The end of Raw, and a review of the last 60 days

New to my story?  Read these first: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Wow! The day is finally here. I am officially done with my crazy diet study.  Those two months just flew by!  I am so glad I did it, and have learned a ton about myself in the process. And I feel like I learned some valuable tools to help my clients find their right path, as well. The main reason for wanting to do this study in the first place is because I felt that there was just too much conflicting, confusing, frustrating information out there!  I have been bombarded with completely opposing viewpoints while studying nutrition to the point where even I was ready to just give up. I can't imagine how a typical person just looking for healthy eating tips would feel with all that mind boggling information. So, I wanted to put myself on two completely different diets just to see how I reacted, but also to hopefully take some of the mystery out of nutrition.

I have to say that this was exactly what I expected and nothing like what I expected all at the same time.  I knew it would be hard and I knew my body would react differently to what I ate, but I didn't know I'd have to dig pretty deep on several occasions to just keep going.  I didn't know that I would change so dramatically (and rapidly!) from one diet to another, and I didn't know how attached I was to cheese until these studies began.  Oh, how I love me some cheese.

But, before I tell you how the study ended, I want to say thank you to all the people who shared their stories with me, who motivated me, were motivated by me, and who encouraged me along the way. Without you all, I would not have been able to do this. So, thank you, thank you, thank you!! <3  You rock!

Ok, so by the end of the Paleo study, I was ready for something new. It probably seems hard to believe for most of you that I could possibly be bored with eating steaks, bacon and eggs, but yes, it got boring.  To be fair, I do get bored pretty easily, and am always looking to shake things up a bit.  And the summer was really heating up so I was definitely ready to be done cooking!  What a relief not to have to steam, grill, bake or broil!

I have mentioned throughout the study that checking my urine pH was one of the main tests I used to track how successful (or not) the diet was for me.  Throughout Paleo my pH was low, in the 5.5-6 range.  I wasn't too worried about it and told myself that it might just take time for pH to budge into the alkaline side of things, but less than half way into Raw I was already seeing some darker greens. A consistent 6.5 reading was giving me some encouragement. But, it was on day 18 that I knew I was onto something.  My pH was at 7.5 for the first time ever! That's as normal as it gets, folks. Say what you will about protein, but this Raw Vegan diet was clearly making an impact on my body in a positive way.

All those green juices and salads were really paying off, not only in my pH levels, but also in my energy levels!  I plan to do a longer blog post about my past health issues, but for now just know that I really struggled for the last few years with energy and motivation to exercise.  But with the Raw diet I was not only energized to work out, I was stoked to keep pushing my body!  I was waking up earlier and going to bed later. I was running for the first time in FOREVER. And by run, I really mean walk a bit, then run a bit, but it totally counts!

But, the raw study was not without its downside.  There were days when I looked at my refrigerator and felt like I never wanted to eat another fruit or veggie again.  There were days where my family ate burgers or pizza and I desperately wanted a taste.  Just a tiny lick. Towards the end I opted to only drink juice a few days, mostly just to see if I could do it, but also just because I was super tired of the foods available. It's not their fault, I just like more variety (see, I got bored of veggies too!). And since this wasn't intended to be a life-long diet for me, I had no reason to really invest in trying more new recipes, so I just got through the last few days any way that I could.  If you're following me on Facebook, you also noticed that I would have cooked veggies from time to time.  I was shooting for 80% raw, but I think overall I averaged much higher than that, and those cooked veggies made a huge difference in my attitude, which also helped me get through some tough spots.

Even though I struggled towards the end, and need more variety from time to time, I would be super dumb not to continue at least some (most!) aspects of this Raw Vegan diet.  I just did too well on it to chuck it all together just because I got bored.  That would mean that I learned nothing these past two months. And it would mean that I prioritized my taste buds over my health. I hope to find a happy medium.

I did crave meats on occasion, which really surprised me. The first time I did a raw foods detox for 7 days, I was already repulsed at the thought of meat by day 4, so I actually expected to be even more opposed to meat by the end of this study.  I will add some animal proteins back in to my diet, unless my energy starts to wane, or my pH starts to stay in the acidic range again. I will have to play around with what amounts of Raw foods versus animal proteins I'll be able to consume, if any, in order to keep my energy levels and balanced pH, which are both more important to me than any number on the scale.

