Raw Plant Based Living!

Better than Chocolate!

2012-01-22T14:35:00.000-08:00

I wasn't kidding when I said that all my Sapote ripened at once. After I got back to my room after making the video I posted last Friday I checked on my Chocolate Sapote again to find every single one of them ripe and ready to eat! To try and keep them from rotting I lined them up on my window sill so that the cold being radiated off of the windows would keep them cool. Needless to say I broke my fast the next day (Saturday) with some delicious "Chocolate" pudding; and oh man was it INCREDIBLE. Who needs cacao when you've got Chocolate Sapote? It was so good that the only thing I ate yesterday was my sapote.

The recipe for my "Chocolate" pudding will be in my recipe book. I have all my recipes typed up. At the moment I'm just trying to get pictures of some of my best recipes before publishing. One of these pictures I am definitely going to use in my e-book.

And like I promised I will give you guys another juice recipe that I came up with during my juice fast. I created more than one but you will have to wait for my e-book to get the rest. However, the following juice I am posting was probably my favorite juice out of all of them; it was mostly because I love the taste of tropical fruit and also because it was probably the simplest and easiest juice to make.

Pineapple Greenie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- 2 ripe pineapple

- 2 lbs. Organic spinach

Cut pineapple into long strips about an inch wide.

Leave the skin on if your pineapple is organic and/or

you have a juicer that can handle the skin, otherwise remove the skin.

Juice the the pineapple and the spinach my alternating between

a couple spears of pineapple and a large handful of spinach (the pineapple

spears will push the spinach through). Strain juice and enjoy!

Juice Fast Day #4 - The End

2012-01-20T13:17:00.000-08:00

Juice Fast Day #1

2012-01-17T19:02:00.000-08:00

JUICE RECIPE OF THE DAY

Jingle Jam Juice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8-10 medium sized carrots*

4 small gala apples*

1/4 inch knob of ginger

1/4 of a lime (with peel)*

1/4 C. coconut water (optional)*

a dash of cayenne pepper (optional)*

*Organic ingredients

My Pre-Fast Day

2012-01-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

Time to Cleanse and Renew

2012-01-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

My First Day Back at School (1/2/12)

2012-01-15T08:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas Break Days #4-10: Fun, fun, fun!

2011-12-27T12:47:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! It's so good to have internet! Internet and cell service has been spotty to none existent this past week. But I've finally gotten the chance to stop off at a cafe that has free Wi-Fi. My next post will probably be Friday night at the hotel we stop at for the night on our way back to Lincoln.

DAY 4 (12/21)

Wednesday we all got up semi-early (its vacation so we weren’t really in a rush). We then proceeded to pack up the car and head out to Fort Braggs with Jamie’s dad, Barry, and Jamie’s sister, Joanne, right behind us in the horse trailer. The first part of the drive was pretty easy taking the freeway, but once we got through Willits the rounds became twisting and winding, varying in elevation. This wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t like this the last 26 mile (approximately) to Fort Bragg. After a while you start to get car sick. =P

Once we were there though everything went great and we all had a blast! The sand wasn’t the light colored sand I was used to seeing. It had a mixture of various shades of black and gray. There were also remnants of the old dock that used to be there on the shores. Hearing and smelling the ocean air was such an exhilarating experience, and I don’t think I will ever tire of being there. I would love to one day live either near or on the beach.

I spent the first couple of hours walking along the sand and the boardwalk taking photographs while Jamie and Johnny took the horses for on the trails. Once they got back I grabbed a quick lunch of persimmons before heading out to ride with Joanne on the horses for a couple ore hours; I rode Arnie, Jamie’s horse, and Joanne rode Buddy, Barry’s horse. We took the trails for a little bit before taking the horses out on the beach.

On the way back we decided to walk the horses up the steep hill from the beach to make things easier on Buddy, who doesn’t like walking on the sand. However, this turned out to be a mistake for me. While walking Arnie up my foot slipped on some lose sand causing Arnie to accidentally step on my left foot. Wearing only my Vibram Classics it was pretty painful initially. Almost immediately afterwards though the pain turned into a dull throb, and by the time we had ridden back to the trailer it had gone pretty numb (it had also started bleeding some this point).

Barry gave me some first aid stuff to clean my foot up; luckily nothing was broken, cracked, or crushed. However, I did have a cool cut, some bruising, and a horseshoe shaped impression on my foot to show for it all. Afterwards I tried walking round only to discover that walking brought the sharp shooting pain back into my foot, so I was out for the count for the rest of the day.

By the time we started heading back it was getting late and we were all getting hungry. Everyone else was going to stop off at a local pizza parlor to eat, but on the way there we stopped at the Living Light Café (a place that serves raw vegan cuisine) so that I could pick up something to eat. I grabbed a couple bags of dried mulberries (to replenish my road trip snack supply) and a nice Spanish/Mexican styled salad (which was INCREDIBLY good).

After we got back to the house Jamie, Johnny, and I spent the rest of the evening watching movies until we fell asleep. It didn’t take very long. I was really surprised at how exhausting an active day on the beach could be. This day was one of the best days I’ve ever had.

DAY 5 (12/22)

Since we were all so tired from the day before we woke up late. When we did get up we didn’t feel like doing all that much; we spent the better part of the morning playing around in the kitchen and watching movies in the living room.

I wanted to make Jamie and Johnny my mom’s scrabbled tofu recipe but we didn’t have all the ingredients necessary, so I improvised and came up with this:

It wasn’t as pretty as the regular recipe because they didn’t have any turmeric (which gives the tofu its yellow coloring). However, according to my dear friends it tasted good, which was all that mattered. They piled their plates high with the tofu, some hash browns, my raw cheese sauce, some salsa, and avocado. The food seemed to hit the spot for them because neither of them ate again until dinnertime.

As for my breakfast, I had the pleasure of enjoying a perfectly ripe, sweet, and juicy pineapple. I was able to eat the entire thing without my tongue bleeding because it wasn’t acidic like the ones you get in Georgia or Nebraska. This is because California is closer to Hawaii, Mexico, and Costa Rica (where pineapples are grown), therefore they don’t have to be picked green to be able to make it to CA without rotting.

After breakfast we all felt much more energized and ready to do something more active then lying around the house. Jamie’s parents’ house is situated on a 10-acre plot of land with some medium sized wooded mountains behind them that they can go trail walking or horseback riding up. We decided to hike up to the look out point since Johnny and I had never been and Jamie hadn’t gone for a while.

There weren’t any “official” trails we just followed the small, almost indistinct, trails made by deer trekking up and down the mountain. It was only a little less than a mile to the look out point, but the steep incline made for a wicked workout. Once we reached our destination though, even with out legs muscles burning and hearts pumping, the view we got from the look out rock was worth the effort.

On the way back down we got a little turned around and lost the deer trails for a while. However, we knew that as long as we were heading down (partially sliding down due to the thick layer of leaves that covered the steep slope) towards the creek bed we would be doing all right. Eventually we did stumble back onto a deer trail and were able to get ourselves back to level ground with only minor scratches, cuts, and bruises.

After we gotten back, showered, and got dressed in some fresh clean clothes we used up the last of our citrus fruit to make Clementine/Satsuma/Orange juice to rejuvenate after our hike. Then the rest of the day was spent in Lakeport to purchase groceries. Jamie did have us make a quick stop at the lookout in Lakeport so that we could see the lake that gave the town its name. I don’t get why Nebraska and Georgia call their bodies of water lakes, because compared to the ones I’ve seen in Colorado, and now California, those bodies of water are ponds, not lakes.

DAY 6 (12/23)

Friday was Redwoods day. After a lovely breakfast of super-sweet honeydew we drove north towards the Redwood forests. We stopped at the drive through Chandelier Redwood Tree (located just south of Garberville), Garberville, and Confusion Hill, and Founder’s Grove.

I didn’t take any pictures in Garberville because we were originally just passing through to get to Founder’s Grove, but I saw a hemp shop that I just had to check out. Inside were clothes, paper, rope, string, hats, bags, notebooks, writing utensils, soaps, and shampoos all made from hemp. I couldn’t really afford to buy any of there merchandise, but it was fun to look. I’d never been able to feel hemp clothing before. I was impressed by the good quality of the material. I don’t understand why the U.S. won’t legalize the growing of hemp. If they did a huge industry would be created in this country that would create good quality merchandise and jobs for the American people.

DAY 7 (12/24)

Saturday (Sabbath) we all stayed in the general Upper Lake area. However, that doesn’t mean we didn’t do anything. On the contrary, we played hard all day long riding on Barry’s motorcycle, going horseback riding, and hiking on the Glen Eden Trail.

DAY 8 (12/25)

Since Jamie, her family, and I don’t celebrate Christmas, the holiday was relatively uneventful. We were planning on driving back up to the Redwoods, but Jamie’s mom, Sheri, and Joanne were having some people over, so we stayed at the house to help out.

When we weren’t visiting Jamie and I went walking out in the beautiful (and WARM) outdoors, relaxing with Johnny in one of the backrooms, and watching movies.

DAY 9 (12/26)

Yesterday we planned to drive into Sacramento to hang out in Old Town. Before we headed out I made myself a large fruit smoothie (bananas, mango, peaches, strawberries, a raw organic superberry powder, and coconut water) and offered to make Breakfast for everyone. I cooked up some more scrabbled tofu (I had all the right spices this time) and some more raw cheese sauce.

I may not eat cooked vegan meals like this anymore, but it is still much healthier than the SAD and vegetarian diet. Also I love to cook/bake/prepare as good and healthy food for people as I can, so if you ask to make something for you I’ll gladly do fix something to your tastes and preferences.

It took a couple of hours to get to Old Town (we got there around 1pm), and a few more minutes to find a parking space (we had no idea it would be THAT busy). We spent the next 4 hours walking and shopping around. There was a lot of cool stuff, but I didn't have the desire, nor the money, to buy a ton of stuff. However, I did purchase some original Kodak Box Cameras form the early 1900s and a Sacramento sweatshirt.

For dinner we stopped off at a Fresh Choice. I took advantage of their all you can eat policy and loaded up my salad with every good looking vegetables they had.

We got back to Jamie's parents' house around 11pm and we were all exhausted, but it had been a pretty good day. We all passed out in our respective sleeping areas as soon as we got through the door. LOL.

DAY 10 (12/27 – TODAY)

Today is just going to be spent helping Jamie pack up some of her stuff in her room. I'll probably go for go for a walk or a run in the afternoon, and tonight I'll be making dinner for everyone: A vegan lasagna. I'm not sure what I'll be having for dinner, but I'm sure I'll be inspired by whatever yummy fresh food I can find in the house. =)

STAY TUNED

Tomorrow we'll be spending the day in San Francisco! And Thursday has yet to be planned, but it will be out last day in California before we head out, so we'll be sure to find something awesome to do for the grand finale.

