I can just hear my family now....

First, before I start my post, I ran across this post in another blog:
USDA to list stores that sell recalled meats.
Definitely want to check that out, and keep up to date on what you're eating. Honestly... so glad I don't have to worry about that anymore!

So.. what is on my mind, you ask? Well, food's been on my mind, as usual. I've been feeling very tired lately, sluggish almost, my energy is barely lasting throughout the day... This is odd, since I usually feel great. I only started noticing this about 2 maybe 3 weeks ago. It could be that I'm coming to the end of my second trimester, yes. It could be the fact that Carlee's been sick twice in the past month, and sick kids do have a tendency to drain your energy as well, somehow... (wish someone could explain that one to me LOL.) But I thought about it, and I realized we are eating very crappy lately, mainly relying on some simple carb and soy meat substitute meal most days of the week. This is not what I want to be eating, and it's not what we usually ate before this past few weeks. I don't know what happened. I really think that this food rut is causing me to feel the way I do. And the more sluggish and tired I feel, the less I feel like cooking; it's a horrible cycle. So, I did a little web surfing to track down some new recipes.

Then I ran across this site: The Garden Diet. After seeing pictures of how healthy and energetic the whole family looks, I remembered my ultimate life's goal: to be as healthy as possible. After seeing the pictures of Jinjee 10 days (!!!) after giving birth, I was amazed. I looked up a few raw vegan sites and blogs. Then I remembered a book I had just read about a month ago: The Thrive Diet. I had loved this book! (The author is a triathlete!! and he is such a genious on food and how your body utilizes it for energy and muscle repair, etc. Definitely recommend it!) And then, as I got busy this past month, completely forgot about it. I had forgotten so quickly how I had wanted to incorporate more raw foods into my diet.

So, now I've set my mind to it again. I cannot possibly do 100% raw here, as there are plenty of ingredients I cannot get here. But I am going to work with what I have access to. I plan on eating raw breakfasts most days, and at least 3 raw lunches, and at least 2 raw dinners a week to start out with. I'm hoping that since I will have more raw foods available, that Carlee will enjoy them with me. I doubt she'll eat much of it though, it'd be a big change for her. I don't think I'd be able to go 100% raw also for the reason that I love to cook and especially bake. Maybe I can find some good books on the subject... always researching, no? :)

I once had a friend criticize me when I first went vegan for how "strict" I was with my eating, saying that she definitely couldn't do it. I told her that my and my family's health was my utmost priority, and that I wanted to take as good of care as possible of the one body I was given. "Well, I just enjoy life and my food. If it's God's will that I die tomorrow, I'm going to die, regardless of what I ate." I told her yes, that's true, and I believe that too. However, God did give us free will. That's like saying to a drug abuser, well go ahead and keep doing cocaine, if it's God's will that you die tomorrow, it's going to happen anyway. In the same way, if we clog our arteries, abuse our bodies nutritiously, and take for granted what He gave us as a gift, do you think that we will live as long as He meant us to? That's how I look at it anyway.

Anyway, I will definitely be giving updates, and posting about what I'm eating. I'm excited to start feeling more energetic again. :D