Speaking of the scale...I don't know why I decided to weigh myself every single day throughout these studies, but I AM SO GLAD TO BE DONE WITH THAT!  Phew. Sorry for yelling at you like that.  But seriously. The scale can make or break you.  On the days that I had "gained", I felt bad, even though I totally knew I had worked out a lot in the days before and that it was most likely muscle. So, weighing yourself every single day can be bad if you are easily affected.  I plan to go back to judging my success by how my jeans fit. :)

Here is my recap for key aspects tracked while on both diets. Please keep in mind this is how MY body reacted during these diets. I followed the diets as closely as possible and feel that this is an accurate representation of how a typical person would follow these programs, but I am not saying that everyone would react the same way I did. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT.

Paleo: lost 10 pounds
Raw: lost 7 pounds
Total: lost 17 pounds (total inches lost: 13.5)

Paleo: Starting pH 5.5, ending pH 5.5
Raw: Starting pH 5.5, ending pH 7.5
*Since I started tracking my pH about a year and a half ago, I've never seen it above 6.5, so the fact that the Raw diet helped me get to 7.5 is noteworthy.

Paleo: Body fat percentage lost, 0% (went up initially, then back down to starting %)
Raw: Body fat percentage down 6%
*these numbers are from my bathroom scale, which is not as accurate as other methods, but still shows an interesting pattern.

Paleo: Average energy was a 5/6 out of 10
Raw: Average energy was 8/9 out of 10

Paleo: Consistent constipation and other number 2 issues (as described in the final paleo blog)
Raw: Super normal, regular 2-3 times a day number 2's (never a single "problem poopy" ever!) ;)

What did I learn these past two months, besides the above numbers?

• Do not let anyone tell you that their way is the only way. Do not fall into the diet name game trap.  Once you start to follow a certain diet, the next step is to "fall off" that diet, feel like a failure, and repeat your old processes.  Once you stop following a plan, and start following your own instincts (and nature!) you will find what works for you. Are you feeling good?  Are you at or nearing your goals? Then you are NOT doing it wrong no matter what they say.

• I can do anything I put my mind to! What a great feeling! 

• I love food! Ok, I've already known that for years, but being able to fluctuate from high meat/no grains to all raw/no animal products is pretty amazing!  I found lovely foods that I truly enjoyed in both studies.  I am super thankful that I'm not a picky eater! 

• Veggies rock!!  No matter how you choose to eat, veggies should be THE NUMBER ONE thing to focus on.  Number one. Done. End of story.

• Paleo was more expensive than Raw.  But, keep in mind these few details: I followed Paleo based on protein three times a day/the size of your palm, which does not seem to be a strict paleo rule, so you may not buy as much as I did. Also, fruits and veggies are in season now. If I were to have done this study in February I most likely would have had a different outcome. I also chose to use a lot of nuts in my Raw study. They are freakishly expensive, and absolutely not mandatory for a successful Raw diet.

• I no longer feel compelled to find the perfect diet. I went in to this wanting to find answers to how to eat, and I believe I found those answers.  I believe that people can be healthy on a Paleo diet, and I obviously believe people can be healthy on a no meat diet. Some decisions are made for moral reasons, but if you are deciding what to eat just based on how you feel or look, learn to intuitively understand your body's needs and you will finally end the dieting roller coaster. Dieting doesn't work. I think we all know that by now.  Consistent, healthy life choices that you are comfortable with...those work.

So, the big question of the day, how will I eat from now on?  Well, my initial plan is to stay about 50% raw, mostly vegetarian, with an occasional animal protein thrown in there as I feel like having it.  I know that my diet before Paleo was somewhat higher in animal protein and lower in veggies than I'd like, and I know that the Paleo diet wasn't ideal for me, so to go back to that doesn't make sense.  I will start with a very heavy focus on organic veggies, more juicing, lots of salads, as much raw as I can possibly eat (there are many recipes from the Raw study that I will definitely keep using!), cooked grains, nuts/seeds, lots and lots of yummy fruit (I ain't afraid of no fruit!), and occasional meat and dairy.  But truly, if my pH or energy levels go drastically lower with this way of eating, I will return to a Raw Vegan diet until I am comfortable with dabbling again, if ever.

