Raw Superwoman

Well, I can’t believe how quickly the 2nd half of my experiment flew by! After the first 15 days, the emotional turmoil and excessive fatigue pretty much vanished and I have been living it up ever since. In the past two weeks I have been working like crazy and enjoying the sunshine here in Vancouver, while it lasts. I also had the pleasure of going to a talk by Tonya Zavasta. Tonya discussed the relationship between raw food and beauty. I have to say, at 53 years of age, Tonya is one amazingly good looking Russian chick! Her talk inspired me to take my beauty and skin care regime (which has up until this point been pretty much non existent) more seriously  – a decision that has been even more spurred on by the fact that my 30th birthday is looming dangerously close (I’m 29 for just a few more weeks!)

So being All Raw (100%) as opposed to High Raw in the past 29 days has been an interesting experience. Most of the results I am getting so far have been exactly what I expected – whenever I end up eating lots of complex, dehydrated and high-fat raw foods, there is little or no physical energy benefits over a high raw food diet where a lot of raw food is consumed with the combination of simple, plant-based foods; in fact, sometimes I feel even worse. However, when I do eat mostly fruits and greens, I feel really, really phenomenal. It isn’t exactly a quantum leap, but a third of one, at least. Which gives me an idea for an entirely new Experiment: going on all living food for 30 days.

So while the physical results are pretty much exactly what I expected, on the mental front, the results have been a little bit different. Even when I do eat the heavy, raw food and my physical energy declines, my mental energy seems to be pretty steady, whereas on a high raw food diet, if my physical energy declines, the mental energy follows suit. This has definitively been an interesting observation.

Foodie Goodies

I often have dreams that I eat cooked food and mess up my experiment!

I’ve been recording my food intake almost daily; as an example, here are the delicious foodies I enjoyed on Day 15:

4 Oranges
1/2 cup chia pudding (almond milk, chia, rasberries)
Salad – 1 red pepper, corn from 2 cobs, spinach, walnuts
raw apricot food bar
1.5 cups of berries (blueberries, strawberries, rasberries)
handful of walnuts
2 cups juice (beets, greens, pineapple)
Dinner: 3 sushi rolls (nori wraps, 1 avo, shredded carrot, beet, celery, green onion, 1 mushroom, cayenne) with raw soy sauce and wasabi

Mmmm… yum.

Well, it’s two weeks into the 80% vs 100% Raw Food Experiment and I have to say, it’s been great so far!

On Day 12, my clarity and energy really soared and I have been feeling like a true Superwoman! I woke up in the morning of that day and instantly felt wide awake. Now, for anyone who knows me, knows that I generally like to wake me up nice and slow. Snoozing is my morning pleasure. But I have been hitting that snooze button a lot less lately, regardless of how little sleep I get (which often is way too little). Soon after I woke up, I also felt a great sense of clarity, awareness and a quiet but large energy.

What’s Up In My Raw Life

Summer is in full swing and I have been having a lot of fun biking, hiking and swimming. Over the weekend I spend a lot of time with my family; my parents and my sister who is here for the summer from Indiana. Yesterday we spent the entire day at Lighthouse Park at a secret spot there which we have been visiting every summer for the past 12 years! We love it there! We do a lot of cold-water swimming (which is one of my favorite summer-time activities), basking in the sun, watching soaring eagles and seals. Spending time in nature with people I love is my soul food, which is just as important as raw food, if you ask me

Raw Food and My Family

My family is extremely supportive of me and my raw food life style. They are like my cheerleaders! In fact, some of my family members, like my dad, have even adopted a diet high in raw food themselves (I will need to save this story for another blog entry altogether, as it as a very inspirational tale). But it wasn’t always so, believe me. My family used to think that I was crazy! Ironically, my dad in particular was the biggest critic. It took them several years before they finally got it. Now they can’t believe they didn’t get it earlier! So if you family (or friends) are critical of your lifestyle, keep walking your own true path anyway. You never know whose life you could change.

Foodie Goodies My Body Loves Right Now

It has been a very hot week, and as a result, my body is craving lots of raw fruit. I’m loving melons of any type, berries (especially blueberries), spinach, and raw coconut juice. There are times however, when I really feel like having something heavier, at which point I go crazy and have some fun preparing a delicious recipe with healthy, raw, plant-based fats.

Cravings?

