It's official! I have been raw (well high raw) for three months now. It is also my 18th Wedding anniversary this weekend! Well, the date is really February 29th but that only comes every four years. I am sure you are wondering why anyone would pick Feb. 29th for their wedding day, but that is another post! In honor of these two momentous occasions I decided to make some yummy treat to take with us this weekend as we are going camping (of course). My hubby and I are turning into hippies as we get older, and camping just seemed the right way to celebrate 18 years of bliss! (haha – mostly bliss).
So hop on over to Miss Averie's site and check out her recipe for High Raw Vegan Chocolate-Coconut-Chia-Oat Dessert/Energy Bars. These were so fantastic during the creation process that I could not stop licking the spoon! I did omit the banana as I still detest them. I also added some pre-soaked pumpkin seeds and pecans.
I should have taken a pic with the spoon in the batter but I was to busy applying it to the inside of my mouth!
This is just delicious goodness! High Raw yumminess!
Now I popped this into the freezer and later I will cut them into bars and package them up for our camping trip. I am still trying to lose a little weight (can I get a grrrr!) on the raw diet and having trouble with it even though I eat nothing but green juice and kale all day long. I will make sure to only eat one small bar a day while camping…maybe a snack. And just so you know, I did not have enough peanut butter, so I added some sunflower seed nut butter and they still turned out fab.
So my thoughts on this RAW diet thang– has it helped my Rheumatoid Arthritis?
I went through some NASTY detox symptoms (at least I think they were detox symptoms). Within one week of the raw diet (and I was 100% raw from the get-go) my knees were super stiff and hurt all day long. My RA got much worse everywhere. Basically I started a major flare and I think it was detox symptoms. Maybe us RA people detox in a weird, joint-associated way. I took more prednisone during this time period than the last 13 years of my RA disease.
Has my RA improved overall in the last three months?
Well, let me see – in a word – NO. How sucky is that? I am still worse than when I started. I think it might take longer to detox for people with auto-immune disorders. But I am no expert. I can only tell you what I have experienced.
Have I seen any health symptoms improve?
YES and can I get a YES. I know this a tabu subject but can we talk constipation? I am the queen of it. No the King of it. No the Galactic Ruler of it! I have struggled for my entire life with the number 2 thing. I lived on Senekot. I am sure I kept that company in business. I have tried it all, Benefiber, Metamucil, you name it I have tried it. Now I have always consumed massive quantities of water so that was never an issue. Before I went raw, I ate a ton of steamed green beans which seemed to help but then I would digress to my old sluggish ways. RAW has seemed to cure me of this awful problem. So was it meat, dairy, crap processed food? Do I lack enzymes that help me digest stuff? I have no idea, all I know is that the RAW diet has CURED my constipation.
How about weight loss on the RAW diet?
Yeah whatever (She says with arms folded and back turned!) – Seriously, damn it. I lost seven pounds when I first began this diet, but since then I have lost NOTHING. ZIP. NADA. In fact, I have put on two pounds. Now, to be fair, when I started RAW I had just had a hysterectomy so I basically laid around for three months due to a horrid recovery. So I am sure I lost some muscle mass. In the last month I have really stepped it up and I am lifting weights again and walking alot with the hubby. Yes, it does hurt to lift light weights and exercise when you have RA. At times I find myself cursing my own body parts (damn these wrists, damn you to hell!) but we RA people have got to keep moving no matter what. So maybe the two pound weight gain is muscle? At least I can tell myself that! But after three months of being RAW (two months 100% raw, and this last month high-raw), I expected to be down at least 10 pounds! What the heck is going on? I will have to cut off an arm to lose that last five pounds.
What about your hair and skin?
Is my hair fuller and thicker? NO. But keep in mind I have RA, and the meds make you go bald (seriously, I used to have 100 times more hair). Has my skin improved? Do I have that glow everyone talks about? NO! In fact I still have adult acne at times. I always battle clear skin. I was hoping going RAW might really help that but so far I have not seen any difference in my skin.
SO IS RAW WORTH IT?
Besides the obvious benefits of helping stave off animal cruelty and environmental impact issues, the jury is still out for me as far as my health is concerned. I really had high hopes for going RAW. I really thought I might be able to get off all my meds one day. So far, this seems to be unattainable for me. RA drugs have really nasty side effects, but the disease is so debilitating that most choose to take the meds (including me) or I will cease to function. Now I realize my inside health has probably improved since I am not eating animal fat. I do realize all the benefits, but my main goal was to overcome this dang, crappy RA thing.
My Ultimate Goal
I want to transition to a high raw diet/vegan. I miss cooked food. I miss stir fry and soups. I miss going out to dinner with my hubby. I can see myself doing Raw for breakfast and lunch and eating a cooked vegan meal for dinner. I already find myself assimilating some cooked food into my diet and so far my digestive issues have not returned. I tell you one thing, being a vegetarian would be a piece of cake for me now! I think being dairy free is harder than not eating meat. Not that I ate that much dairy. In fact, I love nut milks and all the dairy alternatives, but eating at a restaurant and being dairy free is almost impossible. My favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory, offers basically zilch for vegan options. Even their pasta is made with eggs, and veggies are cooked in butter, and milk products are added to sauces. Yes, I could order a plate of veggies cooked in olive oil but why bother spending the money. I can cook or uncook veggies my way at home.
Lately I am finding it hard to be on the Raw diet. The excitement is not there and I am getting bored of my food choices. Maybe I will feel different tomorrow!
Is it just me, or does everyone hit a RAW plateau? Do you ever get bored of the Raw diet? Maybe I am going through Raw Mid Life Crisis! lol
