eating anything as longs as its raw

[marigold]

i know this subject was talked about on a recent thread..i cant find it..anyway i am sure alissa said eat anything as long as its raw for forever..? am i right ? i have heard this said in the beginning and then i have read you have to tweak it all.. you know more green, less fruit ,watch the fat,,etc etc - which i must admit i really get sucked into - so this sounds good news..and yet - what if i ate fruit and cakes all the time ? for example.surely i would in 20 years be deficiant..? i am stugggling to understand this idea..so if anyone could enlighten me that would be wonderful
love marigold

[eatyourbroccoli]

i know this subject was talked about on a recent thread..i cant find it..anyway i am sure alissa said eat anything as long as its raw for forever..? am i right ? i have heard this said in the beginning and then i have read you have to tweak it all.. you know more green, less fruit ,watch the fat,,etc etc - which i must admit i really get sucked into - so this sounds good news..and yet - what if i ate fruit and cakes all the time ? for example.surely i would in 20 years be deficiant..? i am stugggling to understand this idea..so if anyone could enlighten me that would be wonderful
love marigold

yep! eat anything you desire as long as it's raw!

see, the wonderful thing about the raw lifestyle is that nothing you eat is going to be unhealthy for you nutrient wise. of course eating too much of anything is not going to be great for your digestive system (gorging on 10 lbs of dates in one sitting perhaps :p (...is that even possible? :confused: )) but i'll stay away from that topic.

you can tweak it if that is what works personally for you. many people have issues with certain food combinations -- fats and sweet fruits, for example -- or some choose to watch their nut intake because nuts are typically more difficult to digest..etc. there is no obligation to tweak anything, though, so long as you're happy eating how you are!

so far as living off of fruit and cake (i'm assuming you mean raw cake :) ), many people on this board eat fruit as their majority. i personally eat roughly 90% fruit, 9 % veggies, 1% nuts. that's what works FOR ME. there are a couple different ways to address this concern: first of all, living off of fruit provides almost all (if not all, someone correct me if i'm wrong) of the nutrients you need..so deficiency is not something you will need to worry about. but, if it is a bridge you end up crossing, there are an abundance of healthy supplements that can be taken. i know vitamin b12 and magnesium have been discussed on here lately if you wanted to toss a search into the banana up top and read over some of the opinions on here. second, the raw cake you would be making would be made out of fabulous raw fruits (and maybe veggies, depending on the recipe), so it would provide you with the same nutrients as living off fruits, etc. so the same principle would apply for this.

one thing you may not have encountered yet is that our bodies will let us know when we've had enough of something (i REALLY hope that didn't come off as condescending! :) it wasn't meant like that). you can live on fruit forever if YOUR BODY wants to. but more than likely every now and then youll get some craving for spinach or celery or ::insert veggie/nut/seed here:: as your body's way of letting you know it's time to shake things up a bit. a few people have posted on here how they go through "food phases"...fruit fruit fruit fruit for a couple weeks, then nothing but veggies for the next. it all balances out..just try to listen to your body :)

hope that helps somewhat. there are a lot of more-seasoned rawies on here that im sure will be able to enlighten you more :)

peace :cool:

[eatyourbroccoli]

one thing you may not have encountered yet is that our bodies will let us know when we've had enough of something (i REALLY hope that didn't come off as condescending! :) it wasn't meant like that).

oops! just noticed you're a "root" :o

i apologize if my addressing you as one unfamiliar or new to this lifestyle offended you. my mistake!! :)

[Shivananda]

i know this subject was talked about on a recent thread..i cant find it.. I have a side comment, since your complaint comes up almost daily in someone's post, it's really easy to find previous threads here.

Here's how I found it...
I clicked on the BANANA key, then typed in: as long as it's raw
then hit the GO button
then scrolled down the list of possible results until I found this one, that you were apparently referring to:
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5106&highlight=long

Total elapsed time, maybe 30 seconds.

For a thread on dehydrators just type in dehydrator, etc.

[GlimR]

Hi~
I know for me when I started raw I made a bunch of sweet things and ate a lot of nut butter, etc...I think what I really lacked in the beginning was faith and trust in my own body and mind. The idea of eating anything I wanted related too much to a lifestyle of excess junk food that I had eaten before.........what I "wanted" at that point was garbage. Eating all raw changed so many things. It changes you chemically and emotionally. When you cut out all the chemical, processed crap that some people claim is "food" you really can hear your own body so much more clearly. You might want all fruit and raw cake for awhile but I cvan almost guarnatee you that will not last. There is so much variety in raw foods and your body will call out for what it needs. It really is about listening to what your body wants......not what our previously addicted minds think we want. When you look at it like that it changes the perspective of the statment entirely.
When you folow this path if greens are looking suddenly good it's because your body wants them and whatever nutritional value they hold, same for all raw foods. You really can trust yourself when you break away from the addiction of cooked foods. Wishing you every bright blessing on your journey~

[Shivananda]

and yet - what if i ate fruit and cakes all the time ? for example.surely i would in 20 years be deficiant..? I do see the essential truth in learning to trust the body's wisdom about what it needs, yes, and yet I have much first hand evidence that even the very wise sometimes do very foolish things.

