kaybee
08-16-2006, 03:33 PM
hey y’all, I hope you can help. I feel like raw is just not really working for me. that said, cooked food no longer makes me feel great either. so yeah, the raw food makes me feel better than the cooked, but doesn’t make me feel a whole lot better than I did when I was regularly eating a significant portion of cooked… so its like im “stuck” with the raw but im not really thriving on it the way most of you all seem to be…. that said, I might not have the absolute best circumstances to be raw—im living in a small coastal tourist town in ireland for the summer—and a lot of things are just too pricey to buy in large amounts or simply just not available. Also, though I have a great blender (thanks to Sport ) and a food processor and juicer, I have been trying to get by without a dehydrator, and I think maybe im just not getting enuff carbs….? but I also wonder if there is something vital nutritionally that is missing in my diet. I feel like I have been doing a pretty good job of at least TRYING to get what I need, despite the inavailablity of any significant quantities of things like nuts and the difficulty in getting greens other than lettuce and leaf beet (ie swiss chard?)
I wake up every morning really stiff and tired, even if I just take a nap I wake up stiff. ive tried switching from my mattress to a foam pad on the floor—no help. then the pad on top of the mattress—still no help. I hate going to sleep cuz I know im going to wake up stiff. and I feel inherently tired a lot of the time. this is not a matter of adaptation I don’t think cuz ive been here 9 weeks now. Also, im under significantly LESS stress here than I was in the dirty city of washington DC, the air is a lot healthier, and my job, while still physical (working at stables), is much less physically exhausting than the bike courier work I was doing in DC.
I have been raw on and off for long periods since beg of january, and played with it for short periods for about a year before that. I was mostly 100% for jan and feb, then on and off for march thru the beg of june. I have been almost 100% since the beg of june, with the exception of a few things u just cant get guaranteed raw here—dates, raisins, and regular organic tamari, and oil cured olives which I was told are not cooked but u never can be sure… I do end up “cheating” now and then, usually because im craving carbs, or the kids at the barn have cookies, chinese food with my boss once in 8 weeks… … if I feel like I have to get something cooked—and its usually something like bread that I want, I try to get rice cakes (ok, the dark choc dipped ones, I admit), or sprouted wheat bread because I figure these don’t have as much heated oils in them and are fairly “pure” ingredient wise, or oat cakes, since ive read that the nutrients in oats seem to be more resilient to heat. and occasionally, but rarely, I end up unable to avoid a glass of beer at the pubs… (maybe once every 2 weeks or so) But I would not typically be eating non-raw stuff on a daily basis, except for small amounts of soy sauce, and raisins. I am finally breaking down and ordering a dehydrator because I feel like im craving carbs all the time and maybe my body just needs more of those denser foods? All this doesn’t really make sense to me because it seems like im eating a pretty pure diet right now—purer than I ever have, and even without dehydrated stuff. which makes me wonder if its some sort of nutritional deficiency…. can any of you guys comment? I just do not seem—and in general have not seemed any time I have been raw—to be experienceing the same sort of benefits you all seem to be experiencing: way increased energy, clearer skin tone, etc etc etc. I don’t think this is still detox because even before this I was vegetarian for years and mostly vegan for a long time and ate pretty decent and a lot of whole foods.
sorry for the long email but lemme give u a little detail on my current diet.
yes, my diet here is definitely more limited than in the States. ESPECIALLY in terms of greens. I never thought the thing I would crave most is kale! also, a ton of alyssaÂ’s recipes depend on nuts, which its too expensive to get more than about a half pound of almonds a week, and the walnuts are awful here. also, avocados youÂ’ve got to drive an hour to get them so I donÂ’t always have them
BUT: we do have a mostly organic garden so a lot of the veggies I am eating and all the greens are super-fresh. cant generally afford organic fruit here though; food prices are astronomical in ireland!