On Day 13, I experienced a persistent physical craving for cooked food for the first time during this experiment. I’ve had fleeting thoughts of brown rice and cooked yams, but nothing really major. On Saturday night however, after I came home from a long, strenuous hike, fruits and veggies just didn’t feel like enough. I remedied this with eating a lot of nuts and decided to make some extra raw granola and raw energy bars to keep in the freezer so I can effortlessly satisfy these cravings for heavy foods in the future.

Super Tip of The Day

Cravings usually happen high up in the mind somewhere. Try to come back down to your body – to reality. Take a deep breath and ask yourself what it is that you and your body really need in this very moment. Like, really. Then honor that need by having or doing exactly that. Nothing squashes cravings quite like awareness – it is the key!

The past three days have been a roller coaster again, in all areas. I definitely feel a great amount of mental clarity and a lightness in my body which is delicious – but at times, I feel an inexplicable fatigue and have to lay down for a nap in the middle of the day. Overall, I have been getting a lot more sleep than usual. Emotionally, one minute I feel like I am on top of the world, and then next like the world is on top of me! It’s been quite the ride. Hopefully, once I come out of it a little bit, I’ll be able to gain some perspective and provide more insight.

I am back home now and I miss Tisha the dog. No fluffy creature is  coming over to where I’m working and licking my elbow, hoping to get some play-time in. It’s time for a pet, me thinks!

Well, without any further ado, here’s the awesome foodie goodies I’ve been nourishing myself with:

Day 9
Before I ate a late lunch at 2PM, I snacked the morning and early afternoon away on 10 fresh figs and 1 whole cantaloupe. The weather has been getting hot and these water-rich foods, cold out of the fridge are refreshing!

For lunch, I had 2 red peppers stuffed with a pate made of: chopped mushrooms, spinach and herbs mixed with thick tomato sauce and raw nut cheese.
Later on, I snacked on a handful of dry blueberries (these things are the bomb!), 1 orange and some soaked almonds. The last meal of my day in the late evening was a very large Green Smoothie made simply by blending a honeydew melon with a large bunch of Italian parsley.

Day 10
- One very large Organic Green Juice made from apple, organce, kale, celery and herbs.
- handful of walnuts and dates
- Raw Almond Milk Smoothie – 2 cups almond milk, 1 tablespoon mesquite powder, 1 frozen banana, 5 Medjool dates
- Organic Raw Food bar, Lara Bar, nectarine, fresh apricots
- Green Smoothie (nectarine, banana, pear, 1 large bunch organic spinach)

Day 11
10AM – 2 cups diced Hami melon meat and a cup of cold Organic Green Tea
11:30AM Raw Chocolate Smoothie – 1 cup Almond Milk, 5 dates, 3 T hemp seeds, 3 T carob
3:30PM 4 cups veggies marinated overnight in soya sauce and olive oil from sun-dried tomato jar. Served with Heirloom tomato slices topped with avocado made from 2 small avocados, garlic, onion, lemon juice, key lime juice and sea salt.
6:30PM 2 fresh apricots, Lara bar

9:00PM A fancy dinner with my Lovebug – Raw Zucchini Noodles with cashew sauce, topped with leftover marinated veggies from lunch which I smothered in more tomato sauce, all topped with a blob of guacamole and served with a wine goblet of refreshing raw coconut juice over ice. Mmmm….

I’m happy to report that I am – quite suddenly – out of the dumps and finally flying high on raw joy and inspiration.

I am simply feeling amazing today! I feel back to normal and more. I got a lot of stuff off my chest yesterday, mostly in the form of a conversation that really needed to be had with someone who is close to me. I am always fascinated to find that cleansing doesn’t just affect your body – in fact, very often, that’s just the beginning! Chances are you’ll find yourself wanting to “cleanse” and sort out everything else in your life – such as your relationships. This is always the hardest part, for me at least, and courage is required in order to pull through, to make decisions, to change things, to stay true to yourself. And patience is needed as well -  to keep going with a clean diet even though it may seem like it’s not doing anything for you at the moment. You just have to trust that on the cellular level nature is working its magic and that a new lever of joy, clarity and power is waiting for you, it may just take a little bit of time. OK, as you can see, I am feeling very inspired today!

Physically, I’m also feeling very energetic. I was running around on the beach today with the dog and actually almost keeping up with him. However, I did wake up today with a bit of a runny nose and headache. This is most likely due to consuming more fat for the past day or two, and too close to bedtime last night. Don’t get me wrong, I love my healthy, raw fats; I do find, however, that I have the most energy when I focus on the green smoothies, veggie juices, fresh fruit, sprouts and maybe some soaked seeds.