Christmas Break Days #2 & 3: Let the Fun Begin!

2011-12-20T18:06:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! I would have posted yesterday, but we got into Jamie's parents place later in the evening and they don't have internet. I'm currently sitting in a Starbuck in Ukiah to write this.

DAY #2

So, yesterday we got up pretty early and headed out. Nevada consisted mostly of barren flatland and rolling hills, but it was beautiful in its own special way, especially as the sun rose. The rest of our time spent driving through it was relatively uneventful, but there were some fun photo opportunities during my driving breaks.

We crossed the border into California around noon.

And it wasn't long after that we were stopped and checked to see if we had any "contaminating" or "illegal" items in our cars.

We were fine. =)

Our next stop was off of exit 184 for Donner Pass Road. It was a totally random choice; we just needed a place to stop and stretch our legs out. However, we ended up finding some pretty cool places to check out...

Like an epic health food store! =)

DAY #3

The plan was to sleep in, but ended up waking up and going for a nice run with Jamie's dog, Chief at 7:30am. When I got back I was able to enjoy some of the California fruit that Jamie's folks had bought for us. I grabbed some strawberries, bananas, dates, and coconut water, through it all in the blender, and made myself the BEST fruit smoothie I have had in a long time.

Honeydew, pineapple, persimmons, oranges, mandarines,

clementines, strawberries, bananas, etc.

Afterwards we played with the dogs and hung around the house a little bit before taking Jamie's horse, Arnie, out for a buggy ride! I even got to steer him for a couple of miles. =)

A couple hours later we came back, had lunch, and headed out again. We stopped off at Glen Eden trail to check it out. We only trekked a half mile up and then raced back down, but we plan on going back there later this week and hiking the whole thing.

Then we stopped of at the Blue Lakes and a Bison ranch.

And that sums up the day. It's about time for dinner so Jamie, Johnny, and I are going to go head out and find some food. Tomorrow we'll be heading out to Fort Bragg to spend the day on the coast. I can't wait!

Christmas Break Day #1: On the Road

2011-12-18T21:13:00.000-08:00

At 4:40 AM, Jamie, Johnny, and I began our road trip to California in two fully loaded cars. Before starting out though, I was sure to have a light breakfast consisting of tangerine/tangelo/clementine juice leftover from Saturday.

As the journey commenced I spent the first 8 hours reacquainting myself with my extensive iPod music library and randomly making comments to Jamie and Johnny over the two way radio. By then we had mad nearly halfway across Wyoming and I was beat.

This is where having three capable drivers comes in handy, if someone gets tired there is a relief driver. In this case Jamie joined me in my car to allow me a nice two hours of sleep and another two hours spent dozing and taking pictures.

Around 4:20 PM we reached the outer city limits and I discovered (thanks to my awesome 3G internet) that there was a Whole Foods and an Exon gas station right next to each other two exits ahead.

Sadly, most of the fresh fruit was unripe

(the pineapple being one of the few exceptions).

However, they had some great organic dried fruit,

raw fruit/chia bars, and raw chocolates.

So we stopped to grab dinner, get gas, and switch drivers before driving 2.5 more hours before stopping for the night at The Rainbow Hotel and Casino in Nevada.

After we checked in we played in the pool and relaxed in the hot tub for a bit. Tomorrow we'll have just 10-11 more hours until we get to Jamie's parents house. I honestly can't wait. Driving all day with little to no movement is not my idea of fun. I'm ready to get outside to swim, hike, run, and explore!

On that note it's late, and we want to try to get as early a start as possible in the morning so I need to go get some sleep. Until tomorrow...

Total Miles Driven (from Lincoln city limits): 1,000 miles.

Christmas Break Begins

2011-12-17T18:18:00.000-08:00

Finals are finally over for this semester and my Christmas Break has finally arrived! I've got all my stuff packed up, and tomorrow morning I'm driving to Upper Lake, CA with a couple of my good friends (Jamie and Johnny). I can't wait for the adventure to begin, and I plan to most os often as I can (whenever I can get internet access) so you can follow me on my outdoor and fruity adventures.

Let the fun begin!! =D

Thanksgiving Break Recap, Fruit Deliveries, and Winter Running

2011-12-01T01:35:00.000-08:00

I can't believe its almost been a week since I got back to Union College from Thanksgiving Break! Being home with my mom and my brother was something I really needed. We all stayed up late watching movies, slept in late, I had long in-depth conversations with my mom, I got to see my old friends, go to cycling classes at LA Fitness, and do some fun trail running. I also took advantage of Black Friday by purchasing some new Vibrams online (they were 30% off!) instead of buying them at Abbadabba's in Atlanta (I needed a new pair of Sprints. My old pair I wore a whole through it after wearing it everyday for almost 1.5 yrs.).

I was planning to do the Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon while I was home, but I changed my plans; my mom asked me if it would be alright to skip it this year so that she could have a relaxing and well-slept vacation (I didn't have my car so she would have driven me to the race at 5am on Thanksgiving Day in downtown Atlanta). Everyone just needs a break now and again, and my main priority on this vacation was to spend quality time with my family. They have supported me in my food choices, school choices, and especially in my races, and they are what I am most grateful for.

This is my latest creation, a "Baked" Apple Smoothie.

This smoothie was invented to replace my preplanned

raw persimmon pie. I had all the ingredients but somehow

ants managed to find their way into the reusable bag,

paper bag, and plastic bag that I had wrapped

the Hachiya persimmons in to ripen.

When I got back from break my good friend, Jamie, and her boyfriend picked me up at the airport in Omaha. Although I had persimmons waiting for me back in my dorm and some clementines I had brought back from the Farmer's Market at home, I was still going to need some more food to last me until my next shipment from Jourdan's Beautiful Foods arrived, so we stopped off at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

Yum yum, eat em up!

Yesterday was when my fruit

packages started to arrive again. More Dragon Fruit!

And today my package of Pomelos came in!!

I was amazed at the size of these guys.

Wow! I know what I'm having for breakfast.

Since getting back I hadn't gone running. I was sick of using the treadmill, but it was cold outside and I didn't have the appropriate outdoor running clothes for midwest temperatures. So this Tuesday I went over to Scheels (a popular sports store hear in Nebraska) to fork out some money for a good quality winter running outfit: pants, shirt, coat, gloves, and hat (the whole shebang).

While I was there I also invested in a new pair of running shoes. I haven't run or really even walked in anything but Vibram Five Fingers and thin sandles in well over a year. However, I've found that even with the Bikila's I'm only able to run a max of 14 miles on pavement (trails aren't a problem) before I start experiencing ankle pain. I viewed this reaction as an indication that if I plan on training and running the Lincoln Marathon this May, then I was going to need some shoes with more support; and with some research beforehand and some assistance from one of the staff members from Scheels, I found something that I believe will work for me - the Nike LunarGlide+ 3 Shield running shoe.

I ran in them for the first time today.

It felt a little weird because I'm not accustomed

to running in actual shoes, but I don't think it

will be to difficult to adjust seeing as they are so light.

And even though they provide more support than

Vibrams, they aren't really all that thick.

Bring on the cold, I'm ready!

I only have one more week after this week before finals; then I can enjoy myself over Christmas Break - 3 whole weeks of fun, rest, and relaxation before Spring Semester starts. The first two weeks I'll be in California with Jamie (road trip!) and the last week of break I plan on flying back home to visit my family. So my posts might have been rather sparse over the Fall semester, but look out for a lot of activity anytime after December 18th.

Later!

Fun Flavors of Fall

2011-11-17T07:42:00.000-08:00

Autumn my dear readers is a beautiful season, especially here in Nebraska. On campus the trees are turning so many colors: red, yellow, orange, and pink, all with different variance of these shades; there are even trees with multiple colors on the leaves, one side might be red while the other side is yellow! And as a college student and Biology major, Autumn is the busiest time of the year, with tests to take, papers to write, projects to do, books to read, classes to attend, and lab experiments to conduct. I still managed to have some fun though, and even make a couple of new good friends.
In early October I attended a small fall festival at the church by Union's campus. The festival was put on by the the George Stone Elementary school (which is housed below the Union girls' dorm) to raise money for their school.

Some of the kids even performed.

This guy was pretty good.

Due to its pagan origins I have never, and still don't celebrate Halloween. However, I love that because of Halloween you can dress up in a costume during this time of the month without people thinking your nuts, and this year I took advantage of it. So I grabbed whatever I had handy in my dorm room, and for one day I went to classes as a wood nymph. What fun I had! =D

When November came about three things happened: (1) It got colder! Brrr..., (2) my workload got heavier, and (3) some of my favorite fall fruits became available, Fuyu persimmons, cranberries, honey crisp apples, and dragon fruit! Persimmons and dragon fruit I prefer to eat as a mono-meals. While its true that persimmons and dragon fruit taste good with a lot of different fruits and raw recipes, there is just something delectable about sitting down to a large meal of sweet, soft, and juicy persimmons or dragon fruit. Mmmmm...

And when cranberry season arrives, so do the honey crisp apples, and I get to make one of my favorite fall breakfast, raw cranberry sauce:

Today is the last day of classes for me. Tomorrow morning I get to fly home for Thanksgiving Break. It's going to be wonderful. A whole week without classes or labs to go to and no tests to take. . . I can't wait! I plan on running the Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon again this year. It's the same course as last year so I'll get the chance to see if I can beat my PB for this course from last year. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

My Fun Filled Weekend

2011-10-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

This post was supposed to get published last night; however, I had to wait until I was able to upload all the pictures I wanted to share with you guys. This weekend was probably the BEST weekend I've had this school semester, and I hope to have more just as fun (or more fun) than this one.

Friday Afternoon/Evening/Night:

Friday afternoon, after classes, Jamie (my BFF) and I got to head out for my very first concert: The Songs and Stories Tour featuring Steven Curtis Chapman, Josh Wilson, and Andrew Peterson! Located at the Barrean Church, we got there early because we had purchased special tickets that allowed us to attend the soundcheck and ask Steven questions before the concert.

The soundcheck

The concert! =D

My armband to get into the soundcheck.

A tour poster signed by Steven Curtis Chapman!

We got arrived at the church at 5:30 and didn't get back until 10:30, and the next day my voice was hoarse from screaming, singing, and the smoke machine...it was the best night EVER! The artists were such real and down to earth guys, and their incredible Christian music made for the perfect sabbath opening. I can't wait to go to another concert. =)

Saturday:

On Sabbath I spent most of my day sleeping, watching TV shows on my computer, and doing a bible study with my mom over Skype. However, I did go for a long afternoon walk with Jamie. We spent approximately 90 minutes wandering around Lincoln staying on the look out for any good rentals, and checking out the cool architecture and landscape of the houses in the area.