heres whats available and affordable though; not a ton of variety
fruit: apples, bananas, peaches, oranges, mangos, org redcurrants, sometimes cherries, sometimes apricots, sometimes plums, occasional papaya, sometimes avocados, lemons, limes, olives, occasional medjool dates but SUPER expensive
seeds: sesame, sunflower, pumpkin
nuts: outrageously expensive
grains: most available but w/out dehydrator not all that usefulÂ…
veggies: from garden: cucumber, lettuce, beet greens, leaf beet, some spinach, small amounts of kale, collards, parsley, basil, green beans, arugula, beets; from hfs: (org) mushrooms, carrots, butternut squash, scallions, cabbage, celery, sometimes sprouts, garlic, ginger, onions, potatoes,
you can also also get non org peppers, tomatoes, etc, but id rather not have the pesticides and the org ones are outrageously priced., and u can get org leeks, eggplant and zucchini but im not that fond of these.
other: raw honey, raw nori, dulse, wakame, other sea veg. org but not raw soy sauce, dried currants, dried dates, dried coconut (all probably not low temp dried), vanilla beans, herbs and spices. cold pressed olive oil, cold pressed sesame oil, cold pressed sunflower oil.
WILDCRAFTED STUFF: theres tons of stinging nettles here; I heard u can juice them; anyone know how? also wish I knew what else I could eat wildcraftedÂ…
there are a few other things available, but I havent bothered listing them because either they would tend to be out of price range (ie flax oil, etc) or not that fresh (ie broccoli and cauliflower, strawberries) so I wouldnÂ’t use them that often.
heres a couple sample days:
1 day last week: 2 bananas, ¾ cup sesame seeds, ¾ cup raisins, 1 cup bok choy, 2 mandarins, 3 cucumbers, basil, 1 cup spinach, 2 tbsp cold pressed sesame oil, ½ cup mixed seed butter (raw but not live), 1 sheeet nori, ½ cup honey, garlic, ginger, handful of garden peas, salad with I cup arugula, 3 cups lettuce, ½ cup beet greens, sesame oil, garlic
another day: 2 apples, 4 clementines, 1 fresh apricot, ¼ cup raw seed butter, ½ cup honey, salad: ¾ cup dulse and mix sea veg, ½ cup broccili, ½ cup cucumber, ½ cup sesame seeds, 2 cups soaked sunflower seeds, 3 plums, 1 small banana, handful brazil nuts, salad: head of lettuce, handful beet greens, ½ cucumber, 1 tbsp sea veg, 1 scallion, sesame oil,; ¼ cup sesame seeds, 1.4 cup raisins, 1/8 cup dried coconut, 2tbsp honey
friday: lettuce, beet greens, mushrooms, buch of olives, 4? bananas, 4 clementines, 2 tbsp seed butter, cookie, honey, some fresh dates
yesterday: 3 bananas, 1 grapefruit, 3 fresh dates, tiny slice papaya; lunch: 1 cup kale with garlic honey olie oil. 2 cups spinach with sesame seeds and sesame oil. avocado with soy sauce, ¾ cup sesame seeds, ¼ cup raisins, ¼ cup dried coconut, 1/4 cup honey; 4 pm: 1 banana, ½ loaf (about ½ lb cooked sprouted wheat bread: ingred just sprouted wheat and ginger, with banana, honey and oil. 7pm: the rest of the loaf, 9 pm: 9 olives, 2 clementines, avocado and 2 sheets nori with dash soy sauce. couple more dates.
today (bad raw food dayÂ…): 2 bananas, 2 dates, mango, fresh redcurrants, honey, few raisins, some cacao (tryna wake self up) and dates, 1 cup dulse, sea veg, broccoli cucumber salad with sesame soy scallion parsely dressing. 6 (yeah, 6 Â….(dark chocolate coated rice cakesÂ….), a few almonds
other stuff I eat: banana cream pie with sesame seeds raisin coconut crust , banana, honey avocado filling, marinated mushrooms, sunflower seed pate, occasional carrot celery parsley and or beet juice, apples and crushed almonds, peaches, almonds, and honey, soaked almonds, broccili soup, cauliflower mash potatoes, pine nuts, sprouted buckwheat (sick of it) smoothies (but donÂ’t like em, feel bloatedÂ…), spinach dip, almost always have at least 1 pretty big ?like 4-6 cups, salad every day with whatever greens I can get. also fair amts of sea veg 1-2 x per week. know im eating too much sesame seeds but craving some kind of carbsÂ…and theyre not soaked so probably not digestible anywayÂ…..and too many bananas tooÂ….
