Sunday, October 26, 2008

Raw Food Diet Adventure

Recently Stephen Hopson of Adversity University has been on a raw food diet. I have experiemented with eating sprouts and raw foods myself in the past. I even took a class just before Christmas last year. The food was wonderful. I just didn't stick with it.

Some of you know that I have been a vegetarian for about 11 years. You might ask what is the difference between being a vegetarian and eating raw foods. Being a vegetarian, I cook most of my foods just like all of you meat eaters. I love soups in just about any form, especially in the fall and winter months.

Well, reading Stephen's articles on his raw food adventure has inspired me to give eating raw foods another look. The book that Stephen used and I bought a copy of this past week is
The Raw Food Detox Diet
written by Natalia Rose. The subtitle to the book says "The Five-Step Plan For Vibrant Health and Maximum Weight Loss." Natalia Rose is a "nutritionist and founder of the Raw Food Detox Weight Loss Program."

I love that I can go on the internet and research any topic that comes to mind and find information that is useful. I did that with Raw Foods. I found and also purchased two DVD's to use for inspiration and information in this new journey.

The DVD Simply Raw, Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days
"chronicles six Americans with diabetes who switch to a diet consisting entirely of vegan, organic, live, raw foods in order to reverse diabetes naturally. The participants are challenged to give up meat, diary, sugar, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, soda, junk food, fast food, processed food, and even cooked food - as well as go without their loved ones and many of their creature comforts - for 30 days. The results are amazing." (The above quote came from the back of the DVD cover.) After watching the DVD, I was inspired.

The second DVD that I purchased, I haven't finished watching yet. It is called
Raw For Life, The Ultimate Encyclopedia Of The Raw Food Lifestyle.
This is a two disc set that includes interviews of 30 experts.

I am still reading The Raw Food Detox Diet. I also bought another book by Natalia Rose called Raw Food Life Force Energy and a book by Jeremy A. Safron called The Raw Truth The Art of Preparing Living Foods.

As you can see, I have a lot of reading ahead of me. That is how I always approach live. I love the search for knowledge. I never approach any new endeavor half-heartedly. I love digging in and finding new information. I read somewhere that it is a trait of most Saggittarians.

I have also subscribed to several raw food newsletters this week. One of those that Stephen recommended is called Raw Success written by Matt Monarch and found at http://mattmonarch.blogspot.com/ .

You can find Stephen Hopson's articles on his own raw food adventure at the following links:

Update on the Raw Food 30-Day Experiment
http://www.adversityuniversityblog.com/2008/10/08/update-on-the-raw-food-30-day-experiment/

Raw Food Journey: Let's Clear Up Some Myths
http://www.adversityuniversityblog.com/2008/10/12/raw-food-journey-lets-clear-up-some-myths/

End of the Week Gratitude Theme #50
http://www.adversityuniversityblog.com/2008/10/24/end-of-the-week-gratitude-theme-50/

Be sure to check out Stephen's articles.

I am not going to eat 100% raw foods. That is not my goal. For me that just isn't a factor right now. I love my coffee and soups too much. I also love cheese. I will reduce the amounts right now. Cheese is just about the only dairy that I do still eat with an occasional ice cream. I use goat milk in my coffee because I am lactose-intolerant. I know how cheese affects me and I still choose to eat it. I will begin to substitute goat cheese more for the dairy cheese but I don't see myself totally giving up cheese at this point. That could change in the future. Natalia Rose does not make going 100% raw a requirement of her diet. For most of us, that is totally unrealistic, at least in the beginning. I am going to ease into this change. I am looking forward to making some of the recipes in her book.

Like Stephen, I will keep you posted with my changes. As of this morning, I have already lost one and one-fourth pounds from just one day on the diet. I had Stephen's Favorite Green Smoothie drink yesterday and today. You will find his recipe for this in the last link above. My kitchen is stocked with a huge salad that I made yesterday and lots of other fruits and veggies to be consumed over the next few days.

I hope that all of you are having a really great day. The Autumn weather we have been experiencing here in Arkansas lately has been invigorating. Autumn is my favorite season.
Patricia

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Patricia,

I wish you all the best in working to improve your health. I, too, am loving the fall weather!

Slade

Patricia Singleton said...

