how to stay raw

[Alissa]

The last 4 people i did a consult with had the same questions about staying raw so i thought id mention it here.
There 's so much information out there now about going raw and staying raw. So many different ways to do this diet, natural hygiene, mono eating, 80-10-10, no nuts just fruits and vegetables, fasting, juicing, no fruit….

If you are new to raw there is no way you are going to be able to go on a strict mono diet (eating only one food at a time until your full) and be able to stay on it.. Ok, some of you may be able to, for a while. But this is the reason I see so many people fail on this diet.

For years I have worked with people who have spent time at some of the top healing centers, worked with the raw ‘gurus' and finally come to me and tell me they are sick of just eating salads, being so rigid or not feeling like they are having any fun with this.

If you have to 'white knuckle’ this the whole time your doing it, its not going to work.Yes, you may be able to do it for a while but eventually it will just be a matter of will power and that never works. You need to make this fun and easy and joyous! Otherwise why do it?! For health? Forget that. If that’s the only reason it wont work. You wont BE healthy because you’ll be so stressed and uptight and stress and anxiety produce acid in the body which is why you’re eating raw in the first place, to create an alkaline state not acid!

So, you need to make this fun, you need to make this something you can live with, something that resonates with you, something you enjoy and look forward to and not something you dread. So what do you do? Your not having fun, your getting bored, or you want to do it but the smell and look of other peoples food around you looks appealing and you find yourself wavering…
Well, if your dreading this way of eating, not having fun and not thoroughly enjoying yourself, you need to change what your doing, now!

Being new to raw foods, you cannot expect to go from a cooked food diet to a strict one of minimal amounts of food, this does not make sense! Think about this, please! So many times I go to peoples homes after they go raw and they have a small bowl of fruit on the counter. I ask, “where's your food” and they tell me, right there in that bowl. HA! Forget it! When you eat a cooked food diet, even when your are on a diet, there is plenty of food in the house to eat, in the fridge, in the cabinets, on the counters, etc… but for some reason when people switch to raw food they start eating minimally, they hardly have any food in the house or they go shopping and get just enough for what they need for a few days… stock up people! It is only logical that if you get hungry, run out of food and are new to raw food eating you’ll be headed to the nearest fast food place within days! Don’t be so hard on yourself and expect yourself to suffer through this diet with minimal food available.

Now, if your not one to prepare a lot of gourmet meals that’s fine. Many of my recipes only take minutes to prepare, but you have to have something in your house to eat. Stock up on nuts so you whip up a torte within minutes, buy a red pepper, scallion and walnuts to make the mock salmon, have some nori available to roll the mock salmon up with some avocado, so many easy things you can make. But you have to plan and think this out a bit. Its not hard, you would need to do this with any new plan or diet…. Teach yourself how to make a few things, buy the spices, ingredients, etc… and get used to preparing it. It’s so easy with raw food but there is a learning curve just like anything else. Take a couple of weeks to make all these mouthwatering goodies, get your body adjusted to the lighter feeling of raw foods, allow your taste buds to appreciate the pure flavor of fresh natural foods instead of processed cooked foods.

You should not feel deprived or cheated or hungry on this diet, if you are then your not doing this right. What is the ‘right ‘diet for everyone on raw? There is no right one, you need to figure that out for yourself. Ill write more about that in another post. But the only way to find what’s right is to allow your body to adapt and cleanse and shift while eating raw foods. Eventually you will begin to eat lighter and ‘feel’ what your body needs. Eventually after you have been eating delicious raw foods and having fun with it and making this a joyous adventure you will begin to feel better and heal and realize how this diet can be the most wondrous gift you will ever give yourself.

Once you have been raw for a while you know when to eat less nuts, when to eat more greens, when to cut out certain things, add certain things or change your diet and it won’t be big deal. It wont be painful and you will be able to do that with ease, but please don’t expect yourself to do that within the first month or two of changing your whole way of eating which you have known your whole life.

Its amazing to me that after 40 years of eating pizza and chips and cookies and candy, people go raw and after three days are worried they will be deficient in protein or certain vitamins! Come on, think about this, silly isn’t it? First of all you will be eating healthier then ever before, you probably have never eaten as much fruit and veggies before right? And it takes years to become deficient in most things…. After a couple of days of not rotating your food choices or having a green drink you’ll be fine really, trust me on this one. Most people have never had a green drink in their life!
So, closing thoughts – JUST DO IT! Stop talking about it, stop worrying about it, stop obsessing over it. Stop thinking you need to make this even more rigid (mono, natural hygiene, no fruit, no nuts, raw food is strict enough) Do it for a month and see how you feel, make the commitment and you’ll be floored!
Have fun, stock up on tons of food, make fun things to eat, talk to people about what your doing, stay connected (very important!) and discover your true self!

