Vegetarian

Im eating about 50% raw now and tomorrow will be my first full day raw. If anyone else is interested in going raw then post here and we can morally support eachother. Also if "Rawist" want to post helpful things that would be great too.

i have been reading the book Skinny Bitch, and it scared me from eating any meat... so i've been a vegan for a little over 24 hours, and want to keep at it.

 i would be vegan, and u can be raw.  

(i did a raw fruit and veggie fast and it felt great, but i like steamed veggies too much to give it up)

I'm vegan and very interested in going raw. My yoga teacher was discussing it with me (she's approx 90% raw) and I would like to try it to improve my digestive health. Do you have any good recipes you'd like to share?

I've been raw for three months now. I eat very, very little cooked food- maybe 2%, which are whole grains and occasional legumes.

Have you purchased any books? I have read and recommend the following (I've put them in order of preference for recipes- the order for nutritional information would be different.. bottom up, actually):
Raw Food/Real World by Matthew Kenney, Sarma Melngailis
Rawvolution by Matt Amsden
Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko
The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose

My advice to you is, if you haven't done so already, read everything you can get your hands on. This is a huge step to take.

Most people ease into it over months or years. I did it literally overnight, and had some issues with my digestive system. This is not a recommended path, but I was determined, and suffered through a few weeks of discomfort.

May I ask your reason for going raw, as opposed to veg*n?

Good luck, and welcome to the club!!

Original Post by loeloelaura:

(i did a raw fruit and veggie fast and it felt great, but i like steamed veggies too much to give it up)

If you're eaten steamed veggies because you love them, all the power to you.  If you want to lessen the cooked veggies and add more raw, a great way to do this is through smoothies.  You can make smoothies with greens and herbs and they taste so good you wouldn't even know they're in there.

:) no good recipes yet, Im still a complete nooby when it comes to raw. I did check out the "raw" book at barnes and nobles the other day. Ive been scanning sites all night for some good recipes but since I dont have a dehydrator then I cant do any of the bread like items :( I really want the zucchini with flax seed dinner that I saw on one of the sites. Oh...I did enjoy spaghetti squash with marinara but the spaghetti squash was cooked...so itll be interesting to try it raw.

Vegans are more than welcome :), hell anyone that is trying to move away from our "SAD" diet

sad= Standard American Diet

The reason I am going raw is first and foremost I honestly dont feel that we are eating what humans were meant to eat. We think were so much more evolved than all the other animals on this planet...but our digestive system hasnt caught up to our "evolved" thinking. All of the diseases that we get can be traced back to our diet, and of those most of em are started in our colon...from digestion issues. I love cooked food dont get me wrong, but I have to start loving myself more. A great bit of advice I got when I was contemplating the switch was from one my friends who is veggie she said (after I brought up the idea of going have take out)

"the food that they serve us isnt real food. Its hormones and disease and animal flesh with dead flies or whatever other gross thing that can happen during the transfer of hands. That has been tested by the smartest food experts that get paid big bucks to get us addicted to their "food" but its not real food its just poison on a plate..."

It got me thinking...like you really dont know what happens...It wouldnt be that hard for a nasty thing to get ground up in processed foods

Also I want to set a good example for my daughter, since her grandparents stuff candy bars and southern food down her throat every chance they can get, just like they did to me. They have a ton of health problems and they wont listen when I say that it has to do with THEIR diet. You cant eat greasy eggs and bacon, then greasy churches chicken, then greasy meatloaf with mac and cheese and be healthy.

Im getting more religious and I never thought about the significance that gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins...Just cause we are the richest country we think we can eat all day every day whatever we want. I know that gluttony was on the top of my sin list...as I am moving away from its really empowering.

Vanity... :) got to be honest. My skin looks better, I have lost 80 or so pounds and I was paranoid of lose skin everywhere...besides my tummy which has more to do with my c-section everything is A-Ok. Not eating all those processed things I believe helps my body focus on what it needs to do rather than cleansing itself all the time from my lack luster "sad" diet.

Im about to go into the army, if everything goes well. It will be better for my health and energy and overall well being to be able to live off of natures food, especially when I go overseas.

Lastly, I just feel more alive when I eat raw. I dont expect to eat raw 100% all the time for the rest of my life, but if I can keep it in the 85% tile or better I know that I will be healthy...and thats all you have in your life...

I did the raw foods diet for  a 5 day trial as a detox. It was great. I lost 2 pounds right away... I knew it was mostly cleaning out the bowels from all the fiber and wasn't a permanent loss. But I felt great. I monitored my calories, protein, fat, etc closely so I got enough. Because I knew it was a trial period, it wasn't a big deal at all, and I have a standard American diet.  By the way, my body didn't react much from going to raw. Some people have quite the detox symptoms, but I didn't.

I tried it last year with similar results.

My inspiration this year was http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/12/raw- foods/  This site has a lot of good info on it.  Talk to your doctor and read some books. The library is a great source of free info.

My favorite surprising recipe was a banana spinach smoothie. I know, sounds weird. 1 banana, handful or 2 of spinach, and about 1 c water (start with less - you can always add more). My biggest challenge in the 5 day period was to eat enough sodium, so celery became very important.

I may go to 80% raw. I have a hard time 100% raw vegan because I see nutritional value in eating some meat and cooked beans, grains, and some veggies.

Best of luck!

replying to the post at 22:17 by ghanja, i was just reading Skinny Bitch and they devoted a whole chapter to write about how disgusting it is to eat meat, and that our bodies are not supposed to digest meat.  they argue that since carnivores secrete a digestive enzyme in their saliva while eating meat, and we do not, that we should not be eating the muscle of other animals.

chew on that!