I would probably never have come to this conclusion had I not done this 30 day study. I strongly encourage everyone to do a 30 day study like this!  You will not believe how quickly it goes, or how quickly you retrain yourself with some new habits!  That's a win-win! If you don't have the energy you feel like you should have, keep looking for it! Life is too short to just suffer through fatigue. Typically there is a dietary fix for it, so start experimenting!  If you would like my assistance on conducting one of your own studies, please contact me and I'd be happy to work with you.

My wish is for each and every one of you to find a balance in your life. I feel like I have finally done that, and it feels amazing!  Keep searching for your best you....it might just be in the bottom of a green lemonade.  <3




**If you are interested in tracking your pH, I highly recommend these. I have used several brands and found these to be easiest to read and most accurate. I believe that at least finding out where your pH is gives you an idea of if your body is truly in a healthy state. If you're exercising regularly and eating a clean, whole foods diet, then you probably don't have to worry. But what if you're doing all of that and your pH is still low?  That is an indication that something is off in how your body is processing nutrients and eliminating toxins.  It's worth looking into, and if you're on the alkaline side of the scale, breathe easy. If you're more acidic, start tweaking your foods to see if anything helps.  Add more veggies. Limit meat for a few days. Drink more water. Exercise more. Eliminate grains. Cut out sugars. Anything you can think of that *might* be the culprit. If the pH improves, you'll know what to do.  I don't see this as anything other than just another gauge of health. Nothing to obsess over, but a tool to make sure you're as healthy as you think you are.

The Raw diet experiment: first half.

In case you missed the beginning of the diet study, I began with 30 days of Paleo.  You can check those blogs out HERE and HERE. Now, I am half way into the Raw vegan portion. I'm practicing an 80% or higher level of Raw foods, with no animal products. Here is my experience so far...

The Raw part of this diet study has gone extremely quickly for some reason. When I first thought of the idea of doing these studies I sort of freaked out at the thought of having my foods so strictly controlled (and monitored!) for 60 whole days!  But the time has really been a non-issue.  I get bored easily, so this is a huge plus.

As I stated earlier on in my diet study, I am a blood type A+ and really wanted to see if the Blood Type Diet held any truth for me.  According to that book, I should do really well on a vegan/vegetarian diet.  But, I actually did well on Paleo, technically, if you only look at weight lost.  Losing ten pounds in one month is a pretty good chunk. Typically it is recommended you lose only 1-2 pounds per week, and I lost more than that.  But as I said in my Paleo review, I was tired a lot and didn't feel like exercising, and my pH was not improving. I guess that makes it a toss up.

I actually did a Raw diet detox for 7 days back in March for school. I was unbelievably grumpy the entire time.  Completely irrational and miserable.  This didn't exactly make me overly anxious to follow the Raw diet for 30 whole days, but I was still curious to see how my body would react.  The first few days I did experience some withdrawal symptoms, which surprised me. I had gone through several days of withdrawal on Paleo and didn't think I'd have anything else to withdrawal from!  But, apparently I did. Headaches, fatigue and bloating happened almost immediately.  By day 2, I was starting to see some new energy though and even went for a run, which is unheard of for me.  It's been years since I have been able to run, let alone wanted to.  Not only did I run that day, but I also swam and went for a bike ride.

Sadly, the next few days brought more fatigue.  I was starting to think something must be seriously wrong with me if nothing I was doing made me feel more energetic.  But, I kept following the diet and hoping for the best.

My weight was still coming down steadily (four more pounds lost in the first week) and my body fat (according to my bathroom scale) was also coming down, both good signs, I thought.

Then on day 9, I headed to Michigan to visit a friend. I knew I would have a little cooked food while I was there, but planned to stay vegan and mostly Raw.  I did pretty well most of the day but our evening meal consisted of some sushi and half of a cookie.  I paid the price for that meal. Oy.  I found this interesting, since as I stated in my final Paleo blog that I had no stomach issues on day 30 of Paleo after eating some pizza and breadsticks.  It could have just been bad food, or maybe Raw is changing my digestion even further. Time will tell!

I got right back on the Raw train the next day and by day 12 my pH was up to 6.5. This was still on the acidic side, but was a welcome improvement. My weight has gone up a bit from what I lost in the beginning of Raw, but, more importantly, my energy was really picking up.  Since day 12 my energy has been through the roof!  I wake up looking forward to working out, and excited to see how I can push myself. Before and during Paleo I never looked forward to working out. Sure, I went ahead and MADE myself work out, but excited for it?  No way.

