November 26, 2009 by fatkidsuit
Today I want to thank myself for seriously committing to change.
My 3oth straight day raw was actually yesterday, but it’s timely to post my first set of before & after pictures today; a day we all pull our heads out of our asses and attempt to give thanks for the bounty that is existence.
What I’m thankful for today
I am thankful for my body’s insane resiliency; its capacity to bounce back and regenerate itself is incredible.
One month ago today I was sitting here at this same spot (my kitchen table) drinking continuous triple measured gin gimlets and eating massive quantities of nutrient deficient, fat laden, coma inducing food. How the hell do I remember what I was doing a month ago? That’s what I did every day.
The almost manic levels of energy I am experiencing (after getting past a couple difficult weeks) is making me want to explore so many things. I have way less time than energy now–the INVERSE of my life just one short month ago–where time lagged and I didn’t give a shit about anything. I certainly had never blogged before, let alone about raw foods! Now I have this daily-growing list of topics I want to explore, people I want to meet, stuff I want to try, recipes I cant wait to make, and places I’m dying to travel to…
A real load off
Weighed myself Tuesday and am proud to announce that I lost exactly 20 lbs in less than 30 days–eating only 100% raw food (raw fruits/uncooked veggies/raw nuts &eeds/raw honey & agave).
It takes a lot to post pics like these. It’s weird to have strangers inspect your face and gut. When I look at the picture from one month ago I’m disgusted. How could I let myself get to that place? And while I am partly referring to the physical, please understand I am mostly referring to my mental/emotional state.
Here goes:
One month ago -- 254 big ones!
TODAY! 30 DAYS RAW! 234 LBS!
When I look at the “after” picture, I feel excited. This is just the start.
It took 30 days just to figure out WTF was going on, get used to not drinking myself into a stupor, and find my way back into my own skin.
If you are considering making a change like this, please try to be compassionate with yourself and don’t expect too much at once. It’s a lot to just commit to a new way of eating. The first month I kind of went into hiding, this blog my one connector to the outside world.
Exercise
I really didn’t exercise the first month. But now I have too much energy NOT too! Isn’t that a nice problem to have?
Tuesday I dug out some of those funny 1980’s style resistance bands that I bought and never used and did a crude upper body workout. Go ahead and laugh, these bands actually work. I used them in an EMS academy years ago that was taught boot camp style. We all (guys and girls) got ripped and experienced massive strength gains using only the bands and calisthenics during our three month academy.
Yesterday I pumped up the sadly flat tires on my neglected fixed gear and took her for a long ride. I ride my other bike to work each day, but it’s less than 2 miles and not a work out. Nothing like only having one steep gear to reanimate my long dormant legs and ass!
Just how she should be...Simple & Hot!
Struggling up a small hill, completely anaerobic, it was tough for me to believe I used to ride my bike over 50 miles a day as a bike messenger in NYC!
Climbing Mountains
Today just before dusk I rode over to the base of a popular—extremely steep—hiking trail. Locked my bike to the trail sign and headed straight up for about 45 minutes. The view is staggering. Other than the big hunk of cross-sectioned moon, alone on the mountain, it REALLY hit me: I’m doing this. I remember this feeling. I feel incredible…
Posted in Raw Food Daily Logs | Tagged before and after pics, bicycle, bike, bike messenger, body, change, commitment, EMS academy, fixed gear, fixie, give thanks, hike, hiking, live food, mind, moon, NYC, raw food, raw foods, single speed, solo, Thanksgiving, vegan, vegetarian | 5 Comments »
November 24, 2009 by fatkidsuit
Today’s blog is celebratory (no, I’m NOT a priest)!
Tomorrow will be my 30th day eating ONLY raw food but today I’m feeling kinda…silly!
Over the past month I’ve had some doubts about my sanity…giving up booze, food as I knew it, and coffee SUCKED.
But…I’m feeling pretty damn good right now. Super good actually. Energy levels are off the energy level charts–and that’s according to these guys with clipboards who keep following me around.
