A Raw Journey To Wellness 1/25/10

Good Morning.

Well it has been 7 full days 100% Raw. I feel great and don't have any cravings at this point for cooked foods.

Minor challenge was, 0ver the weekend, my mom was up and she had Chinese Food (Shrimp Egg Foo Young, my favorite). The smell when she took it out of the bag was really intense. But not in a good way. It really didn't smell too good. Then later that night I looked in the fridge to notice that the bottom of the bag was soaked with oil. It looked disgusting. I thought, I love the taste of this stuff and I can easily eat an entire order of this. And look at all that disgusting oil, this is what I put into my body. There can be no nutritional benefit there.

Well needless to say mom went right to sleep and had a hard time waking in the morning. In fact, she woke up extremely tired. I told her it was from the heavy food. That her body was still working to digest it. Nevertheless, I didn't even crave it and wasn't tempted to grab some that night. There were very few chips in the house so that was easy for me. I felt my heart drop when I saw that my wife had thrown an old bag of Salt and Vinegar Kettle chips in the garbage. It was almost like breaking up with a girlfriend. But no serious cravings for them like I usually do. The additional celery has been helpful.

Overall it was a good weekend, no slip-ups, no major issues and I feel good...

Week 1: 250.2 lbs (loss of 17lbs in one week)

Feel Good: No workouts this weekend just didn't have the time.

Foods: Lots of fruits over the weekend. Bananas, Dates, Oranges, Pears, Watermelon, Bluberries, Pineapple, Melons, Coconut water, Celery, Spinach, Dandelion Greens.

A Raw Journey To Wellness 1/22/10

Good Morning!

I hadn't planned on posting today but I thought this was funny. Last night I had a dream and I don't usually remember my dreams. I was at a game or big event of some sort. And I walked up to the concession stand to go get something to eat or drink. So I was about third in the concession stand line and as the person in front of me was about to order some guy comes up and cuts the line and they take him. Well, of course I confront him. "Yo man, don't you see a line here?" He politely says, "oh I called in my order" as the guy hands him this BIG GIANT DOUBLE DECKER HAMBURGER DRIPPING WITH GREASE. I swear it was the biggest burger I have ever seen. Before he left the stand he takes a huge bite of it and uses his sleeve to wipe his mouth and he has this big chunk of food in the side of his cheek looking like a squirrel as he's chewing and walking away.

So I get up to the counter and I look over at the Greasy fryer that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years and the guy behind the counter asks me what I wanted to order. And I look up and say nothing and swiftly walk away. That's when I woke up... Talking about subconscious mind!!! Just wanted to share that with you I thought it was funny but great that even in my dream I didn't take the temptation.

Quick update

Yesterday had:

32 ozs of a green smoothie

2 bananas, 2 oranges

2 anjou pears

4 dates

16 ozs of fresh coconut water (young thai coconut)

And a large 38 oz green soup (similar ingredients as on 2/21/10)

Exercise: Spinning 1 hour

Weight 253 (2 more lbs lost/14 in 4 days)

A Raw Journey To Wellness 1/21/10

Hello All,

It's been a long while since my last post. I think it was before Christmas sometime. That's when I started getting stressed out by a lot of things going on. And history shows that when I get stressed my immediate "learned" response is to go back to comfort foods. I began adding some cooked foods, potatoes, rice, seafood, fish and then an occasional slice of pizza here and there. It was amazing how the food was taking over my mind and my body. I was still consuming my smoothies daily but in the evenings I found a way to convince myself to eat something that wasn't a part of the plan. I actually became okay with this until I started taking a self assessment of how bad I felt. So in the New Year I said I was going to start fresh and get back on track but I was still not mentally ready and made some poor food choices that kept me craving the cooked foods.

At or around Thanksgiving I weighed around 244 lbs. As of Monday morning I weighed a whopping 267 lbs. That's right I gained 23 lbs in less than two months. No wonder I was feeling like crap. Anyway, this past Sunday I had what I called my last supper. It was really a last breakfast. Now I don't recommend doing it this way but this worked for me. I decided that I was going to have one last day of decadence before I got started again. Here is what I did, I went out and bought some FRIED FISH from the market made grits (grandma used to make them and I was craving them), potato bread, eggs and yes sausage links. I cooked breakfast for the family and said a prayer and asked God for help with my next Raw endeavor. My wife commented several times on how much I was eating that day. (She said, "I never saw you eat like this before, are you okay.") I ate so much I thought that I would have a heart attack or something just from the pure garbage that I put in my body. But all the while I was convinced that if I lived I would get back on track with the Raw Foods again. That night, I culminated my last supper with a cup of Smooth Move (laxative tea). My wife looked at me and just shook her head. I won't tell you what happened about 5am the next morning but I'm sure you can guess. After that I felt refreshed and renewed and weighed myself. Yep 267 lbs...

