempt was, eh hmm, questionable. My children and fiance will attest to that.  I had thrown a little bit of everything in it, spinach, red kale, romaine, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, banana, apple, and 2 cups of water.  I choked it down despite it's ugly brown appearance and equally ugly taste.

The next day I followed Victoria's advice about starting s-l-o-w-l-y.   I made my green smoothie with a handful of spinach, frozen strawberries, a few raspberries, 2 bananas, 2 tbsp of honey and 2 cups of water.  Much better!  I made a quart, took it with me to work and drank it throughout the morning.  It kept me feeling satisfied until lunch.  I did not notice any changes in my energy or anything else for that matter with the exception of feeling really good about eating a healthy breakfast =)

I have made a blender full of green smoothies every day since.  I give 3 small glasses to my kids and fiance and the rest I drink.   I wasn't having the incredible energy increase or weight loss that I had read about in various testimonials, in fact I wasn't noticing any changes at all and was starting to think I may have blindly rushed into this green smoothie hype....that is until yesterday!

I love my sleep and my body requires a lot of it.  I'm usually in bed and fast asleep by 9pm every night.  We even joke about my having narcolepsy as out of nowhere it hits me, BOOM!  I can't keep my eyes open no matter what, I'm out cold.  The mornings are pure torture, my alarm goes off at 5:55am and I promptly hit snooze 3 times.  It always feels like I've been drugged, waking up is so hard, I am a little disoriented, crabby, still tired...

Monday night I had a very hard time getting to sleep, quite unusual for me.  I tossed and turned with relentless thoughts about how I was going to be even more miserable in the morning than usual.  It was well after midnight before I finally fell asleep.  When I woke up to the alarm I rolled over and hit snooze as per my routine, but this morning was different.  I didn't immediately fall back asleep.  I was noticing that I felt different....what was this?  I actually felt pretty darn good, I wasn't tired, my head felt clear and could it be....yes....I was feeling happy!  Me, happy on a weekday morning?  Not possible, yet here I was feeling well rested and happy despite my previous night's tossing and turning.  Cool beans! Maybe this green smoothie thing really does work!  I popped out of bed and began my day.

I sipped on my green smoothie all morning.

My work has an annual pizza party and Tuesday was our pizza party day.  I thought it would be torture smelling all that yummy pizza, how was I going to resist?  (Along with drinking green smoothies I had decided I was going to clean up my bad eating habits)  The smell of pizza hit my office and I was surprised that I didn't immediately start salivating.  Hmmm.  I walked out to the party and there were 6 different kinds of pizza and 4 big salads.  As I stared at the table of pizzas I realized I really didn't care if I had a piece or not, it just did not seem that appealing to me.  WTF?  Pizza not appealing to me?!?!  I couldn't believe how I was feeling in that moment, in the face of 6 piping hot pizzas I truly wasn't interested in having any!  I found myself reaching for one of the salads and happily munching on it instead.  I didn't feel deprived at all, I wasn't going to have the heavy feeling nor the pizza guilt!  Woo hoo!  It had to be the green smoothies, this was finally working!  I was soooo excited but it wouldn't end there!

That night for dinner my lovely fiance made pork chops with rice and broccoli, normally one of my favorites.  I was helping with the prep and felt this urge to make myself another green smoothie.  I made a small one that I sipped on while helping make plates for the kids.  When I came to my plate I just didn't care to put much on it.  It just didn't look as appetizing as normal and the thought of eating dead flesh, well, that just wasn't appealing at all.  Hesitantly I cut myself a small piece of meat, I didn't want to offend my fiance who went to the trouble of making this fine meal, and went heavy on the broccoli and rice.  Truth be told, I enjoyed my green smoothie more than I did that meal!  Now how crazy is that?!  My taste was starting to change!

And that brings us to today.  This morning I actually woke up about 10 minutes before my alarm went off!  Granted, I did not get out of bed until my alarm went off, but that's not the point now is it.  I'm sold, green smoothies rock!

So here is my goal, by the end of next year, December 2012, I want to be 90-100% raw!  I plan to take it slowly.  I'm starting with a goal of drinking green smoothies every day for 1 month and letting my taste buds guide me.

I checked out Ani Phyo's books, Ani's Raw Kitchen and Ani's Raw Food Essentials from the library and have her dessert book on order from Amazon.  There are some yummy looking recipes in there... the only thing is I am now on a quest for a 9 tray Excalibur dehydrator with the 26 hour timer, hmmm, I think I'll have to wait a bit for that one!  (Somewhere in the distance Heather's finace let's out a sigh of relief!)