Raw Food Diet - Day 3 (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Raw Food Diet - Day 3

[Andrew Brunelle]

Three days down, 27 to go, at least. Keep up the high-carb, low-protein, low-fat madness! You know, I believe I am starting to envy this diet. I may have to do a similar trial in the near future.

[oakspringer]

I may be wrong, but is this the first time you posted photos of your kids?

Anyways they are adorable!

[klokkasju]

Hi Steve,

I really enjoy reading about your experiences during breakfast and as Andrew I start to envy this diet ... i have to wait til march to try it though.

I'm no native speaker and there are some things I'm confused about.

1.Does "organic" mean "ecological" or "biological". I first thought you meant both of them together, but then I'm confused that you have all this fruits growing around Las Vegas (in this time of the year). And that there's growing green cabbage at the same time?!?

2. How do you manage to eat green cabbage (this one?) raw?

3. What are mixed greens? I found different meanings for it and none of them seems to make any sense for me.

Maybe someone knows a link where american veggies/fruits are named and pictured at the same time. It would definetly help me, because dictionaries/wikipedia often fail to bring up helpfull informations.

klokkasju

[bwb]

@klokkasju: Steve answered #1 and #3 in the threads for days 1/2. Here's your answer to #2: cabbage

This was day 3 for me as well. The past two days I had a bit of an upset stomach after waking up for a few minutes, one of those feelings where it kinda feels like your hungry, except you're too nauseated to eat anything. It was pretty mild, though, and went away in the 30 seconds it took me to get from bed to shower. I was not having any other physical symptoms until I read Steve's latest post, and now I have a mild headache just above and behind the eyes. DARN YOU, POWER OF SUGGESTION! Hopefully it will go away as soon as I forget to notice it.

Figuring out how much and what to eat is always a bit tricky with a new diet, so I've just been playing it by ear, or, rather, by stomach. Today's intake was I've had mild-to-moderate cravings for certain "comfort" cooked foods--the foods I'd normally snack on whenever I was in the mood to eat but had nothing otherwise prepared--every time I walk into the kitchen. Hummus and pita bread, especially. I made some hummus out of raw cashews, tahini, and garlic, but I don't think I know of a reasonable raw facsimile for soft, warm, delicious pita bread. mmm, pita bread. stop me now.

I found something that did temporarily banish the craving, but it was a cruel, cruel trick. A supposed raw-foods cookbook had a recipe for muesli that included rolled oats, sunflower seeds, raisins, chopped nuts, agave nectar, berries, and served with almond milk. Mmm, mmm, delicious. Except that rolled oats aren't actually a raw food! They are steam treated during processing. Raw oats are apparently quite inedible. Back to the drawing board.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by klokkasju

How do you manage to eat green cabbage

You put it in your mouth and chew You can eat broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini, beetroot, pumpkin... raw. I like raw pumpkin very much.

Erin, Steve, your kids are so sweet

I can relate to the bad breath. Since day 3 I have an awful taste in my mouth and I'm happy for each person I don't have to talk to.

I can also relate to the potato addiction. Yesterday (day 3) I went to visit a friend and he was eating french fries. First I felt very attracted to them - but this feeling reminded me my cigarette and sugar cravings so much that I got all turned off. That's definitely not the same feeling as being attracted to a fresh tomato. You're right Steve, the part of me that wants fruit & veggies is not the same as the part that wants bread or potatoes.

[yavor]

Steve I enjoy your posts on many topics. It would be interesting to see how this experiments turns out.

I have tried myself many ways of eating and the best one for me is Art deVany's
EF
Art De Vany: Evolutionary Fitness, Super Mike's Way: Part 1

[klokkasju]

@bwb
thanks. I didn't see this. ... must have been blind
and thanks for the picture.

