Eating only mono meals is going pretty well. I'm on my third food, so far, and have ended day two. This evening I've started my third fruit: Pineapples!

3:30 pm

Whew! I m stuffed! I blended 16 oz. of strawberries in the Vitamix to drink (that was yummy!) and then I ate an additional 6 oz. of whole berries. I don t think I would have been able to consume as much, had I not blended most of them. It was very filling and I know I won t be hungry until after dinnertime. So, now ends my strawberry day! There is one container of strawberries left that Jim and KDcat are welcome to consume!

?Total Expense for strawberries consumed: $17.50

Body/Mind/Spirit/Emotions

It s too early to notice much from the mono eating. Mentally, I am fully committed to doing the nine days of mono meals. I do not physically feel hungry. In fact, right this moment I feel quite full after my last strawberry meal. However, if I wasn t doing this mono eating, I d probably process up some sort of salty nut/cheese spread to consume. Is this because I need more calories, because I only consumed sweet food all day and I want to balance it out with something salty, or because I m used to feeling slightly numb and I m craving that feeling? Perhaps it s a combination of all of those things, in addition to some others that I haven t considered.

7:00 pm

I was starting to feel a little hungry, so I started my second food for my mono meals. A sweet person on a raw food support forum I daily visit suggested that I eat the foods in the order of the rainbow. What a clever idea, right ! So, that s what I m going to do, to the best of my ability. If something isn t ripe, I m not going to stick to the color order and eat it. If I feel like I just don t want a particular food that is the ?correct? color some day, then I ll choose something different. The order of the rainbow will be a nice guideline to follow when eating my mono meals, though!

?

So, that brings us to my next food! The first were the red/strawberries. Now I m on to orange/oranges. I just ate four medium-sized navels. I m not stuffed like I was earlier when I ate more than I really desired of the strawberries. However, I am very satisfied and a bit full. I m thinking tomorrow should be an easy day, since oranges are easy to eat!

?8:26 pm

I m wanting something salty, something with lots of flavor (from herbs and/or spices). I think reading raw food blogs is going to make this mono eating a bit difficult. I see beautiful recipes and want to eat them. Normally, when I am eating a mixture of raw foods in my meal, I am full and satisfied---and images of raw recipes simply inspire me to make something similar for myself someday. When all I m eating is fruit, however, it makes me want to eat those things immediately. I salivate, even though my stomach isn t even empty. I m thinking I m going to thoroughly enjoy the day of celery, when I have something that isn t sweet and has a slightly salty taste to it!

?

April 8, 2008

Last night I dreamed I was eating bread! I was walking around with a piece of buttered bread in my hand, and then I brought it up to my mouth and mindlessly took a bite. I then realized I had bread in my mouth and I took it out. I asked myself, ?What am I doing? I don t eat bread!? Then I remembered that earlier I had eaten a piece without realizing what I was doing, and I had chewed it up and swallowed it. I was glad to have been more aware of what I was doing this time, and that I didn t consume the entire piece of bread without even thinking about it.

?

I know to some the dream may look like deep-seeded emotional issues around food. But, that s not what it is. Yesterday, my daughter was actually walking around with a piece of buttered bread, mindlessly munching on it. ;-) I ve dreamed of bread in the past, however, and I wonder if it s because my body has never been able to fully detox itself of the wheat I ve consumed over my lifetime. You see, I still use NamaShoyu which contains some wheat; therefore, my body is still getting small doses of wheat on an almost regular basis. Someday, I will give up the NamaShoyu, because I really don t like relying on packaged/bottled foods in order to enjoy the vegetables and nuts I consume.

?

I was very tired last night and went to sleep not long after 10pm. I woke somewhere around 7am, my mind alert but my body still a bit tired (mostly my eyes). My tongue feels like it s a bit coated isn t it too early to start some sort of detox? I ve only had four mono meals, so far. It seems like nothing would be happening, yet, since it s so soon.

?

