Tom Holowka . com

People who know I was into eating raw food for a while are always curious to know what I’m eating these days.

For those not familiar I ate completely 100% raw for two periods. The first began in November 2007 and lasted until April 2008. The second began in July 2008 and lasted until October 2008. My diet has been forever changed, because even in the periods after and in between I still eat a very high percentage raw.

Not 100% Raw

Some days I still eat 100% raw but most days I’ll have raw fruits all day and have cooked meal at night. Like yesterday I had a Banana, Spinach smoothie in the morning, about two pounds of grapes in the afternoon, and at night had potatoes, a very small bowl of soup, a vegan chocolate chip cookie, and a piece of vegan coconut cake.

I don’t really speculate nor care at the moment about what percentage raw I am, but if I had to guess I’d say about 50% raw by calorie. Could be more or less but I really don’t know because I’m not really keeping track of what I’m eating. It always felt to me like people in the raw food world focused too much on percentages than progress in general, so I don’t really like to go by that. (I read over this post and it’s basically all about percentages so I guess I do that too…oops)

The staple of my diet is still bananas! When they’re ripe and abundant I can eat upwards of 30 a day.

100% Vegan

I started being vegan in November 2007 and I’m still vegan today. I won’t say I never “cheated” during that time, but I have been 100% vegan since at least April of this year. I’ve eaten meat about two times in the last eighteen months and both times were in the same week in November. (I fell off the wagon HARD that week!)

When I do eat cooked food I always make sure it’s vegan. When I first became vegan I was interested in being vegan for the health reasons. Today I’m into it for the environmental reasons as well as health reasons. Veganism is a pretty important part of my life now so I stay vegan.

I also tend to eat vegan foods that are very low in fat. These are considered bland tasting to the average person, but they’re good to me. Eating all raw for a long time really changed by taste buds. I can eat a plain slice of whole wheat bread with no topping and be perfectly fine with it. Same goes for a baked potato with no toppings or oils. I like the way the foods taste on their own. Plus it’s unhealthy to add oils to your food because oil is 100% FAT.

Health

My physical health has slid since not being 100% raw anymore. When I was 100% raw I never had any physical illnesses. Nothing more than a headache and even that was a rarity. Since then I’ve had two colds. One in December 2008 and one about two weeks ago. They both were very short, lasting only a few days. When I notice myself getting sick I make it a point to eat a higher percentage raw, to rest more, and to eat less to help myself get better quicker.

Prior to my dietary makeover in November 2007 I would get sick numerous times per year. I wasn’t the guy with the runny nose always sneezing all the time, but I would usually get sick hard two or three times per year. Strep throat, pneumonia, flu, and bronchitis all have multiple occurrences in my medical history report. I considered that normal at the time because I didn’t know any better. I would usually have a fever accompanied with some type of nasty cough and the only thing I could do would be to lay in bed for four days to get better.

About a month before I tried all raw for the first time, I had tonsilitis really bad. I was sick for 5 or 6 sick straight days. I was living in an apartment in South Orange, NJ at the time and actually called my mom to pick me up and take care of me. Wuss!!

Since drastically changing my diet I’m much healthier. I wouldn’t attribute all of my health gains to diet though. I get a lot more sleep these days than I used to. I usually get about eight to nine hours of sleep per night. Sometimes more or less depending on my activity level. If I ran 12 miles that day I tend to sleep more than if I ran only 5 or 6. If I don’t get enough sleep I feel the effects of it pretty quickly.

I’m also a lot more fit today than I was in 2007. I can go out and run 10 miles no problem just about any day. A claim I couldn’t have dreamed of before.

Why I’m not 100% Raw

So why am I not 100% raw despite all the benefits I gained from it? It’s hard!! Being 100% raw is difficult to do to begin with. It’s even more difficult when you’re in an environment that doesn’t feel supportive to it. I’m enjoying being a cooked food vegan who eats a high percentage raw though. I may over indulge sometimes with cooked food, but that’s okay with me right now.

My girlfriend is becoming an excellent vegan chef and it’s fun to try the new things that she makes too. She made the coconut cake and chocolate chip cookies referred to earlier. It’s also fun to go to the vegan restaurants where I live. There’s two very tasty vegan restaurants a short drive from where I live (New Britain, CT)

I’m not 100% happy that I’m not 100% raw anymore. A part of me wishes I was still following the low fat, raw vegan, 80/10/10 lifestyle, but I do my best not to beat myself up for it. I’ve come a long way in terms of my health and I can appreciate where I’m at right now in contrast to where I was. I also know that some day I will be 100% raw again. I’m just waiting for the right time to do it. I’m not trying to rush it. I think it will be easier for me once I move.

Moving to Miami

In less than a month I’ll be moving to the Miami area in South Florida. Part of that decision was health related. I’m not a huge fan of winter either. It’s stressful to me. In this part of the country I feel like it’s tough during the winter to get high quality produce. It’s much easier to eat unhealthy in that environment because even when you’re well stocked up on produce it doesn’t always taste so good. Makes you not wanna eat it. No one wants to eat food that doesn’t taste good. In Miami I’ll definitely find better weather during the winter and hoping better quality food too.

I’m thinking that I’ll begin moving up to a higher percentage raw once I live there. I lived in Hawaii from June 2008-August 2008 and it was so easy to eat raw there. The produce is fresh, cheap and abundant. I”m hoping the Miami area will be similar.

Health like all facets of conscious growth takes time to develop. What does your diet and health situation look like??
____________________________________________________________

Did you like this article? Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts!
Get Tom’s Articles Free in a Reader!
Get Tom’s articles Free in your email!