Raw Food Diet – Day 16

Today was my third positive day in a row. I had very stable, even energy throughout the day with no drowsiness. I felt very happy emotionally, sometimes mildly euphoric for a few minutes at a time. I’m feeling considerably better than I did before starting this trial.

I’m enjoying this diet much more than I was last week. Last week required some serious discipline and willpower to keep going, especially when I wasn’t feeling well. This week has been a breeze by comparison.

I skipped my workout this morning because my last two workouts were more tiring than usual, so I wanted to take an extra day of rest to see if that helps.

Dry Knuckles

For roughly the past 5 days, the skin on my knuckles has become very dry, reddish, and even cracked. In two places on my left hand, the skin is so dry that there’s a little bit of blood in two of the cracks where small cuts appeared. I’m not sure if that’s due to what I’m eating or due to my increased handling of fruit and vegetables or something else entirely. Everywhere else my skin seems normal. If I make a fist and press on my knuckles, they hurt a little bit too, but otherwise there’s no pain from normal activity.

I’ve read that skin problems are a common detox symptoms, so hopefully this problem will go away with time.

Weight Loss

My weight dropped 1.2 pounds to 179.0. Net weight loss is 7.0 pounds in 15 days.

Breakfast

Raw food diet day 16 breakfast

  1. 1/2 watermelon (1396g)

419 calories, 2g fat, 105g carb, 9g protein

This was totally delicious and gave me great energy throughout the morning. I felt bloated for about 15 minutes after eating it, but that feeling soon passed. Eating 3-1/2 pounds of watermelon puts a lot of water in the stomach. A pint of water (2 cups) weighs a pound, and watermelon is mostly water.

Lunch

Raw food diet day 16 lunch

  1. fresh juice made from 1 apple, 1 beet, 7 carrots, 1 stalk celery, lime, and ginger (16 fl oz)
  2. okra (72g)
  3. 1 orange bell pepper (134g)
  4. salad: romaine lettuce (246g), spinach (78g), cucumber (92g), avocado (72g), grape tomatoes (116g), lime juice (12g), lemon juice (10g)

431 calories, 13g fat, 77g carb, 12g protein

This was a very enjoyable meal. I was actually craving okra. Can you believe that? I’m starting to have mild cravings for other fruits and vegetables too. Moreover, these raw foods are beginning to look and taste better to me. When I just look at this picture, the food looks really tasty, but before this trial I’d probably have thought it didn’t look too exciting. I couldn’t believe how delicious the okra was. I really like the crunch too.

Afternoon Snack

  1. blackberries (200g)
  2. blueberries (176g)
  3. 4 bananas (472g)

606 calories, 3g fat, 153g carb, 9g protein

Dinner

Raw food diet day 16 dinner

  1. 2 tangelos (246g)
  2. 2 clementines (182g)
  3. okra (82g)
  4. 2 stalks celery (54g)
  5. grape tomatoes (82g)

259 calories, 0.7g fat, 64g carb, 6g protein

This didn’t have many calories, but it was very satisfying. Again, just seeing the photo makes me want to eat those foods. The tangelos (upper left) were especially sweet and juicy.

My tastes seem to be slowly changing as this trial progresses. Instead of just tolerating what I’m eating, I’m enjoying the different colors, tastes, and textures much more. I’m definitely getting more variety than I was before this trial.

I really like that I can eat as much as I want. Before this trial I averaged about 2,000 calories per day. Now I’m usually exceeding that and still losing weight.

Evening Snack

banana shake made from 3 bananas (306g), 1 cup water

272 calories, 1g fat, 70g carb, 3g protein

After dinner the kids asked me if they could have some dessert. I told them, “How about some fruit, like a banana?” They didn’t like the idea at first, but when they saw me making this banana shake, they wanted one too, so I whipped one up for them as well. They enjoyed it very much.

Daily Summary

1987 calories, 20g fat, 469g carb, 39g protein

362mg sodium, 71g fiber, 289g sugar

8% of calories from fat, 7% from protein, 85% from carbs

I’ve been doing a good job of keeping my fat intake low for the past few days. Ideally I’d like to keep it under 10%, but for this trial I’m just aiming to keep it below 15% for the weekly average. I want at least 80% of my calories coming from carbs and no more than 10% coming from protein, which happens automatically on this diet if I simply keep the fat down.

I’ve been getting a lot of emails from people who write something like, “I’m not interested in going 100% raw myself, but I’m definitely eating a lot more fruits and vegetables after reading your daily updates.” That’s great to hear. One suggestion is that if you start eating more fruit, it’s best to do so on a low-fat diet. Too much fat in your diet can impede the proper digestion of fruit and cause blood sugar problems. “Low-fat” means around 10% of calories from fat or less.

Today was the first day where I can imagine enjoying this diet/lifestyle beyond the 30-day trial. In fact, if today was already day 30, I’d likely continue eating this way on day 31. I’m not saying this because it’s an ingrained habit (at least not yet) but because I’m enjoying what I eat, and I’m feeling good eating this way, already better than I did before this trial. I still have to think a bit about what and how to eat, but it’s not as taxing as it was the first week, and it seems moderately sustainable.

With three positive days in a row, I hope I’m finally past the yo-yo part.