So while the phrase "anything as long as it's raw" is freeing and helps me personally to open up and explore the various possibilities of eating ARAT, I wouldn't personally trust that principle alone to keep me healthy and balanced for long. There are just way, way too many factors and stresses impinging on my modern city life for me to forego an annual physical exam and a full nutritional panel blood workup as a way to find out what is really going on. As one tiny example, I have two different friends on separate coasts who thought their B12 needs were being met, but who were both mistaken, and one has suffered permanent nerve damage as a result. My own tests have pointed out a chronic magnesium deficit. Perhaps my body doesn't metabolize it as well as most people, perhaps I don't eat quite the right things, but what I do know is that currently I need extra help to keep that nutrient in the healthy range in my body, either with dietary choices or with nutritional supplements.

My taste and intuition alone, at least at this point in my own evolution, will not do that for me.

[Tombi]

Marigold,

Yes you can look up simular situations like your on this site. Make sure you look at the stories that have worked and the stories that have not worked. There are a few common threads of difference between the two. One very important one is attitude and another is the ability to completely and totally surrender to Raw.

One you embrace your Journey you will embrace all the experiences that come from eating raw which will allow you to learn about yourself and your body.

Keep reading and enjoy your journey!! :) Have fun!

[Revvell]

If you've not gotten Alissa's book where she explains this, I suggest you do so. IF one "tries" to do it the "old" way ~ counting calories, protein, carbs, etc. and breaking everything down, one tends to feel hungry then will stop the program. IF one eats a lot of "gourmet" foods, meaning stuff made w/ lots of nuts for the most part, most who've been on this program for a few weeks tend to find themselves naturally backing off of the heavier stuff in favor of lighter, easier-to-prapare (such as salads, smoothies, veggie wraps, etc.) foods while not being as hungry as they would otherwise.

Revvell

[sweetgoddess]

The point of Alissa telling people to eat anything they want as long as it is raw is simple. When you first go 100% raw it is a big change, physically, emotionally and mentally. Knowing you can have whatever you want eases the transition of change. It does not set you up for deprivation syndrome as well.

Then, while you are eating anything you want as long as it is raw, your body is adjusting to a whole new level of fuel, repairing and cleansing, rebuilding and reforming. That is when your body will begin telling you what it needs! After its period of adjustment and deep cleansing!!

The point of eating anything you want as long as it is raw is to get you to that place!! It creates a natural progression!!

You will find that most ( not all of course, never all) people who try to force this natural progression to happen right from the start struggle a lot with raw. The people who understand this and allow it to take its natural course are mainly the ones you see still thriving and raw years later.

It is odd, isn't it, how we don't worry about eating anything we want when we are cooked, but tell someone to eat anything they want as long as it is pure, natural, life-filled food provided by the very Creator that designed us - and people get up in arms about it! I have never figured that out!

I hope that helps explain it!
Warmly~
Carmel

[marigold]

eat ya brocc...no you didnt offend me you were lovely!! and shiv thanks for usful info on searching...and for all of who took time out to write in thankyou..i think i understand..sounds like its an unfolding process..of eating raw..then trusting the body..

maybe it was a funny question for someone who ate all raw for 2 or more years! -

love marigold

[Rawkinlocs]

i know this subject was talked about on a recent thread..i cant find it..anyway i am sure alissa said eat anything as long as its raw for forever..? am i right ? i have heard this said in the beginning and then i have read you have to tweak it all.. you know more green, less fruit ,watch the fat,,etc etc - which i must admit i really get sucked into - so this sounds good news..and yet - what if i ate fruit and cakes all the time ? for example.surely i would in 20 years be deficiant..? i am stugggling to understand this idea..so if anyone could enlighten me that would be wonderful
love marigold

Wow...marigold, long time no see!

Okay just for clarification's sake, here are a couple of quotes from Alissa that came from the thread that Shivananda posted for you:


First, I never say that you can eat whatever you want as long as its raw, forever! I say in the book that the first month or two eat whatever you want. I wont go into all of why here as its in my book but basically so your body can get used to this radically (for most people) different diet, so you can learn how to make things and how easy it is and so when you start to eat simply you can walk into the kitchen after a couple of weeks of eating only fruits and veggies and say ‘hey im starving but I know how to whip up a date nut tort within 5 minutes” instead of saying, jeez this diet is boring and there is nothing to make so im headed out for pizza because I never taught myself how to do it....
In my book I say how at first to eat anything and get used to this way of eating. Most people will find that even when doing that they will lose weight but you may have to adjust that as you go along especially if you don’t have much to lose. You can still eat the desserts, meals and snacks but obviously eating almond with your morning smoothie, nuts in a big raw meal at lunch, nuts again for a snack, a salad with a nut base dressing and a dessert at night is too much. But people go to the extreme and cut out all nuts. There is a balance and everyone is different. http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5106&highlight=long