DAY 40

THOUGHTS- Tempeh. Tempeh is made by natural culturing and controlled frementaion of soybeans. The process binds them into a cake like form. Unlike most other soy bean products Tempeh did not originate in china or japan but in fact originated in todays Indonesia. The protein in tempeh is more easily digestable because of the fermentation process. Similar to tofu but tempeh is whole soybeans binded together and not just the milk. Tempeh goes great in wraps (if you’re not Earth dieting) in salads and stir fries and if your lucky sometimes you can find one nice enough to eat by itself. Just heat it up and enjoy. We have a few different tempehs at work. If you are earth dieting make sure you take a look at the ingredients and make sure there hasn’t been to many flavours or additives added. I am yet to try making tempeh at home. Still struggling with making tofu. So tempeh is another store brought product that has no additives (if you get the right brand.)

CHALLENGES- Having such a junk food day. Kept craving junk. Didn’t give in to the temptation though.

TRIUMPHS- When craving bad food I still only ate good earthy foods.

WHAT I ATE-

BREAKFAST- Two potatoes cut into chip slices and cooked in olive oil.
Handful cashews and macadamias
Soy latte

SNACKS- Tempeh- organic soybeans, tamari, ginger and sesame oil.
Cacao nibs, goji berries, pepitas, macadamias and pecans.

LUNCH- 1 Avocado, lentil sprouts and mungbean sprouts (Home sprouted)
Bliss Ball\- Apricots, sundried sultanas, sulfur free figs, currants, dates, toasted coconut and raisins.
1 dry pineapple ring.

DINNER- Tandori Marinated tofu.
Loving Earth Raw mint chocolate bar.
Cashews

EXERCISE- nil

Day 39

THOUGHTS- Opportunities. Every day is full of them. How many will present themselves to you today? And how many of them will you take? Some you may not even see as an opportunity. Even the bad things that are happening in your life right now are giving you the chance to change and make things better. You may lose your job, that simply means that a better one is waiting just around the corner. Crash your car, it’s clearly not the car you are meant to have. Walking down the street and notice someone else seems a little out of sorts that’s your opportunity to make a difference. So many of us walk through life with blinkers on or even rose coloured glasses. Well it’s time to take them off. It’s time to see what the world really has to offer you. If you are reading this than you have access to the internet (or Liana was inredible enough to get the book deal) but either way you have the opportunity to be spending money on luxuries that have enables you to read this. So remember how lucky you are. You will no doubt also have a home, a bed and food on the table. So many people do not have these luxuries. You might think that if you don’t think about it that it doesn’t happen. But every minute somewhere around the world a child is dying from starvation. You may not think that there is anything you can do about it but there are plenty of things you can do. You can donate to missions, sponsor a child or even make your next holiday a volunteering holiday and help out the less fortunate. Not only will you get to see another side of the world but you will get to feel great about it. So open your eyes to the opportunities that your life is presenting you and take them. Take those opportunities and run with them.

CHALLENGES- Feeling like pancakes all day.

TRIUMPHS- Not snacking as much as usual.

WHAT I ATE-

BREAKFAST- Buckwheat flour, grated apple, cinnamon, water pancakes cooked in olive oil and covered in agave syrup.

SNACK- Watermelon and mint juice.

LUNCH- Apple, cinnamon and buckwheat pancakes with agave syrup.

SNACK- Cacao nibs with goji berries.
½ avocado with home sprouted lentils.

DINNER- Left over stir fry with brown rice
Potato and leek soup
Pecans (From shell)
Soy Latte.

EXERCISE- Walking

Day 38

THOUGHTS- Exercise. I hate doing it but I know I have to. I feel better on days that I do exercise. But there are so many days that I don’t. There is always some excuse. Too tired. Too Sore. Not enough time. I know I am not the only one our there making excuses. Hello Obesity epidemic. So it’s quiet clear that a lot of us need to do something about it. So what can we do? Join a gym. Too costly. Join a sports team. Not your thing. What about plain old walking? Surely there is something that interests you. I’m not really the best to be preaching about exercise I know the exercise section of these blogs is often left blank. But I have increased the amount of exercise I do compared to what I used to. And really that’s all you need to do. I’m not talking about going to the gym everyday and pumping it out for two hours before work and two hours after work and having no social life. Take a look at what you do now for exercise. In my case it was nothing. So add a few extra things a week. Look online for some simple exercises that will tone the areas you need. And do some cardio as well. If you are already walking step up the pace a bit. Make sure you always consult a professional before undertaking anything to strenuous and make sure that whatever you decide to do is not going to aggrovate any injuries. The first few times may leave you feeling a little sore and sorry but once your muscles adjust to whatever your new exercise is you won’t even remember what the big fuss was all about. Now week by week I am trying new things and starting to add things in to my exercise routine. Eating well is one thing but I have still been feeling run down and that’s because my body hasn’t been getting enough movement. I have found that the best way for me to get more energy is to use some energy. The more I sit around doing nothing the more my body wants to sit around doing nothing.

