Day 14 of the Raw Food Challenge
Yesterday, on Day 13 of the Raw Food Challenge, I ate:
– Bowl of fruit topped with ice cream! Inspired by Liz’s idea: I took 1/2 banana, 1/2 apple, and 1/3 pear and chopped them into chunks. I tossed them in a bowl with some frozen blueberries, and then mixed in some of the chocolate ice cream leftover from a couple days ago (avocado/dates/raisins/banana/cacao powder/cinnamon mixture). It was delicious!
– Handful of beet and potato chips, plus 3 apricots
– 1/2 apple with banana cashew butter (I made this by whirring 1/2 banana with a spoonful of nut butter in the food processor), and 3 apricots dipped in cashew butter, plus 1 1/2 glasses of lemon water with 1/2 scoop calcium/magnesium powder
– 1 mushroom with guacamole, 1 mushroom with hummus, a couple more apricots, another piece of banana, a piece of chickpea flatbread, and handful corn chips
– 2 cookies with cashew butter, plus a small piece of frozen banana with cashew butter (I went a little nut butter crazy today :D)
– A pile of mini mandarins, 3 carrots, and a mug of green tea with 1/2 scoop calcium powder
– A taste of leftover zucchini pasta, 1 apple with cinnamon and 2 mugs green tea with 1/2 scoop calcium/magnesium powder
I couldn’t get satisfied today. I ate a ton but none of it was what I wanted. I was inwardly fairly grouchy and sluggish for much of the day, even though I had about nine hours of sleep the night before. And I’ve grown to detest zucchini pasta. I was supposed to eat it for dinner but it was so unappetizing that I stuck with the apple instead (besides, I’d already had so much that it really wasn’t necessary to have a big bowl of zucchini pasta, anyways).
I’ve been having massive cravings for a burger or a glass of milk, of all things! My body doesn’t do so well when it gets low protein and high fat. I run very well off of a high carb eating style, but not with high fats (which has been happening since my ridiculously high consumption of nuts) and certainly not with low proteins. Halfway through the challenge! February 1st can’t come soon enough…
Do you think the satiety issues are physical or mental? Maybe some of both? I’ve noticed that I start to feel…”hollow”, for lack of a better term, when I don’t get enough protein. Since I have problems managing my protein, that feeling is always a good sign to take check of what I’m eating. I begin to look “hollow” (and not in a good way) when I don’t get enough good fat. 🙂
Hang in here, you’re halfway through!
Do you think the diet’s affecting your workouts? You said you feel sluggish, so I’m wondering if overall you have less energy. Or can you still exercise just as hard? I’m so amazed you’re still going. Talk about stamina.
Sorry this one is so difficult, Sagan! As with any great investigator, getting negative results on a research project is still useful, important data!
February 1 is just around the corner! Hang in there.
Cammy- I’m sure you’re right, that it’s both physical AND mental. I think that the large percentage of fat is making me sleepy, and that then lack of protein is making me…. not so much GRUMPY, but more easily irritated/impatient.
Tracey- So far I’ve been able to do regular workouts without any difficulty, which is interesting… it’s just getting myself to DO the exercising that I’m finding more tricky.
Dr. J- Agreed! It’s absolutely all worth it.
FatFighterTV- Thanks 🙂
This: “I couldn’t get satisfied today. I ate a ton but none of it was what I wanted. I was inwardly fairly grouchy and sluggish for much of the day, even though I had about nine hours of sleep the night before.” is SO ME today too! Except I don’t have raw food to blame it on so I’m not sure what my problem is:) I admire you for continuing on with your experiment!
I’m pleased my idea worked for you, as adapted, Sagan! And it’s nice to know that finally, after all these years, I’ve inspired someone to do something. I have not lived in vain.
Seriously – I totally agree with Charlotte in admiring you for your perseverence. Maybe with something as drastic as a raw food diet it works better if you adopt it gradually, so that your system has time to adjust. But that would only be worth it if you were looking for a permanent or long term change. I reckon you would still get as much out of the experience if you did 6 days on, one day off, or two evenings off a week, and I think you’d find it much easier psychologically. But maybe your challenge is all or nothing?
Charlotte- Hmmm, maybe I’m blaming a little TOO much on my raw food challenge 😉 Maybe it’s just me who can be a grouch!
Liz- Yes, the idea of the challenge is all or nothing- just because I want to try the extreme version of it because I’m using a limited timeframe and because I don’t intend on doing it for the long term. But I agree that it would be very rewarding to also do for a few days at a time and then a day off… which is actually something similar to what I intend on doing after I’ve completed this challenge. But I’ll talk more about that when the time comes 😀