Raw Food Diet – Day 24

Today was wonderful. I felt very energetic and alert the whole day with scattered bursts of low-level euphoria. The diet seemed much easier to follow, and I didn’t feel nearly as much resistance as I did during the past few days. I’m not completely in love with it, but at least I’m not hating it.

I did my best to incorporate lots of green veggies today, including a pound of spinach. That may have had a positive effect on my mood.

My appetite was higher than usual this morning. I had a strong craving for green smoothies, so I drank 4 liters of them today. They do a great job of satisfying hunger while controlling cravings for non-raw foods. They’re very tasty too.

Setting new records

I broke two of my records today. First, I broke my one-day banana eating record. I ate 19 bananas, about 4.5 pounds worth. 16 of them were mixed into the green smoothies I drank.

Secondly, I managed to do 36 push-ups today. That’s a new lifetime personal best for me. My previous record was 35. This is interesting because I’m still lagging well behind my peak strength in my chest (which I reached last summer), but my muscular endurance is noticeably higher than before this trial. When I do weight training at the gym, I can do a lot more reps than I’d normally expect with the weights I’m using. My muscles just don’t seem to give out as quickly. I’ve gotten a little stronger during this trial too, but the muscular endurance gains put the strength gains to shame.

I can see why this diet attracts a lot of endurance athletes.

Bad Breath

The bad morning breath is pretty much gone as far as I can tell. It was really nasty for a while, but now it’s no worse than before this experiment.

Blood sugar

I still detect no blood sugar problems whatsoever. My blood sugar remains incredibly stable no matter how much fruit I eat.

Feedback

I continue to get a lot of feedback about this experiment, both in the forums and via email. It’s almost getting ridiculous though because everyone is voicing wildly divergent opinions about why I’m experiencing certain negative effects and what I might do to correct them. I’m sure everyone believes their advice is sound. I’m not planning to change the constraints of this experiment as I go along, but I can see many ideas for future trials.

Please forgive me if I don’t personally respond to your feedback. The volume is more than I can keep up with.

Weight Loss

My weight went up 0.4 pounds to 177.8. Net weight loss is 8.2 pounds in 23 days.

Pre-breakfast

2 bananas (190g)

169 calories, 0.6g fat, 43g carb, 2g protein

Breakfast

Breakfast

  1. green smoothie: 4 bananas (444g), spinach (94g), 1 cup water
  2. blueberries (180g)
  3. blackberries (196g)
  4. 2 stalks celery (76g)

614 calories, 4g fat, 152g carb, 12g protein

Morning Snack

  1. green smoothie: 4 bananas (448g), spinach (102g), 1 cup water
  2. green smoothie: 4 bananas (438g), spinach (114g), 1 cup water 

838 calories, 4g fat, 210g carb, 16g protein

Lunch

Lunch

  1. salad: mixed greens (158g), spinach (40g), cucumber (74g), grape tomatoes (126g), avocado (110g), lime juice (18g), lemon juice (18g)
  2. veggie juice made from carrots, apple, celery, lime (16 fl oz)
  3. 3 stalks celery (124g)

445 calories, 18g fat, 70g carb, 11g protein

Even for a colorblind person, these meals look colorful and visually appealing.

Dinner

Dinner

  1. green smoothie: 4 bananas (448g), spinach (90g), 1 cup water
  2. Asian pear (298g)
  3. 2 stalks celery (50g)

552 calories, 3g fat, 139g carb, 9g protein

Evening Snack

1 banana (100g)

89 calories, 0.3g fat, 23g carb, 1g protein

Daily Summary

2708 calories, 29g fat, 638g carb, 51g protein

814mg sodium, 105g fiber, 333g sugar

9% of calories from fat, 7% from protein, 85% from carbs

For a while my physical energy was stuck in a yo-yo pattern, but I eventually got through it. Now it seems like my motivation is going through a similar oscillation. Perhaps my mind is following my body.


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