Whenever I don t consume garlic and/or onions for a while, the smell of them on others is potent. [Pause here to giggle a bit: my daughter just came into the office carrying a piece of buttered bread. I took a moment to talk with her about mindless eating, too.] Anyway, our herbs are starting to wake up in the back yard and yesterday my daughter had eaten some chives. She was on a different floor of the house and I got a whiff of the scent and I called up to her: ?Someone has been eating fresh chives!? She was amazed that I could smell it on a different floor, especially since it was earlier in the day that she had eaten them. Some people don t like the smell of chives and garlic, but I love both, especially when they are on the breath of those I m talking with.

?

It s 9:40am and I m not hungry, yet. Today is my day of oranges and I think it s going to be easy. I ll blend up about six and drink them for breakfast, and then eat some whole ones for lunch (and a snack if I m hungry any time before dinner). I haven t decided what to eat after the oranges. I have pineapples on my kitchen counter and some bananas on top of the fridge (my next rainbow color is yellow). I ll make the decision when it s time to eat dinner, I guess!

?11:15am

I blended six Valencia oranges, with the seeds, in the Vitamix for my breakfast. I guess there were a lot of seeds in them, since the drink was a bit bitter. It was okay, though. I drank all of it and it was very filling. I m wondering if I should eat first thing in the morning, even if I m not hungry, so that I can get more calories each day. I can t decide if I should do that, or if I should just eat when I m hungry (which seems like the natural way to eat).

?1:30pm

I wasn t really hungry, but I wanted to sit with Jim and KDcat while they were eating. So, I ate four navel oranges. They were very tasty and easy to eat. I must admit, however, that the look and smell of the cucumber and nut ?cheese? was the food making me salivate.

?5:22pm

It s a bit earlier than I wanted to eat for dinner, but I m hungry. So, I ve decided to eat two oranges and then later I ll eat whatever I decide to eat for my yellow mono meal!

?6:10pm

Okay, those two oranges must have completely stimulated my appetite because I m HUNGRY! J The bananas aren t ripe enough (I prefer them heavily spotted with brown and never consume them if they have any green at all), so that means it s going to be pineapples for dinner. I wonder what it will be like blended into a smoothie? I think I m about to find out!

?6:30pm

Oh, my!!! That was delicious! I ve decided that I m going to blend the pineapples for every meal. Wow! It was acidic, but oh so yummy and sweet. If anyone reading this has a high-power blender, I recommend blending up an entire pineapple (after removing the skin and core, that is). You won t be disappointed! An entire pineapple yielded 4.5 cups of pineapple smoothie. I couldn t drink more than half of it, but maybe I ll be hungry before bedtime and I ll drink the rest of it later.

?Total Expense for oranges consumed: $7.68

Body/Mind/Spirit/Emotions

I have more energy today, but I don t know if it s because of the mono meals or because the sun has been out for a few days in a row. It has been beautiful outside, so I ve been spending a lot of time outside soaking up the sun s rays. It feels so great. I m looking forward to moving to a sunnier location before the end of the year. Mentally, I feel a tiny bit more focused. Again, however, is that from the sun or the mono meals? I feel excited, in a way, about this nine days of mono meal eating. It s a great way to get used to not consuming so many fats (nuts, seeds, oil, avocados), which is my big goal during this second year of 100% raw. So, it s exciting to be getting closer to that goal in a special way. I ve been taking time to meditate in the mornings and I ll try adding meditation in the evenings, as well. I m feeling pretty good, overall.

?8:15pm

Okay, I have cravings. They aren t there until I see or smell foods, though. I was just going through some raw blogs that I like to read and someone posted a mouth-watering picture of a quiche and I instantly wanted to eat it. I actually felt a little sad, or something, that I couldn t eat salty, oily, savory foods. Then my inner voice spoke the deepest wisdom to me, as it s been doing all along. It said: ?You can eat whatever you want. If you aren t eating it, it s because you choose to not eat it. I love those words that have been supporting me from the very beginning of my raw food journey. Yes, those other foods look good, but right now I choose to not eat them. I am committed to this nine days of mono meals. I m going to finish up that pineapple smoothie that I created earlier this evening. J