JEAN-MAIRE'S JOURNAL

DAY 2: MOSTLY RAW FOOD CHALLENGE, DECEMBER 5, 2012

 

 

Day 2: Mostly raw food challenge

 

It's been one day and I feel really good! The first day is always the hardest. But I stuck to my guns especially since I was going to have to tell you all what I am eating. LOL!

My husband is doing the food challenge too and he said he felt so good all day. He had to take a class and he said he stayed focused the whole time. I agree with him, I already feel more focused and my body seems really happy with what's taking place thus far.

So, here's what I ate:

Breakfast: Kale Coconut Smoothie
Snack: same smoothie from breakfast
Lunch: Asian Salad with seasoned rice vinegar & toasted sesame oil ( the easiest and best dressing ever)
Snack: nuts, dates, and an apple
Snack: Ginger Veggie Smoothie
Dinner: Veggie stir-fry with steamed organic red rice

Kale Coconut Smoothie

2 handfuls of kale
1 cup almond milk
1 cup water
Juice from 1 lemon
1 or 2 dates depending on how sweet you want it or how sweet your bananas are
2 bananas
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
1/4 cup frozen peas

Directions: blend kale and liquids first. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend till smooth.

This makes enough for 2 smoothies one I can enjoy now and the other for a snack.

Ginger Veggie Smoothie

2 handfuls of spinach
2 carrots
2 Celery Stalks
1 Apple
A chunk of ginger
1 Tablespoons Black strap molasses
2 Cups water

Directions: add everything to the blender and blend until smooth. If it comes out too thick add more water. It should be smooth and easy to drink. But depending on the size of your carrots or apples that could change how fiberous the drink is.

I drink a 1/3 now and save the rest for a snack. I get about 3 out of this depending on how hungry I am.

 

DAY 1: MOSTLY RAW FOOD CHALLENGE, DECEMBER 4, 2012

It's about that time again, I need to cleanse my body. I wanted to do this right after I finished my radiation treatments but I was just too tired, physically as well as mentally. But I am now about 6 weeks out from my last treatment. I'm still mentally tired but I am not physically tired. So I'm going to do the push and do a 10 day cleanse.

What will my cleanse guidelines be?
Good question. I'm going back to basics... Mostly smoothies. They are easy. And I also plan to do mostly all raw. So when time permits I'm going to include salads or make some fun raw things from this site. I plan to include 1 vegan meal a day. That will be in the evening. It's cold here right now so I need that warmth and I do love food so that will be my treat each evening.

How will I accomplish this?
Another good question... I'm planning everything out. So far I have 2 days planned. And I have my smoothies all planned out. I'm going to keep it basic by drinking 2 different smoothies several times a day. I like the taste of both and if I keep it simple, so a little boring, I can keep it up.

I also plan to make more than one smoothie at a time. That way I can store the extra smoothie in the fridge and it's ready to drink whenever. Or if I'm on the go I can just take the smoothie with me as a snack to keep me from grabbing a bad snack while running errands.

I'm feeling pretty good about this. Last time I did this was when I found out about the cancer and within a week I felt amazing!! My blood count was high & my blood was super rich. So I'm hoping that this raw smoothie cleanse will give me the jump start I need. I'm hoping it helps my back heal faster and cleanses my back of all that radiation. I want to be thinking more clearly.. I feel like I've been in a bit of a fog.

So follow me on my 10 day journey... It should be fun!!

 

HOW EATING GREENS HELPED ME... AND THE POWER OF KALE, NOVMVBER 29, 2012

A few weeks ago, I had my first appointment with my acupuncturist since I started my radiation treatments. The acupuncturist didn’t want me to do any acupuncture during my radiation since it would be too much for my body. The radiation needed to do its thing. So, she was excited to see me and to see how things were going.

