Wednesday, February 29, 2012

PH

Everything I will talk about here today is based on my experience. A few months ago I started to use PH testing to control my training and this experience has been amazing. It is true and proven that a alkaline body is a healthy body. Also it is proven that animal products, and processed foods make your body acid. So when I first started studying about vegan and raw foods, first thing I learned is that a vegan diet specially a RAW diet make your body more alkaline.
Since I don't believe in "no pain no gain" (I think you have to push but not go over, specially in training), and I focus a lot on recovery I started to test my PH pretty much everyday. The reason I started doing that is because when we exercise we make our body acid, so that is when nutrition comes into play! It is really important after training make your body alkaline, therefor the body can recover faster. The faster is your recovery is the closer you can schedule hard workouts. The closer hard workouts are the faster you will improve. Simple isn't it?
What I did was every time my PH was a little bit acid I will drop the intensity of that workout a little bit, if I was more alkaline I could push a little bit harder. Remember, alkaline means healthy body and with a healthy body you can push more the limits. Of course I still follow training plans and periodization, with weeks focus on recovery but with the PH test as a plus.
The result has been amazing, to have an idea, every year I do the race for the faith here is west palm beach, since I do my first Ironman of the year around may, I am always at the same period of training. So this year I drop 2 min form my previous year, and not only that, the week before I raced a half marathon and I did 10k a week after and still drop 2 min. Also the day before the race, I did 10 miles of speed interval. The other years I was doing an easy run the day before. Technically I should be tired, but I improved 2 min. So I extremely suggest in taking a closer look on your PH. It is really easy to test, you can buy PH straps at your local pharmacy and test on your urine.
The best thing you can do is focus on your food intake, SPECIALLY your recovery drink! This is one of my biggest fight, most recovery drinks on the market are not good because they have whey protein. Whey protein is extremely processed, is from milk therefor is ACID forming. The other bad thing about is MALTODEXTRIN!!! Malto is extremely processed, but is a cheap carbohydrate that is why the companies use, but it is ACID forming. Also Maltodextrin is not well absorb but the body and it contain is most of the sport drinks out there.
Lucky you there are brands out there they are natural or you can make your own recovery drink (RAW). Vega is a really company with lots of good products including recovery drinks.
Here is my recipe:
Chocolate "Milk" recovery drink
1/4 cup of Nutiva Hemp seeds
1 scoop of Garden of Life Raw protein
10oz of water or  Zico coconut water
2 dates
3/4 of an apple (you can juice the apple if you prefer) or 1 banana
1 tbs of Raw cocoa
Put all in the blender and blend well! Note, you don't need a vitamix neither a powerful blender, just a regular blender will be fine.
Feel good and go RAW!
RW

Monday, February 27, 2012

How to start

Lots of people ask me how to start on a vegan diet, and usually give 2 options. I always compare food with running barefoot and how to start on a vegan diet I do the same thing.
The hard part: Do a 3 day juice cleanse, that will help you reset your body and after that you start on a vegan diet! Is hard to do like that so I really don't recommend if your diet is really poor, because it will be really hard. If you are already vegetarian or eat fairly good, this might be the best way to start. Just for reference, when people ask me about barefoot, I tell them if they want to go straight to barefoot, you need to learn how to run again, that means that you will start running 1/4 mile a day.
The other way is to start is little by little. For example, calculate the % of your diet is based on animal products. Once you figure it out, start taking 10% less a week, and start adding fruits and vegetables to replace those 10%. Every week lower a little. Change milk to almond/hemp/rice milk. It is really important to pace your self, specially because you will have a few detox symptoms during this phase. The good thing is, the worst you feel during the change the better you will feel later on! Detox (strong symptoms) can take up to 6 weeks, so pace yourself, but minor symptoms might take even longer.  Just for reference, this is I usually suggest to start running barefoot, adding little by little into your daily mileage.
The best thing to do is to  do is to add lots of greens on your diet, and make little challenges with yourself like: 1 day just juice, or one day no animal product, one day just fruit, one day all raw etc etc Add lots of smoothies (specially green), they taste good and satisfy a lot. .Also try to get a friend or family member to do with you, having company will help you. When you see, your taste will change, and your body will start craving more of the good stuff. The big secret is never get hungry!
 A great thing to do is to start exploring new restaurants and tasting new dishes, look up restaurants in your area, avoid big chains and start exploring a new taste! When I first started I was impress on how a raw vegan diet is so tasty! There are wonderful restaurants and wonderful products vegan and raw out there you just need to try! You can always ask me here, because I try lots and lots of different products out there!
After you go vegan you can start going Raw!

