My Raw Journal.

[trinity082482]

thanks bunches

[RawNut]

Jen,

It doesn't look like you're eating enough! A banana for breakfast won't last very long and you'll be more apt to "cheat." I have a blender full of smoothie for breakfast which usually contains 5 - 8 bananas, greens, and other fruits. It lasts till lunch. I know you haven't read any raw books yet but, just so ya know, the grape jello isn't raw or vegan if it came from a jello box. You can make delicious pudding and jello type things out of blueberries though. Raw blueberries congeal when blened with other fruits.

Congrats on your going raw and welcome! Hang in there and keep coming back. Also, get Alissa's book if you can.

Craig

[Sharon in Colorado]

ITA with Craig. Don't hold back on eating all the fresh fruits and veggies you care for. Eat till your full! Also keep in mind that anything processed, packaged, canned, bottled, etc. from the store has been cooked and destroyed and your body must work hard to process it, which is what is causing the symptoms you listed.

Think of the freshest foods to eat, as close to coming off the plant as possible, you get the idea.

By the way, I made an awesome V-8 type of drink by juicing lettuces, spinach, carrots, celery, firm tomatoes (mushy ones don't juice well), a little beet, a slice of lemon, and slice of onion, and a piece of hot pepper. It was delicious. The bottled V-8 is not living and your body doesn't process it like fresh food.

[luckitri]

I like your blog. There is a website called "Freecycle" for people to give away things that they no longer want and avoid filling up a landfill with good stuff. You might be able to find a dehydrator and or juicer on Freecycle. You can get a blender for $20. Lots of people get these items as wedding gifts or some such ocasion and will never use them. I have been too ill for too long to yardsale my stuff so when I see someone on Freecycle posting a need I just give it to them. The general rule is that you must post an offer of something you wish to give if you wish to post a need. Just go to "Freecycle.org" and sign up for your area.

[Ariannah]

Dehydrators and such are nice to have, but I eagerly bought one last year, thinking "this is essential to eating raw", and it's now collecting dust in my kitchen from being rarely used.

For me, the best tools in my raw kitchen have been "myself" and eating utensils and perhaps a knife for cutting.

I have a mini cuisinart that holds maybe 4 cups of food (bought it for like $20 at Canadian Tire), and that's about it.

Ripe, fresh juicy foods, not necessarily just "fruit", but lots of raw food that you like to eat in its natural state is very handy to have on hand, so you can liberally try all the recipes you like.

If not for having all of these on hand, I'd not have succeeded on raw. I have a few recipes that I really like, but for the most part, my taste buds don't like many of the things that I've made. But it's easy to dive into a bunch of grapes, or a bowl of blueberries, etc.

Also, I've found my taste buds genuinely changing. There were a lot of things I did not like before that I now like, now that my taste buds aren't cluttered up with all kinds of artificial tastes, it gives me a chance to really taste things as they actually are.

Keep on doing your best!

[Revvell]

I have had no lucky getting any of those items. I guess people like to hang on to them. My father has owned one for over 7 years and refuses to lend it to me. He loves them just as much as I do :p

Have you looked at the abundance thread in the "Personal Growth" section of this forum? LOTS of people have gotten new and used items because they know they can. You can do it too. Change your mindset, change your life.

The library often has many raw books; you can google raw recipes; they're also all over this site. Raw is about freedom; not starvation. It's easier to eat an apple than to open a package, boil water, put the jello in, wait for it to set..... *yawn*

Storm and Jinjee do use a blender and food processor yet, as RawandNatural says, a knife, a cutting board and you are good to go. Just need to be a bit creative and one can make all KINDS of delightful dishes... OR, just eat as is.

Revvell

[Ariannah]

For me, my whole mindset on raw has changed. It's nice to have a way of life where every single item on the menu is "ready to eat".

I have read people's frustration with raw and feel for them, because they believe that they "need" certain "products" to be raw. I don't know where they have heard this. This is one of the ONLY diets out there where "as is" is where it's at!

For me, I just don't get that. When I heard the phrase "eat a raw diet " , I got it right away. (I took it literally). To me it meant I could go to the farmers market, or the produce stand, or the produce section of a grocery store and just have at it.

