OK, I am getting discouraged

[Chanda]

I think it has mostly to do with breakfast.

I have been juicing a bunch (both fruit and veggies)and that is great but I am still so hungry after juicing that I need to eat someting more. If I eat whole fruit I am still hungry after. If I make smoothies I am still hungry after.

I tried to make some banana bread and it didn't work. It went rotten in the dehydrator. I am also not sure if I am using the right wheat to sprout. I got the only wheat they had from sproutpeople.

I am sprouting some more wheat to try some blueberry bread so we will see how that turns out.

What should I eat for breakfast? I usually try to eat someting and then go work out. If I don't eat something substantial I don't have enough energy to make it through my work out.

What do you guys eat for breakfast?
Thanks

[Tombi]

Welcome Chanda,

Are you incorporating any fats or nuts in your plan? This may help with the hunger. Maybe adding some avocado or making a salad using olive oil in your dressing.

If you need support of course you are in the right place. Have you read Alissa's book yet? If you haven't please try to get a hold of a copy. That will definately give you confidence and all the tools you need to support your raw journey. Also Alissa has posted some helpful info here that is worth reading even if it isn't directly related to what you are going through right now.

And of course there are so many wise minds here to help you also.

[Chanda]

Oh sorry, I forgot to give some background.

I have been mostly raw (all raw at home but not 100% when I go out) for about 3 weeks or so.

I got Alissa's book and I have been making tons of things from it that are great. The only thing I have failed at was the banana bread.

The only thing I am really discouraged about is breakfast. I usually create something out of Alissa's book for lunch and then make a big salad for dinner. I am quite thin so I really try to incororate a lot of avacados and nuts and oils for lunch and dinner. It is just breakfast that I can't get the hang of.

I also did absolutely no cooking of any kind before going raw so the transition from doing nothing and then doing ALL the cooking has been a hard one. I was very low energy before raw and now I think I am a little better but I am so exhausted from chopping and slicing and blending and grinding. I feel like I am spending all day looking through the book and trying to find something to make or actually making food for me and my hubby. I don't even have enought time or energy to clean the house much less all of the other things I need to do each day.

I think if I could get a good breakfast I could have more energy thoughout the day.

[PATH301]

What's your definition of being full? Is it 1. - still kinda hungry, but if I wait 20 minutes It will fill out and I'll be fine? or 2. - I feel full but fine? 3. - I stuffed myself so much that I have to crawl to the couch and raise my feet above my heart so the blood when go to my stomach to help digest quicker? :rolleyes:

How many oz of a smoothie are you making for breakfast?
Usually I'll make 16 to 20 oz. The other day I made 32 oz breakfast smoothie and I couldn't finish it - had to drink it later for a snack.

[levamssg]

I make granola, and eat that with fruit and almond mylk for breakfast. It is fairly quick and is filling.


granola
soak 2 cups almonds, 1 cup pumplin seed, 1 cup sunflower seed (or whatever combination of nuts and seeds you prefer)
When nuts/seeds are ready, drain and chop until coarse in the food processor (whatever consistency you like)
finely chop 2 apples
combine chopped nuts and apples in large bowl. Add a couple tbls of cinammon and other spices you might like (I sometimes add allspice or cloves). Add a bit of celtic salt (a pinch or two). Mix and spread mixtures on dehydrator sheets - dehydrate until dry (about overnight). Store in a glass jar.

For breakfast I chop 2 firm bananas, one apple, a handful of grapes (add any fruits that you want)- add a handful or two of the granola. Sometimes I add some raisens as well. - add almond mylk --- enjoy.

[Eastersky]

I normally eat two bananas, an apple, and a handful of grapes for breakfast and that normally tides me over until lunch. My body had to get use to the adjustment though because I use to eat an english muffin, peanut butter with jelly, and a glassful of milk on my SAD diet. It takes a while for you body not to expect to work so hard digesting food in the morning, but once you get use to it, you feel so much better.

[Revvell]

Mostly I do a large green smoothie w/ a handful of almonds yet, if you want some truly tasty and easy to make ~ Alissa's crepes. IF you need something even more substantial, how's about some lasagne? of pizza? or whatever one would "normally" eat for lunch or dinner?

Revvell

[Chanda]

I certainly don't expect to be FULL all day or anything like that. I just need to be able to eat some breakfast and go do my workout without being so hungry that my stomach feels like it is being turned inside out and I get really weak.

When I eat or drink fruit I get full easily (full like my tummy is full but no discomfort) and then about 15 to 20 minutes later I am starving again.

I wonder if it is a sugar thing?