CHALLENGES- Still snacking late at night. Need to stop doing this.

TRIUMPHS- Eating lots of veggies today instead of raw choc and pancakes

WHAT I ATE-



BREAKFAST- Veggie fritters- Onion, capsicum, garlic, brussel sprout, parsley, chilli, tumeric, celery, cauliflour, Organic Buckwheat flour, vege stock (recipe on earlier day) Cooked in olive oil and seasoned with pepper.



LUNCH- Veitnamese coleslaw. Shallot, red cabbage, white cabbage, mint, yellow capsicum, carrot and lentil sprouts.
Dressing- lime juice and garlic.

SNACK- ½ avocado with mung bean and lentil sprouts. Home sprouted.
Capsicum sticks, snow peas, pea pods, lentil and mung bean sprouts.
Soy latte.

DINNER-Stir Fry- Zuchinni, carrot, snow peas, parsley, red onion, red capsicum, garlic, ginger, tumeric, olive oil.
Esspresso.

LATE NIGHT SNACK- Cashews
Potato and Leek soup- Veggie stock, potato, leek, garlic and Thyme

EXERCISE- 30 minutes cross trainer.

Day 37

THOUGHTS- The world is full of amazing people and another one of these people is Leigh Chantelle Koch. Organizer of the Green Earth festival and creator of Viva La Vegan. Leigh is a very passionate woman who leads a cruelty free life and helps others on their way to becoming more environmentally aware.


INSERT INTERVEIW HERE Interveiw coming soon has just been misplaced.




For more information on Leigh-Chantelle and Veganism please go to the following sites.
http://www.vivalavegan.net/
http://leigh-chantelle.com/
http://greenearthfestival.net/

Thanks Leigh-Chantelle for your time and devotion to veganism.


CHALLENGES- Today was my brothers birthday and as with all birthdays and I often struggle with the temptation of party food.

TRIUMPHS- Today I told my family about the Earth Diet it has taken me a while to explain it to all of them as they think that I am weird enough already being that I am a vegan so explaining the Earth diet to them was interesting but they were all curious to see what it was about and what I was eating so the word is out there about the Earth Diet and more people are finding out about it. Now that I am over the hurdle of the family it means that I will be more confident to tell others about it.

WHAT I ATE-

BREAKFAST- Raw flaxseed porridge- apple, banana, soaked flaxseeds and cinnamon quill.
Handful cashews.

LUNCH- Tumeric veggies with Quinoa

SNACK- Lady finger banana and cashews

DINNER- Veg kebabs- tofu, mushroom, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, zuchinni.
Marinade- lime juice, lime zest, rice malt syrup, tamari and olive oil.

DESSERT- Choc balls- Ground walnut, ground cacao nibs and agave syrup. Mix together and roll into balls.
Fruit skewers- pineapple, watermelon, blueberries and strawberries. Covered in passionfruit pulp.
SNACKS- Almonds and Cashews.


EXERCISE- 10 minute jog on spot.

DAY 36

THOUGHTS- Feeling much better after a weekend of raw foods. Slowly I am going to start introducing more raw foods and recipes to my diet and start having less cooked foods. I know this is going to be a massive challenge coming into winter but I feel that my body needs that extra cleanse. There are so many ideas and recipes that I would have never thought would taste any good. And so much that you can do with raw food and the nutritional value of raw foods is amazing. So I am setting the challenge that by the end of the Earth Diet I will be living on a completely raw vegan diet for a few months. Then who knows maybe forever.

Also as part of the Earth Diet I have been discovering so many new wonderful foods and creating my own amazing recipes. So much so that I would love to start doing a recipe book. As a matter of fact I think I might just do that.


CHALLENGES- No challenges today

TRIUMPHS- Ate well and am feeling good about everything.

WHAT I ATE-



BREAKFAST- Buckwheat flour, Besan flour, soy milk and stevia pancakes cooked in coconut oil.
Toppped with agave syrup.



LUNCH- Tumeric veggies with Quinoa cooked in veg stock.

RECIPE
VEGE STOCK
INGREDIENTS
Celery
Capsicum
Corn
Peppercorns
Parsley
Basil
Tomato
Shallot
Sweet Potato
Carrot
Cucumber

Method

1. Fill Large Pot with water
2. Add all Vegetables (You can vary the vegetables you use I just use all the left over or extra vegetables I have.)
3. Bring to boil.
4. Drain and Keep liquid.
5. Sometimes you can add more water and make up to about six litres of stock. When the water isn't becoming coloured anymore then throw the veggies out.

TUMERIC VEGETABLES

INGREDIENTS

Eggplant
Zuchinni
Onion
Tumeric
Garlic
Ginger
Celery
Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflour
Vege Stock

METHOD

1. Heat non stick pan.
2. Cut all veggies into chunks.
3. Heat onion, ginger and garlic until beginning to brown.
4. Add Zuchinni and Eggplant until begining to brown.
5. Add other vegetables.
6. Add stock and tumeric. Bring to boil.
7. Reduce to simmer until stock has evaporated.
8. Serve with Quinoa or Rice.


