I started out last week tracking my calories. Initially I thought I would be high raw but as the week wore on, and life’s stress piled up, I gave into emotional eating. I knew full well what I was doing too. It just seemed the fiery arrows were more numerous than usual. The more cooked food I ate, the more I craved it. The more I craved it, the worse I felt. It was like a cooked food coma hung onto me. Yes, I was still vegan. Yes, that’s better than eating SAD (Standard American Diet). And yes, I realize how crazy this must sound to anyone who has never been on a High Fruit Raw Vegan diet and even crazier to those on SAD. Obviously, when I eat vegan, I feel better than when I ate SAD, but once you’ve experienced what HFRV is like… everything else just feels like sub-par. Some people think this is all mental, but it’s not. Sure, your outlook plays a role, but I’m talking about physical well-being.

For example, I’ve slowly (like really slowly) been working toward a faster running pace. This has been difficult since the concussion last fall. Running was far more painstaking and I was even dreading it (would even skip runs because of the dread). Then I went HFRV for about seven weeks straight. I have never… did you read that?  I have never had that much energy in my life. Running became fun and my mile averages were getting better each time. I would actually have to reign in my ridiculous grinning during cycling class because I didn’t want people to think I was crazy. I would catch myself almost laughing because I couldn’t believe I was working so hard and not feeling wiped out. I would leave class with a spring in my step. Well, Monday was quite a different story despite my being optimistic about the run beforehand. Last week I noticed that my running pace was the same. It had been steadily increasing. Then on Monday, despite my positive mental state, it decreased. I had to fight so much for the time I got. After a few days with this on my mind, I decided I was going back to HFRV this morning.

Well, I woke up with a fever, chills, and nausea. There was no way this was a coincidence. It was another fiery arrow… except this one made me angry. I don’t like forced rest days one bit, so I used this one to my advantage.  I rested, read HFRV, drank more water, and ate raw. I felt terrible and wanted “comfort” food much of the day, but I continued to eat raw. My calories (2,150.2) turned out lower than I would like them to be, but I feel this was a good effort for a sick day.

Most people have no idea that they are walking around in a cooked food coma. It’s normal for them like it was normal for me.

Calories: 2,150.2
Carbs: 91.6%
Protein: 5.9%
Fat: 2.4%
Fiber: 61.7 grams
Exercise: None