For the smoothies or juices I make enough to fill 2 pint size beer glasses that I keep in the freezer, one for me and one for my hubby.

Then I will try to eat a banana and/or apple and/or orange and/or anything else I have. I get full easily but then I get really hungry again in a short period of time.

This doesn't happen when I eat salads or avocados or nuts in the afternoons.

My friend just made me some granola that I tried this morning and it seems to help a little bit with the hunger returning so quickly. I will try to make your recipie tomorrow!

Thanks

[swingbolder]

Maybe adding some fat to your morning smoothies would help: nut milks, coconut butter, nuts or seeds.

[Drawn]

Maybe adding some fat to your morning smoothies would help: nut milks, coconut butter, nuts or seeds.
I completely agree. I often eat my green morning smoothie and then swallow or eat (depending on how hot my kitchen is) a tablespoon of coconut oil and that does the trick. I've tried to put the coconut oil in my smoothie and Im not always keen to it so I sometimes just eat or drink it after. If I don't have some fat in the morning, I feel really unsatisfied.

[Rawkinlocs]

When you make your smoothies, do you add any greens to them? Usually when I drink a green smoothie (about 16 oz.) I don't need to eat again for another couple of hours or so.

As it was mentioned, maybe even try adding some nut milk or sesame seeds, etc. to it. Alissa sells some good hemp seeds and I sometimes add that to our smoothies for added protein AND to add a little more "weight" to the smoothie.

As for banana bread, I don't know if you saw my thread or not, but I now use Alissa's burger bun recipe (use everything in the recipe EXCEPT for the garlic and herbs...but still use the carrots) and to that mixture, I add one or two really ripe bananas, about a tsp. or two of cinnamon and agave nectar to taste (I also add chopped walnuts). I spread it out about 1/4" thick on a sheet of unbleached parchment paper and dehydrate until it can be flipped (sorry, don't have exact time frame) and then flip over onto mesh tray and dehydrate until it's no longer wet in the middle but it's still pliable and soft. You can view a picture of it here: http://public.fotki.com/Rawkinlocs/live_food_pictures/random_food_pics/banananutbreadcollage.html

It's delicious! Just make sure you rinse your buckwheat well to get most of that goo off and I usually don't let mine sprout for more than a day...just enough to see a small tail.

You can also do grawnola and nut milk (which I love). I make my grawnola with soaked/sprouted/dehydrated buckwheat, chopped nuts, raisins all mixed up with agave, cinnamon and a little sea salt. Spread it out in a thin layer, dry until crunchy and break apart. http://public.fotki.com/Rawkinlocs/live_food_pictures/random_food_pics/cerealnmilk.html

But as Revvell stated, you can always eat "non-traditional" breakfast...make a raw pie the night before and refrigerate and have a slice or two of that! Eat a salad or whatever makes you feel satiated. Maybe first thing in the morning, have a glass of juice and then a half hour later, before your workout, have something heavier.

[enlightenedgold]

Ok, so we are huge breakfast fans in my house. When we were transitioning my whole fam had the same problem as you. I would make a smoothie and than less than 30 mins later we were all hungry again. Before we were raw we were lacto ovo-veggies for years so we all ate a big cooked breakfast of omletes and homefries and fresh juice every morning. So to hold everyone over until I could at least get the breakfast dishes done before they were all hungry again I would make us each at least a 20-24 oz. smoothie of frozen fruits (including bananas), a big blob of almond butter, raw honey, and here's the trick, hemp protein powder (Manitoba harvest is raw, make sure you read the label though as some aren't). I would use water to thin it out but sometimes I would even use nut milk. I also occasionally add some spirulina, too. This kept my hard working husband and metobolically gifted 3 year old full and happy for at least 4 hours. I also still managed to lose weight while drinking this lovely every morning for at least 5 mos. It is also really really creamy and delicious! Now, after about 6 mos. of rawing we are all happy and satiated on all fruit or green smoothies for about 3-4 hours. I think it just takes time for the digestion to get used to the more easily digested raw foods. Hope this helps.

[Raw Jewelrylady]

[QUOTE=Chanda

This doesn't happen when I eat salads or avocados or nuts in the afternoons.

My friend just made me some granola that I tried this morning and it seems to help a little bit with the hunger returning so quickly. I will try to make your recipie tomorrow!

Thanks[/QUOTE]


Chandra, I think you just answered your own question.I drink double sized green smoothies in the morning-but find I do better when I add some coconut oil to them. some days- I just want something different- esp if I'm doing a heavy workout.


You can eat whatever you want in the morning. Maybe try a nut pate' on some flax crackers/ granola, guac on flax, etc...eat "whatever" sounds good & then have the smoothie after you workout for a "pick-me-up.

