100 Day Challenge...Day 17

...which is today. Yes, I am still successfully 100% raw, and still low fat raw vegan. But oh, baby, it hasn't been easy.

Let's run off some positives: already I am seeing the beginnings of healing from some challenging health issues that I've had all my life. To see even the slightest hint of improvement in something that medical science has declared incurable is amazing. Awe-inspiring. The fact that it's happening within a matter of weeks is even more incredible. I literally cannot wait to see what I can accomplish in just over three months.

Muscle soreness is greatly improved, even when taking on longer, more difficult runs and incorporating extra strength training. My endurance is improving. I can definitely see why many athletes have chosen to eat this way. I'm burning clean fuel, and my entire body is thanking me by providing me more energy, better sleep, and interestingly enough, entirely different sleeping patterns. I was dreading altering my schedule for school/upcoming Kindergarten schedule, but now I can't help it. I'm waking up earlier every day. It's actually kind of annoying since nobody is up this early...well...no one I know is. I kind of don't know what to do with myself.

Now for the bad, and even the bad is a good in disguise. I am uncovering the TRUE meaning of food and comfort, and exactly how sickeningly intertwined these two things are in our modern, cooked/processed food lifestyle. About a week ago I began to have some strange thoughts. I began to remember things, things that happened looooooooooooooong ago, ten years or more, and I realized that I am STILL completely affected by them. Things I haven't even thought about, let alone obsess over. It's difficult to describe, and even more trying to write about, but there is a definite, STRONG connection between craving food flavors and feeling comforted.

I bet you already knew that, but I don't think you fully understand the deep implications of this reality. It is an ADDICTION. Any food that is processed, or somehow changed from it's simple, nutrient delivering energy source is a poison. People drink to forget, shoot up to forget, but those individuals are a scarce minority in comparison to the millions who EAT to forget. It's not hard to understand that idea in an objective sense. You can watch all the "fat people" television shows and see that it's a fact. But to experience that fact personally, to really get a glimpse of how it's changed you, is something very humbling and overwhelming. I bet I've only scratched the surface, but already I'm feeling more confident that this, while uncomfortable at first, can only be a healing process.