Raw Food Diet Diary

Today’s Raw Food Diet

• Three Green Smoothies (6 bananas, 2 nectarines, 1/3 bunch spinach)

The three smoothies put my calorie intake over 2400.  That’s enough to keep me full . . . in fact, it’s more than enough (based on past experience).  Plus, 3% of the calories are coming from leafy greens; Dr. Graham recommends 2-6%, so I’m within that range.  Later in the week, I may try 2/3 bunch of spinach in the smoothie and see what happens.

FitDay says that my caloronutrient ratio is 88/6/6 (carbs/protein/fat).  That’s an acceptable ratio, too, according to Dr. Graham.

I was a “bad” boy yesterday . . . I went way off of the reservation.  I wound up gaining a couple pounds.  Again, realize that it’s pretty much impossible to gain two pounds of fat (or muscle) in a day, so the extra weight is water and waste.  It’ll be gone by tomorrow or the next day.

I’m curious to see if I’ll maintain a one pound weight loss every two to three days.  I’m guessing it will stretch out to four to five days.  I might surprise myself, though.

My next big obstacle to clear is exercise.  I don’t get enough.  One of the big reasons I want to lose weight is to make it easier to be active (like I used to be).  Ironically, I’ll have to get active at some point to get to the physical condition that I want to be in.

Today, on Roger’s forum, a member (who is returning to eating all raw after a “break”) asked the question: “How many Day Ones is someone allowed to have?”

Today is my third “Day One” since June 9.  I suspect that I’ll have some other “Day Ones” before this journey is over.

I think that lifestyle design is like any journey in that it can be subject to some wrong turns along the way.

Up until pretty recently, I used to get myself really worked up about taking a wrong turn while travelling.  I used to rant and curse and sometimes drive more aggressively in response to my mistake.  I’m not sure what it is about being lost that triggered those feelings, but they were sure strong ones.

Ironically, I always found my way to where I needed to be.  Sometimes, it meant retracing my path until I found a correct turn.  Sometimes, it meant consulting a map.  Sometimes, it even meant (shudder) stopping and asking for directions.  But, I always made it to my destination.

There are a couple of reasons that I do better with “detours” in my life than I used to (although I still have my moments).  One is that I’ve done a lot of work on my anger and I have gotten better at making the conscious choice not to get angry in the face of adversity.

The other is the work that I’ve done over the last year at becoming Complaint Free.  For those of you unfamiliar with the program, I wear a purple bracelet on my wrist that I obtained from http://acomplaintfreeworld.org.  Whenever I complain, I switch the bracelet from one wrist to another.  The goal is to wear the bracelet on the same wrist for 21 consecutive days.  My record, since May of 2007, is 9 days.  My average, at this writing, is about three days per wrist.

In other words, I can’t begin to count how many “Day Ones” I’ve had becoming Complaint Free.

Have I been a failure?

Absolutely not!  My family, friends, and colleagues have all noticed that my attitude and overall mood are greatly improved.  I’m much happier.  I’ve just about eradicated my swearing habit (I consider swearing a form of complaint).

Most importantly, I’ve never given up.  And, every “setback” has given me new knowledge about myself that helps me to improve myself.

I feel the same way about my raw food diet.

Examples abound of people who haven’t touched cooked food in years (and who wouldn’t touch cooked food if their lives depend on it).  I suspect that, someday, one of those stories will be my own.  In the meantime, I’m on the journey and determined to learn from it.

Even though I’m not 100% yet, I’ve realized a number of benefits:

• I’ve dropped weight.
• I’m sleeping without my CPAP more.
• I’m saving money (in spite of rising fuel and food prices).
• I spend less time in the kitchen preparing and cleaning up.
• I’ve gotten the upper hand on a raging sugar addiction and eliminated my dependence on caffeine.

Pretty good for a guy who hasn’t been successful remaining on a raw food diet for more than a couple of weeks at a time, don’t you think?

I’ve been home from vacation since Friday.  On Saturday, Sunday, and today I ate two raw meals and had a sandwich in the evening.  I plan to allow one more day of transition, then I intend to go 100% raw for the next 21 days.

Three weeks from Wednesday, I have my last “road trip” of the summer planned.  I’ll attend a professional conference out of town from July 29 until August 2.  During that time, I haven’t decided whether I’ll continue to eat raw, or whether I’ll go ahead and enjoy dinner with friends.

On Friday, I noticed my old sugar cravings coming back.  Interestingly, they disappeared by Saturday.  My conclusion is that my sugar cravings were a signal that I needed to be eating more fruit all along.  I’m sorry that I stopped for so many years.  I’m thankful that I’m in good enough health to be making this transition out of choice rather than urgency.

I noted in my last post that I had gained seven pounds over a period of three days.  By Sunday, I had lost five of those pounds.  I suspect that by Thursday (my first 24 hours of returning to 100% raw), I will lose the remaining couple of pounds.

