Day 31

Well......I am off to MD/DE for 10 days of family festivities. Which I know for a fact will NOT be raw. :( I'm in such a good place right now, I hope this doesn't put me off tilt. But life is all about rolling with it, so I will make the best! I know MRV will be supportive. But it will be nearly impossible at my brother's graduation dinner/breakfast so my goal will be to just find something vegan! I am headed to work now, but when I come home, it's all about packing and then I'm driving my mom's place to sleep before out 9AM flight tomorrow. I am already longing for a restful night, I hope I can get it. I'm sure I will be posting during that time, but things are about to get crazy.

Day 28

My raw journey has empowered me in more ways that I thought possible. I have come to really understand that happiness is not the end-all be-all. And that I desire to eat raw when cooked foods are not taboo.

Today I ran 8 miles...on accident. I had a new route planned out, one that I had never even ran. But it was longer than I anticipated. It was so gorgeous today, and I was running through a neighborhood of $5 million dollar homes on the water. Nobody to bother me, wide streets, no traffic, great views, and a different perspective on my life. I'm so lucky to live the life that I have!

I bought some new running gear, so that's always a motivator. :)

This morning I also bought a new bike!! The biggest purchase I've made in my life! But the best! I ended up ordered the Fuji Finest 1.0 from the bike shop in my neighborhood. I test rode the Roubaix 3.0, which was a men's bike, but after I tried the women's specific, I just loved the way it handled and fit me better. However, I didn't love the Fuji Finest 3.0 because it was....purples. Bleh. But when they showed me the 1.0, I fell in love! It's two steps better and has a carbon fiber fork and Tiagra shifters, so it's made to potentially be a racing bike. I also left with a helmet and padded bike shorts, and when I came home, I ordered two jerseys and a pair of gloves on Ebay. And DANG! Bike gear is expensive! But whatever! Because I have the money and there are worse things I could be spending my time and money on...like alcohol and stupid shit that makes me fat and lazy. I don't think I would have gotten into cycling if I didn't go raw and inspire myself to get active. It's something I have wanted to do for a long, long time because I do love riding.

Today was a really awesome day! Woke up naturally around 7:30...went to the store and Target to exchange some things, get some things I need and presents for my brother and sister. On Wednesday, I have a flight to Baltimore for my little brother's graduation from the Naval Academy. I remember sending him off on I-Day four years ago...I know it hasn't been easy but I am SO proud of him, I wouldn't miss it for the world. And then he moves to Pensacola to be a pilot! We are going to plan some rides together.

My goal this weekend is to eat all the watermelon. Ha, what an awful goal! Just had a huge fruit smoothie, now I'm gonna lay down, I'm pooped, read my vampire love story book and chill out.  What a perfect day. :)

 

Sunshine dress!

 

Love this ball of fur :)

 

She's smiling....

 

My NEW toy!!! 

2012 Fuji Finest 1.0

 

New running shorts

 

Things are shaping up back there, lol

Day 24

Blah! What a poopy day.......weather wise, that is. It's been cloudy, gloomy and rainy aaaaalll day. The weather seriously affects my mood, I hate to admit. But I just didn't feel like doing much after work today. I was raw up until I got home. Watched some TV, now I'm gonna take a nap, listen to the rain and snuggle with my cat. Rain, rain, go away!

Day 24

Another good day. However, my run...not so great. It started out really good, but about halfway through a 6.4 mile run, I just pooped out...ran out of gas. I was feeling physically tired and hungry and I had a sore stiff neck. I tried to stretch the kinks out, but I ended up walking about a mile but I got my second wind the last 1.5 miles. Finished in 1 hour 11 minutes and by the end, I had no energy. It wasn't cloudy like it was yesterday, but who am I to make excuses?

I'm pretty sure I picked out the bike I want to buy! 

My (hopefully) new road bike! Fuji Roubaix 3.0 with aluminum frame and carbon fiber fork...can't wait to hit the streets! And only 20.7 pounds!

I'm not bored with running, but I do think it would be fun to take up another active hobby, meet some like-minded peeps and just enjoy life!

Okay. So let's be honest. Tonight I have every intention of eating  a sub from Jimmy Johns. Vegan, of course. I am experimenting with the idea of, "its okay to eat cooked when I want to, to prevent me from going ape shit crazy." We'll see how this works out! Raw for the first part of the day, cooked at night....if I'm feeling like it. I think I can live with that? I just want to find a balance between feeling good, eating what I want and being physically fit.

Day 23

Boy, it feels SO good to be back!! I bought a ton of groceries last night, just lots of fruit so I was well stocked today, which meant I was in a good mood! Work went by really quickly. I enjoy work, but it's never fun when time just drags by. I played kickball last night and our team won 9-1! Last season my team was not good. We have new people and are doing better, though I doubt I am a contributor to that. But I enjoy it!