I discovered, thanks to Jamie, that rose

hips are edible and quite tasty.

Some people had really cool yard decorations.

This one was my favorite - A bottle tree.

During are walk we finally got to see the rare black

squirrel that we had heard lived here in Lincoln.

I forgot my camera so the pictures above were taken on Jamie's phone, so the resolution isn't that great, but I think it still captures the awesomeness that was our walk.

Sunday:

Sunday was mostly spent doing homework, but I made sure to make the time to workout. I swam 1.75 miles that morning at our school pool and cycled approximately 7.65 miles on my interval trainer while I did my assigned reading for my religion class. I also took a couple of homework breaks.

After Jamie got out of her final Scuba class (she is now Scuba certified, you go Jamie!!) she treated me to a drink at a local coffee shop because she had won a free gift certificate for the place at work.

Jamie had a double mocha latte made with almond mylk.

And I had an iced Yerba Mate tea.

Good Eats!

I also ate very well over the weekend. I had lot's of fruity goodies, but my two favorites were the two scrumptious creations below.

My new date sauce recipe with Honeycrisp apple slices.

My latest tropical green smoothie creation!

You can find out what is in these two recipes when my recipe e-book is released January 1, 2012.

Until next time... eat fruit, run fast!

My Omaha pictures are in!

2011-10-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

I finally received the link to download my race pictures from the September 25th Omaha Marathon and Half Marathon. I'm feel a little emotional "sting" when I think about not finishing the full, but I keep reminding myself that my next chance at a marathon is only 6 months away, and I'm not planning on letting the colder weather get the best of me this time! =)

Like I said in my previous post though, I'm glad I stuck it out long enough to at least finish the half. I would have felt even worse if I wasn't able to complete anything. So here are the professional pics:

At first I was felt the cold (it was making me numb)

but I was still doing ok at this point.

About an hour into the race it might have been sunny but it was still freezing to me.

I couldn't get warm, and by this point you can tell be my face

that my muscles were cramping up. At this point I really wanted to quite.

However, I came to this race to finish a run, and wearing my "Go Vegan!"

singlet really encouraged me not to stop until I finished something. So I pushed through it, determined to at least complete the half.

The finish line is in sight! I remember thinking, "come on Amanda! Give it all you've got, your almost done. I know your in pain but you can do it! Just a few more feet."

Another metal to add to my growing collection. =)

Be on the look out for another post Sunday night. I've have/had fun plans for this weekend that I'm squeezing in between homework and training. Stay tuned...

Later guys!

Mid-Term Break Relief!

2011-10-18T04:23:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Yes I am alive, well, and still here. Not only am I back at Union College this year but I'm also in the honors program now, and am going to be playing in the school production of "Fiddler on the Roof" so this semester had left me with little time to even breathe. Fortunately I have a small reprieve this weekend. This week was mid-terms week, but it ended Thursday and I had Friday off, which has made this a glorious 3 day weekend. =) So I had plenty of time to catch everyone up on what has been happening over these past couple of months.

My Ecology class this semester has been a blast! The first weekend of school was spent on a class field trip with said Ecology class to Estes Park in Colorado. The point of the trip was to study the how the changes in climate and temperature effected the species and variety of vegetation found in the environment. This meant I got to visit Rocky Mountain National Park, and go hiking on Sabbath (Saturday). I am now completely in love with hiking, and hope to visit Colorado again soon to do just that.

A Marmot

Pawnee Pass - Elevation 12,550 ft.

Not all of my ecology class hiked this trail,

some stayed down at Lake Isabella to explore the glaciers.

From left to right: Me, Ellen, Dr. Abbey (my professor), and Dalton.

A White-Tailed Ptarmigan

(their feather turn white after it begins to snow regularly of camouflage).

Grasshoppers!

Got to try out my new KSO Vibrams, and the work really well for hiking.

I'm on top of the world!

Lake Isabella

Chasm Falls

Brought my lunch with me on trip: grapes + tangelos + plums = yum!

A Clark's Nutcracker Bird

Over Memorial Day weekend I got to spend my time earning some extra cash by working for a local farmer in his organic blueberry farm! I got payed two days out in the sun while also getting lots of fresh air and exercise. What wasn't to love? (They pay was pretty good too. LOL).

Blueberry Bushes

Blueberries

He also keeps a few cows in the fields

not being used to grow anything.

Some sort of fruit tree. Looks sort of like a Pomelo.

He has his own organically grown

private orchard and garden as well.

And no farm would be complete without goats. =)

This year I also got to participate in Project Impact! Every September Union College takes the second Thursday off from all classes in order to allow students to participate Project Impact. This event that started here at Union 30 years ago in which students and faculty alike volunteer (in partnership with various charities and organizations) at numerous locations around Lincoln doing what they can to help the community (e.g. house repair, cleaning and fixing old bikes, constructing a new play set for the elementary school, yard work for the elderly and the home for battered women and children, painting the work rooms of local businesses, soup kitchens, etc.). I spent my 3 hours of volunteer time painting the printing room in Christian Records Services where they print story book that are written in both brail and regular writing. This is so I blind parent can read to their child, or a seeing parent can read to their child while they follow along, and so on and so forth. I had a lot of fun helping the community, meeting new people, and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year.

I've also had the opportunity to run another race; my first race to ever be run outside of Georgia. I had signed up to run the Omaha Marathon (yes a full marathon, not a half-marathon). However, I made the mistake of not considering how changes in state meant changes in temperature and humidity. On the morning of the race the temperature was 40°F with low humidity.

This was very VERY bad news for someone like me who had only ever trained for this race in the hot, warm, and humid weather of Georgia's spring and summer weather. Needless to say my body did not react well at all. I couldn't seem to warm up, even after I had started running. As a result the muscles in my legs and ankles started cramping up, and by the time I had reached mile 12 I was in some serious pain. When it came time for the ahl-marathon and marathon tracks to split up I had two choices: I could continue on the marathon track and risk injury, or I could suck up my pride and take the other track and finish another half-marathon instead. It was really hard for me, but I finished the half-marathon and spent the next hour having my muscles iced and rehydrating before heading out.

This race was a humbling experience for me. It made me realize that just because you train hard and eat well it doesn't mean that you're invincible. When school started I still had a whole month to train for the marathon, but I was stupid and didn't consider that I needed to run during the cooler hours of the day so that my body could acclimate to the new environment. Instead, I chose to run during the heat of the day because that is what I was accustomed to the temperature.

Fortunately I will have another chance to run a full marathon. This spring is the Lincoln Marathon, and in Nebraska spring mornings can still be quite chilly. I have all winter to train for this event, and I plan on running outside in the cold whenever I can so that when spring roles around I will be well acclimated and I can kick some running butt! LOL. In the mean time I will also be training run the Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon when I go home for Thanksgiving Break. I ran it last year and I'm determined to make this race to be the one where finish in less than two hours. I will defeat that courses evil hills!

More pictures will be coming in as soon

as my photo download order is processed.

And now for the fun food update. With my busy schedule this year I haven't been able to drive up to Omaha very often to visit Whole Food, but I have been able to buy fruit from Jourdan's Beautiful Foods and some scrumptious dates from the Bautista Family. I've also been able to find some pretty good local places that have met my dietary needs: Trader Joe's, Super Savers, and the Open Harvest Market.

Trader Joe's Has a really nice selection of Organic produce as well as a good selection of california peaches and nectarines. Super Savers is just I giant discount food store, and a lot of their produce isn't that good; however, they do have a fantastic selection of bananas, grapes, cherries, pineapple, black mission figs, and cherry tomatoes for really good prices. And the Open Harvest Market is a quaint health store, deli, and co-op that sells amazing local fruits and vegetables (local food is always a + in my diet).

With this wide array of food sources I have been able to keep my self well stocked in the food department. The only downside on living in this area is that I am currently unable to buy fruit in bulk (unless I buy online) which has caused my food bill to be double what it was in Georgia. Hopefully I can find some way to rectify this, or at least get some more income to balance it out, but for now I've been managing to keep my food bill at reasonable level considering the area I'm in and the prices of good fruit.

Some of My College Culinary Creations:

Now schools back in full swing. I wish break had lasted sooner, but all good things come to an end. I am looking forward to the Steven Curtis Chapman concert my friend Jamie and I are attending this Friday. It's sure to be a blast! I just have to get through three more days of class and I'm home free. =)

Until next time!

Summer Break Recap

2011-08-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

Hello my dear readers. It's been a couple of months and life has not been dull. I took a break from writing this summer to work on some personal projects; however with school starting again in less than two weeks I believe that it's time to get back into the blogging arena. This post is just going to be a basic recap of what I've been up to during my summer hiatus, with as many pictures as I could find of the fruit I've been enjoying and the places I've gone.

First off, I wasn't able to find an affordable apartment in Lincoln when I was visiting in June. Fortunately I was able to visit Union College Campus and reserve I single room at a very reasonable price, so at least I'll have a room completely to myself in the dorms this year. =) After that was taken care of I decided it wasn't worth the gas money and the effort to drive my car all the way back to Georgia, so I left my car in Nebraska and hitched a ride back with my mom, and I have been borrowing my brother's truck to get around town. Visiting Lincoln was still good for me and my mom. Seeing a community that was more physical-outdoor-activity-friendly really lifted out spirits.

Holmes Lake in Lincoln:

People were kayaking. . .

walking and running. . .

and cycling on Lincoln's 120 miles worth of bike trails.

The Dekalb Farmer's Market fruit quality and variety was pretty good this season. The only qualms I had with them was their tendency to try and sell mass quantities of severely bruised and over-ripe fruit every few weeks, so at least once a month I was limited on my choices of good fruit to buy. Nevertheless, I have been eating very well this summer consuming massive quantities of Mangoes, Cherries, Dragon Fruit, Black Mission Figs, Oranges, Melon (mostly Watermelon), Papaya, Grape & Heirloom Tomatoes, Lettuce, Green Peas, Cucumber, and Okra.

I spent the better part of July training for my upcoming marathon in September, and helping my mom with some home improvement projects. One of those said projects was painting my room a neutral cover, which meant that the tree I had painted on one of my walls when I was in high school had to go. I was kind of sad, but I took a picture to remember it by, so I didn't feel to bad. There will be other walls to paint trees on in my future, and they will probably be better since my drawing/painting has improved since I was 16. =)

There was also a lot of yard work this summer. My mom's house has the largest partial of land in the subdivision, so by the time one of us finishes mowing both the back and the front lawn, we've pushed the mower approximately 5 miles (I checked this out with my mediocre pedometer, so I'm not sure how accurate I'm being). Yard work is usually more fun because almost every year we plant a vegetable garden, but since we weren't sure about what was going to be going on this summer we chose not to plant one this year. I've missed working on the garden and eating fresh heirloom tomatoes right from the plant. Oh well, maybe next year. On the bright side, our apple tree has finally matured enough to produce an eatable crop so we were able to have our first apple harvest. We have no idea what variety the apples are, but they taste very much like granny apples.

