The verdict

I've officially completed my 15 days of raw/vegan eating and I wanted to give you a final summary of my experience.

Just to recap, here are all the ways in which I cheated:

• I continued to have my morning cup of coffee with soymilk

• I had 2 meals (out of 45) that were not raw and/or vegan

• I had wine on a couple occasions

• I did not stick strictly to the Phase 1-3 system. Instead I used the recipes as a guide and mixed and matched ingredients (but it was always raw/vegan).

That said, I loved eating this way. I did get bored a bit, but I felt so damn good that I didn't care. My energy levels were through the roof. I slept better than I've slept in years. And I honestly didn't really miss anything that I wasn't eating/drinking.

As for external results, I've lost 2-3 lbs. My waistline is definitely smaller and I feel lighter. I fit into my clothes better and feel great about the way I look.

My plan going forward is to continue eating this way as much as possible/practical. In France I'll definitely be eating a lot differently, but that doesn't mean I can't take what I've learned here and work it in. For example, incorporating a higher balance of raw in my daily diet regardless.

I highly recommend that most anyone try this diet for 2 weeks. Whether or not you have weight to lose, the increase in energy and better sleep is so worth it. I will say that having a good blender helped a lot, but it's definitely not necessary.

The Raw/Vegan Way

Now that I have my replacement blender, it seems a good time to actually talk a bit about how I feel a week into a raw/vegan diet.

First of all, to a mild extent, I cheat. I have not given up my morning cup of coffee. Also, since I had blender issues, I didn't only do smoothies for the first 3 days as prescribed (Phase 1). Instead I did a mix of mostly blended shakes and soups (using my handheld wand), along with a daily salad (Phase 2).  Finally, I have to admit I'm not a strict recipe follower. Life is too busy to make a million different things each day. Instead, I found a couple recipes I like and I repeat them.

All that said, I have eaten almost exclusively raw and vegan for the past 7 days. I eat whenever I'm hungry, which varies. Somedays I'm ravenous and some days I'm frustrated because I really want to eat something, but I have to admit that I'm just not hungry. I am getting a bit bored, but I'm about to start Phase 3 of the diet, where you expand into raw patés, wraps, etc.

Ok, but how do I feel? Have I lost weight? Honestly, I feel fantastic. My energy levels are through the roof. I'm awake and productive all day pretty much until bedtime. I feel like my thinking is clearer. As for weight, I really don't have a lot to lose. I'm more interested in fitting into my snug pants, and that has already happened within the first week. I've lost enough around my midsection (where I gain) to make my clothes fit better, which is my goal. I suspect that by the end of the second week I'll be fitting into most everything that had gotten tight over the winter.

So now what? Am I going to be a raw vegan from now on?

Um, no. I'm probably going to gain every ounce of it back eating bread, cheese and wine/cider in France this summer. However, I cannot deny how good my body and mind feel eating this way. I can definitely see boosting my raw levels daily and doing a raw/vegan cleanse regularly. I may be an energy junkie, but I'm also a hedonist!

Eat this

This was originally going to be a post about how I'm starting Ani Phyo's 15-day raw, vegan cleanse. You know, the kind where I tell you what I'm doing so that a) I have “accountability” and b) you might choose to join me. What fun we could have, being hungry together (I joke. One is not supposed to be hungry, though I do find myself missing chewing a bit).

Anyway, today is my official Day One, but that's not what I'm writing about. What I'm writing about is Customer Service. Perhaps Apple has spoiled us all, but it seems to me like there are companies who get it, and those who don't. Unfortunately Vitamix, the company who makes my 30-day-old, very overpriced blender, does not.

I've gone through a lot of inexpensive blenders. I make smoothies almost daily and after a year or two the cheaper blender's motors just burn out. This time, after much nail biting, I decided to pony up for a blender that was reputed to hold up. Honestly, I debated between Vitamix and Blendtec, but the fact that the Vitamix was less loud (they're both loud) was what sold me.

So, after a month of successful smoothie making, I was ready to embark on a dietary journey. Fifteen days of raw, vegan food, largely blended (solely for the first 3 days). I read the recipes, I shopped for my produce. I timed it for when David would be traveling, as it's easier to do this sort of thing when I don't have to watch someone else get to chew their food.

And then, out of nowhere, my brand new Vitamix died.

Did I freak out? Perhaps, but only briefly. Then I called Vitamix. And I called again. And I called a third time, which was when I got to speak to someone who had the ability to help me. What I wanted was for her to say she'd ship out a replacement tomorrow. That she felt my pain. Instead she said I'd have to send the broken one to them (they'd pay for Ground shipping, but I'd have to pay myself for Express). She'd send a return label which had to be printed on a color printer, or it'd be considered a fake. She did say they'd expedite the repair and would express it back to me. If all went well, I'd have my old one back in a week. But I didn't want my old one back. An expensive blender with a 5-year warranty shouldn't die one month out, and I wanted her to acknowledge that.

I made it clear that I was not happy with this solution, but she was adamant that that was the best that could be done.

Still with me? Almost there.

