Come on guys, we've all had those awkward locker room moments that end up going a little further than they should have..... J/K

All joking aside, I've recently decided to give the raw lifestyle a try. I was inspired by Fruitarian one(who now goes by richard blackmon on this board), to "go with my natural instincts" which right now seem to be leaning towards fruit.

It started when I began eating bananas and apples prior to training every day. I felt so light and full of energy, and never once got bogged down by gas or intestinal distress no matter how soon before training I ate them. I felt like I'd discovered a miracle food. Soon fruits constituted my post training meal, and before long I was eating a banana or two for breakfast and having nuts between meals. Before I knew it, fruits made up 75% of my diet without me making a conscious effort to change it. I was just enjoying eating fruit and not counting calories or keeping a log.

So in the name of science, I've decided to give full-fledged fruitarianism a try. In this log I will write down my daily diet, as well as record any fitness gains I make(PRs, record lifts, amazing workouts) as well as every time I run out of gas or feel flat in a workout. I will also record day to day my general feelings and energy levels, and if I'm craving something non fruit I'll write that down too. I'm going to be completely honest here because this is really just for me and I have no one to answer to. Also, I will consider tomatoes and nuts to be fruits because botanically they are and I like them.

As far as health issues go, my uncle is a doctor and my mom is a nurse, so I will have regular checkups which will include blood pressure(i check this daily anyway), blood glucose levels, and general health. Plus my mom will always tell me if I look better/worse. She's just like that. I may get myself one of those diabetic sugar testing machines with strips so I can check glucose on the go(this is a science project after all) since diabetes seems to be the universal fear of anyone skeptical of an all fruit diet. This initial post is getting long so I'm going to wrap it up with today's food list, and a couple of pics I took today(I will update these every two weeks to keep track of body composition changes)


9/22/2008 Food Log

10 bananas
3 apples
1 tomato
3 handfuls of nuts
1/2 orange


For Science!

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"Whooo boy! I'm wilder 'n hell!!" -Early Cuyler

sweet, I'm looking forward to this one. May I ask though why only a 1/2 of an orange? haha.

9/23/08

11 bananas
3 nectarines
2 handfuls of almonds
2 tomatoes
6 dried figs
Other half of orange
1 handful of walnuts

Today I felt intensely hungry when I woke up, ravenous even. I quickly scarfed down two bananas(my staple food) and got ready for school. I always stop along the way and buy more bananas and a new fruit for the day(today was nectarines), as well as reup my nut supply should it be low.

My workout today felt flat...I didn't feel drained going into it but I quickly faded. My guess is that I'm not eating enough...I estimate my caloric needs to be around 2500 cals so as you can see I'm barely hitting 2000 with my diet. I think adding a few more fruits will help tomorrow. My strength levels feel the same and I'm recovering between workouts fine though.

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"Whooo boy! I'm wilder 'n hell!!" -Early Cuyler

9/24/08

13 bananas
4 peaches
3 handfuls of almonds
2 oranges
1 pint of strawberries

I felt really weird today...a bit spacey and unfocused, and bodily similar to what it feels like when I'm getting close to overtraining. My workout intensity is the same and I'm not pushing any harder, but I'm not as excited to work out and I feel generally down. I did a pullup/forearm workout today, and that went really well but not spectacular. I think I'm not getting enough protein...I think my body is not ready for an all fruit diet quite yet. I'm going to eat sushi tonight, sashimi only (raw fish, no rice), and for a while I'll have one meal a day that is protein packed but uncooked.

BTW, watchfire, I only ate half an orange yesterday because I only had one and wanted the other half for the next day.

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"Whooo boy! I'm wilder 'n hell!!" -Early Cuyler

*giggles*

Good luck Josh. I'm really interested to see how it goes!

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www.decoy.co.nz - photo flavour with added vitamins

I am stupid I know...my mind is incessantly in the gutter So far I'm having no problem eating 10 or more bananas a day but we'll see how it goes. I think I'm losing some bodyfat without even trying as well.

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"Whooo boy! I'm wilder 'n hell!!" -Early Cuyler

Internet access is a bit sporadic, so I'm keeping my log on paper. I will probably update several days at a time on here.

9/24/08

12 bananas
4 handfuls of mixed nuts
2 tomatoes
2 apples
1 tangerine
4 raw eggs for protein(2 in morning, 2 in night...downed em like medicine, yuck!)

The eggs are helping...once I get used to them I'll probably up my "dosage" to 6 a day. My daily grocery bill average is lower than it has been in, well, ever! I simply go to the store before class, make a beeline to the produce dept to pick up the usuals, and then make a quick stop by dairy to grab some organic eggs.

Workout wise, I accomplished a new 1RM in the squat(239 ass to grass), and my recovery between workouts has been normal. I do think I'm recovering faster between sets, although that has more to do with work capacity than my diet. I stepped on the scale today and I now weigh 178(I weigh every morning). It would be a cool bonus if I were to drop to 170 and maintain my strength.

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"Whooo boy! I'm wilder 'n hell!!" -Early Cuyler

9/26/08

12 bananas
4 handfuls of walnuts
1 apricot
3 tangerines
1 lemon
1 plum
4 raw eggs

Nothing really interesting today. I'm going climbing at Trailhead tomorrow, then I'm going to watch Georgia destroy Alabama in the evening.

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"Whooo boy! I'm wilder 'n hell!!" -Early Cuyler

9/27/08

10 bananas
3 apples
4 handfuls of walnuts
6 dried figs
1 tomato
3 oranges
1 pureed avacado with lime juice

Made some half-assed guac today...it was pretty good and I ate it with apple slices. Today was a rest day so no workout. Goddamn the Bulldogs lost.

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"Whooo boy! I'm wilder 'n hell!!" -Early Cuyler

9/28/08

15 bananas
4 oranges
3 apples
4 raw eggs
6 dried figs


Did the Magic 50 today...10:15 with a 55 lb dumbbell. Pretty good but I'd like to cut out the rest completely with the 55 pounder and just do 5 straight circuits eventually.

Diet wise, I'm not getting burned out and the recovery between workouts is still solid.

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"Whooo boy! I'm wilder 'n hell!!" -Early Cuyler

9/29/08

Broke the hell out of the diet today. Had a 12 oz steak and a couple of sweet potatoes...the steak was rare and an excellent cut of meat. My digestive system thanks me heartily. I think that I'm definitely an omnivore, and I think eating good meat less often works way better than cutting it out entirely.

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"Whooo boy! I'm wilder 'n hell!!" -Early Cuyler

That's pretty cool. I tried the high fruit and veggie diet years back but couldn't last for a week. I felt light but at times nauseated and light headed and weaker comes workout time. As soon as I started eating some meat, everything went back to normal again If you could keep this up by just eating raw eggs, that would be good enough a compromise. Any gastric disturbances?

none, i've actually been better digestive system wise than i have been in a long time. I just feel like i'd have to eat way too much to keep this going long term.

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"Whooo boy! I'm wilder 'n hell!!" -Early Cuyler

its been just over a month since you started this, and you have only reported moving away from the diet once...how are you doing physically? any muscle or fat loss ect?

9/30/08

15 bananas
4 handfuls of walnuts
2 tomatoes
1/2 of a medium sized watermelon
1 orange
1 avocado
1/2 lime

(from paper log)
Made more guac today, and gorged myself on watermelon. Feel generally better...I'm not as constantly hungry as I was in the beginning and I feel like my physical abilites have come back. Maybe it took a little while to get used to the diet change and that was why I felt weaker. Time will tell.

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"Whooo boy! I'm wilder 'n hell!!" -Early Cuyler