Tomorrow I’ll weigh myself and post 30 day “before & after pics!”
But right now I want to celebrate my budding transformation and Annie’s Birthday by sharing some fun Birthday pics of her and some crazy cats opening her presents!
Annie’s “Birthday Cake” was delicious Gluten-Free “Black & White” cookies and these unbelievably tasty things called “Fudgies” that I had shipped as a surprise from her favorite Gluten Free restaurant–which sadly is all the way in NYC…the Risotteria.
What's this...?
THE NEW ADAM LAMBERT CD! I HAVE A HAIR THINGY JUST LIKE HIM!
I smell cardboard in the other room...
What the hell did WE get!?!
Sweet! A box! From Urban Outfitters!
Now look into the camera baby, and give me your best Kristen Stewart American Apparel kinda look...Yeah..That's it!
Fortunatley Annie's one leg is on the opposite side of her one arm so she can still do a BIRTHDAY DANCE!
H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y A N N I E !
YOU’RE A WOMAN NOW!
Posted in Just messing around... | Tagged Adam Lambert, alcohol, American Apparel, before & after, birthday bash, birthdays, black and white cookies, booze, cake, cats, CD, celiac, coffee, dance, dancing, GF, gift, gifts, girl, gluten free, gluten-free restaurant, it's your birthday, junk food, Kristen Stewart, new CD, New York City, NYC, Palm Springs, presents, raw food, Risotteria, Urban Outfitters, woman | 6 Comments »
November 24, 2009 by fatkidsuit
Posted in Videos | Leave a Comment »
November 22, 2009 by fatkidsuit
It’s Sunday in Pa
lm Springs, 75 degrees out, beautiful mountain backdrop, happy friendly people and their pets are out enjoying the life…
And I feel like shit.
Why?
My first week eating only raw food was rough. Imagine cutting yourself off cold-turkey from drinking over 100 adult beverages per week, abstaining from your morning cup of crack with the pretty mermaid on it, and suddenly refusing your body any access to pizzas and Mexican food…NOT a fun transition.
If you’ve seen New Moon, and watched Kristen Stewart’s “Bella” writhe and scream in her sleep over her lost Edward (who I still maintain looks an awful lot like Bert from Sesame Street), you have an inkling of what my first week raw felt like! 
Weeks two and three were a different movie…I felt euphoric and “high” and ate up all the positive comments I was getting from friends and strangers. EVERY SINGLE DAY I saw a thinner, sexier, happier, healthier, more in-tune version of me in the full-length mirror.
Having a cute young raw foods chef at a Santa Monica cafe ask me if I was “raw” the second I walked in the door surprised me. When I answered yes, and she told me she “thought so, because my eyes were so clear and I really had a case of the glow” I was beyond flattered.
But here I am near the end of week four, a week of apathy and fatigue. What’s up? I feel like I’m doing this right…I’ve slowly been upping my intake of greens, I’m making sure I get natural fats like hemp oil, I’m still eating a lot of juicy organic fruits…
Also, I eat very little dehydrated raw foods (they make me feel as dry as they are) and most days just eat foods in their whole simple form without trying to “doll” them up.
I’m hoping that it’s just another cleansing level I’ve hit? I would expect my recent toxic past to haunt me for awhile. Maybe it’s a little bit mental…one month is the longest I’ve ever gone before raw…? But Jesus do I hate the idea that some or all of the benefits of raw eating might just be in my head.
One interesting distinction I’d like to make: I’m not depressed. I’ve spent much of my life in moderate to severely depressed states, this isn’t anything like that. I’m clear about things–almost scary sober–but I don’t necessarily like how that feels…
Sometimes eating raw makes so much sense to me, and I see it as the answer to a lot of peoples problems both on a personal level and a collective one. That’s how I mostly feel…at other times the whole thing seems ridiculous and absurd! Not eat ANY cooked foods? Not get drunk and stupid? WHY?!? What am I trying to prove? To whom?
