Happy :D

So.... the 30 day raw foods adventure may yet continue! Details to come tomorrow or Sunday.

Sad :'(

I'm afraid I'm going to have to quit the 30 Days Raw. I know, I know... the deal is, right now, I can't afford the groceries. I'm going to finish out this week (since I have the food), which is fantastic for someone who loves meat as much as I do. Sorry to those of you that were really wondering what would happen. I will try again in the future when I'm a little more well off financially!

Days 2 and 3

I'm combining these two days because I'm lazy and because there isn't much to say this early on in the diet. I can say that my cravings are still harsh; everyone's lunch at work smelled like the most amazing food ever made. In fact, my mouth is watering right now (Pavlov!). I really hope my peanut-butter gets here soon.

I can say that I'm better hydrated than I've been since boot camp, and it makes a notable difference when exercising. We played soccer today for PT, and I noticed that I had more energy and stamina. I'm fairly certain that's due primarily to the water intake.

For breakfast I had today, I had my smoothie. For lunch it was a collard green wrap (pate, yogurt, cheese, and some spices). I snacked on Nutzola throughout the day. Nutzola is sort of like granola, but it has no grain. It's dehydrated seeds/nuts with butter and maple syrup and raisins. Very good snack. I treated myself to some raw salmon for supper, but I went a little overboard with it. It just tasted so good (always get wild caught) I had to have a little more. I didn't get sick, but my stomach wasn't happy about having to work that hard to digest food. For dessert it was Nutzola and milk. My son, Franklin, shared with me.

Tomorrow I'm changing things up a little. I've had enough collard greens for a while, so I made a smoothie with beets, ginger, pineapple, grapes, avocado, aloe, whey, and coconut oil. For lunch I'm taking an avocado half's worth of guacamole and crackers for lunch and probably some honey, yogurt and Nutzola.

Now then, my wife pointed out that I'm probably not getting enough calories. I've tried to see what my basil metabolic rate should be, but I've gotten a wide range of results from online calculators. I don't think there is a problem as I don't feel faint or hungry. I haven't sat down and figured up how many calories I'm getting per day... I'll get around to it. I'm a big proponent of listening to one's body, however. I figure as long as I feel fine, I'm doing fine.

Let's see, what else did I want to hit...? I think I've covered everything. Oh, I know the comment function hasn't been working, but feel free to post on my Facebook. If you're not my friend on Facebook... well that's your problem :P

Protein!

Builds muscle, makes you strong!!! My protein intake was brought up as a point of concern. Well, I'm going to tell you not to worry about it. Most sources I've read say someone like me should get about 56 grams of protein per day. Let's run down what should be my typical protein intake for a day:

protein:
from milk(32oz) : 36 grams
from avocado(1 whole): 05 grams
from whey(4oz) :~01 grams
from cheese*(??) : ?? grams
from yogurt(4oz) : 04 grams

So, I'm coming in at about 46 grams of protein not including whatever little bit I get from cheese. Today I grabbed two pieces of tuna sashimi from Central Market, so I'm certain that puts me over. The tuna was not so good, btw. I'll try some salmon from Whole Foods tomorrow. I digress...

I'm not so concerned with my protein intake as I don't do much all day other than sit at a desk. However, I did find this. Raw peanut butter! I'm gonna buy it, too. Pricy, I know, but if anyone is still concerned about my protein, this should assuage all fears.

*I nibble on little bits of cheese to offset cravings during the day, but I have no idea how much I'm getting.

Day the First

Well, I made it through one day of Raw, twenty-nine to go. The only thing is the cravings I get for cooked meat. Kas made fried tilapia and homemade fries for dinner tonight, and I really wanted to just sneak a piece of fish. My food is enjoyable though. Today I had:

all ingredients listed are raw
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Breakfast - a smoothie composed one cup whey, 1oz coconut oil, 1oz aloe juice, 1/2 avocado, 1 banana, about 1/4 of a pineapple, about 1/4 of a mango, and two leaves of collard greens.

Lunch - my own makeshift guacamole (avocado, butter, salt, cayenne, and garlic powder) on a dehydrated flax-seed/carrot cracker.

Dinner- a pate, yogurt, crumbled cheese, cayenne, garlic, salt mixture wrapped in a collard green leaf.

Dessert- a raw chocolate smoothie (special thanks to whichever of Kas's friends that gave her the recipe) consisting of 1 cup of milk, 1tbsp honey, 3 tbsp cacao nibs, 1 banana, and several alkaline ice cubes.
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In addition, I've consumed one gallon of alkaline water and about 32oz of milk as well as snacked on items such as grapes and watermelon. How do I feel? Well, I have to pee all the time, and that fried fish really did look good... but I'm not hungry. The food definitely fills you up (especially the breakfast smoothie). Drinking a gallon of water also helps keep you full. Tomorrow we're going to run to Whole Foods and grab some jicama and maybe a couple of other fruit items for me to munch on throughout the day. I also plan on trying some wild caught red sockeye Alaskan salmon sashimi :D

So what's the deal with alkaline water? I've only read a little about the purported benefits, but the basic idea is that when your body's PH is alkaline, there is more oxygen in your blood which apparently creates an unfriendly environment for viruses, cancers, etc. Is it true? Is it hokum? I don't know, but it has to be better for you than unfiltered tap water. Tastes better anyway.

What is Raw?

Raw is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. For thirty days, I will eat only foods which have not been cooked in any way shape or form. For the purpose of my diet, I will only be eating certified organic foods or those food that I purchase from EJ Ranch. These are the folks that got me on the whole raw kick to begin with; and while they aren't certified organic, I can attest to their natural methods.

My diet will consist primarily of fruits, vegetables, and raw (unpasteurized, non-homogenized) dairy products. The purpose of this blog is to help me keep track of any and all changes I go through physically, mentally, et cetera as a result of this diet. Also, it may provide some interesting/valuable information to those of you that bother to read it. I'll be including recipes for those of you that would like to try something similar or just want a couple of healthy meal plans. Depending on how self-conscious I'm feeling, I may post before and after images.

What do I expect from this diet? Well, I'd like to lose some weight for starters. Secondly, I think it will help me get into new, better eating habits. Hopefully my forming a healthier eating lifestyle will also reflect in Franklin's eating habits as he grows up. We all want our children to lead better lives than we did, right?

A little about me: I'm 5'11", 175lbs, scored an 85 on my last PT test (35 push-ups/52 situps in a minute and 11:49 1.5 mile run time). I'm definitely not as fit as I could be or have been, but I do work out about three times a week. I'm tempted to not change my workout schedule and see what results I can get from dieting alone, but we'll see.

So that's pretty much it for my first post. Later, I'll go into what I eat during a typical day. Some things will surprise you at how delicious they are, others you might take to right away. Whatever works. Oh, why are there squirrels fighting in my background? Because that's awesome!