Also-Alissa sells Raw oat groats...you soak them overnight..add some cinnamon, almond milk & sliced apples/agave ...voile...oatmeal...It's great a very filling. Check it out in her products section...upper left hand corner of this page..
Lana

[Rawkinlocs]

... Now, after about 6 mos. of rawing we are all happy and satiated on all fruit or green smoothies for about 3-4 hours. I think it just takes time for the digestion to get used to the more easily digested raw foods. Hope this helps.
Enlightenedgold, I think this is right on!

I know that if we were just coming off of eating our old standards of breakfast (pancakes and bacon, grits and eggs, etc.) then even the green smoothie I get satiated from now would NOT have done the trick! LOL! So I agree, do what you have to do now to stay satiated longer, but observe how overtime your system will change and what doesn't keep you full now, may keep you full later!

[Dimond]

I find that no matter what or how much I eat as my first meal, it doesn't do much. I will be starving & ready to eat again pretty quickly. So what I do is have something small and then about 30-60 min. later eat again and that usually works well.

[cattzeye]

In my early days of raw, and new to eating only fruit in the morning, I was ravenous all the time in the morning! I would eat tons of fruit for breakfast, only to feel weak, shaky, and terribly hungry just an hour or 2 later.

What I did was, I never limited the amount of fruit I ate: after eating my huge fruit breakfast, if I felt hungry several hours later, I would go ahead and eat some more fruit. Whatever I needed to fill me up and keep me going until lunch. When I look back on those days, I think "my goodness, I was eating such a huge quantity of food everyday"! Nowadays, after about 4 years of raw, I still eat a lot, but not nearly as much as I did then.

What I'm trying to get at, is that when we first start eating raw, our bodies aren't yet used to assimilating raw nutrients. Plus, after so many years of eating cooked food, our bodies are literally starving for nutrition. So I think the combination of getting used to raw vs. cooked, plus the fact that our bodies are so happy to be getting actual nutrients from our food that it greedily digests everything so quickly, makes us feel so much hungrier, and seemingly never satisfied.

I'm not sure if you mentioned how long you've been eating raw, but if it hasn't been long, I would suggest to you to just eat as much as you need, and don't worry about "eating too much". If you're hungry, you're hungry! I can assure you that over time, your food quantity will decrease some as your body becomes accustomed to eating raw.

Hope this helps,

Christine

[mbf]

I work out in the morning and was having the same problem early on. Think of your green juice as your pre-breakfast. I make this and drink before I even shower. My weekday breakfast in either a green smoothie or buckwheat shake. My green smoothie is an entire head of kale and 3 bananas, 2 cups of water and ice. That will usually hold me. Over the winter I had buckwheat shakes, I really needed more then just a smoothie. This is very filling.
Buckwheat shake :
1 cup of soaked/rinsed/sprouted buckwheat ( sprouted is best but soaked overnight will do in a pinch,buckwheat sprouts very quickly so don't let the sprouting part discourage you)
1 cup of water
1-2 bananas
1 tablespoon agave ( stevia or honey will do )
handfull of ice
blend and enjoy!

Keep a bag of mixed almond and raisins in the car for after your workout or even to nosh on the way to the gym if you get hungry. I soak and dehydrate my almonds,then mix with raisins and sprinkle some cinnamon in !

Raw granola is awesome, this is our weekend breakfast when I have a few extra minutes to make almond milk and slice up some bananas. So do give that a try. I use a recipe similar to the one levamessg posted.

Good luck !

Mara

Mara

[karenisraw]

Maybe you might want to try adding an avocado or some nuts to your breakfast.

Here is my breakfast: I specifically formulated it to help my concentration and learning problems for school using brain nutrients that I researched.

1 tablespoon cashew butter
1/2 teaspoon coconut butter
3-4 small raw crackers (raw wheat germ, ground flax, oat, barley, olive oil, sesame seeds)
2 tablespoons lecithin
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1 avocado
1 brazil nut (100% RDA selenium)

I have a picture of it but I can't seem to download it from my camera.

k

[gavinart]

Dates and bananas after my morning choco smoothie --- does the trick for me. I usually eat a nice (not mean) salad an hour before 'normal people' eat lunch. I keep fruit around the studio and once in a while eat some dehydrated nuts I've concocted.

[Chanda]

You guys have given me so many good suggestions of what to try eating in the morning. Thank you!

There is so much to learn. I still don't feel that I have been creative enough. I find myself looking through the book trying to figure out what I can fix based on the ingredients that I have on hand. It is hard and sometimes I get discouraged because I have most of the ingredients but not all of them. Then I want to give up.