Daily raw food intake:
Morning: 1 banana, 3 tangerines and 8 oz of perfect raw food (Garden of life)
Lunch: 4th generation market, I had the raw mock tuna wrap and 1 sweet potato enchilada, and raw "mozzarella" stick
Dinner: green smoothie with raw protein (garden of life) and hemp seeds (Nutiva)

Feel good and Go RAW!!!
RW

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Benefits

You know there are plenty benefits form a Raw vegan diet but one benefit impress me more than anything: The Mental benefit! Is even hard to explain, but since I started on the raw diet, and specially after the detox my mind is working faster than ever!!!
The reason I say that, is for example long workouts I don't get the mental fatigue anymore therefore I am able to concentrate longer, having a better quality workout! Another example is I always wanted to do a newsletter for my company and I never had ideas, and today I did my second newsletter in less than a week! (if anyone wants to join the list contact me at www.rwtraining.net )
The body, mind and spirit feels like is in completely in harmony, the good energy just flow with zero effort, specially after my friend did Reiki, it is incredible. My body and mind just naturally seek positive energy! The cool part is, my entire life I was looking for that, and I study a lot of stuff like: The secret, Buddhism, Tao, Body Talk, Auyrveda, Yoga etc all of them mention positive energy, abundance and all that, BUT with raw foods, for me looks like that your body gets in Harmony, that state of positive energy happens naturally, and abundance becomes easier!! Is hard to explain! My view on that is, if the mind don't get tired, your body won't get tired either :)
Second great benefit is the sleep! Oh my god, my sleep quality is amazing! I can sleep 5 to 6 hours and wake up fresh, even with very hard training days. Maybe one day I can explain all that in a deep way in a book!!!

Day and Raw food intake!
Today was a busy day, I coached swim in the AM, came back home worked in the newsletter and some other stuff like my interview (http://firsttimeironman.com/richard-wygand.aspx ), then I went to a bike ride on my favorite time of the day, 1 PM I love when is hot, that is just one more excuse to drink more Zico (coconut water), after that did some TRX training, and in the end of the day our family time: Dog park, we love taking Bolt to the dog park!

Daily food intake:
1 banana before coaching
Breakfast Raw pancakes
Lunch green smoothies
50 miles bike ride (intervals), with raw gel, Zico coconut water, and fresh apple and celery juice.
Dinner: salad with sprout quinoa, sprout mug beans, spinach, kale and avocados

Feel good and go RAW!
RW

Green Smoothie Recipe

Here is one of my favorite green smoothies:

Fill up half of the blender with kale and spinach.
1 and 1/4 cup of water of apple juice (fresh)
4 dates or figs
1 banana
1 kiwi (take the skin out)
1/4 cup of Nutiva hemp seeds
1/4 cup of Raw Garden of Life Protein
1 tbs of ground flax seed (optional)

Blend well and enjoy! That makes a really big smoothie!
Feel good and Go RAW!
RW

Raw pancakes

Recipe for the raw pancake that I post the other day!

1 banana
1 tbs of raw cocoa powder
4 dates (can use figs as well)
1/4 cup of milled Nutiva chia seeds
2 tbs of ground flax seed
1 tbs of raw macca powder (optional)
1/4 cup of wall nuts
In a food processor mix all ingredients until is all is in cake is solid. Note, add more chia seeds if is too "watery".
Make pancakes forms and serve. If you want to make it hot, put in the dehydrator for 15 min at 115 degrees.
You can top with fruits, agave nectar, raw honey or  raw coconut nectar. Enjoy!

Feel good and go RAW!
RW

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Mens Health Brazil

Funny just saw my article when I was at Mens Health Brazil, and now I am 15 kilos (33 pounds) less!!! I got to the weight that everyone said was impossible, 71 kg (159 pounds)!!! So for me impossible is a word that does not have in my dictionary!!!

Now with 71 kg (159 pounds), I think is time for another before and after article? LOL
All I have to say is don't let anybody tell you what is possible or impossible. Follow your dreams and Just do it!!!
Feel Good,
RW

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Busy

The last few days were pretty busy, I did a few clinics, training a lot, did the A1A half marathon as training. So I was just busy over all.
The half marathon went well, it was humid and hot, but was a great training run. One thing I did notice, and I have been noticing for awhile my recovery time is so fast!!! For example I ran the half at a good pace (1 hour and 26 min) that's a 6 30 pace (4'05'' per km), normally a training day like that (21km) at this pace would make me tired. But with raw foods I notice I recover so quick that even 48 hours after (when it hits) I was not tired at all. That is so good! During the race I tried my new Raw gel and it worked really good! By the way did any read the article in runners world the other day? about gels with arsenic in it? Please check it out: http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/02/16/refueling-with-arsenic/  It is insane!
I think I am seem more benefits from my detox now! My energy levels are insane! Today I did one of my best bike workouts and didn't even felt tired!
Sorry I missed my food intake on the last few days but I was very busy!
Today:
Breakfast: Garden of life raw meal
Snack: apple and dried figs
Lunch: salad with Kale, spinach, sprout lentils and peppers
snack apple
dinner: salad with kale, flaxseed ground, spinach, sprout alfalfa, cucumber, carrots and bell peppers