She had all types of questions to ask me like: “How I was sleeping? How was the burn on my back? How was...” and the list goes on... One thing she asked about was my menstrual cycle. “How was that?” she inquired, "when did it stop?" I said "Stop? It never stopped!" She said, "really?" She then went on to tell me that for many woman their cycle stops during radiation & chemo because of the stress on there body and since there body just can't do it all it has to give up something. Do you find that incredibly interesting? I know I did. My cycle has stayed totally on time and in fact I have had no cramps, with no real strong PMS symptoms since I started eating so many greens. I have to say even I was surprised that my cycle didn't change during the radiation treatments. She said it had to be a direct result of the greens.

She went on to tell me that kale can really regulate a woman’s cycle, and she said it definitely was the case with me. I left that appointment on cloud 9! Radiation was so hard on me, that towards the end of the treatments, I didn't stick as closely to the diet because I was so nauseous and tired. I felt like I had been pulling weeds in the garden all day and yet I had only just barely gotten out of bed. Nothing tasted or looked good!! I actually started hating food a litte. The one thing I did do was stick to eating greens, I think this really shows how powerful greens can be to our bodies and why you should try and get them in your body each day!

 

And now for the really good news, I saw my oncologist a few weeks ago as well and my last scan came back clear. As of now, there is no cancer in my body. I will continue to be checked every 6 months to make sure that it doesn't come back. I feel really good. The radiation took a huge toll out on my body and although I am about 6 weeks out from my last treatment, I still can feel the effects on me. But overall, I do feel stronger and I'm exciting for the next year... I can't wait to see what goals get accomplished!!

 

 

Thanks for all your support!!!


 

HOW I GOT STARTED, NOVEMBER 14, 2012

 

So, Switiching to an all Raw/Vegan lifestyle isn't easy. Back in July when I made the switch it was out of necessity and so the switch happened literally over night. One day I was eating my normal Standard American Diet and the next day I was eating Raw/Vegan.

 

The thing that proved to be the easiest and simpliest way for me to change so quickly was smoothies. I was drinking 3 very large smoothies a day... Each one was probably 32-38 oz each... and let me tell you if you drink that much green juice a day, there just really isn't enough room for that much food... LOL!!

 

But what was great about this was they tasted good and I didn't have to think much about food. Just blend and go. And my body didn't have to do too much work in digesting either. We started experimenting and we did chocolate smoothies, fruity smoothies, and even some with just veggies... and just to make it fun I would sometimes just pick a color and everything in my fridge that was that color had to go into the smoothie... You would be so surprised at what tastes good in a smoothie. One of my favorite finds was zucchini. It has no taste and is packed full of nutirents and so in my smoothie they would go...

My challenge to you is try drinking 2 large smmothies a day and see how you feel at the end of the week or 10 days... You too will be loving your green smoothies, your new out look on life, and your new body!! Let me know how you feel after you do your week challenge...

My favorite smoothies drink base:

SMOOTHIE DRINK BASE

1 Banana

Hand full of Kale

1 cup of Almond Milk

1/4 cup frozen green peas or 1/2 to 1 fresh zucchini

1 date

Add anything else and you are golden

(if you need more liquid add water)

Chocolate powder gives you a dreamy chocolate shake

Strawberries & pineapple & coconut flakes gives you a more tropical feel

Anything is possible!!!

I always tried to drink one smoothie without nuts. Here's what I would put in this one:

FRUIT & VEGETABLE SMOOTHIE WITHOUT NUTS

1 or 2 Carrots

1 celery stalk(which is great for depression or sad thoughts)

1 orange (peeled), hand full of spinach

1 apple, ginger(just a small piece) & water.

Blend in the blender or vitamix. and strain out half of the pulp. I think the fiber is good thats why I don't juice this one. But it is super fiberous so if you can stand it drink everything. But for me I would just strain out part of the fiber.

Don't forget to add parsley when you have it. It is a super food and it has only a few properties less than wheat grass. And the taste isn't too bad.

And remember you can top off your smoothie with chia seeds, fresh berries. gogi berries, coconut and the like. Skies the limit!

Enjoy!!




