Going Raw - Maverick's Diary

[maverick2]

1. What is your current height and weight?
185 pounds, 5'4''.

2. If you were at an ideal weight now, what would that weight be?
I could probably be pretty happy with 150 or 140 pounds, but I'd really like to be 130 pounds.

3. At what weight would you like to be at four months from now?
160 pounds at least.

4. Why do you want to lose weight?
I'm tired of being overweight.

5. Do you want to lose weight for a specific life event such as wedding or reunion? If so, when is that event?
I'm going on a cruise to central America in late October, so I want to be tricked out and made over by that time.

6. What obstacles could get between you and your weight loss goals?
Lack of time and exercise - food probably won't be as much of a problem.

7. Why do you think that you now have a weight problem?
Sedentary lifestyle, using food as an emotional pacifier.

8. What lifestyle changes do you think would help you lose weight?
I plan on going on a high-raw diet for the summer (almost entirely comprised of raw fruits, vegetables, and seeds/nuts) since I've read that it can be very instrumental in weight loss, and I've already been a vegetarian for almost a year.

9. Have you lost weight in the past? If so, what has worked in the past to help you lose weight?
I've lost weight in the past through extreme exercise programs and tracking what I eat. I'm going to be tracking what I eat this time and trying (desperately) to interject some exercise into my daily life.

I also lost weight VERY easily by going vegetarian in June 2009. I dropped almost 40 pounds in four months with no exercise that way. I'm hoping that by going almost vegan (and switching to whole raw foods) I can go ahead and lose the other forty or so that I need to lose to be at my ideal weight.

10. Why do you believe that you did not lose weight or you gained the weight back?
Took a desk job where I sit on my rear for forty hours a week.

12. Would you try writing down all food and drink consumed for a given period of time?
Yeah, I'm going to do a food diary to keep track of what I'm eating since I'm transitioning to a raw diet at the same time I'm trying to lose weight.

13. Do you cook at home often? If so, what do you cook?
Very often, more than 90% of the time since we're vegetarian in my household. We actually cook pretty nutritious meals (balance of carbs, proteins, and fats), but we tend to go a little overboard on the dairy products department.

14. How often do you go out to eat? Where do you go?
I don't really go out to eat.

15. What are your three favorite foods?
Pizza, pasta, tomatoes.

16. What are your three favorite restaurants?
Chinese restaurants, the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday's, Papa John's pizza.

17. What are three things you can do differently when it comes to food?
1. Go as raw as possible.
2. Drink a LOT more water; cut out sodas entirely. (had good luck with this last time)
3. Eat breakfast and lunch (I tend to skip both of these meals).

18. If you woke up tomorrow and your body was exactly the way you want it, what would be different?
I would probably wear some scandalous clothes.

19. Do you eat when you are not hungry?
Not very often.

20. Do you binge eat (large amounts at a time)?
I used to, but not so much anymore.

21. Do you hide your food or eat in secret?
Sometimes I will sneak a midnight snack.

22. Do you eat when you are sad, nervous, or depressed?
Yes, but mostly I smoke.

23. Do you eat as a reward?
Not really.

24. Do you eat while watching TV or using the computer?
We eat in front of a movie at night usually.

25. What do you normally eat for a meal?
Vegetables, pasta, bread, potatoes, rice, beans, grains, lentils, sour cream, heavy cream, different kinds of cheese. That's about it, mostly, in different culinary combinations.

26. What type of snacks do you eat?
I don't really eat a whole lot of snacks.

27. In terms of exercise, what, if anything, are you currently doing?
Ugh, nothing. I suck.

28. Where do you go for exercise? A local public gym? School/work gym?
I don't, but I live on a farm in the middle of nowhere, I have PLENTY of room to exercise!