Feel Good and Go Raw!
RW

Friday, February 17, 2012

Point of view

I am really grateful to be able to understand English, Portuguese and a good chunk of Spanish, therefor I have access to a good amount of information. Today I decide to show my point of view here!
Every coin have a side, right? So this point of view is how I feel and from lots of books and talks! The other day I compare barefoot running with raw food and I will do this  in this post because I think is a great!
Ok, so if I tell anyone that I run barefoot style lots of people think I am crazy! My big question is why? I must say, I always liked closer to the ground shoes, I never had a running injury, never used supportive shoes, every time I used an arch support it will hurt me, and so on...Now I only run with 3 shoes: Five Fingers, Inov-8, or New balance Minimus trail, since I started running barefoot I got more efficient, I got stronger, I run faster and I feel better. So my point is, if you look both sides how much information about barefoot running against regular running supportive shoes and arch support? If you go to any running store they will say that you need support, cushion and will try to put an arch support too but no one say you should try minimal shoe! And yet we keep getting injury, crazy, right?
Same reaction I get when I say I am vegan and RAW! They ask a lot of questions like how you get your protein, how you have energy, why are you raw, what you mean no supplements etc etc. My point is, if you look at it there is a drug for everything in this world, we are getting sick everyday, a big part of the population is obese,  actually, I don't know if you know but the Medium size now is not the same size Medium than 10 years ago companies made a bigger Medium so we can "feel" better!!! WTH???? So how come with all those drugs we are getting sick, we are obese?? Since I changed to a vegan diet I perform better, I have more energy, I feel better and I do NOT remember the last time I was sick or the last time I miss a day of work, neither the last time I took a medicine, it is at least 2 and 1/2 years!!! 
My big view here is very simple, what make more money, high cushion shoes full of support or barefoot running? What makes more profit selling you a drug for everything or raw foods? Therefor, who can spend more money in studies? That is my point, is a lot more information on the dark side (shoes and drugs) and it is so easy to learn about the "bad things" than actually knowing the right information!
Now, I say that just because one simple thing: THE WAY I FEEL!!! I did a few years of therapy and I try to do as much as I can, and I try to know myself  as much as I can, and one thing I learned is feelings are always right. I don't care if is good or bad, you know how you feel, nobody teach you that! No one can say is BS or right/wrong if you feel good you feel good, or if you feel bad you feel bad, if you are angry you are angry, no one in this world can say that your feeling is right or wrong, it is just the way you feel, simple as that!
So my conclusion is: Running barefoot it  feels extremely good, also I did several testes and it does make me run faster with less effort! Same thing with my diet! Since I turned vegan performance got better, energy level are higher, recovery is faster etc etc, when I turned raw (specially after the cleanse) everything got even better, energy, recovery my mind is focus, I can think clear, I am more motivated etc etc.
I am not trying to prove anything here, all I want to do is to show my point of view and maybe people can start looking at both sides of the coin and see how they feel about it and maybe try barefoot running and raw foods! Or simply just add more raw in the diet and some barefoot running in your training! Think about that!

The day was busy today! I woke up early for a bike ride then I went with my wife to the A1A marathon expo, I help out with her business www.fletsusa.com  (check it out, best compression apparel), and the day finish with a 6 mile easy run, and here is the food intake:
Green smoothie with kale, spinach, Hemp seeds (Nutiva), water and dates
1 apple
6 figs
Salad at whole foods (lots of greens, sprouted mug beans and with a little avocado)
5 fis
1 apple
Another salad but add kale and did not put avocado
Plus one Raw meal (Garden of Life)

Feel good and Go RAW!
RW

   

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Always learning

The past few days I have been pretty busy, witch is good! I am learning each day more about my body! After this cleanse, it is pretty amazing how the body works, specially being clean and with the right fuel it works even better! This is a few things I learned so far after the cleanse!
1) taste changed- for example, I didn't use to like grapefruit, and now I love! Also, figs I did not use to like, now I found out that give me an enormous amount of energy! And I love the taste!
2)If I eat too much (eat more than I actually need) my body throw it out! For example eating more than I need will only make me go to the bathroom more. Before when I used to eat bad if I eat more I felt that the food just stayed there longer and sometimes for a long time! That's why I had so many plaques!
3)since the cleanse I few that my body ask more for mono meals, for example, just fruits or just certain vegetable etc etc, I don't feel I have to mix a lot of stuff, if i do mix i feel that is harder to digest.So that been said is hard to think about breakfast, lunch and dinner ( by the way who said that we have to have those 3 meals?) I started doing a few small meals during the day, and eating what I few like, is a lot easier, but physiologic is harder because I have stuck in my mind that I have to have breakfast, lunch and dinner! Does that make sense?
I think is a lot more to learn about my body and mind, but one thing for sure: energy level is sky high, and sleep quality is 100% better! To have an idea, today I drove from Orlando back to west palm, pick up the new bike, biked 20 miles(love the new quintana roo by the way), personal train, coach my team track session, came back home prepare my wife raw birthday cake than finish at 10pm, had too much energy so went out to do my speed work :) and now I am writing this post full of entry thinking I should have ran more lol! Is a great feeling!
Food intake:
Raw meal garden of life with banana and papaya
Go raw bars ( banana bread flavor, delicious)
Apple
4 figs
Apple
Small portion of home made guacamole
Raw chocolate cake ( midnight wife birthday)

