Raw food diet

[KirkWilfred]

I'm thinking about trying a Raw Food diet/Juicing for a month to cleanse my body before I start training for a marathon. Anyone have any experiences with raw food diets or juicing?

Thanks in advance

[TheVTCGuy]

I know a guy that did it.... it was... "interesting" If you're a fatty (like me) that eats a lot of processed foods (believe it or not, that's NOT me, I eat pretty healthy, but getting back to the point), it's quite a shock to your system. Apparantly, he felt miserable and spent a lot of time "cleansing" After a week or so, he started to come out of it and feel better. He kept at it for about two more weeks and finally gave it up, saying he felt alternatively good and miserable.

Sorry I don't have a first hand or a more positive review for you, but his experience was awful. If you decide to go for it, let us know how it works out and best of luck!

[drtooth73]

It's nice and healthy. I did that for about two weeks. Could not do it without meat and poultry any longer

[Mrdi]

Just eat less and start running. If you're not running now, start with 2 and increase 1 mile per week until you get to 6. Train everyday at your pace and do about 6 miles as your daily run after the initial break in period.
At your age you should be able to train at a 7-8 minute per mile pace after the first month. As you become capable of 6 miles w/o too much stress start doing one longer run per week 10, 12, 15 as you get closer to the event.
I would take at least 6 months lead in. Marathon training is enough of a shock to your body w/o some fad diet to interfere. Just eat healthily, you know what that is.
Using the above regime, I did a 3:03:12 at age 40, including hills.
If you can, try to consume a little fluid as you train. You don't really need it for 6 mile runs, but you will need it in the 26 mile run, so you should train your body to ingest fluid while you train.

[rr-nyc]

Everybody I know that went on a raw diet claimed to feel like a million bucks. Unfortunately, they all looked like they were dying of some horrible disease. Life is too short to starve yourself of great food. Nobody can convince me that a raw diet is more enjoyable than a cooked meal. Avoid processed foods, fast food and meat from animals that were loaded up with fatteners and antibiotics. Most importantly, moderation is the key

Eat a balanced diet and start training. I've never run a marathon but keep up a very active lifestyle. A healthy, balanced diet is very important.

[JasoninDenver]

Raw food is horrid!!!

A good friend of mine is a convert and the stuff she makes even smells atrocious.

I agree with all of the previous posters that the cleanse will not be necessary given your upcoming physical demands. In fact, your body will start to tell you what it needs once you ramp up the training. I always notice that I naturally start to crave fresh fruits and veggies as well as protein when I ramp up my training schedule.

If you want to do a gradual cleanse, I recommend getting a Vitamix and substitute a meal each day with a veggie/fruit smoothie with a good dose of protein and flaxseed oil. The additional fiber is all the cleanse I ever need.

[Dr. Robert]

I am a proponent of the See-Food diet.....when I see food I eat it.

[TheDude]

I have been on-again off-again with a whole foods plant based diet (basically veganism but the only animal you care about is you).

It definitely cleans you out, but I have to admit I felt much better on that diet than when eating a "normal" diet.

The only drawback is that when I had to eat regular food - say taking a customer to a steakhouse, the aftermath was unpredictable and rather inconvenient which makes it impractical for me.

If I could control what I ate better (you can't really impose that kind of diet on clients), I would probably stick to it. It is supposed to be the absolute healthiest diet going and is used by Ironmen Triathletes.


Good documentary - can be found on Netflix streaming.

http://www.forksoverknives.com/

[Wineman]

Why juice? Eat the whole fruit/veggie...

[KirkWilfred]

Thanks for the comments gentleman. I started running earlier this year and thouroughly enjoy it. Ive dropped 25 lbs since January from watching what I eat, eliminating all alcoholic beverages (havnt cheated since sept 2010), and excercising. I've run a half marathon this past summer and workout regularly 3 times a week. I currently weigh 180 lbs but would like to get down to 170. Raw food seems like a great healthy option

[Demosthene]

Originally Posted by KirkWilfred

I'm thinking about trying a Raw Food diet/Juicing for a month to cleanse my body before I start training for a marathon. Anyone have any experiences with raw food diets or juicing?

Raw food and juicing is almost entirely a pseudo science.
It offers no advantages over a normal balanced diet and there’s a good chance you’re actually going to be less healthy doing it.
As a rule of thumb, anything that claims to “cleanse” or “detox” should be avoided.

[TheDude]

Originally Posted by Demosthene

Raw food and juicing is almost entirely a pseudo science.

Nutritional Science is equal parts dogma, pseudoscience, and public policy. The definition of "Normal and Balanced" is hotly debated.

Pick your evil but there are plenty of other diets I would rather demonize.

[KirkWilfred]

I'm interested in other dieting programs that some of you have experience with.