29. What, if anything, are your three favorite types of exercise?
Hiking, walking, gardening.

30. What is your daily/weekly/monthly/yearly motivation to move towards your goals?
Having a deadline.

31. Do you have rewards for certain goals?
No, I need to think about it...

 

[Verobc1]

Hi and welcome to WLF! Wow going all raw is very extreem...I like it, I was thinking of trying something like that but since my husband and kids would not then it would be way to much work and I don't know that I have that much time. I look forward to see your progress and will stop by often!! See you soon

 

[maverick2]

Thanks for the welcome Vero!

Wow going all raw is very extreem...I like it, I was thinking of trying something like that but since my husband and kids would not then it would be way to much work and I don't know that I have that much time.

I don't think it's going to be too difficult for me, I've wanted to go vegan since I saw the documentary Earthlings last year (which was so profound and life-changing that it made me go vegetarian the very same day) but all of the expensive processed vegan "substitute" foods and the label-checking turned me off of the process of taking it further than that. Eating like the primate that I am (mostly whole fresh fruits and vegetables with nuts and seeds thrown in) seems to be simplest way to remove animal products from my diet without overcomplicating my already complicated life.

If you go the whole food raw route, it's MUCH less time consuming than a processed raw diet (through the use of juicers, blenders, food processors, mandolines, etc...). One of the reasons I chose to do the whole raw food thing is because a) I'm extremely lazy, and b) most fruits and vegetables come with a convenient biodegradable throwaway wrapper (I'm looking at you, bananas).

In any case, let's get this thing rolling. I just got back from my lunch break at work, where I went to the grocery store to stock up on food for the next week or so since we were low on supplies at the house. Here's what I got:

- Florida oranges
- Green apples
- Bananas
- Pears
- Cucumbers
- Salad mix (baby greens, romaine hearts)
- Mixed nuts
- Green beans
- Strawberries
- Celery
- Tomatoes
- Lemon juice (to flavor water with)

^ These things are hopefully going to make up the majority of what I eat over the next two weeks, with lots of water.

One of the challenges of a raw diet for me is the price of produce. Fresh produce is pretty expensive, and I'm (unfortunately) pretty poor, and thanks to the American economy, getting poorer all the time. Luckily, we have a huge garden that is just now starting to take off, so within a few weeks we should be able to get some of our produce from the backyard.

Lunch (5/18/2010)
- handful of mixed nuts (salted)
- 1 overripe Bosc pear (was damaged in transit so I had to eat it)
- water with lemon juice
- 1 large banana
- 2 oranges (not the ones I just bought, these were left over from a bag I previously had at the office)

 

[Verobc1]

I was vegan from the age of 14 to 21 but then my boyfriend at the time now husband found it so hard especially when we moved in together so I started adding dairy and eggs and eventually chicken to my diet, what would be hard for me is prepping all my raw stuff and then making a meal for the rest of the familly it's just double the prepping. I still include Tofu, Nuts and Legumes to my diet on most days...I should give the raw food a try for a month or so to see how taht would go!

 

[maverick2]

what would be hard for me is prepping all my raw stuff and then making a meal for the rest of the familly it's just double the prepping. I still include Tofu, Nuts and Legumes to my diet on most days...I should give the raw food a try for a month or so to see how taht would go!

That's what me and my vegetarian roommate are doing now - we're just going raw for a month to start out with to see how it goes. If it seems to be wearing us down (either through repetitive meals or malnutrition) we'll probably reintroduce brown rice and cooked beans to our diet to balance it out. But I've heard great things about going raw though, so I want to keep as raw as possible for the next few months just to give the experiment a fair shake.

I think the key is honestly to keep it as simple as possible - not much prep involved in my lunch earlier, for example. Peeling fruit is all I had to do, and I just did that as I ate my lunch and threw the peels directly in the trash (would have thrown them in the compost bin if I was at home). My lunch was so simple I didn't even need a plate...though I could have used a napkin since it was so juicy!

This week I chose vegetables that were pretty easy to eat out of hand too (or with minimal chopping) - cherry tomatoes, cukes, and pre-cut/pre-washed green beans. There are a lot of options for pre-prepped produce, but I don't typically buy them because they're more expensive than just buying the produce and prepping it yourself.