Technically today is my day 0. I am challenging myself to be 50% raw for April, but somehow I started today being raw. I started eating today a bit late, and the only thing I had at 10am for breakfast was an 8oz cup of green tea.  I thought that would be okay, but by 11am I was hungry….really hungry!  I went for the snap peas I purchased the night before at a grocery store, a Naked brand mango drink and a handful of Organic Roasted Salted cashews. One serving of cashews is about 9 kernels, so I try to stick to that as my guideline. By 1pm I was hungry again, so I ate about 3/4ths of a fuji apple and another handful of cashews. About an hour later I noticed that I felt very focused, energetic, and did not have my usual mid afternoon tired feeling. Around 4pm I was waiting for that energetic feeling to go away, but it never did. I started thinking “hey, this raw and vegan thing is fabulous!” In celebration of that fabulous feeling I decided to slice some of the strawberries that I purchased at the grocery. I added a packet of hot cocoa and water for good measure. I mean, what person doesn’t like strawberries and chocolate? So good, so good, so good!

Around 6pm I decided it was time for another half of a mango smoothie so I started sipping. After work I went to the gym, and afterwards ordered my trusty tofu pad thai with added veggies. The local thai place knows me by name…I really spend a lot of time there, at least once a week. I usually don’t eat anything after dinner, as I’m usually eating at 9pm or later. I know that’s really bad, but it’s definitely a reality for us road warriors. Don’t judge me please! LOL!

Here are my tips for the day:

• Nutrition – Keep eating when you are hungry. Don’t deprive your body of food, just make sure it is good quality food.
• Weight Loss – Be aware of your portion sizes. Even vegans and raw food eaters can overdo it sometimes.
• Workout – Prioritize your workouts by putting it on your calendar like you do everything else in your workday.

Welcome to Day 1 of my journey into 50% raw and 99% vegan eating all while being “on the road”.  My job requires 100% travel, so I spend most of my time in a hotel, restaurant, airport, rental car or office. Lately in my quest to become more healthy, I have been spending more time in a gym also. I have been getting good results from the added gym time, but feel that I want to step it up a notch. I want to be at optimal health and running on premium fuel – with a little investigation I found that the ultimate premium fuel is raw foods.  I decided that beginning on April 1st I would try out being 50% raw and 100% vegan. I cut this down to 99% since I really enjoy tofu pad thai with the eggs, and am not quite willing to give that delicious dinner up yet. But I am definitely on my way!

I know a lot of people feel it’s difficult to be healthy while on the road, and I used to be one of those people. I used to say “It’s too hard to eat healthy, I’m on the road all the time” or “Restaurants always cook things in an unhealthy way, so you might as well eat whatever you want.” However I simply decided not to allow my job constraints to help me make excuses for not eating well.  I hope to help others from this blog by providing meal tips, ideas for how to eat raw/vegan in restaurants, and maybe even some inspiration for you to be raw also!