For people who likes ice cream there is a raw ice cream call cashewtopia, extremely good!( had one yesterday)!
Feel good,
RW

Monday, February 13, 2012

Choices

Today was a busy day! I worked in the am, than since I have family in Florida from Brazil, we went Disney with the family.... So, I though: Staying Raw at Disney? How hard can it be? Thinking it will be hard I took a few snacks, but in my mind I wanted to use what they have there..... One of my snacks was the meal replacement RAW from Garden of Life (Is delicious, nutritious and RAW if you have never tried before)!!!
For my surprise, it is very possible to stay raw at Disney and eat correctly! For example, I found out that they sell apples, and some other fruits that I don't remember in a little bag! Also, there is options of salads at most places to eat! So I ate a Greek salad with no cheese and no dressing. Is that simple! My big question is why people don't do the best choice? Because while I was ordering I saw 99% of the people ordering fried chicken sandwich, cheese burgers, bacon cheese burgers with french fries! Sad but true, but is not that they don't have another option!
After walking all day at Disney with a clinic in the am, I got to the hotel and went for my run! Another surprise, legs were fresh! Did one of my best tempo intervals, pace felt really easy! Of course I had Five fingers on it, and that help :)))
Dinner, I thought, another challenge? We went to a Mexican restaurant, and yes there is options! I had fajita salad, with out the cooked bell peppers, instead order raw! This restaurant they make the guacamole in front of you, so I add that on the salad. So I had a mix green salad, with peppers, mushrooms and guacamole (fresh)! So honestly, is not hard to be Raw vegan, pretty much everywhere you will have a choice, or even if you are not raw, you can make some great options! Now, one thing I notice, got to be careful with cheese, because they wanted to put cheese on the guacamole...crazy! What is up with that? People put cheese everywhere? salads, guacamole etc etc...I don't get it, but I always order no cheese :)
One funny thing I notice and when I tell friends they don't believe, but when you eat clean (RAW) your taste change. For example, back in the days when I was out of shape, I did not like grapefruit at all!!! And since I changed my diet, I started to love!!! Same thing happen with figs, witch by the way I found out that figs for me give me a lot of energy and endurance.... a lot more than dates!!! Fig was also a fruit that I was not a big fan of it, and now I love it!!! Pretty amazing! The human body is a perfect machine, and we need to learn how to use correctly, because we are far to use our full potential!
So ZERO EXCUSES! YOU JUST NEED TO MAKE BETTER CHOICES TO CHANGE YOUR DIET AND YOUR LIFE!!!!
Feel Good and go RAW!
RW

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Comparing

The other day I was thinking and I end up some how comparing barefoot running with Raw foods, how? It's simple: If you ever read "Born to run" you remember how he explain that technology in running shoes increased a lot but the injuries remain the same, correct? Is same thing with food! For example, we have all this vitamins, drugs, cooked foods, microwaves foods, super meal replacements etc etc, and we are getting sick, overweight, and dying younger and younger!!! Think about it!

If you really stop to think, is the same thing as running! We improved so much in shoes thinking we will prevent injuries and didn't help! With food is the same! Also keep in mind, the body HAVE the power to heal itself, but it need the right tools, that means, it needs RAW FOODS!!!

Today was cold so I ate more :)
Daily food intake:
Breakfast :2 bananas, 1 apple
Wheat grass shot
Lunch: Salad with greens and raw guacamole
Snack: raw crackers (flax seeds)
Dinner: salad with mixed greens peppers and raw guacamole!

Feel good,
RW
ps: I will wright more about barefoot X Raw foods soon!!!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Reflexion

