Banana Girls!

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Rachel

A pretty corn and zucchini salad from last week

It’s been a couple of weeks again since my last post. I completed a good 6 day round of non-stop fruiting but then the wheels fell off again. Then did a few days here and there 100% and others where we ate out for lunch or dinner…found a new Indian vegetarian restaurant and went to the new Native Foods in Santa Monica mmm.

So today I started my first day of Freelee’s 30 Day Banana Girl Diet Challenge on Facebook! I thought I’d give it a go since it would be nice to go past 2 weeks on 811 and good to have the motivation of a couple of thousand other banana girls trying their best! The goal is to record daily what you ate, exercise, sleep and water in keeping with high-carb raw vegan and minimal fats. I’m going to try and do this month with no overt fats and see if it makes any difference. Only hiccup will be my parents coming over at the end of the month for holidays which may make things tough!

Today’s cronometer recordings were:

Breakfast: 1 ltr orange juice
Lunch: 6 bananas, 12 dates & 3 cups of spinach
Dinner: 4 bananas, 12 dates
Snack: bowl of grapes

Exercise: 8k tough canyon run
Sleep: 8 hours
Water: 3 ltrs

Total calories: 3249!

To me that seems like a good amount of calories and yet by 8pm I am feeling hungry again! The only way I’ve found to get past this is to just go to bed haha. A lot of the advice given on 811 is to eat more but I just don’t think it’s always the case. By the morning I won’t be hungry at all so I guess that says something.

I’m kind of hoping to get into a better groove before the weather starts to get cooler. It’s been 6 months of trying with periods of success and times where I’ve felt like giving up. Ultimately I hope oneday to be 100% and experiencing a true detox and the long term benefits that come with the raw lifestyle

xox R

8 mile

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Rachel

The last time I ran 8 miles it was the beginning of new knee pain to add to my list of aches and pains associated with running. Today I ran the same route again with no shoes and was pain free and could have kept on running longer! Pace was decent at 9.13 avg. compared to my pace last time of 8.35 with shoes. I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and that I could definitely get back to and even improve on my old times. The only thing holding me back a little from going faster was I had a couple of blisters from the last really hot afternoon, otherwise joints and muscularly I was feeling great. I’m amazed at the improvement I’ve made just in 7 weeks of barefooting…from a starting pace of around 13.00-15.00 to back in the mid 8.00s!

IT band is working wonders…the only downside being I’m getting a tan line on my thigh and sweat tends to drip down my leg the whole time but at least I don’t have the dreaded white feet and ankles from wearing shoes!

Fueled on 2 big glasses of orange juice, a very awesome way to start the day

Sweepin the Clouds Away

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Rachel

I just went for my best barefoot run ever! Beautiful sunny day which helps because the paths are nice and warm. Did 5 miles at an average pace of 8:55 and my best split was 8:30! I’m learning so much and making small distinctions every time I go out to produce a better and more comfortable running style. It’s amazing the subtle adjustments made and a mile or so in and something just clicks (and bonus not my hip!) where it feels so natural and freeing to move yourself forward.

I’m still having to work on my down hill form but I really tried to relax today and just let myself roll down the hill. I tend to want to put the breaks on but I think that is what has aggravated my knee since moving here. I wore an IT band on my leg today and that definitely helped. I can still feel some sensation near the knee but it’s not the point where when I was running in shoes and I had to stop and stretch. Self diagnosing here (because no one else could!) I think it’s IT band syndrome which would explain the pain in the hip too…it’s all connected. But feeling great after this run, no pain and just icing as a precaution, barefooting definitely seems to be working for me! And the extra little oomph in speed and the hills and wind on the way back I got an awesome workout

I love sitting outside every day to eat in the sun. There is something so nice about eating fruit in the sunshine. Today I had yummy green smoothie

Looking forward to more fun in the sun!

