Tom’s Raw Foods Blog

Well, it was an interesting day — not at all like I expected. But at least I now know what the first day is going to be like. I also know more of what to expect.

In other words, I have experience that 99% of the world doesn’t have simply because I decided to do something.

First, I submitted a ticket to Roger’s support desk with some questions and got back a fairly quick response. He recommended that I join his “How To Go Raw” membership site. The annual option is fairly inexpensive, and hopefully I won’t get in trouble for saying this, but Roger told me that a price increase is in the works… So go ahead and check out the site now if you’re interested (and he offers a 30 day money back guarantee in case it’s not for you).

Here the link to Roger’s “How To Go Raw” site: Click here.

I’ve already joined because I really need some good information from somebody who has “been there, done that, bought the T-shirt” (except he’s still doing it and doesn’t sell T-shirts — as far as I can tell!). And from reading the testimonials I think the support and encouragement of others will increase my chances of success.

I’m thinking that the total value of this group will be much greater than the mere sum of its members.

The more I read of the sales letter, the more convinced I am that I made a wise choice in joining the membership site. There are simply too many variables to do this alone, and while it may seem like a shameless plug, I think that the money I spent on an annual membership is going to be worth it, especially if it keeps me from making a poor decision that would result in even worse health than I currently have (and I feel pretty good; yesterday I pushed our 20 month old up a couple hundred meters up a hill in a nearby forest without getting too terribly tired). I’m doing this because I’m convinced that it will lead to better health, so the knowledge will help ensure that I reach my goals.

So what happened today?

Breakfast: It’s Monday and the house is pretty bare, food wise. I didn’t plan on starting this today, but Roger’s request for raw foods blog spurred me to action. Besides, there were two bananas sitting in the fruit bowl when I woke up. We were also planning a trip to the grocery store so I didn’t feel too bad about eating them for my pre-breakfast “snack” (my children also love bananas and it’s an unwritten rule that we always keep a couple available for them). That was followed by two waffles (yes, from the freezer…).

Dinner: My wife fixed a can of soup for our daughter but it turned out to be a bit spicier than she anticipated. So I had that, along with some whole grain toasted bread, after eating several strawberries (and waiting 30 minutes after before eating the soup). The grocery store apparently had too many and were selling pint-size boxes for 50 cents — a bargain in February! I wasn’t as hungry as I thought I would be after the fruit and didn’t finish the soup and bread.

Dinner #2: First, a word of explanation… I’m working all night, so I plan these days (which occur three times in a two week period) carefully. It’s one reason I ate such a small earlier dinner.

My second dinner started with some red grapes, followed by some salad vegetables (iceberg lettuce, yellow cherry tomatoes, celery pieces, and carrots) 30 minutes later. 30 minutes after that I moved to the main course: a chicken cutlet (coated with flour and egg and fried with just a little oil) and 4-5 pierogi (yes, that *IS* the plural; “pierog” is the official Polish singular. I think.). That was followed with some strawberry cake (fresh strawberries on a sponge cake-type base — we did take advantage of those cheap strawberries) and a couple of cupcakes (later) that were in my locker at work.

My supper (still to come) will consist of an apple, followed by the rest of the salad vegetables and a ham and cheese sandwich on a whole-grain roll.

There was also some weak tea and a cup of coffee mixed in, plus half a bottle of a sport drink and a decent amount of water (although not as much as usual). I’m happy to say that I’m down to one cup of coffee, on average, per day. I do enjoy coffee and tea (which we make by the pot and only add one teabag); it’s a social thing for my wife and me.

I’m also wondering about vitamins. I’ve been taking one almost every day; hopefully there will be enough information in the membership site to make an informed decision. I didn’t take one today, though, and will hold off until I can get enough information to make an informed decision.

I think I’m going to keep track of my weight but not post it here until I’ve lost enough to brag about it… I can carry some excess weight and still look half decent because I’m tall (6 feet, 3 inches, or 188 cm) — but I know it’s there. I suspect that I’ll soon be posting some good news here.

Overall, I feel pretty good right now.

One last comment: Roger mentions “Fit For Life” on the sales page and how it started him on his journey to a raw diet. I read that book many, many years ago. The book itself talks about not combining foods that require different methods of digestion so that your body can work more efficiently. I actually practiced it for a while. I lost weight and felt great but allowed others to convince me to stop. Now that I’m considering a raw food diet, I realize that what I learned in that book has had an influence on my current decision.

And if my body doesn’t have to work so hard on digestion, it can focus that energy on other things — perhaps even keeping the rest of me healthy, as long as it has the proper fuel. Again, just a “hunch”, but it seems to make sense.

So Day 1 is almost behind me. I did it. We’ll see how Day 2 goes tomorrow.

Smacznego,
Tom

A raw food diet. Just the thought of it kind of scares me. But it’s really something that I’ve thought about for some time now. And somebody has given me just enough of a nudge to go ahead and take the first step.

I will celebrate my 50th birthday in just a couple of months (two months from tomorrow, as I write this). And while I can’t really say when the idea first popped into my head, I’ve had this notion that the closer we can eat to how God gave us stuff — i.e. raw, the better. The less that food is handled, processed, and treated, the better. It’s not something that I’ve scientifically proven or even thoroughly researched — it’s just one of those “hunches” that seems to make sense.

(A quick word about those “hunches”; they are coming to me in a way that I trust. I’ve acted on “hunches” that have been delivered in a similar manner in the past and been very pleasantly rewarded. It’s not a “whim”.)

The problem is that I really haven’t done much about it. Well, maybe not a problem, but I think it’s time to give it a shot.