Then I called Amazon (through whom I bought the blender). I spoke to a happy-sounding woman named Stephanie, who listened to my whole sob story and then said “Can I just make you really happy?” Um, yes please?  Then she told me she was overnighting me a new blender. And she said the return label for the old one could be printed in black & white. I offered to marry her.

So yes, I am doing the 15-day Fat Blast (unfortunate name). I wish I wasn't having to depend on a Vitamix (go for the Blendtec) but I couldn't be happier with Amazon's service. Nice to know there are still some companies who get it.

Escape

About a month or so ago, I jokingly said to a girlfriend that we should run away for the weekend.

A few days later, train tickets were purchased and we had a plan to spend two nights in Seattle. Other than checking out the Gauguin exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, we didn't make any plans. Mostly we just walked and ate and enjoyed being unencumbered adults for the weekend, where nobody needed anything from us and we were free to roam at will.

In no particular order, here are some images I captured of our time there:

I confess that the train travel and the opportunity to snap some candid photos with my new camera has got me itching to get to France. We leave two months from today!

Finally

After a punishing start to spring, we finally got some beautiful weather, just in time for our usual round of holiday fun.

There was a very abbreviated Passover seder, complete with a paper stand-in for the shank bone on the seder plate, and chickenless matzo-ball soup. There was easter-egg-hunt mayhem. There were beautiful blooms and lots of resultant sneezing. There were fairy houses and there was chocolate. Even some really good chocolate.

There was sitting in the sun with everyone on the block, because we finally could. It finally, really feels like spring.

Amazing chocolate macaroons

(adapted from E. Guittard cocoa powder)

1/2 c. good quality cocoa powder

1/2 c. ground almond meal

1 c. powdered sugar

pinch of salt

2 large egg whites

1 t. vanilla

1 cup unsweetened coconut

Mix first 4 ingredients. Add egg whites and vanilla. Mix on low speed until glossy. Mix in cocnut. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet (I used a Silpat) and back for 15-20 minutes at 350F. Super rich, chocolatey goodness. And gluten-free!

Twice in a lifetime

Photo of Rouen skyline taken by David in 2008

I started this blog 3 years and 4 months ago, as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family as we embarked on our 6-week house-swap in Rouen, France. That the trip even happened was amazing — a series of coincidences and opportunities resulting in a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Well, history is repeating itself. The family with whom we swapped 3 years ago has asked us (yes, they asked us!) if we'd be interested in swapping houses for the summer. After thinking it over for approximately 2 seconds, of course we said "absolutely!"

We are so excited to have a chance to go back to the charming town of Rouen in the summer this time. The fact that Anna will be 7 instead of 3 is going to make a huge difference. David will continue working for iovation, the company he joined in December of last year, and Anna and I will explore. We are currently working on our French, something I hope to continue with the Alliance Francaise de Rouen while we're there.

Needless to say, there will be lots of travel adventures and photos posted in the not-too-distant future. In the mean time, you can refresh your memory with my posts from our previous trip here.

Stay tuned!

P.S. In the right column of this blog I've started a list of some of the many great French blogs and language resources I've been finding. There's some really great stuff out there!

24 brand new hours

It will come as no surprise to those who know me well that I can be rather hard on myself. I tend to feel that I should already know how to do something, even if it's the first time. Sometimes I fuck up in some major (to me) way, but mostly I beat myself up over small things. Not enough of this, too much of that.

But the thing that keeps it all in perspective for me at the end of the day is knowing that tomorrow I begin again, with 24 brand new hours. There is so much freedom in the realization that the choices I made today don't have to be the choices I make tomorrow.

I should mention that this idea is not my own, but was introduced to me by the Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, and I wrote about it two years ago in this post.

A lot has been happening here since the last time I posted, and much of it deserves posts of their own. I'll give you some highlights and a teaser that there's some great stuff coming this summer. Can't quite blog about it yet, but soon!

It's been a year now since I started teaching after school art in my home. It's been an amazing experience. I regularly post photos of the beautiful (truly) work these kids do. Please take a moment and visit the photo gallery.

Last fall I found myself bored one afternoon (I don't handle boredom well), so I started looking online for volunteer opportunities. Within about a week I found myself as Site Coordinator for Sabin Elementary's SMART program. SMART is an amazing literacy program in many schools throughout Oregon and I work with about 30 children and 30 adult volunteers twice a week. Guess what? I'm not bored anymore!

I've started studying French again, with a vengeance. This is actually what prompted today's post about 24 brand new hours. I've been studying French off and on since I was 15 years old, and I haven't improved much. But I recently had a paradigm shift, which has changed everything. First of all, I realized that either I was in this for the long haul, or there was just no point in trying. I kept thinking that I could cram in a bunch of French for a few months and then be good at it. Or worse, that I should already be good at it. Now I finally realize that it's a lifelong undertaking. Realizing that has changed the way I'm approaching learning and, as a result, I've had lots of breakthroughs in the past few weeks. (Maybe I'll post some resources at some point. There's a lot of great ones out there).

I have a new favorite song. Ok, not a revelation, but it's replaced the song that was my favorite for about the past 15 years. I just love the way their voices sound together.

There's more to come.