My twelve-banana lunches have been an interesting experience.  I’ve blended them with 16 oz. of filtered water.  The mixture takes me about 30-40 minutes to consume.  I’m not quite up to eating a dozen bananas in a sitting just yet . . . but I may try it in the not-too-distant future.

My breakfasts have been juicy fruits like grapes and peaches.  Two to three pounds of either of those isn’t a huge calorie load.  When I return to school, I may need to have the banana smoothies first thing in the morning, and have the juicier fruits at lunch.

Tomatoes were down in price a little today at Randall’s.  I bought several.  I’m going to attempt a “blended salad” either tomorrow or Wednesday with tomato, spinach, and celery.  My thinking is that the combination will be like a thick vegetable juice and will satisfy the desire for salted food.  I’ve never salted the food that I eat, but I do enjoy the salt that is an ingredient in the food I consume.  Years ago, a naturopath told me that he felt the addiction to salt was far stronger than the addiction to sugar.  My experience over the last few weeks makes me inclined to agree.

My elimination is working overtime today.  Even though the Natural Hygienists don’t recommend it, I administered an enema (with water) once before the trip and once after returning.  Back when I was reading Norman Walker’s books and following much of his advice, I did them once daily.  While I’m inclined to believe that our bodies, given the right environment, can purge themselves without the extra help . . . I’d rather not endure the discomfort waiting for Nature to take its course as I’m working on my transition.  So, I got the “wave” rolling.  For me, it was a good decision.

A few weeks ago, the Sweetheart took some “before” pictures of me at 271 pounds (bear in mind that a couple of years ago, I was over 20 pounds heavier than that . . . and at the end of the school year, I was seven pounds heavier).  Last Wednesday, she took my “ten pounds lost” pictures.  They’re still in the camera at this writing.  When I lose the next ten pounds, to 251, I’ll post all three sets here for the world to see.  Warning: They ain’t gonna be purty!

II’m back from vacation at the beach.  The Princess, the Sweetheart, and I all had a good time.  We timed it well, too.  We were leaving as the hordes were arriving from the city to enjoy the Independence Day weekend.

We planned time to do activities that all three of us enjoy.  Vacation for the girls is getting out and getting active whether it’s playing at the beach, skating on the seawall, or shopping for new clothes.

Vacation, for me, has to include some down time to read, nap, or just veg.

My reading this trip was The 80-10-10 Diet by Dr. Douglas N. Graham.  This is the third time I’ve read the book.  Since it’s a familiar read at this point, I’m able to glean a lot more from it than I did the first two readings.

Ironically, I allowed myself to stray very far from the “811″ ideal while on the trip.  I’m really glad I did, too, because I learned a few things that motivate me to stay the course in my transition to a raw food diet.

A few posts ago, I talked about how poor food combinations affected my elimination.  On the trip, I got more experience with how poor combining affects my digestive tract.

The first night of vacation, I was awakened twice by severe abdominal cramping.  The meal that caused it was extremely high in fat and excitotoxins.  I’m convinced, based on my experiences of the last week or so, that my system is adapting to the point that it wants to expel both as quickly as possible.  Unfortunately, “as quickly as possible” still likely amounts to two or three days.

Fascinated by the results of my poorly combined dinner on day 1 of vacation, I decided to try the same thing again on day 2.  Again, I was awakened in the middle of the night by intestinal cramping.

By day 3, I was beginning to adapt to poorly combined meals.  I also noticed that, on the third day, I was beginning to feel some of the addictions creep back in.  I ate a ton of poor food yesterday.

This morning, back at home, I weighed in.  The scale showed a gain of seven pounds in three days!

I notice, though, that the veins in my hands and feet are less visible than they have been.  That tells me that I’m retaining a good deal of water.  I suspect that I’ll lose at least five of those seven pounds in the next three to seven days.

Today,  I also notice that my tummy is a little tender.  I suspect that my intestines are working overtime to process the last three days’ meals, and they’ll probably continue to work hard for a couple of days more.

It’s noon, and I haven’t eaten yet today.  I don’t know if I will or not.  I’m not particularly hungry.  I am thirsty, though, and I’m drinking filtered water regularly throughout the morning to help my body get rid of the extra toxins that I’ve ingested.  The salt alone requires an enormous amount of water to get rid of it.

One thing I noticed from my most recent reading of The 80-10-10 Diet, is that it can take several years to get rid of all of the excess salt in tissue.  I also read that we need to be sufficiently hydrated in order for the organs of elimination to process and expel toxins effectively.

Generally, a raw food diet based primarily on unprocessed fruits and vegetables supplies suffcient water for the body to do its job eliminating toxins efficiently.  Raw fruits and vegetables provide the purest, most easily assimilable water one can “drink.”

I’m thinking, though, that while I’m in transition I may want to drink a bit more water to encourage elimination.  My body appears to be striving to heal itself, and I want to make sure that it has the nutrients to make that job as easy as possible.  So, I’m going to make sure that I include at least a liter of water daily in my diet for awhile.  If I start having to make more than a dozen trips to the bathroom daily, I’ll cut back.