SNACKS- Lots of cashews with a few almonds and hazelnuts
Raw Energy bar (Ingredients on a previous day)

DINNER- Salad- Sprouts- snow peas, alfalfa and mung bean. White cabbage, red onion, tomato, cucumber, parsley, cauliflour, pepitas, sunflower seeds, cos lettuce, celery, olives and capers.

DESSERT- Raw ginger bar

EXERCISE- Rehearsal

Day 35

THOUGHTS- Sprouting. I have started sprouting some beans lately. It turns out that it is pretty easy. I thought it would be a bit more difficult but you simply soak the beans over night like you normally would before cooking them but instead of cooking them you simply drain them put them in a jar and leave them on the window sill and in a day or two you will have some sprouts. Lentils are the easiest ones to start with. Some beans will need more care and time than others. Bean sprouts are very high in protein and great for anyone on a raw diet. Also today I had an audition for B105 which is one of our major Brisbane radio stations. They had over 700 applicants and only auditioned 50 people so I was pretty stoked to get to that stage. I explained to the auditionees all about veganism which was pretty good to get the word out there about what vegans can and can’t eat because there seems to be such a blurred line as to what people think a vegan is. So I am becoming a very active vegan which makes me feel so much better about it. Seriously why do something if you’re not proud to be doing it. If you couldn’t stand on a rooftop and yell out what you are than there is something wrong with your reason behind it.

CHALLENGES- Second day of raw food. I normally cook two or three meals of every day so to go two days I thought would be really difficult.

TRIUMPHS- I did it. I went two days without touching a single item of cooked food.

WHAT I ATE-


BREAKFAST- Raw oatmeal- Flaxseeds, apple, banana and cinnamon. Soak flaxseeds over night then put all ingredients in a blender and enjoy.

SNACK- Fruit salad- pineapple, watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, ¼ peach and 1/3 pomegranate with a squeeze of lemon juice.




LUNCH- Rawslaw- (my own recipe)- Red cabbage, white cabbage, grated carrot, cauliflower cut finely, Homegrown shallot, home sprouted lentils, shop brought mung bean, snow pea and alfalfa sprouts. Celery, parsley, grated ginger, garlic, chilli and lemon rind.

SNACK- Carrot sticks, cumber sticks, snow peas, three pea pods and 3 cherry tomatoes.

DINNER- Salad- Rocket, spinach, parsley, mint, red cabbage, white cabbage, snowpeas, snow pea sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, mungbean sprouts,grated carrots, grated ginger, grated garlic, grated chilli, ½ roma tomato, red onion and shallot.

DESSERT- 3chocolate balls (see previous days for recipe)
Handful cashews and ¼ avocado.

EXERCISE- Walking around all day. Then running up and down stairs for audition.

Day 34

THOUGHTS- Today ate only raw foods. I thought it was going to be a very challenging day and after the night I had had I thought I would be very hung over but there is something about the more earthy wine that doesn’t affect me in a way that other alcohols would have. Also I had set the challenge earlier in the week that I would have a raw weekend and I decided that now when I set myself a challenge I will stick to it. So that’s what I did. I highly recommend to anyone who has an iPhone to get the SAF application it has plenty of raw food recipes and the ones I tried were very nice. I had a lot of cauliflower today and it is normally a food that I dislike very much but until today I had never tried it raw. I still don’t think I could eat it by itself but the recipes that I had it in made it very nice. I was however very tired today and normally when I don’t get much sleep I am very peckish all day and all I crave for is fried foods. Today seemed to go very well. I felt quiet good at the end of the day less bloated than I normally would. It was very satisfying I don’t know how long I could keep it up for if I went raw full time but I would definitely like to give it a try. After a few more earth diet months I will definitely try a month of raw foods. There are so many recipe books out there now and I am going to be incoperating one new raw recipe every week into my diet so that when I make the change it is not such a big shock to the system. Raw foods are a lot better for you as the hold the nutrients. Cooking foods over 40 degrees changes the nutritional properties of the food. There are a lot of people going raw these days or at least trying it for some time.

CHALLENGES- Not going to get take away after a very long late night.

TRIUMPHS- The fact that I stuck to raw foods all day and didn’t have any cooked food.

WHAT I ATE-

BREAKFAST- 1 banana

SNACK- Raw sushi rolls. (Recipe available on saf) Cauliflower rice, salt, pepper, pine nuts.
Mushroom in shoyu sauce, snow pea and alfalfa sprouts, red onion, nori sheet, lentil sprouts.
Blend caulflower rice. Put on nori sheet. Place other ingredients in row and roll like sushi.

LUNCH- Half an avocado with lentil sprouts

SNACK- Choc balls- cacao, mixed nuts, linseeds and agave syrup.



DINNER- Cauliflower risotto- Cauliflower, shallot, garlic, parsley, sea salt, peppercorns, flaxseed oil. Put ingredients in blender and blend.

DESSERT- Fresh apple juice
Cacao, agave and mixed nut meal. Mix together and eat with spoon.

EXERCISE- Nil.