lioness in japan

I know this post title comes as a surprise because I’m a foodie who loves everything on her plate. But then, maybe it’s not so shocking because raw food is about eating good quality produce and that usually tastes marvelous.

Anyway, hear me out on my latest adventure…

Why am I toying with the idea?
Ever since I started my own business in Oct 2008, I have been reading a lot about productivity and changing habits. Around that time, I put just one boundary on my diet — no alcohol passed my lips for 30 days — and I never felt better. I felt less anxious, I focused on work well, I slept like a baby every single night, and my relationship with the kangaroo was excellent (not that we fought so much and we usually get along fine like any other live-in couple, but there were just no bumps or even the slightest tension; in their place, there were just awesome lovey-dovey vibes all around).

Plus, 2008 was the year I realized I was no longer shackled by cigarettes (I quit five years ago but fell off the band wagon too many times). I didn’t have any cravings for nicotine…and I never felt so free in my life. With that development, I became fascinated by stories of people who quit negative behaviour and felt better for it.

Where did I get my inspiration from?
I started reading positive blogs like Zen Habits, Gala Darling, My Bad Habits, and Think Simple Now, and they have taken me on their own personal journeys which made me re-think mine.

So through these blogs, I stumbled upon videos on famous raw foodists, like Karen Knowler and Angela Stokes, and I got very hooked. They both lost incredible amounts of weight on a raw food diet and who doesn’t love dramatic stories about people who were down in the dumps and clawed their way back up?

But, I mean, raw food? You’re not even vegetarian!
Yes, I realize that. I’m not setting out to be 100% raw nor vegetarian, but I want to improve my health and diet. Honestly, I feel lethargic physically and mentally, and I have insomnia like you wouldn’t believe. In spirit, I want to accomplish many things, but somehow, physically, I’m not able to.

I want to cut out the things that keep me awake at night and focus on those that will help me be alert and feel rested when it’s time to be.

Maybe it’s because I indulged so much last week with food and drink, I actually feel quite disgusted by meat. Fish and seafood are fine, but I keep thinking about fresh flavours and vegetables and cool water to satisfy any hunger I have.

So this is where having a bit of raw food is coming in. I quite like the idea of cutting wheat products (pasta and bread) from my diet (which is very South Beach; oh by the way, the kangaroo lost over 10kg on his latest stint while being on the road — he’s super kangaroo, I know) that would actually jump-start my energy levels.

Also, raw food is supposed to help you re-adjust your metabolism. The problem with me is that I get these enormous hunger pangs (probably sugar and carb-induced) that I simply have to satisfy immediately but I get a rumbly tum just a few hours later. I’m trying to understand my body chemistry better and tackle the root of the problem.

You are crazy. Is this just a phase?
I don’t know, it could be, but I would like to try to go raw at least one meal a day and see how that goes.

My instincts tell me I need to change how I feel. Every day, I wake up weighed down by tiredness, then I rush through the hours in a blur, with work stress and pressure to exercise on my back. I want to calm down significantly and just do what I need to do happily without that edgy feeling.

And I want to lose the shar-pei on my stomach. My skin has been breaking out and I have a puffiness that is caused by water retention and eating too much pasta. I used to have a slimmer face but look at it now:

Look, I don’t think I’m overweight at all, but I have extra flab I want to get rid of. If you look at raw foodists, they have incredible skin and they sort of seem ageless.

But the one thing that attracts me the most is the awesome energy you get from going raw. Not stimulant-induced, but pure mental clarity and physical alertness like no other.

Does this mean there will be no more posts about normal food?
No, not at all! I still have a keen interest in dining out and cooked food, so this won’t turn into a blog about vegetarianism and spirituality.

From all this reading, I learned that raw food is not about crunching on a whole head of raw cabbage or having unwashed hair while waxing over green issues. Raw food is actually very imaginative and I look forward to having fun in my kitchen.

So expect me to document my new journey going raw bit by bit, so my next post will be about a sensational recipe of nori rolls from British raw foodist Karen Knowler’s blog.

Related posts:

1. My 2009 resolutions
2. Low sugar brains
3. Eating cheap in Tokyo: Veggie nori rolls

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