Friday, August 22, 2008

3 months later.........photos

Hi Everyone

Long time no blog! It has been an amazing 3 months, rich and intense.

First up, I mentioned that I began going to the local gym to try and put some weight on. I also promised more photos of my progress. At the height of my fast I was 62.5kg, I then stabalised at 64.5kg and had trouble gaining any more weight on my version of Doug Graham's 80/10/10 diet, despite going to the gym 3-4 times a week. I also felt tired and less than 100% well - something was definitely missing from my diet. I began taking superfoods again to see if they would help and to be honest, they didn't do it for me. Then one day I had a huge craving for fish. I decided to trust my body rather than force a raw vegan ideal on it and the result was dramatic. Within minutes of eating the fish I felt energy and balance return to my body and I clear message that there was something in the fish which I needed. I know I will appear a heretic to some of my raw vegan and vegetarian friends and colleagues, however, fish once a week, raw or lightly steamed has made a huge difference to my health and sense of well-being. My diet is currently raw vegan apart from the weekly fish.

I can say from my own experience that for my body, Doug Grahams "One Size Fits All" 80/10/10 diet does not work for everyone. While I felt great initially on the 80/10/10 after a couple of months I felt depleted and ended up with my flu in over 5.5 years. For me the 80/10/10 is a great cleanse but not a sustainable diet.

From this experience I revisited William Wollcotts "Metabolic Typing Diet" to better understand why some people thrive on certain diets like the 80/10/10 and others suffer. Metabolic typing distinguishes 3 main body types, Carbohydrate, Protein and Mixed and while I do not agree with it all it seems to have some merit. I am a mixed type and do well on a mostly raw vegan diet with a small amount of animal protein. According the Metabolic Typing principle, to do well on a vegan diet you need to be a Carbohydrate body type.

I have been going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing a combination of low repetition heavy weights (reaching muscle fatigue in 8-12 reps) x 4 sets. Plus some high rep classes like Body Pump as well as 20 to 40 minutes of cardio (running or Cross Trainer) A total of 1 to 1.5 hours per session.

How do I feel? Like superman! I knew that strenuous exercise made me feel good, though I didn't push myself on a regular basis. Having a program to work with and being consistent especially with the low rep heavy weights has made an enormous difference: I feel stronger, my posture has become more erect and my mind is clearer. Hard training on a regular basis really works for me.

What have I been eating?

I begin the day with a super charged green smoothie which includes three heaped tablespoons of hempseed protein powder, 1 tablespoon of bee pollen, 1 tablespoon of lucuma powder, 1 tea spoon of raw cacao nibs, 1 tea spoon of raw cacao powder, 1 teaspoon of raw cacao butter, 1 table spoon of coconut oil, 1 tablespoon of Inliven superfood probiotic,1 teaspoon purple corn extract, 1 teaspoon AFA blue green Algae, 1/2 a drinking coconut (flesh and water) 5-6 bananas, 150g of leafy greens (baby spinach or kale) 500ml of alkaline water. Yum!

In case you were wondering where to find all these exotic superfoods North America cl.ick here and Australia cl.ick here

This smoothie sustains me for 4-5 hours!

Runi has a similar smoothie without the bee pollen (she is allergic to it) with Inliven and only one banana (she is a Proten Metabolic type and doesn't do so well on so much sweet fruit)

I am including more fat in my diet now, including a few handfuls of nuts and an avocado daily plus some coconut oil and cacao butter. I simply wasn't putting on any weight on a low fat 80/10/10 diet and eating the quantity of fruit suggested did my head in. I also eat lots of leafy green salads with sea vegetables like kelp and dulse.

Ok, I am sure you have all been waiting for the photos :-) The photo on the left was taken on day seven of a fast and after 3 months on the 80/10/10 diet - I weighed 62.5kg. The other photos are take three months later at 70kg. My goal was 72kg, though I may even try on 75kg as I feel great having some muscle and Runi likes it! By the way, my body turns 47 in one weeks time.

We have been very lucky to have help in creating a new fantastic Green Smoothie Challenge website which will be operational early next week. If you haven't done the challenge or would like to revisit it the next official dates are September 7th to 20th 2008. Its a free inspirational online health program in which over 2000 people have participated so far. www.greensmoothiechallenge.org

Hep C update
For those of you with Hep C, I have been able to keep my liver healthy on a raw food diet without the usual recommended liver herbs - I have had normal liver function readings for over 4 years now and no sign of swelling, fibre or fatty deposits in ultrasounds. However, I do still have a high viral load. My goal is to be 100% free of the virus itself and I am presently experimenting with MMS (Miracle Mineral Solution) Jim Humble the main MMS advocate claims it can clear and extraordinary number of diseases including Aids, hep C and malaria to name a few. I will let you know how I go. For more info visit http://www.miraclemineral.org/

Enjoy life to the max!

Blessings to all

Anand