Thursday, November 15, 2007

Danbury native changes food habits overnight

By Donna Christopher, Danbury News-Times, October 29.

A "switch went off" for Philip McCluskey when he started eating a raw vegan diet a year and a half ago. Ultimately he lost 130 pounds, down from his "max weight" of 400, and now feels "happier and lighter" inside and out.

At 5-foot-10 he wants to slim down to 200, but conquering obesity is only part of the story, says McCluskey.

The Danbury native changed his diet overnight, leaving behind a regimen of "highly processed food" that often consisted of "dollar meals" from a fast-food restaurant. A typical order was "a couple of chicken sandwiches, large fries and a milk shake," items he now considers "fake foods." These days he prefers to savor only raw fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and seaweed for every meal.

McCluskey, 30, is thrilled with the transformation and wants to help others feel as good as he does. Obese or not, he claims the average American diet is a disaster. Processed, cooked foods, he said, leave people feeling dissatisfied and unenergetic. He keeps a daily blog on his Web site, lovingraw.com, to inform others on his becoming a "raw foodist," and presents the subject in a 5-minute video on YouTube. The video has already drawn over 2,700 viewers.