Update

My raw vegan conversion has stood the test of time, albeit ridiculed and mostly overlooked by my many communities, but I have been able to stay over 90% pure to the rigor of eating unheated vegetables that have been prepared in delicious ways. 

However, there have been some developments: I am nearing the end of earning my Masters Degree in Nonprofit Management from North Park University here in Chicago and have been blessed with the idea of opening up a nonprofit, raw vegan cafe and teaching organization. The purpose would be to promote the concept of "food as medicine" of which there is such a plethora of research that I (we) could make available to our patronage that it would make a very favorable impact. To this end I have designed a logo and have written a business plan. It sits on my hard drive while I spend my days trying to build my small business consultancy, but it is nevertheless written and ready.

I have put on a few pounds but this is due to making poor raw vegan decisions and occasionally cheating than anything else. I ran the Chicago Marathon last year and am training to run it again this year so I feel better than I ever remember feeling and this is, of course, a wonderful thing to be able to experience.

Today I am starting a "reboot" reminiscent of "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead", which we watched last weekend. It was a great documentary and has inspired me to try this juicing fast. We'll see how it goes, but I have prepared a day's worth of green smoothies to take with me into the office. I'll report on it later.

Enzymes are the life force of all unprepared, grown foods that the earth produces. Nature has given each food its unique perfect mix of these vital enzymes which allow us to fully digest our foods without having to rely solely on our own body's digestive enzymes. The cooking process destroys or alters the most important enzymes, essential vitamins and minerals which means our bodies must labor much more intensively to digest what we have put in them. These days there is a plethora of evidence that supports the raw foodist's beliefs, also our own, that cooked foods (heated beyond 115 Fahrenheit) takes significantly longer to digest and ultimately clogs up our digestive system and arteries with partially digested fats, proteins and carbohydrates.

By eating only uncooked foods since March 15th, 2010, my wife and I have achieved significant desirable weight loss and weight stability - and are quite convinced that we will not "yo-yo" and put the weight back on. We also believe that our raw food diet has enhanced our body's ability to prevent and fight diseases, something that we need to pay attention to at our ages (54 and 59). We did extensive blood work before and after this lifestyle change and, according to the reports we got back after six months that were interpreted to us by our doctor, we have some of the healthiest blood that he has ever seen. Our cholesterol levels have plummeted to be at peak levels and my pre-diabetic condition has normalized so as to be undetectable. But these are only a few of the benefits that we have realized, others of which include markedly increased energy, stamina, clarity and focus, along with healthier skin, hair, nails and general life outlooks.

We prepare our food in special ways now. We consume sprouted grain seeds and bean seeds, as opposed to the whole uncooked grain or bean. We soak all our nuts are soaked to release the enzyme inhibitors, and some fruits are dried in our dehydrator which is the only heating that is allowed - it blows hot air through the food, never heating the food above 115 Fahrenheit. We also blend and chop up our foods. We lack for no vitamin or minerals in our intake because we have carefully constructed our diets to include all that is commonly thought to be necessary. This is not hard to do, believe me!

Although we are not exclusive enough to label ourselves fruitarians, juicearians, or sproutarians, we exercise a lesser version of each of these disciplines daily in the fulfillment of our food plan. The most important characteristic of our conversion is that we have never eaten better in our entire lives! The FOOD WE EAT IS DELICIOUS!
We are not experts by any means and are not trying to make any such claims. We have learned more from those that have done it longer than we have and are trying to attract and collect useful dialogue on the subject so that we might all benefit from it.

Day 6 - Friday, May 22nd, 2009

I haven't blogged about this fast because I never really knew if I was going to continue it one day to the next. Now, since I'm beginning day 6, I guess it is enough of an entity for me to blog about. Plus, doing this actually gives me a couple of extra molecules of stability in being able to continue it.

I can say that I don't like my physical existence as much when I am not fasting regularly. My fasts center me and give me a truer perspective of how much undeserved importance we fasten to food. For me to go six days, and longer, with no real discernable effects is proof, to me, that eating was one of the most overrated activities in my life.

Once I begin to eat again, I will follow an organic path that's full of fiber and nutritious content but unfortunately, if the past is any sort of dependable predictor at all, my relationship with my oral consumptive activities will deteriorate. It has happened, without fail, every time. My brain and my tongue stage a coup d'etat over my heart and my body. They being plotting by implusing odd urges and it grows until I try one. It begins with a bag of chips and escalates over time to anything with a candy wrapper around it.

