As previously posted, my girlfriend fiance and I have been doing a raw food cleanse. Well, today is Day 21, the final day. We have experimented with raw in the past, and typically enjoy a mostly vegan diet, though we do indulge in non-vegan and cooked foods with some regularity, but try to keep our center with lots of veggies and organic foods. I had noted that my goals were to “clear my head a bit, get more internal creativity flowing, and to re-kickstart my running and working out.” I suppose in some ways I’ve succeeded, but in others not so much.
From a health standpoint, it has been a success, and I’ve felt great all 3 weeks. I didn’t have the creative energy boost that I had hoped for, but that may be something longer term, or maybe I just poured all my energy into work and didn’t leave enough for myself… And as far as running, I have actually lost some of my endurance, I think because we did four days of liquids only and a short fast, during which time I really had to lay low. The next week or two will really show whether or not I can do better.
I knew inevitably I would lose weight on this program, since I followed it essentially to a tee, with the only differences between larger portions and some extra smoothies. And I know part of a cleanse is to release some extra weight and toxicity. As of today I lost about 12 pounds, which I am hoping to add back over the coming month. But hopefully in muscle rather than just extra bulk.
Near the beginning I had some excessive hunger, but that quickly went away after my initial detox period. The hardest has been the last week as I have been craving some of my old foods, nothing even too bad, but simple things like thai curry or mexican rice and beans. Even though today is Day 21 and we are so close to the end, I allowed myself a cheat of Sunday morning decaf coffee. If that was my biggest deviation from the program I am not too upset. 🙂 Over the weeks I did have a few cravings, but I suppose the fact that I was otherwise enjoying and not feeling deprived is a testament to my health on a regular basis. Other than a few minor headaches the first few days, I had no significant change in how I felt or my emotions. (Ok a few times when I was hungry I lost my temper, but not too bad…) I essentially felt great, clean, and energetic the whole time, but typically I feel pretty good so this was expected. The subtle changes I noticed had to do with energy levels upon waking.
The biggest issue for me was the fact that I didn’t allow any indulgences, which on a normal basis I would. At a bbq party we went to early on, I had to use some serious willpower when all our friends were enjoying a few drinks and a huge food spread.
We definitely learned a lot of fun and tasty recipes, and though we don’t plan on staying 100% raw, we plan to incorporate many of the meals we made into our regular food rotation.
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Originally posted on Sunday, May 1st, 2011 at 10:19 AM .
Hey, just saw your review after 21 days after I made a post a few minutes ago. Nice job. I think I’m going to sleep on it and possibly purchase the package later. Any advice for a newbie who has never done a raw cleanse before? Are the recipes good?
Before you purchase, check the dates on that Garden Diet site. Typically they run them on a schedule, so everyone is doing it at the same time then you can use the forum and get the daily emails and support. So I’m not sure if there is a starting date coming up or not.
Now to answer your questions. Yes, the recipes were good. Part of the cleanse process is easing into it, so in the beginning there are recipes to make full meals, but midway thru you will be eating some mono meals and doing some juicing. So you may only have fresh orange juice or watermelon juice for breakfast, or a big bowl of guacamole for lunch, things like that. But having the recipes made it very easy, there wasn’t a lot of thinking involved when it came to preparing, just time for prep and shopping.
My main recommendations if you are new to raw would be to do some other research and try some raw recipes from online to get used to it. And also become familiar with your local health foods store and the different raw options they have, including nuts, seaweeds, and other good stuff! I shopped once per week, and was coming home with so much fruit and produce! 40 oranges, 20 grapefruits, 5 bunches of kale, you get the idea.
If you do decide to do it, or even try some recipes, let me know how it goes for you! Good luck.
[…] amazing that a month has already gone by since I completed my 21 day raw food cleanse. Now that I’m back to “normal”, I wanted to share my thoughts on raw vegan diets, […]