Raw Goal
by Paul Nison

(Excerpts from “The Raw Life,” by Paul Nison.

My Raw Life

This chapter describes how I tend to eat and live. I have been experimenting with and studying the raw food lifestyle for many years, and I have put together these guidelines to help myself thrive. I would call these ideas a realistic goal for anyone wanting to advance from the average raw lifestyle to the next level. It is my personal guideline. As you can see, it is much stricter than what previous chapters in this book have suggested. After you have defeated Cooked Food Man, and some time has passed, you may want to make your own chart.
When taking your diet to the next level, make it a personal change. There is no need to tell anyone what you are doing, just do it! It is okay to make adjustments along the way. If you want to thrive in life, don’t settle for the average — keep moving ahead. This is what will separate you from everyone else.

My Diet

Organic Fruits — Whole. Whole fruits, I think, are the best for me and also for most people. Whole fruit is fruit in its purest form, and is the best possible food for man. I don’t limit myself to just certain fruits. Anything that has a seed is a fruit. Pepper, tomato, cucumber, and squash are all considered fruits. Whole fruit is always best. Sometimes I like to have a fruit juice too, but not too often. If I do have fruit in a juice form, I will dilute it with water so it is not too sweet for me.

Leafy Greens — Whole or Juiced. I love to eat leafy green vegetables. Kale is my favorite. Many people ask me how I can just eat it plain with no dressing. When I first became raw, I didn’t like it, but the taste grow on me. Now I love it. I know some raw-foodists who don’t eat any leafy greens. If they feel that is best, then fine. I think greens are important, but it is more important to eat what you like and not to eat what doesn’t taste good to you.

Sea Vegetables — Whole. It took a lot to get used to them. First I had to get used to the idea of eating them, then to the taste. I meet raw-foodists who say that it is not natural to eat sea vegetables. Once again, if you don’t like the taste, don’t eat them. I like the sate and I have spoken with many long-time raw-foodists who say that sea vegetables are very important to have in the diet.

Other Vegetables — Eat Sparingly. Leafy greens are the only vegetables I eat on a daily basis. They contain the energy of the sun, right inside. This energy is then passed right along to me, when I eat them. All other vegetables are not as easy to digest. I do like to eat them, but sparingly.

Nuts and Seeds. I always try to soak nuts and seeds before I eat them. I feel they are much better for my body that way. I used to soak them very rarely, but since I soak them now, I see a big difference. When soaked, they digest much easier and faster. Also, whenever I eat them, I try to buy them in the shell. This helps me to avoid overeating. I try not to eat more than three handfuls a week. Sometimes I will go months without any. If I crave more, I blend and strain them to make nut milk. Nut milks taste great and are very filling. Many people tend to overeat on nuts, so be careful.

Dried Fruit. It is best to eat food that contains as much water as possible. Except for dates, I only eat dried fruits, if I cannot get them fresh. Eating fruits in their most natural state is always best. Also, I like to soak dried fruit to replace the water, before I eat them. I try to never eat more than three handfuls in a week. I can go for months without them.

The Best Diet For Me. On a daily basis, is to eat as little as possible. The more I get into this lifestyle, the easier it becomes to do this. Right now I eat, on average, two meals per day or less. When it is two meals, my first meal is usually fresh juicy fruits and the second meal consists of leafy greens and fatty fruits. I always do my best to combine my foods well. Most of the time, I eat a mono diet so I don’t have to worry about improper food combining. Also, I try to avoid eating too many fatty fruits. I like to go a few days without any.

Eating

Avoid overeating. I think that overeating is the biggest problem that people have, especially people who are new to the raw food lifestyle. It is a big problem with cooked food eaters as well. I think everyone overeats. I do all I can to avoid it.

Eat only one kind of fat per day. I think the hardest type of food do digest is fatty food. I feel the body does much better when it only has to deal with one kind of fat at a time. For example, if I eat an avocado, that would be my fat for the day. I will eat no other fats, no nuts, olives, etc. on that day. This works best for me.

I tell everyone to experiment and learn. Not two people are in the same situation. What works for me might not work for you. But raw food works for everyone, no matter where they are. I don’t know anyone else who eats one kind of fat per day and I have never heard anyone talk about it (I have — editor.), but I feel that for my body, this is best. I feel my digestion works best when I eat in this way. I call it "mono-fat." Also, it takes a longer time for my body to digest fats so I try not to eat fatty foods everyday. I feel eating fatty not more than 3 or 4 times a week is fine for me. When I started on a raw diet, I ate them much more.

