Eat for sustenance and pleasure
I become easily infatuated with bright new things I discover. Lately my infatuations are with living a healthy lifestyle and fitness. I have my own fitness routine and I am part of the Tone It Up community and just started adding fully raw smoothies and juices into my diet. But just learning about being fit and reading about "amazing" green juice — which I used to find hard to believe because green juice would freak me out — wasn't enough. That's when I decided to join the healthy parade and participate in the 21-Day FullyRaw Challenge.
This challenge was created by Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram, a very inspiring and creative woman who I think you should read about here. I can't remember how I came across FullyRaw Kristina but I've been following her for a little over a year and was always impressed by her creative recipes. I would tell myself one day I will try her recipes but never got around to it. Once I heard about this challenge I decided to jump right in. I asked myself: why not join the challenge? I saw this as an opportunity to challenge myself and to finally try her recipes.
My family thought I went overboard with my food shopping but I really needed all of it! I spent less than $200 for all of the food that was worth more than 21 meals. Think about it, we spend more than $200 on 21 meals if you're eating out, $200 on groceries shouldn't sound shocking.
I told everyone that I was doing this challenge to have accountability and to share what I was doing. At first I was nervous to jump right in but I told myself that I had to complete the challenge.
Eating fully raw meals wasn't as hard as I had anticipated. In fact, I learned just how tasty some foods were alone and how to mix it with the proper foods. However, I didn't enjoy all of the recipes I tried and there were some recipes that I did not even want to bother trying.
Since the challenge was to replace one meal a day with a fully raw meal I would follow Kristina's recipes but in my own style. Her portions are a little extreme so I didn't have giant salads with a pitcher of her fully raw dressings but I did make enough for leftovers.
I was excited about some of the meals and shared it with my family and they enjoyed them too, especially the "nice cream" recipes. On the other hand, I did not enjoy the curry noodles or lasagna recipes. The curry noodles dressing didn't mix well with the cucumber noodles so it was very watery and the lasagna just looked better than it tasted.
My family applauded when I finished the challenge and I was so proud of myself for even completing something like that! I learned a lot about food and all that it has to offer. Normally, I would add sugar to recipes but I didn't do that for this challenge and I didn't even have to. Raw fruits and vegetables are so great left untampered with, or even cooked. I learned what I can do with fruits and vegetables and I learned what I like and don’t like.
This challenge also pushed me to try new things with food like green juice. Green juice used to freak me out because it just looked like it tasted green. On top of that, I had to add celery in some of the recipes. Celery? I hated celery! I found it bitter and strong; I feared even the smell of celery. And guess what? I love it now. I try to add it into any recipe it may fit in.
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
My family thought I went overboard with my food shopping but I really needed all of it! I spent less than $200 for all of the food that was worth more than 21 meals. Think about it, we spend more than $200 on 21 meals if you're eating out, $200 on groceries shouldn't sound shocking.
I told everyone that I was doing this challenge to have accountability and to share what I was doing. At first I was nervous to jump right in but I told myself that I had to complete the challenge.
Eating fully raw meals wasn't as hard as I had anticipated. In fact, I learned just how tasty some foods were alone and how to mix it with the proper foods. However, I didn't enjoy all of the recipes I tried and there were some recipes that I did not even want to bother trying.
Since the challenge was to replace one meal a day with a fully raw meal I would follow Kristina's recipes but in my own style. Her portions are a little extreme so I didn't have giant salads with a pitcher of her fully raw dressings but I did make enough for leftovers.
I was excited about some of the meals and shared it with my family and they enjoyed them too, especially the "nice cream" recipes. On the other hand, I did not enjoy the curry noodles or lasagna recipes. The curry noodles dressing didn't mix well with the cucumber noodles so it was very watery and the lasagna just looked better than it tasted.
My family applauded when I finished the challenge and I was so proud of myself for even completing something like that! I learned a lot about food and all that it has to offer. Normally, I would add sugar to recipes but I didn't do that for this challenge and I didn't even have to. Raw fruits and vegetables are so great left untampered with, or even cooked. I learned what I can do with fruits and vegetables and I learned what I like and don’t like.
This challenge also pushed me to try new things with food like green juice. Green juice used to freak me out because it just looked like it tasted green. On top of that, I had to add celery in some of the recipes. Celery? I hated celery! I found it bitter and strong; I feared even the smell of celery. And guess what? I love it now. I try to add it into any recipe it may fit in.
The experience of trying new recipes and experimenting with eating raw foods made me think of how I want to continue this lifestyle in the future and to be able to look back at how it all started.
Bishop Joseph Mattera once said he eats for sustenance, not for pleasure. Now that kind of lifestyle is intense! But I get it now. I believe food is meant to be enjoyed but real food. Eating for sustenance can still mean eating for pleasure, because real food is just that good.
I loved your blog. It has really motivated me. I have often thought about the benefits of going raw, but as a "latina" it goes against everything we enjoy - LOL!! You have inspired me to push a little harder. Heck, if a young adult (you guys love to eat!) can do this for 21 days, then I should at least try a little harder. I am going to read a few of the sites you referenced. Let's see if I can shift into a healthy life style! Keep writing my friend. I really enjoy reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome, Mille! Yes, I used to think the same way, that it was impossible to cut out the red meat and rice, but I just kept telling myself that it will all be worth it. I believe in you! You can shift into a healthier lifestyle! :) Thanks for the love and support <3
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