As an example last night a guy at the bar wanted mashed potatoes. We don’t have that on the menu, but Mike the Chef made some for him anyways, that’s the kind of old school cool we serve up. When I bring him the potatoes I’m drooling. When he adds a few dollops of real butter I’m butter. So I try and remind myself that when I get home later I was actually going to make my own version of mashed “potatoes” which are made from soaked cashews and cauliflower blended up with salt & pepper. They taste pretty good. But they are NOT potatoes, and they are cold. For some reason it just seemed stupid to me…am I too good for potatoes?
My intention with this blog is not necessarily to inspire anyone to do anything. I simply want to reveal what eating raw is doing for me (now and in the future). So please take what I say with a grain of pink Himalayan crystal salt. I’m half-way through my trial and will continue to candidly share my peaks and valley floors with anyone interested…
Posted in Raw Food Daily Logs | Tagged raw food, bartender, Palm Springs, natural high, alcohol, Starbucks, greens, hemp oil, coffee, hemp, pizza, cleanse, hemp seeds, lose weight, sober, raw foods, mashed potatoes, Mexican food, cleansing, organic, fruit, crack, green foods, depression, raw food diet, New Moon, Twilight, Bella, Edward, Bert, Sesame Street, sobriety, mountains, pets, cold turkey, hangover, hungover, sexy chef, depressed, natural fats, juicy, dehydrated, candid, Jesus, bar, menu, off the menu, Himalaya | 6 Comments »
November 18, 2009 by fatkidsuit
Hung out today by the beach in Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Gorgeous sunset, great people watching…and that’s all to be expected from this place…although it’s not every day you are sitting in a cool raw food restaurant where Harvey Keitel’s getting takeout!
I only have time for a super fast update since I am staying with a friend and minus my laptop. But let me say this…the raw food scene is insane here! When I get back to Palm Springs I will give a full report on the delicious stuff I ate here and the cool people I met.
It’s a crying shame I can’t stay longer and check out some of the other raw eateries…but I have a girlfriend with Midnight movie tickets for New Moon and, oh yeah *&^%$ work!
What I ate today:
- a big juicy pineapple (yup, a whole pineapple)
- tangerines
- carrot/apple/orange juice
- LARA bar
- drank the juice out of a coconut
- watermelon juice (JUICE PLACES EVERYWHERE HERE! COULDN’T RESIST!
- Sampled some raw ice cream
- A big messy raw burger called a “BIG MATT”
- Sun dried durian dipped in chocolate
- tangerines
Start planning your raw vacation to Santa Monica! You’re gonna wish your bags were already packed after you read about what I found here. Good thing I only live 2 hrs away! Good night. Details coming soon…
Posted in Raw Food Daily Logs | Tagged big matt, chocolate, durian, getaway, Harvey Keitel, juice, juicing, juicy burger, LARA bar, live food, New Moon, Palm Springs, raw food, restaurant reviews, Santa Monica, smoothies, smoothy, sunset, vacation, vegan, Venice Beach | Leave a Comment »
November 18, 2009 by fatkidsuit
Hard to believe I’ve already completed three weeks eating 100% raw foods! It’s been an amusing ride and so far (as cliche as it sounds) I’m learning a lot.
I lost three more pounds this week! That’s a total of sixteen pounds in only three weeks which brings my weight down from 254 lbs. to today’s weight of 238 lbs.
What’s surprising me this time around eating raw is how unappealing I’m finding all set packaged ways of life…including the raw foods “lifestyle.” It’s not making much sense to me that one would undertake a mind-expanding journey like 
eating only raw foods and pop out the other side of the rabbit hole a mirror image of everyone else who took the ride.
Growing up in a world limited by religious dogma and small thinking I see hints of the same in extreme food ideologies. Like religion; a lot of the food “isms” rely on absolutes, require total rule adherence from “followers,” incite intolerance toward those who disagree, and inspire adoption of a uniform for quick & easy identification.
