My transition to Low Fat Raw Vegan: Part II

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The launch sale of my new e-book “21 Days to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings” ends this Tuesday, November 10, 2009!

To purchase the entire program for $20 off PLUS my special e-book “Surviving Sticky Social Situations on a Raw Food Diet,” be sure to visit the link below:

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If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at swayze@fitonraw.com

My Transition to Low Fat Raw Vegan: Part II

In My Transition to Low Fat Raw Vegan: Part I, I said that Part II would be dedicated to my first few months raw, as well as what I did wrong, what I did right, and how this applies to you and your raw struggles.

Well, I lied.

The first few months portion turned out to be much longer than I anticipated so there will now be a Part III AND a Part IV dedicated to my transition and “analyzing” my journey.

Forgive me?

Month 1: The 30 Day Experiment

My 30-day 80/10/10 experiment ended on November 30, 2007.  Here’s a post published the day after from my old blog (I apologize in advance for the language):

It has been a complete 30 days and I can’t believe it! Overall, I think it was pretty successful. Was I 100% raw the whole time? Not even close. Did I learn more about myself, particularly my addiction ( I still hate that damn word) to food? Absolutely!

I have to agree with my foul-mouthed former self.  While I did not completely stick with my raw game plan (Thanksgiving was particularly brutal), I did improve my diet tremendously over the 30 days and I learned a whole heck of a lot about my addiction to food and my tendency to binge eat.

I also learned the value of volume and how important it is to eat enough, even if I didn’t always follow this advice (I’ll talk more about this in Part IV).

As a result of my success and all of the wonderful benefits I received (which I will discuss in Part III), I decided to continue my low fat raw vegan journey indefinitely.

Unfortunately, this success was rather short-lived.

Month 2: Christmas Cookies, Cakes and Cheese Puffs!

December 2007 did not go nearly as well as I had hoped.  It seemed that trying to stay 100% low fat raw during the Holidays (remember, my Mom’s cooking seriously rivals that of any top-named chef) was just too much for me.

I was just so used to gorging on all the heavy Holiday foods!

Here’s a quote from my blog from December 31, 2007:

My eating has been really strange for the past few weeks or so, ever since I ate that chocolate. I’ll eat 100% raw for a couple of days, and then eat some cheesy puffs or tortilla chips or something. And I haven’t really craved them, I can’t explain it. I think that I ‘m just so used to going crazy with food during the Holidays and then eating great for January.

I have to be honest here and rat myself out.

My eating was not always as innocent as “some cheesy puffs or tortilla chips.” That was usually just the start of what more often than not became a binge.

Here’s an example: a few nights before Christmas I attended a dessert party with my family.  I made sure to eat beforehand and told myself that I was not going to pig out on cakes and cookies.

I swear, it was not 10 minutes after we had arrived that I had already eaten two pieces of cake, several homemade cookies, some eggnog (which I never even liked) and a couple of handfuls of chocolate-y trail mix.

And after all that sweetness, I just had to have something salty, right?  So I headed on over to my favorite Chinese restaurant for some garlic broccoli stir-fry and rice.

I still feel bad for not being completely honest about my eating habits, but can you blame me?  I was still coming to grips with the fact that I had let food play such a major role in my life and I was embarrassed!

So needless to say, I certainly overdid it during the Holidays, but I was more than ready to redeem myself for the new year.

Months 3-4: Fruitarian Challenge

In order to get back on track, I decided to participate in Richard Blackman’s 90-day Body Transformation Challenge on his Fruitarian Fitness Forum.

I’m sure you’ve heard this story before…

First week: super pumped and motivated!

Second week: Little bit of a struggle, but doing alright.

Third week: Cravings, little motivation, hanging on by a thread

Fourth week: meh…

I stuck with it for quite a while (the supportive atmosphere was nice), but then some issues came up with the forum and so I and a few other participants dropped out.

I was still doing alright on my own and was certainly eating much better than I had been during December.

My only real struggle was during dinner time after my final fruit meal for the day.  I wanted something savory and a big salad of lettuce and tomatoes just did not cut it.  That’s usually when I would turn to my weakness, chips and salsa.

Still a huge improvement from cake and cookies!

Then my sister came to visit for a week in February, which gave me just the excuse I needed to forgo my raw diet for a whole week!

Bring on the tortilla chips!

Months 5-9: Finally, Raw Success!

After a week-long visit from my big sis (she lives miles away in CA) in February 2008 and a complete departure from my raw diet, I knew I had to get back on track.

I knew if I wanted to be successful, I was going to have to put in the extra effort.  Specifically, this meant preparing delicious and savory dinner meals that I actually enjoyed and would not leave me longing for salt afterward.

No more simple, uninspired, and just plain lazy salads of lettuce and tomatoes that I had to literally force down my gullet!

Instead, I used the meal plan section in The 80/10/10 Diet and prepared a different 3-course dinner meal from the book every single night for about 3 weeks.

Not only did this give me an arsenal of savory yet salt-free recipes to use whenever I experienced cravings, but it also made dinnertime fun!

Instead of hiding in my room whenever my Mom started cooking, I would join her in the kitchen and prepare my own raw meal.  Rather than eating alone, I would sit at the table with the rest of my family.

And because I really enjoyed my meals, I was barely tempted by the cooked foods everyone else was consuming and I was actually able to stay raw for over 4 months!

And then I went on vacation…

Next Time

In Part III, I will talk a little bit about the dreaded 2008 family vacation, my foray back into bingeing, and the much needed wake-up call that ended my unhealthy eating for good.

Stay Tuned!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze