Today’s Menu
This wasn’t quite enough to eat. I also ran out of greens. Tomorrow should be better; I’m stocked on greens, and I think I can get more calories in.
Meeting tomorrow; no post until Friday.
Today’s Menu
I’m back in the saddle again!
My experiment in mostly raw eating has kept my weight fairly stable at 266 pounds for awhile. I’ve maintained about half of my weight loss from the beginning of the summer, which is good, but I’m ready to get serious again.
Looking back, the green smoothie seems to have been a huge contributing factor to my earlier success. I am resolved to follow Victoria Boutenko’s recommendation to consume at least a quart of green smoothie per day to improve my health.
One thing she wrote got my attention; she said that it was important to rotate greens so that I wouldn’t tire of green smoothies.
Today, I tried my first non-spinach or non-lettuce green smoothie. The collard greens are slightly more bitter than the spinach, and the color is a little lighter. I liked it very much. Right now, collards are cheaper than spinach, so that may become the staple green for the time being.
I also tried grapes in a green smoothie for the first time. I’m still working on that one as I write. It’s very sweet. I made it on a lark to get rid of some grapes that were starting to go bad. Since grapes are coming into season right now, I may do more of them.
I also tried transporting a smoothie for the first time since my trip to San Antonio at the end of July. Last night, I put my thermos in the freezer, cap off, and poured freshly made smoothie into it this morning. At lunch, it tasted pretty good after the first big glop that seems to float to the top. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try shaking before opening.
A friend at work celebrated his birthday today. I did have a slice of cake . . . and it definitely wasn’t raw. However, that’s the only non raw food I’ve had all day.
Today was a taxing day. Students and colleagues both seemed a little fatigued coming back from the weekend. Moods seemed to be low among everyone. Had I started my day with coffee and a fritter like I used to, I’m sure I would have been a ready partcipant in the lethargy and the grousing. Instead, I felt in control of my emotions, and my energy levels were better than they have been for awhile. I guess that’s more reinforcement for starting the day with a green smoothie!
Best of all, I’m writing again. It’s good to be past the craziness of the last couple of months. While I have to work quite a few Saturdays over the next couple of months, I won’t be putting in extremely late hours most days, and that should help me be able to write more. I’m noticing that I do better on a raw food diet when I take the time to write about my experiences.
And, I’m ready to do better on a raw food diet again! 
Today’s Menu
Happy Labor Day! Let’s see if I can bring things up to speed quickly.
Today was a low appetite day. I was tuckered out after a couple of days where I spent several hours in manual labor. Tomorrow, I’m betting my appetite will be back with a vengeance.
After my last blog post on Tuesday, I went to work for a few hours. When I got home, I couldn’t sleep. So, it was about 3 a.m. before I finally fell asleep, and I had to be awake by 6 a.m.
I paid for that night for the next two days. Although I got sufficient sleep on Wednesday and Thursday, I was still exhausted until Friday. I made it through my work days fine, but I collapsed into the recliner once I got home.
Friday, I was back to normal. I stayed out late with friends, though, and was one tired puppy on Saturday.
Since we were in the “cone of uncertainty” for Hurricane Gustav, and since it was predicted to get up to Category 4, I spent the weekend getting the house hurricane-ready. Even though it was evident by Sunday that Gustav was not coming to SE Texas, I decided to finish what I started so that we’d be prepared when we need to be. I swear, I spent more time in Home Depot over the weekend than I do in a year! Now, I’ve got a lot of plywood and some nifty new power tools.
This week has taught me some interesting things about myself.
I reread a bit of The China Study yesterday. Campbell’s information has convinced me that I want to be vegan. His discussion of genetic expression particularly interests me. Campbell maintains that while we may be genetically pre-disposed to certain conditions, diet influences whether or not those genes express themselves. At some point, I plan to do a review of the book if for no other reason than to cement my understanding of his findings.
I’ve rambled a bit today. I want to get back into the habit of daily writing. It’s going to be a challenge over the next couple of days because I have to be at school both evenings for parent meetings. So, I’ll write if I feel like it when I get home; if I don’t, I’ll wait until Thursday.
Today’s Menu
Today’s Weight: 267 lb.
