Going Raw Postmortem
Going raw is one of the best and hardest things I’ve done. It was the cravings mainly, because your body/brain tries to trick you all the time, whispering things like “Noone will know.” and “Just one bit won’t hurt.” It didn’t take so much willpower as much as dedication. I really wanted to be healthy far more than I wanted junk food.
The main benefits though were the increased energy and the overall feeling of health. The energy wasn’t bursting out of me like a sugar rush, it was much like a vast background pool of tapable energy. It could be used at all times and keep you going no matter what. I didn’t have problems getting to sleep either, the energy wasn’t a problem at night, it was still there, but I could turn off the access to it.
The health feeling was just an overall well being, but at the same time I was in detox. I had the same aches I get after eating junk food, but it would come and go throughout the day. It started on day 2 and lasted until day 11, but considering that I went straight from a high junk food diet into nothing but fresh ingredients, it’s not suprising.
The food was great, but all the ways to prepare it was overwhelming. I need to find better places to shop, more types of food to eat, and not worry about recipes. I prefer just eating the food like it arrives, raw and yummy. Also, having fruit and vegetables and nuts sequentially in a meal is a great way to eat, you feel like you’ve had three meals at once. 
With the two week trial over on Friday night I had cooked food again, a takeaway burger. I really wanted it I thought, but after having I felt ill. Eating the burger I could taste all the grease, the meat, the breading and the spices seperately. It felt like my taste buds were on supercharge. I guess even your tastebuds go numb when you eat crap, because I couldn’t taste it before. I’m still eating cooked food until the end of monday night, but right now I feel like crap. All the energy has been switched off and I feel permanently sleepy. The trial was a success, so much so that I think I will go back on a raw food diet starting Wednesday again. After two short weeks I’m starting to wonder how we could live like this for so long, in a permanent food coma.
I do have to get a new job though. It feels karmically wrong to serve food that I know is bad.
Going Raw Day 6-7.
Yesterday was much like day 5, tired, but with a background of energy.
Today was different though, as soon as I woke up I felt pumped. I hadn’t even had anything to eat yet and I still had all this energy. Mental clarity was very high as well, far above normal. I also tried out a couple of recipes I got from a raw cookbook, a chilli cashew dip and a banana and brazil nut milk. The dip was okay, except not quite to my taste but the brazil nut milk was just plain sour. I think I’ll be inventing my own recipes once I discover what I like and what I don’t like.
Just for the energy boost and mental clarity I would suggest everyone try this diet just for a week.
This will probably be my last daily update; will be switching to updating only when something important happens. I’m going to continue going raw for at least the whole of October, then after that give a full report on the pros, cons and personal experience.
Going Raw Day 5
Today was much like yesterday, quite tiring but with a nice reserve of backup energy. The other thing that has me puzzled is that I’m quite hot, not fever hot, but still hot. My body could be burning off excess energy; I can’t see any other explanation for it.
There’s nothing else to really report. Really yummy food, plus fresh, and as much as you can eat, this is the diet that everyone wants really.
Current weight: 118.4 kgs
Going Raw Day 4
Today was a little hard. I woke up after a good 9 hours sleep, I think I needed it because I felt really sore going to bed last night. I don’t think I’ll continue sleeping that long though. After that it was just business as usual, still higher than average energy, but nothing greatly outstanding.
At work though, I finally experienced what craving really is. Every time I had to serve food I would want to pinch a bite to eat. I wasn’t hungry at all, it wasn’t even a bodily hunger; it was like a mental compulsion. If I wasn’t as aware of it as I am now, I think I would have given into temptation. I can conquer it easily, but I wonder how long it’s going to go on for. It’s easy, but the mental energy required is high. Glad I have much more than usual of it. 
The only other thing of note, and the thing that had me worried today was that I got rather dizzy at one point, but drinking two big glasses of water and having a banana got rid of it. It came on suddenly as well, and quite strongly. It was probably something to do with detox, and my body having to use excess water to cleanse my system. I’ve been thirstier than normal and drinking a lot more water. I’ll just have to see what happens.
Current Weight: 119.1 kgs.
Going Raw Day 3
I ended up getting to sleep really late last night – 5am. I spent too much time reading raw blogs and looking recipes, but at least now I have a shopping list for recipes.
I woke up at 1pm feeling rather refreshed, had some spinach for breakfast, straight out of the bag. It was an awesome taste and fun too. Made a banana, apple and pineapple smoothie and learnt that you really should peel the apples first, but it was still yummy. Still getting used to the excess energy though, I had so much I needed to jump on my exercise bike to burn it off, and I normally do 5-10 minutes worth, I set it for 5 minutes because I was feeling sore, and ended up extending it to 15, longest I’ve done in a while. If this keeps up, I’ll be doing an hour at a time by the end of the week.
I’ve also restarted my weight log as well, so I’ll be keeping that posted. I’m not one for stats or measuring, even though on a raw diet you should, but it’s one measurement that’s interesting and easy to do.
Also, being able to eat anything raw, whenever, however is completely and utterly awesome.
Work was interesting. I didn’t get as tired as I normally do. I ended up finishing the night feeling both tired and energised. Even now I’m feeling sleepy, but alert. It’s almost like there’s this undercurrent of energy I can tap into if I need to.
Lastly: I couldn’t stop laughing when I picked up my clothes to wear and thought to myself: I’m going to need new pants.