At this point in my life, I don’t feel qualified to identify right from wrong, especially for someone else. I’m not “shopping” for a group to belong to, and I don’t want to only be around people who think and eat exactly as I do.
We each get only one or perhaps several lives. Mine will probably include beer, pizza, and dare I say it? Meat. For now I’ll keep plugging along with my 60 days raw experience and enjoy it.
I don’t want to go back to the way I was eating three weeks ago. That was the opposite extreme and was damaging my health and self-image. Eating a diet high in raw foods is important to me now. I encourage others to give it a fair shake, but I’m not going to knock on your door Saturday morning telling you that if you don’t, you’re gong to burn on the self same BBQ that your steaks are sizzling on.
I hope this blog quickly evolves into a collaboration where readers feel free to explore and contribute. If all of us are inspired to make small changes which increase our energy, improve our health, and benefit the planet; it will have a far greater impact than one or two zealots fasting in a mountain cave.
Please continue to weigh in with your thoughts, share your struggles, reveal your misgivings, tout your triumphs, and inspire us with your successes.
So day 22 is a day of questions for me, not answers. Perhaps the universe is a question mark and not an exclamation point?
What I ate today:
After a long morning hike up a sun-bathed rock-face I was craving:
- A chocolate coconut shake! (Coconut oil, shredded coconut, cacao nibs, cacao powder, honey, hemp seeds, hemp oil, 1/2 a banana. Awesome!
- Tangerines
- 1/2 an avocado and some salty sun-dried olives
- Asian slaw: red cabbage, pistachio hemp tahini, hemp oil, apple, carrots, scallion, tamari
- Lara Bar–peanut butter cookie flavor
Sitting on my counter is a big juicy pineapple that I can’t wait to eat tomorrow morning!!!
Posted in Raw Food Daily Logs | Leave a Comment »
November 13, 2009 by fatkidsuit
Yesterdays blog (part 1) looked at the misconception that eating “raw” has to be expensive. It really doesn’t.
Today (part 2) I share what I think is a much bigger price to pay than money when it comes to the raw foods life…
Tomorrow (part 3) I’m going to look at the innumerable benefits of eating raw and try to do a simple Pro’s & Con’s analysis to see if eating raw feels worth it to me.
Part 2
IS GOING RAW WORTH IT EVEN THOUGH I HAVE TO GIVE UP SO MUCH?
Coffee
I love coffee. The aroma. The acidity. The buzzzzz. And I especially crave the taste. Black tar washing down my gullet.
I know coffee isn’t great for me. Sure every so often there’s a report about it having antioxidants as long as we drink it in moderation…come on…let’s be big boys & girls and admit it…we like coffee because it’s a drug. An upper extraordinaire.
This morning I woke up feeling like shit. Warmed over death. I had almost all juice yesterday and it’s kicking the cleansing back into high gear for me. Now normally, a quick $3 exchange with my dealer in the green apron would instantly change how I felt. LITERALLY.
Yeah-yeah there would be an energy spike and a corresponding drop..blah blah blah…that’s what a second cup of coffee is for. And I like most people ENJOY the coffee roller coaster. Especially because the ride right next to it in the park is the Booze Cruise. 
So let me bottom line how I feel about coffee despite the fact that I am better hydrated and overall better off without it. I miss the nervous creative highs & lows I experienced with coffee.
Alcohol
If coffee is creative than alcohol is fun. Right? We’ve ALL had fun drinking. And we’ve all cursed Jack, Jim, and Jose for ever being born.
It’s tough to imagine the world without alcohol. The liquid hazy realm is where we all become stuff of legends…”Dude! I got SO trashed! I woke up in a planter in front of a bank!” and “WTF Lara, don’t you remember peeing on the McDonald’s sign last night
in front of like one million people driving down Wilshire?”
Good times.
