The Raw Food Detox Experiment Ends Early

I’m seriously thinking of ending the challenge early. I haven’t been feeling well since Saturday (this is Monday). Food is not appealing to me at all, yet I feel like I need it and force myself to eat/drink something. Not much, though. I suppose if I could just lie down and sleep, then it would be okay. Even though I’m tired, I can’t sleep during the day.

I don’t want to be a fanatic about this 30-day raw food detox challenge… if I’m not doing well, it may be a sign to stop the process early. I did complete 21 days and that was my original consideration, either 21 days or 30 days. I’ve never really felt bad like this previously on a raw foods diet. It could be that I’m older and there’s more to cleanse. But it’s keeping me from working and enjoying life. I think it might be time to end it.

In the midst of trying to decide whether to continue, I read an article in Newsweek (September 15, 2008, page 96) about anorexia and the different forms it can take. I read this: "A woman whose mother was a Christian Scientist recalls the belabored feeding her family undertook to maintain their health: fasts, cleanses, fermentation and raw food, hydrogen peroxide from the bottle, apple-cider vinegar, barley grass. Eventually it became easier not to eat at all.”

I know that the mainstream media makes fun of and criticizes diets like this. Some people with eating disorders (a serious mental condition) are attracted to raw foods; a raw foods diet doesn’t cause an eating disorder—the condition is already present before the person starts eating raw.

And I don’t believe that a raw foods diet is an extreme diet—I believe it’s a healthy one—but I also believe it’s important to pay attention to our bodies. It could be that my body is telling me it’s had enough, it’s time to go back to eating a plant-based diet with some cooked food. I wrote about balance yesterday. That’s what I’m feeling… that I’m out of balance. I’ve done the raw food detox diet long enough, it’s time to return to a healthy plant-based diet with some cooked food.

Feelings of Failure

It’s challenging for me, though, to not feel like a failure somewhat in ending this raw food detox early. I had a sense that I was in the midst of a cleansing process that would end soon and I’d end up feeling well, but I couldn’t take the time to just lie around and rest while this was going on. My intention is to do this raw foods program again, perhaps twice a year, and if I don’t stray too far from the healthy-food path, it will produce better and better results each time.

To learn about my favorite blender--the Blendtec blender--for making the creamiest smoothies, click here.

I ended the challenge with a small amount of miso soup with vegetables and brown rice.

Positive Results

Twenty-one days was a good amount of time to produce some positive results. I lost 6.8 pounds; a nagging, occasional pain in my liver/gallbladder area cleared up; and, until the last couple of days, I felt fabulous—energetic, light, clear-headed, happy. I will do this again, absolutely. I still feel curiosity to experience how far it could take me.

Another thought has occurred to me as I write about my experience with a raw food detox. I've been under some stress and worries having to do with financial and business pressures. The best way to make a big lifestyle change, like one to all raw foods, is to do it in a peaceful, supportive environment without the daily worries and distractions that pull us in so many directions. That is truly a challenge for most of us.

I'm thankful for my two challenge mates who are continuing on with their respective challenges. We have agreed to begin a new 30-day challenge at the conclusion of this one. I'm not going to make it about food this time, though.

Here is a wonderful 28-day, structured raw foods program that you can do online: click here to learn more. I heartily recommend it.

Click here to read about other detox diets.

To read yesterday’s entry (day 21), click here.

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