Today was definitely one of the best. I slept well last night and didn’t have any trouble getting up. I felt a little sluggish during my morning aerobic workout, although it was nothing serious. On the way home from the gym (6:15am), I started feeling pretty good, and I felt great for most of the day with a very steady, even energy. I wouldn’t quite call it euphoric, but I felt happy, mellow, and motivated.

I seemed to enjoy the raw food meals much more today. I wasn’t bored with the food and was happy to eat this way. I didn’t crave cooked foods today, but they still look perfectly edible to me.

I don’t feel like today was a struggle, but this way of eating doesn’t feel quite normal and intuitive to me yet. I still have to think a lot about what to eat.

Mental Breakthrough

While working on my book today, I found it extremely easy to focus and concentrate. The work seemed easier than it should have been. It’s hard to describe the sensation, but I felt like I was smarter than usual. I was stuck working on a challenging part about emotions that seemed to present two options for how to write it, but I didn’t like either option. This was really the only part of the book that bothered me because I didn’t feel like I’d nailed the core truth I was going for yet. I was only scratching the surface. I was about to make a choice anyway when I had the intuitive sense that I could push beyond to find a third option. I was doubtful because I’d already tried every creative trick I know on this problem, and it was only leading me in circles. But within a few minutes, a whole new way of looking at the topic opened up to me, and it was precisely the vantage point I was looking for. It incorporated the best parts of the original two options while transcending their weaknesses. By the end of the day, I had that whole section worked out, and it was a beautiful reflection of what I wanted to express.

I enjoyed this heightened sense of clarity throughout my workday. It’s like I could see deeper into each section I was working on, and I noticed subtle connections between ideas I didn’t previously see.

I can’t say for certain whether this was diet related, but I’d love to have more days like this. It made some otherwise challenging work seem almost effortless.

I almost felt like the guy from Lawnmower Man. Hmmm… I hope that isn’t an omen of what’s to come. 😉

Weight Loss

My weight stayed the same at 179.8. Net weight loss is 6.2 pounds in 13 days.

I asked Erin if I looked any different, and she said, “Nope!” She did point out that I seem to have a few new pimples though. My skin is normally very clear, but I got two new pimples on my face in two days. Yuck!

Pre-breakfast

1 Fuji apple (188g)

98 calories, 0.3g fat, 26g carb, 0.5g protein

Breakfast

4 bananas (428g)

381 calories, 1g fat, 98g carb, 5g protein

I wanted to get an early start on my work, so I opted for a simple breakfast. I also wasn’t as hungry as I usually am at this time.

Morning Snack

1. 1/2 cantaloupe (438g)
2. 2 small peaches (214g)

232 calories, 1g fat, 56g carb, 6g protein

Lunch

1. fresh juice made from 1 apple, 1 beet, 6 carrots, lime, and ginger (14 fl oz)
2. salad: mixed greens (130g), cucumber (78g), avocado (120g), grape tomatoes (106g), lime juice (12g), lemon juice (8g)

407 calories, 19g fat, 59g carb, 8g protein

Since I couldn’t find nutritional info for this particular juice concoction, I estimated it as 5oz apple juice plus 9oz carrot juice and used the nutritional info for that. I’ve made this juice many times before — it’s my all-time favorite combination.

Here are the ingredients I used to make the juice. I eyeballed it just right, since the juice filled the one glass perfectly.

Afternoon Snack

7 bananas (830g)

739 calories, 3g fat, 190g carb, 9g protein

Monkey strong!

Dinner

1. salad: mixed greens (84g), spinach (36g), cucumber (52g), grape tomatoes (106g), avocado (40g), lime juice (10g), lemon juice (10g)
2. okra (54g)

153 calories, 6g fat, 23g carb, 5g protein

This is basically the same salad I made for lunch. I liked it so much that I wanted to have it again.

This is the first time on this trial I’ve had salads with no real dressing except fresh lemon and lime juice. It was surprisingly good. I liked this even more than the tahini-based dressings I’ve been using. I’ll definitely have more salads like this.

Evening Snack

3 tangelos (358g)

170 calories, 0.4g fat, 43g carb, 3g protein

Daily Summary

2180 calories, 32g fat, 494g carb, 36g protein

354mg sodium, 73g fiber, 290g sugar

12% of calories from fat, 6% from protein, 82% from carbs

A very good day overall. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll continue to enjoy this positive state instead of crashing again.