Juicy Cleanse 3-4/10

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Rachel

Days 3 and 4 and still on a juice mission! Cheated yesterday when we went to Whole Foods to pick up some more fruits and veggies and bought a big box of kale salad. It was so good and no fat so I don’t feel too bad. Still filling up on green smoothies and also added a smoothie Jon likes to make and named “berry blast” lol bananas, acai berries and I think a punnet of mulberries or blueberries…beautiful dark purple, it is a great pick-me-up in the afternoon!

Brunch - bananas and spinach

Feeling 100% better from the other day. Went for a nice barefoot run yesterday instead of legs & back. Knocked out 5.25 miles on footpaths…the distance was fine on my knee/hip but my soles felt a little bit battered by the end of it. Funnily enough even though they feel on the verge of blisters by the next day they are fine again.

Pear, cucumber & lime

Pineapple & orange

I’ve made some really yummy juices. Yesterday we had Bartlett pear and asian pear and a big pineapple and orange juice. This morning I made a Beurre Bosc pear, cucumber and lime juice…so good! I’ve been keeping the combinations pretty simple as I think it’s better on digestion. One of my favs is orange and celery! I have been wondering whether juicing is good or not as naturally we wouldn’t juice a fruit and discard the pulp, you would eat it in its entirety. There is also the matter of the fiber slowing the digestion and therefore slowing the release of sugar into the blood stream, although I don’t seem to notice any effects after drinking fruit juice.

Speaking of sugar highs…I was really surprised to see a whole article about fruit in this month’s LA Sports & Fitness mag “Crazy Nutrition Advice Circulating in the Gym” where it debunks the myth that eating “too much” fruit is bad and especially not good for weight loss. It goes on to explain the way the body converts fructose to glycogen…muscle tissue doesn’t have the necessary enzymes to convert fructose to muscle glycogen and the liver has to do this job, however the liver can only store a limited amount of glycogen. Fruit would only be stored as fat when there is an excessive amount of glucose already available in the body which applies to all other carbohydrates. Also quotes a study from Metabolism Journal May 2011 “For weight loss achievement, an energy-restricted moderate natural fructose diet was superior to a low-fructose diet.” which was the only study conducted to date that used natural fructose from fruit rather than concentrate. It’s nice to see some REAL information being printed in mainstream media! Anyway, I haven’t seen any fat fruitarians :P

The Easter Bunny came early to our house

Prickles don’t tickle!

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Rachel

We found another trail close by so thought we’d give it a go today. It didn’t look too steep from the bottom but the incline was deceiving! Jon wore his lunas and I went barefoot. I’m not too scared of sharp rocks anymore but this track was covered in big spikey prickles and really hard, sharp dry grass/straw stuff…ow!

I think we need to find some nice dirt roads these hills are killing me!

It’s working out nicely alternating running and 7 weeks to 100 push-ups with P90X2. I get a good variation of workouts and give my feet some time to recover between runs. The blood blister didn’t turn out to be so bad so I’ll try road running again next. I find running on the trails really improves my form though and is definitely helping me to not land so much on the toes.

Push-ups are going well. I feel my range of movement has improved and recovery time between sets is easier. Still not sure how I’m going to get to 100 consecutive, maybe magical push-up fairies visit in the night and give you special push-up powers while you sleep the night before!

Ok enough rambling I’m off for a green smoothie for dinner

Rituals

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Rachel

Tomorrow is 7 weeks on mainly 811! We’ve been doing ok this last week only having a couple of cooked dinners. I always feel like I need a little extra something around 5pm and want some brown rice to go with salad but lately even something as simple as rice has made me feel a bit nauseous. Cravings for other cooked food have mainly gone and I think a few more weeks and the occasional feeling of needing some denser carbs at night will go away also. Mostly drinking green smoothies, juice and mangoes these days… I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of eating mangoes

Other little changes are I’ve lost a bit more weight. I’ve just started the weight training component of P90X2 so I’m hoping with the reintroduction of more weight bearing exercise I will gain some muscle. I feel like all those weeks of balance and core were good but that combined with extra cardio just makes skinny and no shape. I do have a little bit of fear of becoming too thin on 811 but I guess if it’s calories in-out you just need to eat more to keep the weight on. It does say in the book that you will look quite thin comparable to societies standards and his recommendation for body fat percentage is under weight on most conventional charts…I think he put women at a min of 13%. So I feel I’m at a decent weight range still and with some extra weight lifting hopefully build some lbs back.