I took a deep breath and I thought to myself, I'm starting over again with a fresh clean slate. I did what I did and it's done. No guilt, no shame and no fear. It is what it is. I'm okay with this. I tried to think of every motivational catch phrase that I knew to make this fall okay. I picked up my book The Fifth Agreements (sequel to "The Four Agreements") and did some reading. And suddenly I was okay with what I did. I just had to remember that what I did at the time was okay and that I should not continue to beat myself up about it. And that here in this moment I have a chance to make a new decision as I have been given another day to make it right (whatever right is). So I went downstairs and grabbed a couple of bananas and oranges and went to work.

In the past when I did this in September, I allowed myself some cheat foods, chips, popcorn, peanut butter. This I thought kept me sane. As i was always craving chips or something salty. I'm thinking because I was getting too much sweet with the smoothies and fruit that my body naturally craved salty. This was the case even when I eat cooked foods. If I had sweet I needed salty. If I had salty I needed sweet. It was like a balancing act. I hear that some crave one or the other and some like me crave both. What I decided to do is add a lot of celery into my evening "raw soup" Celery has a lot of good natural salt and this should help cut out the cravings (I'm hoping). So far so good.

This time I am doing 100% raw, with no cheat foods. I am going to go as long as I can with this and see how it works. A clean raw/live food diet is the optimal way to go at least that's what I have found for me. I have also added in workouts at the gym. Spinning, treadmill and occasional basketball.

Check this out, in just 3 days I lost 12 lbs. I weighed myself this morning and I was down 12 lbs. I've only had one workout (intense spinning class) this week so it's clearly the change in diet that's doing it. The first night I released so much water it was amazing. I had not drank that much water I was sure. But it seemed like ever other hour I was going to the bathroom. I lost 4lbs the first day. The second day I lost another 6 lbs. And yesterday I lost 1 lbs. So in just three days I'm halfway back to my thanksgiving low weight. That feels great.

So I have been keeping a little journal each day and here it is:

Day 1: Monday, January 18, 2010

Starting weight 267 after first movement

4 bananas lasted me until 6 pm.

Soup:

3 celery stalks

Hand full of cherry tomatoes

Dandelion greens

Romaine heart

small slice of onion

2 Oranges for late night snack

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Day 2: Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Weight 262.9 (Lost 4lbs) Peeing all night long

20 oz of water upon waking

Smoothie: Banana, orange, Cup blueberries, thin slice lemon, baby spinach about 2 cups, cup ice, 14 oz water

I drank about 16 ozs. Gave the wife the other 16. Had one left over.

Had a 4 bananas and an 2 oranges

Workout spinning class 45 mins.

Had my veggie soup same as above about 40ozs.

Felt great not hungry.

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Day 3: Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Weight 257 (Lost almost 6 lbs)

Didn't make the smoothie in the morning. Just decided I wanted to do some fruit today. Had 5 bananas, 4 oranges.

Note: Found an Asian Market (thanks to a friend) in town and went there to see what they had. All kinds of exotic fruits and veggies most of which I didn't know what they were. In fact, the guy that was stocking them didn't know what they were. I was curious about a fruit called Durian. And they had it. But it was 4.49 a lbs. So I decided to wait on my Durian experience. Coconuts for 1.49 each. Deal! Wow! Came home and had to figure out how to open the damn things. Thanks Youtube...

In the evening I had my Coconut experiment. Coconut water from 2 coconuts. Made coconut milk from the coconut and drank about 16 ozs. Did some research and found out that it was over 500 calories a cup. So that was a lot. I decided that I was satisfied with the Coconut Milk. And didn't make the veggie soup.