My family still eats a cooked diet, and I am the only 100% raw fooder in the house. When I am stocking up on the fruit (I need to buy TONS because our family loves it, and fruit is almost ALL I eat) and veggies, I have sometimes been asked "is this for your restaurant?" - people don't get that there are people who don't eat out of a box!

I thought, "It can't be that simple?" But YES it is!

It's not only "that simple" (grab and eat), but there are hundreds of recipes in the Raw food preparation section on this forum, for people who want to expand their repertoire from plain and simple.

There are hundreds of pictures of people's raw creations, and Alissa's book is chock full of inspirational testimonies, facts, and recipe after recipe after recipe, only half of which use a dehydrator.

100% raw, btw is an entirely different diet than any which involves consumption of any cooked food. (e.g. being "mostly raw" is simply not the same) I know this from experience, it's amazing.

Challenge yourself to be 100%, eating only the things you like, and your body will love it. Excess weight will come off, (I know this as last year when I was 100% I lost over 50 pounds, eating liberally) and the energy is amazing.

Starting off is always the hardest part... but just plunge and dive right in.

[mongomango]

I understand the need for a dehydrator and other things. While for me going raw did not encompass those things, getting others to actually eat raw concoctions often did. Some people so miss the foods that they love that people think that these tools and the foods they create are the only way they can stay raw in the beginning. Of course, much of this is all in the mind, all psychological, which is a major thing in itself...but physical food addictions are very real and just as there are people who quit smoking cigarettes cold turkey and those who need the patch, there are also those who need a little help with raw and the ability to create comfort foods to tide you over during a rough patch is tremendous.

Most people who stay raw for any length of time ultimately eschew dehydrated foods, and even recipes, and opt instead for fresh and simple fare. This is a stage that can take time for many people to get to while others adopt it instantly. It is all a matter of individuality, and whatever gets you through is the right path for you.

[Ariannah]

It reminds me of when I first became vegetarian after years of having a meat diet. I used to really go for those soy "meat-alikes". Then later on, I just enjoyed vegetarian food for what it is, without the need to call it a "ground beef taco", it was a "bean taco"....

Years later when trying one of those "veggie dogs", ick blech....

Same thing for me and raw... the desire for "cookalikes" is simply not there like it used to be.

Since you can't afford a dehydrator (understandable, the "good kind" are $$$$), try to buy dehydrated treats at the health food store and see if you like them enough for it to be worth it to save up your money for one.

[lil fairy z girl]

just waving hi :) a nice journal :) your chocci cakes look really good. what a good idea. i hope you have a good time at the mexican place. i find eating out a challenge, as i feel i am missing out. i tend to go for the side salad and ask them to make it bigger. sometimes they make a good selection by adding fruit too. i have also looked on the menu for meals that could be eaten raw and asked them for so and so but uncooked. i have been refused when i was at one place, they didn't do the meals fresh, but at another place they combined a side salad with side veggies but did them raw, that was nice. Anyway, keep going :) i don't have a dehydrater either. it was quite a few weeks into raw when i got a processor as i didn't know if i would use it enough to warrant the expense, but now i use it all the time :)
anyway best wishes
sal
~*~*~*

[luckitri]

I think use of the dehydrator would help me from slipping when I am suddenly hungry and have nothing prepared. Originally I really thought that dehydrating the food was bogus and I have difficulty believing that there is anything like a living enzyme left in something that has been dehydrated for 18 hours. . . . but I know that people care about these things so surely someone has measured and tested this. I have some issues with use of the dehydrator however. My first is that if it is cooking while I am sleeping the smell of the food wakes me up. I think I wrote all this before a long time ago so I will stop now. I am like you - I really slip for those canned chick peas. For me I suppose that I would have to do all my dehydrator work on the weekends. I will not leave it on and leave the house for a long period of time - like going to work. Maybe someday they will make a dehydrator that "knows" when to stop. Having used one in the past I would not wish to attach a timer to it because every batch of everything I made was different and would take a different time for the same recipe. Perhaps a log would show this to be related to things like outside temperature, humidity and other such factors along that line - but that gets too involved for me to bother with.

[trinity082482]

Raw really has gotten me wanting to feel better about my self..


Dun DA DAh......


I




Got



BANGS!!!! oh my gawd lol..


I haven't had a set of bangs since I was like 6!