Another odd thing I’ve found since starting 811 is my eye lashes and eye brows are growing like crazy! I’ve never had really fast growing brows and only need to maintain them every so often but lately they are needing tidying every other week. Eye lashes too are longer and thicker but I won’t complain about that one. Jon also noticed the same thing with his facial hair…he is like growing a beard every few days! lol Our 4yo is especially displeased and says “go shave buddy!”.

I’ve committed to running barefoot every second day even if it’s only a few miles. I just can’t help but over do it with either speed or distance. I should only be running around 15-20mins and slowly but as soon as I get out there I want to run for an hour and go faster and faster. I think I hurt a tendon a little bit a couple of weeks ago which seems to be ok now. I went for a run today on the trails in gorgeous high 70 temps, only 3 miles but the last mile home on the streets I was just flying along…got the whole mile under 9:00 pace and as fast as 8:40! such an awesome feeling but now I think I have a little blood blister under my big toe lol

Lately my days have been so jammed packed I often wake up and for a moment feel slightly overwhelmed of all the things I want to achieve in the day. I started listening to some Tony Robbins again and set up a morning ritual to help me mentally prepare for the day ahead. I asked myself a list of 5 questions as soon as I wake up and it has really helped me feel motivated to do my best…

1. What am I grateful for today?
2. What am I excited about today?
3. What are some things I can do to improve myself today?
4. What am I committed to in my life at the moment?
5. Visualise the kind of person I want to be.

In the past I’ve often made a big list of things I need to get done in the day but if you just write a list and forget why you are doing them it doesn’t feel very inspiring, it just feels like a whole lot of jobs! By taking the time to consider why you want to do something, the final outcome and feeling excited and grateful about everything you have, it really does set you up to enjoy the process.

And now I even managed to write a blog post! I can check that off my list <3

80/10/10 – Day 25

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Rachel

I worked hard today! Started my morning with a new goal 7 Weeks to 100 Push-ups. I bought this book a while ago but never got around to starting the program I think because I’m scared to do 100 push-ups Well the book says you can so I’m going to try! I can do nearly 50 in a set and I do around 300 in a work-out but I just think 100 straight will be torture. Anyway it is 3 workouts a week doing several sets of different reps so it shouldn’t be too hard to keep up with.

After push-ups I started another week of P90X2 phase 1 with core. Did much better this time knowing what the exercises were all about. Still struggling with my wrists on explosive movements on medicine/stability balls. I guess once I get stronger in other areas some of the pressure will disperse.

Followed that up with a 4 mile barefoot run. I’m getting a little faster did around 10min pace and this run usually takes me about 33mins (8.15 pace) and I did it in just over 40mins. The real test with barefooting is going to be keeping patient with the slow progress. It’s like learning to run all over again, not that I can remember learning to run, but it really is a whole different technique. I guess it’s going to be a while before I get back up to 40 mile weeks and faster times but at this stage I don’t have any choice. I’m just happy to be running at all!

Feet fared well again and I haven’t had any pain in the calves since the first time. I did feel a little stiff in the legs after so I rolled them out on the foam roller. While I don’t really like doing it before working out (I should do it more often) it is really great after running. I still have some tightness around the hip and IT band and it seems to loosen everything up.

Just under 4 weeks until the half marathon. I reeeaaallly want to do it and I think I could probably get away with it in shoes but I’d hate to injure myself further and then ruin any progress I’ve made shodless. Maybe If I can get my distance up to 6-8 miles in the next few weeks (dreaming lol) I could try and do it in vibrams. Oh well slow and steady…there will be other races! Like the Naked Foot 5k in Santa Barbara in Oct later this year but I can’t help but love distance…5k is so short!

Bought a huge bag of dates today to keep me powering along. Grey and gloomy weather though…makes me want hot food wah! Might have to sneak in a little bit of rice tonight

80/10/10 – Day 22

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Rachel

What a glorious day…knocked off another one fully raw and feeling fantastic! Today was the real test because Friday is our sushi day but armed with leverage from my 1 month progress pic I’m not going backwards…I’m going beyond!