@Rose of Cairo
I thought of a different type of cabbage. Sure you can eat them all raw, but some of them are very bitter and you chew for half an hour on one bite .... curly kale (which i thought was green cabbage) is one of them.
And, yes raw broccoli, zucchini and beetroot are great

[Blueskied]

You are drinking hot water with lemon juice? No teabag or sugar?
How does that taste? Ok, would be pretty easy to find out...
Also: I think you once wrote the meaning of life is to enjoy it. But where's the joy in munching away on this coleslaw for 1 hour?
Is it the good old catholic form of joy through abstinence?

[ArthurHung]

I brought my digital camera and scale with me, so I could take photos of what I ate and weigh the portions too.

I so very appreciate reading about your specifically defined, low risk, high-reward type actions. Especially the unique ones like these.

[carenkh]

You keep using that word (inconceivable). I do not think it means what you think it means.

[Zukin]

You mentioned that you do pushups as part of your workout. Have you ever tried the perfect pushup?
Amazon.com: Perfect Pushup - Original: Sports & Outdoors

I have a set and it's great for upper body exercises.

[Hari.c]

Good going Steve.
From the past 3 months I have been following GM diet once in each month to reduce weight. GM diet plan is for 7 days. Each time I lost 6 pounds weight. I will be starting my GM diet again this Saturday. Normally the last two days I used to feel very bad and eagerly waiting for the last day to over. But after looking about Steve’s 30 day resolution now I am feeling my 7 days diet is very easy to follow.
Following is the GM diet plan:

This is an extract of 'weight loss diet' circulated by many companies and banks among its employees in USA & India. This has proved to be the very effective program for weight loss. Hope this will be of much use to all those who are conscious of their weight and health.
WEIGHT LOSS DIET for 7 days (Tested by corporates)
This program was developed in conjunction with the grant from the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. It was field tested at the Johns Hopkins Research Centre and was approved for distribution by the Board of Directors of General Motors Corporation at a general meeting on August 15, 1995.
This Program is designed for a target weight loss of 5 - 6 Kgs per week. It will also improve your attitude and emotions because of its systematic cleansing effects. The effectiveness of this seven day plan is that the foods eaten burn more calories than they give to the body in caloric value. This plan can be used as often as you like to without any fear of complications. It is designed to flush your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well being. After seven days you will begin to fell lighter by at least 10 pounds. You will have an abundance of energy and improved disposition. During the first seven days you must drink 10 glasses of water each day.
FIRST DAY:
All fruits except bananas. Your first day consist of all fruits you want. It is suggested you consume lots of melons the first day especially watermelon and cantaloupe.
SECOND DAY:
All vegetables. You are encouraged to eat until you are stuffed with all the raw and cooked vegetables of your choice. There is no limit on the amount or type. Avoid oil and coconut while cooking vegetables. Have large boiled potato for breakfast.
THIRD DAY:
Any mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice. Any amount, any quantity, no bananas yet and no potatoes today.
FOURTH DAY
Banana and Milk. Today you will eat as many as eight bananas and drink three glasses of milk. You can also have 1 bowl of Vegetable soup.
FIFTH DAY:
Today is feast day. You will eat 1 cup of rice. You also have to eat six whole tomatoes and drink 12 glasses of water today to cleanse your system of the excess uric acid you will be producing.
SIXTH DAY:
Today is another all vegetables day. You must eat 1 cup of rice today and eat all the vegetables you want, cooked or uncooked, in your hearts content.
SEVENTH DAY:
Today your food intake will consist of 1 cup of rice, fruit juice and the vegetables you care to consume. Tomorrow morning you will be five to eight Kgs. Lighter than 1 week ago. If you desire further weight loss repeat the program again. Repeat the program as often as you like. However, it is suggested that you rest for three days before every repetition.
You have your system under control now and it will thank you for all the purging and cleansing you just gave it. Even more than a diet program it is good to follow this diet once in a while to clean your digestive system and remove toxic substances that have accumulated in the system.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The most important element of the program is the 10 tall glasses of water a day. You can also flavor the water with some lemon to make the drink easier. While on the program take only black coffee and never more than one teaspoon of oil. Preferably do not use oil because of the high calorific content. No fruit juices before day seven.
Here is what happens to your body while you are on this program and how and why it works:
Day One:
You are preparing your system for the upcoming program. Your only source of nutrition is fresh fruits. Fruits are nature's perfect food. They provide everything you can possibly want to sustain life except total balance and variety.
Day Two:
Starts with a fix of complex carbohydrates in the form of a boiled potato. This is taken in the form of a boiled potato and taken in the morning to provide energy and balance. The rest of the day too consists of vegetables, which are virtually calorie free and provide essential nutrients and fiber.
Day Three:
Eliminates the potato because you get your carbohydrates from fruits. Your system is now prepared to start burning excess pounds. You will have cravings, which should start to diminish by day four.
Day Four:
Bananas and milk. You are in for a surprise. You probably will not be able to eat all the bananas allowed. But they are there for the potassium you have lost and sodium you may have missed the last three days. You will notice a definite loss of desire for sweets and you will be surprised at how easy this day will go.
Day Five:
Rice and tomatoes. The rice is for the carbohydrates and the tomatoes are for the digestion and fiber. Lots and lots of water purify you system. You should notice colorless urine today. Do not feel you have to eat one-cup rice, you may eat less. But you may eat six tomatoes.
Day Six:
It is similar to five. Vitamins and fiber from the vegetables and carbohydrates from the rice. By now your system is in a total weight loss inclination. There should be a noticeable difference in the way you look today compared to day one.
Day Seven:
You may celebrate with champagne. You may also have white wine instead of champagne, but in all practical programs, and in all surveys done to measure the success of the program, General Motors employees have always preferred champagne to white wine.
More than one cup of coffee with milk is especially forbidden. Milk and oil and empty calories to your diet. Coffee lovers can console themselves with black coffee. However, after the first week, it will help your digestion and set your stomach. The key thing to remember is that if you are hungry at any time, then you are not following the diet correctly. Almost all people give up the diet when they are hungry. If it is a vegetable day, eat as much vegetables that you are never hungry. If it is a fruits day, eat so much fruits that you are never hungry. You may be bored of eating vegetables all day, but you should not be hungry. You take any amount of wonder soup on any day.
WONDER SOUP
The following soup is intended as supplement to you diet. It can be eaten any time of day in virtually unlimited quantities. You are encouraged to drink large quantities of this soup.
23 oz water
6 oz large onions
2 oz green peppers
3 oz whole tomatoes
1 oz cabbage
1 oz bunch celery - add herbs and seasoning as desired
This program is highly recommended for women and men for whom excess weight is especially dangerous. Excess weight for women aggravates arthritis problems and leads to rapid joint decay. Pain and joint deterioration can be lessened by weight loss as weight loss removes the stress on the knee joint. Excess weight is the most crucial factor in keeping good health and excess weight is responsible for the most problems including coronary disease, heart problems, arthritis and cancer among other serious life threatening diseases. Most serious health problems can be avoided by the single function of maintaining an ideal weight. Daily mild exercise of 20 minutes is also essential Do no tire yourself out, but being regular in your exercise and maintaining an ideal weight goes a long way in ensuring a happy, healthy and long life.

[Fortune]

Originally Posted by klokkasju

2. How do you manage to eat green cabbage (this one?) raw?

There is a really good kale salad recipe out there. First, you massage sea salt and olive oil into the kale until it becomes soft. Then you massage in an avocado until all the leaves are fully covered in it. Then add chopped tomatoes, spring onion, sundried tomatoes and a squirt of lemon juice. Yum!

[gettingskinny]

You are doing awesome Steve! You and I must be thinking on the same energy level, b/c I posted pics of my kids today...first time ever! I'm having similar reactions/feelings! Keep it up!