Today was a great day! I had the chance to hand out with friends in Sarasota, and had a great dinner with them! We went to this Mexican place mipueblomexican.com and they have the Mi Pueblo organico witch is all raw Mexican dishes! Pretty cool and excellent food!
After my cleanse I can't get over how much energy I have extra feels like I have a 30 hour day just for me! After I post about calories yesterday that made me think in a simple way to explain what I talked about, food is pretty much like what I say about training: quality over quantity!!!! Is better to do one quality workout than actually do 2 crappy workouts. So that means is better to have a few quality calories than actually have a bunch of crappy calories!
When I say crappy calories I say over cooked meals, animal products, and fat! Why cooked foods? Is simple, when you cook over 118 degrees you kill a big part of the food enzymes and if it goes over 300 degrees it kills everything, so if you think about it, microwave food is not food, is mutant food, or just rubber! Why no animal products? Animal products make your body acid, and when your body gets acid that is when you start getting sick! Some people might say we were design to eat meat! Well who cares if we were or not? Plant proteins are better absorbed by the body, more efficient, and make your body alkaline (this is just a few benefits), so really who cares? Now fat! Fat is what it makes us fat! Makes the blood sticky and when you eat a lot of fatting food we get tired after a meal like that! Also too much fat in the long term will cause a lot of problems! Fat, in my point of view is the hardest craving and the most emotional nutrient, because every time we are stress we reach for fatting comfort foods! But like everything else you can reverse that!
What I suggest is, start adding on your diet raw foods, you don't need to be 100% like me right away of course the idea is to be closer to 100%, but start little by little until and go based on %. For example if your diet is 10% raw increase to 20% until you reach a bigger amounts! You would be amazed what that can do, and after awhile your body will start feeling the difference and he will be asking for more! So really, just make a little change and work on small goals, all you need in the first step!

Food intake:
Breakfast: 2 bananas
Speed work on the run
After run: chlornella+ an apple
Snack: banana
Lunch: small salad with bell peppers and a few sprouts and fresh squeezed lemon as dressing
Swim 3000
1banana
Dinner I had 2 salads at mi pueblo one with kale, hemp seeds, and tomatoes! The other with spinach, sprouts and avocado! Was delicious!

Hemp seeds is really good for you and is good to add in the salads! My favorite brand is Nutiva (http://nutiva.com/) check them out!

Go raw and Feel good!
RW

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Calories

I decide to talk about calories today, because I was talking to one of my athletes about that. The truth is that we don't need as much calories as we think we need. Like I said before, food is emotion, and we over eat, specially after my cleanse I realize that, I spent 8 days with no food and I had lots of energy!
I rememeber one of my first ironmans, I had a 5000 calories a day, but I was tired. At the same note, I did one week of juicing during my hardest week of training last year and I had so much energy!
So what I'm trying to say, is eating a lot of calories does not mean that we will have energy, because if that was true people that eat fast food would have more energy than everyone else! Eating raw is less stress for the body, therefor you spend less energy (calories) digesting food and your body is more efficient using that food for energy, of course you will have more energy! Eating junk food, not only fast food, but food with chemicals, additives etc is considered junk, will make more stress to the body to digest, so you will be spending energy (calories)to digest and getting very little energy in return.
That's why when you have a clean diet, calories is the last thing you have to worried about! After my cleanse I am eating a lot less and having a lot more energy, first my body is clean that is easy to absorb, second my body is a lot more efficient and I get satisfied with very little!

My daily intake:
Breakfast: 2 bananas
After my 90 min bike ride (pretty fun, I did mountain bike all off road)+ core
Juice: apple, celery, and parsley
Lunch: spinach, kale, dulse sprout mung beans with apple cider vinegar
Snack: kale chips and sweet potatoes chips (all raw from whole foods)
Snack: 2 bananas

That's it! Had enough energy to, train, coach swim in the am, drive to Sarasota where i will work at the expo with five fingers, drop of my new bike at the shop etc etc.....
Today was a busy but fun day! The off road workout was cool and made me think about doing a xterra soon!
Go raw and feel good!
RW

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Great day!!!

