Journey Into Raw Foods

Three and a half months flew by faster than I ever thought it could. When I first picked up Victoria Boutenko’s “12 Steps to Being Raw”, I had no idea what I was getting into. Nonetheless, a dynamic change has come over my life and I’m thankful for it everyday.

Cruising through town, I am amazed at the plethora of eateries that are available for the average person. Even as a vegan, I had no lack of diversity in the restaurants available to me: Chipotle, California Pizza Kitchen, Papa John’s, Taco Bell, Del Taco, Subway, Souplantation, and an handful of local vegan friendly independents. Nowadays, I drive by these places and can barely imagine why, as a supposedly health conscious and eco-friendly vegan, I wasted my time and money in places like those. Since I transitioned to a Raw Food diet, I’ve cut out any food that is cooked, processed, or even pasteurized. This effectively meant an end to eating out, vegan meat substitutes and most soy products, bread, and those terrible, all too accessible indulgences like soda and candy. I forced myself to throw out or give away nearly 95% of the contents of my refrigerator and pantry and invest in a juicer, high-speed blender, and dehydrator. Without a doubt, this was one of the most radical changes I have ever made in my life.

Believe it or not, there are good reasons why I decided to slash and burn my old way of living. Honestly, I didn’t even have faith in many of the reasons at the time. My girlfriend had officially introduced me to the idea of a diet based entirely on raw foods, and I was skeptical, to say the least. Advocates were preaching that living on nothing but raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and sprouted grains could bring about such dramatic changes that I just couldn’t believe them. These practitioners boasted increased energy, enhanced mental clarity, a perceived oneness with nature, and stronger immunity, as well as boosted strength and muscle recovery. Even from my granola loving, grass munching vegan perspective, I just couldn’t place my faith in the idea. However, in what was perhaps an uncharacteristic spontaneity, I decided to fully dedicate myself to one week on nothing by raw foods.

The first two days consisted of a lot of strawberries and orange juice. I soon added calorically dense raw nuts and dates to my diet, to stave off instant weight-loss: I’ve been “underweight” my whole life. By the end of the week, I had expanded my diet to include a wide range of fruits and vegetable, nuts and sprouts. I dined on strawberries, oranges, bananas, grapefruit, apples, kiwis, mangos, tomatoes, avocados, zucchini, bell pepper, carrots, lettuce, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, cashews, almonds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, and even a couple of transition-easing prepared raw snacks from my local health food markets like seasoned nut and trail mixes, and even dehydrated raw crackers.

At the end of the week, it was time to draw my conclusion on the Raw Food diet, but it had already been made. By the time day seven came to a close, I wasn’t even thinking about continuing; I was determined to. After only three or four days of only fueling my body with pure foods, and a ton of water, I felt amazing. I had more energy, increased focus, and a new zest for life. However, just to make sure, my girlfriend and I made one final trip to our favorite vegan restaurant, Follow Your Heart in Canoga Park, CA, for a sort of last meal. We thought we were just indulging in a what would be the last warm meal we had for a while, but what we got was a powerful and choice-affirming lesson. After ordering and consuming our favorite dishes, we noticed that the taste wasn’t all that we remembered, and within an hour, we were sick to our stomachs. Betrayed by our once favorite foods! Before we got home, we came to the solid realization that there was nowhere to go but forward.

Since that first week I’ve been noticing nothing but good things. To my utter and complete surprise, everything that I had read about the diet turned out to be true: even the part about detoxing. The theory is that once your body is fully able to reap the benefits of your new diet, it will work to purge you of the waste and toxins that have built up in your body since day one. This detoxing comes after a few weeks and can recur at various intervals, I am told, for up to a year. While enduring stomach aches, diarrhea, and vomiting, I had a very real sense that I was still on the right path. On the upside, I gained better energy, focus, and mental clarity. The quality of my work improved significantly and my critical thinking and organizational skills increased. I found I needed less sleep and never felt weighed down or tired after large meals. I gradually noticed improved strength and muscle recovery. I went from bench pressing 70lbs at the gym to 110lbs and also increased my pushup personal best from 20 to 50 (a longtime goal of mine was to reach 40). I’ve also felt more in tune with nature and astonishingly, spirituality; two things that had disregarded as “hippy talk” before beginning my experiment.

My journey into raw foods has been greater than anything I ever imagined. I was truly shocked to find out that there was so much truth behind the words of people like Victoria Boutenko and Alissa Cohen. My whole worldview has changed and I simply can’t imagine reverting to my old way of eating, and thinking. Everyday that I fuel my body with pure, natural foods instead of processed, preservative ridden junk is a day that seems better than the last. I believe that I have now found my path to a more natural and vibrant life.