Best wishes on your journey to a new life!
Xo Alissa

[Sweet lips]

That was the best butt-kicking I ever had - I haven't done the right thing for a moment, So on tomorrow it;s just do it day!

You have my permission to kick my butt to get me on the right track. I printed this thing off -as part of my plan.

Thanks

Be blessed in your comings and goings!

[ehartmanf]

Alissa,

I have heard you say all this on your DVD, but thanks for talking about it again. I can't hear it too often. Thanks for making this all so much fun and so exciting! It's definitely something I can live with.

[lil]

One reason I like the 80/10/10 is that it's easy...I'm quite busy through the day and don't have time to prepare foods. When I ate SAD, I ate out ALL the time. Now that's less of an option, but it's easy carrying fruits around. It's a huge change for me because I never used to eat any fruit.

But after a week or so I'm craving flavour (chili, curry...)and different texture. So - eventually I'm going to have to get into the food prepping - you right - it needs to be an enjoyable experience.

Thanks for the inspirational words!

[Curtis]

lol okay, okay I hear you. :)
Haven't been keeping enough food in the house and I will change that now.
Thank you Alissa for the pep talk. You have a way to challenge folks without talking down to them.

[NWgal]

Thanks Alissa :)..
Good stuff.. always good to hear this !!

[Shay]