Great day today! I have so much energy, is hard to explain! So I woke up, ship my old bike (new one arrives tomorrow, going back to Quintana Roo, I am very happy) and I went to a 5 mile easy run with my Vibram Five Fingers seeya. I went easy because yesterday was I went hard for the first time since the cleanse. The run was easy.
After I went to have lunch at Hippocrates Health Institute here in West Palm beach, great place. They have a raw buffet. Funny thing is every time I go, I used to eat a lot, and this time was different.... I was satisfied right away. Also, they had a dish with nuts (of course have a little of fat) witch I usually eat like crazy and this time, I didn't want to eat!!!! I just didn't feel like it at all!!! I was craving for sprouts, not fat!!!Awesome!
After lunch, I went to the pool for a 3000 meters swim. Felt great! Lots of energy. I also tested my new Garmin 910xt, is pretty cool how it works in the pool! Finishing the swim, went home got ready to go coach my team at track (www.rwtraining.net). It was busy there, most of my athletes went. Now the great part of track is: one of my athletes went 2 days RAW, only for 2 days, and she have a lot  more energy and guess what? She had her best track workout in probably 2 years! Raw food is power!!!
One thing I notice after the cleanse is that I am looking for positive energy every where I go, for example, I naturally  started getting away from bad vibes and drama. Is not conscious, is something happening naturally. Is pretty cool actually  and I love this feeling!!!
During the day, I was talking to my wife, and I remembered something that blew our mind. When I started to train and I decide to make my career as a triathlete my goal weight was always 172 pounds (78 kilos), and in Brazil I went to a pretty good amount of nutritionist and all of them said is was impossible, and that my body would not allow to go that low. The lowest I got in Brazil was 181 pounds (82kg), and because they were always saying that I need calories, all this crazy supplements etc etc,I was never able to hit my goal also after a race in recovery time I would gain the weight back again. Today when I realize that I was 172 pounds (78 kilos) when I turned raw before the cleanse, and after the cleanse I am 159 pounds (71.9 kilos) as of today, feeling stronger and with more energy than ever, taking NO supplements, recovering faster and performing better, that just BLEW my mind. And just having a few calories :)))) And as I am writing this post my feeling is to go for a long run! That is how much energy I have!
Ok here is my food intake for today:
Breakfast: 2 bananas and 2 dates
After run: Juice with apple, celery and parsley (This foods are rich in organic sodium so the body can absorb better, and this is what my body needs according with my irisdology evaluation) I also added turmeric powder good for inflamation
Lunch: big salad with lots of sprouts, dulse, pieces of turmeric root, but the plate was pretty much sprouts. No fat on it, and a little bit of the Hippocrates raw hot sauce.
Snack: 1 apple and 1 raw GT's Kombucha
Dinner: spinach and bell peppers small salad with some dulse.
And that was it!!! I had only this during the day and a crazy amount of energy!!!! Also, after a hard swim today was the first day I was not hungry, I had no gas during the day and stool did not smell. I can't believe that!!!
Feel good, go RAW!!!
RW

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Numbers

Today was my first day eating again, and it is amazing my body reaction. I had fruit for breakfast (little fruit salad) and I felt full!!! Went for a run, and today was the first day that I actually did some speed again, and it felt easy to run with this weight! For lunch we went to whole foods, and I almost didn't finish my salad, I was satisfied with very little, I didn't crave for fat, and I will keep it like that! Dinner we had another salad, and I ate a lot less than  lunch time, and I was very satisfied.
The body is an incredible machine! I honestly think everyone should do a cleanse one day! I want to give a special thanks to Jennifer Thompson from www.healthybliss.net for suggesting and guiding me and my wife thru this cleanse. I am also very proud that my wife did the entire 14 days. We are extremely happy with the results, and like I always say, health is priceless, and to be honest is a lot easier (and simple) than we think.
Curiosities that I notice today: First thing, no gas! That used to be a big problem for me, trust me, used to hurt during runs sometimes. Also, my stool did not smell, crazy... But what shocked me the most is that after my run, sweating for 70 min, I did not smell at all!!! I love it!!!
 
Ok, here are the numbers and picture from the 2 weeks cleanse, before:
Weight: 174.5 pounds (79kilos)
Body fat: 9%
Now after:
Weight 160 pounds (72.5 kilos)
Body fat: 5.5%
Note: all the weight I lost was pretty much in the core area!
My goal now is keep posting all my meals, and training in the blog, so I can show, and maybe inspire everyone  that is really possible to stay healthy, training hard and specially performing well with a raw vegan diet because everybody ask me, do you have enough energy to workout? where it comes from? So you will be able to check it out :)
Feel Good,
RW

Phases

That is me when I used to eat meat!
That is me vegetarian!
That is me vegan!
That is me Raw!
Raw before the cleanse!



































This are the phases that I went thru! Reason that I am posting is because you guys can see the difference after the cleanse! Of course the very first picture I did not have a healthy life style, but I put the picture, because on that time I had no energy and no desire to exercise, and I was doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but every time I lost weight I gained right back. So honestly, change your diet and you will change your life!!!!
Feel good!
RW

Monday, February 6, 2012

Final Day!!!!

Tomorrow I can eat raw foods again and not only juices!!! I am looking forward to it!!! This experience has been amazing!!! Today, was a busy day, with clinics and lots of stuff to do, plus finishing the deal with my new bike, I am really excited, and the day went by really fast!!!
So I did the regular enema in the am, and more surprise lots of plaques came out, and after my second enema, the biggest one came out (10 to 12 inches long)! I think if I put all the plaques that came out all together I will get at least 3/4 of my height if not more! Yes, it is insane, specially because the last 2 years my diet was really clean, and when I changed I did detox a lot ....and I still detox a lot in this 2 weeks! I must say is I am feeling better than ever!!! And my body is craving for some real juice fruit and veggies, honestly I can not think about eating anything else.The good part too is that I have no cravings for FAT!!!!
Today was day #8 with out a meal and I had a lot of energy and I was non stop, physically and mentally, I did not stop today!!! Amazing!!! I can only imagine how I will feel when I start eating again!
I realize something in the last 2 dasy, if you want to have a clean diet is possible. The reason I said that is because I did 4 Vibram Five Fingers clinics in  3 huge malls in Miami and for my surprise in all of them them had a juice place.So there is no excuse to not eat a clean diet!
I am really looking forward to explore this new "body" and I am ready to raise the bar physically and mentally after this cleanse!
Tomorrow I will post the numbers for the cleanse, such as weight lost, body fat , pictures before and after, one thing I can say in advance my heart rate is lower.... I notice today, around 11 pm (I woke up and 5) and I already drove to Miami, and did  the clinic and was walking around the mall for 1 hour looking for present to my niece, and my heart rate was at 42! Believe or not :)))
Tomorrow I will post all numbers and pictures!!!
Feel Good,
RW