Where I’ve Been

It’s my last two days at the beach house, taking care of Tisha the dog for my friend who has been away for the week. I’ve been enjoying working here and taking the dog for a lot of walks on the beach. I’ve never owned a dog so spending so much time with one has been a new experience for me. For those of you who know dogs, Tisha is a border collie – she’s the most intelligent, patient, friendly, well-behaved and awesome dog ever! She has become my buddy and I am going to miss her. I’m still a cat person though!

I had a productive day working away today and my mom came over to visit me in the afternoon. As I have already said earlier on this blog, my mom is a great supporter of my raw food lifestyle and this experiment. We had a nice time going shopping, going to a show, eating fresh fruit and raw pizza crackers and playing with the dog. In the evening, after my mom left, my Lovebug came over and we took the dog for a long walk to the dog beach and enjoyed an amazing sunset.

Today’s Foodie Goodies

For breakfast, I had 1/5 juicy watermelon and about 1/2 cup leftover pudding (banana, coconut meat, raisins). Before lunch, I snacked on a handful of dehydrated blueberries. At lunch, I had 2 large pizza crackers – flax bread, tomato & raw nut cheese spread with mushrooms, tomato and alfalfa sprouts. Few more pizza crackers for dinner, as well as blueberries, raspberries and cherries. A glass of juice in the evening from beets, carrots, garlic and ginger.

Magical Moments Of The Day

A beautiful rose outside, with the most sweet and pleasant smell.

Laughing with my mom.

A cute, old lady which I ended up chatting with on the beach today, who touched my arm and called me “dear”.

A sunshiny, warm day.

An amazingly beautiful sunset on the beach, which I enjoyed with my favorite person.

What were YOUR magical moments of the day?

Oh my goodness, what a complete emotional roller coaster the last few days have been!! It can best be described by a quote from one of my favorite movies, The Matrix: “Fasten your seat belt Dorothy, ’cause Kansas is going bye-bye”. Accept, instead of Dorothy, this is Dorota, and Kansas is way below me  now. I am stuck in a tornado of emotions.

Physically, I have not experienced any more detoxification symptoms after going from a High Raw to an All Raw diet one week ago. A couple of days of digestive upset and some resulting fatigue, and that was it.

However, I feel like a lot of emotional issues are coming up to the surface for me – and fast. I have been completely aware of these issues before, no doubt, and have been chipping away at possible solutions to them in my own good time, but now I feel like they have simply come out, they’re in my face, and they’re saying: “OK, you have to deal with us now. TODAY. Not tomorrow. We don’t care if you’re busy. We don’t care if you’re not ready. NOW”.

And so I obey. I have spent most of the day alone today cleaning my house (which for me is incredibly therapeutic and allows me to really think) and writing a lot in my journal.

One emotion that has come up for me has been: anger. I am so unfamiliar with this emotion, because I am a very calm, mellow person. And yet there I was today, so frustrated and angry, I was throwing pens down on the floor as hard as I could, and I also flung one unfortunate magazine across the room.

There have been interludes of intense mental clarity, a deep sense of peace and total mellowness. Unfortunately, these have been rather brief.

It’s Sunday night now, and honestly, I am emotionally exhausted. I just want to go to bed.

I have to say though, this experiment so far has solidified for me a truth I had already known: there is something magical about commitment. Since I have become totally committed to 100% raw, things are just falling into place, like recipes: they are just popping up into my head based on what ingredients I have available.

Speaking of recipes, here is my food intake for the past three days. I typically eat a lot more food than this; I believe my appetite has been a lot less than usual.

Day 5
For breakfast, I had 1/2 banana and a Green Smoothie made of a bunch organic kale, 2 small oranges, 1 banana, 1/2 Tablespoon maca and 1 Tablespoon flaxseeds.

For lunch, I mixed some cabbage with soya sauce and nutritional yeast and munched it down with some baby tomatoes.

For dinner, I had  4 nori sheets with mock tuna wrapped inside of them, along with a tomato.

I had no appetite for snacks between my meals on this day at all.

Day 6

For breakfast, I chopped up an apple, an orange, a banana and mixed it up with raisins and cinamon. I also enjoyed a cup of green tea.
For lunch and dinner, I had a simple salad made of spinach, avocados and Heirloom tomato with sea salt.
I also had 1 cup of juice made with beet, carrot, apple, garlic and ginger.

In between meals, I snacked on a Lara bar (key lime) and  a lot of raisins.

