It was October 2011, and my life was spiraling out of control. I had been an alcoholic for nearly 15 years and was 100 pounds overweight and sad. I was suffering from heartburn and perpetually sick with a cold. I would occasionally diet, exercise and try to give up alcohol but never made any leeway with my drinking problem or my size-42 waist. Once I got to the point where tying my shoes and climbing a flight of stairs were taking my breath away, I knew I was going to have to change something soon.
I never liked going to the doctor’s office and would avoid it at all costs, unless I was severely ill. However, with the lousy state of health I was experiencing, I knew I had better start cleaning up my eating habits or learn to enjoy visiting a doctor.
In May 2011, I made a humungous change in my life and stopped watching TV. I would still watch an occasional movie, but the news and sitcoms were off limits. This change freed up close to four or five hours of my day and left me needing a new hobby, so I started to read—a lot!
At this time of my life, I traveled around the United States on business and would often have close to 10 nonfiction books with me. My reading material consisted of personal responsibility and American Revolutionary history. In no time at all, both topics helped me forget about my TV days.
By the time October rolled around, I wanted to start researching different types of diets in hopes of finding one suitable for me. I was yearning for the truth and read about vegetarianism and veganism, but neither held my attention because I was not sympathetic toward farm animals at the time.
One night, I arrived home from a bar and stumbled upon a documentary titled Food Matters. The film dramatically covers ideas such as eating uncooked food, vitamin therapy, superfoods and nutrition. All of this information was interesting to me, but there were two words spoken that struck me like lightning: “digestive leukocytosis.” In summary, when you eat cooked food, your immune system reacts to it as a toxin and generates white cell activity against the food. If one of the major reasons we eat is to receive nourishment, then this is not an ideal situation.
That night, I searched the Internet high and low for books on eating a raw diet, and there didn’t seem to be many. However, I did stumble upon a book titled The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose. Rose’s book laid down an amazing foundation for my future with raw food, and I still, to this day, practice many of her ideas. Rose offers so much great information, but the most important thing I learned is how to properly pair certain foods together for quick digestion. I immediately started to practice food combining and, within days, my heartburn was gone, and, within a week, my waist lost 1 to 2 inches.
I began eating raw when I was in Portland, Oregon, on October 31, 2011. While I was there, I remember walking through a mall late one night and throwing my old belt away because I just purchased one for my new, slimmer figure. At this point, I knew I had found the truth. I felt great and was starting to look great, except I still had one problem: alcohol. Fortunately, because raw foods made me feel so good, my drinking days were limited, and the last beer I had was on December 2nd, 2011.
I implemented a predominantly raw diet by eating uncooked food for my first two meals of the day and then eating a cooked vegan meal for dinner. This lasted for two years. I eventually got bored with eating cooked food and adopted a 100 percent raw lifestyle.
The majority of my weight loss took place in about seven months. For the first five months of eating raw, I was still traveling around the United States on business. My trips lasted for two weeks at a time, and whenever I would fly back home, my mother would greet me at the airport and be completely amazed by how much weight I had lost and how different I looked. I attest most of my 100-pound weight loss to food combining since I intentionally did not exercise.
Today, I am basically a fruitarian. I drink 20 bananas a day in two separate smoothies and enjoy some gourmet raw foods and veggies in the evening. I exercise daily on my rebounder and try to get my fair share of sunlight, fresh air and meditation each day.
After reading hundreds of books, I currently believe the practices of Natural Hygiene and Dr. Herbert Shelton to be the truth. This does not mean I am not open to new ideas or uninterested in learning new things; it just means I have not found better information to date.
Explore Herbert M. Shelton Products in the Fruitarian Store
[wp_eStore_category_products_fancy id=18 style=2 order=3]In conclusion, my life is magical, and I love every second of it. I have such a deep spiritual connection with everyone and everything around me. I feel balanced, clear, present and energized. In fact, my health has become so great that I continually look for ways to refine my diet in order to strive for higher levels of vitality.
If you are considering a raw diet, my advice to you is to maintain happiness.
I will end with a quote.
All of the happiness in the world arises from wishing others to be happy.
—Shantideva
Watch a Fruit-Powered Video Interview with Dan McGrogan Recorded in January 2014
Watch a Fruit-Powered Video Interview with Dan McGrogan Recorded in June 2014
Check out Dan’s feature story on his café, Nucleus Raw Foods!
Check out a review of Nucleus Raw Foods!
