So, I have now been doing the
Raw Food Detox for a while and it's going pretty well. The first day and a half, I had to fight cravings. Having already been vegetarian, I found that what I was craving were CARBS! I literally drooled over a friends pita bread on day one. Day one I also struggled with feeling satisfied in my eating. I wasn't hungry per se, but I also didn't feel full. Day two-three brought a pretty wicked headache as my body went into "freak out" mode, literally trying to manipulate my brain into eating carbs, sugar and caffeine.
Here are a few of the specifics/details:
- Putting dead food (processed) in your body is what causes it to feel icky. Putting raw, uncooked or "live" food in your body makes you feel more alive.
- Eating fruit by itself. It ferments in your stomach and putrefies in your intestines. Eating it by itself allows for it to be digested and out of your stomach quickly.
- Combining foods. This is probably one of the worst things we do. Let's say I eat a burger for dinner...the meat triggers one enzyme in my stomach, the bread triggers another and the two, when combined, neutralize each other slowing digestion way down.
- Move food in and out quickly. If you combine for breakfast, it takes 8 hours to digest, again at lunch and add 8 hours to that. Another combined meal at dinner, taking another 8 hours to digest and you are left with a massive backlog of undigested food.
- It is better to eat more of the same than to add a new food type. It's much easier to digest and easier on your digestive system.
-If you are going to combine at a meal, make it dinner so that your body has ample time to digest.
And here are some of my epiphanies:
- I could very easily more to a life where I eat 2/3 meals per day raw. I do miss pasta but fruits, veggies and nuts, with homemade dressings are completely satisfying for the morning/lunch.
- I have still been working out and do not feel deprived
- Sprouted bread is DELICIOUS (I bought mine at City Market and it doesn't cost any more than regular "healthy" bread). My new favorite snack is sprouted bread with avocado and a little pepper. Yum!
- Salads are way more fun (and healthy) when you make your own fresh dressings.
- I am completely impressed with City Market! I was able to buy raw coconut, bread, crackers, stevia (natural sweetener) and more at a chain grocery store. This answered one of my biggest questions in whether my mountain town could support such a diet.
- I can still eat cheese! No cow products but unpasteurized goat/sheep products are completely okay. A loyal raw foodies might disagree but I'm doing more of a transitional plan and was elated to still get some sort of cheese.
- The need for calcium from dairy is a myth. Cultures that get no dairy or use only sheep/goat products have a lower instance of osteoporosis that we western milk drinkers. Get your calcium from your veggies.
- Soy is not that good for you. I was kind of bummed to hear this but it evidently is one of the most mucus-forming foods you can eat. Yuk! I have switched to Almond milk and don't think I'll look back although I'm a little worried about my veggie-burgers in the future. They're so good!
- I can still eat out. I won't be going to Applebees any time soon (that's not a bad thing in my opinion...even the
salads come drenched in meat and sauces) but I can still go out for Mexican, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Middle Eastern and Thai among others.
- I have to plan ahead. It's been fun to actually plan out my meals, make them in advance in bulk and spend time thinking about what I'm going to put in my body.
- People think I'm
crazy. It's funny how switching to a diet of NATURAL, whole foods causes such a ruckus. No one gets it...no one! I'm getting tired of explaining myself. When did the transition happen? When did Pop Tarts and Cheetos become the "normal" things to eat?
They're ALL CHEMICALS, people!! When did it become
absurd that someone wouldn't eat meat or dairy? Okay, enough of that tantrum. While I don't think I could be this strict forever, I am happier, have more energy, am less irritable and never have to worry about counting calories or how much I eat.
So, I'll check in as I get closer to my finish line. By the way, I haven't been weighing myself while doing this. That's not my motivation and I don't want it to become an obsession. I'll check in when I'm done. Bottom line- When you take care of yourself, you feel great and it doesn't really matter what the scale says anymore. Thanks for listening to my rambling. :)
