Just three more days to go on my raw trial. It’s hard to believe I’ve made it this far, and yet at the same time it was a lot easier than I ever expected.
Weight Loss
Argh. That’s all I have to say, so let me say it again. Argh!
This morning I weighed 193.0. Been there for weeks. I’m not exactly sure what the issue is, but clearly I’m not experiencing the weight just fall off of me like I hear other people talk about. I could understand if I only had 10 pounds to lose, but with so much extra weight on me, I really thought it would slip away more easily. Please don’t email me your theories. I’ve heard them all, and I don’t believe any of them anymore. 🙁
Officially I’m down 5.6 pounds since the start of the trial.
The Gains
To be fair, even though I’m not losing weight, there have been some tremendous benefits of being raw. Today we noticed how great my skin is looking. It’s smoother, less porous, and there seems to be a glow. The skin on the back of my arms which has been sort of rough and bumpy since puberty feels much softer. And my psychic connection with Steve is so through the roof that I told him we have to find some kind of game show to go on where you have to guess what your partner answered. We’d clean up for sure. It would be a real shame to lose all of these things if I stop being raw.
The Losses
I desire hot food, especially in this cold weather. I had a cold last week (caught it from Steve), and all I really wanted was some hot broth. But I muddled through.
Food preparation on the raw food diet is either ridiculously simple, like eating fruit or making a shake, or ridiculously involved like doing a ton of chopping, soaking, and dehydrating. The more complicated foods taste really good and give me a sense of satiety that I don’t normally have, but the effort is more than I want to make at this point. All through the trial I kept thinking how wonderful it would be to crack open a can of soup, or sprinkle some oil, salt and pepper on my butternut squash and let the oven do the rest. The first two things I plan to eat on Thursday are black bean and vegetable soup, and that butternut squash I’ve been dreaming about. I think it’s to my credit that I’m not going to rush out for pizza and French fries which is how I figured I’d end the trial back when I first started. 😉
Blood Sugar
My blood sugar has been between 84 and 156 throughout the trial. It was a little higher before the trial, with a range of probably 95 to 186, so there’s been some improvement there.
Raw Christmas Feast
This year we had a raw Christmas meal, and then Steve’s family came in from Los Angeles and we made them a gourmet raw feast! If you had asked anytime in the year if I would be willing to have an all-raw Christmas meal I would have definitely said no. But I was really excited and happy to be all raw for Christmas. It was a wonderful experience, and I know Steve appreciated not having to stare at a Tofurkey and mashed potatoes. For our gourmet feast we made these not-tuna pate nori rolls that were truly out of this world. I definitely would make those again. And Steve made a wonderful Blueberry Pie and a Banana Crème Pudding that were also amazing. There is a lot to be said for the really tasty food on a raw diet. Steve pointed out to me, however, that all the food we made for our feast was really high in fat and shouldn’t be eaten on a daily basis. My hopes were dashed. 🙁
My Plan for After the Trial
I’m definitely going to keep a lot of what I’ve discovered. Greens, for one, I want to keep in the diet. I’m going to switch to eating beans instead of nuts because I don’t think the nuts are working for me. The beans will be high fiber, high protein, and low fat, which is what my body seems to do best on. I’m going to keep the fruit for sure. And I’m going to continue eating lots of vegetables, some raw and some cooked. I’ll probably add tofu and tempeh into the equation as well. I intend to avoid overly processed, non-nutritive foods, and keep the diet more like a whole foods vegan diet with an emphasis on low fat, high fiber and high protein. Steve also suggested I do a 30 day trial of going to the gym every day. Usually I go 3-4 times a week. Going every day seems very doable to me.
It certainly has been an incredible experience. I highly recommend the 30-day trial to test out theories you have about making changes in your life. Knowing it’s “just for 30 days” makes nearly anything doable. I know I’m better off for having gone raw. I certainly understand Steve better, I’ve discovered how much I like raw foods, and there have been some incredible benefits. I’ll do another post after my trial is over to report on any major changes I notice when going back to cooked food. Maybe I’ll get sick like Steve did, or maybe nothing will happen. We’ll see. Thanks again to everyone who sent me support and encouragement. And thanks for following along as I did the trial.