Eat only during daylight. By eating only during daylight hours and almost never eating at night, I keep myself from overeating and from engaging in late-night binges. This took a lot of getting used to, but now that I am, it helps me. I have never felt better and I owe a big part of the improvement to this change. Of course, if I feel true hunger, I will eat, regardless of the time.

Don’t eat two fruit meals in a row. For a while, I was overeating on sweet fruits and could not stop. Every meal was sweet fruit, sweet fruit, sweet fruit. Then Dr. Fred Bisci taught me about blood gasses and how they increase when we eat too much fruit (see interview in my book, “The Raw Life”). He suggested avoiding eating two fruit meals in a row. Like everything that makes sense to me, I tried it and it worked. I now mix greens into my diet more often.

Drink a great amount of water upon rising, and throughout the day. I leaned this from Morris Krok. I always try to get the cleanest water available. For me, that would be distilled water, in glass bottles. There are so many benefits to doing this, that I could write a whole book on them. For one, it helps clean and flush out the body system. Another great benefit is it gives me such a full feeling that I don’t feel like eating until the middle of the day. I think everyone should try it for a week. When you wake up, drink 6 to 10 glasses of water at room temperature, plus lots of additional water throughout the day. If you do this, food will be the last thing on your mind and you will have a difficult time overeating. Morris as a genius.

Think before you eat. Am I hungry? Do I really want to eat this? If I were in the wild, would I be able to eat this without utensils? If you answered no to any of these questions, then don’t eat. I think it is best to eat something only after asking these questions. If I answered yes to all, I will enjoy my meal better.

Concentrate on the food. I make a big effort to put all of my attention into the food I am about to eat.

Avoid talking when you have food in your mouth. I think it is important to use the mind to fucus on the food and the mouth to focus on eating that food. I cannot concentrate and chew food correctly, if I am talking. I don’t think anyone can do that either. I enjoy my food much more when I don’t talk while eating.

Follow food combining guidelines. I always follow the food combining guidelines if I am not eating a meal of just one kind of food (a mono-meal) for best digestion.

Have a fun meal. Every now and then, I allow myself to eat a meal where foods have been improperly combined, and this keeps me happy. I don’t do it often, but it is good to know that if I want to have fun once in a while with my food, I can. Too much strictness can be dangerous. If I have too much food, I know I will feel it the next day. Therefore, I try not to go overboard. I always think ahead.

Cleansing

Fruits with seeds are more cleansing than fruits with pits. They go through my body much better. I think they are more cleaning for me and I know many people who feel the same way.

Skin brush your body. I try to do this as much as possible. Everyday would be best, is this aids in the cleansing of the body. If you don’t know what skin brushing is, go to a health food store and buy a skin brush. It is a big brush that looks like a brush you would use in the shower, but instead you brush your skin dry with it.

Fasting. I fast whenever I feel I need to. I have learned to read my body, so even if I feel fine, I can tell when something needs a rest inside of me. I always fast when I feel rundown. I monitor this through my sleeping patterns, bowel movements, and other bodily signs.

“No one knows your body
better than you do.”

Speaking

Only speak positive words. I always try my best to think before I speak, and only speak positive. This is much harder than it sounds. It is a lot of fun though, it’s like learning a new language.

Sleeping & Rest

When I wake up, if I feel like going back to sleep, then I know I didn’t have enough sleep. When I wake up, I should want to jump out of bed and start the day. If I don’t want to, it is a sure sign that I did not get enough good sleep.

If I feel tired, I try to take a rest or a nap during the day. I need to have the time to do this — it helps so much. I think a big problem with society is that, because of a work schedule, people can’t sleep when their bodies want to, when they require it. People are forced to sleep according to the clock and not according to the body. This leads to stress and toxemia.

Don’t use an alarm clock. This is one of the worst habit and I try my best to never wake up to an alarm clock. Shocking the system too abruptly to wake up destroys the benefits of any good sleep I have obtained. It is the equivalent of going on a water fast and breaking it with a pizza. Waking to an alarm is harmful and unnatural to the human body, but because of society, people have to do it often.

Exercising

Engage in some form of exercise everyday, if you have the time. I love to do calisthenics and yoga every morning, as long as I got enough sleep the night before.

If you feel tired when waking up, you did not get enough sleep. If I am tired in the morning and don’t feel like getting up, I stay in bed. I will use that extra time to sleep and skip exercising for the day.

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