Tom’s Raw Foods Blog

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