Veg-Fit Wellness
  • Welcome

My journey to Vedgedom: Raw food cleanse, part 4

7/5/2015

Comments

 
The first time that I heard about raw food was through a casual acquaintance who tried it for a few days. It was about a year later that I ended up trying it out for myself. I did the typical thing and searched the web for YouTube videos and websites for information. I started following some of the popular raw foodists on YouTube for inspiration. I decided that I would keep things simple and start off slowly integrating raw foods into my daily routine. 

My goal was to be 100% raw for 30 days.

In order to reach that goal I created a prep plan that would ease me in to eating 100% raw. My plan was to gradually introduce more and more raw foods into my diet to the point where I was replacing my cooked/processed meals with raw meals.

Breakfast

Picture
Breakfast: I started out making fruit/veggie smoothies and eating mono meals (making a meal out of one type of fruit/veggie)

My favorites smoothie: 4-5 Bananas, 1 cup frozen pineapple, handful of spinach, coconut water  (about 530-630kcal)

My favorite mono meal: 5-6 Ataulfo mango (about 535-645kcal)



As I progressed I added more fruits and veg to my smoothies. I learned the hard way that I needed about 600-750 calories to be satisfied. I originally started off only using 2 bananas but I ended up starving an hour later because that amount did not provide me enough calories.

Snacks

Picture
The amount of these snacks varied. On average I was consuming about 2 cups worth or fruit/veg.

Carrot sticks
Guacamole 
Apples and dates
Grapes 


Lunch

Picture
During the first week of my prep I consumed a raw breakfast and snacks during that time I consumed cooked lunch and dinner. During the second week I transitioned from a cooked lunch to consuming half raw and the half cooked/processed for lunch and a cooked dinner.  

My favorite transition meal: 1 cup soup and a veggie sandwich with hummus and/or avocado
(sometimes I went to subway and bought a 12 inch veggie delight on wheat with no cheese and extra veggies) 

After the second week of fully raw breakfast, half raw/half cooked lunch and cooked dinner I transitioned to fully raw lunch and half raw/half cooked dinner.

My favorite raw lunch: Fresh watermelon/cucumber juice with ginger (pictured top left) and zucchini pasta salad (inspired by Susan Voisin of Fat Free Vegan Kitchen) 



Dinner

Picture
During week three I was consuming a fully raw breakfast, fully raw lunch and half raw/half cooked dinner.

My favorite transition meal: grilled veggies, guacamole and pico de gallo lettuce wraps,  and  a salad.

My favorite raw meal: Giant salad, with spinach, romaine lettuce, raisins, mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds, jalapeno, red onion, etc with a balsamic vinaigrette 

On week four I transitioned my half/raw and half cooked dinner to fully raw. The end of that fourth week for my prep marked the beginning of my raw food cleanse which I maintained for 30 days.

What I learned

PictureI tried different types of fruit and vegetables that I never would have tried otherwise.
Physically my body went through several changes. There were times when I felt sick or had headaches and breakouts but that was due to my body ridding itself of all the toxicity and trying to heal the damage that I have caused to myself over the years.
Most people want to quit after the first sign of being uncomfortable...don't quit. 

I pooped out a lot of intestinal buildup.


I wasn't camping out in the bathroom with explosive diarrhea or anything but I pooped more frequently and a lot of weird stuff came out (weird stuff? o_O ) ...yeah. It was an experience but well worth it.

My skin transformed into hydrated and balanced perfection. My oily t-zone balanced out and my large pores and blackheads almost vanished. I was amazed because I have always had issues with my skin.

I learned that it takes time for the body to adjust to the increased amount of fiber. I would feel full after eating 2 bananas for breakfast (about 200kcal) and then wonder why I was starving an hour later. 200 calories is definitely not enough to sustain me for a meal, I felt like I was going to die! I had to figure out the calories through trial and error. I used cronometer to keep track of my calorie consumption.

I learned that it took about 600-750 calories for me to be satisfied for a meal. Sometimes my caloric needs increased depending on my level of activity for that day. I consumed an average of 2500 calories. I did not restrict my calories, I ate as much fruit and veg as I wanted until I was full. 
I lost 10-15 pounds. However, weight loss was not my goal, I already maintained a healthy weight and I exercised regularly...the weight-loss just happened due to the dietary changes. This occurred over the course of 2 months (my prep phase and the active phase of the cleanse)


Mono meals are awesome!



I ended up consuming mono meals for breakfast and lunch during the active phase of my cleanse, it was easy for very convenient and delicious! 



Water is still important! I drank a bottle of water as soon as I woke up. I tried to drink about a gallon of water per day.






Conclusion

During the process of this cleanse I was doing all of the research that I mentioned in part 1, 2, and 3 of this series. I made the decision to become vegan towards the end of my cleanse. Although I already made the decision to stop consuming dairy products before this cleanse, I never intended to stop eating animal flesh...it just happened. I could not ignore all of the articles, test studies and documentaries and the Dr. Klaper's Food that Kills presentation sealed the deal for me. The cleanse prepared me in a way that I did not realize at the time. Since I hadn't eaten any meat or dairy while on the cleanse my body had worked out a lot of those addictive cravings I had for meat and I truly believe it is the reason why my first steps into veganism were successful. There was still a lot that I had to learn then and I am still learning now, three years later. I will continue to reflect on my journey to vedgedom and share my experiences here. There is a lot more to being  vegan, vegetarian and plant-based than just eating a bunch of fruits and vegetables. It is a mindset. It is an effort towards food justice and environmental change. 

What are your thoughts on a raw food detox?  Have you ever tried it?

Have you thought about or attempted transitioning to vegan, vegetarian or plant-based? 


~"Be Veg. Get Fit. Live Well."~
      Jessica Ivory Sutton
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    July 2017
    June 2017
    September 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Welcome