Just 10 days to go on this particular trial. And the learning just keeps right on going…
Lots of Advice
I have received about 60 emails from various people all with ideas to help me lose weight on this diet. I can’t think of two people who told me to try the same thing. Interesting, no? My weight loss journey has been one of trying to develop my own authority over my own health, and I think all the advice is reflective of showing me that no one is an authority over my body except me, and that I need to find out what works for this body. But I sincerely, deeply appreciate all the advice, support, and encouragement from everyone who has contacted me. I am finding nuggets of wisdom in every email. And a big thank you to everyone who has shared their personal journey of weight loss with me. I am learning a lot.
Weight Loss
My weight was stalled for a while and then actually started going up. Oh horror! That really annoyed and discouraged me. But I persevered. I decided to stop eating so much fat. I stopped eating olive oil and coconut oil altogether. No more raw cheesecake either. I continued to eat a little almondaise, and a little nut butter, and added avocado. I also added more greens to my diet. This morning I weighed 192.6 which is down a little from my last update. So we’re looking at a net loss of 6 pounds. Six pounds in 20 days. That’s still better than how things were going for most of the year, so I’m going to stop complaining (at least a little). But I am feeling like the raw diet is no better for weight loss than what I was doing before, where I was losing about a pound a week.
Future Plans
After the 30-day trial on 100% raw I doubt I will continue doing 100% raw, however I still haven’t made a final decision. I may do 80% raw, or I might go back to the low fat, high fiber, high protein diet I was on for most of the year. But one thing this trial has definitely taught me is to keep trying something definitive (e.g. 30-day trials) until I find something that works. As Steve is fond of saying, “The time is going to pass anyway” so I may as well keep on experimenting until I find the optimal diet for me and my body.
Psychic Abilities
Steve is walking around making the sign of the cross at me. LOL, just kidding! But seriously, we’re both being blown away by how much my psychic abilities have increased. For the most part, we’re seeing the devil in the details. Poor choice of words, but I like to shake people up occasionally. 😉 I’m picking up on a lot more specific details than before. As an example, before going raw during a reading I might pick up that a person was in an abusive marriage during their 20’s, but now with the increased psychic ability it’s more like, “You entered into an abusive marriage at the age of 22 and by 26 you’d had enough and got divorced. Is this correct?” So, more detail. But it’s still the same information and it doesn’t really affect the flow of the reading to have the extra details. It is more impressive though. Even I’m impressed sometimes.
Steve and I have noticed a significant increase in our telepathy. Again, it’s the details. The other day he was sitting on the couch and mentioned he had a strange dream about a bird. I said, “It was a phoenix right?” And he confirmed that it was. As soon as he said it was a bird I saw a phoenix. Another night I was sitting on the couch reading and I suddenly had the thought, “I wonder where Steve sees himself in 5 years.” I went upstairs where Steve was taking a bath to find him meditating. He said, “I’m doing a meditation where I talk to myself 5 years from now.” It was trippy. That sort of thing happens to us frequently, but right now it’s just at a new level. I wonder what will happen once the raw trial is over.
Blood Sugar
A lot of people are wondering if all the fruit I’m eating is negatively affecting my blood sugar. It doesn’t appear to be. My blood sugar is very stable in the morning which is when I eat fruit for breakfast. I haven’t noticed a problem at all. I think this might fly in the face of what diabetes educators will tell you, but what can I say except that my experiences must differ from others. I stopped having the blood sugar crashes in the afternoon. I think my body adjusted. I haven’t been checking the blood sugar as often as I probably should, so for these last 10 days I’m going to do more of that.
What My Guides Have to Say
A lot of people write asking what my spirit guides have to say about my health, weight loss goals, and the raw diet. They are enjoying watching me accept responsibility for my health. They have no desire to step in and tell me what I should do as that would defeat the lesson of me learning to have authority over my health. This is my journey, my trial, and I’m content to sink or swim on my own authority.
The Family
The kids are definitely enjoying more raw food in their diets. For this I am supremely grateful I did this trial. Our daughter, Emily, is especially open to trying all these new foods. She adores my Lydia’s crackers and likes to eat them with almondaise and cucumber, just like me. She’s also eating more salad with avocado. Both kids have increased their intake of fruit as I often make a big fruit shake in the evening that we share, and they’re eating fruit in the morning too. I put spinach in the smoothies and they don’t seem to mind. No matter what happens at the end of this trial, I want to see to it that the kids are eating healthier foods. My daughter’s teacher commented during our parent/teacher conference that Emily’s lunches are the healthiest of all the kids, and that she is amazed at what Emily will eat while the other kids are eating Lunchables, Cheetos, and Twinkies. I often send the kids to school with clementines, sprouted pumpkin seeds, fresh fruit, and tamari almonds.
Steve has been very supportive, of course. I expected we would do a lot more food preparation together but that hasn’t happened. Our busy schedules still make that difficult. In this house you sort of throw things together and eat them in your office while continuing to work. He’s also been sick this past week so that affected how much time we spent together eating. Steve taught me how to make a good avocado “dressing” for my salad. That has helped me considerably to eat more greens.
I had to laugh last weekend when we went to a buffet and I sat there with just a plate of fruit and a plate of salad. Usually my plate is a little more carb-loaded (bagel, potatoes, and cereal). I can’t say it was worth $18, but it was an interesting outing. And I wasn’t sleepy after eating at the buffet which is often what happened in the past.
One thing that has surprised me is that I’m not having the cravings for cooked food like I thought I would. Around day 8 or 9 I did. I wanted pizza, a veggie burger, and the ever-addictive french fries. But as time went on, that went away. I’m not saying I wouldn’t enjoy those things, but focusing on the new raw foods I’m eating has been just dandy and I’m not jonesing for the other foods. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens at day 30. Onward ho!