We went for a barefoot run up on the trails in the gorgeous weather. Fresh air, warm sunshine on my face and feet enjoying freedom. I learnt from Barefoot Running Step by Step you should try and venture out on gravel or rocky paths to learn how to tread lighter so the trails were really good for that…lots of little sharp rocks! Amazingly even going down the steep paths my knee and hip gave me no trouble and my feet were fine on the rocks.

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80/10/10 – Day 19

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Rachel

Today was not a good 811 day. It started off well with fresh juice and green smoothies! But declined quickly with a big lunch and I felt pretty lousy afterwards. I spied a Mexican restaurant when we were at the markets on the weekend that had a great selection of vegan options and I still get all excited when I see “vegan” things on menus! My year long habit of trying to find yummy vegan eats hasn’t quite worn off yet so I wanted to go for lunch since Jon was off school. They had tacos, burriots, fajitas, soups and wraps all with vegan alternatives soy chicken or beef.

We shared a burrito and fajitas and omg the servings were huge. It’s not that the food was bad I just felt yuck after…I really think I’m used to eating mainly fruit now. Also couldn’t resist mojitos I mean that’s what you do when you go for Mexican! So I broke my 3 week drinking vacation but I am not in a hurry to start the occasional drink…I felt so dizzy haha.

So I think I’m really ready to try and commit a bit harder to this. It was just not worth it today, I would have loved to reverse it and eaten fruit instead. Otherwise did a good workout of P90X2 Plyocide. I read a review that it wasn’t as hard as the old Plyometrics and I would agree just for the fact there is so much more stretching that again eats in to the time frame. The exercises were challenging enough though that I was pretty tired by the end.

Also went for a few miles barefoot. Legs were a little sore because I’ve been working them nearly every day for the past week…I think they need a break! My butt and quads was so sore from legs and back last week every time my daughter jumped on my lap I was yelping out in pain hahaha.

Anyway few little bumps in the road. Ultimately I’m happy with the direction I’m heading and today’s experience concreted in my brain that I just don’t feel the best eating heavy cooked food anymore. And the best part is tomorrow is a new day!

80/10/10 – Day 15

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Rachel

I love Fridays! I get to hang out with Jon (my partner in crime) and have fun but that also means Sushi! I know…addicted but at least it’s not burgers! It’s so awesome to have someone who supports and does all the crazy diet things but we are also both hopeless with being too strict. We do our best and have fun that’s the most important thing

Did an hour of the P90X2 yoga this morning which was nice. I was surprised I felt really flexible and it’s been a while since I’ve done a tape. I haven’t done Insanity in 5 days! Shaun T I don’t know if I can do it anymore!! lol I thought I would stick out the 60 days but 3 weeks in I’m just not really looking forward to the next phase. The workouts are just so repetitive and while I get a good sweat up I just feel like I’m losing my strength. So might be on with P90X2 come Monday.

Took advantage of the beautiful weather and went barefoot running. Jon came too (barefoot), he’s actually really good at it and I had a hard time keeping up with him! I think he thinks I’m crazy. I had him running in huaraches last year so today standing out the front of our house with no shoes he was like “you are a funny little lady aren’t you” hahaha Every week there is something new. Well variety is the spice of life!

Happy feet

Managed to run 5kms and no pain! Amazing. Albeit very slow but I’m happy with anything at this point. I also bought a pair of Vibrams but after reading Barefoot Running Step by Step I think I’m going to hold off using them until I’m comfortable with my form. Then I might alternate between the 2 when I start increasing distance. Barefoot running is fun! I’m excited to go again.

At this stage I’m not sure about the half marathon next month. Depending on how my knee holds up in the next few weeks I don’t want to risk inflaming whatever is wrong even more. If the pain seems to go away completely then I might take the chance and do it in shoes. Hopefully by then my form is good enough to make the distance.

Saturday tomorrow means market day! can’t wait! xx