day 2.

--green shake
--escarole (a bitter green) cooked with garlic, tomatoes and a splash of olive oil.
--a baked apple (with a drizzle of both maple syrup and olive oil plus some cinnamon and cardamom)
--a salad (cucumber, lettuce, ginger dressing) and half of a peach, raspberry, mango smoothie (thanks joanne!)
--a banana with almond butter (~2T)
--some red pepper hummus with some sliced tomato. some more salad: mixed greens with dried cranberries, walnuts, and apples; also another one with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and 2 small pieces of smoked salmon.
--a plum

Gym: 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer; Daily show.

Psyllium: Oh yes I did. About 1 tsp. mixed with apple juice. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I ate lots of greens today, but it's really hard to feel full without protein. I decided to have a little bit of smoked salmon and it was really good. The hummus also helped, but it was very hard to eat it without the delicious pieces of grilled bread and pita it was served with. My friend also had a box of cookies from an Italian bakery, but I did not partake.

For once in my life, self control was the victor here. I really want a cupcake.

day 1.

I actually didn't eat very much today and I was fine all day, but once evening came around I was totally insatiable. Weird.

--green shake (I enjoy this raw delicacy all year round. Highly recommended.)
--a pear
--a salad (mizuna, radishes, green pepper, 2T sunflower seeds); a half of a beet, sliced, raw.
--a banana with almond butter (2-3T)
--half of an apple
--small handful of dried fruit
--a cup of detox tea (I have no idea what this means, but I found it in my desk drawer at work)

***
Update:
--an apple
--more almond butter (a lot)

As I mentioned, although I was fine for most of the day, around 9pm or so I became insatiably hungry! I kept looking around for something to eat, but there wasn't much. I think the big problem is that I'm craving protein. I like nuts and nut butters, but I wish there was a better way to get my protein in without so much fat.
***


I went a little heavier on the fruit today than I meant to, but I feel good and still got some greens in, so I'm happy. As evidenced by today, I'll still be eating plenty of raw food; I'm just not limiting myself to it.

Generally, when I'm on the raw, I consume mostly fruit and nuts. This leads me to burning out quickly and feeling shitty right away. One of the reasons I've decided to include cooked food in my detox is that there are a lot of vegetables I don't love raw, which limits the variety of my diet. This time around I want to make sure I'm eating lots of green stuff instead of pounding banana after banana.

Also, I did officially weigh in today. I'm a little embarrassed to post my weight here, but I promise to report on weight fluctuation. You'll know if I go up or down, just not where I started from. I plan on going to the gym as often as possible, since I've been slacking on the exercise front lately. I spent about 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer today, thanks to John Stewart and the Daily Show.

One more thing: I've already had an amazing bowel movement, if you can believe it. I'm not sure if it's just coincidence or not, but this only reaffirms my love of fiber. Haven't decided if I'll be taking psyllium or not. Check back tomorrow.

Raw, modified. (aka, cooked.)

So.

I'm back. Sort of.

I thought it was just about time for me to detox before winter reared its ugly head, causing me to gorge on nothing but dairy and carbs until the spring thaw. Somehow it comforts me to cleanse and prove to myself that I can break my addiction to these things briefly before I succumb all winter long.

This time however, my plan is slightly different. I've actually been reading a lot about nutrition these days, and if I've learned anything, it's that modern science is far less knowledgeable about the field than it lets on. What we do know, and what I believe, is that we eat a lot of processed foods and sugar in this part of the world, and that stuff just isn't good for us.

I've admitted before that the raw diet has more than its fair share of quackery, however, it also necessarily omits any substance that is of questionable nutritional value, and instead focuses on non-processed, whole foods that are unarguably good for us; greens, vegetables, fruit and nuts. It is also very, very tedious.

So this time around, I've decided to embrace the foods the comprise the raw diet, but, well, cook them a little. Cooking food may or may not (depending on who you ask) suck away the life-force and nutritional benefits in our food, OR, it may actually make our food healthier, by making its vitamins and such easier for our bodies to access. I'm not going to get into that debate here. Instead, I am going to try my own detox plan. I am going to limit my diet to only foods that I would eat while raw, but ease up the rules on preparation. We'll see what happens.

I'll be doing this for as long as I can, but my goal is 2-4 weeks. I don't expect that this will be much easier on my social life than raw, but I'll do my best to stick to my plan and eat in public if the occasion arises. All details will be chronicled here. As always, I welcome comrades in my quest for digestive purity. As always, do NOT fucking offer me a cookie.

And away we go.