In August my mom treated me to a very special early birthday present. We drove to Savannah, GA where we stayed at the fanciest hotel that I've ever been to in my life: The Westin Savannah Golf Resort & Spa! We only were there for a couple days, but I had an awesome time having an all girls relaxation and pampering trip, something my mom and I have never been able to do.

We arrived in Savannah mid-afternoon, and after checking into our room we spent the rest of the day just driving and walking around to get a feel for the area before stopping off at Olive Garden to get something to eat. Yes I did eat at a restaurant. LOL! It's actually a lot easier for someone who eats a raw plant-based diet to eat out than a lot of people think. Any restaurant that serves salads, vegetables, and fruits is a possibility for me. All I did was ask for a large bowl of their classic salad without the croutons, salad dressing, and cheese, and I asked for extra vegetables. It also helps to bring some extra salad fixings with you in your purse. Hehe. I brought a couple of heirloom tomatoes with me that I had already chopped up and mixed with basil. When the salad came, I simple added it to the salad and tossed. It made for a very delicious meal, and I had to ask the waiter had to refill my salad bowl, AND it only cost $3!!

The view from our room. I would swim laps in the mornings

and then soak in the hot tub with my mom in the evenings.

Yummy salad dinner: tomatoes, iceberg, shredded carrots,

peppers, red onion, black olives, and basil.

The second day was spent walking around city market, taking in the sites, discovering a few health shops with a nice fruit stash, and enjoying a massage at the hotel spa.

During this pre-birthday vacation I decided to keep my training very low key, choosing to focus on rest, relaxation, rejuvenation, and de-stressing before having to go back to school and ramping up my training. Instead of running or cycling I swam and walked, I slept longer, and I had a large amount of knots that I didn't know I had worked out of my back, neck, and shoulders. I've been back for a few days now and I already see the positive results in training sessions. I'm running faster, and my endurance is higher.

I had fruit meal photos from the trip on my iPhone 4, but sadly the unthinkable happened when I got home, I lost my iPhone!! I'm hoping it's somewhere in my mom's house, but until it's found I'm stuck with my old iPhone 3G because there is no way I'm paying $600 to get a replacement iPhone 4. So a lot of the photos I took for this post are gone.

On the brighter side I celebrated my 20th birthday last Monday, I'm all registered for my next semester at Union College, and I'm hoping to have my new website up and running before winter. My brother is quite adept at graphical art, web design, and computers in general, and he's been kind enough to work with me on this project. I'm hoping to use this webpage to expand upon this blog and a raw plant based lifestyle. I plan on having video recipes and tutorials, e-books, articles, reviews, ect., so stay tuned! =)

Lincoln Arrival

2011-06-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

I made it! After 17 and a half hours of driving my mother and I have arrived in Lincoln, NE. I have to make this post brief and without any pictures this time because I remembered to bring everything with me EXCEPT my laptop. My mom is currently being kind enough to allow me the temporary use of her computer to check my email and write this post before I turn it back over to her.

It took both my Camry, and my mom's Camry to haul my stuff up here (my guitar, keyboard, and books took up most of the space). This was my first time driving myself across such a vast distance; I can now say I've driven in seven states: Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska.

I was a little nervous because we had to book it up here, so there wasn't a lot of time to stop and eat. Before we left I cut up a bunch of mango to carry in a cooler; when that ran out, I figured out that the best fruits for eating while you drive are: bananas, blueberries, strawberries, grape or cherry tomatoes, grapes, and cherries (as long as you have a bag or tupperware to spit the seeds into).

One other thing I would like to mention is that I've recently been featured on another blog, The Raw Journalist . It's an awesome blog about the LFRV (low fat raw vegan) lifestyle run by the lovely Heather. You can read my interview here. Please let me know what you think.

Ciao! =)

Florida Vacation

2011-06-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

It has been over a week since I returned from my vacation in Florida at my good friend Taylor's house. I really needed the break, and spending my time with fellow fruit loving and positive people just made it all the better.

Best dinner ever! A raw stew: heirloom tomatoes,

sun-dried tomatoes, organic sweet corn, mango, dill, and okra.

Served with romaine leaves. Voila!

I also got to experience fresh and perfectly ripe tropical fruits that were bursting with flavor.

Florida Papaya. . . such vibrant color!

My first time trying sapodilla. Like eating brown sugar. =D

And I spent plenty of time at the beach working on my tan.

Stayed out to long on the second day and got burned. However, it has now turned into nice golden brown, so I can't complain.

A bunch of us had a huge sweet corn eating contest.

Between the five of us we consumed an approximate total of 90 ears of corn.

The awesome banana trees that Taylor had planted at his parents house.

Now that I am back home I've spent my days packing, training, and writing. I must say that getting ready to move has proved to be more of a job than I though it would be.

A Very Fruity Post

2011-05-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hello out there all my lovely readers, and a special shout out to when in particular, Aubrey, who reminded me that I need to get back to posting! =) Ever since school ended for the summer I've been busy training and packing up to move back to Lincoln, NE. I have had time though to do a few fun things, such as going to see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie (Johnny Depp!! Yaay!! LOL), and taking the plunge, signing up for my very first full marathon. The race is in Omaha, but doesn't take place until late September, so I have all summer to train for this.

Tomorrow I'm flying down to Vero Beach, Florida to spend a few days with some fellow raw-plant based eaters. Three whole days filled with fruit, fun, and sun! Don't worry, I'll be sure to take lot's of pictures to share with you.

I think that wraps things up for now. However, I wouldn't end this post without sharing some pics of my latest fruity treats. For the past few weeks at the Dekalb Farmer's Market, Ataulfo Mangos have been really good, and really REALLY cheap, so I've been eating almost nothing but mango.

MANGO MADNESS!!

Until next time! =D

2011-03-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

The rest of my race photos and video came in yesterday. I complied them all together into one video on my youtube account, but I'm also placing the stills in this post as well. I've got two more races this spring: an 11K on April 22nd, and 3.2 mile run + obstacle courses (the Warrior Dash). I can't wait! =)

Georgia Publix Half Marathon: Go Vegan!

2011-03-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

   Well I did it again! Yesterday morning I ran my 3rd half marathon, and although it didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to, I still had a blast! =)

   This was the first race I got to run wearing my "Go Vegan" Organic Athlete's running outfit. All throughout the course I would hear "Go Vegan, woohoo!" being screamed from people on the sidelines. I also met several other vegan runners during the race and I had to pleasure of running across (pardon the pun) one of them after I finished the race, and she said that she would be visiting Organic Athlete's website to buy her own "Go Vegan" running outfit. It feels really good when you can encourage others to promote a healthy lifestyle.

   The weather Sunday morning was overcast, but the temperature (approx. 62-63 degrees) with a slight breeze made it the run very comfortable. My goal for this half was to finish in 2 hrs. or less, and halfway through the run I was running strong, and it looked like I was going to reach my goal, and that's when tragedy struck. During a particularly narrow and congested part of road, a runner tried to pass me, and accidentally bumped me, causing my to stumble and strain my ankle. My ankle hurt so badly, but I pushed through it and kept running, but I was forced to slow my pace down considerably in order to finish the race. It didn't help that this injury also affected my running form, which also led to irritating an old knee injury. My knee doesn't give me any problems when I run, unless my technique is poor.
Alas, the injury meant that I didn't meet my PR goal for this race, but I keep reminding myself that I was lucky to be able to finish the race at all, and I am grateful for that.

Just before the race.

After the race. In slight pain, and favoring one leg, but very happy indeed.

I so happy to see a fruit stand at the post-race festivities. It was the California Cuties Clementine Company. The employees were handing out free clementines, some to eat and some to snuggle with.

Stopped off at Whole Foods on the way home and picked up a Orange Blueberry juice to go. Nectar of the gods in a cup.

My estimated race time given to me after I crossed the finish line was 2hrs. & 10 min. Today the results were posted online, and my official chip time turned out to be exactly 2:11:15. I was amazed that even though I didn't make my 2 hr. finishing goal, I still managed to set a new PR for myself even though I ran the last half of the course injured. I'm one lucky fruit loving girl!

One More Day to Go

2011-03-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

It's almost here! The Georgia Publix Half Marathon (formally known as the Georgia ING Half Marathon) is this Sunday. This will be my third half and my second time running this particular half.

The Expo was held in the same place as last years: the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta. When I got there I experienced an acute feeling of deja vu. It felt like it was just yesterday I was at the Expo last year, picking up my packet, so nervous because it was going to be my first race, and it was all so new.

I came out in my full "lifestyle advertising" get up: Vibram Five Fingers, "Go Fruit Yourself" 30 Bananas a Day T-shirt, and my Tree of Life Pendant. Yup, I was a walking stereotype. . . hehe. =P

Things weren't exactly the same though this time. Since Publix is now the primary sponsor of the race since ING stepped down, the color scheme, the layout, and some of the booths were different this year. One of the changes I liked best, was the addition of a fruit stand. While their selection was very basic (apples, oranges, grapefruit, lemon, and limes) it's a step in the right direction. =)

   The Expo also had added a booth to sell Vibram Five Fingers. Go Vibrams! Unfortunately, it was the one thing I forgot to take picture of (bad Amanda! LOL).

   In order to be reduce stress and get as much sleep as possible the night before the race, my ~~race day cheerleader/photographer~~ mom and I will be staying at a Holiday Inn that is right next to the starting line in Centennial Olympic Park. Last year I had to wake up at 4am to get to the race in plenty of time, not something I want to do again. I'm hoping that decrease in stress and increase in sleeping hours will improve my overall running performance so I can set a new PR.

   Stay tuned!

Spring is Coming, Spring is Coming!

2011-03-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day back from Spring Break, and what a beautiful day it was indeed. Classes kept me indoors for the first half of the day. However, this afternoon I was able to go for a short 4 mile trail run at Turner Lake Park. Turner Lake is probably my most favorite place to run because it's only 5 minutes away from my house, and the only other trail runs are 30+ minutes away. Today was perfect running weather: 72 degrees, a slight breeze, clear skies, and trails bursting with fresh spring flowers and greenery!

Turner Lake's trails are a perfect place to work on increasing my running speed, strength, and endurance. Today I chose to hilly route and aimed "power through" the hills, pushing to go as fast as I can up them, instead of slowing down (which is what my legs and lungs wanted me to do, but I told them no and kept going. LOL),

After I got home and took a shower I had just enough time to grab a dozen dates before accompanying my mom to the grocery store. I had promised her that I was going to make her a special raw vegan dinner, and we were out of a couple ingredients that I needed. When we got back my mom was famished, so I quickly set to work on preparing some Jicama Nori Rolls.

