Why I'm Going Raw

Hi. My name is Andrew, a 22 year old college student about to graduate, and I've created this blog to show the effects of my experiment in changing to a diet of only raw fruits and vegetables.

About Me:
I used to weigh about 40 pounds more than I do now. Despite being pretty physically active and eating a diet that was probably considerably healthier than most of America during my youth, I was overweight from maybe 5th grade up till the end of my Junior year in high school when I was 17. A strong determination, thrice weekly Ninjitsu practice, yoga, my punching bag, and the elimination of about 90% of the already small amount of junk food that I was eating brought me down to a much trimmer 185 pounds by the end of my senior year.

I went to college and kept up my regime. During my Freshmen year I began read a considerable amount of health information, much of which began pointing out the foolishness of consuming dairy, meat, eggs, and processed food; The China Study, which is incredible and a must read for everyone, finally convinced me. Beginning at the end of that year, I gradually phased out animal protein and most processed foods and took up daily running with increasingly demanding routes and speeds. I put on more muscle in my legs and dropped some weight, which brought me down to the 178-180 at which I would be stable for five semesters.

During this time I noticed that, perhaps because of my veganism (See Dr. Olaf Astrand of the Swedish Karolinska Institute's Nutrition Today 3:no2, 9-11, 1968), I had considerably more stamina than even the dedicated athletes on campus. I also took up rock climbing, hiking as much as I could, and a few other physical pursuits. I also found, without any help from the medical profession (which continuously astounds me in their complacency and misinformation when it comes to nutrition) that the abdominal pains and constipation that I had experienced throughout much of my life were a result of a gluten intolerance or celiac disease (a rather ambiguous distinction as far as science can prove, and also sometimes related to IBS) I cut out gluten and felt pretty great within a week of so.

So, that brings me to my senior year of college. I read a lot, especially about health, and the raw food movement has continuously intrigued me. I am not easily taken for a ride, and I will be the first to admit that the science behind raw foodism is sketchy at best. There are plenty of ways to eat raw, many of which are down right dangerous, and the whole enzyme thing is more or less a steaming pile of shit and lies as far as I'm concerned (or at least until someone shows me some kind of evidence.) However, I have to admit that there sounds like there is something to the idea of heat damaged food, and the whole status of grains remains questionable.

So anyway, I was always frustrated because, despite a micromanaged cooked vegetable/fruit/grain centered diet with some raw nuts/seeds, a copious amount of exercise, and a calorie tracking program telling me that I was continuously using more calories than I was taking in for months at a time, I was unable to lose any more weight. I followed Fuhrman to a T, I did McDougall, and I saw no progress. I began to question whether or not there was actually fat on me or if perhaps it was water weight. I've tried eliminating salt, and I've gotten pretty close to zero, so I'm not sure how much of it is salt and how much of it is other stuff like grains, etc. I was hardly fat, but my flesh had a jiggly quality, almost as if it was a puffy. Also, I've always had acne, which makes my face look like shit. Perhaps it runs in the family (my brother, a 25 year old SAD eater par excellence, still has acne problems), but it still seemed like I should be able to get rid of it somehow.

You could probably characterize me as an improver. I'm all for improving myself mentally and physically as much as I can. So you might imagine that I found this to be a bit vexing. I am not one to settle for mediocrity in anything.

So last semester, fed up as all hell with my body, I decided to go raw for three weeks to give it a try. What I found was a dramatic loss of weight and improvement in skin, energy, and other mental clarity. Due to financial constraints, my impending return home for the winter, and some social issues, I had to go back to eating cooked food, and my weight shot right back up to 180, and decided that I'd go back to raw when I had settled down in employed existence.

Last weekend though, my girlfriend and I were talking on the phone and, apparently intrigued by an earlier conversation we had had about my experiences going raw, she asked if I would go raw for a week with her. I agreed.

This blog is a journal of my experiences going raw which I'm writing so that others can read about what to expect when going raw. When I was considering the change I was looking for just such a journal and couldn't find any, so I hope someone finds this useful.

I'll be starting on Monday. Wish me luck.