I feel like im eating good stuff, but im not actually feeling well-nourished physically, and also a lot of times emotionally, cuz things I like like almond butter, nuts and dates are such a rarity. cooked food seems more attractive and with more variety cuz feel like diet is kind of limited.
also, I feel like im eating and preparing food ALL the time, which is annoying
any help greatly appreciated J
I wake up every morning really stiff and tired, even if I just take a nap I wake up stiff. ive tried switching from my mattress to a foam pad on the floor—no help. then the pad on top of the mattress—still no help. I hate going to sleep cuz I know im going to wake up stiff. and I feel inherently tired a lot of the time. this is not a matter of adaptation I don’t think cuz ive been here 9 weeks now. Also, im under significantly LESS stress here than I was in the dirty city of washington DC, the air is a lot healthier, and my job, while still physical (working at stables), is much less physically exhausting than the bike courier work I was doing in DC.
I have been raw on and off for long periods since beg of january, and played with it for short periods for about a year before that. I was mostly 100% for jan and feb, then on and off for march thru the beg of june. I have been almost 100% since the beg of june, with the exception of a few things u just cant get guaranteed raw here—dates, raisins, and regular organic tamari, and oil cured olives which I was told are not cooked but u never can be sure… I do end up “cheating” now and then, usually because im craving carbs, or the kids at the barn have cookies, chinese food with my boss once in 8 weeks… … if I feel like I have to get something cooked—and its usually something like bread that I want, I try to get rice cakes (ok, the dark choc dipped ones, I admit), or sprouted wheat bread because I figure these don’t have as much heated oils in them and are fairly “pure” ingredient wise, or oat cakes, since ive read that the nutrients in oats seem to be more resilient to heat. and occasionally, but rarely, I end up unable to avoid a glass of beer at the pubs… (maybe once every 2 weeks or so) But I would not typically be eating non-raw stuff on a daily basis, except for small amounts of soy sauce, and raisins. I am finally breaking down and ordering a dehydrator because I feel like im craving carbs all the time and maybe my body just needs more of those denser foods? All this doesn’t really make sense to me because it seems like im eating a pretty pure diet right now—purer than I ever have, and even without dehydrated stuff. which makes me wonder if its some sort of nutritional deficiency…. can any of you guys comment? I just do not seem—and in general have not seemed any time I have been raw—to be experienceing the same sort of benefits you all seem to be experiencing: way increased energy, clearer skin tone, etc etc etc. I don’t think this is still detox because even before this I was vegetarian for years and mostly vegan for a long time and ate pretty decent and a lot of whole foods.
sorry for the long email but lemme give u a little detail on my current diet.
yes, my diet here is definitely more limited than in the States. ESPECIALLY in terms of greens. I never thought the thing I would crave most is kale! also, a ton of alyssaÂ’s recipes depend on nuts, which its too expensive to get more than about a half pound of almonds a week, and the walnuts are awful here. also, avocados youÂ’ve got to drive an hour to get them so I donÂ’t always have them
BUT: we do have a mostly organic garden so a lot of the veggies I am eating and all the greens are super-fresh. cant generally afford organic fruit here though; food prices are astronomical in ireland!
heres whats available and affordable though; not a ton of variety
fruit: apples, bananas, peaches, oranges, mangos, org redcurrants, sometimes cherries, sometimes apricots, sometimes plums, occasional papaya, sometimes avocados, lemons, limes, olives, occasional medjool dates but SUPER expensive
seeds: sesame, sunflower, pumpkin
nuts: outrageously expensive
grains: most available but w/out dehydrator not all that usefulÂ…
veggies: from garden: cucumber, lettuce, beet greens, leaf beet, some spinach, small amounts of kale, collards, parsley, basil, green beans, arugula, beets; from hfs: (org) mushrooms, carrots, butternut squash, scallions, cabbage, celery, sometimes sprouts, garlic, ginger, onions, potatoes,
you can also also get non org peppers, tomatoes, etc, but id rather not have the pesticides and the org ones are outrageously priced., and u can get org leeks, eggplant and zucchini but im not that fond of these.
other: raw honey, raw nori, dulse, wakame, other sea veg. org but not raw soy sauce, dried currants, dried dates, dried coconut (all probably not low temp dried), vanilla beans, herbs and spices. cold pressed olive oil, cold pressed sesame oil, cold pressed sunflower oil.
WILDCRAFTED STUFF: theres tons of stinging nettles here; I heard u can juice them; anyone know how? also wish I knew what else I could eat wildcraftedÂ…
there are a few other things available, but I havent bothered listing them because either they would tend to be out of price range (ie flax oil, etc) or not that fresh (ie broccoli and cauliflower, strawberries) so I wouldnÂ’t use them that often.
heres a couple sample days:
1 day last week: 2 bananas, ¾ cup sesame seeds, ¾ cup raisins, 1 cup bok choy, 2 mandarins, 3 cucumbers, basil, 1 cup spinach, 2 tbsp cold pressed sesame oil, ½ cup mixed seed butter (raw but not live), 1 sheeet nori, ½ cup honey, garlic, ginger, handful of garden peas, salad with I cup arugula, 3 cups lettuce, ½ cup beet greens, sesame oil, garlic
another day: 2 apples, 4 clementines, 1 fresh apricot, ¼ cup raw seed butter, ½ cup honey, salad: ¾ cup dulse and mix sea veg, ½ cup broccili, ½ cup cucumber, ½ cup sesame seeds, 2 cups soaked sunflower seeds, 3 plums, 1 small banana, handful brazil nuts, salad: head of lettuce, handful beet greens, ½ cucumber, 1 tbsp sea veg, 1 scallion, sesame oil,; ¼ cup sesame seeds, 1.4 cup raisins, 1/8 cup dried coconut, 2tbsp honey
friday: lettuce, beet greens, mushrooms, buch of olives, 4? bananas, 4 clementines, 2 tbsp seed butter, cookie, honey, some fresh dates
yesterday: 3 bananas, 1 grapefruit, 3 fresh dates, tiny slice papaya; lunch: 1 cup kale with garlic honey olie oil. 2 cups spinach with sesame seeds and sesame oil. avocado with soy sauce, ¾ cup sesame seeds, ¼ cup raisins, ¼ cup dried coconut, 1/4 cup honey; 4 pm: 1 banana, ½ loaf (about ½ lb cooked sprouted wheat bread: ingred just sprouted wheat and ginger, with banana, honey and oil. 7pm: the rest of the loaf, 9 pm: 9 olives, 2 clementines, avocado and 2 sheets nori with dash soy sauce. couple more dates.
today (bad raw food dayÂ…): 2 bananas, 2 dates, mango, fresh redcurrants, honey, few raisins, some cacao (tryna wake self up) and dates, 1 cup dulse, sea veg, broccoli cucumber salad with sesame soy scallion parsely dressing. 6 (yeah, 6 Â….(dark chocolate coated rice cakesÂ….), a few almonds
other stuff I eat: banana cream pie with sesame seeds raisin coconut crust , banana, honey avocado filling, marinated mushrooms, sunflower seed pate, occasional carrot celery parsley and or beet juice, apples and crushed almonds, peaches, almonds, and honey, soaked almonds, broccili soup, cauliflower mash potatoes, pine nuts, sprouted buckwheat (sick of it) smoothies (but donÂ’t like em, feel bloatedÂ…), spinach dip, almost always have at least 1 pretty big ?like 4-6 cups, salad every day with whatever greens I can get. also fair amts of sea veg 1-2 x per week. know im eating too much sesame seeds but craving some kind of carbsÂ…and theyre not soaked so probably not digestible anywayÂ…..and too many bananas tooÂ….
I feel like im eating good stuff, but im not actually feeling well-nourished physically, and also a lot of times emotionally, cuz things I like like almond butter, nuts and dates are such a rarity. cooked food seems more attractive and with more variety cuz feel like diet is kind of limited.
also, I feel like im eating and preparing food ALL the time, which is annoying
any help greatly appreciated J