go raw

So on Friday I officially ended my 30 day raw (really unprocessed) food trial. It was definitely a cleansing experience. And I learned a ton from it.

The biggest thing I learned is that my end goal is, in fact, to be completely raw and organic. Ideally I’d have an eco house in a rural area and I’d grow my crops and have a greenhouse and have a compost pile and hang out with other yuppies that decided to leave the city in search of a more pure lifestyle. Food would be a huge part of that. And lucky for me, pure foods taste really good and I felt great after eating them.

The other thing I learned is that raw food takes a lot of planning. Next time I do this I need to pick up some more recipes. And I need to figure out how to get better ingredients. One mistake I made was dealing with my sub-par supermarkets for my food. And I was being a little cheap with my food choices (in Manhattan, every vegetable seems to cost at least $3).

I also need to plan more social gatherings with my friends instead of either dealing with a restaurant that had bad raw food for way too much money or neglecting my social obligations to stay home and eat food. That will not work if I want to take this on full time.

I also need to take my weight loss into account next time I do this. My muscles atrophied a lot in the past month. I know you’re supposed to get enough protein and whatnot, but next time around I have to stop running so much and do a lot of lifting to keep any muscle mass. I lost 11 pounds last month and 4% bodyfat. I think that keeping some muscle and having all the fat burn away would be an ideal goal to work for next time.

Since Friday I have been eating slightly better than my normal diet (and smaller portions), but I’m surprised how easily I could go back to processed foods. Although I do have to admit that yesterday and today I have not been feeling well. I’m sure that my immunity has suffered as a result of switching my diet back to the good ol’ SAD.

It’s sad to say, but I appreciate the taste of unhealthy vegetarian food so much more that I used to. And I appreciate the taste of natural pure foods much more than I used to. So now if I can get over my cold, I can officially call this trial a win-win.

Being raw so far has been interesting.

Overall, I still genuinely like the food I’m eating. I’ve noticed how much more food (in terms of mass/size) I eat compared to everyone else and yet I keep dropping weight.

On Saturday night I was a this big party and they didn’t have any organic/raw wine… so I didn’t drink anything that night. Honestly, it would have been much more fun with alcohol involved but I was happy with my determination. Also, at the after party everyone was eating pizza and I wanted a slice pretty badly. But I had an apple instead. Everyone got pissed off and assumed that I was judging them for eating bad food. I got a kick out of that :)

I have lost about 10 lbs so far. People who don’t see me everyday comment on how much more defined my face is and how much smaller my neck is. This diet is perfect for girls trying to lose weight.

I can really see myself doing this full time when money is not such a concern and I am properly prepared for it. I’m thinking June. But before I do this again, I really need to bulk up with muscle and do higher weight-oriented workouts and continue to do them while on the diet. I was doing lots of cardio before this month and in the beginning of the month, but I soon realized that it is not a good use of time for raw food people. Lifting, yoga and stretching is where it’s at.

This month I’ve had a heightened sense of clarity and I’ve been more emotionally aware than before. I recently realized what I need to do with my life. I don’t think eating raw will help you figure out all your problems, but it make me really think about how I am handling my life. I’ll take the credit for figuring out what to do about it…

I will never look at food the same way again. You really have to shut down part of your brain to believe that the processed chemically-filled stuff that comes in boxes is food. Why do humans think that they can make better, tastier and healthier food than mother nature? Because some fat rich corporate person makes a lot of money off of it and he employs his minions to market the hell out of the food that is made.

And on that note, good luck with your raw diet goals!

So I have been raw for 7 days now (although I did have veggies that were from the oven on Saturday). Besides planning to eat, it has been really easy. I keep myself full on fresh fruits and veggies and I am trying to avoid overprocessing my food.

Yesterday I made my own salad dressing and it didn’t go so well. I used 2 whole garlic cloves, tahini and lemon/lemon juice. It looked more like hummus so I added more water. When I tried it I tasted the most pungent taste of garlic and my breath smelled for the whole day. It was embarrasing! Maybe that was partially because of detox symptoms.

My energy level hasn’t really changed. I mean, I’ve been skipping the gym but that’s more because of my self discipline than because of a real reason.

I’m kind of scared that I might love this diet and then I’ll be a raw foodie forever! I am going to keep an eye out for the benefits of being raw (mainly ideal weight, better skin, higher energy) and see if those things come true for me. If so, then staying raw would make sense.

So I have been very hungry all day (but happy with the foods I’ve been eating). So after work I filled up on organic groceries, determined to make the infamous ‘Green Smoothie’.

I was so scared to put spinach in the blender, but I ended up making a pretty good drink. Here’s what it is:

10 spinach leaves
1 banana
1/2 cup blueberries

It blended pretty nicely and turned a dark purple color. It had a slight spinach taste but it was pretty good and I downed it in 2 minutes. I really should slow down when I eat…

Right after I made a variation with the same ingredients combined with celery. The celery has a strong taste, so I thew in a few grapes to cancel it out. It’s still weird… and brownish but I’m still eating it.

Thank god the smoothies taste good. And thank god I will be full for at least a few hours.

So I am committed to eating unprocessed food for all of January. Here’s the thing though: I heard that eating raw food in January could be bad since it’s so cold outside. So I’m going to focus on eating raw unprocessed food, but if I feel the need for warm food I’m going to heat up the foods I’m eating. Maybe that’s cheating but we’ll see how it goes.

I’m going raw because I’m increasingly skeptical of processed food. I simply don’t trust that a food manufacturer has the consumer’s best interest in mind. By going raw I hope to raise my energy level and loose any unnecessary weight (I’m not technically overweight but I’d like to see more definition on my body). I’ve also read that these benefits could happen:
-better skin
-better health
-increased intuition
-a craving for healthy food

Right now I’m just eating salads and I really need to step it up if this is going to be a long term change.

So wish me luck!