I saw the nutritionist today and found I am down another couple of pounds. That is 16 lbs since July 10th. I asked her if she thought I might be losing too quickly- visions of hair loss still dance in my head, you know. She said that as long as what I lose is adipose tissue (fat) and not lean tissue (muscle), I can safely lose up to 3 lbs a week. I asked her specifically about my hair and she said that I should make sure to get no fewer than 60 grams of protein daily, and should consider a range of 60 to 80 grams per day. Naturally I will be going for the 80!
Next, she took my blood pressure: 110/72- even better than last week. So now I'm no longer worried about the blood pressure. What a relief! I'll have her measure it for a couple more weeks just to be sure, but I do feel that it is back to what is normal for me. Now I just need to get myself back to the gym. I think I deserve a celebratory pair of new sneakers!
Since I have been eating fewer processed foods, I've noticed other changes besides the weight loss and lower blood pressure. Every week I notice I am less and less sleepy during the day. I used to nod off at work, even during meetings. I would drink coffee in a fruitless attempt to stay awake. Now I don't even think about drinking coffee unless I feel cold (and at those times I now tell myself, maybe I should start bringing tea). I believe my alertness is partly because I am sleeping much better at night, even when I don't get into bed until midnight. I do try to get to bed by 10 pm (as suggested by my nutritionist) but I tend to read or watch TV until I'm really sleepy and don't fall asleep until closer to midnight, so the earlier bedtime doesn't fully explain the extreme change in my alertness. (Another factor could be that my allergy medicine is helping me sleep better so I'm not congested at night.)
I also have more energy. If it's over 100 degrees I usually don't like walking across a parking lot, but these days it doesn't bother me so much - I guess I don't feel anymore like I'm going to wilt. My mood has also lifted. Although I still have my worries, I recover from them more quickly, and I generally enjoy life more. In fact, eating at the raw restaurant by myself last weekend was a whim that simply came to me- I usually consider eating alone in a restaurant to be depressing, so it's been years since I've done it unless I was there to use the wifi to study. That's another sign that the "old me" is coming back.
If you know of Victoria Boutenko, who writes about her family's experiences with changing to a raw diet, you'll recall that she says the health benefits they experienced were immediate. That always sounded fantastical to me, but I'm experiencing the same immediate changes. It is truly remarkable what eating raw can do!
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