I received a wonderful shipment today from Upaya Naturals. It was my first time ordering with them and I was very pleased, although I spent a lot of money, especially with the shipping. I got my staples: agave nectar, cacao stuff, nut butter, and some extra goodies like nuts and “bread.” I’m also happy to support a Canadian company. So, of course, today Trine’s fingers quickly got into the cookie bowl, so to speak. I was busy in front of the computer today, and as a result, didn’t make time to prepare food. I could have just as easily had bananas and oranges, but I opted to pig out on the nuts, which were far too amazingly savory for me to stop without eating the whole bag(s). As a result, I felt rather low later in the day due to all the fat consumption. I made very light vegetable nori rolls for dinner, and I felt better by evening. Yes, nuts are wonderful, but in moderation!

Today I ate:

green smoothie
pecan mayan mix
cilantro nut and seed mix
zucchini, carrot and spinach nori rolls
lemon juice

I bought yet another raw food book yesterday, this one in Japanese, which, due to my platform’s inability to handle Japanese, I cannot write here. There are only a few publications about the raw food lifestyle so far in the local language, and naturally they have been written by Japanese; major publications have not yet been translated, to my knowledge. Anyway, I guess I’d better get reading before I buy any more! First, however, I have to get down to my editing and translation projects…. I’m really behind schedule! My Blessed Herbs Internal Cleanse is going quite smoothly, BTW.

Today I had:

leftover dips and veggies from last night at Manna
humus and raw veggies
nori rolls yet again
lemon juice
hot cacao
dried mango

I went to a raw food event this evening at Manna Restaurant, near Yoyogi Koen. It was great to meet new people with similar interests, finally get to check out Andi and Angela’s restaurant (a very nice space!), hear Angela’s angelic singing, and eat all that awesome raw food!

Today I had:

green smoothie
nori rolls with curried carrot past and veggies (a new fav. I always go on these several-day food binges when I find something new that I like!)
an assortment of all sorts of raw veggies, pates, and chocolate pudding!
a draft beer

Today entailed the eating of copious amounts of greens; I’d bought 500g of ruccola and baby lettuce at Costco yesterday, and then during the cycle back home, well, they wilted somewhat. Hard to avoid in this oppressively  humid Japanese summer weather. “Well we can’t have that, can we!” I thought this morning, hence the rabbit mode of eating. I must have ingested 300g worth, and let me tell you, that is quite a bit of the green stuff!  Too wilted and they are no longer consumable. Well, there are green smoothies…. but no, fresh is best, baby!

I am on phase 3 of the Blessed Herbs Internal Cleanse. Nothing obvious is happening, other than I feel pretty darned good if I don’t say so myself. Phase 3 focuses on cleaning out the lungs and lymph system with these herbal liquids in addition to the regular “digestive stimulator” and “paracleanse” pills. They all taste a lot like Chinese medicine - very strong and… herbal.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve put a couple more links up on the top of this blog to sites I’ve been working on. First is my recipe blog, which is really proving to be a lot of fun (please submit a recipe!), and then there is my main site, which is a little more slow-moving, as I am still having theme trouble and I need to think through what I want to do with it; I’ve been thinking I’d really like to share this whole raw food lifestyle with others, seeing how it’s been working so well for me, and I’d like to have a go at making some sort of business out of it, though I’ve no intention to stop my current employment. Since I enjoy teaching so much, it makes sense that I would want to teach raw food classes, but I want to make sure that I am experienced and qualified enough, and that I can design a course that would offer great value for money if I am going to charge for it. Of course, I also love writing (else I would not be blogging) and would like to create some information package that people would be willing to pay for and be satisfied with. The problem is finding a niche; there are so many publications already out there, so I need to say something new, and if not, say something old in a new and appealing way. That said, I do have several ideas… A big advantage I would have is the Japanese language, but as my blogs are not currently not accepting Japanese kanji for some reason… I really have get in touch with my WordPress expert friend!