Well that's all for now. It's Thursday morning and I am feeling good. Pray for me, send me positive energy, thoughts whatever it is you do. I need it there's a lot of baggage (mental and physical) that needs to be unloaded and this thing is much bigger than will power. ;-) See you next time!!! Be True To You In All You Do!!!!

A Raw Journey To Wellness 12/15/09

Good Morning:

I hope where ever you are right now you are feeling great. Just thought I'd stop by and update you. On what's going on. Yea I know I updated you yesterday but it won't hurt to update you again since I wanted to share a few things with you.

First yesterday was a very good day in journey. Started out the day with a really good fruit smoothie. It was a fresh blended mixture of 1/4 Pineapple, 2 Oranges, 3 Bannanas and small piece of Ginger and about 12 ozs of water. Yielded about 44 ozs of juice. It was so good when I drank it I found myself hitting the bottom of the glass to attempt to get the residue out. (That's the kind of addiction I want)

I drank the first 32 ozs in the morning and drank the last12 ozs about 2 oclock.

For lunch I had a small salad from Whole foods with a few red onions, mixed greens and 6 greek olives(probably not supposed to have them but I did and they were GOOOOOD). I bought some organic Kale, Romaine, baby spinach, celery at Whole Paycheck.

Lunch kept me satisfied until around 7:30-8pm when I got home.

Thanks to the guy I mentioned yesterday Roger Haeske I made a Raw(cold) veggie stew. (He has an entire program that teaches you different recipes on making the stew but it's a bit expensive for my blood at $97.00.) Roger maintains that the veggie stew is a great way to sustain on the diet and get rid of those cravings at night. Which is usually when I break down and start eating junk.

Another guy Kevin Gianni recommends eating at least 1-2 heads of lettuce a day. That is really unfathomable to me that I could have 2 heads of lettuce but I said I will try to do at least one to start out with.

What's in the veggie stew? I have no idea because it costs $97.00. However, I figured I could attempt to make it myself. So I grabbed a head of romaine lettuce, a half yellow pepper (found out day before yesterday that the green peppers are really not that good for you as they are not ripe) two tablespoons of raw honey and a small piece of ginger, 16 ozs of water blended it really fine (made it a really soupy green mush. Then took two stalks of celery and a half tomato and put in a food processor and lightly chopped it so it was still very chunky. I mixed the chunks and the soup together in the bowl and tried it.

How did it taste? It was actually very good. I ate three bowls of it. Basically the entire mixture. I even let the wife try a tablespoon and she liked it. Thought it should be warm but nevertheless the im going to regret trying another of Jeff's horrible concoctions because he is begging me to frown on her face disappeared as soon as she begain to chew on this nasty looking chunky green mush.

I was stuffed after I ate all of that lovely green chlorophyll which is one of the best things in the world for the body. And it tasted good. It wasn't a mixture of fruit trying to hide the taste of the veggies as I usually do with the green smoothies.

It had a distinctive taste all it's own. It tasted like it was supposed to taste. Like veggies. And the chunks of celery and tomato gave me that feeling of chewing that I missed so much in the smoothies. I might be on to something here. Well let's see how it goes... The Journey continues...Have a blessed day!!!! See you next time...

A Raw Journey To Wellness 12/14/09

Hey Everyone,

I'm back! A friend yesterday told me that they missed my blog. And I thought to myself I actually missed writing and sharing it. I also thought that one of the things it did for me was created a checks and balance for me on my journey. I haven't shared since the day before Thanksgiving and boy do I have a lot to share...

1st: Many of you who are on FB know that on Thanksgiving morning I went out and ran 8 miles. I was afraid of going over to my wife's family's Thanksgiving feast and caving in. Well during my run around mile 6 I had this feeling of strength and a sort of aha moment. I said to myself I can do this and I thought I will just go out and buy some fruit and make a fruit salad and have that.

Well, I underestimated the amount of food that I would have to look at, smell, and not eat. But the funny thing is I didn't desire or crave the food at all. I ate my fruit salad, enmeshed myself in my favorite past time watching my Cowboys and it was an easy task.

2nd: I got home that night and the lactic acid started to kick in from my run. Mind you this is the farthest I've run in my life and at 244 lbs I was still carrying a bit of weight. Also, my body wasn't used to daily running. Nevertheless, I could barely make it up the stairs in my house. I sat on the couch and got extremely cold. I felt my body breaking down. I had the chills, night sweats the whole 9. The next morning I was not better. I couldn't understand what the heck was going on. I'm supposed to be healthy I couldn't be catching a cold right? I eat only raw foods and I just completed a juice fast. My body should be in optimal health.

