I'm reading a lot of Web sites right now, along with some books. I'll update this later when I have the books in front of me, to list the titles. I've read a lot of raw info in the past, but this time my goal is to keep myself steadily reading about raw foods for at least a year (or more!).

Yesterday's Indian food has me up about two pounds from water retention. It's about 9:30 in the morning, too, and I'm not hungry yet. I did eye up a banana this morning, thinking I might have that with some walnuts and soymilk for breakfast. I'm not sure about lunch. I need to pack some snacks for the day, since I'll be out for over five hours.

I tried a Rawma Bar yesterday, but couldn't even eat 1/4 of it. It tasted a bit like alcohol, or maybe spoiled. It was $2 at the food co op and I have another one here by the same company, but I have no desire to even try it. I wonder if I can return the unopened one? I liked the Rawvolution Bar, though. That was just like something I'd make at home. It's too high in carbs compared to the amount of protein, however. Since I have to watch my balance of protein and carbs (because of the PCOS/insulin resistance) I need to have no more than 30g carbs in one meal that are matched with at least 14 grams of protein. That's what helps my body stay balanced with the insulin. Again, I'm not diabetic, but something doesn't work well. I'm hoping raw foods will eventually correct the problem. The last time I went raw, however, it caused my menstrual cycles to become even worse. Maybe my body was just working everything out, though, and I didn't give it long enough to heal.

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Here's the info I'm currently reviewing:

* Raw Food/Real World by Sarma Melngailis and Mathew Kenney--finished this today. It's a quick read because of the format of the book. The recipes look absolutely wonderful--so much so that my husband even commented that he'd eat some of what he saw in the book. It's a nice book to look at--lost of photos and sometimes amusing quotes throughout. I liked some of it and didn't like some of it. It's definitely at the bottom of my list for raw food books that I've read, but even the bottom of the list is okay because it all helps with learning more and becoming more inspired to follow the raw food path. I think it's best for someone who's not already living a vegan, alternative lifestyle who wants to learn a bit about raw foods and possibly try some of the recipes. I didn't like all the talk about alcohol in the book--I think life is wonderful enough without using alcohol to alter it.

* Creative Health Institute's at-home program videos and printouts--this is a good way to get a thorough understanding of everything raw. It was super expensive (a friend and I went in on buying the program about a year ago) and the quality is pretty crappy. In the end, though, it is packed with lots of information and many times it's motivational. I'm still going through the program--there is a lot to read, watch, learn. I only recommend this to people who have extra money and like to surround themselves with as much information as possible.

* I also finished reading Gabriel Cousen's book, Rainbow Green Live Cuisine, sometime last week. I loved this book because of the scientific bent. The way it's written is the style I really enjoy reading. You feel like you are learning so much, that someone else has gone through all the research for you and they are putting it all out there in a condensed version to learn from. If I could afford it, I'd definitely go to Cousens' retreat to be assessed and healed. I think that even though he states that some of the things he's sharing are theories, they make so much sense. Sure, he ends up presenting the theories as truths, but just about everyone does that these days. He looks vibrant and peaceful. I wish there were more pictures of him, so I could really tell what he looks like after eating raw foods according to his theories on how they should be eaten. In the end, however, I think following his way of becoming/eating raw is too overwhelming for me at this stage. Maybe once I am raw for a long time, I'll go back to his book and go through the phases to see if it increases my health even more. I definitely recommend this book to those looking into raw foods, or even those who are already on the raw path who haven't read it for any reason.

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What I've eaten today:

* Banana (I can't stand the Dole organic bananas. Whenever the food co op has the organic bananas from Equador (I think that's where they're from), however, I *must* have them! I think these are the way bananas are supposed to taste!)

* Handful of walnuts

* Small glass of soymilk

* Small pickling cucumber (I love these more than the "regular" cucumbers)

* One avocado

* Few handfuls of walnuts

* Another banana

* Leftover idli with a tiny bit of leftover coconut chutney on top of it

* Fresh parsley to munch on

* Small fresh greens salad with basil, fresh garlic, olive oil, salt, scallions, beet

* Veggie juice--carrots, beets, beet greens

* Sprouted grain bread, toasted and coated with olive oil, salt, fresh garlic, fresh basil