Raw Foods Diet Challenge

[ButterflyBreath]

Once again I am trying the raw foods diet. I have tried a couple times before but just run out of steam. What I am realizing is that if you don’t have the proper equipment and knowledge it’s easy to give up. I still need to get a dehydrator. I have a juicer, blender, and a small simple food processor. Need a mandolin still as well.

I have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian all my life so it should be easier for me than most people to make this transition. I still have food in my fridge like dairy and eggs that I don’t want to waste so that will help me to transition more slowly as I’m going to finish that food and at the same time experiment with the techniques like sprouting and dehydrating (when I get one).

I will update here on this thread so that I will have something to keep accountable for this journey. Ideally I would like to be at least 75% raw. It think for me it is best to generally eat raw at home, but go out to eat every once in awhile and enjoy a few non raw things at home as well. The eventual goal of course is to be 100%.

So have any of you transitioned to raw foods diet? What has your experience been like? Any tips? Did you ever calculate how much it costs? Did you go through the detox phase as I hear comes at the beginning? Have you been able to keep up the diet? Have any recipes to share?

[jania]

I went raw completely for just one month last year. I found it easy and enjoyable as I'm not a foody by any means and like to eat simply. I stopped being completely raw when temperatures turned colder, I just enjoy eating cooked sweet potatoes too much. I continue to eat a lot of raw in my diet but am certainly no longer pure. I never experienced a "detox phase" I think because I eat pretty good anyway.

I did a lot of sprouting and I enjoyed reintroducing myself to this easy and nutritious process and food.

Consider waiting for the dehydrator. A work friend was completely raw for several years (she was the one that gave me a lot of info) and she never got into all the appliances. She hated the hassle and wasn't interested in trying to mimic "cooked" foods. For a month or two I suggest seeing how everything goes before making the investment of the dehydrator.

Enjoy experiencing this new way with food.

[ButterflyBreath]

Yeah, I know what you're saying about wanting warm food. You CAN warm up your food just not over 105 or whatever that magic temperature is at which it is still raw. I have tried being raw before and in the past I have wanted to get a dehydrator so I will probably still get one soon. I think it's good for a lot of things, not just raw foods diet. My BF wants to make beef jerky. Not sure how I feel about that as I am a veg, but I told him that if there's no trace that he has used it then I might consider letting him. I want to get the dehydrator locally and not off the internet if possible but I might not be able to find a good one.

So today we woke up and decided to eat out for breakfast. It was good, but about half way through my plate of a yummy veg omlet and "home fries" I realized I was full. I just felt so heavy with the food. I kept eating though and have felt lethargic all day so far. Will eat raw for dinner.

My first day doing this was this past Sunday and I haven't been completely 100% raw, but I am still feeling very tired in general. Since I'm not doing it cold turkey I don't know if I will feel the detox phase as much, or if I will but I will feel it longer. We'll see.

[ButterflyBreath]

OMG I just typed this out then I lost it :( Here goes again.

Dinner. Not quite raw but very healthy. I made sandwiches. I made a "burger" out of cooked garbanzo beans left over from making hummus, oatmeal, cashews, yeast flakes, toasted sesame oil, a little nama shoyu, garlic salt, cayenne, and broccoli and carrots chopped very small. I cooked it on the stove at low temp in olive oil, however I’m sure it was over the temp allowed for raw. Oh well, it was awesome.

On the sandwich we had an avocado spread, lettuce, tomato, shallots, cucumbers, and sprouts that I grew. Yippee.

We also juiced carrots…and added vodka : )

[ButterflyBreath]

This is day 7 since I decided to try raw again. I can definitely feel a change in how I feel. Didn’t have such a great day yesterday, maybe was 50-75%.Went to get my oil changed and across the driveway/street was Bojangles. I used to get an egg and cheese biscuit there but not very often. The car repair place didn’t have any fresh coffee (something I shouldn’t be having anyway) so I went to bojangles. Got a coffee and a “bo-berry biscuit”….ick! One of the worse things I’ve had in a long time. What was I thinking? Not only that but the guy said they were on sale 2 for 1 and gave me 2. I didn’t eat the second one. Tasted very artificial. I’m afraid I’m going to be noticing this more and more and I won’t even want to eat out at all. Might not be a bad thing.

