Raw Food Diet – Day 13

Today was mixed. I woke up still feeling mentally foggy, and for most of the morning I was physically sluggish, like I just wanted to lie in bed or sit on the couch all day. In the late morning my energy gradually increased. After lunch I played disc golf in the park with 3 friends, and I thought my energy and focus were fine during the game. I felt very lazy when I got home, but my energy rebounded again after an early dinner. So this was a bit of a yo-yo day itself.

I’ve noticed that my mind has been very calm lately. It reminds me of how I felt when I was doing polyphasic sleep.

Other than playing disc golf and having the kids tackle me, I didn’t do any exercise today. Sundays are my usual off days.

I didn’t notice any serious cravings for cooked food today. I’m starting to get bored with the whole notion of eating. It seems so inefficient.

Free Advice

I’ve been getting a lot of free advice from people on how I might tweak this diet to improve my results. Unfortunately the advice is inconsistent. Some say I should eat more greens and less sweet fruit. Some say I’ll do better with more fat, especially more nuts and seeds. And at least a couple people say I’ll do better if I reduce the fat below 10% and focus on eating even more fruit. Some say I’m eating too much, while others suggest I should eat more. A few people recommended I add “superfoods” or powdered green drinks to my diet. And then there are those who say it can take a few months for my body to adapt and that I should keep doing what I’m doing for 90+ days. Much of this advice is coming from raw foodists who have significant experience eating a similar diet.

I do appreciate the feedback and advice. Unfortunately it would be impossible for me to implement all of these suggestions at once, and I don’t want to change the rules as I go along, at least for this particular 30-day period. All of these suggestions could turn into 30-day trials of their own. Hopefully I’ll have this diet thing figured out before I die. 🙂

Sleep

For the past several nights, I’ve been sleeping like a baby and having really interesting dreams. On the downside I’m finding it harder to get up in the morning. I’m used to getting up right away when my alarm goes off (or a few minutes before), but lately I’ve been feeling very groggy, and it’s hard to drag myself out of bed.

When it’s close to my bedtime, I sometimes get hit with intense drowsiness. The attack pattern is much faster than what I experienced before this trial. At 10:00pm I may still feel pretty alert, but 10 minutes later I can barely keep my eyes open.

Weight Loss

My weight dropped another 0.8 pounds to 179.8. Net weight loss is 6.2 pounds in 12 days.

My clothes are fitting a little looser, and I’m wearing my belt a notch tighter.

Breakfast

Raw food diet day 13 breakfast

  1. smoothie: 4 bananas (370g), blueberries (130g), raspberries (92g), 1 cup water
  2. cucumber (102g)
  3. blueberries (174g)
  4. blackberries (238g)

659 calories, 4g fat, 162g carb, 10g protein

Breakfast seems to be the easiest meal of the day for me. This one was pretty good.

Interestingly this smoothie tasted like it was missing something — like where’s the spinach? I think I like it better with some greens in it.

Lunch

Raw food diet day 13 lunch

  1. 1 tangelo (118g)
  2. 1 Fuji apple (200g)
  3. 4 bananas (504g)

609 calories, 2g fat, 157g carb, 7g protein

I ate the tangelo at home, and then I ate the rest in the car as I drove to Sunset Park for disc golf. I was just starting the last banana when I arrived.

Dinner

Raw food diet day 13 dinner

  1. salad: mixed greens (184g), cucumber (88g), grape tomatoes (210g)
  2. dressing: 4 stalks celery (140g), tahini (54g), lime juice (12g), red pepper (44g), 1/4 cup water
  3. 3 carrots (202g)

530 calories, 26g fat, 68g carb, 18g protein

This dressing was only so-so; the flavor was weak. I like it better with tomatoes blended into it. I should have used more lime juice as well.

Evening Snack

  1. 1 stalk celery (34g)
  2. 3 clementines (282g)

137 calories, 0.5g fat, 35g carb, 3g protein

Daily Summary

1935 calories, 32g fat, 422g carb, 38g protein

379mg sodium, 81g fiber, 229g sugar

14% of calories from fat, 7% from protein, 79% from carbs

My head feels a little strange right now, almost like I’m on the verge of getting a headache, but so far there’s no pain.

This is a difficult 30-day trial, probably the hardest one I’ve ever done. While blogging the whole experience adds to the challenge, it also helps a little. It’s hard to give up when so many people are watching you, especially those who are considering a similar diet for themselves. Some people look to raw food diets as a way to reverse serious conditions like diabetes or cancer (and I’ve read accounts of people who’ve succeeded), so I take this commitment pretty seriously.