Day 7
Breakfast consisted of a banana, and 1 shot freshly juiced wheatgrass juice and 1 glass juice (carrot, apple, orange, strawberry) which I grabbed from a juice bar while out for a walk with the dog.

Later on, I had the contents of 1 young coconut. Then I made a pudding from one frozen banana, meat of 1 young coconut, dates, raisins and 1/3 cup soaked almonds.

For dinner, I got my Raw Gourmet on and made raw pizza crackers – a nice spread of raw tomato sauce (made with fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and herbs), and nut cheese (Brazil nuts, garlic, lemon, sea salt, nutritional yeast), topped with chopped shallots, mushrooms, olives and zucchini slices.

Later on when I got hungry,  I also has some watermelon and a few more pizza crackers.

I woke up today at 2PM, after 12 hours of blissful sleep, feeling SUPER rested.

The sleep was blissful accept for the three times the dog woke me up, begging to take her outside (poor thing had an upset stomach). As I was TRYING to catch up on my sleep, this did not make me very happy, but it sure was MAGICAL to be the only person on the beach at 6AM – the water was perfectly still, all was peaceful and quiet.

Mentally and physically, things are slowly starting to feel good again!

After waking up and puttering about the house for a bit, it was time to celebrate Canada Day with a hike. My sister, my Lovebug and I grabbed the dog (I’m starting to really like this fluffy creature), and went up Vancouver’s Grouse BCMC trail. It felt great to be amongst the tress, getting lots of fresh air and sweating away.

Today’s Foodie Goodies:
For breakfast today, which did not happen until 4PM (!), I had another awesome fruit salad: a breakfast bowl loaded up with sweet blueberries, raspberries and decorated with chopped orange and fig, as well as 1/2 cup of soaked sunflower seeds. I made a similar salad for my sister who said she loved it.

Before leaving for the hike, I loaded up a large Tupperware container with more blueberries, peeled and chopped oranges, as well as another cup of soaked sunflower seeds. I munched on this in the car on the way to the mountain, as well as on the car going back home. I’m spending the night back at my own house tonight (my sister is watching the dog tonight), and when I got back, I was starving and ready for something heavier.

I whipped up a large salad consisting of celery, soaked sunflower seeds, green onions, dill and made a nice raw mayonnaise as the dressing by blending lemon juice, cashews, almonds, Brazil nuts, salt and some coconut water. I stuffed 1 portabella mushroom and 1 cabbage leaf with this delicious mixture and ate it with a side of about 10 baby tomatoes. I was greatly satisfied at the end of it.
The menu today also included a lot of water as well as 1 cup of green tea and 1 cup chamomile tea.

Super Tip Of The Day
Exercise can greatly amplify the effects of the raw food diet. There is no better detoxifier than exercise. So get out there and get movin’!

The Day In Review
I spent the day in my friend’s house with one big, fluffy, beautiful (albeit a little smelly) dog and my laptop. I worked away during the day, and took Tisha (dog’s name) for walks on the beach. It was nice to be around such a carefree and happy creature all day

Physical Observations
I woke up feeling much better energy-wise and a lot more clear mentally. While I was working, I even found myself doing calculations in my head, where I would usually just whip out the old Windows calculator for sheer convenience. Emotionally, I still feel under the weather, but it is getting better.

I completely crashed energetically by mid-afternoon. I felt exhausted! While the fatigue is obviously at least partly due to whatever detox my body may be currently going through, I also have a bad habit of staying up really late and have definitely gotten very little sleep this week so far. However, I am also having a lot more fiber than usual and it has hit my system big time – very many trips to the bathroom were had; sorry if this is a little bit TMI for some of you – too much information . The situation has caused some dehydration, so to make up for it, I’ve been drinking lots and lots of water – nearly 3 liters today, in fact.

Today’s Foodie Goodies
I was actually starving after I woke up today, and had 2 juicy kiwis to start the day right. Until lunch, I snacked on about 3/4 cup of cashew sauce – cashews and dates blended together. I decided I need to get a bit more fat into my daily menu. This was very rich, but good when taken in small amounts at a time. For lunch, I had yesterday’s leftovers – salad, guacamole and a few flax crackers.

I completely lost my appetite for the rest of the day, and didn’t have dinner until 10PM!

I intended to bike back to my house tonight to get a change of clothes and more food from my fridge, however, I wasn’t feeling very well, so I decided to just stay. I was, however, nearly out of food. I grabbed the dog and went for a gentle stroll to a nearby Whole Foods.

