Hey honey babies.
It’s time to discuss the rawness! In case you missed it, read about my decision to try a high-raw diet here.
DISCLAIMER: This post contains no photos. 
There will also be discussions of “gross” bodily functions (pee and poo). Not detailed though!
Now that you’ve given your informed consent, let’s do the damn thing!
I got several questions through my high-raw month and hopefully this post will answer them. If I don’t address something or you have further questions, definitely leave a comment or e-mail me.
In sum, I enjoyed five happy weeks of incorporating lots of new strategies into my diet. I’ve made a lot of behavioral changes, and have started to notice some physical and emotional ones, too. All are welcome.
Diet
I went from eating a medium-raw vegan diet to a high-raw vegan diet. My current diet is between 85 – 100% raw. For me, this meant:
- Breakfast: fresh vegetable juice (and fruit if I needed/wanted it)
- Lunch: lots of vegetables! If I was especially hungry I’d include a raw SunWarrior protein drink or some raw cashews to hold me over.
- Dinner: any combination of raw and cooked foods that followed the principles of food combining.
Dinner was my largest meal and usually knocked me out right quick. 
Throughout the month I tried some new meals, ate a lot of avocados, and enjoyed strange combos like carrots and honey! It was fun and I felt satisfied every day.
Weight
I only include this because I think people will want to know if I had any weight changes. If I have, I wouldn’t know – I don’t weigh myself. I wear the same clothes and still have a nice jiggly butt so I think everything stayed the same! I feel much less bloated, though. Which brings me to…
Dumps
I was hesitant to include a discussion of my “eliminations” in this post – wait, no I wasn’t! In case you didn’t know (hopefully you can’t tell by looking), I was practically born constipated. For myriad reasons, some of which are totally unknown to me, I cannot take quality – or even mediocre – poos on a regular basis. No amount of fiber, fresh produce, coffee, tea, prunes, prune juice, prune pudding, or other food item has done much for me in the past. What’s worse, I grew up with a brother who essentially bragged about his ability to practically poo on cue.
Well, no more!
Okay, that’s not entirely true – it’s not like I went from being backed up to high hell to being a dumping machine. I still have a lot of growth to do in this area, but overall, I am making strides! I actually poo more frequently and, it’s like, actual poo! But not everyday. I do have some beautiful, precious days where I poo twice. It’s days like that where I feel like calling my mom and screaming for joy, but I usually just text a friend instead because my mom works a lot and is certainly not interested in talking ca-ca with her adult daughter during the day.
I bought an enema kit to use in case I need it (ain’t no colon hydrotherapist in this town), which I did a couple of times. That was okay. Helped move things along and kept me busy for an hour or more.
Pee
Not much to report except something weird: my pee has been bright green sometimes (you know, the color it turns after taking multi-vitamins). I don’t take multi-vitamins, so I thought that was pretty cool!
Skin
I didn’t notice any changes in my skin until this week. I have some pimples on my forehead, a few on my chin, and a couple on…MY BACK! I’ve never had bacne! Given that everything else in my life has been held constant save my diet, I attribute my pimples to toxic subs coursing through the body and trying to make their way out of every orfice.
Energy
Overtime, I began to notice the difference in my energy levels when I ate cooked food (dinner) versus eating raw all day. Pretty big difference, actually! Cooked food kinda makes me tired and relaxed (which I love at night). In contrast, my juice, fruit, and salad consumption had me rockin’ all day long. I even quit drinking caffeine just prior to the challenge. And ya’ll know I love Diet Coke. But I haven’t had it in over five weeks!
Feeling empty
I read a lot about raw foodists noticing their stomach was empty, but not feeling hungry. I experienced this during the day, definitely. For the first few weeks I felt unsettled by this phenomenon. I’m used to having all sorts of combinations of food in my gut. Food combining rules seem to prevent this from happening by allowing food to move through the body pretty fast. At first this weirded me out some. I felt confused – am I hungry, or just empty but not yet hungry? I’m beginning to understand this sensation a little better. I don’t mind feeling empty as much. It’s not the same as hungry at all. For example, if my stomach is empty, that doesn’t mean I’m lightheaded, with low blood sugar, and in a shitty mood. If I’m hungry though – it’s on!
Focus
Some people report having increased focus. I haven’t. It’s cool!
Detox
I come from a research heavy background and have to question whether my symptoms were due to my body and cells detoxing or some extraneous variable(s). This isn’t a controlled experiment that I can measure easily; everything is correlational, so I’m not sure if I want to address weird symptoms I’ve had. I believe people go through periods where their bodies are getting rid of waste, but I don’t know for sure whether I have. I’ll leave it at that.
Sleep
I need a lot of it. My body is adjusting to changes and wants to rest more. That’s fine with me. I’m into sleep. The quality of my sleep has been pretty amazing too! Definitely an improvement. And I’ve been having some CRAZY dreams! Sleeping is way more interesting when you remember dreams, right?
Sex life hahahaha just kidding!
Overall, I’ve really enjoyed the changes so far. I don’t have aspirations to become a 100% raw foodist. I only want to feel healthy, happy, and physically pure (I’ve given up on mental purity; that isn’t for me). This way of eating appears to be one way to feel good and aligns very well with my philosophy on life. I m really invested in feeling happy and peaceful as much as possible, and everyday I do what I can to encourage that feeling.
That being said, I’m going to continue on! Yay! I’m so happy!
Thanks to all the women who have inspired me to learn more about eating raw foods. I’ve learned so much from this community. I love you all!