This delicious meal is salt free and 100% raw vegan, and best of all, my mom adored it! It's hard for me to come up with savory raw dishes that she likes, mostly because her taste and mine are so different. I was just so happy that I was able to concoct a recipe that was tasty, healthy, satisfying, and raw.

My mom is camera shy when it comes to putting her face on the internet.

However she did allow me take a photo of her chopsticks,

getting ready to tuck into her meal.

This recipe will be featured in my our upcoming health & lifestyle/recipe book, as well as my LFRV recipe book. So stay tuned to find out the secret ingredients to my special Jicama pate! =)

Now, once my mom was settled into her food, I wasted no time in whipping up a fruity green ~~pudding~~ smoothie.

Kiwi, Mango, and Spinach (a dinner that Popeye would love)

The rest of my evening was filled with homework, returning emails, and working on my recipe book. It was only just a few moments ago that I realized how late it is; this time change had really thrown my internal body clock off. It's amazing what a difference just one our can make isn't it? Oh well, hopefully by the end of the week I'll be back "in tune" so to speak.

Training Log #3

2011-03-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

Only six more days until my next race, the Georgia Publix Half Marathon! =D

I'm Playing the Field. . . of Dates

2011-02-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

I was going to wait until tonight to right up this post but I'm to excited, so I've got to share. About a week ago I ordered a 15 lb. pkg. of Organic Khadrawy, Halawy Honey, and Deglet Noor dates from the Bautista Family Organic Date Ranch in California. Today, the package arrived. The box was slightly damaged, but fortunately it may have affected how some of the dates looked, but it definitely didn't have any affect on how they tasted. OMG they are out of this world! Where have these dates been all my life? The only dates I've ever had before this were Deglet Noor and Medjool dates from Israel; man have I been missing out. I'm never buying any other dates from anyone but the Bautista Family from this day forward.

Deglet Noor

Khadrawy

Halawy

Honey

My mid-morning snack for today. Best ever!

This was on the package of dates.

I love knowing that my dates are fresh, organic, and NOT irradiated.

You too can treat yourself to some of these luscious dates at www.7hotdates.com! =D

Must have sleep!

2011-02-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! Sorry I didn't post last weekend, I was sick. Last week both my mom and brother were sick, and much to my dismay, they passed it onto me. I normally have a very strong immune system and don't get sick. However, with my training, homework, chores, and taking care of sick family members I wasn't getting nearly enough sleep. With my weakened immune system "the bug" was able to infiltrate my body, and it was NOT fun. It just goes to show you that you are only as strong as your weakness. This time my health weakness was sleep, and I payed for it. I was only sick for three days but that put me behind school, so I've been scrambling to catch up this week, leaving me little time for any sort of training let alone blogging. Thankfully today I have finally caught up on all my work and have started training again.

Just because I was out for the count last week doesn't mean that I wasn't able to snap some pictures here and there. The following pics cover my two week gap between posts. Enjoy!

Lunch from Whole Foods

I've read articles from professionals who say that eating too much fruit is bad for you because it can cause high blood pressure. I found this highly unlikely. Fruit is an unrefined sugar (carb) that our bodies were designed to easily assimilate. Still, I decided to see for myself using the blood pressure machine at a local pharmacy.

Blood pressure 30 min. after a 2 hr. workout (5 hours since last fruit meal)

Blood pressure 10 min. after an 8 banana & 6 date smoothie.

As you can see, there isn't a very significant difference. Fruit rocks!

When I was sick my mom made this lovely Get Well Strawberry Banana "Ice Cream"

My latest fruit bounty:

Honeydew

40 lbs. of Organic Bananas

Nothing is as beautiful as a fruit filled refrigerator!

Fuyu Persimmons

Chocolate Sapote, Pineapple, & Spinach

Watermelon & Mangos

Tangerines, Strawberries, & Blueberries

Heirloom Tomatoes

Not pictured was 2more boxes of Mango, 2 more packages of Persimmons, and a liter of fresh Coconut Water. I hit the fruit jackpot for sure this time around!

Training Update: 2/6 - 2/20

Peace!

Training Log #1

2011-02-05T17:37:00.000-08:00

Yummy Eats and Bikila Vibrams

2011-02-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

Hello my lovely readers! I'm so glad that I finally have some time to post. January was crazy! Trying to get my computer fixed, trying to get my refrigerator fixed, homework, training, working on my book, and finding time to spend with my family. . . yeah that's a lot to juggle. LOL. Somehow though, by the end of the month, everything that needed to get done was done, so I'm happy. So what's new with me? Well let's see. . .

I've been really enjoying a wide variety of fruit, as always. This month alone I've gotten to have Mangos, Papaya, Chocolate Sapote, Ice Cream (Blue Java) Bananas, Cavendish Bananas, Persimmons, Pineapple, Heirloom Tomatoes, Blood Oranges, Clementines, Medjool dates, Pomegranates, Honeycrisp Apples, Strawberries, and Engilsh Cucumber. This of course meant that I had to spend time with my beloved Vitmamix to create colossal amount of smoothies.

Bananas, Strawberries, & Cherries

A Berry Blast!

Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Banana

Papaya, Banana, and Mango

Pineapple, Mango, Blood Oranges, & Spinach

My mom has been enjoying a lot of fruit as well.

This was her breakfast a couple days ago.

It looked so pretty that I had to take a picture to show you guys.

Since this year I plan on doing a lot of running, and I'm already starting to wear out my Vibrams, I thought it best to invest in another pair of Vibrams exclusively for when I run. So I forked out the dough and bought the new and improved running Vibram, the Bikila! Now I'm not usually one to wear pink, in fact I don't own a single item that is pink, until now that is. I went for these hot shoes is because I want these babies to get noticed. If people see people will ask, and if people ask they might just go get a pair themselves. I am determined to raise awareness about the benefits of going barefoot. . . well almost barefoot anyway. =)

I aslo decided that if I was going to be running these races for all to see, that I should raise awareness about the benefits of a raw plant based lifestyle. Having recently becoming a member of Organic Athletes, I purchased this running shirt to wear on my race days.

Front Back

As to recording my training, I've decided to not post my workouts daily. I want to remain consistent in updating you guys on my progress, so every Saturday evening I'll be doing a special post to list all my workouts for the week. This way I can still post about my fruit and adventures whenever I have time. However, when I don't have the time, I can at least be confident that my training posts will be posted consistently. And during the days before my Saturday post, you guys are more then welcome to hop onto daily mile. It's an online site where you can log in your running, cycling, and swimming mileage. My profile is here: http://www.dailymile.com/people/AmandaJ_B#ref=tophd.

Until next time,
Run fast and eat fruit!

Everything Sorted Out

2011-01-18T19:43:00.000-08:00

Today was hectic but productive. I was finally able to sort out my classes so I am now set for the Spring semester. Hallelujah!

This semester I am taking:

English Composition II
Principles of Accounting I: Financing
United States History II
Introduction to Anthropology

I also got to have fun in the kitchen coming up with some cooked vegan recipes for my mother and I's healthy lifestyle transition book. I spent so much time playing in the kitchen that time just flew by and I didn't have time to go to the gym. Instead, I opted to just bundle up, grab my bicycle, and go for it!

Today (Tuesday)

3 mile bike ride
100 jumping jacks
100 crunches

A merry heart does good, like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.

~ Proverbs 17:22

I love it when a day works out for the better. Later!

My "Chocolate" Pudding Three Day Weekend

2011-01-17T20:34:00.000-08:00

I just love weekends, particularly the ones that last three days instead of two. I spent all day Saturday relaxing. I slept in, laid in bed and read, took our family dog, Charlie, for a walk with my mom, and went crazy with my Chocolate (Black) Sapote.

You remember this decadent fruit from my last post?

I had bought quite a few sapote from jourdansbeautifulfood.com. However, unlike the last batch, these sapote ripened all at once. Yikes! Now don't get me wrong, I love eating massive amounts of sapote mono meal style, but after a while I was ready for a new spin on this scrumptious fruit. So I turned on my culinary creativity, went to work, and came up with this luscious meal that I dubbed. . .

Chocolate Silk Breakfast Pudding

Despite its name, I love this meal so much that I have it for more than just breakfast. I often enjoy this pudding 2-3 times a day and as a result, I'm almost out of sapote. Oh no! I better go order some more. Chocolate Sapote only comes around once a year and I want to have my fill of it before the season ends.

Yum yum. . . eat em up! LOL

Another meal that I have been enjoying 1-2 times a day lately is this tropical thirst quencher. . .

Punchy Pineapple Smoothie

I just love how rich the color is because it gives the food the aesthetic appeal we humans often need to enjoy our meal.

The ingredients and prep work is really simple: take one ripe pineapple, chop it up, put pineapple pieces in the blender, add enough water to blend (I just use a splash of coconut water), and blend until frothy. That's it, your all done! Now just pour yourself a glass and enjoy. =D

The rest of the weekend went well. By Sunday it was time to stock up on food, so the entire morning was spent making the Whole Foods and Farmer's Market rounds with my mom. I was really lucky that all my favorite fruits for the season were ripe (or almost ripe) and were being sold in bulk (it really saves me money). I ended up buying a box of large pineapple (6 pineapple), 2 boxes of persimmon (28), 2 lbs. of red grapes, 4 Organic red mango, 15 lbs, Organic bananas, and 2 Organic Hawaii Papaya (score!). I also got a bunch of greens and un-sweet fruit (e.g. tomato, bell pepper, cucumber) for giant dinner salads.

Today(Monday) went less smoothly then the rest of the weekend. My college classes are supposed to start tomorrow and this morning all the classes I had registered for have somehow managed to unregister themselves and I can't seem to get them back. Hopefully someone in the administration office can help me get that sorted out tomorrow morning.

Then this afternoon I accidentally drove all the way to the gym and back with my emergency brakes on. I feel like such an idiot about that. I'm just praying that I didn't total the emergency break. *sigh* I guess I'll find out when I have the car checked out later in the week. *chuckles* The things that life throws at you huh? I just do what the penguins did.

Well, it's getting late and I have a full day tomorrow, but before I wrap this post up, my weekend workouts:

Saturday

Day off - 20 minutes walking dog and 20 push-ups

Sunday

8 miles cycling - avg. 16 mph pace
1 hour of yoga (my 2nd class and my arms are still feeling it!)
20 push-ups

Monday

1 hour run - 6 miles - avg. 6 mph pace

Snow Day turned Ice Week

2011-01-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

   What a week it has been so far. Sunday night brought loads of beautiful snow and to my great pleasure classes were cancelled for Monday. I spent that day running and playing in the snow, enjoying all the beautiful cold white fluffy goodness! Alas, the beauty swiftly turned into a nightmare.

