Today I woke up five minutes before my alarm clock rang. This didn’t surprise me. On Day 10 and Day 11, I was already half-awake when the alarm went off. This time I was wide awake and just looking at it. I decided it would be best to get a head start on the day, so I took care of the hygiene and weighed in.
It looks like I’m still losing weight. I need to eat more, but I find it hard to gorge myself if my body doesn’t want any more food. I feel really great and light when I wake up, but I’ve become quite skinny and that’s not something that’s been easy for me to accept. Even though this has been a reoccurring theme, for some reason it did not bother me that much yesterday. Surprizingly, this morning the weight loss problem seemed even more trivial.
Breakfast
For breakfast, I tried to make my experience as easy as possible. I’ve been trying to just eat more whole foods, meaning I don’t want to have to slice and dice them. I’m trying to gain some extra time because I’ve been busier over the last couple of days. Since I can just wash, measure, document, then eat, that gives me more time later on in the day. I ate some organic pears, strawberries, and organic bananas.
- organic pears (526g)
- strawberries (318g)
- organic bananas (332g)
After I ate breakfast today, a state of complete serenity enveloped me. I just felt at peace, with no worries at all. I’m not too much of a worrier by nature, but today it just felt like all the background chatter in my brain had shut off. There was no static, just a refreshing calm silence. I felt peace, as if the stress of life was gone and I was just one with the universe. I know that last statement may should a little bit out there, but I can’t describe it any other way.
Lunch
I ate this lunch before I attend a family gathering at my mother’s house. I felt really great after eating the salad. Just more good feelings coming into my body.
- mixed salad: organic romaine, iceberg lettuce, cabbage, carrot shavings (340g), organic avocados (30g), cucumbers (145g)
- organic bananas (205g)
As you probably already know, today was Easter. I was invited to my mother’s house for the occasion. I say invited, but the invitation was mandatory. My mother is a devout Catholic and today was a special day for her. A special day I did not want to ruin by bringing up “all that raw food nonsense.”
On occasions like this I have to be careful not to offend her or the rest of my family, but at the same time stand my ground. I pretend it is a game of sorts. My mother is much like a lioness that knows how to corral its prey with little effort or energy. I had to avoid the corralling without making too much noise, otherwise the rest of the pride (the other family members) would join in on the hunt.
Upon entering her home, I stated that I had already eaten a couple of pounds of raw food and that I was not hungry. She did not resist my statement, but still prepared me a dish with cooked lamb, potatoes, rice, etc. She then placed the plate in front of me, while the whole family and friends were eating at the table. I got there a little late (but not late enough) and most family members were finishing up. I did not want to make a big deal out of it, but I knew someone would start asking questions if I did not begin the meal. During my December trial, I had fallen into a similar trap and when I told my mom I was going full raw the whole family jumped on me, quoting nutritionists, doctors, Oprah, Nostradamus. All right, so maybe not the last one.
In any case, I certainly was not going down like I did in December. If I had to raise my voice to 194 dB, I would do it, but I prefer tact over head on confrontation. Instead of becoming flustered, I just joined in a conversation with some relatives so I could buy more time. Meanwhile, I needed a way to get rid of the meal without consuming its contents. The only problem was that most people were finishing up. The ones that usually eat seconds had already had their fill. My mother was already putting away the leftovers. She was distracted enough as to not notice me avoiding the food. In any case, I still had a problem on my hands. Luckily, my cousin came and saved the day.
I have a younger cousin that is usually not on time to family gatherings. In this instance, this worked to my advantage because my mother had already put away the leftovers. Thinking quickly, I got up and told my cousin to sit in my seat. I also gave her my food stating that I had already had a big salad for lunch. She looked at me knowingly and was nice enough to help me out. I then walked outside to talk to some other relatives. Nuclear fallout avoided!
Later I bumped into my mom and she asked me, “How was the food I prepared for you?” I just looked at her and smiled, “What food?” She gave me a smile back and said, “Don’t worry Mr., I’ll get you next time.”
Dinner
After lunch with the family, I went and hung out with a couple of friends. Some of them are fascinated with my lifestyle change. It’s funny because these are the same people I was scarfing down steaks with a few months ago and now I’m like a leopard that has changed its spots. Most of them were asking me questions. Questions that ranged from, “Why are you doing this?” to “Do you plan to do it for life?” to “What does it feel like?”
As I was being interrogated, I was thinking to myself, “How could I NOT be doing this?!? Are you kidding me? I feel AMAZING! This is probably one of the best things going!” I could not really explain it to them. I gave them the Tv example, I shared on this blog on Day 7, but I could tell they were not fully grasping it. It’s hard to describe heaven to people who are living on Earth. I could spend all day describing it to someone, but until they feel it, they won’t truely believe it.
For dinner, I dined on some of my favorites; cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocados. Not too many calories, but they taste good. There were also supplemented by a green smoothie.
- organic avocados (241g)
- organic tomato (185g)
- cucumber (165g)
- green smoothie: organic bananas (246g), pineapple (261g), organic collard greens (40g), organic baby spinach (35g), 3 cups water, 1/2 cup ice
After having this meal, I didn’t really feel hungry. I contemplated for a couple of hours whether I should eat more food, but I felt so at peace I decided not to. This tranquil feeling came over me. Shortly after that, I accepted the weight loss situation. I decided that I will not eat unless I feel the need to. There is no need to fight it. If I become skinnier so be it. I will not resist it from now on.
Vitals
Weight: I’ve lost another .3 lbs. I’m down to 179.5 lbs. It bothered me all this week and a little this morning, but after dinner I stopped caring. My mind just dropped its resistance to the idea of losing weight. I don’t know if I rationalized it away, but this is just more of “the sky is blue” phenomenon I experienced after being cut off in traffic yesterday. After dinner, I was not affected emotionally when I thought about losing more weight.
Body Temperature: My temperature today was 97.9 °F.
pH levels: The pH level today was still 7.25 pH. We’ll see what happens.
Blood Pressure: Systolic today was at 125, which is currently the new low. I was excited when I saw that. I soon hope to be moving out of the pre-hypertension range. Then again I am using a public machine so I don’t know how accurate it is. At the same time, the machine is next to the pharmacy so I doubt it’s deffective. We will see what happens after 30 Days. Diastolic was at 67.
Endurance: I did not go to the gym today.
Strength: I did not lift weights, but I plan to increase my weight by 10 lbs next time I go in. I will see how this affects me. The 5 lb increase I undertook a while back feels too light now.
Cognitive Capacity: On top of the mental clarity I’ve experienced thus far, I now am seeing an added benefit. There is a peaceful state that my mind stays in throughout the day. Instead of negative emotions and mental chatter, I feel a smooth silence in my head. When my mental power is needed, my mind is really focused and commits all the resources to doing the work at hand, but after the work is done my mind retreats to a meditative state. On the SAD diet there is usually background noise or traffic when I’m not focused on a task. Now, there is nothing, just silence. My thoughts are clear and there is no mind polution (negative thoughts, worries, stress). On top of that my mind seems more accepting of things. There is less resistance. An example of this is my acceptance of the weight loss. It’s amazing that I have no emotional reaction to it anymore.
I have not been measuring how much was fat and how much was muscle. I do know that I have lost some fat because my belly has become flatter and I can see my lower abs, whereas before I had a little bit of a belly when I sat down and my abs were not as skulpted.
As for the muscle loss, I have definitely lost the “swollen” look I had before, but that could be water weight. I’m am pretty sure there has been some muscle loss as well though.
It seems like you lost 10 lbs in 12 days with the raw food diet. … do you know what amount was body fat and what amount what muscle mass?