Another decision I’ve made is to commit to eating at least 2,000 calories a day.  While raw, my calorie intake was all over the map.  I’m guesstimatng my ideal weight to be at or below 200 pounds, so I’ll eat for that weight right now and make adjustments as I go along.  If it becomes evident that I’m undereating (especially as I increase my activity level), I’ll eat more.

I love banana/strawberry smoothies.  I’m not sure that they love me back, though.  I think, instead, that I’ll try having bananas alone for awhile, or I’ll mix them with some sub-acid fruits like peaches, pears, apples, and the like.

In the book, Dr. Graham suggests a meal pattern of the following:

• Juicy fruit in the morning
• Sweet fruit at lunch (i.e. bananas and other calorie dense fruits)
• Acid fruits and greens for dinner.

I’m going to work with that for the next few days and see what I notice in the way of results.

That’s enough for today.  Time for another glass of water and a nap!

I won’t be updating progress again until Saturday, July 5.

Today’s Raw Food Diet

• 2 Cantaloupe Smoothies (2 large cantaloupes)
• Banana/Strawberry Smoothie (4 bananas/10 oz. strawberries)
• Banana/Peach Smoothie (3 bananas/2 peaches)

I slept about nine hours last night.  When I awakened fully, I noticed that I had greater energy than yesterday.  I also noticed that my mental focus was much improved.

I’ve started easing my way back into an exercise program.  Exercise is kind of a tough nut for me to crack at present.   I used to be very active and in very good shape.  In fact, that’s one of the reasons that my wife was attracted to me.

The biggest mistake that I make when I attempt to begin an exercise program is to do too much too soon.  When that happens, I usually feel so much worse after doing so that I can’t stand thought of exercising again too soon.

Last summer, I had some success with beginnng a new exercise program.  I rode my bike daily.  Each day, I gradually increased the time that I spent in the saddle.  By the end of the summer, I was able to easily ride the distance to work and back . . . about 10 miles.

During daylight savings time, I rode to work 2-3 times weekly plus weekends.  My morning ride was in the dark, but the roads that I needed to take had little traffic at 6 a.m.  My afternoon ride was in daylight with substantially more auto traffic.  Some drivers weren’t happy to see me on “their” road, and they made it clear . . . sometimes by honking loudly as they went past; sometimes by passing me so closely that I could reach out and touch the vehicle without fully extending my arm.

(Note: Texas law allows bicycles on just about all roads . . . unless specifically prohibited by local ordinance.  Bicyclists are allowed to occupy a lane of traffic two abreast, and they are subject to the same rules of the road as automobile drivers and motorcyclists.  It was a rare day that I didn’t pass a police officer, constable’s officer, or sheriff’s deputy . . . and I was never stopped for riding on a road that didn’t have bike lanes.)

During the five months that I rode, I dropped about 5 pounds from 278 to 273.  I gained that weight back when I stopped . . . but it didn’t happen until the month of May.

Since June 3, I’ve lost 14.5 pounds.  The only “regular” exercise I’ve engaged in even close to regularly is mowing the lawn, moving the lawn sprinkler, and walking the aisles of the grocery store.

The other night, I watched an Oprah episode (with my wife) featuring a number of people that lost substantial amounts of weight.  One young man, who lost something like a couple of hundred pounds, showed post-weightloss pictures showing folds of loose skin hanging down.  He’s had several surgeries, and was preparing for another, to remove the excess skin.  I have a good friend who also lost a lot of weight that had the same problem; she had surgery done to remove the excess skin from her arms.

Yikes!  I think I’d rather be fat than deal with that.  Plastic surgery does not sound like an acceptable option to me.

I also don’t understand the whole loose skin thing.  Some people seem to get it after enormous weight loss; some people seem to have skin that covers them tightly (without surgical assistance).  Why is that?

According to Ron Brown, author of The Body Fat Guide, loose skin is a sign that one has lost too much muscle weight and still is overfat (even though that person is at “normal” body weight).  He says that if one loses that excess fat without sacrificing muscle, one’s skin will snap back.

All of the reading I’ve done says that if I want to maintain muscle, I have to exercise my muscles.

So, I’m starting off simple.  A few days ago, I tested myself on push ups and bodyweight squats.  My numbers weren’t impressive, but I now have a starting point.

My initial strategy is to do about 50% of the number of pushups and squats I’m capable of several times a day.  That way, I’m increasing the volume of exercise I need to maintain muscle while doing so at a pace that won’t overtire me or make me so sore that I don’t want to continue.

I’m also “playing” with my kettlebell.  I pick it up and do a clean or a snatch to relearn the form.  I intend to get more vigorous with it once I can do so with good form and minimal soreness.

Finally, I plan on incorporating a training program called PACE.  I’ll tell you more about that as I get into it.