HOW EATING RAW SAVED MY LIFE, OCTOBER 4, 2012

 

As many of you may know, I have cancer, and that is the main reason for why I have taken on this new way if eating. But it wasn't until today that I truly realized that eating this way saved my life, and perhaps saved me from having to go through chemotherapy. So here's a little back story.

In February/March of this year (2012) I noticed a lump randomly appear on my back. It was the size of a pea. I was concerned, but I also was super busy with a 2 month old baby and a 2 year old, so I didn't have that much time to think about it. I did go to a doctor who told me it was a lipoma (a benign fatty tumor).Around this same time, I started working out with my trainer and I expressed to her that I was looking for ways to care for the kids and get a healthy meal in. She suggested smoothies. She told me they are easy to make, clean up, and eat. One healthy meal down without too much fuss, I liked it and ran with it. I had a shake a day for almost a month in a half. I always added kale or Swiss chard to my smoothie. During that month in half to 2 months the lump barely grew.

The following 2 months after that was a different story. One of my BFF's was getting married. I was at my parents for almost 3 weeks and on a family vacation. Let's just say my eating habits changed drastically! I was drinking tons of alcohol, eating dessert after every meal, and my meat consumption was through the roof! In the next 2 1/2 months the same lump on my back grew to be the size of a plum. I had no idea, but I was feeding it!

On June 30th I had the "lipoma" removed and was informed that they made a mistake and that it was indeed cancer, a Sarcoma to be exact!And I was going to need another surgery, and soon, it was “high grade” in their opinion!

This was a lot of information to digest. But one thing I knew was my diet had to change. A week or so after my diagnoses I called up Christine (of Just Glowing with Health). I needed her opinion on this, and how food could affect my health. She told me I needed to go raw. I needed to allow my body to spend as much energy as possible healing and as little energy as possible on digesting. I liked everything she had to say. So the following day, I went raw. Little did I know that it would be exactly one week before my next surgery.

I knew and felt in my soul that all these raw veggies were healing me. But it wasn't until I heard a few things that I received confirmation of what I held true. The first realization that my diet was working for me was when I talked to the anesthesiologist the day of the surgery. He said I had the most incredibly rich blood. He went on to say that this is not a bloody surgery so a blood transfusion is not even a thought but if it were I had so much blood to lose. He said it would be long time before blood was even a consideration.I found his comments pretty interesting. And it made me feel good to know that if my blood was that rich then my whole body was probably doing pretty good too.

The second comment that took me by surprise was from my surgeon after the surgery. He told my husband and me, “all went well”. And he was happy to say he didn't need to take a rib. Ok, at this point I'm looking at him a bit shocked. I had no idea a rib was up for grabs! He told us that he wasn't sure how much the cancer would have spread around the infected area, and my rib was right there.

The worst thing one can do when they have cancer is cut it out and then leave a little behind. That makes cancer very, very mad. So in the 2 1/2 weeks that I waited for my next surgery that thing should have gone crazy! After all it had already shown that it wasn't afraid of growth. It had grown like mad the past few months! But all of a sudden it was stunted. It was diagnosed as a high grade sarcoma. It should have metastasized to my lungs… but it didn't! And now all I face is a little radiation to make sure the infected area is clean of the Sarcoma.

There is more to my story as I continue on my raw/vegan journey that I will share with you along the way.

You can see how eating raw veggies saved my life, and why it is so important for me to stick as closely to this diet as possible.

xJMP

JEAN-MARIE PAYNE, AUGUST 16, 2012

 

 

Hi, my name is Jean-Marie and I am a thirty something mother of 2. I love all things natural and all things creative. And so, I love to cloth diaper, cook yummy food for my family, and make jewelry; and am the other half of BtanJerine. This past June I was diagnosed with a type of cancer called sarcoma. And there starts my story with Raw food. I have heard, seen, and witnessed the benefits of eating this way. I am NOT 100% raw as I am currently recovering from surgery and about to start a treatment, but I stick as close as time and energy allows. I look forward to sharing with you all some of the things that I love as I discover this new (and not so new) amazing way of eating.