Cycling more of the trail.

This past weekend we cycled another section of the Great Allegheny Passage. This time it is the section from Meyersdale to the Big Savage tunnel. 9.6 miles to the tunnel, and .6 miles through. So in total 20.4 miles round trip give or take .5 miles.


This is the south side of the tunnel. Was amazing the air pumping from the tunnel. Being over 3000 feet long it acts like a cave, it pumps or sucks air as the tunnel tries to equailize with the outside air. Was pumping huge volumes of cold air.

Here we are just inside the entrance on the north end. You can see it is lighted the whole way. Super nice ride as well!

Wow look at the white legs on that guy! I must say that cycling and kayaking is really helping both of us become more fit.

 Now this is either an underpass or a tunnel. Guess it depends on how you look at it. This one is super nice and sports some nice murals.

Last 5 miles was in the rain. And I do mean a  torrential down pour! We has a blast even with the rain. Can not wait to get out there again!

Keep on eating RAW!

Exercise and the RAW lifestyle continues

We have been doing a lot of exercising in the last few weeks. Our weapons of choice, cycling and flat water kayaking. Both are great workouts and we have great local locations to do both. For cycling we have the Great Allegheny Passage. 141 miles of trail from Cumberland, MD to Pittsburgh, PA. Check out their website for more details.

For kayaking we have many lake options. One of the best local lakes is the Quemahoning Dam. There are many other nearby lakes for us to paddle. And Martha has started to use a sup paddle board (stand up paddling). Great workout! Plus our dog Foxxy loves to sail on that ship. Check her out...

We continue to eat mostly RAW. I am guessing 85-90% and we both continue to feel great. The other 10% (cheat times) have proven interesting. One of those “other” times we had chocolate covered pretzels. Ah so what you say… well, eat RAW the better part of four or five months and then eat them. They put you in a coma. We were both so freaking tired it was amazing. Anyway, RAW is the way for us. Funny thing is we are actually having fun eating this way.

Recipe nailed down

We have been working on our breakfast smoothie recipe and I think it is done. There are actually two of them, one is green and one is orange.

Green Smoothie

• Kale, 3-5 leafs (and or your favorite greens)
• 1 celery stick
• 2 banana
• 1 apple
• 1 whole orange
• flax (fresh ground, 2 teaspoon)
• ice

Orange Smoothie

• carrot, 3-4 large
• 1 celery stick
• 1 banana
• 1 apple
• 1 whole orange
• flax (fresh ground, 2 teaspoon)

 

We have been having these every day. We do a few days green, then a few days orange. We are using a Vitamix to make our smoothies.

Enjoy!

Day 30 of our Green Challenge

We have both lost track of how many days we have been making and consuming the smoothies.  Much to our delight, it is day 30!  Initially we had talked about rewarding ourselves on the last night with dinner at our favorite restaurant.  Ironically, we both agreed that this does not sound appealing to us at this point. 

I am thrilled to say that this experience is going to continue in our lives for an indefinite amount of time.  For me the significant changes have not been about the weight loss (although I have lost about 8 pounds this month:)....In fact, my energy level has increased so much and I am actually sleeping much better at night.  I have not taken any of my acid reflux medicine for over two months and some of the allergy symptoms that bothered me before have all but vanished.

For both of us, our lives have begun to change from this diet change.  I am not bored with a good salad and our goals now for as long as we can see are to stay at about 80-85% raw and vegan.  The simple facts are we are spending less money and time and putting much better foods into our bodies!

Bon Appetit!

On the trail again...

Here we are at day 26. We spent the afternoon riding on the Great Allegheny Passage (rails to trails) with our friends, Sheryl and Jerry. The trail comes within a mile of their house so it is very easy access. And it is on the Pittsburgh section (still 15 miles from the city) which is an area we never rode in. Total we only did 8 miles but it was super riding and physically we handled it with ease. Jerry and I are planning a trip from their place to Meyersdale in the fall. I think we figured it is something like 70 miles. So I will need to get some biking in and get some conditioning. Nice day!

Day 25

We are on day 25 of our 30 day raw food challenge. It actually has been pretty easy. I guess mainly because we have both seen results early on. We have experienced:

 

• better sleep
• more alert 
• no afternoon blues (sleepiness) 
• weight loss 
• clear thoughts

 

The weight loss for me has been nice. I have lost 10 pounds over these last 25 days. And 24 pounds over the last 3.5 months since going high raw(80%). My sister-in-law who is an avid runner claims that for every pound you lose that is 4 pounds of pressure off your knees.

We have already decided that when we are done with the 30 days we are going to stay high raw. The benefits are well worth it. And we both feel great.

 

Eat your greens!

Momma always said “eat your greens”. I just don’t think this is what she had in mind. Nice hand full of fresh kale from my co-workers garden. Thanks Brandon! One banana and two oranges to flavor it up. Tasted fantastic! And good for you!