The great thing about eating raw food, is that it can be extremely simple if it needs to be. All you have to do is find a grocery store, and stock up on some fresh fruits and veggies. Staying in this house is as simple as it gets – my friend doesn’t even own a blender!

For dinner, I prepared a Raw Fruit Salad made with oranges, blueberries, raspberries and figs, all sprinkled with a few handfuls of raw sunflower seeds. As an appetizer, I had one half of a very large organic Heirloom tomato sprinkled with salt; I’ve never had such a huge tomato. It was amazing – sweet and savoury in taste, buttery in texture – just wonderful!
Few hours later, I had a bit of guacamole and a few handfuls of sunflower seeds.

What I’m Taking Into Tomorrow
Lots of rest – I’m taking the day off tomorrow (it’s Canada day!) and intend to sleep for as long as my body wants it.

Super Tip Of The Day
If you go raw and find yourself with uncomfortable physical or emotional detox symptoms, stick with it anyway! You may have a little bit of a hard time, but it will all pass soon and you’ll feel better than before. If you’ve been high raw or all raw for a while, keep in mind that detox can strike at any time as your body reaches deeper levels of cleansing.

Well, Day 2 of the Experiment has come and gone and I definitely don’t feel like myself. I feel sluggish, tired, unfocused and emotional. So emotional in fact, that I even shed a few tears last night, which is very unusual for me. However, I felt a great sense of relief afterwards. I can’t say I was crying at anything in particular, I just felt a deep sadness which needed to be expressed.

Mentally, I am completely unfocused and randomly spacing out, but a lot better than yesterday. Physically, I feel somewhat sluggish, but I do feel a nice lightness in my body.

Honestly, I wasn’t really expecting an emotional detox, or any detox in particular for that matter, this early into my 100% Raw Food Experiment, but I think this must be a part of it. On second thought, I did eat mostly raw food over the weekend, however I didn’t keep track so I don’t know for sure.

Today’s Foodie Goodies
Last night as a midnight snack, I had a couple of fresh figs. I didn’t have much of a dinner yesterday, so I was feeling hungry at night, but I don’t like having anything heavy close to bedtime. Fresh figs are light and simply divine.

After waking up this morning, I had 500mL of pure water and a cup of green tea. Around 10AM, I had 5 more fresh figs and about the same amount of strawberries. A short time later, I enjoyed a blended glass of Raw Almond Milk with 2 tablespoons of flax seeds, 2 Medjool dates and 1 tablespoon of maca. Then around noon, a glass of Organic Green Juice.

The afternoon was hectic, and I didn’t have much of an appetite, but I did manage to have one large portabella mushroom, which had been marinating in soya sauce since Sunday night, stuffed with guacamole, and a few dehydrated flax crackers. For dessert, I had about 5 brazil nuts and 5 Medjool dates.

By the time dinner rolled around at 8PM, and after an intense 45 minute bike ride, my appetite definitely returned and I was starving. I wolfed down several cups of blueberries, 1 banana, 1 orange, a kiwi and lots of water. Few hours later, I was hungry again, so I had some more flax crackers, guacamole and a salad made with red cabbage, tomatoes, asparagus, and a salad dressing of blended orange and tomato.

Magical Moments Of The Day

• I randomly met my Lovebug on the bike route while we were going opposite directions. We had no plans to meet until later!
• All the lovely trees and sunshine outside
• My friend’s house by the beach I will be staying at for the next few days while I take care of his dog!
• The surprise day off on Thursday due to Canada day

Super Tip To Pass On
If you are looking for a low fat dressing, use fruit! Chop up a mango and mix the chunks and the juice with the veggies. Or blend a tomato and an orange together – very tasty!

Well, I was all stocked up and ready to go today! My kitchen fridge is absolutely stuffed with amazing raw fruits and vegetables right now!

Today’s Foodie Goodies

First thing in the morning, I usually take care of thirst and drink lots of pure, filtered water. I don’t typically eat breakfast until at least 1 hour after waking up, and quite often many more hours than that.

Before noon, I consumed a Gorgeous Green Smoothie – Made with a bunch of organic spinach, bunch of parsley, 1 orange, 1 banana, some water. It was a very light and fluffy smoothie and a tasty one too. After that I had a cup of raspberries and 1 juicy, fresh fig along with a cup of herbal tea.

