Vegan Pain

Recently Dani and I made the decision to try going "Raw" for one week.  Usually at this point in my story people look at me and think I will wither just like the vegetables I am eating without large quantities of meat and carbs in my diet.  Well, one week down, and 7 pounds lighter....I am hear to tell you that it can be done!  At least for one week.  There was no way I could have lasted one week and one day.
Why, you ask, would I ever risk the few percentages of body fat that I can call my own?
Since my mission in the frozen wastelands of the north (St. Petersburg), I haven't felt 100% physically.  It could be that I feel this way as a result of leaving a good portion of my hair in Russia...but that wouldn't explain why it has been so hard to wake up in the mornings.  Or why I feel ill in the stomach.  After consulting a doctor and confirming that I don't have TB or an over-active thyroid I was left to confront my diet.  I spoke with my Uncle Rob.  Why Rob?  To start off with he has always been one of the men I look up to most right after my Dad.  He isn't perfect, but he has always tried to be so.  Next, he is an Arnold Schwarzenegger look-a-like from the neck down.  The man can do 100 push ups in one minute as a fifty year old!  He has always taken his physical health seriously without going to any extremes, and while exercising regularly.  Finally, he has spent his life learning about how to eat properly.  His conclusion, like all wise men (I know you're out there Larry): live the word of wisdom.
To kick things off however, he recommended that we go 100% raw: eat only natural foods that haven't been cooked or processed in any way.  In other words Dani and I spent one week in the life of a rabbit, eating only fruits, vegetables, and raw nuts.
I have survived.  And two days after going off the raw diet i have gained back all seven of the pounds I lost the previous week.  The results during that one week were incredible for me.  I didn't have one headache the entire week (I usually get a couple a week from not eating enough), and was able to shoot out of bed earlier than Danielle (first time in our marriage that this has happened).  Yes, I had cravings for tortilla chips and Costco Pizza, but I was able to fend off those cravings and stay true for one week.
The greatest thing I discovered was how to make completely raw smoothies that destroy anything Jamba can even dream of making.  And each smoothie was made with at least one handful of spinach in the recipe!