Slade, thank you for your kind wishes and support. We have our first freeze of the season coming in tonight.

Shamelle said...

This is a good idea. Its requires a fair amount of discipline!

All the best
TheEnhanceLife

Patricia Singleton said...

Shamelle, Yes it does take discipline. That is why I didn't stick with it when I tried it out a few years ago. It is the next step in my journey to wellness. I am not aiming for 100% raw. I have surprised myself and not craved regular cheese. I have been eating a little goat cheese crumbled on my salads but that it all for the past 3 days. Before I was eating regular cheddar at least twice a day.

Anonymous said...

Good for you Patricia!

Patricia Singleton said...

Mother Earth, thank you. I can feel my energy levels increasing and it has only been a few days.

Anonymous said...

Hi Patricia - I read one of Stephen's posts on the raw food diet. Steve Pavlina (blogger) is also doing the some thing. Everyone reports great results, but I'm not sure I'm ready it all up. I do try to eat more fruits and vegetables now that I'm older and wiser. Haha.

I wish you luck and will come back to read about your progress.

Patricia Singleton said...

Barbara, thanks. As of this morning, I have lost 2 1/2 pounds in the first 6 days of this diet. I am excited. I will have to check out Steve Pavlina's site. I haven't visited there in awhile. I am going out with a friend for lunch in a little while. When she called I told her that our eating place would have to offer salads since I have doing raw foods. We are going to a Chinese buffet.

Anonymous said...

I just want to say how proud I am of your new raw food journey. Keep up the spirit - it isn't as hard as you might think.

I'm going to be posting some new articles soon about some easy plates you can make yourself without going overboard or taking much time. You'll be surprised!

By the way, my last name is spelled HoPson not HoBson. :)

Patricia Singleton said...

Stephen, I am so sorry. I can't believe I spelled your name wrong again. You have corrected me once before. How I remember is Stephen is spelled with a "p" also. I guess my fingers got ahead of my mind in typing. I will correct it. I just ate out for the first time since I started this diet. New China Restaurant was not the best place to pick for raw vegetables. Their salad bar was not very raw and most of their fruit is straight out of a can. Going raw has restrictions that just being a vegetarian doesn't. I am excited about this. The past two days my energy levels have been fantastic. I didn't have to drag myself out of bed this morning.

Anonymous said...

Have you yet read "Raw Food Life Force Energy"?? If so, how is it?

With regards to you eating out in a Chinese resturant, Natalina Rose had some ideas about what you could eat at a place like that.

As for me, I don't worry about it too much. I listen to my intuition and select whatever I feel led to order without stressing out too much about it. That's the thing about my new eating lifestyle - I'm listening to my gut feelings more than ever. It's been amazing.

Let me know what you thought of the above mentioned book.

By the way, I also forgot to ask you not only how much was the juicer you bought from Walmart but whether it was hard or easy to clean up after? And was it effective? Some of the cheaper juicers are messy, hard to clean or not very effective.

What is your opinion about the Juiceman, Jr. Model you have?

Patricia Singleton said...

Stephen, I have glanced through the book but haven't read it in any depth yet. I have looked at the recipes.

The Juiceman, Jr. was in the $60-80 price range. I forget which. I had my husband and son buy me a Juicer for Christmas about 5 years ago. I used it about twice and never used it again because it was hard to clean. I later gave it away to Good Will. The current juicer has about 5 or 6 pieces to take apart and clean afterwards. It isn't difficult but it does take time.

I am like you and have not gone 100% raw. I usually wait until supper to eat any foods that are not raw. That is probably the meal that keeps me from losing weight. So far, the 2 1/2 pounds that I mentioned in one of my comments above keeps being lost and gained back over the past few weeks. I have had a thyroid problem for the past few years and was on medication for it for awhile but not currently. After the stress of the holidays, I will get more strict with what I eat. I don't beat myself up when I intentionally eat something that I know I shouldn't. I have never ever done any diet with no cheating of some kind and have always lost weight while on the diet.

Right now I am more intent on changing my way of eating than I am focused on weight loss. Energy levels are still great accept when I have a migraine as I did last night. Since my blood pressure is down in the normal range now, the migraines are down to about one a month which is much better than 2-4 a week like I was doing awhile ago. I am pleased with the direction that I am going.