hi monty,

your really serious of your diet regimen. i have felt your dedication and discipline of being healthy which is paramount for each person today. we are surrounded by many things that can cause illness or problems especially in our food. i think your aiming for wellness.

I absolutely admire the amount of dedication and conviction that you have, Monty. Being surrounded by fast food chains ad fancy restaurants make it very difficult to resist the kind of food we usually eat, right? And so having this raw food diet is nothing but a struggle.

But knowing that you are succeeding in it, gives me an idea. hmmmm.:)

I do drink alot of water... and besides that I'm doing 4 litres of juice each day... so between the two... it's pretty hydrating

Do you drink lots of water?

thanks average_joe,
it's a lifestyle that i'm going to have to work into... there has been many times in the last 8 days where I have craved the old foods, restaurants, foods and experiences... I've really really remembered alot of food memories..lol

If I am going to take the weight off, and keep it off this time, I have to get used to the raw foods lifestyle...

Raw foods is all about nutrient dense/calorie efficient foods and practices
IE... eating for health only, and not for entertainment.... entertaining foods are high calorie / low nutrients.

I hope you keep it up long term.

btw.... average_joe....
I am kind of turned off steaks these days... aside from the cooking process killing the food value, the putrid meat sitting in my stomach used to cause me digestive problems... I loved a good steak before... but after doing raw foods for a good while, I'm kind of turned off of meats right at the moment...

Raw foods is Good!!

Today I'm on day #8 of my 30 day juice fast... I am having nothing but fresh squeezed fruits and vegetable juice... this means that I don't put anything in my mouth unless it's from the produce section of the store and that it goes through the juicer. (Refer to: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=juice+feast&aq=f there are alot of examples of people doing juice feasting on youtube.com)

My goal as mentioned is weight loss...

When we compare this juice fast to getting out of debt, there are alot of similarities... it may seem a little extreme to do a 30 day juice fast. Getting out of debt is similar... I am doing the juice fast to figure out my relationship with foods.. how addicted to them I was, the trigger points of why I would eat etc.. I have alot of time to think about this topic since I'm not eating any foods whatsoever..

I liken this process to getting out of debt... sometimes people are so addicted to spending money... and many times for the same reason as overeating... we spend money to make our selves feel better temporarily.

I am doing the juice fast for 30 days... this is enough time to help me figure out what i've been doing wrong with regards to putting on and maintaining my high weight.

Similarly, people can do a 30 day money fast where they don't spend any money, (except for the absolute necessities) No coffees, restaurants, movies, clothes, gifts etc etc.. No spending what so ever so that you can learn to break your money and credit addiction..

It will take me probably 1 year, to lose my weight... I need to lose 115 lbs total... I will eat only raw foods during this time... high nutrition low calories. Without fancy recipes raw foods don't taste as good as cooked foods.... it's a pretty plain jane diet.

This is the same with paying off debt/losing debt weight/ it's going to take a while, and in order for you to pay down debts, you'll probably have to scrimp on the non-essential purchases for a year or so and take the extra money and put it on your debts... it's going to take time to pay off your debts, however once you've paid them off, you'll have learned about money management, buying only the things that you need, and saving up money for emergencies....

There are good similarities between raw foods juicing for weight loss and paying down debt through a stringent money diet....

I don't think a good steak will hurt you once in a while lol.

I finished day 31 of my raw food challenge...

I have started my 30 day juice feasting challenge...
I am going to have only fresh produced fruits and vegetables juice for the next 30 days.

The benefits of juicing are... you get the full benefit of the vitamins and minerals from the fruits and vegetables....

my digestive system will get a break for one month and give it time to heal and rebalance.

i am hoping to lose a bunch of weight... and get my energy level higher

these are all the benefits of doing a 30 day juice feast