So, if you only look at weight loss as a way to determine a diet's success, then the Raw diet is a big ol' failure for me so far!  However, if your energy level, pH level, fitness level and mood factor into your successful diet, then this is by far the best one I've ever been on. Funny how that works.

Here are some additional thoughts and notes:
I was off all junk, plus dairy, sugar and grains for 30 days on Paleo, so this energy could technically be residual effects from that. However, it does seem strange that those effects happened to take place two days into Raw, and not in the last days of Paleo.

I have added grains back in pretty regularly with the Raw diet. Either through soaking or cooking them, or simply in my protein shakes, and I have had zero issues. I never felt like I had issues with grains before, but it is nice to know that they aren't a problem now.  I do believe some people truly cannot digest grains, maybe short term, maybe for the rest of their lives, but it's worth going grain free just to see where you stand on that issue.

My pH is better, but still not great.  It could take a while for it to get up in the 7.2-8 range, but it's definitely headed in the right direction, and I'm very happy about that.

I had really weird cravings for thousand island dressing and fried green tomatoes. I can't even tell you the last time I had either of those things, let alone craved them.  Thankfully I found raw and/or vegan options for both of those!

Cashews are my boyfriend.

Meat does not repulse me the way it did on the first 7 day detox, in fact occasionally I have found myself staring at it longingly once or twice.  I'm not a natural born vegan and I just came off a 3x/day meat diet, so cut me some slack.  ;)

Overall, I am super happy with the way this is going.  I can't wait to see how the next two weeks unfold!

Here are some of my very favorite recipes for the Raw diet so far:
Sour cream
Macaroni and cheese
Avocado Fries
Kelp noodle pad thai
Thousand Island
Walnut taco meat
Raw caramels
Raw cacao puffs
Mimi Kirk's Caesar salad (parmesan recipe too)
Raw vegan macaroons

And my favorite Green Lemonade juice:
4-5 stalks of kale
1 head of romaine
1-2 lemons
2 apples (I like using one gala and one fuji)
1 small slice fresh ginger




*For those of you wondering how my O+ friend Addie is doing on her side of this study, she struggled during Paleo a bit, lost 5 pounds, and was hungry quite often. There are other factors that could be triggering that hunger, and, unfortunately, she had a personal tragedy that will delay her start of Raw until August. I will continue to update you on how she's doing, as I do believe that her experience will show an interesting part of the study. If nothing else, it shows that each individual is unique in their nutritional needs and should not get caught up in dietary games of what exactly we need to consume to be healthy. It also shows that life carries on, and we deal with circumstances as best we can and hope we turn back around and are stronger for our experiences.  <3

The end of the Paleo-rific era

If you missed the first half of my Paleo diet study experiment, check this out first! 

The last two days of my Paleo experiment certainly didn't go as planned.  On Friday, the 29th day, a huge, crazy storm swept through my area and blew out power in over 80,000 homes, ours included.  So, appropriately, my caveman study ended without electricity.  In fact, we didn't get our electricity back until 3 days later.  We are fortunate enough to have a gas stove, so we were able to cook some things, but we were very limited with our options.  I made the best choices I could those final days, but ultimately on the last day, I ate whatever was easiest.  This included a few "off-paleo" healthy things, like quinoa pasta, and a few not healthy under most circumstances things like pizza and bread sticks.  Sure, I could have picked the meat off, or just made a salad, but there were other more important things to focus on, and frankly I didn't think one day would make a major difference in the grand scheme of the entire study.

But, here's the interesting part.  Prior to doing the Paleo study, I ate a pretty clean diet. Sure, I ate a lot of baked goods and super heavy, creamy, cheesy things, but I made them all from scratch. I used organic unbleached flours, organic cane sugar, organic creams, I avoided gluten where possible, never drank sodas, rarely ate fast food, etc, etc, so while the calorie load wasn't ideal, I certainly could have eaten way worse than I did.  Ironically though, on weekends when we would have our one meal out at a restaurant (or carry out pizza, as usually was the case), I *always* got an upset stomach. Every. Single. Time.  It was like clockwork. I just assumed this was because of my clean eating during the week.  Maybe the grease overload, or the preservatives in the foods didn't agree with my normal way of eating.