The challenge I’m having is spending so much time in the kitchen. I’m having fun, I really enjoy it, but would like to do other things. And I don’t even have a family to take care of. I can’t imagine doing this with responsibilities. Also learnin’ what all the stuff is. I don’t know anything about seaweed or these powders that are listed in the recipes. I guess I’ll learn in time.

Bought a dehydrator last night. Excalibur 5 tray with timer. I looked at others but it was on sale and had free shipping, etc. and I know it’s popular with the raw foodists. So excited. Can’t wait til it arrives. Last night I dehydrated flax crackers in the oven. It turned out well but was probably over the temp limit and therefore might not be completely raw. I set it on warm, propped the door open and aimed a big fan into the oven. It worked well but heated the house up. Can’t do a whole lot of that since it’s inefficient.

So I have a few reasons for wanting to do the raw foods diet. I want better mental clarity. I want to be able to think more efficiently and get more done. I find that my thoughts are not very organized and keep me from doing things the most logical and efficient way. I want less anxiety about where I am in life, less anxiety in general. Also, I want better hair, skin, and nails. I want to have more energy. And a little weight loss would be nice, but last week I went to the doctor and I weighed 115 so I don’t need to lose much weight. A little would be nice. I don’t even have a scale here at home so I have to go by how my clothes fit I guess.

Looks like not many people are interested in raw foods. Not sure why no one is responding but I’ll just keep reporting.

Let’s see how today goes!

[JaneV2.0]

Why can't you just add more raw components to your regular diet? Is the intent to increase your enzyme intake? If the idea is an emulation of our pre-fire-building ancestors, you'd want to eat partially decomposed carrion as they did. (Not very appealing...)

If I were interested in sharpening my mental focus, I'd concentrate on keeping my insulin/blood sugar levels as stable as possible and make sure I was getting a full complement of essential nutrients (including fat and protein) from whole foods. Anxiety should respond positively to a steady intake of B-vitamins over time. Liver is an excellent source--you used to be able to buy desiccated liver, so you could probably dry it yourself.

[ButterflyBreath]

Hi Jane, thanks for your input. I have tried just being vegan or even a healthy lacto-ovo vegetarian, but I can never stick to it. The only thing that really seems to transform my eating habits and my cravings is the raw foods diet. And actually I am still eating my "regular" diet + raw foods until these foods disappears out of my fridge since I don't want to waste food. For instance for breakfast today I had 1/2 grapefruit, a banana peanut butter smoothie, but also a couple pieces of toast with neufchatel/cream cheese and jelly. It's because I need to get rid of the cream cheese. Once it's gone, it's gone!

My intent with this diet is to get ALL the benefits of the diet. Yes, enzymes and nutrients, more water, more fiber, etc.

Meat is totally out of the question at this point. I am 36 and have never eaten meat. Why start now? I have gotten plenty of protein on the lacto-ovo veg diet and unless I get a few doctors that all agree that I need to start eating meat I won't consider it. I have tried eating fish recently but just couldn't do it. I couldn't make myself do it. So I do take a omega 3 complex, in the past has been from flax but now I do fish oil. If the world runs out of vegetables I'll have to be really really hungry before I'd eat meat, but eventually it would appeal to me I suppose.

For the most part I have eaten whole foods for the past 10 years, so that wouldn't do a whole lot if I just do that. I already take B vitamins and have taken a B vit complex in the past but didn't notice a difference. I take a multi every day that has B vits so that should be enough if I don't get it from my diet.

I definitely think anyone who is doing this should know a good amount about nutrition and monitor their diet.

Thanks for your input ;)

[JaneV2.0]

I tried being vegan briefly, too. It was instructive. I share your disinterest in fish, though I eat it from time to time.

Good luck with your experiment and the issues with focus. I'm easily distracted, but I just figure it's one of my "features." :~)

[ButterflyBreath]

Not been going well this week. I got burnt out, was spending all my time outside of work in the kitchen. This is not a good food lifestyle for one person. It would help a lot to have someone to do this with. My roommate doesn't want to do it, but then he eats what I make because won't cook anything. Before he met me ALL he ate was frozen dinners and sandwiches.

Tried dehydrating a couple things but was such a hassle so have to wait til dehydrator gets here. Just don't think I can eat only individual things for a meal, like just raw veggies for supper. I need it to look and feel like a meal, which requires way more time than eating random raw stuff.

Giving up until dehyd gets here.