Food & Fitness

Satisfaction with the Raw Diet and a Happy Announcement

Yesterday, on Day 17 of the Raw Food Challenge, I ate:

– 1 apple with cinnamon and 1 glass lemon water with 1/2 scoop calcium/magnesium powder

– Smoothie with some frozen banana, 2 orange juice pulp ice cubes (I froze leftover orange juice pulp from my juicer into ice cubes in an ice cube tray), pineapple, the contents of 1 probiotic capsule, 1/2 scoop calcium/magnesium powder, frozen blueberries, a spoonful ground flaxseed, about a cup of water, and some kale/beet/carrot juice pulp

– A few big spoonfuls of chocolate brownie

– 1 carrot chopped into sticks

– Salad with lettuce, spinach, mushrooms, tomato, and cucumber, with 1 mug mint tea

– A few big spoonfuls of squash “rice” and 3 romaine lettuce wraps filled with clover sprouts, lentil sprouts, red pepper, tomato, and crumbled chickpea flatbread, plus 1 mug rooibos tea

– 1 banana with the rest of the chocolate brownie, plus 1 mug rooibos tea

– 2 apples with cinnamon

Although the brownie was basically an entire 1/2 cup of walnuts, it was exactly what I both wanted and needed. I ate smaller amounts of it at a time and kept being hungry for more, so I just filled up on it. I expect my body was appreciating the healthy fats after having such a high carb day. Today I felt quite satisfied with my eats and really appreciated raw food. I think that for the next couple weeks, I’m going to focus more on the simple foods like salads and less on the fancy experiments of different kinds of breads and gourmet-esque meals. I seem to do better on the days when I eat simpler fare.

Exciting News!

Last week I mentioned that managing money is something which I’ve become increasingly interested in within the past month. The reason for it is this: just a couple weeks ago, I bought a condo.

Streamers balloons and cheering oh my!

(I know. I’m pretty excited, too.)

My intention was never to buy a condo here in Winnipeg. A while ago, I got tired of the fact that I spend money on rent each month without any of that money going towards anything, so I decided that owning a condo would make much more sense to build equity. The original idea was to travel to Spain and buy a condo there (and if your name happens to be Heather, you may have been subjected to me telling you all about this at the POM Blogger Harvest Tour when we all got a little tipsy one night. Hehe. Whoops. Sorry you had to hear my life’s plans, Heather ;)). The reason for this is that I have a huge love for Spain, so it just made the most sense to buy a place there.

Then, a couple months ago, the father dear pointed out some glaring problems with this fanciful notion of mine (ie. there is no job for me in Spain, I don’t speak the language, I don’t have a European Union citizenship so there’s no way they’d let me get a residency permit in that country… the list goes on). So I decided to buy a condo in Winnipeg instead, with the idea that it can easily be rented out if I do decide to travel elsewhere or move to another city. I’m flexible like that.

Around Christmas, the mother dear came across a nice-looking condo in the listings section, suggested I take a look at it considering it was within my price range, and… Perfection. I fell in love and bought the condo and we (that is, the condo and I) plan on living happily ever after together, until I rent it out to someone new or sell it (but I’m not fickle, I swear!). I won’t be getting possession until mid-April, but in the meantime I have signed all the necessary papers and the vendors and I are in agreement with everything. I’m a home owner now of a lovely 700-square foot bachelor suite in the heart of the downtown in my city!

Although I’ll also be graduating in April and will therefore be seeking out a full time job as opposed to my current part time job, I’ll still be counting my pennies to be able to afford everything. But I look upon that as a challenge rather than a drawback. It’s all a part of living in the real world, after all. I shall be addressing some of these issues of budgeting and moving house over the next few months (is this something that you would be interested in reading?), but in the meantime if you have any advice for a new homeowner, please to share it. I’m all ears 🙂

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway– you have two chances to win a copy of either The Body Fat Solution or Core Performance Women!

