Free Minimize Me: 10 Diets to Lose 25 Lbs in 50 Days by Andy Leeks Page B

as a complete meal, and it felt like I was simply running through the
stock list for some random health-food chain. Although I’m able to tolerate a
lot of the ingredients individually and in their own right, I knew that I was
going to struggle to stick to a diet on which ingredients like seeds and
seaweed get star billing. As I worried more about the diet my health
deteriorated further, and after just two meals on the raw food diet I found
myself tucked up in bed feeling sorry for myself. My sore throat hadn’t gone
away, my glands were swollen and I was running a temperature. Who knows?
Perhaps I had caught legumes.
     
    The following day I didn’t feel any
better, but as it was a Saturday and my family were excited to have me home, we
went about the usual weekend activities. We went to a local children’s farm, we
popped over to see the in-laws, and we argued about whose turn it was to do the
washing up. By the evening, having survived by snacking on carrots, nuts, seeds
and dried fruit, I was totally drained. My illness had caught up with me and I
once again headed to bed for an early night. I remained in bed for most of
Sunday and it was on Sunday night that my illness really ratcheted up a notch.
I lost all sensation in my throat and mouth, including the sense of taste
(which I figured was a good thing on this diet). I was finding it harder to
breathe which made it impossible for me to get any sleep, and finally, at 5am,
I made the decision to take myself to the hospital. I knew that I needed
medication, and even if I were to wait until the morning there was no guarantee
that I could even get an appointment with the doctor, let alone the medication
I needed to help me get better.
     
    I was seen by a doctor straight away,
and during the observation he commented on my blood pressure and pulse rate
being a little high, but it was put down to the lack of sleep and the stress of
being ill. Then followed a tricky set of questions during which I probably should
have told him what I had been up to for the last few weeks. I just couldn’t
bring myself to tell him for fear of him advising me to stop the challenge at
once. I am of course an adult and could have carried on regardless, but having
been told to stop by a medical professional and then having gone on to do
myself some serious harm, I could never have forgiven myself for. Being
economical with the truth was a far better option for me. The head in the sand
approach. I was eventually diagnosed with a viral infection of the upper
respiratory system and told I needed antibiotics, plenty of fluids and lots of
rest.
     
    I spent the last two days of the diet in
bed, and for those two days it was more of a no food diet than a raw food diet.
I felt disappointed and relieved at the same time. I never truly embraced the
raw food diet, but I was still disappointed I wasn’t able to give it a better
go. Louis had been so enthusiastic about the diet having worked for endurance
athletes in the past and, in truth, I felt like I’d let him down.
     
    I managed to drag myself out of bed the
following morning and make my way to the scales, and wasn’t surprised when they
registered a 3-lb loss. It was obviously the illness that contributed to the
loss and not the diet itself, so I do feel a bit of a fraud. That said, there
is every chance that the illness came as a result of the diets, so we end up
coming full-circle.
     
    Summary:
     
    It’s hard to summarise the raw food
diet, having not truly tested it. I can’t comment on whether it’s a good diet
to go on in order to lose weight, but it is clearly a healthy diet which, for
the right person and in the right circumstances, could work perfectly well.
I’ve certainly read lots of articles which suggest it is a very good diet for
athletes, in particular endurance athletes, which goes to show that it is
perhaps better than any of the more ‘faddy’ diets that are out there. This is
definitely a diet for the committed dieter