Oh, that was perfect timing! I have painlessly been able to switch to raw foods...even cut out the coffee last week, yeah!!! BUT, was starting to feel like I am really doing this *wrong*. I haven't had alot of greens, stuck to mainly fruit and sweet potatoes with homemade salsa, and a couple of frozen bananas in a blender at night, (my ice cream). I feel great, look awake but haven't lost a pound. So I thought maybe I should cut out the banana's at night, but after that message, maybe I'll keep them. I only have maybe 20 pounds to lose, but that isn't the main goal here, I want to stay healthy and get some energy back. And knowing I'm getting a treat every night is very nice! Thank you for the encouragement to do it my way....atleast until I'm solid enough with this lifestyle to start tweaking it.

~~~Shay

LOVE this message board!

[sunshine14127]

Thank you Alissa!
I think that I too have the problem of not having enough food in my house. Hopefully, the last remaining child that is living with me will be gone soon, and then I can have an ALL RAW house! :D

[nobletroll]

OK as soon as I get a couple of dollars I will be getting you book.

I have been on more than one sight and I go crazy when I see post about people being all scared about raw foods because of this deficient or that. I want to scream. But I didn't want to say anything because I have only been doing this for 5 months and for the last two I have not been doing well. But even with that I can now see I have been buying into the make the raw complicated bandwagon.

Your post was what I needed. I have been trying to be strict with my diet because I haven't been losing the weight as fast as I want, but then I drive by some place and get some cooked food. I worry about eating to many nuts then have a pizza. Basically acting like a crazy person. I will try to have more fun. Even before I read your post I had made a promise to myself to be 100% raw for a month. I am also going to try to have fun with my raw journey.

[Alissa]

hi guys,
so glad to hear that this post helped. Sometimes we just need reminders like that.
Xo alissa

[Analeah]

Thanks so much for your inspiring post Alissa! It's definately important to have enough food around the house otherwise it is easy to go off raw. Last week I ate cooked food for the first time in awhile and it was definately a big mistake but I just feel so discouraged sometimes by the fact that I don't always know what is raw. I always read different things about nuts and seeds and grains etc and I see controversial opinions all the time and I just don't know what to think. I emailed one major supermarket here in Switzerland and asked them at what temperature their dried fruit was dehydrated at and if the nuts were heat processed in any way and the response I got back from the company was "The fruits are sun dried, and all nuts too. There is no heat process." I was really excited to learn this at first, but I am a little skeptical by this response because I would think at least the cashews or some of the other nuts had been heat processed. Then again the cashews say they are from India and I think that is where NFL gets their cashews so it is possible they are truly raw (and they do taste better than other cashews I have tried) but I just don't know. My problem is that I tell myself what is the point in trying to be 100% raw when some of the food I am eating may not be raw when I think it is. I am kind of an all or nothing person which can be either good or bad, but in this case is not so good for me because I feel so discouraged and feel like it is impossible to be 100%. I look at the 100% thing like an addiction similar to heroin in that if you were addicted to this drug and decrease by 90%, it's really great and better than doing what you were doing before but you are still doing the drug and your body is still being damaged by the needle. So I really want to be clean and pure and 100% raw but my body almost always is craving nuts and seeds and grains so I don't feel cutting them out completely would be a good thing. Lately I have been trying to cut out the seeds or grains that I haven't been able to sprout because of my uncertainty of them being raw (whole oats and rye to name a couple). But on the other hand it's hard because those are two of my favorite grains lol so I would really like to eat them but since I have not been able to sprout them I question their viability. I don't know if anyone else has had this problem of feeling discouraged or not but I just thought I would ask for some advice. Thanks!

[Rawkinlocs]

Analeah,

Those are the types of things I simply refuse to concern myself with at this time and maybe ever. I mean, it's enough trying to stay raw and not INTENTIONALLY eat cooked food. But whatever is beyond my control or your control...you can't sweat that stuff or worry about it because you can only do the best you can. If they say it's raw, then that's good enough for ME (can't speak for you). But if I began concerning myself with what nuts or dried fruit are truly raw, then I'd end up throwing my hands up and grabbing the nearest bag of chips. For me, it's just not that serious. As long as I'm not knowingly eating roasted nuts or irradiated dried fruit or what have you, then I'm cool taking their word for it when the label says it's raw.

Just enjoy where you are Analeah...you're doing great and have been a big inspiration to me and I'm sure others as well! :)

Hang in there and try not to worry so much.

[Sadii]

Amen to that, Rawkin'! :D

[Curtis]

Analeah,
I agree with Rawkinlocs,
Isn't this a journey for us all? If so then as we learn and grow many of these things will fall into place. My goal and prayer is to one day have a place of my own like Kirk does so I can grow everything I eat. :) Until then I will just do my best to find organic and raw foods and live each day in love and peace. I think sometimes we "sweat the small stuff to much". :)