I have been making mostly juices in the mornings that are both veggie and fruit but I have not made a green smoothie yet. I am a little afraid I might not like it. I should try one though.

I like the idea of the buckwheat shake and I do actually have buckwheat. I will start sprouting some tomorrow when my wheat is done sprouting.

I think with having the chronic fatigue I get so tired so easily that I am too tired to even think about what to fix. Especially because I am doing to for 2 people. I wish my hubby would take over a little bit. I am so tired.

[rawpriestess]

sounds like you've got some really great advice here.


I used to get up in the am, and eat nothing until late afternoon, then eat all night long, I can't do that on raw for some reason.

so, I was never much of a breakfast person, except at 4am, as I was coming home, not getting up LOL (I'm a night owl for sure)

but I do know that when I now eat breakfast two things help me stay felling full longer

one is something warm
and the other is something with fats in it,
which many have mentioned, this is how I do both in one whack

I make a nutmilk hot (actually warm) cocoa drink
I take almond milk, and some agave' or dates and a dash of cinnamon and a dash of cayenne and some carob or cacoa, whirl it up in the Vita Mix, and either put on the stove for just a second to warm, or I leave the Vita Mix on for a while to warm, but this takes too long, so sometimes I actually put it in the dehydrator to warm, anyway, this keeps me happy for hours.

[BerryGirl]

Just wanted to say that I was having the same problem as well, until last week when I started to make my smoothies with nut milk. That really seems to help. And I try to keep almonds with me at work so if I get hungry I usually just need two or three and that shuts my stomach up until lunch or dinner. Don't worry, you're not alone!

[Dandelion Girl]

Chanda,

You have gotten a lot of great advice about breakfast. When I first started I added hemp powder to my green smoothies. but now I don't need that so much. Then I started adding coconut oil, which really helps.

I just wanted to let you know that it will get easier to come up with what to eat. When I first started raw, I was having the same issues with spending so much time and energy looking through the book, trying to find things to fix that I had the ingredients for, and getting overwhelmed. It does get easier as this becomes more familiar to you.

Have you talked to your husband about needing his help? If he is willing to do raw with you, he may be open to helping you more too. Sometimes, men just need to have it explained to them that you would really like their help. Some men don't just notice this themselves, but will help once they understand what you need.

Also I have let many non-raw friends and my students try my green smoothies and they always are surprised at how good they taste. Everyone that has tried them has wanted to start drinking them because they taste really good. I told one of my student's mom that her son is always asking me if he can have some of my spinach stuff and she was really surprised he was asking for that. I think you will really be happy with them if you try them. You can start out with a smaller ratio of greens if you need to and experiment with which fruits to use. Spinach is a really mild tasting green to start out with. They fill me up a lot more than just juice or just fruit smoothies. My favorite fruit to put in is mangos.

It really will get easier after you have been eating this way for a while. The people on this board have really great suggestions and also encouragement when you are having a hard time.

Pam

[mbf]

Hi, glad you want to try the buckwheat ! But don't wait, put in a bowl to soak for 6-8 hours today, then this afternoon or evening rinse it well in a strainer and put it back in a bowl. You will probably see little tails in the morning and can make your shake ! I was really intimidated by sprouting when I first went raw, took me months to try it and now it's so easy !

Mara

[JenniferSeed]

I do either a green smoothie in a blender:
Kale
Apple
Bananna
Spirulina
Almond Milk if I have it or add a handful of almonds to make it more filling

Or a cereal:
Chopped fruit, seeds/nuts, raisins and almond milk.

Both are very filling but I do have to eat again about 2-3 hours later. I think that this is very normal and you shouldn't expect a raw breakfast to fill you up for 4-5 hours like a typical SAD one will.

now, my problem is dinner!

[faith4u]

It sounds like you might not be eating enough fruit. You have to remember that you need several hundred calories worth of it to equal the amount of calories you would have been eating non raw.

I now start my days with a green smoothie and several pieces of whole fruit.

When I first went raw I started with a buckwheat porridge. I needed something heartier and heavier to mimic the whole grain millet that I used to eat before going raw. I did that for several months and then all of a sudden my body didn't want that any more and fruit was enough to hold me.

Good luck

[Chanda]

Wow, you guys are so great!

One thing I have noticed is that you are suggesting a lot of almond milk. This is something I have not made before. I remember reading that you put almonds and water in a blender and then strain the chunks out. What do you do with the leftover almond? Can you use it for something else or leave it in?

I have really gotten the hang of sprouting which is really exciting (I love seeing that I have GROWN something). I already have some wheat sprouted so I will start the buckwheat today for a shake tomorrow!

