[beel]

Originally Posted by Jaben

I think those of us who have had some success with the raw diet would agree it requires more than a 30 day trial.

I was advocating more greens because I think that's what you need to feel well with the constraints you've given yourself. However, with out those constraints I'd advocate a diet of bad food combining to start with. For someone who's starting off, I think it's best to try to make raw food that will satisfy all of your cravings for cooked food and worry about tweaking calorie percentages and food combining later.

This does require some additional time in the kitchen unless you have raw food restaurants convenient. But, keep in mind it's temporary. I think you're targeting the ideal diet, but your ignoring the transition period which is much longer than 30 days.

You are not following the diet you were aiming for exactly.

Specifically you were aiming for %10 protein and you're getting a little more than half that. I don't know how you can achieve the 80/10/10 without eating more greens. But you can ignore everyone's advice and just look at your own data.

If you look at the last 8 days of your trial, there is a very direct correlation with how you feel and the number of grams of dark green leafy vegetable consumption (kale, spinach, mixed greens). At, least for that period I could have predicted how you felt quite precisely based on the number of grams of greens you ate Anything below 200g seems to be inadequate.

Day | Green | Well Being
Num | Leafies (g) | (1-10)
----- ----------------- ----------------
6 - 208 - 8 best so far
7 - 242 - 9 better (2-3 hours euphoria)
8 - 296 - 8 normal
9 - 124 - 4 cravings
10 - 0 - 2 nausea
11 - 394 - 10 best by far
12 - 76 - 3 foggy
13 - 184 - 5 yoyo

i couldn't agree more, except i think you can see significant results and be transitioned after 30 days. i think increasing consumption of dark greens is within his trial guidelines and would make a huge difference in how he is feeling. something as simple as increasing the percentage of greens in his morning smoothie and using a darker green like kale would likely suffice. also, a big salad daily. furthermore, he is dealing with cravings from a transition period and i agree that eating what you want at the beginning is very helpful to get through the adjustment. a lot of times that means more nuts or oils for "comfort", even if that is not the ideal long-term.

steve, how do you feel about dates? one of my favorite comfort treats is a date stuffed with almond, cashew, or pecan butter. its a different kind of sweet than fruits and very satisfying.