If you are looking to get more energy from the foods you eat, asking the people around you for suggestions might send you in some pretty interesting directions. I asked a few people that I know, but who don’t know about my love affair with everything raw, to give me some pointers on how to get more energy from my diet.

Let me tell you, their suggestions were downright horrifying. I heard about the benefits of binging on junk food and high sugar snacks before athletic endeavors; I was told that diet really didn’t matter, and it was all about getting enough sleep; I was even told that maxing out your caffeine levels was a relatively safe and positive way to gain energy without much effort. One guy that I know, who is in amazing shape by anyone’s definition, told me that the best way to gain additional energy from what you eat is to eat pretty much nothing but the processed junk that the in-mall “vitamin” stores sell. Oh, that and pizza and beer.

Now, that last one really blew me away. This guy is young, of course – he’s in his mid twenties. He’s a weight lifter, and as such, has exactly zero cardio. He says he doesn’t care, because in his opinion, cardiovascular health is for people who come out on the wrong side of the “fight or flight” complex. He reasons that he doesn’t ever have to run – he’s big enough to win any fight.

But I think this young buck is missing some pretty important information. Sure, he’s young now and he can load up on junk food and burn it off quickly. But he will get older, and as he does, he’s going to find that he’s not going to get the same amount of energy from that style of eating that he once did. Not only that, he’s going to start doing some serious damage to his body – the kidneys, liver and heart, to be precise about it.

In the interests of easing my fears about this friend, I sat him down and told him all that I had learned about eating a raw foods diet. About how it can help you to keep the weight down that you want kept down, but build up the muscle weight you want. How it can give you energy better than any supplement. How it will revive your system and make you feel as though you have started anew, every single day.

I told him, you need to start on an energy diet plan. If not for yourself, then do it for me, your friend. If it works, you can thank me later. If it doesn’t, you can mock me until the end of time. But try it for a few months, and tell me what you think. Drop the booze, and drink the smoothies. Forget the pills, and pop veggies into your mouth instead. Forget pizza – eat something fresh and raw and delicious.

He’s only been on that track for a week, and you know what? Even he is surprised at how good it feels. I have a feeling that within a few months, the raw food diet is going to have a very dedicated weight lifter swearing by it.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

• Previous Entry: How to Eat Healthy When You Have No Time
• Next Entry: Eating For Energy-Understanding The Nutritional Lifestyle