Birthdays aren't what they used to be...

I turned 34 this past weekend. I had a lovely birthday. My parents took me out to dinner the night before. I got some nice gifts. I went to see "Wicked" on my birthday with two cool ladies and then that evening I went out to dinner with my husband. I felt celebrated. However, none of that can hold a candle to the way I used to feel and experience my birthdays when I was younger...and by younger I mean between the ages of 6 and 18. In those days, birthdays were full of pomp and excitement and treasures. The truth is that I'm not certain that the actual mechanics of my birthdays are all that different. There is still usually some small gathering of people who are important to me, there's usually a decadent dessert and the presents are by far more decadent now than they were then. So, why aren't they the same? I guess it's simple. It's something that I've wrote about on here before. As we age we tend to lose the wonder and joy that is so easily attached to things when we are young. Why is that? I WANT THAT BACK! Is there really any good reason why I shouldn't feel as excited about my birthday this year as I did when was 10? I think I'll aim for that next year...or maybe even a little bit of that in every day life starting today.

Well...

Let me get this out there right away. I am absolutely horrible at blogging/journaling. Not because I can't think of anything to say (obviously) but because I lack the ability to sit down and hammer it out most of the time!

I have basically been raw for a little over a month now. I have had a few, very small, detours when having some salad dressing eating out and on my recent weekend getaway to visit friends. However, I would say that overall I'm about 95% raw. It is definitely difficult at times but overall I would describe this lifestyle shift as fantastic. I am definitely noticing benefits from this. My skin is clearer, I am sleeping better and I'm losing weight. I am seeing a homeopathic physician and she was blown away by the improvement in my blood results...so I'm inspired.

Even in this short time I'm learning how to tweak this way of eating for my enjoyment and benefit. I have lots of raw food books and recipes. I am finding that when I stick too closely to any one regimen or concoction it doesn't quite suit me. I'm learning...

For the random person who may stumble upon this blog the following are some important things I've learned starting out. There are a few items I've purchased that have made this change for me much easier. Those items are my Excalibur Food Dehydrator and some books (several paper form books sand a number of e-books). The books are fairly self explanatory; they've provided me with tons of information on what to expect, what to try and why I should do this. The dehydrator has provided me with far greater options for eating choices as well as making it possible to have items akin to corn chips and breads which have been staples of my diet for a very long time. I already owned a nice food processor which is something I could not have done without at this point. One item I did not yet invest in, that I'm glad I held off on, was a fancy blender. A month ago, when I was just starting out, many of the books I read and websites I perused made going raw without an expensive powerful blender sound next to impossible. This is definitely not true. About a year ago my fairly nice Kitchen Aid blender gave up the ghost. Being in a bit of a money crunch at the time I chose to buy a very inexpensive Oster blender (I think it was a little over $20) to tide me over for a few years. This is the blender I have been using so far in going raw. It's been absolutely fine. Now I have no doubt (from having used them before) that a Vita-Mix or the like might be a little faster and sometimes get things a little smoother. But for the price difference of somewhere around $400 or so I'll deal with my Oster for awhile. Don't get me wrong, one day I'd like to have that fancy powerful blender but it is not a necessity right now the way my dehydrator and food processor are. The other item I'm using somewhat frequently, but I would not consider a necessity is a juicer. I had a stroke of good luck in finding out my parents had a Champion juicer that they are not using and were happy to let me use. I have only done a little juicing with it in actuality. I've mostly used it as an emulsifier to make some very yummy, ice cream-like desserts.

Well, there it is...I've done a month of raw and I'm a convert. If you're actually reading this and would like more info from me feel free to contact me =)