I am thinking about trying the Insanity workout program............just because. I did P90X for awhile and really liked it...and I've heard good stuff about this program. 

I got my Nike SportWatch today! And let me just say.......it's AMAZING!! Holy smokes, I absolutely love it! It's so SIMPLE and EASY to use! Nothing fancy schmancy about it. It logged my time, calories burned, distance and even my route. The entire time I could see how far I had gone and what my pace was. I hovered around a 9.30 /mile which isn't bad considering I haven't run in about a week and I can only get better from here on out!! I came home and uploaded it to NikePlus and it showed a map of my run, and a minute by minute log of my pace. It's really quite amazing! I always wonder how far I've actually run, I use the site www.mapmyrun.com to map it out before hand, but now I have it in the watch PLUS calories burned! I burned about 583 calories, ran 4.5 miles in 45 mins. How awesome!

I felt really, really good the whole run, and I had energy at the end too. My legs felt strong, its awesome how quickly raw food can turn things around for me. Oh, that and passing by lots of cute guys along the way. That always helps! Ran in my brand new snazzy shoes today, and DAMN they are bright, LOL! You could see me coming from a mile away! I think they make me run faster! Hehe. But I felt TOTALLY in my element. This was the way life was meant to be lived. I know my purpose. I finally know true happiness.

Came home, made a smoothie, and now I'm downloading new music to the Pod. YAY! I just feel SO good! I'm back in it, my run was awesome, I feel really motivated. AND I'm going to buy a road bike this weekend, it will take about half of my savings, but what's money? I'd rather have a bike than numbers in the bank. I can't wait to hit the road and start riding. I've been doing some research online and I think I know which one I want, but I'm still gonna go out and test ride some on Saturday, I have no plans, loveeeeeeee that.

 

Custom painted "new" antique coffee table :)

 

Lovely flower I found on my car this morning before I left for work......from my neighbor :)

Quack!

 

I'm glowing! LOL

Ooooooooooooo, oh ya, and getting a new tat when I go back to MD/DE in two weeks...keeping it a secret until I actually get it, but it has everything to do with this joy in life I have....and NO, it's not going to be a picture of a banana :D

Day 22

Motivation! Shall we discuss?

I have been searching for it lately.

 

I went shopping for road bikes on Saturday, and let me just say, I'm pumped up!! I got to ride one, I am going back to test drive more next week, but I can't wait to own one and start riding!!

 

This crazy raw fit 80/10/10 girl, Freelee is always inspiration!!

 

Look at her!! She's been LFRF for over 5 years, before she was quite chubby and bloated, a little bit the way I'm feeling now. I would LOVE to look like her!

 

Amazing!

 

My vegetarian friend Kristi and I went to the club to see Nadia Ali!

 

So much fun!!!

 

I found this picture on Facebook...........can we say INSPIRATION???

 

This is what I look like. :( Ha, more motivation.

 

Okay, so this was NOT motivation. I went to a Meetup event with a bunch of girls, and this was there. I didn't touch anything, but only because everything had either cheese or meat in it. I won't touch that stuff. So that saved me!

It's actually been a pretty horrific week for me all around. I have not been eating raw and thus NOT feeling good AT ALL. I feel like I have a giant rock in my stomach. I had a half-assed run on Monday, but the rest of the week I just came home and ate and watched TV. Ahhh! I had ZERO energy to do anything, including going to the grocery store to buy fruit. I just feel sluggish and tired.

It seemed like the week before when I was motivated and running was just a distant memory. But I'm going to buy a road bike next week and start cycling because I just love to ride! It's something I've ALWAYS wanted to get into. I can't believe it's taken me so long to make a move. It excites me to think about it, and to start training for a sprint Triathlon : Swim ¼ Mile, Bike 10 Miles, Run 3.1 Miles. An Olympic Triathlon : Swim 1/2 Mile, Bike 20 Miles, Run 6.2 Miles. Start small and work my way up! 

I'm also volunteering for the Tough Mudder obstacle course in December! I'd like to do it, but I think I will just volunteer to check it out first. They have the events all over the world, and I think that sounds like AMAZING fun!! Okay! So lots to look forward to! Seriously, I need it. I was up til 5 AM this morning at the club, yikes, and I slept in til 2 PM. I haven't done that in MONTHS. It doesn't feel good. I am playing kickball tonight then going to the grocery store on the way home. Tomorrow I start again at day 1!!! The record to beat is 2 weeks!

Day 20

Holy smokes! Day 20! I swore I would be completely honest on this bloggy, so I am going to give it straight up. I have not been in a good place all week. I guess I've got some serious issues with food and it's been hard for me to focus again. But I will. I need these bad feelings to remind me how much I love raw foods. I can't take for granted how awesome it is when I am in my element, eating raw, running and just feeling in good spirits overall. I am not feeling that right now and everything I do is just to bring me back to that place. Tomorrow is another day...