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Day #13

Okay, day 13 and tomorrow is the last day!!!! Today the day was pretty busy, did 2 Vibram Five Fingers clinics, felt good and with lots of energy, and this is day #7 with only juice. That still blow my mind!
I thought I was almost done, but I think today was the day that most plaques came out! Seriously, if you put all of them together the height will be from the floor to knee (probably even more) and I am 6 foot tall! 
Other than lots of plaques coming out, I had no headaches and I was not hungry but I must say I wanted to eat a  juicy fruit! Also I believe that some plaques will still come out tomorrow, I can feel it!
My juices for today:
1st
Beats carrots apple celery and ginger.
2nd
pear apple carrot celery and collard greens.

I am really curious about how is gonna be after the cleanse! How my body will react with food and if I already have more energy with out food can you imagine eating? I think it will be 100% more energy!
I notice that my body fat % drop and my weight to, but the funny part is that the weight I lost is all in my core pretty much, so with a shirt I look normal, but when I take out the shirt i look super skinny, I love it! Also that means I have not lost any muscle mass, even better!
The picture here was when I was a meat eater, drinking, smoking, partying etc etc.  Later I will post all of them together to compare!!!
Feel Good,
RW

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Day #12

Day 12, I feel great, I had to headaches, but I thought I was almost clean, but lots of plaques came out today!!! I had 2 juices, and the funny thing is my second juice I felt so satisfied, it was amazing, felt like I just ate in a all you can eat buffet!
 The power of the cleanse is amazing, and now I know we can prevent lots of diseases if we eat right! I know today is World Cancer Day, that made me think:  we are looking for the thing, for example, instead of looking for the cure, we should be looking for the cause, and teaching people how to eat right and prevent all those diseases.
I know some people might get mad with this, but honestly, trying to find the cure is far more profitable than actually educating people on how to prevent. I can say that most of the food companies other look more for profit than doing a good product, so they prefer putting a cheap chemical to make 5% more profit, it is insane!
All this cleanse and raw food, make me have mix emotion because I am seeing that the body can heal himself as long as we eat right, and we don't need to take and spend money in all this drugs that actually give more side effects than help with the real problem. I know is a relief right away, but sometime in life you will end up the paying the price. What confuse me more is that I want to scream out to the world the truth, but at the same time I will look like a crazy guy....as of now I tell people that ask me, and I help them, but honestly I wish I could do more. Maybe with my back ground and being an athlete that will inspire people.
I usually say that we live in a matrix (I think you guys saw the movie), and now I am pretty sure, because this cleanse is opening my eyes about medicine (drugs), the same way as barefoot running did with shoes for me, but shoes for me is easier and sounds less crazy LOL...
Any ways, I am looking forward for this season, and so far is starting great!!!
All my juices (2) were at whole foods, the wheat grass shopper!
I am putting the picture below, this was taking probably 9 years ago, I was not training, but I was already losing weight. I put this picture, so you guys can see my full transformation, before training, during training, before and after cleanse. You probably will freak out!
Feel good,
RW

Friday, February 3, 2012

Day #11

So day 11 here I am, and today I think was the best day so far! I woke up and even before an enema I big plaque came out! I felt good the entire day, with no headaches, I think the body is finally getting clean!!!

Other than that the day was pretty normal, still some plaque coming out, but feeling extremely good! And is funny because today is day 5 with just juice, no meals, and energy level is great!

My weight is down by a lot, is even lower than my race weight! I can't wait to get the 2012 season started! The most interesting is that I did not lost any muscle, for example I tried a shirt that is thight on the bicipes area before and still thight, amazing! I think the weight I lost is all fat and dead weight inside of me (crap) lol!

One thing I must every time I cut an apple to do the juice, it looks so freaking good and juice that I want to eat, other than that no craving at all! Also, today I had one juice at whole foods, I had the wheat grass shopper and I was full with 20oz, felt great.

Today's juices:
1st
Beets, apples, celery, and collard greens.
2nd
Whole foods wheat grass shopper ( delicious by the way)
3rd
Collard greens, celery, pear and carrots.