You are a inspiration to all of us and you are doing fine, give yourself some room to learn and grow. :)

[Alissa]

I agree!
Again, nothing wrong with being a strict raw fooder but there are so many different levels. On that note... i really believe that there are times when you may go back and forth from being a little easier in terms of what to eat i.e.. Dried fruits, nuts, miso, etc... And then times when you may not. We are always changing and growing so shouldnÂ’t our diets reflect that. I donÂ’t think its a good thing that our diets always stay the same as we go through different phases of our life, emotional stuff, environmental changes, hormonal changes, etc... Life is fluid, so should our diet be.

[loveraw]

Analeah,
I know what you mean. I have also went that route being worried about things being 100% raw. It's easy to close your eyes sometimes and hope for tha best, but when you trying to loose more weight for example or clear up the acne condition like I have, small mistakes could sabotage your progress. And they do say that cooked fats might couse acne, because they put strain on lyour iver.. But at this point I do try not to sweat the small stuf and just hope for being close to 100% raw as much as I can. I sort of gave up on the cashews, because I love them so much. But I make fermented cheese out of it and if it is not raw so at least it's live and maybe that makes it easier to digest. Because I don't think the only issue is only being raw, but also how well we digest things. In the beginning it seams great, because just the addition of fiber and raw nutrients is great, but later on when you want to specificaly adress things it might not be. Also if it does not sprout it is safe to say, it's not live and then probably not raw,

loveraw

[Analeah]

Wow, thank you everyone for all your support and insight! I am trying as best I can to get over this aspect of raw food and not to worry about it too much. Rawkinlocs I really appreciate everything you said and I hope you know what an inspiration you are to others as well! I just had the chance a few days ago to read some of your journals and they are so inspiring and it's crazy how I can relate to them in my own life so much! Loveraw, I totally know what you mean when you talked about trying to clear up your acne. I don't have severe acne but I do have a little and I would like very much to have clear skin. My skin has improved much since eating a high raw diet but it has not cleared up completely. I am afraid that maybe because I am eating something which has unknowingly been cooked, that it is preventing me from healing. I don't know if olive oil or nuts etc is contributing to this or if it is purely a hormone or stress etc issue. I also think in some way that it was just a poor excuse for me to eat cooked food (telling myself whats the point anyway because it's impossible to be 100%). Basically I am at the point now where I want to eat as pure raw as possible. If the olive oil or nuts etc I am eating are not raw then I don't want to include them in my diet anymore as I think it is greatly slowing my progress. On the other hand I am worried if I cut out too much that I will not get enough fats or calories in my diet and/or it will be too difficult to maintain. Like Alissa said before, it is better to remain all raw than it is to be too worried about how strict you are and then fall back. I am happy to take the company's word when they say their nuts and dried fruit have not been heat processed but when I try repeatedly to sprout oats or rye and it doesn't work it makes me suspicious. Then again I don't know if I am just not doing it right and if there is nothing to worry about. I think rawjojo or someone else on here said once that rye has to be rinsed four-five times per day and as I have not been doing that I think it could be the reason. This is maybe a little off topic about the original post of "how to stay raw" but I am wondering if eating grains that have been soaked overnight is still somewhat healthy and easy to digest or if they should only be consumed after having been sprouted? Many recipes I have seen call for oats but they just say soaked overnight, I have never seen one that says they should be sprouted. Does anyone know if maybe like flax seeds (though ironically some of my flax seeds did sprout lol) they just don't sprout? Thank you curtis for being such a thoughtful and caring voice on this board and thank you again everyone for your kind words and encouragement, it is really helping me right now and is much needed!

[loveraw]

Analeah,
I don't have much experience with grains, because I don't really like them that much, but I know that they are at least suppose to be soaked over night to remove the enzyme inhibitor from them, which is protecting the grain from sprouting, just like seeds and nuts. When they actually start sprouting they are I guess a vegetable, because now it is a sprout, so more easier to digest. I make most of my breads and crackers from flaxseeds and sometimes I don't even soak them if its calling for flax flour. I think that seeds are easier that way. Once I actually did ask someoune in Whole foods how the nuts and fruits are regarding to 100% raw and they looked at me like I was a nut. I really don't think they got the question. To them if it's not fried, it's raw. But as Allisa says, relax a little, and try not to worry to much and enjoy the raw ride.

Loveraw

[SwishTN]

Alissa,
I spoke with you on the phone years ago about going raw, and have yet to take the total plunge.... But, reading your post was so liberating for me.