We'll see. This time I intend to develop a new relationship with food. Maybe God will help me if I ask Him.

Days 8 & 9, July 17th and 18th

Who has any idea of why I didn't post yesterday? Not me. No clue.

Perhaps it was because I was so consumed with the idea of eating a double butterburger. I could not get eating off my mind yesterday!

I am guessing, perhaps, that the absolutely foul, metallic taste that thickly coats my tongue and inner oral cavity is the culprit. The taste is like concentrated animal vomit and I can't get it by brushing or rinsing. I tried to chew a piece of organic, sugarless gum and it was way too sweet for me. I had to spit it out.

Anyway, this is my eighth and ninth day report to myself. Onward I march. I have normal energy and not much is different except for the fact that I'm not eating.

Day 7 - Wednesday, July 16th

Unfortunately I don't have anything much more interesting to say than the lame stuff I scratched down yesterday.

I walked to work today and felt pretty good. My vision is a bit blurry but nothing bothersome. I feel a bit tired but no more so than I feel when I am eating like a pig.

So unless something noteworthy occurs today, which would compel me to write to myself on this blog (highly doubtful), I will sign off for today and try to come up with something a little more interesting for tomorrow (no guarantees).

Days 1,2,3,4 & 5 (the 6th being July 15th)

I wish to acknowledge, and then dismiss, the fact that I began my fast five days ago and did not journal it in this blog. I have over-thought the handful of plausible explanations that might clarify my episodic dementia, but have adopted not-a-one as usable (that’s why I made my motion to dismiss the subject once I run through the excuses).

Perhaps I was lazy. Maybe I just didn’t believe that I would be able to continue this, particular fast to any significant point and rather than bother with journaling a failure, I just wanted to make sure it got off the ground (this seems to be the best excuse even though its accuracy must remain in doubt). It could be that I didn’t want to make a commitment to myself to actually begin another fast and blogging it would have forced me into it. In the end, who knows and who cares. This is only me talking to me anyway, so onward I go with my chronicle of the experience.

I have had many failures and false starts in the interim between the last 6 day fast and this one. I wanted to begin quite a few times but there always seemed to be an important inconvenience or a handy, perfect excuse pleading with me to use it. This commitment problem could speak to my lack of purpose in this fast. This should probably be added to the list of good excuses for not chronicling in the preceding paragraph. So now I will speak to this issue of purpose.

I am fasting because it amazes me that I can do it. So maybe it gives my self-esteem a bump up to witness the self-control that I can muster against my instinctual, carnal drives. I’m not admitting to this, just mentioning it as a possibility. Through the miniscule amount of reading that I have done on the subject (albeit emanating from very credible and believable authority), I am convinced that this is a healthy pursuit. I would never put myself in the position of recommending it to anyone else, but for me it is a very worthwhile pursuit for several reasons: It cleans me out physically and psychologically; I lose a little weight which takes me to a healthier place; I have more time to think about things other than the preparation , buying, fantasizing, eating and post-consumptive remorse, of food; I have been coming across more and more reference to fasting as a spiritual tool in my continued study of the Bible . . . so I think I’m covered on many beneficial fronts.

This actual experience is not much different than what I remember the other ones being. I am in my mid-sixth day and am not feeling any negative effects of not having eaten any solid food for almost a week. The liquid that I have consumed has primarily been water but there have been a couple of cups of tea a day as well. Other than yesterday, when I drank a glass of unsweetened grapefruit juice, I have not had any juice at all.

I am able to walk about an hour and a half a day without noticing any lack of energy at all. In fact, I have been reading a fascinating book authored by Richard J. Foster entitled, “Freedom of Simplicity” which has put my spirit in an easy state of comfort. I would recommend this book as the perfect compliment, as a matter of fact, to any fast. Maybe I will read another of his books during the next fast I engage in.

So, with this nonsensical monologue having run its course to boredom, I will sign off. Perhaps tomorrow I will have something more interesting to note.

The End of Fast Number 2

I returned from my retreat yesterday and broke my fast. So it's over and it did not run the duration of what I have predicted or expected, but that happens. I am not discouraged. Much good was done.

To summarize, I went from Monday through Sunday and broke the fast on Sunday night. So that is six full days.

It was easier this second time than it was the first, but there was not really any difficulty on either one. The hardest part was the first day.

I will be cranking another one up shortly . . .