Raw Food Diet - Day 23 (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

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

Raw Food Diet - Day 23

[bwb]

After getting pretty tired of eating so much fruit all the time, I actually gave in yesterday and started eating cooked food again. I stuck with fruit for breakfast/lunch, but had a cooked dinner both yesterday and today. The strange thing is... I think having been raw for the past 3 weeks may have ruined me on cooked food! All of the cooked food I ate, things I previously ate and enjoyed every day, felt dead and unsatisfying, even though they filled me up.

What to do now? This is feeling very analogous to the experience I was having when I decided to go vegetarian some time ago. At that time, I was still craving meat, but when I ate it, I didn't enjoy it at all. It was so unsatisfying the I just stopped.

Also, after not having consumed any alcohol for more than 3 weeks, I had a couple of cocktails tonight. They felt pretty darn good going down, and I got that nice fuzzy semi-intoxicated feeling pretty quickly. I guess we'll see how I still feel about this in the morning.

I'm going to follow my stomach for the next few days and see what seems like it's a good idea to eat, and what still seems like a good idea after I've eaten it. I'm going to have my favorite cereal with some rice milk for breakfast, instead of my usual orange or grapefruit juice and a banana. If I'm not delighted, I think cooked food is doomed sooner or later, and I'm just going to have to deal with eating raw.

Anyone else doing the raw challenge had a "relapse"? How'd you feel about it?

-Brian

[DRK]

bwb, re: relapses -

I've been on-again, off-again 811rv for over a year now. I definitely feel better when following it fully, minus a few detox symptoms that always disappear quickly. It is true that after really trying this sort of diet for several weeks straight, no other foods taste as "right" anymore. I'm aware that when I eat something else, it's for some other reason - nostalgia, sedation, even self-hatred.

Steve: it seems you're getting a little more positive again, which is nice. It seemed like maybe you were psyching yourself out a bit there for a few days, speculating that the positives you had experienced were in your mind, but that the negatives were caused by the diet. I think this reveals one flaw in doing this sort of thing as a 30-day trial - you may be mentally (consciously or unconsciously) gearing up for it to end. If it were a longer commitment, you would possibly get a consultation with Roger Haeske or Doug Graham, or look back into others' longer-term experiences for some perspective. If you really do only have a week to go (and it sounds like you've already decided to not continue, even though the trial's not over yet), at least make the most of the last week. Enjoy all that's happening for the knowledge you are gaining, and maybe let go of labelling things as positive or negative.

[KeithHandy]

Even though I've not said/posted a word through this whole trial, I'm sure I haven't helped any by holding such negative thoughts towards the experiment. The whole "raw" thing just seems to me like it would be self-torture with little benefit. But to give you context on this negativity: on the one end, I'm still a meat eater. On the other end, though, there are areas of my life where I push myself far beyond what any of my peers do, so I understand what it sounds like when people talk negatively or flippantly about my/your personal ambition(s) to venture alone into unknown territory or take something to the next level.

I do commend you for sticking with it to the end, but I'm gearing up prematurely for the ultimate "thumbs down"...

[Joeschmoe]

I also tried and failed. I feel alright, because what i learned is that i didn't feel at all deprived in any way, and I know what to shoot for. My problem is that most of my eating comes from somewhere other than hunger. This diet satisfies my hunger completely, but it doesn't satisfy any of my emotional eating cravings. I was unprepared to deal with these things in my life right now. I think that i will take a cue from everyone else who eats this way long term and approach it slowly of the course of a year or two, making small changes toward what I know I want to do, but am unable to yet.

Just want to say that this is pure eating. This is eating to fulfill nutritional needs only and will not fulfill any of the other needs that modern people have attached to eating.

[Jeff Lilly]

Steve, I frequently have problems with dry skin in the winter, particularly since I do most of the dish-washing in our family. :-) Smearing olive oil is what works for me, and it works wonders. I don't know what moisturizer you've been using, but most of them have petroleum products or other nasty things in them. I use the same olive oil we use in cooking -- organic extra virgin. It just takes a tiny amount to bring your hands back to life.

[Persona]

Originally Posted by Joeschmoe

I also tried and failed. I feel alright, because what i learned is that i didn't feel at all deprived in any way, and I know what to shoot for. My problem is that most of my eating comes from somewhere other than hunger. This diet satisfies my hunger completely, but it doesn't satisfy any of my emotional eating cravings. I was unprepared to deal with these things in my life right now. I think that i will take a cue from everyone else who eats this way long term and approach it slowly of the course of a year or two, making small changes toward what I know I want to do, but am unable to yet.

