Gruno - Brads raw made easy : the fast, delicious way to lose weight, optimize health, and live mostly in the raw

Copyright 2014 by Brad Gruno
All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Harmony Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, New York, a Penguin Random House Company.
www.crownpublishing.com

Harmony Books is a registered trademark of Random House, LLC, and the Circle colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gruno, Brad.
Brads raw made easy: The fast, delicious way to lose weight, optimize health, and live mostly in the raw/Brad Gruno.First edition.
pages cm
1. Reducing dietRecipes. 2. Raw food dietRecipes. 3. Weight loss.
I. Title. II. Title. Raw book.
RM237.5G78 2014
613.265dc23 2013020205

ISBN 978-0-385-34812-6
eBook ISBN 978-0-385-34813-3

Hardcover book design by Lauren Dong

Interior photographs courtesy of Natasha Shapiro, Allison Davis, Jeff Skeirik, Pam Gruno, and Alex Mack

. Reprinted with permission .

Insert photographs copyright 2013 by Ellen Silverman

Cover design by Jess Morphew

v3.1

To my daughter, Evaheres to a very healthy
second chapter of our lives together

The material in this book is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for the advice and care of your physician. As with all new weight-loss or weight-maintenance regimens, the nutrition and lifestyle program described in this book should be followed only after first consulting with your physician to make sure it is appropriate for your individual circumstances. Keep in mind that nutritional needs vary from person to person, depending on age, sex, health status, and total diet. The author and the publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects that may result from the use or application of the information contained in this book.

N ot many people are grateful for the economic dot-com crash of 2001. When the economy tanked I lost everything I hadbut it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. It brought me, in the most roundabout way possible more than a decade ago, to the raw food that literally saved my life.

I grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. My family ate a typical American diet of meat and potatoes (steamed kalewhats that?), and a lot of them smoked and drank and never exercised. I left home when I was twenty and moved to California to work as a plumber with my uncle. There I met my now ex-wife. After we were married we decided to move to Pittsburgh so I could begin working with her father in his strip-mining business.

Several years later, I got divorced and moved to Atlanta to work with my father in the telecommunications industry. After learning how to run crews and operations from my father-in-law and honing my business management skills with my father, I built up the confidence to go out on my own. A tremendous amount of money was being poured into the fiber optics construction industry, and I eventually became successful with my own business. I had houses and a yacht and fancy friends in fancy places. I thought I had it made.

Thats when the dot-com industry crashed. All the investors pulled out, with no intention of ever paying the outstanding million-dollar invoices, and my $30 million company went down the tubes. Im not kidding when I say it happened overnight. And believe me, when everything gets torn out from under you, you find out who your friends are really quickly.

There I was with no prospects, no money, no home, and no ideas about what to do next. I did not have the college education that might have opened certain doors for me, but I had the entrepreneurial spirit I had learned from my father. So I called my aunt and uncle and asked them if I could stay for a while. They said of course, and I moved back home to Bucks County, where they welcomed me with open arms and let me stay in an apartment in their barn. Not surprisingly, I became depressed. I moped around the apartment, eating a lot of junk; I weighed a good forty pounds more than I do now. Gradually I got bored with wallowing in self-pity and started asking myself what I could do. I took a good look in the mirror and thought, You know what? You might not have had control over whats happened already, but the one thing you can control is how you take care of yourself. You can control what you eat and you can control how you move. So I started going to the gym.

Brad Before

My wonderful aunt Joyce was always health conscious and liked to go to a raw food restaurant, Arnolds Way, located in nearby Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Its a popular place, and owner Arnold Kauffman (who will play an important role in this story) is known and respected for his knowledge about raw food, his kindness, and his willingness to educate people who want to learn more about a raw food lifestyle. When Aunt Joyce saw that Arnold was offering a raw food preparation class, she was thrilled and signed right up. After a few sessions, she invited some of my cousins over for a five-course, all-raw (raw means uncooked, or heated to no more than 115F) meal, including appetizers, a main course, and dessert. It was incredibly delicious. A few days later I watched a documentary called Eating on a DVD my aunt had in the house. In it, different physicians discuss what a diet high in processed foods and low in fruits and vegetables does to the human body and how eating a non-plant-based diet can contribute to heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses. The message of the film inspired me, and the next day I went 100 percent raw.

Let me just say that I would never suggest that anyone go raw cold turkey, no matter how well prepared you think you might be! My body rebelled, big time. For the first three weeks my life was hell. I had flu-like symptoms. I had massive headaches and no energy. I could barely get out of bed, even though I dragged myself to the gym and tried to work out. My face was even breaking out. I was a wreck!

Because my aunt Joyce had stacks of books about nutrition and health lying around the house, and Id read them all, I was mentally prepared for what can happen during a food detox. The residue of those decades of junk food and steak dinners and red wine and white bread and mashed potatoes and heavy desserts that left me so stuffed I could barely get up was getting purged from my body. When the headaches hit or the aches and pains got intolerable, I would just grit my teeth and go with it. I knew that feeling bad was temporary. I had to ride it out and stop myself from scarfing down a burger or cooked food in an effort to make me feel better in the short term.

When Id been raw for about three weeks, Aunt Joyce took a look at me and smiled. Brad, she said, you are just starting to glow. Your skinits incredible! Go take a look if you dont believe me.

I took a look, and she was right. My acne had disappeared. My eyes were clear. It was as if the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel was shining on me. I have to admit I was kind of shocked at how good I looked. Not only thatI was starting to feel really good, too.

Now I was more determined than ever to stick to a raw food lifestyle. I didnt want to cheat, or slow the process down. There was no way I was going back to my old life and my old bad habits.