19 Comments

  1. The Candid RD

    I’m all ears too! Nick and I are looking to buy our first house, and we need any advice we can get. It’s exciting for you that ypu may be moving soon, into a condo! Congrats. And, congrats on soon being a graduate 🙂

    Glad the raw food challenge is working out for you. I may have to give it a try for a week or something 🙂 Then maybe a month? The biggest challenge for me would be doing it while living with a man who LOVES sweets and chips anything NOT raw, haha

  2. Sagan Morrow

    Gina- If you want to try a raw diet, I would recommend doing high raw (NOT 100%!), and just doing it for a week or even just a few days to start with. Maybe for two days each week for a couple months or something? Ease into it! Jumping straight in when it’s wintertime is not the best idea 😉

    Bag Lady- Thanks, it’s going to be a lot of fun to live there!

    JavaChick & Dr. J- Living in a particular area that you REALLY like is a must. That was my main requirement, that the condo was in this area of the city; I didn’t want any other area 🙂

  3. Tracey @ I'm Not Superhuman

    Congratulations! I’m kind of jealous because I’ve been wanting to own a home for a while. But unlike you I’ve yet to find “the one.” And by that I mean a location I’m in love with–that also has a job. SO glad to hear you love the area and are putting your money toward a home instead of burning it on rent each month!!

  4. Holly

    Sagan – congratulations! That is wonderful news!!

    As a new(ish) homeowner myself, I’d LOVE to hear any tips on budgeting/saving money. 🙂 Honestly, I spent the first year spending a lot more than I thought on unexpected purchases (furnace, dryer repairs, various storage containers, etc.). I wouldn’t let that freak you out at all – it just takes time to get on your feet.

    My best advice is to start out only getting what you really, really NEED – for example, I waited one year before I bought a nice couch (I had a hand-me-down), a few months to get a table, and one year to get cable for my TV. But I DID buy a garage door opener right away, because that was important to me in the dead of winter!

    Good luck and I can’t wait to see this new chapter of your life!

  5. Sagan Morrow

    Tracey- Finding one in the right area was essential. I definitely lucked out that I fell for the first condo I looked at!

    Cammy- Once I’ve moved in, there will be photos indeed 🙂 And agreed, managing our health and managing our finances have definite parallels.

    Holly- Hehe I hear you on the garage door opener; if I had a garage and a car I’d probably want that in the middle of winter too. WARMTH is not something I’m willing to compromise on 😉

    Andrea- Thanks so much!

  6. asithi

    Sagan – Congrats! Welcome to Homeowners Club! My best advice is to learn to do some basic home repairs yourself. You’ll be shock at the amount of money it cost just to get someone to come out and diagnosis a problem.

    Holly – I got a garage door opener as a wedding present from some friends. I love it! We also got sinks and lighting fixtures. We only had one thing on our wedding registry that was “traditional” which was a dinner set. Everything else was things that we can use in our re-modeling.

  7. charlotte

    Congrats on the condo Sagan!!! SO exciting! As for your dream of Espana – don’t give it up yet:) I lived there for a while and it was one of the best experiences of my life. You can always go over as a student! Plenty of student visas available.

  8. Sagan Morrow

    Mimi- It’s a very good thing I like fruit so much or this diet would get old real quick 😉

    Asithi- Thanks! That is DEFINITELY something I need to learn more about… my degree has provided me with the skill of being able to analyze absolutely anything you throw at me, but give me a hammer or a wrench and I’m stumped. I need a crash course in home repairs, stat.

    Shannon- Exciting indeed!

    Charlotte- I did get to live there for one summer and I ADORED it, and I will definitely visit it again, but I think that OWNING a place out there is out of the question. Ah well. I’ve come to terms with that and I’m okay with it now 🙂

  9. Gena

    Congratulations, Sagan! GP and I talked about buying when we moved here, but figured we wouldn’t live here long enough to make it worth while. It’s nice that your family lives close, so if you move away they can help out with any upkeep that needs to be done!

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