Just another day of classes, exams, and correcting. I am going to be so busy in the next couple of weeks trying to wrap up the semester. I stayed up until late correcting student work…

Today I had:

green smoothie
cherries
papaya
green salad with seaweed
soba noodles with soy sauce
raw nuts
apple juice

I found a great online raw grocery store last night, and it’s based in Canada! They had a perfect selection of items (expect some brewer’s yeast that I have been wanting), so I stacked my online shopping cart fulling of goodies, only to find Japan was not on the list of countries to which they ship when I went to change my address (I had initially registered with my Canadian address). I got the feeling that they might be open to shipping my way, though, so I emailed them and am awaiting a reply.

What’s cool about the site is that they sell fermented nut and seed cheeses. Yes, I am a big fan of these. I can indeed make my own, but the ones I make are more like pastes; the ones they sell look like hard cheeses or brie types. Also, as I don’t really eat bread anymore…. I have always enjoyed cheese and bread together… I’d be surprised if they ship those cheeses across the globe, anyway.

The store is called Upaya Naturals. (pronounced oo-pah-yuh)

Today I had:

green smoothie with maca powder
arugula avocado and lemon salad (trying to say no to the extra oils)
banana ice cream with coconut flakes
carrots, cucumbers and humus (yes, still using cooked beans…)
avocado & banana
nori laver

I made a Costco run today for fruits and veggies, which took longer than anticipated as the store was packed. The rest of the day was spent trying to start the massive amount of correcting I have let myself fall behind on, plus the writing of examinations. Ugh. Detoxing from yesterday’s mishap went smoother than I thought it would, despite not keeping completely raw. I consumed more fruit and juices than normal, so perhaps that helped. I must learn how to go out with drinking friends and refrain from giving into encouragement such as “come on, just one or two won’t hurt.” If I truly didn’t want a drink, this would be a non issue. Clearly I am not there yet. By the by, smoking has thankfully started to decline in Japan, but alcohol still permeates to social scene. (I’m making up excuses, I know.)

I just learned two other words for my beloved rocket leaves (what I have been calling “ruccula” in my blog up to now): arugula and roquette. I figure that the latter is French and the word I was using was Italian, so could arugula be the actual English name? Does anyone know? I do love this stuff. The wild version has quite a bite to it. It’s pretty popular in Tokyo. I was surprised that I was nowhere able to find it when I last went back to Canada. (We are hicks!)

Today I ate:

fruit smoothie (apple, banana, frozen tropical mix and agave)
berry berry smoothie (fresh strawberries and frozen raspberries and blackberries with agave)
nori laver with brown rice
mango
avocado and wild arugula

I’m writing this a day late once again, after another outing of debauchery (in alcohol). Happy 4th of July to all the Americans out there! I went out with friends for a dousoukai(reunion)/birthday celebration of sorts, but there were no Americans to be found. The only reason I recall that it was the famous American day is that it came up in my private lesson English classes today, of which I had three. (Business is looking fairly good at the moment. I have 5 more job opportunities for next year to boot!) Also, it was Canada’s birthday a few days ago.

In any case, I was doing well today, until we went out and my resolve went down the toilet. I ended up ordering the fancy drinks with colorings, sugars, and chunks of fruit hanging over over-sized, sugar-rimmed glasses.

amendment 07/11/09
Was just reading my blog and noticed I never finished. Oopps, that’s what drinking will do to you. I’m sure I must have scoffed down unhealthy tidbits on top of all the drinking…. A write off of a raw day, then.
Ooppss. Somehow the rest of this blog

A very raw day indeed!

Today I ate:

green smoothie
mango
papaya
raisins
peanuts
banana
green salad
banana cacao ice cream
cacao avocado pudding
dried nuts
fruit smoothie

I didn’t really have any meals today - just grazed in the kitchen or at the table while working on various projects on my lovely imac. Not a very eventful day, but I got very inspired with some new writing project ideas. Will write more about them if they come to some sort of fruition!

Today I had:

green smoothie
peanuts
nori and natto
hot cacao
currents
banana ice cream with dates
ruccola leaves
dried peas
black olives

I did a wee bit a research today on alkaline foods and confirmed a few things I’d suspected: lemons and citrus fruits are surprisingly highly alkalizing, as are raw green veggies like spinach and wheat grass. Cooked or processed foods, on the other hand, plus most nuts and seeds, animal products, and alcohol (drat!) are acidic. As disease can only thrive in an acidic environment, it makes sense to alkalize our bodies! I was disappointed to discover that, at least on one chart I found, blueberries are somewhat acidic. Obviously you cannot make assumptions or judge by taste. We do need some acidity though, as our bodies are meant to have a pH of between about 6.5 and 7.5 (and that’s conservative: on the higher side is better I figure). I imagine that for most of us, even when we think we are eating alkaline, our pH levels are probably a tad lower than desirable.  What I am finding shocking is that if this all this pH theory really is proven and common sense, why don’t more doctors check you pH levels in addition to blood pressure etc. when you go for a health check? Western medicine really seems like a load of balderdash sometimes, really. I’ll have to look deeper into this area, in any case, as it is very much in line with raw veganism.

Today I had:

green smoothie
green salad with avocado
raisins
giant green salad with more avocado
humus, broccoli, and cucumbers
red wine