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by gettingskinny

You are doing awesome Steve! You and I must be thinking on the same energy level, b/c I posted pics of my kids today...first time ever! I'm having similar reactions/feelings! Keep it up!

Congrats! Your kids are adorable. I love the child labor idea.

I woke up with no headache this morning and felt better.

Last night I slept only 5-1/2 hours. That's all I seemed to need.

[Tina McLeman]

Hi Steve,

And hi to everyone else! I am new to this forum!

I am keen to see how you get on with the raw food diet! Although I have no plans to follow the raw food diet myself, I am following your progress mainly to get new ideas for meals!

I am a vegetarian living in Italy and vegetarianism is pretty much unheard of here! It's all meat and fish! They do have some substitute foods but they are horrible. I've not been able to find any Quorn, any Linda McCartney foods (not sure if you get those in the USA) or even any supermarket own brand substitutes. It's like the UK was 10 or so years ago!

I'm beginning to get a bit fed up eating the same things all the time and since fruit and veg in Italy is very very good, I'm hoping your diet will give me plenty of fresh ideas to try! For example, the avocado, celery and tomato dish you made sounded lovely. Pity the supermarket had sold out of avocados!

Anyways, I hope you and everyone else following the diet are getting on ok!

Till next time...

Tina

[Dan.Linehan]

I did some research today on different types of fruit and stumbled onto this:

California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG)

This is a really interesting site to learn more about all the different types of fresh fruit!

[SmellyOrc]

Must..resist...urge...to...comment...about...weigh t...training...routine....

Other than that, great effort and good luck on finishing the 30-day trial !

[Kingston]

Does anyone have more detail about the detox effects, like the undirected anger Steve experienced today?

Which toxins being "detoxed" cause these effects? If Steve has been vegan for so long, than the only toxins left in his body are the ones coming from cooked food. How does cooking / heat make food toxic? Which toxins might that be?

Is there anything known about how these toxins cause aches and smells?

[Amit]

Can I just say....

ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @ LEGO PRINCESS BRIDE!!

YOU MADE MY DAY STEVE!!!!!!!!!!!

I was looking forward to the scene though where Wesley fought Fessik.

[alexander.kharlamov]

Hey Steve,

Very interesting trial... I did a five day trial of raw diet last year and lost 5 lbs, it was great. I was just thinking of starting another one, this time lengthier, and then I got these series in my RSS reader :-)

Anyway - question: I remember hearing somewhere that eating more than 2 bananas a day is bad for you. I wasn't able to find any info, however.

Is there any merit to that?

[wulph]

Originally Posted by Kingston

If Steve has been vegan for so long, than the only toxins left in his body are the ones coming from cooked food. How does cooking / heat make food toxic? Which toxins might that be?

Don't forget that many foods have also been eliminated: grains, junk foods, onions & garlic, etc.

Also, certain cooking methods do produce toxins, like frying or charring. Acetaldehyde and acrolein, for example. I haven't found evidence of toxins produced from lower-temperature methods like steaming or boiling, though.

[Gray]

I had an experience similar to yours when I first worked out after picking up this way of eating.

The day I went raw, I did a brief endurance workout and tested my maxes in a number of calisthenics. During the first week of detox I made sure to get plenty of food, but I sometimes felt too tired to move so I kept the physical activity to a minimum. (Have been keeping conscious of calories and am consuming the same amount or more daily since ditching the SAD.)

It seemed like I had enough energy to go back to working out yesterday, my seventh day raw. Once I started warming up, any tiredness that remained seemed to go away. Out of curiosity, I did the exact same workout that I did a week before. Despite not working out for a full week and weighing just about the same at the time of the workout, all my numbers went up. I was especially excited about going up from 15 to 20 pullups.

After familiarizing myself with people like Tim Van Orden, I'm not too surprised about what I'm experiencing.. just that it's happening so fast. I sure can't complain