I’ve been bartending for about three years. I’m not the kind of bartender who throws bottles in the air. I’m not particularly fast. I’m the kind of bartender that gets to know you and makes you a perfect drink every time.
I love beer & liquor (slowly coming around on wine with the help of Chilean malbecs ), my love of bourbon and tequila drives me to constantly learn and craft each cocktail.
You know how they say that what people choose to drink says a lot about them. It’s true. It’s a fascinating thing and what’s really cool is that it changes both seasonally and slowly over time as someones personality shifts.
For example, when I lived in the cold SF bay area all my drinking revolved around bourbon and dark seasonal ales 
from NorCal on up through the Oregon coast (My all time fave was Lagunitas’ Lucky 13 Mondo Red). The cocktail I liked to treat myself to was a stiff Maker’s Manhattan.
When I moved to Palm Springs I became obsessed with drinking Hefeweizens during the hot summer days and with meals. My desert tonic of choice? The simplest Tanqueray gimlet: 3 oz of Tanqueray, the juice squeezed from half a lime, and ice go into the shaker. Shake the HELL out of it and strain it UP into a chilled cocktail glass or over fresh ice in a clear plastic Dixie cup if I was taking out to the pool…
If I seem like I’m rambling a little, that’s because I am.
I want to convey that I really like and miss these things. I can’t sit here and type some BS lie like, “Oh…I don’t really miss any of that.” Because I do.
Food
Now obviously, I don’t have to give up food. I eat as much of it as I want. As long as it’s fruit, vegetables, nuts…
I’m talking about pizza, steak, hamburgers, mashed potatoes, lasagna, burritos, sushi, cornbread, bacon, chili-cheese fries, artisan goat cheese, nachos, sourdough melts, street tacos, BBQ, potato salad, tamales, Vegas buffets, spanakopita, cubano sandwiches, breakfast potatoes, garlic bread, chips & salsa, pad thai, samosas, baingan bharta, and anything made or topped with copious amounts of sweet roasted garlic…
Making that list this early in my attempt at 60 days raw (and maybe as a way of life) is both a little sadistic and masochistic…but you knew I’d eventually have to get some S&M into a blog called Live Nude Food. Click here for a little amateur food porn I downloaded on a day last week when my food cravings were worse than normal. Go ahead and click it. You know you want to.
So right now you’re probably thinking “WTF!?”. Me too.
I’ve run out of the time needed to delve into the social ramifications of being a raw food weirdo (that IS what people think). Suffice it to say that if you think eating a diet that is contrary in every last respect to what the rest of your family, your friends, and the country eats…carries zero consequences; your crazier than Tom Cruise.
Yeah, you can get all new friends (maybe you need to anyways). You can carry baggies of cacao to the movies and thank the big dipper that raw eateries are coming soon to a corner near you. But it’s not gonna be all fun, and it sure as hell isn’t easy. So why claim that it is?
You can see why I say this is the real cost of going raw. And it’s one I’m still weighing out myself. It’s good that I’ve made the decision to commit to 60 days 100% raw NO MATTER WHAT. If I was trying to ask these same questions over and over every day, it would be a disaster for me. In the meantime my health and overall feeling about life have drastically improved in just two weeks. That’s frickin impressive on any level.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Tomorrow I’ll try and articulate what’s so incredible about the raw foods experience, and I’ll ask myself how it stacks up to the booze cruise…
What I ate today:
- Carrot/Orange/Apple juice
- Half a Pineapple/Green Powder/Honey/Coconut Oil “Colada”
- My new chocolate hemp Cocoa Puffs shake
- The other half of the pineapple…
Notes: Felt full all day. So much buzzy energy I almost don’t feel grounded. Went for a long walk at dusk along a dried out river bed. I’m updating this at 4:45 in the morning and haven’t gone to sleep yet…
Posted in Raw Food Daily Logs | Tagged alcohol, avocado, bartender, blog, booze, California, cleanse, coconut, coffee, cravings, diet, drugs, exercise, gimlet, gin, greens, health, health food store, hemp, hemp oil, honey, juice, live food, Maker's Mark, natural high, Palm Springs, raw food, recipes, smoothie, smoothy, Starbucks, Tanqueray, vegan, vegetarian, vodka | 2 Comments »
November 12, 2009 by fatkidsuit
Most people are concerned about money right now.
