Last week I dove into my new 30 day challenge of inhaling raw foods at least 50% of the time. For the most part, I’m on track.
Here is a look inside my first week:
Day 1
Again, eating raw means the food is in it’s natural state, unprocessed, ideally organic, and not heated above 118 F. Today I did pretty good and ate about 50/50 raw which is the goal. I consumed more fruit then veggies.At about 7p I was hungry. For dinner I had a Vegan Organic Raw Protein powder drink and a clove of garlic. Not exactly raw though better than cooking a piece of meat. I went to bed feeling content.
Day 2
Today I ate something new. Argulua aka salad rocket. I never had this peppery green plant before. I found a simple salad dressing recipe blending shallots, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. Tasted yummy. As I approached the dinner hour I was famished. I decided on Wegmans Tuna sushi. Today I felt good about my food choices.
Day 3
This morning I decided to go Rocky-esque and mix two raw eggs with my vegan raw protein drink. Mid-afternoon I became sick, lethargic, no energy, etc. Everything was pointing to the huge arugula salad. I encountered the same symptoms a few years back while doing a 21 day vegan challenge. I started mornings with a green smoothie concoction consisting of kale. I explained my flu like state to a nutritionist. Her first question? “How much kale are you using?” When I told her three to four cups she said that was the problem. She said my body was detoxing and that’s why I was feeling less than 100%. Since these two episodes of green sickness, I’ve scaled back on eating new leafy plants in any great quantities.
Day 4
Today was my best day yet. I had a huge morning smoothie incorporating strawberries, blueberries, maca. cacao, Vitamineral Green, spinach, and a banana. I went on a 15k hike in the rolling landscape of Highland Forest. At the halfway point I had another banana and a juicy white nectarine. Following the hike I sat high on the hill in a swinging bench overlooking the countryside. I munched on a handful of mixed nuts, Pure Organic Blueberry protein bar, and a vegan raw protein organic shake. For dinner I had a small piece of broiled fish, tofu, and asparagus.
Day 5
When I hopped on the scale at 6a and saw that I had dropped a few pounds, I rewarded myself with a Homewrecker from Moe’s. Tasted deelish going down however I crashed later that afternoon drifting off into a 90 minute siesta with yoga music playing in the background. I’d say this was a 30% raw day in regards to calories consumed.
Day 6
Time to get back on track! I awoke feeling groggy as hell, compliments of the Homewrecker hangover . I threw a couple of Eggland’s extra large into a pan with a tablespoon of coconut oil and enjoyed breakfast. To get the motor running I performed a grueling TRX leg workout. In the end, my grey Eddie Bauer t-shirt was sopping wet. Just what the doctor ordered. For lunch I made a nice salad with Wegmans Spring Mix, grape tomatoes, olives, shallots, and Dijon vinaigrette dressing. In the afternoon I sipped on a smoothie made of strawberries, blueberries, banana, maca, beet powder, and organic Goiji berry powder. I ended the day with marinated baked tempeh and rainbow quinoa.
Day 7
This was my least disciplined day. I had lunch with my daughter at Pepi’s in Oneida and we enjoyed a small pie and chicken wings.
Takeaways from the first week:
- Eat lots of fruits and veggies throughout the day
- Graze on nuts i.e. sunflower, walnuts, cashews, etc.
- Drink 8 cups of water every day
- When my brain makes good choices I perform at my best
- Workout six days a week i.e. yoga, TRX, hiking, walking, etc.
- Get to sleep no later than 11p
- To feel terrific, and have lots of energy, simply eat clean