Yes, I used a straw today in my smoothie. It made life much easier!
The grapes were enough for lunch today. It was a good thing, too, because I had a volunteer scheduled to come in right after my scheduled lunch today. I was done with time to spare, and I still ate at a leisurely pace.
The Princess and I had our date tonight. We went to Souper Salads, a local salad buffet restaurant. She had soups and breads; I had the Mango-Berry salad. There were a couple of forbidden items (walnuts, a bit of bleu cheese), but overall I did OK. Not perfect, but OK.
Today, I had no mid-afternoon slump at all. I worked almost continuously from 7:00 a.m. until 5:45 a.m. (except for lunch and bathroom breaks). I’m tired as I write this. Unfortunately, I’m headed back to school for a little bit to finish some of the work that still needs to be done before I begin teaching in the morning. If my wife waits too much longer, though, I may attempt to get up earlier in the morning and go in. We’ll see what happens.
My biggest fear, that I’d have an uncontrollable urge to use the restroom in the middle of teaching class, has not materialized! My body is doing a marvelous job of waiting to “go” until I have breaks between classes. Could things be any better than this?
The funny thing about all of this is, I know I have more energy. I know I’m eliminating more. But, I really don’t feel any different than I did before. It’s only when I look backward at my day that I realize that there have been some major changes. Once I can clearly see them, I get excited!
I hear the garage door. The Sweetheart is home. Gotta run . . . don’t want to be caught unprepared tomorrow.
Today’s Menu
Today was my first run at doing a “regular” day.
I rose at 6 a.m. and immediately headed to the kitchen to make a green smoothie (bananas, nectarines, spinach). I drank half while shaving, dressing, dressing the Princess and the other half in the car (Note to Self: Use a straw tomorrow . . . you’ll be safer on the road.)>
By lunch, I was quite hungry. I ate grapes, and still wasn’t quite satisfied so I had a pear, too. The pear was underripe; when I finished it, I didn’t want anything more to eat.
Today, I had a Tom Brownsword moment: There was a package of M&M’s in my mailbox. I opened and ate without thinking. It tasted like plastic-coated chocolate. That was a new (and welcome) experience!
After school, I had another pear. This one was perfect! I can hardly wait for more ripe ones to become available.
Tonight, for dinner, I had another green smoothie (bananas, pears, spinach). Plus, for the first time, I sat at the table with my wife and daughter and enjoyed my smoothie while they enjoyed the pasta my wife had fixed. The Princess had white-flour spaghetti and the Sweetheart had buckwheat noodles, which she hadn’t tried before. I had a taste of the buckwheat; if I ever decide to shuck the whole raw food thing, those could definitely be a regular part of my menu.
However, today provided me with a pretty strong incentive to stay this course.
Usually, I have a huge slump between noon and 1 p.m. Sometimes, it’s so bad that I have to lie down on the floor for 15 minutes and close my eyes. Today, I had a mild slump at around 2 p.m. I worked through it, and it passed within a few minutes. Interestingly, it was during the slump that I sampled the M&M’s without thinking. Hmmmmmmm . . .
But that’s not the best part . . .
I picked up the Princess from day care at about 5:15. When we got home, I let her tune into the Disney channel for about 15 minutes. Usually, I’ll sit down in the recliner and close my eyes for a bit. Not today. Instead, I . . .
I think that’s more than I typically do from Monday - Friday. The Sweetheart told me that she could get used to this.
Plus, I’m sitting here writing this right now. This is the first time that I’ve sat down at the computer to write on a workday since I returned to work at the beginnng of the month.
Can things possibly get any better?
Today’s Menu
(I also ate one black bean burrito containing black beans, rice, tomatos, chiles, and a tortilla.)
I decided to try a new strategy aimed at helping me comply with a strict
Years ago, I attended a series of nutrition classes given by a naturopathic doctor in Boulder, Colorado (yes, I’ve been down this healthy eating path before). One of the things he gave participants is an outline of what one should eat daily. He cautioned us against approaching dietary change from a deprivation viewpoint (i.e. we shouldn’t be “punishing” ourselves by taking things away). Instead, he encouraged us to eat everything on his list every day, and then we could eat whatever we want . . . if we had room left over.
I’ve been adopting that strategy in my transition toward the raw food diet.
The past few days, I’ve eaten a huge, four-pound box of strawberries for breakfast. It was filling, and it held me well until lunch. My problem, though, is that by evening, I’ve been craving starchy food . . . even if I had a green smoothie for lunch.
This morning, I ate four pounds of grapes, instead. This effectively doubled the number of calories I’m eating in the morning.
At lunch, I did a practice run of making green smoothies to go (for work). It takes me between 10 and 15 minutes to get the job done. Looks like I’m going to have to push myself to get up earlier so that I can have a good lunch.
I tried eating the dozen bananas for lunch. It takes me an hour. Technically, I have only 30 minutes for lunch. Fortunately, my preparation period is right after lunch. I can choose to take a long lunch, but my preparation is going to take a hit if I do that all of the time. Having a blender in my office is impractical at this point. So, I’m packing smoothies in thermoses and taking them to work with me.
The forumula above makes about five pints of smoothie. I need to buy a third thermos . . . maybe one that holds only a pint (to minimize oxidation). Today, since I drank the smoothie immediately after making it, it wasn’t necessary.
However, I’m not sure that drinking five pints of smoothie in a single sitting was a good idea. I’ll leave the results to your imagination, but suffice it to say that I was in a great deal of discomfort for a couple of hours afterward. That won’t work for me when I have to face groups of 20-30 teenagers every afternoon after lunch. So, I’ll be splitting that smoothie in half; I’ll drink half at lunch and half at the end of the school day.
I set out four pounds of strawberries and some loose leaf lettuce for dinner, but the thought of eating any more fruit today wasn’t appealing. So, I had half of my usual (lately) dinner. The strawberries will keep for one more day, and I’ll try them (with the lettuce) for tomorrow night’s dinner.
I’ve gotten lax about updating my raw food diet progress over the last few days as I readjust to my working schedule. My bad!
I’ve made some terrific progress stretching my stomach. The last three days, I’ve eaten between two pounds (grapes) and four pounds (strawberries) of food for breakfast and five pounds (bananas alone or green smoothies) for lunch. I still ate cooked food for dinner (black bean burritos or vegetarian Chinese), but I managed to keep to a caloronutrient intake of 80/10/10.
Yesterday, I set foot in a gym for the first time in five years. I only did three exercises: Barbell squats, pull-ups on the Gravitron, and dips on the Gravitron (the Gravitron exercises were supersetted using Escalating Density Training). My upper body feels fine this morning, but my legs are a pair of hurtin’ units! I plan on making this a Saturday habit (or Friday nights when I have to work on a Saturday). During the week, I’ll look at other options.
My biggest challenge right now is readjusting my sleep patterns. I’m finding it difficult to get back on my school-year sleep schedule. Friday, I took a long lunch (I don’t have students or inservice yet) and came home for a 30 minute nap. My family has been watching the Olympics together; I’ve been falling asleep while watching, then having trouble falling asleep when I get up and go to bed. Changing that is a no-brainer . . . I’m heading for bed in the evening when I begin to feel drowsy.
That’s all the news that’s fit to print for now . . .
Today’s Menu
(I also ate a black bean burrito, 8 oz. black beans and 8 oz. of rice mixed together)
I learned today that I really need to have bananas for lunch. Lots of them.
I also learned that my stomach is adapting to a larger volume of food. Both fruit meals took a long time to eat (especially the peaches . . . over an hour), but I was not uncomfortable afterward. I’m finding that the lower I keep my fat intake, the more food (in volume . . . not calories) I can handle.
Tomorrow, to continue my transition back, I’m going to cut out the tortilla and just eat the rice and black beans. Friday, I’m thinking that I’ll have a little fruit before eating the rice and beans. Beyond that, I’ll wait and see how I’m feeling.
Today, I was able to work through my “midday slump.” I also didn’t miss my traditional “Starbucks breakfast” on my first day back at work. The mind was willing, but the body wasn’t!
I didn’t sleep enough last night. I wasn’t sleepy when I went to bed, so I watched TV (which usually makes me sleepy within a few minutes). I think I was finally ready to sleep at about midnight, and I had to get up no later than 6:30 this morning. Hopefully, tonight will be an easier go at falling asleep.