I am in need of an IV drip connected to a money bag myself. The place where I bartend is only scheduling me for 3-4 shifts a week, and like many restaurants, is struggling.
So one part of determining if raw food eating is “worth” it is the dollars spent. I’ll do my best to give a dollars & cents breakdown on what eating this way is costing me and how it compares to when I ate a “normal” American diet.
Another price to pay for eating raw is taking an honest look at the things you give up to do so. Pizza delivery and cheap beer. Pitchers of mojitos to wash down some gourmet Cuban cuisine. Street food (especially TACO TRUCKS!) BBQ joints…did I mention Taco Trucks?
I knew my moto was back in Cali when I came across this taco truck on a cold night just south of the border. The Oregon border!
Finally, anytime you examine somethings true cost you have to figure out just what the hell you’re getting out of it. AKA…what are the benefits?
So is it worth it? I’m no expert and I can’t answer this (or any other question) for you. But let you inside my abnormally large head and show you exactly how I feel at this juncture about the costs of eating raw…
Today (part 1) will focus on the monetary cost. Tomorrow (part 2) will look at the cost of giving up things you love and are used to…like taco trucks. And in (part 3) I’ll wrap it up with a snazzy cost/benefits analysis (sorry no charts or Excel spreadsheets) that attempts to explore the sometimes measurable, sometimes intangible benefits of a raw food life.
Part One
IS EATING RAW MORE EXPENSIVE THAN COOKED?
First few times you walk over to the raw “section” at the health food store (you know you’ve become a radical marginal member of society when you are shopping in a specialized section of a specialty store) two things will probably jump to your attention…
My first thought was “This is a really tiny section. Not really a section actually, more like an end-cap.”
My second thought was, “Holy shit! $14 for peanut butter!?”
Bulk Items
To make matters worse, a lot of the things you “need” to get started are bulk items. These types of items will probably last you a month, but they require payment in full today.
As an example, I bought a big bottle of spirulina for $43. Two weeks later I’m only halfway through it. But when I
Spirulina bringing someone else back from the dead...
was standing there in the store trying to imagine how bad something that grows on top of a swamp might taste, and ruminating on the sad fact that lately I don’t even make $43 some nights, well lets just say it wasn’t easy to hand over the green required to buy the green. (Spirulinas really more blue-green).
My conclusion? These items aren’t in actuality expensive and can actually make raw eating more economical in some instances. At $1.4o per serving, roughly the price of a Coke, instead of corn syrup, chemicals, and an ingredient list that reads more like toilet bowl cleaner than beverage; you get the most concentrated bio-available protein on the planet.
So, score one for the spirulina and other bulk raw items you might want like cacao nibs, hemp oil, and raw honey.
Pre-packaged stuff VS. Produce
When you are new and trying to “adjust” to raw for the first time you will naturally gravitate to the expensive pre-packaged raw items because they sorta look like what you think foods supposed to look like.
I stood there having a Homer Simpson style conversation with myself that went something like this… “Ahhhh…crackers! I know what crackers are! This is a peculiarly small little bag with only 6 crackers in it…not exactly a Costco size box of Wheat Thins…but it says here…sun-dried tomato crackers…mmm…sounds yummy…and they are only…let me just turn this little package over and find the price….$9! WTF!”
I bought them anyways. Because I was scared of not having what I refer to as “food-food.” And you know what allows you to psychologically pay NINE BUCKS for SIX CRACKERS? The little sticker on the package that says “raw.” And do you know what those crackers taste like, I’ll give you a hint…it’s a 4 letter word…start’s with an “S”…and it’s not sun dried tomatoes!
