Eating Raw(ish) – A 5 day experiment

I have been fascinated by the idea of eating “raw” for a long time. Once upon a time I had a plethora of starts and stops on the vegan/raw eating train- it was hard to follow, and it got my roommate in a pretty nasty situation.

To be fair, I think information regarding raw eating was lacking 13 years ago, when my then-roommate adopted a raw food lifestyle which I would classify (after educating myself) as “fruititarian”. She ate fruit all day long and a big salad every day; however, she didn’t consume protein of any sort and after a year of the “lifestyle” she ended up in the hospital with awful stomach pains and massive digestion problems.

That being said, for the first few months my roommate was on a raw/vegan 80:10:10 plan, she had beautiful skin, improved digestion, better sleep and a ton of energy. What I discovered through her experience is that a raw food lifestyle might not be a beneficial long-term lifestyle, but its short-term benefits were plentiful. 

Recently, I have let my diet slip (significantly) and consistently feel sluggish and heavy (gaining about 7 pounds!); my skin has also been breaking out and just looking tired. I’m kind of fed up with eating the scraps of whatever is leftover from the kids’ meals and I’m incredibly sick of complaining about never having time to do anything. My stress has been crazy high, I feel like I am busy 24/7 and never have time to do the things I enjoy (which, shockingly, includes preparing food).

In an effort to gain back some control over my life, I have decided to adopt a modified version of a vegan/raw lifestyle for 5 days. If you’re interested this video will give you an overview of a 80/10/10 raw/vegan day. 

Of course, you may be familiar with this diet based on the hubbub over a pregnant blogger’s admission that she is following this lifestyle- the backlash has been crazy (and perhaps with good reason).

But I am not pregnant, nor will I subject my kids (or husband) to this style of eating- I am merely interested in how it makes me feel, how it improves (or not) my digestion and skin issues, and if I can actually follow through with it!

I have modified the 80/10/10 diet slightly to suit my purposes (remember I am doing this for the alleged health benefits, not based on my beliefs surrounding food, etc.- I have no issues with eating cooked food or meat, generally), following a variety of online plans, including Tone It Up’s suggestions for “bouncing back”. Each day, I’ll update on what I have eaten (honestly! If I “cheat”, you’ll know!) and wrap up at the end of the day with how I’m feeling overall and what my plan for the next day is. I will not be working out any more than I have been – walking, playing with kids, etc.

Day 1- Sunday


Breakfast
-One banana (sliced) mixed with a huge handful of red grapes.

-Apple

-Coffee (this is not raw, but I’m modifying the diet to meet my needs and at this point coffee meets my needs!)

Snack

-One banana (sliced)

-Handful of raw walnuts (these are eaten throughout the day, when feeling like I need something that isn’t fruit!)

Lunch

-Half a container of raspberries

-Sliced pear

-Peppermint tea

– Handful of raw walnuts

Dinner


Massive salad- variety of organic lettuce, half a head broccoli, whole carrot, three mini cucumbers and a scoop of homemade coleslaw on top (made of red and green cabbage and kale, shredded carrots, with a vinegar-based dressing)