Eating raw and eliminating all processed foods and sugars for a week was our idea of a dietary cleanse. My friend and I have a love of food. The thought of drinking juices instead of food or making some crazy drink that just starved us was not an option. My usual routine focuses on making healthy choices, but over the past few weeks we traveled, ate out a ton, had a few more glasses of wine than normal and just felt the need.
You can learn a lot when you change up your routine. I learned that my usual day consists of very healthy meals and snacks until dinner. Throughout this raw food, make-shift, cleanse I completely enjoyed the constant guilt free snacking and abundance of fruits, veggies and nuts. Making dinner without snacking and resisting a sweet bite took some inner strength, but overall our cleanse meals, snacks and appetite were hardly discussed!
Eating raw is not hard, but the habit of snacking and finishing the girls meals was very difficult to stop. That last bite of mac-n-cheese, left over crust from toast and all of the tidbits I scoop up throughout the day are tasty. It took serious will power to refrain.
People always ask me if I lost weight. I did not lose one single pound. Weight loss had nothing to do with my decision to cleanse. My lifestyle is very active and healthy. The cleanse was a way to get back on track and refocus. And it worked!
My food strategy for the week focused on abundance. I surrounded myself with tons of prepared snacks and meals. The thought of no wheat, gluten, dairy or sugars had me concerned that a hunger attack was inevitable. On most days I started with a Vitamix green smoothie and snacked on nuts and fruit until lunch. Then lunch was a ton of veggies with homemade hummus followed by more veggies if needed for snacks until dinner. My final meal was a big salad and desert was fruit.
On the kitchen counter I left a notebook and at the week found it full of one or two lines of notes from each day.
Day 1
- great energy
- hungry, but not bad at night
Day 2
- learned it is best to have food prepped and ready
- a little hungry all day, snack, snack, snack
- great energy
Day 3
- energy pretty good
- most difficult day so far, craving salt and carbs
- already thinking about dinner at lunch… maybe another Whole Foods run!
Day 4
- getting used to my routine
- energy good
Day 5
- sluggish on my run, but still strong
- looking forward to tonight when my cleanse is done
Clearly I am a novice when it comes to a completely raw food lifestyle. This raw week really was a success and quite insightful. I had tons of energy all week and learned it is possible to survive with no processed foods or sugars. Over time as I incorporate more raw recipes my meals will be more complex and varied. Going forward raw snacks and meals will increase in my repertoire as I want the best for my family.
“Becoming healthy is a journey, not a destination” Frank Ferendo
“Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels” unknown
“Food fads come & go, but the latest dining trend is actually the oldest: eating food raw” USA today
“Food is an important part of a balanced diet.” Fran Lebowitz
“Nothing cooked tastes as good as raw feels” SedonaSun
“Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” Albert Einstein
“Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat.” Socrates