I’ve been reading a lot of other raw foodists blogs and watching their You Tube channels and tweeting with them and I’m starting to get the feeling that the longer one eats raw, the more likely they are to do almost all of their shopping at a Farmer’s Market, or in a good organic produce section.
My conclusion? Go ahead and buy the pre-packaged stuff. Try it. See what you like and what you don’t. Soon you will save the dehydrated breads and little $4 baggies of superfood trail mix for when you need the convenience or the comfort. Spend the bulk of your dough on fruits & veggies that are pound for pound, yes even at organic prices, the best value for your food dollar.
11/14 UPDATE! Went to Farmer’s Market today and loaded up on fresh veggies/greens/and fruit. I even bought a big jar of raw wildflower honey. Grand Total = $40 Because I’m 100% raw I also got “free” breakfast out of the deal just walking around enjoying all the samples being handed out. When I came home I took everything out and put it on the table so I could see what all I bought. I had to take a picture…amazing isn’t it? The honey will last a couple weeks and I’m sharing this with my girlfriend, so the real cost to me for the week I estimate to be closer to$25!!!
How Much Are You NOT Spending?
This is really fair question to ask, and the one that pushed me over the edge on the money issue. Do this little exercise yourself, and be brutally honest about it.
I added up what I spent each week on:
- Coffee. Up to 2 weeks ago I was spending over $6 per day at Starbucks.
- Booze. I’m talking drinks out (w/ tips), drinks in, wine, beer, all of it! For me drinking on the cheap was still costing me over $70 per week. And that’s with a job where I can have a drink or two for free.
- Cooked food groceries. I love to cook. Shop pretty smart at Trader Joe’s. My share of weekly groceries is about $40 per week.
- Eating out. Make sure you include any fast food, lunches out, frozen yogurts, movie popcorn, brunch, all that! I had really cut back lately. In the past my girlfriend and I would grab sushi or Mexican food at least 3x per week. But due to lack of work and recently moving, I’m gonna say I was spending about $25 per week eating out.
- Cigarettes. I don’t smoke cigarettes, so this wasn’t an issue with me. But if you do smoke, we’re talking big bucks here, and you ARE going to stop smoking if you go 100% raw. Maybe not immediately, but soon.
- Other drugs including prescriptions. In one way or another, to quote Weezer, “We are ALL on drugs.” I like to party, and think recreational substances have their place. But for arguments sake assume you won’t be spending money on that after you get hooked up to nature’s crack–raw food. Also include most (not all, like I don’t think eating raw is going to do anything in the contraceptive department) pharmaceuticals. Especially meds for cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, acid reflux (my GERD is 100% GONE), etc.
So for me…about $200 per week. What’s your total?
So that’s $200 per week that I can apply to eating 100% raw food, drinking fresh-squeezed vibrant juices, and even eating out every so often in a little raw cafe or gourmet raw eatery. $200 is A LOT of vegetables and fruit.
Another aspect of how much it really costs to eat raw vegan organic foods that I hadn’t thought of until I read Derek Markham’s blog today…is all the money not spent at the Doctors office. In his case he acknowledges that as a father he chooses to spend a large portion of his families income on fresh organic food. Derek says, “Our kids deserve the best fuel for their minds and bodies, and eating this way is our ‘health insurance’.” That blew me away.
What I’m NOT suggesting is that you cancel your health insurance (if you have health insurance) and count that as potential savings if you go raw. But imagine the money you, your family, and the country would save by having less sick days, co-pays, depression, and chronic illness…
My conclusion? Money should have nothing to do with whether or not someone chooses to go raw. If anything, I am spending a little less money each week to give my body an abundance of nutrients and delicious food.
Tune in tomorrow if you want to read about some of my misgivings about going (and staying raw long-term), as well as a candid lament about things I’m not sure I can live without (or want to).