Here's where it gets weird.  On Paleo, I ate even cleaner!  And I ate this way for 29 whole days!  You'd think that eating that pizza would have made me completely keel over in pain. But I felt nothing!  For the first time in forever I had no tummy issues after eating out.  I honestly have no idea what that means. My only thought is that perhaps my gut healed and now I can tolerate other things better?  Your guess is as good as mine, but it is definitely fascinating to me.

As for the basics, I lost 10 pounds during the 30 days. I attribute this to a few things.  First, I was carrying enough extra weight that any dramatic change in eating would have triggered this weight loss, and by cutting out the grains/dairy/sugar, I cut out a huge chunk of what I used to eat.  So, I don't necessarily give credit to the Paleo diet specifically, but the Paleo diet is a very clean way of eating. And, I didn't cheat, which of course would help make any diet a success.

Keeping in mind that weight loss should not be the only factor to determine a successful diet plan, I kept track of other factors as well. I knew I wanted to monitor pH levels, as mine have been in the basement for quite a long time, and I want to see it up in the lovely green shades of alkalinity.   My urine pH level did not really budge at all while on Paleo. It would go from 5.0 to 5.5 mostly, which is very acidic. Maybe it got to 6.0 two or three times, but would be back down to 5.5 the next morning. (for reference, early morning urine pH should be 7.2 or higher) By day 28 I had lost hope of any lasting alkalinity occurring, however, it may just take longer than 30 days to reflect that kind of change. I also know that for some people, a paleo diet has actually improved their pH levels, so this is just my experience only, and may not be true for all.

According to my home scale, my body fat percentage went up quite a bit in the initial days of the diet. I am not even remotely going to consider listing my actual numbers, but it went up a whole percentage in the first 4 days, then very slowly went back down to where it started by day 30. In other words, I never lost any body fat on this diet, if my scale is accurate.

My energy level was ok.  I cannot say that I ever felt unbelievably good. Most of my notes have "super tired today" on them. There were two times during the entire 30 days where I actually wanted to exercise.  And, most notably, when I did a lower body workout using weights, I was very sore for two days, and so tired that I had to go to bed at 8:00 one night.  It was like my body shut down to recover.  I have never had that happen before. And yes, I was getting plenty of protein.

This is where the TMI comes in, so skip this paragraph if you don't want to know about my bodily functions, mmmmkay?  I will spare you all the gory details, but during these 30 days I have had more "number 2" issues than any other time in my life.  From too often/runny and burning to not enough/hard and painful.  Most days were somewhat normal, but the abnormal days made this experiment less than fun. I tried to adjust my fiber intake to fix things, but other than that I couldn't see why I was having so many difficulties.

Other things that I noticed while on the Paleo diet:
After about day 4, I never had much of an appetite. Some days I had to force myself to eat.

My hair seemed to be falling out much more than normal.

I really didn't crave anything. I never missed grains even once, which was interesting to me.  I did miss dairy on occasion, but dealt with that by making alternatives like cashew sour cream or banana "ice cream". On the 25th day of the study, I did have some unbelievable cravings and fatigue.  I went to bed early and woke up the next day feeling refreshed. I had gotten up to pee 4 times during the night, and was down 1.5 pounds that morning. It may have been some kind of detox, but the energy I felt that day was short lived. I was back to feeling pretty tired the rest of the study.

Overall, I am not against recommending the Paleo diet to a client, necessarily.  While I certainly don't feel it is for me, and that it's probably too strict and difficult to sustain for most people, it could be beneficial for certain people who are very intolerant to grains.  The best part of Paleo, versus the old-school high protein diets, is the emphasis on veggies and extremely high quality meat choices. If you're thinking about going Paleo, do your research and save your pennies. It could very well be worth it to you!

I am in the middle of the Raw diet portion of the study, and I can say this....it's quite a different experience!  I can't wait to share that part of it soon!   Stay tuned...

A Raw Vegan 4th of July!

I've been on one hundred diets in my life, give or take, and many of them have crossed paths with a holiday. I almost never, ever deny myself a chance to be gluttenous at holiday parties, however. I am a baker at heart and that's when my best stuff gets created, after all.  But, this time was different. I am doing a "legit" diet study and wanted to show that I could in fact get through a holiday without going off my rocker. (or needing to wear the fat pants!)

So, off to a 4th of July party I went with my watermelon cake and caesar salad.  Wait.  Did I just say cake and casesar salad?  Those aren't raw or vegan, are they?  Well, my versions were!  Let's start with the cake.