I have coconut butter. Is that something I could add to green smoothies? I need some more green smoothie recipes. I have already written some down and I am going shopping this afternoon.

Thanks everyone!!!!!

[juliebove]

This morning I had some pumpkin seeds and a few strawberries for breakfast. Sometimes I have grapefruit. Sometimes I have nuts.

[shakti17]

hi chanda,

yes - that is how you make almond mylk. you can add sweetener too - such as agave, raw honey or dates. i used the raw food real world recipe the other day, which was great - 1 cup soaked almonds, 4 cups water, 1/4 cup honey or agave. blend the nuts and water, strain it twice, then add the sweetener to the liquid and blend again.
you can use the almond pulp to make cookies in your dehydrator - you can be creative - add sweeteners and whatever fruits and nuts you like. i have used apple/cinnamon, blueberry/strawberry,etc. you can freeze the pulp too if you don't want to use it right away.
you can also add fresh pulp to tabouli - food process parsley, tomato, onion, lemon, salt, olive oil.....

so, you have so many ideas! i totally relate to the needing a big breakfast thing. i do apple with almond butter - sometimes two. also, i do notice that when i have a green smoothie in the morning i am not hungry for a while, and so energized. yes, coco butter is fine in the smoothie.

have fun!

shakti

[Chanda]

Yesterday the granola seemed to help quite a bit. I did a huge workout and didn't even need to eat the pear I brought with me.

Today I did a fruit smoothie with a carrot in there and my blueberry bread turned out really good. It is kind of like a scone with whole fresh blueberries in it.

Tomorrow I am going to try the buckwheat shake. Then the green smoothie and then I will try adding some coconut butter and then same cereal and so on.

I think these things are really going to help me maintain enough energy to prepare lunch and dinner. I am not sure how much else I will be able to do through out the day but that is a start!

Thanks guys!!

[SparklePlenty]

Chanda, I eat a banana before working out and a nice big green smoothie after....by big I mean: an orange, a banana, a cup of strawberries, a cup of blueberries, and about 3-4 cups of greens, usually baby spinach, you could also add flax, pumpkin or sunflower seeds for some good fat.

HTH
Jan

[Random]

I'm so far failing at being raw. I get too hungry and then get headachy. So far, I have yet to make a full day of raw...I usually give in and have toast with peanut butter sometime after work. I'm going to try again tomorrow.

The only thing that IS working for me is breakfast! I'm a huge breakfast eater (used to eat a big bowl of oatmeal w/ nuts, fruit and dried fruit every morning), so I was a bit nervous about going raw for breakfast. I've found that making a fruit cereal keeps me happy and satisfied for much longer than oatmeal did! It's quick and easy and requires very little forethought (important for me, as I don't have any of the tools like a dehydrator or a sprouter).

Anyway, my cereal is chopped up fruit (1/2 a banana, a kiwi, a handful of strawberries and a handful of blueberries). Milk is just thick pureed fruit and nuts/seeds: the other 1/2 banana, handful of strawberries, handful of blueberries, 1 tbsp each of cashews, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and ground flax seed. I sometimes have a glass of green smoothie as well. This is a very high calorie breakfast...higher even than the oatmeal that I used to eat...but I feel much lighter and energetic than I did when I ate a cooked bf.

Even if I don't succeed in being 100% raw, I fully intend on keeping my breakfasts raw! The only downside is that it's really expensive. Fresh fruit is much more costly than bulk oatmeal!

[enlightenedgold]

Sounds like you are doing great to me!
;)

[Nenyath]

This is why I love this board! One comes with a problem, half a dozen of people comes with solutions and support and the person with the problem has no problem anymore and is now (hopefully) just a happy person! :p

Fly forever free and thank you for being so awesome!

[Boysenberry]

Okay, if we are talking about a pre-workout meal, I like a banana celery smoothie. At first it was weird but when I felt so much better during my workout, I kept doing it.

Take two bananas, add two sticks of celery to your blender, add 2 c. water. Blend until smooth. You might have to stop the blender and stir, and then blend again...

This does the trick for me, then I will have a green smoothie when I get back.

[SparklePlenty]

The following might be another piece of the puzzle.

Did you know that we have beta endorphin receptors in our stomachs? When we come off of a SAD diet, they (the receptors) may be screaming for the old foods that satisfied them. This might happen for a while, but will settlle down soon. So what you may think is hunger, may be those little receptors jumping up and down for the old stuff that used to satisfy them....

If you know this may be the case, then you can eat raw and reasonably, and wait out this sort of withdrawal process.

HTH
Jan