   Tuesday the beautiful snow turned to thick sheets of hard glass-like ice. It's now Thursday and the ice still isn't gone! Today was actually the first day I was able to drive because of the roads being so bad. It was just in time too; I was going stir crazy being stuck at the house for 3 days in a row. The ice was so menacing that I couldn't even go running outside. My one attempt to do so resulted in me almost breaking a leg. Fortunately I have only a few bruises to show for my idiocy.

   On the bright side, being cooped up gave me plenty of time to work on our (my mom and mine) book. I mean one can only watch episodes of Murder She Wrote so long before becoming desperate to do something more productive. And don't think that just because I couldn't be physically active in the ways I wanted to be deterred me from continuing my training. I decided to use this time stuck inside to work on some of the muscle areas I don't normally focus on such as my abs, glutes, thighs, and arms.

With just a mat and a pair of 5 lb. weights I worked up quite a sweat. . .

Monday

1 hour playing in the snow (e.g. snowball fights, walking, running, snow angel making)
100 crunches
20 push-ups

Karate Dude

Tuesday

100 crunches
20 push-ups
30 minutes of stretching with some random yoga moves thrown in.
50 squats (ouch!)
20 minutes weight lifting

Vibram Foot Prints

Wednesday

5 minutes Mountain Climbers
50 squats (double ouch!)
30 minutes weight training
20 minutes stretching
1 minute intervals running in place (5 rounds/reps)
100 crunches
20 push-ups

By late morning today the sun had been out long enough to melt sufficient amount of ice for my to go to the gym where I finally got RUN!!! :-D

Thursday

60 crunches with a seated abdominal machine
6 reps of 10 on the abnominal twisting machine
45 minutes run (5 miles)
5 minutes stretching

With all these high energy workouts I have been one hungry girl. Some of the food I've been enjoying these last few chilly days. . .

I hope all of you guys are staying warm, healthy, and happy out there. Until next time! :-)

Trying and Learning New Things

2011-01-09T20:02:00.000-08:00

So for Friday I decided to use my workout time for experimentation by attending my very first yoga class. The rest of the day was spent shopping for fruit, cleaning house, and trying to get things in order for the upcoming Spring semester.

   As Saturday is my sabbath, I decided to take the day off. I slept in, ate loads of fresh organic fruit, danced like an idiot in my room to songs from Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, and read for most of the day. It felt good to just let all the stresses of every day life just fade away.

   As for today, Sunday, I went to LA fitness where I had a free appointment with a personal trainer! His name was Gre and my session with him turned out to be very informative. I may have learned a lot about health and fitness, but I still struggle with improving my upper body strength. When I was younger I was incredibly strong from working on a horse farm and all the karate, gymnastics, and swimming I did. Since I haven't had the opportunity to participate in most of those things anymore (besides swimming) it's been difficult to work on toning my arms.

   Gre was very helpful in showing me how to use the equipment as well as giving me advice on how heavy a weight(s) I should use and how many reps. Another great bonus added to this session was that I got to have my BMI (body mass index) and lean muscle mass calculated. So far I'm in a really good range, but I'm aiming to shed a bit more body fat and gain more lean muscle mass. According to Gre, as long as my muscle mass stays the same or increases and my BMI doesn't go below 12% I will be fine. This is going to take some work but I'm up to the challenge. I'm willing to put in the effort to improve my race times!

My body as of 1/9/11:

Age: 19 yrs. & 5 months
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 120 lbs.
BMI: 18.3%
Muscle Mass: 15.3%

My Sunday Workout (in-order):

Cycling (for warm-up) - 13 min. - 2.54 miles
Weight/strength training with Gre - 30 min.
Running - 40 minutes - 4.21 miles

Let the Training Begin!

2011-01-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day of my New Years resolution to up my training and better my athletic performance. Today I drove over to our local LA Fitness and became a member. I can afford it because the cost of attending our local community college isn't very high and I'm make monthly payments for membership and can terminate my membership whenever or if ever I need to. What's also amazing is that they have all sorts of classes that I can attend without any extra cost (e.g. yoga, kick boxing, pilates, modern dance).

I spent the next 2 hours working out and having the time of my life! =D I would have like to have done more running but I didn't want to over do it seeing as my right ankle is still recovering from an overuse injury.

Cycling: 13.56 miles - 60 minutes + 2 minutes cool down
Elliptical: 1.3 miles - level 5 - 20 minutes + 2 minutes cool down
Running: 2.56 miles - 25 minutes + 2 minutes cool down
Rowing: 5 minutes
Weights: 10 minutes

Now for my food for today. . .

Breakfast - Smoothie: papaya/blueberry/pineapple/banana/clementine
Lunch/Recovery meal - Smoothie: pineapple/clementine/banana/blueberry/spinach/coconut water
Dinner Part 1 - Fuyu persimmons
Dinner Part 2 - Honeydew melon
Dinner Part 3 - Fuyu persimmons
And loads of water through out the day - 3.5 quarts

Couldn't fit in quite as much food into me as I wanted but still very close.

Post Recovery Smoothie (Lunch)

This is only half of what I ate. I almost forgot to take a picture! LOL

One other lovely addition to my day was the arrival of my Chocolate Sapote from Jordan's Beautiful Foods. Jackpot!

Currently ripening

Happy New Year! What to be expecting from me.

2011-01-04T14:46:00.000-08:00

   Only four days into 2011 and it's still hard to believe that time has flown by so quickly. It seems like only yesterday that I was welcoming in 2010, and now it is passed. 2010 was a wonderful and eventful year for me and I hope it was the same for all of you.

   With this new year comes changes in my life. I enjoyed my first semester of college immensely. I feel that having the chance to live away from home allowed me to grow and explore who I am. I made some amazing friends and had the opportunity to try new activities. I got into rock climbing/bouldering and outdoor cycling; I was able to try my first triathlon and to preform a flying squirrel. However, all good things must come to an end and I am back at home. Union College provided me with a wonderful education but the tuition was just to high for me to stay. So I am now attending my local community college while I look for some scholarships and save my money. If I play my cards right I will be able to attend a very good private university for my last two years of undergraduate studies. My goal is to graduate with my bachelors degree debt free.

   Don't worry though, I still plan on keeping busy and updating this blog more frequently. I have so much planned for the future. Currently I am collaborating with my mom to write and publish a vegan recipe book. It's going to be half raw (mostly LFRV) and half cooked vegan recipes. The goal of this book is to help those who are transitioning from being SAD or vegetarian to being vegan and eventually (hopefully) raw or high raw. Personally, If I get enough feedback from you and those who purchase the finished recipe book I may publish a recipe book with just the raw recipes for those people who have already transitioned from cooked and just want the raw recipes. Also, I am working on starting up my own part-time business this summer. Stay tuned to find out what it will be! =)

   This year I also plan on training as hard as I can while going to school and improve my athletic performance. I have another half-marathon approaching in March and an obstacle course race called The Warrior Dash. I will training outside as often as possible but I will also be training at a gym on the days where the weather is unfavorable. My fitness goal this year is to become a bit more versatile in my athletic abilities.

   I will be working on developing my upper body more this year. I plan to do this through weight training, rock climbing, swimming, and yoga (hopefully). I will still be running and cycling, I just feel that increasing my upper body strength will improve my running. Remember that in running stronger arms give you more power to quicken your pace.

   How does all this effect my blog? I plan on documenting my training more often along with pictures of what I eat. I'm going to try to blog every day that I train, giving as much detail as possible. Blogging my progress will hopefully encourage me to really give it my all and maybe give you readers some ideas.

2010 Fall Semester Recap

2010-12-05T21:32:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all! So sorry for the large gap between my last post and this new one. This semester at school has been rough but I am forging my way through and am nearing the end (yikes!).

This semester has been very busy and intense, but I did manage to take them time to take a lot of pictures to share with you. So here is a brief photographic recap of my first semester of college at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. So far I have. . .

I placed 3rd in the Union College Sprint Triathlon, as I am sure you remember from my last post. These are just a few more pictures that I was able to get my hand on from other people at the race. I was also finally able to upload the video I made after the race to youtube. Click here to watch.

I have taken up bouldering on the rock wall that is located just below the girls' dorms.

I placed 3rd in the Union College Lazy Ironman Competition. The goal was to bike 112 miles, run 26 miles, and swim 2.4 miles in three weeks or less. Even with school and homework I was able to finish all the mileage in 10 days.

During Thanksgiving break I flew home to Georgia, and on Thanksgiving morning I ran the Atlanta Half Marathon. This was my second half marathon this year (and ever). I have a new PB of 2:14:42. My old PB was 2:25:55. I'm getting faster! =D I made along with the pictures I also made a short video on the way home from the race. Click here to watch.

Yes, I am wearing my Vibrams!

I've been working hard at school of course. Being a Biology major is tough, but a lot of fun. Here's me at my three hour (starts at 7:30 am) Bio Lab class running an experiment to measure the rate of oxidation through photosynthesis to determine the respiration rate of the Elodea plant.

I've been enjoying my beautiful campus as it has been transitioning from summer to autumn, and now to winter.

FALL:

This vehicle is used for the EMT classes that IRR (International Rescue & Relief) Majors have to take.

Where I live.

WINTER:

We got a lot of snow one Friday night. . .

But then the sun came Saturday morning and made it all melt. =(

I also got myself some awesome fruity attire here.

And finally, I've been enjoying yummy food.

The End (for now)

Union College Sprint Triathlon

2010-09-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

Swimming - 500m

Biking - 10km

Running - 5 km

Womens' division - 3rd Place

Time - 1:40:33

   Today has been the best Sunday of the school year! For those of you who watched read my last post, I told you about my signing up for a sprint triathlon that my college was doing. I had less than four weeks to train for it, and this last week I had loads of homework and three tests to study for. Needless to say I didn't train at all that week.

   Even so, I really wanted to do this race, so this morning, my roommate and I, got up early and headed out to the park. I made sure I drank a liter of water upon waking and to have a good solid breakfast of Mysore and Cavendish bananas a couple of hours before the race was set to start. We got to the park with plenty of time to spare.

My designated racing number. I just realize that's how olds I'll be next year!

Warming up by my bike before the race.

The weather here in Nebraska has been really nice, however, today of all days was the day the weather decided to be wet, cloudy, and COLD! Let me tell you, standing outside in nothing but your bathing suit in 59 degree weather is not fun! Being mostly muscle with very little body fat doesn't help either. Let the pictures speak for themsleves.

Trying to use my arms as a make-shift sweater. . .

It isn't working.

The water turned out to actually be a on the warm side, which made it so much easier to dash into the water when the starting horn when off.