Analeah, you sound so much like myself! I am so all or nothing, it is restrictive, and can be very paralyzing. Your main focus should be on what is life giving, which is what the raw food lifestyle is about right? Eating live foods? But, if it is causing you to stress in a way that is inhibiting your enjoyment of this journey, it has moved from life giving to not so life giving. So, as I preach to myself, let up on yourself a bit!! I am a purist at heart, but when it becomes debilitating, I have to release it. The beauty of maturing, I guess : ). :p
Again, I can appreciate your drive and desire.... But, it is almost sounds like you are turning raw food into a religion, and if you don't do it just so you have to pay penance by way of acne or what not. That your body is "punishing" you. I again, am speaking from my own mindset/experience with other areas of my life....
Enjoy the journey, and the love you get from others on this site. It is wonderful!!!
Blessings!
Lauri

[VeganWannaBe]

All I can say is "WOW!"
I am priveleged to know such a great group of like-minded people and I can hardly wait to get my book in the mail!
Best wishes ~

[SwishTN]

I am bumping this because I thought it was such an encouraging thread....

Lauri

[FEELIN'GOOD]

I also agree with everyone- Analeah, you are 100% better off eating those 'questionably' raw items than the rest of the world eating the SAD, and you are definitely better off just eating them and not falling completely off the wagon for some cooked grub out of frustration. Just sit back and be proud of what you are doing for your body, mind, and soul, and like loveraw said, enjoy the ride girl! (I'm reading 'Eating for Beauty' right now, and David Wolf describes that tingle you feel on raw like 'little cell orgasims'... how naughty, :rolleyes:, but how wonderful!)

By the way, I love your raw food pictures! It helps so much for me at least to see how others- the non professionals- put this stuff together. It's not as intimidating when you see the average Joe do it... so I thank you for that!

[Analeah]

Wow thank you! That is so sweet of you :) I am starting to eat mostly raw again since stopping for a couple weeks while travelling and I love that description of "little cell orgasms" lol that's great. I am not being as strict as I was before i.e. I am eating some essen bread bought at the healthfood store that probably isn't totally raw and some soy yoghurt but I guess that it is at least "live" so not as bad as other foods are. My goal is to not eat those foods in the future obviously but I am trying to give myself a little transition time. Btw I am just about to upload some photos of the dinner I made for 10 people when I was in cali. Thanks for your sweet comments about the pics!

[deb]

Alissa, thank you for this post! I'm pulling it back up because it was one thing that really motivated me to try raw again and to believe I could do it. (And to ask for your book for Christmas) ;)

Thank you for making this so enjoyable and doable!

[caramba]

Thanks for bringing this thread back to life Deb...it's been wonderful reading. As a real Raw newbie I must say one major motivation for heading down the Raw path is to feel more ALIVE so I can really enjoy all life has to offer (i.e. not so I have to worry even MORE about what I'm eating every day and feel bored by my diet.) I know there's heaps of question marks about what's really Raw, but I figure life is not black & white - there are shades of grey in everything...

[karotw]

Thank you, Deb, for bringing this post back to the top! As a newbie here, I was completely inspired. One of the biggest challenges I have had in the past 6 years of trying to make a diet and lifestyle change has been "perfectionism". . .if I can't do it perfectly, then why bother? Letting go of that and just doing the best I can on any given day is a great thing and I feel the changes in my body, even though I know I'm not 100% raw yet - thought 100% is certainly a goal.

Each day I just keep remembering - Just do it.

Thanks, Alissa, for the pep talk and thanks to everyone else for sharing your experiences!!

Karen

[sweetgoddess]

That was a wonderful post--many thanks Alissa.

Blessings of love to you !

[Rawist]

I just eat raw plant food, I stay with vegetables, fruits and nuts because they're the simplest to obtain and readily eatable and fairly substantial as far as food. I don't eat mono, just a little of whatever plant food I have available. There's an inner joy that's building eating this way, but there's a lot of mental/physical detox going on to. I just have to tough out the detox. Eating this way definitely resonates strongly with me, I guess that's the main reason why I do it for now.

I don't eat minimally, but I don't overeat either. I only want as much raw food as will satisfy my hunger. Of course, cooked, I would overeat for emotional relief and the addictiveness of it. I don't eat a lot of nuts but I do rely on them to some degree, same for avocados. I do stock up on a lot of fruits, vegetables and nuts when I go shopping, at least a 10 day supply. I like these internet forums to discuss my food while I make the change to raw. Any support helps. :o :p :D :eek:

Rich

[Rawist]

I just stick to fresh, whole fruits and vegetables, nothing dehydrated. I'm only comfortable eating it in it's most natural, original form. The longest I want something to sit around and ripen is maybe dates. As far as nuts go, I can tell a cooked one from a raw one. So what if they heat the shell to get the nut out. The nut doesn't become cooked like that, it stays virtually the same as if it wasn't heated out of the shell. It has that bland taste like a raw food item should have. It's unfortunate you feel the way you do, because that's all we have to go on, is how we feel about the diet. I'm perfectly comfortable with the shelled, prepackaged nuts from wherever, they don't affect me adversely mentally and that's the important thing.

