Day 15

Weight: 14 stone 4 lb

Total weight loss since day 1: 11 lb

Well I seem to have stalled at 14 stone 4 lb and my target of 14 stone by the weekend doesn't seem achievable now, not unless I put some duct tape over my mouth for the next 2 days which may please some people in the household but a girl will only go to certain lengths to diet!

I came across a book I bought a few years ago called The 80/10/10 Diet by Dr. Douglas N Graham,who has been into raw food for many years and has written this unique book on the raw food diet and what exactly we should be eating, which is 80% carbohydrates, 10% protein, and 10% fat derived from whole, fresh, ripe, raw, organic plants. He also discusses weight loss when embarking on a raw food diet:

"The first dramatic change that people frequently notice (when going raw) is a rapid and dramatic loss of weight. After they lose the initial water weight in the first week or two on the raw diet, many people find that they continue to lose weight, though much more slowly. It is likely that this subsequent weight loss represents a  loss of fat." 

He goes on to say, "As a rule, rapid weight changes always represent water weight losses or gain. Under no circumstances can anybody lose a pound of fat per day on any diet."

What I understand from this is due to the toxicity in cooked food, your body has to retain water to dilute toxins and when we switch to a raw food diet, your body can release the excess water and this accounts for rapid weight loss. Now the hard part starts for me where my weight loss will slow right down, but I will start to lose the fat. 

So I'm not getting disheartened that I haven't lost any weight for 2 days as I realise this rapid weight loss just simply couldn't continue and I'm quite relieved it has slowed. Now I'm looking at losing 2-3 lb per week which is realistic and will still keep me nicely on target for my ultimate goal of losing 4 stone in 6 months.

Ok, today I made a creamy and silky Ajoblanco (I know the photo looks like I've made a dessert and I promise you that the blue streak is on the glass not in it.) I just thought I'd be creative and photograph my soup in a Sundae glass instead of a dull bowl!

Not only does this make a tasty soup...but an incredible salad dressing as well! 

Ajoblanco is a popular Spanish cold soup from Malaga and Granada provinces...it normally has bread in it, which I have omitted for this raw version. It came about during the time of Moorish (Arab) rule in Spain.

Ajoblanco (Almond Gazpacho):

200g almonds 

7 tbsp olive oil

2 and 1/4 cups cold water

2 large garlic cloves

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

 

As I was busy this morning I didn't actually get to eat anything until about 3 p.m. whereupon I had a green smoothie (banana and spinach), a handful of olives and flax seed crackers. For dinner I drank half a glass of Ajoblanco and poured the rest over my green salad...lovely!

A member of the household had hot vegetable soup tonight and I will source a recipe for the raw equivalent as I'm missing my vegetable soups.

Hasta pronto