:) I just made my first green smoothie and it tastes fantastic...I added a ton of things

1 half cup mangos

1 cup strawberries

1 half package of spinich

1 half package of greens

1 handful of blackberries

1 cup of simply apple

1 cup of water

a half banana

a scoop of metamucil...for the extra fiber

a half scoop of gnc whey protein

585 calorie

It tastes like strawberries that werent that sweet for the most part. I still have more than half of the blender left and its in the freezer. This will be my breakfast and lunch, then I have no idea whats for dinner...I know salad but I dont have any raw salad dressing so I may have to be 85% raw today. I live in a small town currently so no whole foods to get the right dressing, and vinegar as a dressing is soo gross to my palate that is suggested on the goneraw.com website.

Next time I go to the bookstore I will sit down and read some raw books, I scanned skinny bitch a few months ago :) but I didnt see the raw chapter so I will have to look again

Oh a great book is "why men love bitches" I use to be the nicest girl in the world and would get mistreated by guys all the time. After I read it, it changed my whole outlook. Now I am married to the sweetest guy in the world and Im a total "bitch" youll get the meaning of it in her book, anyhow he loves it. I highly highly suggest it!

Whey protein is 1. not vegan 2. not raw

same with the metamucil... I think when you become fully raw (even 50%) you get enough fiber. I average between 40-60g (especially when I eat avocados, and hemp protein) naturally! which is 2-3 x the daily recommended! haha.

:( sorry to be bad news betty!

P.s. I love goneraw.com, one day I will set up an account! I also watch youtube vids to get new ideas to cook. I think that (ideas for food to keep it interesting) and the need for a dehydrator is keeping me away from my 100% raw goals:p

Okay first I must say that I kept trying to post and this stupid ad for crackers kept sliding across. Jeez.

I'm going shopping tomorrow for all my fruits and veggies and I'm going to go raw! I'm actually very excited about trying something new.

Conbread- are rice wrappers considered raw? I wasn't sure but I'd love to make rice wraps.

Original Post by ghanja:

Next time I go to the bookstore I will sit down and read some raw books, I scanned skinny bitch a few months ago :) but I didnt see the raw chapter so I will have to look again

 

ghanja:

(I DONT KNOW HOW TO GET OUT OF THIS QUOTE!!!) but, there was no raw chapter, there was just a vegetarian chapter which scared me to death!  sorry for the confusion! -laura

I am not sure if rice wraps are raw but I will find out because I really like them! Seaweed is a good alternative though, and more nutrient dense:P

I'll find out though..

Good luck on ur raw journey! Are you transitioning into it or are you doing it cold turkey?

Well I went to books a million and spent an hour and read through skinny bitch :) great book...It really has me considering vegan. Since its day 2 and im cold all the time...and my cravings are through the roof... Ive been 50% raw for atleast a week and I havent exercised and I still dropped 3lb so thats motivation atleast. Lol I didnt even think about the whey or the metamucil being raw lol...So I am still averaging about 80% raw.

The interesting thing in skinny bitch is that your supposed to eat fruit only for breakfast which I was doing already but its good to hear why its so beneficial. It gives you far more energy and starts your healthy day. They say it also digests the fastest so your body is doing what it needs to do. I totally dont have the mulah for a dehydrator so 100% raw may not come for atleast a month.

Im doing good so far though. green smoothie for breakfast and lunch...now I just gotta fig out dinner. I bought some organic vegan chili so I think ill have that.

Oh I was going to do it cold turkey...but I think I bit off more than I can chew :) so I will always be 50% and then work up. The past 2 days its been about 80%

I am, and I've noticed others are doing the fruits for breakfast too. I've found it works for me.. I usually throw in some hemp in there to give me some protein.

Dehydrator- I've been using my oven as a trial for new recipes until I have enough money! *sign* I been putting in on between 150F and 0. I've made crackers and some potato "chips". I think once I get a dehydrator it will really help!

Check out youtube.. and goneraw.com they have good recipes!

What kinds of greens are you putting in there?

:) collard but they were kinda gross. It was the only ones on hand.

Have any green ideas...besides spinach since I already have that in the fridge

The taste of chlorophyll was weird at first, but it has become welcoming now that I am getting use to it. The weirdless came from not having enough fresh greens in my diet.

I've used kale, spinach, collards, amaranth, rapini and dandelion. I am lucky though, I get organic produce every week from my local farmer, so I get to try a bunch of different greens each week. A lot of the taste of green gets mixed in with the berries or whatever I put in the smoothie. 

Original Post by ghanja:

Since its day 2 and im cold all the time...and my cravings are through the roof...

For me, the cravings went away very quickly. They say, however, the amino acid L-Glutamine will help with sweet and starchy cravings. I didn't know about this when I threw the switch. :(

I will say I strayed today. It was my first "slip" since I started this. I was out and about with my daughter, and won't to a cafe for lunch. We split a salad (which the dressing was overly sweet from sugar, I'm certain) and a vegetarian sandwich. The sandwich came with feta cheese crumbles which I scraped off. The sandwich also had some peppers with a bit of a kick, she didn't like it. So I scraped the cheese and ate her half , too.

My belly is slightly achy (is that a real word, or just part of a horrible song?). It surely was not expecting bread or sugar. Well, ate least my slip did not include meat.

Original Post by ghanja:

:) collard but they were kinda gross. It was the only ones on hand.

Have any green ideas...besides spinach since I already have that in the fridge

Any greens, including herbs, are good choices.  According to the author of "Green for Life" you should rotate what you consume.  If you happen to love spinach, that's cool, but rotate another type of green and/or herb in there.

I am a little put off by the fiber in my green smoothies.  I've been running the more tough veggies through the Omega juicer, and adding that juice to my smoothies.  I get plenty of fiber, anyway.