I got the inspiration for this cake from Raw Food Rehab on Facebook. They had posted a similar watermelon cake and it was the perfect idea for me.  Like I said, I love LOVE to bake, and am usually the person who brings the dessert, so this could not have been a better choice.

Before making it, I googled "how to make a watermelon cake." Big mistake.  All the links lead to real cakes made to look like a watermelon. So, I got more detailed: "How to make a cake out of watermelon."  That did the trick.  I found a youtube video demonstrating how to assemble one.  She busted out a ruler, and a sharpie, and some special saw and I just laughed to myself,  "That's taking it a bit far, don't ya think?"  

So, I headed to my kitchen, got out my normal chef's knife, started slicing the watermelon and promptly realized why she went all Type A on that melon.  Watermelon is tricky to cut in perfect circles, yo.  My slices were all kinds of wonky.  And then trying to get flat slices was like when you cut your bangs yourself, and you're all "I'm just going to even this side up a bit.  Now this other side needs tweaked just a bit." And next thing you know you're bald.  Yeah. Like that.  I started with a ten inch thick slice and next thing I know it's too small and I had to cut another one.  

I was also planning on covering up any rough edges with a whipped coconut cream, but that was a big FAIL too. It never got firm enough to whip. I don't know if it was the brand, or if I didn't leave it in the refrigerator long enough, but I was bummed.  It's pretty typical for something to go wrong every time I make a cake.  The cake is too crumbly, or part of it breaks off when it to a plate...but at least with "real" cakes I know that I can use my trusty buttercream to cover up any errors.  So when the coconut cream failed too, I started to get nervous.  But, toothpicks saved the day.  There were a gazillion toothpicks holding all that fruit on, but at least it looked good!  I saved the coconut cream and we just spooned it over the melon slices.  A perfect combo and no one knew the difference. 

I do not, however, recommend travelling long distances while transporting this cake. Not that I was crazy enough to do that or anything.

Yummy Veggies! Not pictured: 3 huge slices of
tomato and a gigantic dollop of fresh guacamole!

And then I made Mimi Kirk's Raw Vegan Caesar Salad. I was super skeptical at first. I'm not sure why. Maybe, I don't know....the lack of cheese and anchovies?  Just a guess.  Sorry for doubting you, Mimi!  This was a huge hit! And it was a very simple recipe. I had almost all of the ingredients on hand, except capers, but luckily my husband doesn't mind running all over town for me and my random, last minute recipes.

Her recipe can be found here. I can't wait to make this again!  The cashew parmesan cheese was the best part, and it makes plenty so you have left overs for things like raw spaghetti, or just to sprinkle on a salad.

At the party, my friend, the hostess, had prepared a few special raw foods for me, so I had plenty to eat!  My plate, pictured right, was full of lovely veggies and I didn't feel overly full for the first time at a holiday party.  I also was not jealous or resentful of not being able to eat the rest of the foods.  All of mine were so tasty that it really didn't even cross my mind.


So many options exist for vegetable preparation. I hope my Raw journey, at the very least, inspires you all to try eating more veggies!  

The Paleo diet experiment: first half.

** If you’re just now joining me, here is a brief primer of the diet research study I’m doing for fun. (Yeah, I don’t get out much): I am a blood type A+, my friend Addie is a blood type O+.  In order to test the blood type diet theory, as well as to experiment with two of the most popular diets currently being touted today, Paleo and Vegan, we embarked on a two month diet trial.  Both of us will follow the Paleo diet for 30 days, and then we will both follow a Raw vegan diet for 30 days. During this time we will track our progress in weight, energy, and health changes as well as monitor our pH levels to see how each diet affects us individually.  According to the Blood Type Diet (Dr. D’adamo), I should do great on the Raw vegan diet, and Addie should do best on the Paleo diet.  Stay tuned.

So, here I am at day 15 of the Paleo portion of my crazytown experiment.  I honestly don’t know how I got here.  Three hours after I started this portion of the study, I was over it. I wondered what I had gotten myself into, and how to get myself out of it. But, I stuck it out. I mean, it was just DAY ONE. Surely, I was strong enough to get through one day.  But then, day two came and I felt the same. I started to daydream about running away to a foreign country. Maybe no one would notice!  Or, maybe I could fake an allergy to cavemen. No, these weren’t rational thoughts, but I was desperate.

As I scrambled my pastured eggs and fried up my grass fed bacon, I plotted more ways to get out of this unbelievably horrible….wait.  Did I just say that I’m *allowed*, no ENCOURAGED, to eat eggs and bacon?  BACON?!  And, I’m complaining because..??? Well, let’s not look at those details just yet. Let’s focus on what I couldn’t have, because that’s ultimately what was irritating me the most.  Here is a list of the NO’s on the Paleo diet:

NO sweeteners of any kind (except stevia)(which is gross)

NO dairy

NO grains

NO beans or other legumes (this includes peanuts/peanut butter, people!  PEANUT BUTTER!)

NO white potatoes

NO corn or corn products

NO corn oil, safflower oil, vegetable oil

NO alcohol

Maybe at first glance you think, “Eh, what’s the big deal? It’s a short list.”  And that’s true.  The NO list for Paleo is much shorter than the YES list. However, we as a society have come to rely on the NO list.  Think about your last meal.  Was it Mexican Food? Grains, corn, dairy.  Was it Indian?  Grains, dairy. Was it Italian? Grains, dairy.  Was it Chinese? Japanese?  Grains, grains, grains.  Was it good?  Probably had grains, corn, dairy AND sugar in it!

I love to cook. I am a master at opening up my cabinet/refrigerator/freezer and “winging” a perfectly healthy and tasty meal any night of the week.  But, all of my staples were taken away from me and I had to sort of learn how to cook all over again.  In the fantastic documentary FRESH, there is a quote that pretty much sums this up: “Americans fear only one thing: Inconvenience.” And I was pretty inconvenienced. I had to second guess every. single. ingredient. I would grab cayenne pepper and stop and ask myself, “Wait, did the cavemen eat cayenne pepper?”  Thank GOD for Google!  So, on and on it went for about a week until I finally got my groove back.

The cost of a Paleo diet is also high if you follow the protocol that I am following, which is protein at every meal, about the size of your palm, all from grass fed/grass finished or pastured animals. Eating a high quality meat is a key factor in Paleo, and one that I am 100% behind. Don’t eat cheap meat. You get what you pay for. I am also finding out that most people who say that they are Paleo are really just a modified version of Paleo.  So, if you’re contemplating following a Paleo diet and are worried about the cost, don’t be.  You can simply eat less meat, or skip meat once in a while; it’s up to you and your wallet to decide that one. 

After researching “paleo” recipes on the internet in an effort to get a pizza fix, I quickly realized that most of these recipes call for some kind of sweetener and dairy.  Many so called Paleo recipes were not really Paleo at all!  They were just grain free, which apparently is the primary concern for cavemen wannabes. So, again, if you’re considering this way of eating, you may not have to suffer as I am, since it seems you can have dairy and maple syrup/honey from time to time without being considered rogue. Believe me, it makes all the difference in the world. But, if you have it in you, I highly recommended doing a strict Paleo diet for a few weeks, if not 30 days, just to check in with your body and see how it does without the dairy and sugars. 

Well, so back to my main point…after I realized that I was grumpy about a diet that allowed me to eat eggs and bacon, it kind of helped me get through day 2.  I started to focus on what I COULD have (always a good idea), and I started to get the hang of the ins and outs of the diet. Of course I was having major withdrawal symptoms from my daily consumption of caffeine, organic cane sugar in my tea, dairy, and grains.  These symptoms were clouding my thoughts and draining my energy, so I pretty much just slept through days 3 and 4.  I had zero energy!  None.  I also was hungry constantly. My pH levels were in the toilet. Literally.  Did I mention that I was grumpy?

But thankfully day 5 brought a much brighter, and lighter, me.  I had dropped 5 pounds by then, and was starting to get my energy back. It was still not enough energy to exercise though, which was bumming me out, but at least I wasn’t sleepy anymore. However, over the last few days I’ve had a lot more energy and even managed to catch a class at my favorite yoga place, Pranayoga. I can’t even say how much I needed that, both mentally and physically.  I knew I wanted to incorporate yoga during this diet study as a way to help cleanse my body but also to gain some mental focus. My muscles were sore the next day, and were a gentle reminder that I need to use them more! 

I can’t say that the Paleo diet is the one for me, or not, just yet. But, I have become much more conscious of what I eat, and it is helping me as a nutritionist to understand what my clients might go through, as well as what aspects I want to continue to focus on after the diet is over. I think anyone who struggles with food or their weight needs to get themselves into a 30 day diet challenge just to put a perspective on how food works with their body.  