Someone introduced me to Steve Pavlina’s blog (that’s a link to his 30 day raw foods experiment summary) a while back and his 30 day raw food experiment captured my attention. He went into great detail about how he did it. I’m very grateful for his day by day example. It can’t be too terribly exciting to document something like he did in the detail that he did, but in doing so, he left me a great resource. I also like Steve’s “take 100% responsibility” prespective. He’s 100% correct.

From Steve’s blog I heard about Roger Haeske and his blog. Roger is, well, a lot of things — at least from what I’ve seen on his website (I don’t know him personally but suspect that I’d probably enjoy talking to him). You can find out his version about “who he is” on his blog (just click a few of his links and have a look around); for me, I’ve come away with the impression that he’s a personal coach, motivator, and lives — no, make that thrives — on a completely raw diet and has done so for some time now. I also think he likes to help people.

I signed up for his newsletter a couple of weeks ago and received a very detailed email about raw diets (I think all of his list subscribers get that email; sign up for his list on his blog and you should get it. It’s his email, not mine, so I can’t post it here). Part of that email talked about making the transition. For me, I’ve decided to try the first step outlined in his transition program for at least today.

How’s that for a wimpy commitment? OK, I went out and purchased a bunch of fresh fruits and vegetables today, so I’ll do it until I eat what I purchased.

I’m going to start eating fruit 30 minutes before each meal. I’ll also eat some raw vegetables before eating dinner. I think Roger says to eat a large salad before dinner, but I think that slopping a bunch of salad dressing, cheese, croutons, and bacon bits might not be what he has in mind. Besides, I like raw salad vegetables, so it’s not an issue for me (I’m one part rabbit, I think, somewhere on my mother’s side, going back several generations. Not knowing for sure really “Bugs” me…). I will commit to that for now. I just need to set a date.

How does “today” sound? That’s good, because that’s what I’m doing.

I’m also going to borrow a couple of other concepts from the more advanced steps. For example, my pre-meal fruit “snacks” (for lack of a better word) will be “mono” meals, which means I’ll only eat one friut before a meal (I won’t combine them). Usually. I’ll mix it up with some celery and maybe cucumbers (they sometimes bother me; that may change as time goes on).

Since we eat on a more European system (breakfast, dinner, and supper) instead of an American system (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), I’ll go to “all raw” for supper instead of lunch when the time comes.

I like fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds (for the most part). I already like fresh fruits and vegetables and almost feel like raiding the refrigerator for a carrot while writing this! I’m used to eating cooked vegetables with meals and I know that some of the vegetables that I eat cooked can be eaten raw, like broccoli and cauliflower. What about stuff like corn and green beans? What about beans like lima and pinto and black beans? Can they be soaked in water first to soften them up? Or what? What about grains, like rice? Can I soak it in water (without cooking)? I’ve never tried it!

I guess I have a lot of questions and will need some help. Roger, if you can let me know which one of your products would be a good one to start with so I can get a good, solid education on what to do and how to do it… Thanks!

But I feel comfortable with eating a “mono fruit” snack before each meal. I might even be OK just eating fruit for breakfast, then having another mid-morning snack — except it won’t be mid-morning because I work weird hours.

And the “weird hours” means that putting myself on a more regular eating schedule (not “rigid” might help, too. I tend to eat when I feel like it; I don’t think that’s the best thing to do on my current diet.

So with a bit of work and planning, Step One looks do-able.

However, will I ever make it through all six steps and stay there? Will I ever get to the point where I eat nothing but raw foods? I find myself surrounded by a cooked world. I work at a U.S. military base, where “Three Hots (hot meals) and a cot” are a mainstay. My wife is from Poland and spends a lot of time in the kitchen. She’s a bit skeptical but I’m sure she’ll support me — but what about my mother-in-law? What will she do when I show up at her home and tell her that all I want is a salad, skip the dressing — especially when she’s worked all day preparing some of those Polish specialties (pierogi, galabki, etc.)?

But I have a lot at stake and simply must do something. I think I’m in pretty good health overall, but as I said before, I turn 50 years old in a couple of months and have four children, the youngest of whom is only 20 months old. They need a Daddy and will need one for some time. And I don’t just want to “be there”, pieced together by modern technology and chemicals. I want to be active. I want to dance at my 90th birthday party (unless I skip it altogether so I can hike the Appalachian Trail). I want to give Tom Hanks’ character in “The Green Mile” a run for his money!

I respect doctors but have a healthy mistrust of what we call medicine nowadays. It’s nothing but chemicals and in my opinion only treats symptoms. I think it’s a lot like those junior sysads who used to work for me. They would go somewhere and apply a “fix” that took care of the problem — but their “fix” introduced another handful of problems because they didn’t fully resolve the underlying issue. It’s the same with medicine; take this chemical and you need to take two more to counterbalance that one, then another three or four to take care of the others… While the root cause (toxins from all the junk we shove in our bodies?) goes untreated…

Pretty soon you don’t need a doctor; you need a chemist. I want to avoid all that if at all possible.

So I’ve decided to start this blog to track my progress. I’m not going to go into all of the detail that Steve Pavlina did on his blog during his 30 day experiment with a raw diet; you can read his blog to see the benefits. I will include some details, of course, but my main goal is to simply say, “Hey, I’ll commit to Roger’s first step and we’ll take it from there”.

I think it will be easy. I think it will be hard. I’m not sure exactly what’s going to happen. But I want to go forward, if for no other reason than to see what’s around the corner.

Smacznego! (the Polish word for “enjoy your meal”)

–Tom