At this point I realized the advantages of having more muscle and less body fat . . . speed! I was really booking it in the water! I manged to be the first girl to make to shore with only three guys ahead of me.

Coming in. . .

getting ready for the bike portion. . .

almost ready. . .

and I'm off!

The bike ride was a good challenge. All the hills really had to make me use all my mental strentght to push myself to keep going. When the bike ride was over, I tried to get started on the run as fast as I could. This didn't turnout so well seeing as my legs felt like jello. I had to walk for about a minute before I was able to set a good running pace. After that though I didn't have any problems. This was when I actually started felling really really warm and I had to take my sweater off to run just in my bathing suit and sweat pants.

I concetrated on keepingmy pace steady and the pattern of my breathing deep, even, and consistent until the last quarter of a mile. That was when I pulled out all the energy I could muster and flew across the finish line! To me, there is nothing in this world that feels as good as finishing a competition like this. My body feels so relaxed and war as my system is pulsing with endorphins. I felt like I was on top of the world!

While waiting to hear the winners to be announced, I stood around with everyone drinking my water and eating my medjool dates and black mission figs (the pefect portable recovery meal). Pretty much everyone at school knows now that I'm a fruitarian and I still think they're trying to get over the fact that I am always eating fruit *chuckle.* Maybe now they will believe that it's possible to do such a thing and be a healthy human being.

Before leaving to head back to my dorm with my roommate I receivedmy triathlon t-shirt for my participation and received my prize before having a picture taken of myself with the two other girls who placed with me.

From left to right: 1st place, 3rd place (me), and 2nd place (I was 33 seconds behind her!)

Just remember, no matter what you schedule or you fitness level, if you want to make a change in yor lifestyle, if you want to get healthy and exercise more, you can do it. All you have to do is be on the look out for workouts that don't require more than you know you can give. I would have loved to be doing some more intense workouts like I used to do at home, but my life at the moment doesn't allow for that. Does that mean that I am going to let my health fall apart and no keep fit? No, it simply means that I have to come up with some creative ideas to get my workouts in anyway that I can. I chose this triathlon because I knew I could do it without being overwhelmed, and that it didn't matter how fast I was or how I placed. What mattered was that I was outside, getting some exercise, and having fun!

I hope to be posting a few more photos later on in the week when the school photoprapher releases the phtots she took on flickr. I also made a video after the race which I will also be posting as soon as I can upload it to youtube.

Until next time!

Rockin' and Rollin' in College!

2010-09-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

Such a busy life I now lead. . . I managed to make a video for you guys though. Enjoy! :-)

And so the adventure begins!

2010-08-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

     Hello my lovely readers! I know that my time away from the blogging world came without warning, but I have avery good explanation. Are you comfortable? Good, because I have tons to to tell!

   For those of you who are not aware, after graduating high school in May 2009, I took a gap year to travel, study nutrition, run my first half marathon, and help my mom out with the house. That gap year came to a close in mid-August of this year and I was all set to attend Kennesaw State University (approximately a 70 minute drive from my home). Alas, it was not to be, KSU wasn't able to get me off off the waiting list fir student classes in time for the fall semester.

   I was devistated! I worried that I would have to wait unitil the Spring semester to begin my college education. Fortunately, hope came in the form of Union College, a Seventh-Day Adventist college in Lincon, Nebraska. Union had yet to close my file and graciously allowed me to attend their college this fall. Of course this ment scrambling to get everything I needed together at the last minute. Somehow I still managed to have a lot of fun in the week building up to my time of departure.

How I spent my week. . .

   Saturday, August 8th, I turned 19 (woohoo!) and there was a small "dinner party" in the evening whuch my family and my sudo family attended. I prepared Raw Chocolate Sauce, slice Peaches, Strawberries, Banana/Date Ice Cream, Florida Passion Fruit, andcut up watermelon in the shapes of cakes! The meal was a big hit which made me incredibly happy! I'm always glad when I can get people to enjoy eating more fresh fruits.

My B-Day cake. . .yummy!! :-D

On Monday, Mom and I drove up to Whole Foods to meet up with a fellow raw vegan, Taylor Snipes of Taylor's Tropicals! As some of you may know Taylor has sold his business to his former roommate Jourdan (who has since renamed the company Jourdan's Beautiful Fruit) and has moved to the amazing city of Santa Barbara in sunny California.

I was so happy that Taylor's driving route to California went through Atlanta. We spent a good couple of hours just talking and Taylor was kind enough to share his yummy fruit stash with my mom and I for lunch. We ate a scrumptious meal of mangos and figs!

Afterwards, Taylor and I went into Whole Foods to stock up on some amazing varieties of melon. People looked at us so funny, but we didn't care because we were to excited about the awesome melon! We bought Galia, Canary, Crenshaw, Santa Clause, Casaba, and Orange-flesh Honeydew, and Sharyln melons! Taylor and I both agreed that to succeed on this diet you need to enjoy your food. If that means having to reajust your budget to be used mostly on your fruit then so be it.

People on this diet often find that the don't need or want to spend their money on much else other than fruit (e.g. beauty products, jewelry, movies, medical drugs, trendy clothes, ect.) People who eat a raw plant based diet find that they don't need those beauty products or medical drugs anymore because their ailments go away and their skin and hair have a natural healthy glow. They don't want the trendy clothes or flashy cars because they can't wear the clothes to ride the bikes that they much prefer using as transportation whenever they can.

I wish that I could have had more time to get to know Taylor but eventually he did have to hit the road. That's alright though because one day I will move back to my lovely birth state of California of which I miss dearly. I might get to see Taylor more oftne then as we are bound to run into eachother wherever there's a giant fruit sale. LOL.

Tuesday, Mom and I spent a good part of the day at the mall shopping for college dorm necessaties. It was suprisingly a lot of fun and by the end of it we were so hungry we couldn't wait to get home before getting some food. So, we decided to check out the food court and low and behold we found. . .

It was enough hold us over until we could make it back home.

The rest of the week I spent with my mom making plane reservations, making plans to board the dogs, packing up my stuff in boxes to be shipped, selling my truck (I couldn't take it with me) to my brother, and just relaxing by watching movies with my mom and brother.

My last dinner at home the night before the flight.

Raw "Chips" and Salsa

My new Vibrams bought from the Abbadabba store in Little Five Points, GA!

On Friday morning, August 13th, my mom, my brother, and I all boarded a plane bound for Omaha, NE. Ready or not I was off to college! Look out Nebraska!! :-D

My on flight snack.

The only two airpoirts that I can remember seeing in my life are London Heathrow, Las Vegas, San Fransisco, and Atlanta, all of them were huge. Not Omaha though, no way no how. It would be impossible to get lost in Omaha Airport, it is just that small.

After grabbing a taxi, my family and I spent the next few hours car hunting. I would need transportation here in Nebraska since I had to sell my car back home. By 1:00 PM we stepped out of a Ford dealership and I am now the proud honor of a used 2007 White Toyota Camry.

Once we had wheels we could now navigate about the city and begin the 50 minute drive to Lincoln. Before we did that my family and I stopped off at a Whole Foods to refuel.

Lunch at the Whole Foods in Omaha

Once in Lincoln, we settled into our rooms at the Holiday Inn Express and spent the next couple of days relaxing and exploring the general area. On Sunday I moved all my stuff into my dorm room before spending the rest of the day back in Omaha with my family. That evening I had to drop my family off at their hotel outside of Lincon Airport (It is even smaller than Omaha's. Seriousle, blink and you will miss it.).

This year is the first year Union College has put on a week long Orientation for freshmen. I spent the whole of last week in and out of seminars, waiting in line at the various registration check points, meeting with my advisor to set up a class schedule, signing up for various Clubs and Intramural Sports, and attending a mandatory weekend camping trip at a 4-H camp.

I joined the Associated Student Body of Union College.

Some of my Union Market Cafeteria Meals

Camping Trip: Look at me, I climbed a tree!

Tomorrow begins the first day of classes, I can't wait! My first class is at 9:30 AM and I plan on working-out before that, so I'm off to bed. Now that I'm all settled in I will be able to post more often. Check my blog regularly for weekly and bi-weekly updates. I can't wait to see what this year brings to myself personally and to this blog.

Fruity Deals

2010-07-28T18:58:00.000-07:00

This morning my mom asked me if I could drive up to Rainbow and Farmer's Market to pick up a few things that she needed, but had forgotten to purchase the last time we were in that area. Since I didn't have any plans this morning and I never pass up the chance to drive my Ford Ranger truck a.k.a Harvey, I agreed. It turns out that my agreeing to go was in my favour, though I didn't know it when I said yes.

At Farmer's Market, I decided to check out the fruit produce to see if they had any really good bulk fruit buying deals. To my great suprise and fruity delight I found Atfaulo Mangos being sold at $6 a box (26 in a box)!! I immediantly started piling the mangos into my cart; I now have 52 Mangos (only cost me $12) ripening in a box on a kitchen shelf at home! =D

My good fortune for the day was not yet finished though. Waiting for me when I arrived home was a box of Florida Passion Fruit from Taylor's Tropicals! I am seriously addicted Passion Fruit at the moment and I run out of the delictable fruit far to quickly for my liking. When Passion Fruit goes out of season I will miss it terribly.

Now for my health and fitness update. Today. . .

Sleep: 7 hours

Sunshine: 30 minutes

Water: 3 liters

Food: Watermelon, Bananas, Banana/Date/Coconut water smoothie, Mango and Papaya

Exercise: 31.5 miles biking at an average speed of 14mph (approx. 80% of the course uphill), 1 mile run 6.5 mph with a 1 mile cool down walk 4mph

Total Calories Burned from Workout: 1056

Workout Length: 110 minutes

It rained this afternoon so I drove to the gym for the workout you saw above. This gym has a cycling machine that I love to use becasue its built with the peddles, seat, and handle bars built exactly like a real bike. By the time I finished my entire my workout all of my clothes were completely soaked through with sweat and my legs felt a bit like jello. LOL

Emotionally I felt really really good after such a sweat fest, what with exercise being a major stress reliever for me. I would have kept working out for another 30 minutes if I hadn't gotten an awesful side cramp while I was running. The cramp was pretty bad, so I was forced to slow to a fast walk to cool down my muscles and call it a day.

Zonked

2010-07-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I almost forgot to post today!! After coming home this evening (5pm) and eating dinner (6pm) I passed out on my bed for a good solid two hours. I'm just about ready to climb back into bed and go to sleep again, however, I wanted to give you guys a breif shout out along with a summation of my day first.

Today. . .