The eating has to be connected to my spirituality, God's will as I understand it. That way I'm doing what I should be doing, and I'm happy about it. Certainly, God can guide me to how he wants me to eat. I don't eat grains, no attraction to them, no attraction to them tastewise and they don't have that hard shell like a nut to take the processing process. I'm not into sprouts either, not enough bulk to be called a food to me. :o :) :( :confused:

Rich


Thanks so much for your inspiring post Alissa! It's definately important to have enough food around the house otherwise it is easy to go off raw. Last week I ate cooked food for the first time in awhile and it was definately a big mistake but I just feel so discouraged sometimes by the fact that I don't always know what is raw. I always read different things about nuts and seeds and grains etc and I see controversial opinions all the time and I just don't know what to think. I emailed one major supermarket here in Switzerland and asked them at what temperature their dried fruit was dehydrated at and if the nuts were heat processed in any way and the response I got back from the company was "The fruits are sun dried, and all nuts too. There is no heat process." I was really excited to learn this at first, but I am a little skeptical by this response because I would think at least the cashews or some of the other nuts had been heat processed.

[Rawkinlocs]

*bumping this up yet again because it's just that good! ;)

It REALLY should be made a sticky!!

[askcassyfirst]

Great idea to bump this. I agree it should be a sticky! This is the exact thread I was thinking about when I saw that post about balanced diets on raw.

Thank you!

Cassy. :)

[THX-1138]

There 's so much information out there now about going raw and staying raw. So many different ways to do this diet, natural hygiene, mono eating, 80-10-10, no nuts just fruits and vegetables, fasting, juicing, no fruitÂ….

Best wishes on your journey to a new life!
Xo Alissa


What exactly does the ratio of 80-10-10 refer to?

[SimplyRawesome]

THX-1138, check out this thread for an explanation:
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1470&highlight=80-10-10

[THX-1138]

Ah, ok... thanks... :D

[FEELIN'GOOD]

Fantastic! It was great reading all of these posts again... put things into perspective once more :D

Melissa

[Gosia]

bump

Gosia.

[Alissa]

Bumping up.....

[Sircaesar]

HI Alissa, I just had chance to read this.. thank you so much..
you just made me feel 100X more comfortable with staying raw..

very realistic expectations :D

Thanks Alissa. I agree this should be made a sticky

[Rawkinlocs]

THANKS SO MUCH for bumping this up Alissa!!! Wow, reading over this again, I remember when you first wrote this yet, I had forgotten about it.

But this is so very helpful and it's touching on a LOT of the very issues raised in some of the recent posts (and the post is dated 2004 yall!!) See everyone...I TOLD ya Alissa knows her stuff! LISTEN TO HER!!! :D

[queenb]

OK what Alissa says is totally true in my experience...
I started out on raw by reading Alissa's book and totally loving it.
I fell in love with all the delicious raw food and loved making it.
That is huge because I am a natural foods chef so creating the gourmet raw food helped to take the place of the activity of cooking which I really really love. I was doing great and my serious depression cleared up in a matter of weeks. Then I started to read other "raw guru's" books and started freaking out and thinking that I wasn't doing raw food correctly, which was just not true. So long story short, I tried just about all the other raw methods, low-fat raw, no nuts, mono-eating, minimal eating, no dehyrating. I fell of the wagon on all the other methods. Was having these binges on cooked food because I felt like I was starving all the time and not happy with the food choices I was allowing myself. So here I am a year and a half later and back with Alissa's method. It works, it heals you, and it makes you feel great!

PS- please do not change from Alissa's method because you think you are going to lose weight faster on some other "raw starvation" style diet. It isn't worth it and when you fall of the super strict raw diet you will gain it all back and then some. Trust me, I have been in that cycle for over a year now. Now I am back to Alissa Cohen's method BECAUSE IT WORKS! :D

[barose]

queenb, I could have written your post - almost!

Before raw, my diet was pretty simple since I have multiple food allergies. For most of my life, I loved to cook and bake almost daily. Though I didn't attend culinary school, I invested in thousands of dollars worth of cookware, top quality mixers and other kitchen equipment. My skills were good enough to moonlight at a gourmet bakery for a bit. I couldnt eat any of the food though.

When I first started raw, I was already familiar with the preparation of raw "gourmet" food, raw restaurants, owned several raw cookbooks, dehydrator, blender and so on long before going raw. When I first went 100%, I was in heaven because I had the freedom to pretty much eat the foods I wasn't able to before.

THEN I stumbled across a Yahoo Group where the majority of the group promoted 811; I found other websites that promote an 811 diet and felt depressed knowing that my diet would be even more restricted. It seemed many of the people who promoted the diet seemed to have a cult-like attitude and approach. There was no room for flexibility. I tried 811 for a few days and never felt so "out of it" in my life. I was dizzy and my vision was so blurred, I didn't feel comfortable driving. I quickly resumed eating avocados, coconut, soaked nuts and bitter greens and instantly felt better.

If it wasn't for Alissa, this group, and people like David Wolfe and Sarma Melngailis who all promote the love of raw food, I would have probably fallen off the wagon.

[adrienne]

and to put my 2 cents in...

