I’ve only got a few things to write about today since I’m fairly tired. Like I mentioned in yesterdays post I had to get up extra early today and I ended up only getting about 4 hours of sleep. I woke up and surprisingly felt pretty good for the little amount of sleep I’ve had over the last 3 or 4 days. Since starting this diet I have been sleeping much less but feeling just as energized or even more so than before starting my 30 days raw food challenge. That being said, I did cheat a bit today. Today I broke the “no drugs” part of the trial. That’s right folks… Today I had a cup of coffee before heading to work. I know, I know… I fail.. But I only had 4 hours of sleep and had to wake up for my 12 hour shift at work. I didn’t even finish the whole cup either, I left it about half full. (not half empty, I’m trying to switch from being naturally pessimistic to being an optimist)  I know I can find all sorts of reasons to justify my slip up, but I honestly wasn’t sure if I was even going to eliminate caffeine from my diet when starting the trial. I don’t think a cup of coffee is all that bad, it’s the food part of this trial that I’m focused on for the most part. Plus, coffee is actually full of anti-oxidants so I don’t think it’s really all that bad. I don’t think it will change the outcome of my experiment a whole lot, and I’m going to continue avoiding caffeine as best I can for the rest of the trial.

Detoxification

Again today I didn’t notice any real detox symptoms other than a mild headache which only lasted a few minutes, after which it disappeared and didn’t come back for the rest of the day. I did notice that my hands are getting quite dry and are cracking in some places on the knuckles, etc.. I don’t know if this is related to the diet or the temperature changes going on here now or both. I have had to start using hand creams to moisturize the skin on my hands and avoid more cracking/bleeding. I hope this doesn’t last long because it’s pretty uncomfortable and annoying. It sucks because I work in a food processing plant and have to wash my hands frequently, every few minutes sometimes, so the hand lotion doesn’t get much of a chance to stay on the skin or soak in.

Tangible Positive Feedback

Today I began receiving some positive tangible feedback for this experiment.  One of my coworkers told me today, when nobody else was around to hear him of course, that seeing me eating all those fruits and veggies has inspired him to spend a little more time in the produce section next time he does groceries.

I call this ‘tangible positive feedback’ because it’s not just someone saying “Good job on your cool experiment!” or “Keep it up Mitch, you must have a stronger will than me to go 30 days eating only raw fruits and veggies. I don’t think I could do it!” but it’s actually positive feedback that is tangible. You can grab on to this feedback, well not really, but it’s feedback that’s having a real effect in the physical world, and not just for me. By doing this experiment myself I am actually encouraging other people to make healthier choices in their diets too. This experiment is not only having a positive effect on me and my experience but it’s actually starting to have an effect on the people around me and hopefully the people reading my blog as well. By doing this experiment I am demonstrating to those around me how it’s possible to make drastic changes in your life that can lead to a healthier and happier stay on Planet Earth. I am leading by example and that is really exciting for me because the reason I started this website was to help others live happier, healthier, and more aware lives – and it’s working!

Two of my friends also told me that they are considering trying the 30 day raw food challenge as well. I hope they give it a whirl, I would love to have someone to talk to and share ideas with about the whole thing. If they actually go through with it or not I don’t know… I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. :)

I’ve also seen a notable increase in traffic to the site since starting this trial. That’s partially due to the fact that I’m making a new post every day, but I think it’s also a good sign that people are interested in how this trial goes. I’ve also been getting more comments than I ever have with this site so far so keep them coming! I love to hear from my readers so drop me a line in the comment box below!

What I ate

Well I’ll first start out with a continuation from yesterday. After posting yesterdays article but before going to bed I ate a handful of pistachio nuts because I got a bit hungry again.

Today I started the day with a cup of coffee and then I ate 3 and a half bananas. The reason I didn’t eat 4 bananas was because I dropped half of one of them on the nasty bacteria coated floor in the lunchroom at work. :( I really liked that half-banana. I was really looking forward to eating it, but I guess you can’t win ‘em all now can you?

I then made a big salad nearly identical to what I ate yesterday. This time I added more celery, more tomatoes, and more spinach. This salad was huge and it took me 3 of my coffee breaks to eat it all. One of my coworkers tried a little taste of the dressing I made. He said it was good but a little too spicy for his tastes. It didn’t seem spicy at all to me, I guess we have different taste.  After finally finishing the salad I wasn’t very hungry again for most of the night. I ate 125g of blueberries later on and drank some water even though I wasn’t thirsty. That’s all I have eaten so far today and I still don’t feel all that hungry. I will probably snack on some grapes or a couple apples in a bit, but I don’t think I need to make another meal or anything today because I just don’t feel hungry enough to eat much right now.

[edit: I ate a large banana, an apple, and a pear before going to bed]

Today I weigh 158 lbs. A loss of 3 lbs since yesterday and a total loss of 10 lbs so far for the whole trial. I think it’s safe to say the drop was due to the fact that I didn’t eat a whole lot for the last portion of my day today.

Other than that I don’t have much more to report for today. I still feel great and have lots of energy. Cravings are basically nil and my motivation is still high.

Until next time… :)

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