Returning to the Raw Food Diet
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?