it is all about figuring out what works for you and that takes time. some have to try all different things before figuring it all out. eating raw WORKS. tweaking it to your own personal needs really works but again this takes time. i am just begining to figure out exactly what my body needs - after years of emotional eating it is hard to figure that out, so i am trying to be patient.

learning alissa's philosophy gave me freedom. and that freedom is leading me to great health and mental well being. sometimes i try other ways or cleanse or do short fasts but then go back to - JUST EAT RAW AND DO NOT WORRY ABOUT IT. and that really works.

good luck to all and thank you to Alissa :)

[bowie]

bump............

[pattie]

Thank you for this post. It was extremely helpful.

[bowie]

bumping....please focus on the first post written by Alissa ;)

[solarliving]

Rawsome Post! Just what I needed.

Thanks
xoxo

[Thick]

Thanks, Alissa!=)

[lodestar]

Its amazing to me that after 40 years of eating pizza and chips and cookies and candy, people go raw and after three days are worried they will be deficient in protein or certain vitamins! Come on, think about this, silly isn’t it? First of all you will be eating healthier then ever before, you probably have never eaten as much fruit and veggies before right? And it takes years to become deficient in most things…. After a couple of days of not rotating your food choices or having a green drink you’ll be fine really, trust me on this one. Most people have never had a green drink in their life!
So, closing thoughts – JUST DO IT! Stop talking about it, stop worrying about it, stop obsessing over it. Stop thinking you need to make this even more rigid (mono, natural hygiene, no fruit, no nuts, raw food is strict enough) Do it for a month and see how you feel, make the commitment and you’ll be floored!
Have fun, stock up on tons of food, make fun things to eat, talk to people about what your doing, stay connected (very important!) and discover your true self!

love this quote from Alissa! xox

[PammieTaj]

This is exactly what I needed to read today.

[Aleesha Sattva]

The last 4 people i did a consult with had the same questions about staying raw so i thought id mention it here.
There 's so much information out there now about going raw and staying raw. So many different ways to do this diet, natural hygiene, mono eating, 80-10-10, no nuts just fruits and vegetables, fasting, juicing, no fruit….

If you are new to raw there is no way you are going to be able to go on a strict mono diet (eating only one food at a time until your full) and be able to stay on it.. Ok, some of you may be able to, for a while. But this is the reason I see so many people fail on this diet.

For years I have worked with people who have spent time at some of the top healing centers, worked with the raw ‘gurus' and finally come to me and tell me they are sick of just eating salads, being so rigid or not feeling like they are having any fun with this.

If you have to 'white knuckle’ this the whole time your doing it, its not going to work.Yes, you may be able to do it for a while but eventually it will just be a matter of will power and that never works. You need to make this fun and easy and joyous! Otherwise why do it?! For health? Forget that. If that’s the only reason it wont work. You wont BE healthy because you’ll be so stressed and uptight and stress and anxiety produce acid in the body which is why you’re eating raw in the first place, to create an alkaline state not acid!

So, you need to make this fun, you need to make this something you can live with, something that resonates with you, something you enjoy and look forward to and not something you dread. So what do you do? Your not having fun, your getting bored, or you want to do it but the smell and look of other peoples food around you looks appealing and you find yourself wavering…
Well, if your dreading this way of eating, not having fun and not thoroughly enjoying yourself, you need to change what your doing, now!

Being new to raw foods, you cannot expect to go from a cooked food diet to a strict one of minimal amounts of food, this does not make sense! Think about this, please! So many times I go to peoples homes after they go raw and they have a small bowl of fruit on the counter. I ask, “where's your food” and they tell me, right there in that bowl. HA! Forget it! When you eat a cooked food diet, even when your are on a diet, there is plenty of food in the house to eat, in the fridge, in the cabinets, on the counters, etc… but for some reason when people switch to raw food they start eating minimally, they hardly have any food in the house or they go shopping and get just enough for what they need for a few days… stock up people! It is only logical that if you get hungry, run out of food and are new to raw food eating you’ll be headed to the nearest fast food place within days! Don’t be so hard on yourself and expect yourself to suffer through this diet with minimal food available.

Now, if your not one to prepare a lot of gourmet meals that’s fine. Many of my recipes only take minutes to prepare, but you have to have something in your house to eat. Stock up on nuts so you whip up a torte within minutes, buy a red pepper, scallion and walnuts to make the mock salmon, have some nori available to roll the mock salmon up with some avocado, so many easy things you can make. But you have to plan and think this out a bit. Its not hard, you would need to do this with any new plan or diet…. Teach yourself how to make a few things, buy the spices, ingredients, etc… and get used to preparing it. It’s so easy with raw food but there is a learning curve just like anything else. Take a couple of weeks to make all these mouthwatering goodies, get your body adjusted to the lighter feeling of raw foods, allow your taste buds to appreciate the pure flavor of fresh natural foods instead of processed cooked foods.

