Day 7: No wagons here!

I announced this here blog on the rawfoods.com forum the other day and one of the nice replies was from Bryan, who I used to see at raw food potlucks. We have mutual friends. It's been ages since I saw him. He's a long-time raw fooder and has seen a lot of success with his dietary choices. I appreciated his words of encouragement, but one thing he said really got me thinking: "It doesn't matter how many times one falls off the wagon. What matters is that one gets back on." I appreciate where he's coming from, totally, as a gentle encouragement to be willing to take the first step again with this diet.

However, in thinking deeper about it, I'm in a different place with it now. My attitude now is that this is just what I'm doing for now, for today, with resolute determination to get to 90 days. I used to go by that success/failure model, and all it ever got me was a whole lot of heartache. I would love myself only when I was eating raw food and staying on the restrictive straight and narrow. Then I would "fall off" and I would hate myself and go into a tailspin, which wouldn't make me love myself anymore. It was all about something external -- food -- not something inside.

Today I have dispensed with the wagon altogether. I'm living within my own power so don't need such outmoded conveyances. I'm actually in a place where I can't do anything other than what I'm doing, because I know I would be not being true to my dreams, that it would be out of alignment. What's truly important is not that I get back on the raw food wagon; it's that I create the strong, vibrant, happy life that I want. What I eat is secondary to that. Once I put everything aside and asked myself what I truly wanted and how to get it, and fully understood that I have to create the life I want and build my strength by flexing my mental muscles, I see this as truly just one exercise toward achieving that goal. The diet is only a stepping stone that I think, for now, will help me be who I want to be, help me explore some frontiers in my life. I don't promise to be doing this five years from now. I have a truly open mind about it.

A lot of my new attitude comes from a strong desire to flex my willpower. When you build your willpower you build your focus and concentration. As applied to the diet this time around, it's really not about avoiding food. This is about learning to do what is difficult, cultivating inner fortitude, and I can apply its lessons in a myriad of ways.

Eat Something Raw Day
Did you know today is Eat Something Raw Day? I had no idea! I heard that this morning on NPR. I tried to research it (about 30 seconds) and couldn't really find anything out, but if you're really sappy there are some Eat Something Raw Day e-cards out there. Eat Something Raw! Um, ok!

As for Day 7
Lots of cravings throughout the day, mostly because I was getting together with a friend that I usually go to lunch with. She offered me an avocado and I took her up on it. Better than potato salad!

In case you haven't noticed, I'm posting my experiences from the previous day. I don't think too well at night, so it works better for me this way.

As for weekends, I'll try to post my food, but maybe no commentary. There's this great blog Geese Aplenty, and when you do a Google search on it the description says, "Now fortified with less frequent posts." Love that! If you need some humor in your day, czech out that blog.

Food:

• 1 avocado
• Juice of 6 grapefruits (2.5 cups)
• Smoothie (not great, but edible): 7.5 oz blueberries (214 g), cucumber (454 g), 3-5/8 oz pear (106 g), 3-1/2 oz banana (100 g), 2-3/8 oz celery (70 g)
• Large handful of garden lettuce
• 1 Crenshaw melon, blended (3 lb, 5 oz)
• Smoothie of 1 mango and 394 g romaine

Calories: 1723
Carbs: 76%
Protein: 7%
Fat: 17%