It’s Spring Break this week at my school and since I’m too broke and don’t have enough time to do anything to celebrate spring break, I’ve decided to go raw vegan for the week. I’ve tried going vegan before, but never as a raw vegan.
I’m working on a new book though, and hopefully the healthy eating will give me some extra energy and mental dexterity.
Going Vegan Means:
No: Meat-fish, poultry, etc. No: cheese or milk. No: eggs.
And since I’m going raw. That means I can’t eat anything that’s cooked. No pasta or pizza. No tofu or stir fry. Nada.
We’ll see what happens. I’ve heard that when someone goes straight to a raw vegan diet, it can send their body into shock–no kidding, eating healthy can actually send the body into shock if it’s not used to it.
I’m doing it because every now and again we need to change things up. I mean, just think how often we go for years without thinking about what we eat. We just eat because of what’s convenient, cheap and taste good. Now, I’m going to have to think about everything that I eat and plan every meal so that I get all the necessary nutrients and levels of protein. And hopefully, like the studies say, I’ll be feeling great, full of energy, and able to function with a lot less sleep. (Going raw vegan is supposed to have almost mythological effects, we’ll see though. ) A week is probably too short to gauge, so this might end up being longer.
Also, another reason I’m doing it: the challenge. I often notice that people outside of the military don’t challenge themselves. (When is the last time you challenged yourself?) In the military we’re forced to push ourselves and see what we’re made of: Physical training, job training, cold weather and warm weather training, eating MRE’s, fighting wars, etc. I figured this is just another thing for me to challenge myself with; and for those of you who don’t think this is a challenge, believe me, it is. My top thirty foods all consists of cooked animals. It’s gonna suck.
But we’ll see what happens. Day 1 begins today, Monday.
Read Part Two Of This Post: Here.
Way to go Michael! Cheers from the Manchester NH raw vegan group! Can’t wait to read about your progress!
This is great Michael. As a fellow Vegan i wish you the best of luck and look forward to hearing more about your vegan challenge.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for joining the Brattleboro Raw/Living Food Meetup. How are you doing on your raw week? In your post you mentioned all the things you won’t be eating, but think of all the wonderful foods you WILL be eating… like greens, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, coconuts. One of my favorite breakfasts is a green smoothie – I open a young Thai coconut and pour the water into my blender, then scoop out the pulp, and add that along with some fruit, lots of greens (kale, dandelion, romaine, spinach… whatever), a little piece of lemon (without the skin), some fresh ginger for a little zing, and blend thoroughly. It helps to have a high speed blender, but it’s not necessary. Visit my website and sign up for my newsletter and you will receive a set of recipes.
BTW, I expect to be having a potluck on March 20 from 6-9pm, so I hope you can attend. Enjoy your raw journey.
Peace,
Marilyn
I’m a little concerned with your last comment, “It’s gonna suck.” What makes you think it’s going to suck? Just because you won’t be able to eat the typical animal flesh that you prefer?
I think if you go into it thinking that “It’s gonna suck.” Then it probably is “gonna suck.” But don’t think about that and instead think about all the benefits that you’re going to receive.
I’ve been a vegan for over ten years and I’ve dabbled with raw veganism a few times myself and it’s a great experience. Very raw indeed. One thing that I would recommend, is to drink as many smoothies and juice as you can, it gives you that nice cleansing feeling and the best way to absorb nutrients is through the mouth, that’s why it’s often suggested that we chew our food more often that we do, so that we can absorb the nutrients in our mouth before it reaches our belly.
I think you’re right and I didn’t mean it like that. I just figured that it was going to be tough since I’d never done it before, but I’ve been doing it for a little while so far and it’s not too bad, and yes I’ve been having smoothies every day for breakfast.
wow, going raw vegan for a week huh? how did you go? did you survive?