I came into nutrition school feeling as though there was only one way for people to eat and I was determined to be that person who finally discovered the secret. But, now, after tons of reading, research, and personal experience, I realize that each person has a diet that is right for them. Almost like a fingerprint, we are each unique in our nutritional needs as well.  I hope to be able to educate people to learn to listen to their inner nutritionist so that they can intuitively understand the right foods to eat.  Eating healthy shouldn’t be such a challenge.  I mean, if a caveman could do it…

If you’d like to follow my daily meals and other fun informative nutrition tips, please like my page on Facebook at Whole to Healthy!

Rethinking and renewing: The Raw experiment

Well, last week was FASCINATING!! I learned at least 8 billion things during the raw food cleanse, but I'll only cover a few, cuz I know y'all are busy.
First off. I like food.  No, I didn't learn that during the detox. I've always known that. And anyone who knows me already knows that too!  I sincerely love *all* food though, which sets me apart from most people. I am an equal opportunity veggie lover. I don't look at eating veggies as a punishment. And I can find joy in a gluten free, agave sweetened banana cake as much as I can a triple chocolate mousse cake with ganache frosting.  I'm very thankful for that because eating Raw would put most people's taste buds to the test. Don't get me wrong, everything I ate was good (well, except for that one beet salad) but eating pine nut date caramels or sour cream made from cashews takes some adventurous taste buds.
As you already know, the raw foods detox started as a requirement for my detox and digestion class at school, and needed to be done before this month was over. I could have just stopped there and spared you all those 7 days of agony, er, I mean, enlightenment, but decided to turn it into ONE GIANT EXPERIMENT.
I am not going to go into the details of how the detox went just yet, but I will post that after I've done my report for school. I will, however, share with you the original plan, as well as how I am going to tweak it a bit after what I've learned this week.
Originally, my good friend Addie and I had planned on doing the raw foods diet for 30 days and then doing an almost polar opposite diet, Paleo/Primal, for another 30 days after that.  The plan was to take pH levels, weight, measurements, cravings…pretty much anything and everything we could think of to track how we each handled these opposing diets.  Addie is an O+ blood type, one that according to Dr. D'Adamo, author of the somewhat controversial Blood Type diet book, should do fantastically well on a Paleo/Primal diet.  I, conversely, am an A+ blood type and should do amazingly well on a vegan/vegetarian diet (such as the raw diet) and do horribly on the high protein/low carb plans.  I was curious if this theory would hold up, but also for my own personal nutritionally inquisitive mind, just wanted to see what would happen.
However, after 7 days of eating raw I was realizing that now was just not the time to do the entire 30 days.  First of all, if you live in the Midwest you'll understand this, fresh fruits and veggies right now are SO EXPENSIVE!  If I just wait a month or two, I'll practically be able to walk out my back door and grab some. Farmer's markets will be on every block. And, most importantly, I will be able to support local farms!   
I also learned that it would be best to do this when there aren't as many real-life duties calling my name, such as getting kids to school in a timely manner.  I want them to like me. And last week was putting that to the test!
And, I learned that I should never do a detox at the same time as my spouse.  Never. Ever.
So, waiting a month or two while continuing my normal clean-eating plan, then resuming our experiment during a more relaxed time (when school is out!) and much more economical time (summer produce!) seems to make much more sense.
Finally, after watching the super amazing documentary, Average Joe on the Raw, I saw how I want my life to be. I want *that* level of energy and health.  And after just a few days on the raw diet I was having a hard time picturing myself ever eating meat again, let alone a high meat-based protein diet, and wasn't sure I'd be able to even do the Paleo/Primal part of the experiment. So this time around, we'll start with the Paleo/Primal and then go to Raw...just in case.  ;)
I also learned a few tricks from the movie that will help me make the most of this experiment.  I'll share those as the time is right.  But for now, you'll have to wait in suspense.
So in the meantime, I am going to continue posting healthy recipes like before, and promoting good nutrition advice and articles as I see fit. 
Thanks to everyone for your messages and comments of support!  I can't wait to resume this experiment and get you all involved again!  
If there are any other people who want to join in with us on this experiment, please message me!  It would be fun to see how different people react on these two diets. What can I say, I'm a science geek!  <3