You should not feel deprived or cheated or hungry on this diet, if you are then your not doing this right. What is the ‘right ‘diet for everyone on raw? There is no right one, you need to figure that out for yourself. Ill write more about that in another post. But the only way to find what’s right is to allow your body to adapt and cleanse and shift while eating raw foods. Eventually you will begin to eat lighter and ‘feel’ what your body needs. Eventually after you have been eating delicious raw foods and having fun with it and making this a joyous adventure you will begin to feel better and heal and realize how this diet can be the most wondrous gift you will ever give yourself.

Once you have been raw for a while you know when to eat less nuts, when to eat more greens, when to cut out certain things, add certain things or change your diet and it won’t be big deal. It wont be painful and you will be able to do that with ease, but please don’t expect yourself to do that within the first month or two of changing your whole way of eating which you have known your whole life.

Its amazing to me that after 40 years of eating pizza and chips and cookies and candy, people go raw and after three days are worried they will be deficient in protein or certain vitamins! Come on, think about this, silly isn’t it? First of all you will be eating healthier then ever before, you probably have never eaten as much fruit and veggies before right? And it takes years to become deficient in most things…. After a couple of days of not rotating your food choices or having a green drink you’ll be fine really, trust me on this one. Most people have never had a green drink in their life!
So, closing thoughts – JUST DO IT! Stop talking about it, stop worrying about it, stop obsessing over it. Stop thinking you need to make this even more rigid (mono, natural hygiene, no fruit, no nuts, raw food is strict enough) Do it for a month and see how you feel, make the commitment and you’ll be floored!
Have fun, stock up on tons of food, make fun things to eat, talk to people about what your doing, stay connected (very important!) and discover your true self!

Best wishes on your journey to a new life!
Xo Alissa

Oh ya... this is why I love this forum!!!

[gritsnla]

This one should stay near the top so everyone can read and re-read Alissa's posting. Just the kick in the pants some of us need!!

[juliew]

"We are always changing and growing so shouldnÂ’t our diets reflect that. I donÂ’t think its a good thing that our diets always stay the same as we go through different phases of our life, emotional stuff, environmental changes, hormonal changes, etc... Life is fluid, so should our diet be. "

This was the coolest thing I've heard about the raw food diet lately! Made me feel better because I was starting to get bored with it and now I'm ok with going back to some heavier foods so that I can stay on track. I'm also battling the perfectionism thing...

Thanks Alissa!

[*RayRay*]

Life is fluid, so should our diet be. Love this idea!! thanks Alissa.

progress Not perfection!!

[Angelme]

Hello Alissa .. I am one of those new ones:) I have not tried anything as of yet, but doing a lot of reading and learning. I am looking to change the way I been living. I want to incorporate a lot of things but things that teens would love as well - since I don't want to be preparing multiple meals.

So with that being said Alissa where can I find great recipes to get started with?

I also heard that you can make cookies and cakes without any dairy - flour -etc. If this is so where are those kind of recipes located as well. Can I do them from scratch?

Thanks

[Veganforlife]

Not Alissa but her book thoroughly outlines everything from explaining what eating Raw is to a food shopping list to over 300 recipes.

[brendasue]

This is so true. I have been on raw for 15 days now and decided on the 6th day that I was going to have to tweak this thing to suit me. I have a habit of jumping into things with both feet........the all or nothing attitude.

I stopped worrying. I stopped worrying if I was eating too many nuts. I stopped worrying if I still had a cup of coffee in the morning. I also stopped feeling guilty because I'm eating cooked beans and potatoes once or twice a week.

My way of thinking is I'm eating better and healthier than I have in my whole life. I will work on these last few things as I go, but for now it's keeping me on the path.

I decide to add food prep slowly. Tonight I made ice cream and it was great. Maybe I will try something else next week. I'm trying to find raw coconut and raw powdered chocolate to experiment with.

I'm not worrying about how many calories I'm eating or if I'm losing weight. I will know that soon enough.

This is a journey for me. One day at a time. One hurdle at a time. I'm looking long-term. I'll see where I am in a year. I may not be 100 percent raw at this moment but I am "high raw" and for now it's good.

Best;
Belle

[starck]

I'm beginning my first 30 DAy challenge

ALL RAW FOR 30 day's !!

starting October first !!!!!!!!!!

looking forward to this !

[Dararaw36]

Good Luck starck!!!!

[FrannieGreen]

Great article Alissa. Great tips and advise.
A few weeks ago I challenged myself to 2 weeks raw. To jump start my path to better health. I was not a bad eater, but I wanted to do more for my health.
Today is day 30 going 100% raw! I am shocked and full of joy that I want to keep going.
You will think this is funny,...but I purchased a Vitamix during their local roadshow.
I am excited to use it instead of my old jalopy blender.
I have been making new recipes and experimenting on my own. To build a book of what I like.
Analeah, take it one step at a time. Add something new every other day. Do some reading on how to sprout. Find a reliable source for your grains and seeds. Do you have a local health food store. Sometimes a Chiropractic College will have local health food stores that are just wonderful (which is my case). Visit this forum often. Ask questions.
My best,
Frannie