Just want to say that this is pure eating. This is eating to fulfill nutritional needs only and will not fulfill any of the other needs that modern people have attached to eating.

I honestly think anyone who has past issues with eating disorders should try 100% raw for awhile, precisely because it does force you to confront those non-hunger attachments to food, and gives you tools to deal with them. It can be overwhelming at first. Eating vegan didn't help me deal with my overeating issues, in fact, I think it made them worse because I was feeling deprived of all the comfort foods I liked best. With raw, I do have those thoughts, but the depression I had been in the last few years is slowly but surely lifting, I look and feel healthier and when I'm feeling lazy, it's a lot faster to eat bananas than go get fast food. I still have the desire to eat certain foods (read binge), but I keep telling myself that I can have them, just not this week. When your body is feeling nourished and healthy, you start realizing all those thoughts about how good a bacon cheeseburger would taste are not coming from anything like true hunger, but rather a self-destructive appetite. I think one of the most challenging (and yet awesome) parts of the of raw food diet is that it truly will change the way you relate to food.

At this point in my raw journey, I still overeat in the sense that I eat too much because it tastes good and I want to feel full. Fortunately an extra 2 cups of spinach on my salad is very low in calories. I don't do this with fruit. I get banana fatigue much earlier than Steve does.

[gettingskinny]

I think a raw diet is absolutely wonderful. However, Steve has decided to stick to mostly fruits. I think a more balanced raw diet would be better for the long run. In reading his posts it seems it's not bringing him much benefit at this point being so restrictive.

[Joeschmoe]

Unfortunately, there is no more balanced raw diet that i can tell. The high fat raw diet and the high fruit raw diet are somewhat exclusive due to fat and fruit being a bad combo for digestion.

[joanmhe]

Hi Steve,
I have had dry patches on my elbows and knees for years, sometimes my ankles. A dermatologist told me this was mild psoriasis. Maybe the raw diet improves that?
For those who don't seem to enjoy cooked food after going raw, I think the body adjusts the amount of enzymes it produces in your saliva and stomach according to the accustomed diet. So you may not be converting as much starch to sugar in your mouth, causing your taste buds to miss the sweet sensations.
Good going,
Joan

[Lisa McGregor]

Well I'm glad to read that at least you're still our blue eyed boy.
L

[Vantage72]

Originally Posted by Joeschmoe

Unfortunately, there is no more balanced raw diet that i can tell.

I think Gabriel Cousens M.D. (not a chiropractor ) is someone who advices a more balanced raw diet.
Interview with Dr. Gabriel Cousens, raw foods pioneer and founder of the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center

[Joeschmoe]

Originally Posted by Vantage72

I think Gabriel Cousens M.D. (not a chiropractor ) is someone who advices a more balanced raw diet.
Interview with Dr. Gabriel Cousens, raw foods pioneer and founder of the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center

I don't see any information about what exact diet he advocates. Most raw foodists who eat lots of nuts and sprouts etc get upwards of 50% of their calories from fats. I wouldn't call that balanced by any means.

[Vantage72]

Instead you call a 80% fruit diet balanced... Oh well, it's not really important to me anyway.

But you're right about that interview, it does not really say what he advocates. I could not find a better article online though. His book 'concious eating' I found interesting.

[Lauxa]

I don't remember you reporting whether or not your bad breath cleared up or is still hanging around. I could have missed it though, you have been keeping incredibly detailed logs. I'm still planning to try a raw diet for Lent, thank you for all the work you are putting into this.

[Jake Birkett]

re: bad breath. I've read them all and Steve didn't say it cleared up, but that doesn't mean it's still around, it may have just been the few days it was mentioned.

Don't think he's said if he gets much wind or not (i.e. farts). Based on the lack of bad food-combining (e.g. fruit with carbs or protein, or carb/protein mixes) I'd imagine that the diet is pretty much fart free but I could be totally wrong. Steve, please enlighten us - are you farting much? thx.

[martin]

Originally Posted by Jake Birkett

Steve, please enlighten us - are you farting much? thx.

Hahahaha

[nownow]

Originally Posted by Jake Birkett

r protein, or carb/protein mixes) I'd imagine that the diet is pretty much fart free but I could be totally wrong. Steve, please enlighten us - are you farting much? thx.

Yes, as farts may offset the benefits to the environment from a vegan diet, especially the local environment.

[escapee]

If you are farting too much, you 're contributing to the excessive accumulation of methane , a gas that can trap heat and promote global warming. HA

Cow Farts: Global Warmers Or A Load Of Hot Air?

A scientific report published in California last week claimed that dairy cows in the area were producing almost 20 pounds (in weight, that's almost 10 kg) of gas every year, each. That's a huge, huge amount.