I’ve made it to Day 30! Whew! What a ride. That’s 30 full days of raw food and sticking with it was not easy. It’s probably one of the toughest things I’ve done in my life, mostly due to the discipline I had to exercise in order to keep myself from eating cooked foods. I’m glad I undertook it though. Otherwise I would still be in the dark about the benefits of eating raw.
Since today was the last day, I splurged a little and treated myself to the good stuff. I bought some watermelon, blueberries, and raspberries for breakfast.
Breakfast
On the raw food diet, I’ve relied primarily on fruit as my main source of calories. This happened mostly because I like fruit, but also because fruit makes me feel energetic and peaceful. I noticed that when I eat seeds or fats, I’m not as upbeat. I’m more laid back and a little too relaxed.
(pic coming)
- watermelon (659g)
- organic blueberries (177g)
- organic raspberries (139g)
Even though I don’t think I’ll stay 100% raw, I do intend to keep eating fruit for breakfast. It really gives me the energy I need to really make an impact in the early hours at work.
Lunch
For lunch I decided to make a green smoothie and eat some grapes.
(pic coming)
- green smoothie: organic baby spinach (89g), organic bananas (283g), organic kale (67g), 3 cups water
- organic grapes (273g)
It’s hard to believe I’ve made it a full 30 days without anything cooked and it’s nice to know that I can eat cooked foods as of tomorrow. With the cravings I’ve been having these last few days, I’m probably going to exercise the option to do that. I’m kind of curious to see what will happen. I hope I don’t get sick.
Post Lunch Snack
- organic mango (240g)
- celery sticks (70g)
I ate the celery sticks with the mango, but the celery didn’t go down too well. I don’t like celery, but I figured I needed to eat some greens, so I ate it.
Dinner
Although I still had cravings for cooked food today, there’s no way I can go back to my old eating habits (a.k.a. SAD). Even after my December ’08 trial, I only went back to eating 50% cooked foods, the rest was raw. On the other hand, this experiment has taught me that I’m not ready for 100% raw full time. I would still like to have some popcorn or rice once in a while. Eating raw foods is amazing, but I don’t think I can give up some of my favorite cooked foods just yet.
For dinner today, I had a green smoothie,some apples, and some raw almonds. Not a big meal, but I was not too hungry.
(pic coming)
- green smoothie: organic baby spinach (87g), organic green kale (91g), organic bananas (421g), 3 cups water
- organic apples (391g)
- organic raw almonds (65g)
Post Dinner
After I came back from the gym I was hungry so I ate three organic oranges.
- organic oranges (295g)
Vitals
Weight: I lost .4 lbs, bringing me to 173.2 lbs. This means I lost a total of 15.8 lbs while on the raw food diet. It was more dramatic towards the beginning of the trial, with smaller increments of weight dropping near the end of my trial. I believe I lost less weight near the end, because my body had reached an equilibrium point in regards to calories.
Body Temperature: My temperature was 98.1 °F.
pH levels: The pH level today was 7.50 pH.
Blood Pressure: Systolic blood pressure was at 122. That’s not too bad considering my systolic blood pressure was at start of this experiment was 133. The diastolic today was 68.
Endurance: I ran the mile with ease today.
Strength: Since today was the last day, I decided to increase the weight another 5 lbs for a majority of the major exercises I do (bench press, squats, etc), bringing the total weight increase to 20 lbs since I started. I was able to lift the weight, but it was not easy, I really had to push myself and barely finished the sets. So yes, I increased the weight I can lift by a total of 20 lbs since the start of the trial, but I don’t know if I can continually lift that amount. It certainly didn’t prove easy today.
Cognitive Capacity: The mental clarity has been astounding. I don’t think I’ve ever been as sharp or aware as I have been on this diet and I finished off today feeling the same way.