Today I had:

green smoothie with soggy melon (I forgot about the poor soul waiting in my fridge to be consumed. Don’t know how I could miss it - it took up the whole top shelf.)
ruccula and baby leaf salads with miso citrus dressing (umm, think I am addicted to that stuff)
raw nori rolls made with nori (duh!), carrot pâté, avocado, and… you guessed it - greens!
olives
orange-pecan smoothie

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I spent the day in front of my laptop, not doing the work I was supposed to be doing, but rather, troubleshooting my websites. I really do wish I had more computer skills. It’s fun to do it, but I really do wish it didn’t take so much time. I guess invariably I’d find other ways to procrastinate, but still…

Today I had:

green berry smoothie
spinach salad with savory dressing
zucchini and tomato sauce (a twist on and old recipe here)
a huge plate of different olives, raw, but smothered in all sorts of seasonings…
fruit smoothie..s (… and vodka..s)

OK, you’re laughing at the vodka, but seriously, I got a lot of real work done in front of the computer since the Absolut was cracked open!

I slept in and spent the whole morning in my PJs in front of my laptop in bed. These things have to be done! I’ve neglected to mention over the last few days how my Blessed Herbs Internal Cleanse has been going, and the answer is: great!

Yesterday in particular, during the peak of step 2 (the colon parasite cleaning phase), I went to the toilet 5 times, and had really healthy, HUGE eliminations. I think I saw the previous day what was described in the Blessed Herbs literature as uninvited guests, but I am uncertain of the degree to which I buy into that. (OK, too much information? Perhaps I should have become a scatologist instead of a teacher…) In any case, I’m feeling really good, despite my recent cooked food choices, and this disgustingly humid weather that tends to make me swell up and feel much like the crap that I am evidently full of (haha). Oh, and I think I did lose weight during my fast last week, as it appears to be finding me. MUST… CONTROL… MY .. EATING…….

Oh, related to weight gain (and somewhat justifying it), check out NBC Today’s article I found on raw chocolate. Makes me feel a whole lot less guilty about my love for the brown stuff (and I do not mean the scatological brown stuff.)

Today I had:

green smoothie leftovers (ummm, oxidized….)
1/2 of a 5000 yen melon (a gift of course, and I ravished it!)
green salad with citrus miso dressing
Asian slaw
banana ice cream with walnuts
red wine

That time of the month felt pretty harsh today, and apparently I didn’t look well, either. As my translation project co-worker had been trekking out to my place in recent days, I decided it was time to spend the afternoon in her part of town, on the Odakyu line near Sagami Ono. We spent a few hours in a café before heading to her place to do another few hours. I didn’t have much of an appetite all day, but after some wine in the evening, my cramps left, my appetite returned, and I pigged out on soba and seaweed salad once back at mine, as well as some senbei crackers. We have finished more than half the transcript now. Although we’re not working at top speed, it can be quite hard at times!

I’ve been enjoying the video component of Skype this week. A few days ago I spent the afternoon in a long distance video conference with a very special someone, and tonight I touched based with a old boyfriend (current friend). It’s easier to communicate when you can see the other’s face on the one hand, but on the other hand, until you’re used to it, it may be a tad disconcerting, especially when the visuals break up. Technology is indeed amazing!

Today I had:

green smoothie (drunk throughout the day)
baked satsuma potato
papaya
natto rolled in green lettuce leaves
apple juice
raw olives
red wine
wakame and cold soba with raw mountain potato
senbei rice crackers
chestnuts

Before settling down into a Starbucks to do translation work, my colleague and I went out for a buffet lunch. As the choice was vast, I tried to eat as vegan and raw as possible, but I did indulge in not only cooked, but deep fried (a little)! And I found out in retrospect that there were anchovies in one dish. Oh well, live and learn. It was delicious, and overall, far from unhealthy. More than half of my plate was raw. We then hit the boutiques of Minami Osawa’s outlet mall, and in the end only got an hour’s work in before I had to head back for a private lesson, but we worked through the evening after that, too.

Today I had:

green smoothie (small)
vegan buffet (mostly salads and seaweeds, but also cooked potato, pumpkin, carrots, and fried burdock (one of my cooked favorites!)
coffee with soy milk and honey
watermelon
zucchini pasta and tomato paste
red wine