Day 2 questions on veariety

[mama]

Today is day 2 for me...I was 75% raw. I guess tha't good for day 2. Yesterday I was 80%. I lost one pound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyways just wanted to ask...in the begining when you were new to all this and didn't have the cookbooks how did you keep it interesting? right now I do smoothies, salads, fruit and grab and go type veggies like carrots and sliced red peppers etc. What else can I do? Must be QUICK stuff..... I have 8 kiddos ya know!!!!!!!:)

[EZ rider]

IMO fresh raw is the way to go and it is very much a grab and go style of eating. When I first went all raw I also was concerned about variety. I thought I would get bored eating nothing but fresh fruits and veggies but after doing this since Aug 1st I can say just the opposite has occurred. When I get up and start my day I set up my juicers, VM, and cutting board and after that its off to the races. I don't do recipes, dehydrating, or anything except all fresh raw foods and juices. I make sure that I keep adequate supplies on hand consistent with freshness. The raw foods taste so good that its a pleasure to eat them and it seems like I just can't get enough of them into my day. Happy journey.

[EZ rider]

PS, Add to my post above.

The thing that made the fresh foods work for me turned out to be something I got blind sided by. I never even saw it coming ! As I continue forward all raw my senses seemed to just wake up. The colors and distinctions in my vision have become much more brilliant and its as if I am hearing the music in its fullness for the first time now. My mind is working better now also its like stepping out of a fog, but here's the thing that happened that answers your question. My taste buds woke up. I taste the foods better now. The fresh raw foods taste so good and alive now that I enjoy them to where I am never bored with them. All the different fresh raw foods have their own distinct and wonderful taste. The longer I stay all fresh pure raw the more my senses are waking up. A glass of fresh made carrot juice tastes so good I don't see how anyone could not like or be bored with that ? And all of the fresh raw foods are delicious.

[Lady Green Jeans]

I had Juliano's raw book for years and had only tried a handful of the recipes. When I heard about Alissa's site and checked it out. Was not in my budget but I ordered her book and DVD set. They came surprisingly fast and I watched both DVDs the same day and fell asleep that night reading her book. Was so motivated by the ease of doing the recipes--it just became natural.

Some days I eat more simply than others, but I always love getting in the kitchen and creating dishes. It's funny, but you will find yourself automatically adapting recipes to suit your taste. I've found that days I eat lots of heavy dishes, next day my body wants light and simple. Adore expanding to trying a wide variety of foods into my diet.

Can't miss with the ease of grab and go, too. Works for a long commute, road trips, a sweet pick me up when stress happens, and just a cleansing snack. Just adore being raw.

So simple or complex, raw is awsome.

[Barbie2]

EZ rider, I like your approach to eating raw. Do you have a favorite salad and dressing you put on your salads? Can you give us/me some ideas what your raw diet is like? What do you usually take with you when you go to work or out for the day? I'm just curious, because the way you eat raw, seems ideal to me.

Thanks!

Barb

[EZ rider]

Do you have a favorite salad and dressing you put on your salads?For salads I like em leafy green. My favorites are baby spinach, baby lettuces, and romaine. My favorite salad dressing is a quick and simple dressing. I pour some oil (Barleans Total Omega 3-6-9 master blend from HFS) into a mortar & pestle and then cut 1 or 2 cloves of garlic into the oil and then mash them into the oil. I mix the "dressing" with the greens and then add raw sunflower seeds on top.




What do you usually take with you when you go to work or out for the day?When I go out I try to guesstimate how long I will be out and allow for more then enough water and simple garden foods to cover the time until I am near my kitchen again

[EZ rider]

Can you give us/me some ideas what your raw diet is like?I feed my body in an ongoing exercise in learning and applying "instinctive" eating. I try to keep my stomach "fuel gage" between slightly hungry and satisfied. This is tricky because I have found that for me if I move too far into the hungry zone it can trigger a binge eating meal that hits "full". Also if I move above the slightly full zone I can trigger a binge. The solution for me is to not let the "fuel gage" get into the empty or full zones. I try to keep it right in the sweet spot of satisfied. I do this by listening up to my stomach's SLIGHTLY hungry signal (the first one) and then eating something small like an apple or avocado and then forgetting about food again until my stomach sends another signal. It is a "grazing" approach tied to my apastat with basically a minimal mono meal approach. In short I eat just on time, just enough, and I like to eat fresh, raw, simple, and small meals using my juicers, VM, knife & cutting board and fingers for grapes etc.