Feel good,
RW

I can't believe is coming to an end, but I'm really happy with the results so far. Really looking forward to what day 12 is going to be!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Day #10

So is almost over this cleanse today is day 10 already, and the experience has been amazing! Cravings are gone! Like for example I went out to dinner with a friend, he ate and I had juice and I didn't feel like eating at all! Crazy! I also remember, probably around 4 years ago, I was vegetarian only, but I was able to eat a large and medium dominos pizza with coke IN THE SAME MEAL and still be hungry, and now I feel satisfied with a salad! Is pretty amazing how the body and mind change when you change you diet!

Today looking at the mirror and I got scared, my body changed like crazy from this cleanse, is unbelievable, I have a body now that I never thought I could because of my dark pass ( when I was overweight ) I am really looking forward for my final mesuarements!

Today I only had some headache, nothing more than that... Felt pretty good during that day, and at night my mind is working like crazy and getting lots of stuff done. Got stuff done that I usually avoid :)))

The main diference today from all the other days was that lots of plaques came out, I mean a lot and a few big ones too! Pretty cool! Body is responding really well, and I started too
feel extra good! Today a shaved my head again too, and my skin feel amazing!

Is funny to see how I used to eat, even when I was an athlete before and I considered my self in shape and healthy and now I think I am taking my body to a whole new level! Feels almost like a spiritual experience, and that my mind only have space for positive thought and attitudes!Funny thing that happened today talking to my wife she asked me: if you decide to cheat today what would you eat? And believed or not all I could imagine was a nice fresh juicy apple! Most amazing feeling for me

Juices of the day:
1st
Beats, apples, cucumber, and kale.
2nd
Wheat grass, pineapple, kale and spinach
3rd
Grapefruit juice ( I didn't use to like grapefruit and my taste is changing )

Feel good,
RW

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Day #9

Today was a nice day! I had a headache all morning, but with a lots of energy! Did my enema in the am, and still had a headache and I was feeling that something needed to come out. When I was about to do my second enema, I felt stuff moving around, went to the bathroom and lots of plaques came out, and headache was gone! What a reief!
I am learning a lot about my self with this cleanse, and also is made me rethink a lot of stuff! For example, now I am more than 100% sure that we are what we eat! Honestly, when I look at a super market, taking off the veggie and fruit section, I don't see food anymore! The way we eat is very wrong! I don't want to convince anyone, BUT I think everybody should try at least once to do a cleanse, and go raw is life changing! Can you imagine not having cravings?
Something that I notice, my mind seek clean and good energy everywhere, for example I started a clean up at the house, donating stuff and throwing out old stuff, and that feeling started out of nowhere... Pretty amazing! My body is changing but my mind is changing as well! My realiotnship with my wife has got stronger, sometimes feels like the way people view me changed as well, could be just a feeling, but sure is a great feeling!
The most amazing thing is how food is emotional! I haven't eateen anything other than juice for 2 days and I have lots of energy, and lots of stuff are coming out, is incredible and I guess the expression "full of crap" is true LOL! Because of the bad stuff that we ate (I can't call food anymore) make us "full of crap" inside. And all this stuff make us sick physically and emotionally! I guess food is the biggest part of our problems....

Juices of the day:
1st
collard coverage, celery, apples, carrot and Ginger!
2nd
Spinach, kale, green peppers, and cucumbers.

Feel good,
RW

Interesting

I am reading this book: "Cleanse and Purify Thyself" by Rich Anderson, and is opening my eyes about modern medicine, pretty much the same way That Born to Run and Barefoot Running open my eyes about shoes. So I am copying  a very interesting part of the book. I pick this part because I have a friend that had his gallbladder removed and I wish I knew this before.

"Surgical removal of a gallbladder cost $6000.00 to 10,000.00 according to FDA statistic. The patient remain in the hospital one to three days depending upon complications, and risks are relative small...... Doctors neglect to inform that they will never be normal again as weight gain, chronic fatigue, depression, and many other complications often accompany gallbladder removal. However, this symptoms progress over months and/or years so that is easy to blame on something else."
On the other hand: "Unlike conventional medicine, natural healing was not designed to to produce massive profits, but by nature to be simple, safe, and effective. For example, it is very easy to remove gallstones. The naturopathic way of removing gallstones requires about 40 min of your time, at home, and the cost may be about $4.50 for each flush. One may need 2 or 3 flushes; however the first flush can do wonders for those who have chronic gallstones accumulation."

That is crazy! Doing this cleanse  is opening my mind even more, and I love it!
On the other hand, today my wife got her period early, so we decide to email Jennifer Thompson ( she is guiding us on this detox, also she is the one that suggest to read this book) ( www.healthybliss.net )so, what happen is when you do a cleanse the your body recalibrate it self, and is possible that your body wants to clean the uterus during the cleanse, and she also said "now you are experiencing the power of cleanse" WOW, both of us were shocked! The body is an amazing machine! We just need the right fuel, raw foods of course!!!
Feel Good,
RW
Ps: Later on I will right about day #9!