RE: Energy!!!! [s]

[Guest guest]

Greeting to you, Ms Indiana! Thanks for answering my questions.

 

Before I begin with the food, I would like to respond to something else you

wrote:

 

my back is hurting like anything

as I have been sleeping on my back

to avoid the shoulder ache that I

experience when sleeping on my side

and that I get when doing the

weights/set class at the gym.

 

As an athletic type, you are probably aware of the general principle that

the body builds muscle and other lean tissue not during exercise, but during

the rest/recovery following. This principle applies, in fact, to all forms

of repair: the body will repair your shoulder if you rest it. I realize that

backing off from that particularly weight set may not be your first choice,

believe me, I understand. But if you continue to irritate this area, it will

worsen, calcification and sclerotic protection (hardening off of an area)

will increase, and eventually you risk losing even more function. So I

encourage you to let this heal.

 

Now regarding energy and food, you wrote:

 

...if I could be on a rawfood diet 100% and have

enough energy to work out at least 3 hours at

a time, then I would be all there.

 

When I was 100% organic and raw food,

I would start off the day with 1/2 glass

of wheatgrass juice, then at lunchtime

I would have a huge salad consisting of

spring onions, dandelion greens, radishes,

sprouts, tomatoes, watercress, carrots etc,

etc. I would feel completely feel and of

course have no energy until the salad had

been digested. I would then snack later on

flaxseed snacks I had made in the dehydrator.

 

Reading this, it is easy to see at least the first level of the problem. The

wheatgrass juice and salad provide only a few hundred calories (assuming it

is a LARGE salad), and the flax seed snacks provide calories largely from

fat. You have not said what exactly a " flax seed snack " is, but I assume for

the moment that it is some sort of cracker made from flax seeds and perhaps

some veggies thrown in. You have also not indicated the quantity you are

eating. In any event, whatever calories you are obtaining from the flax seed

food are largely fat calories.

 

So my clear impression is that, while eating raw, you were drastically

undereating directly usable fuel (sugar) as well as overall fuel (total

calories). You were probably also undereating oxygen, water, and a whole

host of vitamins, minerals, and other water-soluble nutrients.

 

At the same time, you were overeating fat and nondigestible fiber. Fat takes

a long time and considerable effort to digest and assimilate, and

nondigestible fiber must simply be eliminated, requiring further metabolic

effort.

 

So I echo Roger's general direction: the most successful RF diet, and the

ONLY RF diet on which an athlete can succeed in the long run, is one high in

fruit, which means high in simple sugar (fuel), oxygen, and water. After

all, when you are active, these are the 3 substances upon which you depend

most.

 

All fruits will work, but you'll find the greatest success with sweet

fruits, as these are highest in calories per bite (caloric density) and

lowest in acid. As an athlete, you produce a lot of acid (e.g., lactic

acid). Your body needs alkaline input to offset your acid production, which

is higher than that of " most people. " (Unfortunately. I wish everyone were

so physically active!)

 

Also, as active as you are, you need to consume a lot of calories. (We can

discuss how many, if you like write back on this.) The sweet fruits are,

generally, the highest in caloric density. In other words, more calories per

bite, hence fewer bites needed. For example (calories per 100 grams):

 

Bananas 89

Dates 280 (varies a bit by variety)

Figs 74

Grapes 68

Mangos 66 (mangos are classified as a semisweet fruit)

Persimmons (Hachiya) 127

Sweet cherries 63

 

Nectarines 44

Oranges 49

Papayas 39

Peaches 39

Pears 42

Plums 46

Strawberries 32

Tangerines 53

 

For training purposes, most of the athletes of whom I am aware make bananas

the centerpiece of their nutritional program. However, you can obviously do

well with dates, persimmons, figs, etc. Bananas are probably easiest to keep

track of. A medium banana provides about 100-110 calories, large about

120-140 calories.

 

If you build your program around these foods, then add other fruits and

greens/salad to complete the picture, you'll head in the direction you want.

Also, eat that salad as your LAST meal, let your system digest it overnight.

 

 

Oh, and you didn't mention nuts, salad dressings, avocado. Are you eating

any of these when raw?

 

Please let me know whether you find this helpful, and if you would like to

continue.

Elchanan

 

 

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