Raw Vegan 30 Day Challenge

For the past year, I have been considering eating a raw vegan diet. Today, I began a 30 day trial. A vegan diet consists only of plants, including vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts without meat or dairy products. A raw vegan diet is a vegan diet that is at least 80% raw, uncooked plant food. I already eat a 95% vegan diet and have done so since 2007. I am considering this diet because I am convinced that it is the healthiest way for me to eat. I have read numerous articles, books, and blogs, and have listened to podcasts and audio programs about eating raw fruits and vegetables. This diet helps to prevent chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. It also helps a person to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

When I attempt something new, whether it is a hobby, career change or lifestyle improvement, I like to review my reasons for making the change. If I have a big enough why, the how is easy. When I became mostly vegetarian in February of 2001, I was overweight, out of shape and I felt terrible. Some of my close relatives were beginning to have some significant health challenges including strokes, heart disease and diabetes. My lifestyle was incongruent with the message I wanted to send to my patients and family as a physician. Perhaps most importantly, I felt bad. I was tired all of the time, and I could not walk up a flight of stairs without getting short of breath. My desire to make a change became a must.

Here I am in 2009 in much better shape. I weigh 60 pounds less, I ride a bicycle up to 100 miles in under 6 hours and participate in triathlons. I feel great. So, why do I want to make a change? First, I know that I can be even healthier than I am now. I still weigh more than my ideal body weight of less than 160 pounds. At 5 feet 7 inches and 175 pounds, my current BMI is 27.4 (ideal is 19-25), and I gained 5 pounds in the last week after eating too many of my favorite vegan burritos. This weight is still a vast improvement from the 226 pounds that I weighed in February of 2001. At one point 2 years ago, I weighed 160 pounds. My weight is higher than it should be. Those extra 15 pounds make a big difference on a long bike ride.

One of the main aspects of my personality is commitment to personal growth. I practice what personal development guru Tony Robbins refers to as CANI (Constant And Never-ending Improvement). When I read the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull that my father gave me in the 5^th grade, I started on a lifelong quest to learn more, do more and be more - just like the seagull in the book. I love to learn and grow. A raw vegan diet is just the next level of growth in my health. I enjoy the challenges of learning something new. My philosophy is that if you are not growing as a person, you are dying.

My goal is to die of happiness when I am 100. The only way that will happen is if I eat a very healthy diet, exercise as much as I can, and enjoy life with my family and friends. I believe that my life is what I make of it. I am in control of how I live. I design my life the way I want. I may not be able to control events, but I do control how I respond to those events. I have a genetic predisposition to diabetes, heart disease and cancer. But I understand that those genes can be turned on or off by the food that goes in my mouth. I have read estimates that only 5% of health is genetic and as much as 95% is lifestyle. Even if these numbers are not accurate, I know that I control my health by controlling my lifestyle.

As a physician, husband and father, I have a significant influence on the people that I know. I also have influence on people like you when you read this article. I take that responsibility seriously. I believe that I should set a good example because telling someone that they should do something that I do not do is a very weak message. Would you be inspired to lose weight by a physician who is overweight? Actions do speak louder than words. My children do not do what I say, they do what I do. As time has passed, my children (ages 14, 11, and 9) have decided to move towards eating a mostly vegetarian diet, and they continue to improve every day. I decided in 2001 that I would not force them to eat healthier. I knew that they would continue to eat healthy well into adulthood only if it was their idea.

My reasons for eating a raw vegan diet are to achieve an ideal weight, continue my quest for personal growth, and to inspire as many people as I can to be healthy. There will be some challenges to overcome in the next 30 days. My next post will address the obstacles to my goal and how I will overcome those obstacles.