At around 2PM, I got hungry, so I dipped into my salad. The salad was made with white cabbage, spinach, asparagus, rhubarb, spinach, parsley, mango and tomatoes. I chopped up and mixed everything last night and all the veggies were marinated overnight with the wonderful flavors of mango and tomato juice. Yuuumy!

At around 4PM, I got hungry again, so I made some Raw Almond Milk (with truly raw almonds). I blended a tall glass of it with a couple of raspberries, a banana and 2 Medjool dates.

I had big plans for dinner (2 large portabella mushrooms have been marinating in my fridge all day), however, I wasn’t really feeling up for it, so I had another cup of raspberries and a glass of organic green juice (made with carrots & their greens, beets & their greens and 1 green apple). I still have some leftover juice for tomorrow.

How The Day Went

I spent all day today at home, working at my computer. I work as a web developer, so most of my time I spend creating and maintaining websites, implementing new features and fixing bugs on websites as well as talking to clients. I have to say, I wasn’t feeling my greatest today. I felt tired (I have been getting very little sleep lately) and I was feeling quite sad as well for no particular reason. It was not a very productive day at all for me. I was feeling out of sorts today, on all levels. Some dark clouds passing overhead indeed!

Today’s Magical Moments

• Getting an early morning delivery from a local, organic farm with a big bin of organic greens and other veggies! I get a bin delivered with whatever fresh things they have on-hand so it’s always a surprise what I will get. I was happy to find lots of leafy greens!
• The support I have from my family and from my Lovebug for this project! My mom called me today to ask me how the first day of my Experiment went. She’s the sweetest!
• All the lovely, energizing, alkalizing, cleansing foods I had the privilege to enjoy today.
• All the hugs and kisses from my Lovebug, before he left my house for work.

Key Things To Pass On:

Greens, Greens, Greens! Greens are the most powerful, cleansing, detoxifying, nourishing food around!

What I am taking into Tomorrow:

-Acceptance. Whatever sadness or negative feelings that come up, just be with it and see where it goes and if it has a purpose. Life is life – the good, the bad, the ugly, the awesome – this is it, right here, right now! Sadness isn’t always a negative thing – it often means that a voice is present and needs to be heard. Perhaps things need to change or adjust. Or, perhaps, the sadness is just an emotional detoxification – old, pent up feelings get released, before they are gone for good.

Starting tomorrow, I will conduct a 30 Day experiment which will attempt to answer the often-asked question: “What Is The Difference between eating 80% Raw Food and 100% Raw Food“?

I am a perfect candidate for such an experiment, as I have been a High Raw food eater (average of 80%) for the past 2 years! In fact, I consider myself an expert of sorts in eating a High Raw food diet. There have definitely been no shortage of ups and downs on this journey for me, but I have experienced first-hand the sorts of benefits that a High Raw diet can produce – more energy and clarity, a sense of well being on many levels, faster recovery from exercise and very clear skin. At the same time, it provides plenty of space and wiggle room to feel comfortable and happy.

What I have often read in raw food literature is that replacing that last 20% of cooked food from your diet can produce, not a 20% improvement in health and energy, but a more of an exponential result. Honestly, I don’t buy this, however, I am completely open-minded about any result which may occur.

In fact, I am pretty sure that a 100% raw food diet which is high in fat and complex recipes, such as a typical raw food diet can be, can’t possibly be any better for you energy-wise than my High Raw food diet which includes lots of raw food as well as healthfully cooked whole, simple, plant-based foods with occasional dairy.

For this reason, the 100% raw food diet which I will undertake for the next 30 days starting tomorrow, will be heavy in fresh, living vegetables and fruit as well as green smoothies. Use of nuts and oils will also be limited to a reasonable degree. As you will soon find out, I am a huge fan of quick and easy, so I won’t be including a large amount of gourmet recipes. Every day, I will note observations on the physical, emotional, spiritual and mental levels or anything else that might come up at all.

After the 30 days are up, I fully expect to be convinced that that last 20% produces 20% benefits and return to my original “default”  High Raw High Energy diet.

My intention is that this experiment will inspire people to go High Raw if they have been considering it. For those that are totally new, I want to showcase the sorts of foods that are eaten on a raw diet and how fun eating raw can be! And for people who are already on the path, that we may mutually inspire and support each other.

Honestly, I am very happy and excited about the experiment and curious about the sorts of results the experiment will produce. During the summer, I often gravitate to eating a very high raw food diet anyway, but I don’t think that I have ever been totally 100% raw for more than 1 week, so it will be an interesting experience.