The Raw P90X Experiment

Allow me to detail the status of my experiment. Early May, I set out on the goal of drinking only liquids for 30 days. I made it 28 days before deciding to stop, not because I broke under pressure, but I felt I was no longer gaining anything from the experiment. I learned a lot: I love Kombucha as a soft drink, and I also really enjoy having fresh organic wheatgrass in the morning with a shot of fresh orange juice. I still think wheatgrass is the key.

For a week after this phase ended, I was to eat whatever I wanted, but preferably in moderation. I sometimes binged, but overall I was good. And during the last week I definitely put on a lot of weight (apparently, at least -- I never had a chance to weigh myself). Now it's time to enter phase II, which involves a raw or high raw vegan diet (Paleolithic will be my backup) combined with the P90X workout routine.

I'm on day 2 and I feel great! The plyometrics workout routine was very rough on me, but I feel super light and stretchy now, and I look forward to the next go. My hypothesis is that after 30 days of raw vegan + P90X I will have lost a lot of weight, gained muscle, and cut my bodyfat percentage significantly. This last bit is important: each time I "went raw," I would lose a lot of weight and bottom out around 185 lbs, but my bodyfat percentage never dropped below 13-15% no matter how much or little raw food I ate. My theory is:

• Eventually, of course, bodyfat percentage would continue to drop, but I can expedite this process by engaging in a super high intensity workout.
  
• A raw vegan diet can put on muscle just as well as a diet high in animal products (faster, in fact).
• A high-intensity workout (not necessarily high impact) can significantly speed up the process of detoxification and lead to that "raw glow" so many people talk about.

But why all this intense workout? Why not just a little cardio and some weights like everyone else? Well, a more subtle reason is the intensity it provides is reflective of the culture I am trying to nurture. There are over a dozen folks on my team, and I personally believe them to be a warrior elite within the company given the sheer amount of time they work, how much they travel, how little they sleep, and, despite all that, how productive they are. (I still believe we have developed some form of telepathy within the team) If our company were ancient Greece, my team would be the Spartans. (not to say the engineers aren't amazing, they are, and we wouldn't have a product to sell without them, but everyone knows we are always working 8 AM to 1 AM every day while they roll in at 10 and leave at 8 and actually have weekends!) I figure the only way I can nurture this elite class is to lead by example, and that means putting in the time and energy to show something for it.

Thus, P90X and raw vegan, easily the most difficult workout/diet most people could ever imagine. And I will be here to document the results. Bring it!