Sleep: 6 hours (plus my 2 hour nap)

Sunshine: 10 minutes (too hot & humid outside to get anymore)

Water: 2 liters

Food: Watermelon, Figgy Carob Pudding with sliced Banana on top, and a mango/coconut water smoothie with a bowl of Cherry & Grape Tomatoes

Exercise: 27.1 miles on bike (avg. speed: 14mph) mostly uphill, 1.5 mile walk uphill 4mph with random sprints 7mph, and some housework (e.g. sweeping, scribbing, laundry, ect.

Total Calories Burned from Workout: 815

Dinner!

Good night and pleasent dreams to you all!

Happy Birthday Dear Blog!

2010-07-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

   Today, my good people, is the very first birthday of my Raw Plant Based Living blog. On this same day exactly one year ago I created this blog and made my first post. I have to say, since that day my life, my world view, and my diet have changed more than I imagined it would.

   This year has been such an amazing journey for me. Since I began this blog I have lived in Oxford, England for a month, discovered the 80/10/10 diet, run a half marathon, gotten back into martial arts, hosted a raw Thanksgiving, created numerous amounts of yummy raw recipes, and so much more! I can't wait to find out what will happen to me after another year of blogging.

   I want to thatnk all of you out there who have read, followed, and commented on my blog. Your support means the world to me and I hope that sharing certain aspects of my life has given you inspiration, things to think about, laugh about, and anything else in between that I can't think of at the moment.

   In celebration of Raw Plant Based Living's 1st birthday I prepared this lovely dish for lunch. . .

A parfait dish layered with sliced banana and Figgy Carob Pudding.

In conclusion, in honor of this brilliant day I am giving you the recipe for the Figgy Carob Pudding. I hope you all have a wonderful evening and that you enjoy lot's of yummy pudding! =D

Figgy Carob Pudding

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- 15 Black Mission Figs

- 5 large Medjool Dates, soaked in water for 10 minutes

- A rounded 1/2 Tbs. of Raw Carob Powder (feel free to add more or less according to taste)

- Just enough of the date water to blend.

- Blend until smooth and creamy.

- Let sit in the refrigerator for an hour to thicken and cool or pour out and eat warm as is.

Fruity Friday

2010-07-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

   A few weeks ago, my mom and I were at Sears when we stumbled across a refrigerator on sale for $175 ! This was an amazing opportunity since I had been on the lookout for a refrigerator for my fruit. In the winter time it was ok to leave half of my fruit out on the counters when we ran out of space in my mom's refrigerator, but in the summer fruit can rot and/or fruit flies and spiders come into the house to get at them. Most refrigerator with any sort of decent storage space had been way out of my price range.

   In the end I bought the refrigerator and about two weeks ago it arrived safe and sound. However, in all the joy of finding, buying, and recieving this refrigerator, I had forgotten in considering where I was to put the thing! Up So up until last Friday, my poor refrigerator sat in my mom's kitchen, laying dormant, awaiting to be used.

   Last Friday was Farmer's Market day and there were lots of good deals in bulk buying organic fruit this time around, so I really stocked up. When my mom and I got home I knew that we weren't going to be able to fit my groceries and my mom's groceries into her refrigerator. It was then I convinced my mom to let me get her to move the refrigerator into the garage.

Behold my brand new refrigerator and its first load of fruit and veg!!

It didn't take me long to devour all of this! My mom and I split the figs and oranges between us, but the rest was all me. Sunday is whe I get to replenish my supplies. Luckily my Mango and Dragon Fruit order came in over the course of the week. I also bought a watermelon today at my local Publix so I should be good until Sunday.

The fridge was filled with:

- A large Yellow Watermelon!

- Organic Black Mission Figs

- Organic Navel Oranges

- Organic White Cherries

- Organic Georgia Peaches

- Organic Strawberries

- Belize Papaya

- Organic Grape Tomatoes

- Cherry Tomatoes

- Organic Iceberg Lettuce

- Organic Asparagus

- Organic Radishes

As for today I had a completely clear schedule! I was so excited at the prospect this morning and decided to use it by spending most of the day exercising in whatever way I felt like! I didn't have to rush through the workout because there wasn't anything I urgently needed to get done and there was no one that I had to meet at a specific time.

When I finished working out, I was able to take my time in the showers and getting dresses, and I even stopped off at Starbucks to buy a water and eat my lunch (a bunch of bananas) in the sun! During my lunch, a few people looked at me as if I were mental! However, I might have misread their facial expressions and they might just have been jealous of my yummy bananas! LOL.

My lunch set-up (from left to right): Garbage baggy with banana peels inside, organizer, yet to be eaten bananas, journal, and Runner's magazine.

In summation of my day. . .

Sleep: 8 hours (getting better)
Sunshine: 2 hours
Water: So far 2 liter (working on my 3rd liter at the moment)
Food: Dragon Fruit, OJ, Bananas, and a giant Mango/Banana/Peach smoothie
Exercise: 22 minute run 6mph pace, 20 minute 3mph walk with my mom and the dogs, 10 minutes lifting weights (tried a new routine and felt muscles I didn't even know I had!), 18.5 mile bike ride (approx. 80% of the course being uphill) at an average 15 mph pace, and 22 minutes swimming laps freestyle as hard as I could!

I hope everyone enjoys there weekend and that it is filled with warm sunshine, a cooling breeze, refreshing water, and juicy fruit!! =D

Back from Chattanooga!

2010-07-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I just got back today from Chattanooga, TN. My mom and I drove up there this Sunday to visit my friend and his family. We never met eachother before, only knowing each other through email (a mutual friend thought we might hit it off), and we wanted to get to know each other better in person before the school year started. Let me tell you I had a blast!

Sunday morning I woke up super early to get in a 30 minute run before coming home to pack up my stuff for the trip. My mom and I headed out at 11am, leaving my brother home to watch the animals. Despite running into some traffic, we managed to arrive at the La Quinta inn in Chattanooga by 2:30pm. We spent a couple hours driving/walking around to get to know the area better before setting off to Collegedale to meet my friend and his mother at the Southern University campus.

Isn't this car crazy?! Found it while exploring.

   That evening we had dinner at my friend's family's house. Sadly I forgot to take pictures, which is a shame because they have chickens, goats, some fruit trees, and a beautiful vegetable garden! Dinner was a lot of fun with great food. I brought some Florida Mangoes that I had left over from my last fruit order from Taylor's Tropicals and my friend's mom gave me a bunch of Heirloom Tomatoes from their garden to have with the mango.

   Monday morning cam around and it was raining, so I headed downstairs to use the hotel gym. I ran 2.5 miles on the treadmill at 7mph with intermitant 8mph sprints, and 20 minutes on the elliptical on the hardest setting. I can tell you I was assured that I had a good work out with my humming muscles and drenched t-shirt as good indicators.

   I arrived back up to my room to get ready for the day and was famished, but my mom was still sleeping, so I had leftover chopped up papaya from yesterdays lunch to tide me over. When we finally did get out, we came across a grocery store called Greenlife, which turns out, is owned by Whole Foods.

   We walked in and I immediantly fell in love! They had fresh squeezed fruit and veggie juices, fruit smoothies aka Froozies, chopped up fruit, and lot's of yummy locally grown tomatoes to offer. Throughout our two day stay I consumed three Froozies, a large container of pineapple, a bag of medjool dates, a bunch of bananas, a bag of chopped apples, and loads of tomatoes from their store!

You can bike to work. . . I love it!

This one was my favorite, I had it twice. It's called a Mango Lassi: mango, banana, rosewater, fresh apple juice, cardamom, and coriander.

My mom's Froozie, The Bumble Berry: blueberry, banana, fresh OJ, and local honey.

Monday afternoon rolled around and my mom and I headed back to my friend's house. The plan was to meet there at 6:30 so that my friend and his brother, could take me to a nearby park to play Ultimate Frisbee with a group of their friends (if you don't know what Ultimate Frisbee is just google it to see a game). The game started close to 7:00 (I decided to play barefoot. . .fun!), and we played for two hours through both the heat of the sun and the wet of the rain. The game ended when to many people had to head home for us to make up two teams with enough players for the field.

My Dinner before my first ever Ultimate Frisbee game. Some organic apples and The Earth Shake: strawberry, blueberry, peach, banana, local honey, and fresh apple juice.

This morning, before we were due to head back home, my mom decided to join me in the hotel gym. She went for a two mile walk on the tread mill with some short sprints thrown in occasionally (go Mom!) =D I did the same workout I did Monday morning, but it was harder this time due to some muscle soreness from last night. I'm used to running at a set pace for long distances, however, when you play Ultimate Frisbee, there is a lot of sprinting, twisting, jumping, and zig-zagging. I used parts of my leg muscles I forgot I even had, but no worries, I remembered them this morining. LOL!

We stopped off at Greenlife one more time for Froozies and water before heading out. An hour later though I got hungry and devoured the last of our Tennessee tomato stash, whoops!

I had two packages of these on the way home and. . .

This sucker here + a large Cherokee Purple tomato as soon as we got home.

   We got home at 1pm and I spent the next 4 hours unpacking, house cleaning, breaking down boxes, and hauling said boxes off to the dump. I finally crashed on the couch a couple hours ago with a giant mango/banana/passion fruit smoothie and a good movie.

   It's always a wonderful to meet and hang out with people whose idea of fun isn't going to the mall, or the movies, or eating out at a trendy restaurants, instead preferring to go hiking, biking, running, play Ultimate Frisbee, ect. It was so nice for me to be around real and sincere people while enjoying the outdoors. I may have only been away for a couple of days, and most people wouldn't consider what I did on this trip to be anything special, but I saw it as the best vacation I have had EVER!

   I hope all of you out there have at least one or two people in your life that you can find that sort of pleasure in their company. The area of Tennessee I stayed in might not be viewed as the most exciting place to be, but it became that for me because of the people that were with me. Just remember, it's not the place your at that makes you happy, it's the people in that place that do.

   Best wishes all!

Fun in the Sun

2010-07-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today. . .

Sleep: 7.5 hours
Sunshine: 4 hours
Water: 2 liters
Food: banana/fig/carob smoothie, LOADS of watermelon, and a big salad!
Exercise: 4 miles of hiking (ran some of it to race my friends), 30 minutes of paddleboat racing followed by a water fight, and a 20 minute walk.

Today I realized just how high my energy levels are in comparison to some people. All the excercise I did today, I did with my brother and his two friends. We got to Stone Mountain Park at 9:30am and left at 2pm. We were planning to stay longer (until 4pm) but everyone but myself was tired so we called it a day. I still had loads of energy and was sad to leave. I hope that when I go to college in the fall I can find some people with as much passion for exercise and energy as myself!

Despite leaving sooner then wanted to, today was absolutely wonderful! It was so nice to get outside, move around, hang out with some awesome people, laugh, and eat sweet and juicy watermelon! I didn't realize how much I needed to do something like this until today and I hope have another day like this again soon.