Taylor and Marilyn’s Adventures in Blogging!

Well, the first two weeks has been an eye opener for me. While I lost a bunch (4.5 pounds the first week) I gained it all back over the weekend. Then I lost another 4 pounds the next week just to gain it back again in the two day following weekend. I remembered my doctor telling me that if I decided to eat a raw food diet that I would need to really watch and make sure I got at least 1700 calories; so I added the calorie intake up and it was well under the 1700 per day with one day being only about 800.

My wife being as diligent as she is as well as an avid Dr,Oz watcher, did a little research and concluded that my body went into starvation mode during the week and then saved as many calories as possible over the weekend causing me to yo-yo. A call to the Dr. pretty much validated the thought so now I have changed the eating plan up a little. I am still eating mostly a raw diet (about 60%) a day, I have added more protein and am eating meat several times a week and the other a vegetarian style diet. I will admit to a beer or two and a glass of wine here and there and can say that it’s a bitch trying to find the happy medium. In the mean time, my body is tolerating me at least for now and I will keep everyone posted as I learn more.

I had an unbelievably busy week this past week and did not post as often as I had hoped so I will try and do better this next week. Here is the past weeks progress. All in all I lost 3.4lbs. I felt that was good considering I ate out twice last week (once at the Silly Goose and the chef made me a raw meal and the other at the Wild Cow and they have a raw plate on the menu) However, eating raw does not mean it is low in calories; by the time I got enough protein from nuts and seeds I had eaten a lot of calories!

While I was sitting at the Wild Cow I looked around and saw all those vegans and vegetarians and they are all have long lean bodies while I have a thick, muscular one. My doctor had told me to be careful and get enough protein because of my build so I am wondering if being thick requires more protein? Just one more thing to figure out in this eating right program!

What I have figured out so far is I eat too much fruit and not enough vegetables even though I have eaten more spinach in the last week than I have in the last month. I am working on making sure I load up on vegetables this week to see what happens. I have also managed to exercise 15 to 30 minutes a day and plan on keeping that up. Other than that, I have been at my computer most of the week, which is not really good for my health but works for my pocketbook right now.

I have also been asked to post what I am eating in detail more often so I will attempt to do that as well; though I have to admit that some of my creations are just whatever I have in the frig that needs eating. You throw it in the blender and see what happens! I will also post my weight in the morning to start the week as yesterday and today I am eating “normal”. Not too bad just not raw.

Last year when my friend Dan told me about his going on a raw food diet and what it did to him (all good), I would have never thought that I too would be venturing down this path. However, when you find out that you can’t take the medicine that you need to take to control a potential health problem, you find out really quickly you can do a lot of things that you never thought you would do. So three days ago I started eating a totally raw diet and plan on doing so Monday - Friday every week followed by a mostly vegetarian diet on the weekends and, occasionally a piece or two of meat!

If you are a die-hard raw only or vegan only or vegetarian only kind of person and think I am dishonoring the holy community, please realize that I am not in any community except the one where I take care of myself and still enjoy food and eating for the rest of my life. I expect to stay raw or vegan most of the time but I want the freedom to eat meat on holidays and at other events in limited moderation. This is because of high cholesterol and I suppose that if I didn’t have this condition, I would eat more of it. As it is, I am taking control of my health and my eating habits.

As of Monday morning, January 4, 2010 I weighed in at a hefty 223.9. After the first three days, I have lost 3.3 pounds and feel really great. This website will be used to document the ups and downs of this diet and what you have to do to pull it off and maintain it. I hope you enjoy it and participate in it with me. Let’s get healthy together!