Posted in Raw Food Daily Logs | Tagged raw food, vegan, vegetarian, alcohol, acid reflux, Starbucks, farmer's market, honey, corn syrup, booze, coffee, hemp, spirulina, health food store, BBQ, juice, Mexican food, ducati, moto, motorcycle, taco truck, food truck, homer simpson, money, restaurant, american diet, pizza delivery, cheap beer, cuban food, street food, gourmet, mojitos, Excel, cost benefits, cooking, peanut butter, bulk shopping, Costco, swamp water, blue green algae, Coke, expensive, per serving, ingredients, protein, pre-packaged, super food, trail mix, organic, fruit, veggies, dollar, spending, groceries, Trader Joes, cigarettes, GERD, pharmaceuticals, Weezer, crack, contraceptives, high blood pressure, cholesterol, green foods, health insurance, nutrients, depression, co-pays | 5 Comments »
November 10, 2009 by fatkidsuit
So I’m now 241 lbs. I may post before & after pics soon, or I might just do it at the 30 days milestone? My face looks way thinner already and I feel much lighter in general. And that’s with virtually NO…
EXERCISE:
So far. I am feeling the urge to get back to Bikram yoga.
When I do my quick little bike commute to the restaurant where I tend bar, I remember how amazing it was when I used to go on long mountain bike rides on the Central Coast of California or take a spring Sunday to ride from Brooklyn into the city and lazily circumnavigate Manhattan (the reward was always a stop @ the Whole Food’s at Columbus Circle for picnic supplies to be gorged on in Central Park followed closely by a nap on the grass).
FOOD CRAVINGS:
I still battle with intermittent yet powerful cooked food cravings. Last night I was dying every time I took a pizza or garlic bread to a customer…
But you know what? I feel tremendous. And how crazy is it to lose so much weight, so healthily, and so fast? Thirteen pounds in just two weeks!?!
THIS IS NOT A DIET:
I really need to drive home an important point for anyone reading this wondering if they are capable of going raw–I AM NOT STARVING MYSELF. I AM NOT EVEN DIETING. Seriously. I eat as much and as often as I want.
Eating raw is qualitative not quantitative. That’s a funny expression I coined so that I would sound like I really know what I’m talking about. It just means that eating and thinking this way (raw), has ZIP to do with dieting. Zero calorie watching. Zero hesitation if you want seconds or thirds. Your free to focus instead only on what you are eating.
FREE TO THINK & CREATE:
And you know what? After the initial misery while cleansing (for me it was terrible headaches and anger), and after the evangelical weird high most new raw-fooders go through where they get sorta preachy & annoying (while still being extremely lovable by virtue of their infectious radiant charisma) , you are all freed-up to think and plan and enjoy exploring areas of life other than food.
For me that’s been learning what a blog (noun) is, and how to blog (verb).
I also dug up the grave that some screenplays I started but never finished were buried in. I had to re-introduce myself to a dormant creative ghost who shared in secret with me (don’t worry ghosts don’t read blogs, they read blaaahhhgggs) that it still wants to be fueled by alcohol and occasional cocaine parties.
But that would be a different kind of blog…
What I ate so far today:
- Watermelon Juice from Nature’s Cafe (they are on Twitter now!)
- “Sweet Livin’ Walnuts” from Aimee’s…also bought these at Nature’s Cafe. Sweet & salty…sorta like almond praline meets cinnamon toast crunch cereal? For me the Stevia leaves an aftertaste…that’s my one complaint..I really prefer raw honey as a sweetener.
- Big Salad w/ avocado, sprouts, tomato, kalamatas, olive oil, lemon juice…
- My first self-prepared “gourmet” raw meal: I made cashew “mayonnaise” in the blender, bought a surprisingly good raw dehydrated rye “bread”, and topped it with a thick layer of the mayo, olives, and half an avo, so that I had this ridiculously flavorful open faced sandwich that had deli overtures.
sorry the pic is fuzzy, the sandwich moved!
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