Going Raw
Ok...Two weeks ago today, I got fired up and decided to change my life. I want my next 50 years to be productive, I want to be healthier, I want to be leaner, I want to get up the hills faster, and so I made a drastic change. Mostly Raw Veganism.
What is so drastic is that I am staying away from macro nutrient foods and going for the micro nutrient foods. Unfortunately meat and potatoes are macro. These are foods with lots of stored energy and low nutrition. It seems a rule of nature is that high calorie and high nutrition don't coexist so not only are most people getting fatter but they are also becoming malnourished which compounds poor health, disease and early death.
Why raw? The body needs nutrients, enzymes, and minerals. Heat breaks down nutrients and enzymes. It's pretty simple. A cooked or canned vegetable has lost 80-90% of it's nutrition. Why unprocessed food? It's quite apparent that once a food manufacturer gets involved there is not only the loss of nutrients from the processing but there's going to be a lot chemicals and fillers added. So if it's processed, it's not going in.
It took 2 weeks for my body to adapt to raw vegan. The adaptation is getting used to the drastic reduction in calories. First week of this journey was juice. I will say, I have had a little bit of salmon and tuna but only maybe 12-14oz in those 2 weeks. I can see myself eating cooked "rare" beef in small amounts in a few months.
What? Yes I said beef. My goal isn't 100% raw vegan but maybe 80-90% because when I start back to riding heavily I am going to need some calories so I will add back complex carbohydrates too.
The helpful things a person needs to do this are a heavy duty blender(at minimum 600watts or you are gonna burn one up). Commercial grades are over 1000 watts. Yep, smoothies are great. I have found that almond milk and/or carrot juice does well as a base for blending veggies. If you aren't great with the knife and cutting board a food processor makes the job quick.
The changes so far are the obvious weight loss, my heat tolerance is up also. My theory on that is my body isn't creating additional heat by processing calories for storage or for energy. There's also the obvious benefits of a high natural fiber diet. Another side effect is that I am not feeling like I want more than one cup of coffee in the morning which is completely unintended because I love coffee. My mind feels clearer though sometimes I can get into a mental fog with the low blood sugar and there is the occasional crankiness.
As far as riding, I have to manage my limited energy so I am just getting enough riding in so that I don't have to readapt to the saddle and crankset once I get back on. I will probably adapt to the lower calories some more so hopefully I can get my activity up so that I can burn more calories than I am now. My intention is to maintain this calorie level till mid or end of September and the epic adventure rides will begin in October.
