My Raw Food Adventure: A Recap

Are you guys tired of hearing about my month of raw yet? Well, this is the last post about it, I promise!

Yesterday was officially my last day of eating raw and guess what I ate for breakfast today?  Tempt Ice Cream! I am a complete maniac. Needless to say my stomach hurt for a good portion of the day. What is wrong with me? (By the way, the ice cream was delicious.)

What I Learned

30 days of raw food taught me to really value persistence and willpower. Every single day I was tortured with the possibility of warm hearty food.( Burritos… I heard you calling my name.)  I literally took one day at a time and sometimes even one hour at a time. This made me realize the power that I let food have over me.

Needless to say, food is an important part of my life. I cherish it and enjoy it’s nurturing goodness. I relish in the occasional goodie or not-so-good-for-you meal. But never did I realize how much I let food and the idea of it control me. Sadly enough, in 30 days my willpower failed me a few times, but all in all I am proud of my accomplishment and would endorse a raw diet to just about everyone.

The Benefits

Weight loss – My intention of doing a raw food adventure was not to lose weight, but it was an added bonus! I lost a great deal of weight the first 2 weeks – 8 lbs to be exact. I was kind of nervous because I didn’t want to shed too much weight. I love my muscles and curves! But my body knew exactly what to do and after I lost those initial pounds everything regulated and I remained (and still remain) at this ideal weight. This was quite amazing considering the fact that I was consuming at least 2,000 + calories a day.

Mental clarity – My thoughts were extra clear and I felt an increased sense of well-being. I would fade in and out of “zen” moments. This was all very nice and unexpected. I didn’t realize how scattered my thoughts were until they were calm and collected.

Energy – I had tons of energy! I kicked ass at the gym and in aerial class. I didn’t have bouts of sleepiness or “crashes” during the day anymore. I also needed less sleep. Unfortunately this was not a constant occurance during the end of the month. (See: “the pitfalls”)

Lightness – It might have been the weight loss or the extra energy, but I felt incredibly light during my time eating raw. I’m not really sure how else to explain it, but my body and mind felt light and airy.

Bye bye PCOS – Remember when I said that something really exciting was happening? Well, almost all of my PCOS symptoms disappeared during the last month. For those of you unfamiliar, PCOS (short for Polcystic Ovarian Syndrome ) is an endocrine disorder. It is closely related to female infertility, diabetes, obesity and a long list of other symptoms and side effects. I initially cut gluten out of my diet to control the symptoms of PCOS and that worked really, really well. However during this month I noticed that many of my annoying symptoms like hair growth, cramps, and breakouts completely disappeared.  I really believe that if I keep eating gluten free and high raw that I can naturally get my period again! (I haven’t had my period naturally in a few years… don’t be jealous, you actually start to miss it at a certain point.)

Bye Bye Migraines – I typically get 6-7 migraines a month. The type of migraines I get leave me in bed for hours and sometimes whole days. This past month I had 2. And I was able to take an Excedrin, a nap and get on with my day. This fact alone makes me want to be raw all the time!

The pitfalls

Weakness – Towards the end of the month I started to have “funky spells” where I would feel light-headed and weak. Some people suggested that I might have been detoxing. It also may have been completely irrelevant to my raw diet.  I’m not sure what it was, but it was not fun!

Constant cravings – {insert KD Lang joke here} I was constantly craving non-raw foods. Even food that I didn’t typically eat anyway. These cravings continued for the whole…entire…month.  This was totally due to my personal food addictions/obsessions.

Not enough diversity – After a while, everything started to taste the same. After two weeks my tastebuds started to get a little bored.  It might be because I was not exploring enough diverse foods or recipe But is could also be because there is only so much you can do with veggies and nuts!

Future Plans

I am so happy I completed The Raw Food Adventure. I think that it helped me grow and come to grips with my food hang-ups and obsessions. It also helped me become more in tune with my body and what it needs. I am now able to easily feel my blood sugar rise and fall and then eat accordingly. Pretty cool!

From here on out I am planning on eating high raw, gluten free and alkaline (80/20). I would like to avoid refined/processed foods, soy, sugar, and caffeine. My main goal is to eat to cure my PCOS and get the hormones in my body regulated on their own. I really feel like I am on the right path. However, I do know that I am human and really love food (and sweets!). I am not going to beat myself up about slipping up and having unhealthy food once in a while. What is the point of eating crap unless you can enjoy it?