Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Sept. 2 food

okay, I'm on a raw kick.  I'm thinking of doing it until I go on my next trip, next week.  So about a week.   I've been talking to a raw guy.  He's very fun to talk to.  So far every book I've read on raw food eating, I hate to say this, I'm don't like being critical, but they are full of hogwash.  I'm okay with saying you feel better when you eat raw.  But to make up whacko pseudoscience to go along with it bothers me.  I know most of the raw foodists mean well and are just quoting from the "experts". But some of them, the "experts" making up this stuff, must know they are just making it up.  Also all the raw cookbooks I've seen are, well, I'm sorry to say this too, garbage.   The recipes are full of nuts and salt and oil.  They think sea salt is somehow better than regular.  Sure, it probably has less chemicals, but sodium chloride is sodium chloride, if it comes from the sea or a chemical plant, and it's not good for you.  And the amount of nuts these recipes call for is crazy.  I tried a raw recipe once and got sick from all the nuts.  This is because there are two ways to get your calories when you eat raw:  nuts or fruit.  I'm in the fruit camp, with a small amount of nuts.  Of course, you also need lots of greens for your health.  I've found a few websites that promote a more healthy kind of raw.  For example, organic athlete, Steve Pavlina (and links therein), and Zenpawn.  I've heard of another guy that might be good but I haven't had time to check him out.  So, to get to my point, even though I haven't seen science to back it up, I have to admit, I feel much more energetic when I eat raw, and I am satisfied and don't have cravings---maybe that would change if I did it for a month.  So I'm experimenting this week, doing my own science study to see if it's true, and so far it is.  But I don't know what I'm doing as you'll see.  Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast:  smoothie

Lunch:  For housemate, I made potatoes stewed with tomatoes and peas with chives and basil and rosemary and parsley (from the garden).  She loved it.  For me, I didn't have much fruit lying around so it was up to the vegetables to fill me up.  I've been wondering how you eat collard greens raw.  You have to blend it.  So I blended it up with some kale and tomatoes and garlic.  it actually wasn't bad.  I poured that over chopped okra, green pepper, celery, carrots, and kohlrabi.  It was okay in small quantities.  It took forever to eat with all the chewing.  I only ate about 1/3 of my plate.   Fortunately I had one peach left.  I was full and didn't get hungry until the usual time at dinner.  then I went grocery shopping, thankfully.

Dinner:  1/4 watermelon, grapes, mushrooms, a small pear (I didn't realize these were ripe at lunch or I could have had a feast), an orange, a handful of walnuts.    

I'm thinking the healthy raw diet needs a green smoothie every day or a big salad.  and then you can have a lot of fruit and some nuts.  and you can learn how to make some stuff too which I'll figure out.  I bought a zucchini today.  That will be easy to chew and eat and I like the taste.  

Exercise:  I kicked butt today!   We did sprints and it was about 90 degrees outside and I started at the end of the line like always, so people wouldn't have to pass me, and I passed everyone except one guy---I'm not sure who finished first because we took a different route on the last one.  We did 12 x 50 yards, with 50 yard rest in between, 6 x 100 with 100 yard rest, 2 x 200 with 200 yard rest, and 1 x 400.  It really wasn't that hard but the heat destroyed everyone but me.  I got hot but it was no big deal.  On a cooler day I probably would have been at the back of the pack as usual.  I'm pretty sure I am the oldest one in the class, probably by 10-20 years over most people.  ha.  I also recovered quickly after each run--that's where I passed everyone was in the walking.   I was ready to go after each walk was done.  That's those cleared up arteries doing their job.  That's why athletes can benefit from a healthy vegan diet. 


No comments: