How to do raw in winter?

[Azianbee]

Hi,

I live in New York City and the winter here can be quite brutal, i am very thin already and therefore more susceptible to the cold, at times it is quite unbearable for me. I would like to stay as raw as possible, so how does one manage? Thanks. :)

Tina

[Imagine]

if you want things warmer try putting them in the dehydrator for a while before you eat?

also try some of the heavier, nut based recipes.

[lissomllama]

Eat lots of nuts and thick/dense, heavy greens like cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli. Eat squash, and onions and garlic and peppers; things that will fill you up more and make you warmer and let them get back to room temperature after removing from the fridge so you aren't eating chilled food.

[juliebove]

I remember NYC winters! I didn't so much want hot food then but fresh food! I lived on Staten Island and at times it was very tough to find good fresh produce during the winter. At least we had good plows where I lived, so I never got snowed in for more than a day. But even if I could get out, I couldn't always find fresh food. If I were you, I'd do a lot of sprouts in the winter.

[sport]

How long have you been raw.
I suffered from the cold for a while after I first went raw but it was a stage that passed and then I went back to normal.
I know that it will still be very cold in NY but you feel it more than normaly for a while.

[Azianbee]

thanks for the advice guys! I've been raw for about 3 months, I am also losing weight, I am 5'3 and 99 pounds. I am too thin right now. I must have lost about 7 pounds since I've gone raw. I thought by now I would gain it back but still not yet. I was hoping to gain it back before winter hits b/c the extra pounds can really help keep me warm.

I will definitely try to eat more nut based food, also I heard that I can also heat it up on the stove for a few minutes.

[Azianbee]

Also, I'd like to mention that I have been eating more cooked food lately b/c for the first time, I'm a liitle scared, when I went to get a physical the other day, the doctor told me that my weight is hitting dangerously low and I might be at risk. So, I guess I'm a little scared and then New York has been rainy and windy all week and I was cold. So that's why I started to eat more cooked food, but it is very disagreeable with my stomach, b/c right after I eat it my stomach aches and it feels uncomfortable so....sigh

Tina

[sport]

I guess I'm a little scared and then New York has been rainy and windy all week and I was cold. So that's why I started to eat more cooked food, but it is very disagreeable with my stomach, b/c right after I eat it my stomach aches and it feels uncomfortable so....sigh

Tina
If for some reason you have to eat cooked then I suggest that Millet Porridge is the least harmfull thing to go for.

[konmai]

Hey AsianBee! I'm south of you & wore a sweater during the summer & am tempted to wear a coat during the fall. :o So you must definitely be more colder than I am being more up North. Poor girl. :(

Let me know what you end up doing! I'd be interested in knowing. :D

[Spectatrix]

Try dishes with more nuts, seeds, and avocados (not altogether in the same dish... lol). They're fatty and calorie-dense, so they should give you a lot of energy and help you gain weight. Ginger is also good for the warming sensation it gives your body.

[Denise Nicole]

if you want things warmer try putting them in the dehydrator for a while before you eat?


This is what I plan to do as well. I don't have a dehydrator, but I plan to warm my food, herbal teas, soups, sauces, etc. in my oven or on the stove top for my first winter raw. I purchased a thermometer to gauge the temps of the foods and I'm sure I can warm them up to my liking. :)

[rawprincess]

Greetings this is my first time contributing to this forum and I feel compeled to do because your inquiry is very important. It impacts me alot but used to be a much bigger problem for me.
I find that using a seasonal cleanse and beet juice for liver cleansing and fresh juiced orange juice( ensure u juice the entire orange once the rind /peel is removed. Keep the majority of the white under the peel this is potent) to up your V-C is great. Juiced grapes are also a very good cleanser for the system.
In terms of foods I realize my body calls for heavy and rich foods during the winter season so ensure that you get adequate and filling meals. I use wild rice (soaked with a mesh bag of fennel to cut the gas), dried banana reconsituted and even nuts to add extra to my meals.
I would suggest a power shake in the morning of barley and spirulina, a whole coconut, bee pollen, lecithin, dates, almonds, kelp powder and dulse with a 2 table spoons of prepared irsh moss also called sea moss.
Plenty cream soups are delicious and keep you throughout the day.
Calalloo soup is great; a blend of almond cream, coconut jelly, kale, spinach and any green srouts u find.

hope u found my suggestions applicable

HETEP

[rawprincess]

O I left this out .......a Vita Mix blender will warm your food well and not over heat it , this is what i use to prepare my soups and my wnter shakes for a warm vibe , and I defnitely suggest Ginger and apples juiced it is delicious and warms you from eyelids to toenails ;)
Oh I live in NYC as well and we have a smashin live food vibes on a monthly basis organized by GREEN VILLAGE even during the chilly seasons so feel free to attend our very next event the food has a delicious and spicy caribbean KICK oh so yummy.

[misslinda]

During winter months, you can include warming spices like cardamom,ginger,cayenne that can give you some warmth. Also keep your food room temp if at all possible.........warming foods is doable too.

;)

[stiletto]

I don't think you're dangerously low. I'm the same specs as you and I feel great. I work out and am very strong. Do you feel strong?

I know what you mean about being cold in the winter. I fear that I won't be able to stay raw as well. Last year I failed and I really don't want to do it this year too. Take it meal by meal and if you do go off, just get back on.

Peace,
Stiletto

[Lay-Lay]

Azianbee I have nothing really to add to the wonderful comments above but to say: Much raw love!

[rawnora]

Tina,
Listen to your stomach, it knows more than the doctors. You are not too thin at 5'3" and 99 pounds. I'm only 10 pounds heavier and I'm almost 5'8". Please ask these genius doctors what happens to people when they get "dangerously" thin? Do they blow away in the wind? What exactly is the danger? Here's the problem. The only people doctors see in their SAD-eating world who are as thin as humans are supposed to be are those who are afflicted with eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. They therefore see being thin as a sign that these conditions are present. This is as entirely illogical and flawed as many other assumptions and theories the medical profession promotes. Ask yourself: Do you hate food or are you so fearful of gaining weight that you make up excuses not to eat? Do you make yourself throw up after you eat? If you can answer "no" to both of these questions, there is no "danger". The real danger is in listening to the nutritional advice of doctors.

Weight loss and gain has more to do with body toxicity than intake:expenditure, contrary to popular theory. If you lose more, rejoice. It is your body discarding second-rate tissues that were constructed from the junk you used to eat. If you feel cold, wear more clothes or turn up the heat. Fat insulates; when we're thinner we feel the cold more. It doesn't mean being thin isn't normal or natural to humans or just about every other creature for that matter. Take the fur and feathers off most wild mammals and you'll see taut skin stretched over lean muscles, like we raw humans look. Humans belong in the tropics, it's inescapable. To the extent that we stray from nature, we suffer, including being cold when we live in climates that are hostile to us. The answer is not to eat foods that cause disease and make us fat.

If you must eat more dense foods in the winter in order to stay raw, that's fine. I strongly recommend against doing this to manipulate your weight. Also, the less that you alter you food by applying heat to it, the more your body will be able to recognize it as food. Your body can't use what it doesn't recognize. There are no stoves in nature, so heating food above about 115 degrees would not have happened in our long evolutionary history. Anything we didn't do as we were developing as a species is not something we should be doing now.

Hope this helps. Don't worry. :)

Nora
www.RawSchool.com