Well you guessed it I had a cold. My body was shutting down on me. I realized though that it was a cold like I normally get it was a little different. I had the sniffles, mucous, very little coughing and I had the hot and cold. So instead of fighting it I decided to sit back and analyze what was going on. I had intense cravings for cooked food. And yes I did indulge. I had some potatoes, yams, chicken noodle soup tons of potato chips and popcorn and peanut butter and crackers. It didn't help my cold at all but it sure made me feel sedated. Oh and I also took tylenol for the fever.

Okay, fast forward a two weeks to the present about a week ago still mostly raw (I'd say 60/40) but added in a few cooked foods. Two of the people that I follow most (for information) in the Raw Food lifestyle came out and said that they were no longer 100% raw one for health reason and the other I don't know why. This confirmed it for me. This wasn't the optimal diet for my health and well being. Otherwise why would I get sick right? So I was just going to eat a relatively healthy diet with some cooked foods and just continue to eat a lot of fruits and veggies.

Well, I was feeling awful, body puffy and started gaining water weight again. But had a feeling of not being able to go back 100% or at least 90%. In fact, for the first time in months I was all of a sudden craving meats. I thought this is not good at all.

Last week, I came across a guy by the name of Brendan Brazier. He's a raw food guy that does the triathalons, ultra marathons etc... And I bought his book. Thrive. And I started reading. In the first chapter, he talks about the effects of various types of stress on the body. Physical, mental, emotional etc... Stress causes the body to be over acidic, and the body MUST remain in a slightly alkaline state and will do whatever it takes to get back to where it's supposed to be. I had another aha moment. And realized that I did this to myself by overdoing it with the running. My body shut down so it could repair itself. Then when i added cooked foods while my body was trying to repair it further exasperated the problem.

What I found is that the harder the body has to work to digest foods the more stress. And now me being a food addict. (I'm to food what Whitney was to Crack I honestly think food is equally addictive) "Food is Whack" LOL.

I also discovered a guy by the name of Roger Haeske from NJ and a Rutgers Grad same year(imagine that). He has given me some pretty good ideas on how to better sustain on the 100% Raw Food Diet. I will share with you on future posts...

Anyway, I'm now back to "normal". And back on the Raw Food diet again fighting cravings almost like starting over. But I'm determined to fight and keep at it. I like how I feel, I like how I look, I like how I think while I'm eating the good life giving foods.

So, if you've read thus far that means you are still with me. Stay tuned because the battle is on!!! Love you all and see you next time!!! Jeff

Juice Feasting Day 9

Well, I still feel good. But I think I have decided that today will be my last day. I thought long and hard about it yesterday and my body is calling for foods more and more. I'm not hungry and I probably could go on. But I think the thought of thanksgiving is getting to me as well as other things. So instead of beating myself up I am choosing to start eating again.

So I am going to transition out of this thing and go back to the raw food diet and implement a serious workout regimen to get to complete my final leg of my goal. I may revisit the juice thing again when I have a little more control over my environment and myself but for now I've concluded it's time. I still have 24 more pounds to lose though so the journey is not even close to being over. And once I get there I will have a new goal and or journey set in place.

Juice Feasting Day 8

Good morning,

Not much to say today. I feel pretty darn good. Yesterday was a breeze. Kept myself busy all day with football and raking leaves all day. No problems no worries no food issues to talk about just an over all good day.

What did I consume?

40oz of fresh green juice (spinach, broccoli, broccoli rabe) made it in the blender and then strained it through the juicer's screen

24 ozs of grapefruit and orange juice (mainly grapefruit)

Cup of Smooth Move tea with lemon and Raw Organic Honey

About 70oz of plain water

The Numbers:

Weight: 244 -4lbs (since Friday morning) 13 since last Monday AND 52 Since I began eating Raw Foods in late August!!!

BP: 111/68

Energy: Energy yesterday was really good amazed at how much energy I had doing the leaves

Body Changes: Overall I feel really good, no issues caught myself looking in the mirror a little too long yesterday and trying on old clothes that I haven't been able to fit in years but thats all good.

Determination level: 10

Problems: None