I’ve been extremely regular today. Without getting too graphic, I’ll say that it looks like transit time for my meals has dropped down to about 16 hours. (You may all say, “Ewwwwwwwww!” now.)
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is today’s raw food diet report!
Today’s Menu
I also had a couple of black bean burritos from Taco Cabana.
I had a great time in San Antonio. I’m happy to report that I drank a half-gallon of green smoothie every morning that I was there. The rest of the day, I ate out with friends (as I said I probably would).
The half-gallon of green smoothie was a great addition for several reasons:
I had fewer digestive problems than I usually do when I make this trip. Part of it, I suspect is the water and fiber in the smoothie keeping me regular. Part of it is that I didn’t feel the need to eat as indiscriminately as I usually do on this outing.
The two disadvantages:
Roger Haeske and Tom Brownsword both suggested eating copious amounts of fruit, instead. I may do that next time I travel. That’s probably better for me than letting blended fruit and veggies oxidize for three days.
Steve Pavlina shared a great article about the challenges and benefits he experienced changing to a raw food diet yesterday. I highly recommend it. After reading it, I feel much better about my challenges in staying 100% raw. The big takeaway, for me, is that I have to work at attaining sufficient personal “knowledge, experience, and discipline” to make the raw food diet work for me.
I return to my day job tomorrow. Dr. Graham says that adequate rest is another important component to superior health. So, it’s off to bed for me!
Today is the final installment of the 7 tips. I’m headed out of town tomorrow for a professional conference and I’ll be spending little or no time on the Internet. My next post will be sometime after Sunday, August 3. Live well in the meantime!
Here are the last two raw food diet tips that I have to share:
Get Support!
I’m the only one in my household that is moving toward a 100% raw food diet. My wife and youngest daughter are incredibly supportive, but they don’t know what it’s like transitioning toward eating raw in a cooked food world. I’m sure that there is at least one raw food group in the city that I live in, but my schedule doesn’t allow me a lot of social time to actively participate.
Enter the Internet!
The great thing about the Internet is that virtual communities centered around an endless number of themes are springing up online daily. Whatever your interest, there is very likely an online community that is centered around it.
My forum of choice is Roger Haeske’s membership site, HowToGoRaw.com. Roger offers a lot of great resources for the aspiring raw foodist. The great takeaway I get from the site is that I’m not the only one who has challenges going raw, and there is a community ready, able, and willing to share how they move through their own transitions toward (or how they maintain their lifestyles in) a raw food diet.
Accept Yourself!
Not all of us are Tom Brownsword. If you read Tom’s blog from the beginning, you’ll notice that he planned to do a six-step transition. One day, he decided to try one full day of eating raw. Before he knew it, he had reached his first month, then two months, and now he’s well over 100 days. Tom will be the among the first to tell you that his way may not be your way . . . you just need to keep moving toward your goal.
I’ve written previously about my experiences becoming complaint free. What I’ve learned from my partcipation in that program is that I haven’t failed because I haven’t given up. I also know that, as a direct result of my example, at least three other people have taken up the complaint free challenge. All of them know that I have yet to make it for 21 consecutive days without complaining. Yet, they see that striving for that goal has changed me for the better, they see that the goal is a worthwhile one to strive for, and they’ve chosen to join me because of my example . . . not because of anything I said.
I ran into a couple of folks recently that I haven’t seen since the last school year ended. Both of them asked, “Have you lost a bunch of weight?” In spite of my “detours,” the changes I’m making for the better are visible to others, too.
I keep in mind a saying that used to appear on the back of “No Fear” t-shirts: “A champion is someone who gets up one more time than he’s been knocked down.”
Tom got the raw food diet right on his first try. He’s exceptional, and I admire the living daylights out of him for doing so. However, most of the rest of us go back and forth for awhile. That’s OK. As long as you keep moving toward the goal of being raw, you don’t lose!
All the best to you in your quest to go raw! Please do me a favor. If you have a tip that I haven’t thought of that would help me (and anyone else reading this), please share. Together, we can help each other to achieve greater wellness.
