The past thirty days have gone by faster than I thought they would.  I didn’t know what to expect when I began the challenge, so my goal was simply to finish.  With the Lord’s help, here we are, thirty days later.  There were ups and downs, but overall, the good outweighed the bad.  Some of my targets (water and calories) were rarely (if ever) reached, but I feel the project still proved that I could eat higher calories and lose weight.  Which brings me to the numbers:

In thirty days I dropped 10.4 pounds on the scale.  The tape measure showed a loss of 9.7 inches (chest, waist, hips, right thigh, right arm, right calf, right forearm).  Yes, that’s only measuring one side of my body, so it stands to reason that my left side reduced in size as well.

Here are my food stat daily averages:

Calories: 1842.2
Carbs: 89%
Protein: 5%
Fat:  6%
Fiber: 54 grams

I also did a fitness test at the start of the challenge, which I repeated today.  I did not do exercises specifically to help increase my results.  In hindsight, I shouldn’t have done the final test after a “long run” day.  My legs are still recovering from the spinning (intervals – ack) and running workouts, as was evidenced by all the shaking.  Even so, here are the results:

Resting heart-rate:  decreased 5.97% (decrease is good in this instance)
Vertical Leap:  increased .83%
Pushups:  increased 28.6%
Toe Touch:  increased 150%
Wall Squat:  decreased 11.5% (this was one of those that was affected by my tired legs)
Bicep curls:  increased 5.13%
In & Outs (crunch type things):  increased 53.6%
Heart-rate maximizer:  Ok, so this one is really difficult to judge.  The reason?  Because I think the first time I did the test I was sprawled out on the floor afterward while the kids took my heart-rate over a period of minutes (which brings it down rapidly).  Today I was sitting so it wasn’t falling as quickly.  I guess the key indicator is my peek heart-rate, which was 3.07% lower today.  So, I’m going to say that this has improved based on that fact.

As I’ve noted throughout the challenge, overall I am functioning better.  Sleep, cycles, digestion, skin, hair, nails, energy… they are all improved.  I have felt a bit of a lure to cooked food today.  My body knows the challenge is over; it knows the accountability of checking in daily is done.  Still, I kind of feel as though I might be trading the positive changes just for the sake of “eating” something that tastes different.  I am having difficulty sorting through those thoughts.  I feel like the broken places are being restored and rebuilt.  Not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well.  It’s really difficult to explain.  I feel… “free”.  This doesn’t mean that I won’t eat cooked food (might eat dinner with my family tonight even), but right now, I’m planning on it being the exception and not the rule.

While this challenge has come to an end, my life as a mostly raw vegan is just beginning.  I greatly appreciate those who have followed along with me on this journey.  Knowing that you were reading kept me accountable on so many occasions.  May you seek God’s face in whatever He calls you to do and may He bless your efforts as a result.