[mama]

But guys...I'm hungry every 20 min(I posted seperately about that) I went out xmas shopping and I tried to be proactive taking some food along. We were out for 4 hrs. i took a mandarin orange a handful of pumpkin seeds 3 dates, and about 10 baby carrots. I thought that would be enough to tue me over till I got home. Nope I got so hungry my stomack was gnawing at itself:) I didn't say anything but when my mother in law stuck a chicken burger under my nose I devoured it especially because it takes half an hour to drive home from the mall. I was sick 10 minutes after eating it but that's an other story. My point is how can I bring SO MUCH FOOD WITH ME. I mean I don't want my purse stuffed FULL of fruit etc.!! Also it's so annoying to have to eat the whole time you're shopping!!! HELP!!

[EZ rider]

Is there anyone else on the board that eats a fresh only raw food diet that excludes nuts and eats 100 % of their foods as they are grown in the earth or am I the Lone Ranger here ?

[tiggerbounce]

I have gone in phases.....but I love it most when I am simple raw. And I love your approach and the way you state it EZrider.

Not sure how long it takes, but once you get used to the feeling of not being stuffed like when SAD you come to really enjoy the lightness of it. I have found that my body was conditioned to the three large daily meals and that after I got away from that and just grazed whenever I wanted that I was much better off. Three meals a day is one of those taught/learned SAD behaviors as well IMHO.

When I go out now (an believe me my raw life is still in transition and I am in NO way perfect with it) I tend to take things like bananas because they are very filling. A bit heavier than citrus or berries. But not so heavy and dense and calorie/fat filled as nuts. And often a smoothie works great to sip on to keep the "fuel gauge" at its proper level. Flax crackers are very filling and stay with you a bit more also. You might try carrying those with you with a bag of dip or spread if you like until your appetite adjusts.

I completely agree with EZ that to hungry or to full and it triggers something for me. I just graze all day and keep a bowl of fruits and veggies and dips nearby. And I love to cut mangoes over my salads to replace dressing and don't add oil or anything. I just really like that.

In the beginning I thought I needed more recipes, but the freedom of fresh, simple raw is absolutely fantastic. I do some recipes still, but more as a treat or when I really want something heavy or savory. And there are just so many interesting fruits and veggies to try these days.

I am totally with you EZ. Love that way. It takes a bit to get to that point sometimes, but when you find your way there it is so liberating. And so much easier than worrying about complicated meals. To me, one of the benefits of raw is all the energy and I hate to waste that in the kitchen. I would rather start living outside of the refrigerator/kitchen and start moving and shaking my groove thing!:D

Love your advice EZrider.

[tiggerbounce]

And.....btw...Good morning!!!! Good to see I am not the only early morning lurker!!!!:D

[sherahtaylor]

I've found bananas to be the most filling for me when I'm on the go. I bring maybe 5-6 with me, and eat 2-3 in one sitting, then when I start getting hungry again I finish them off. The food you brought would definitely not be enough to tide me over that long, either!!! I would have probably brought 10 mandarins, and a big bag of baby carrots to be eaten in the car before going into the mall, and immediately upon leaving. I've never had to eat while shopping.

The other thing I almost always can be found with, is my bottle of green smoothie. I have one that is not see-through, so people just think it's water or other beverage. Before I go out, I fill up two of my bottles and they've never let me down! I'm good for 5 hours if I drink a Vitamix smoothie made of:

1 bunch of greens
2 large apples
3-4 bananas
2 cups of water
2 T. ground flax

I love the ease of just drinking it, goes fast and I don't have to sit and chew. When I'm shopping, I'll drink a bunch before going in to the store, even if I plan to be in there for 2 hours...it really makes a difference!!

[Lavendula]

If you are juicing, ya gotta do something with the pulp. My latest favorite is selcted pulp mashed with avocado, onions, garlic, jalapenos, etc. or simpleer pulp and avocado mash in nori sheets and sliced up. The first time I did the mash thing, it reminded me of tuna salad. You can even get fancy and juice daikon or jicama, for the white rice, some of my mash comes out raw salmon colored, from the beets, nori rolls or wraps are, fast and easy. Tonight I did a ground kale (in fp), onion/ garlic mash/nori and just turned it into a hold and eat burrito type wrap. I love using my juicer pulp for something besides breads, because I just can't always toss it in the compost. It takes a few tries and yes, alot of energy to get the dehydrated bread thing going, and to decide what bread you really like. I enjoy the sandwich option, but you have to plan, and soak, and grind to get there. I made one batch that really tasted somewhat like compost, but I have made a few that impressed even my non raw family. I am not eating salad at all, it is too cold for me for lettuce salad, I have to go for the darkest green leafy stuff, thats why I started grinding up the Dino Kale, a great way to get the most out of them, it gives a whole new meaning to green salad. I was having some raw soups with prepared ahead, ground root veggies, etc. with hot water added, just haven't taken the time lately. I have one raw friend who will just pull a whole zuccini out of her purse and start eating; try yam, rutabaga, kohlrabi, or other roots, instead of carrot sticks, I eat them all the time, that way.