A day in the life....

[veggiefreak]

Hi there!
I am new to raw foods, and have so many questions.

First off, I am doing a raw diet after struggling with an eating disorder for a very long time. My problem was more with bingeing/purging, some food restricting, and some compulsive exercising. I have always weighed a normal to slightly low weight for my height. I was practicing Vegan Macrobiotics, and while really enjoying the principals struggled with the foods and cooking styles. I couldn't eat enough salads!!

So, now that I am transitioning to raw I am finding that I am not sure how much to eat (remember that listening to my body is somewhat of a foreign concept!!) When I wake up and start to feel hungry (usually pretty quickly) I make a green drink - I usually drink Green Lemonade from Natalia Rose's Raw Foods Detox Diet book. Then I might have a banana mid morning, or I might wait until lunch. At lunch I eat (for example) some celery dipped in hummus, a salad with arugula & other mixed greens, cukes, sun dried tomatoes, 1/2 an avacado, sprinkled with gomashio and the juice of 1/2 a lime. I also might snack on some carrots.

Then at around two or three (always a terribly horrible time for me - ED or not) I want to have bagels and sandwiches, cookies, pastries, anything "white" I can get my hands on....in fact, it could possibly be a piece of bacon and I would eat it!! I do have to add that diabetes and hypoglycemia runs heavily in my family. So, I usually have a snack of fruit or something and then get my "fix" from a huge bowl of oatmeal for dinner.....HELP!!!! Can anyone please post "a day in the life" for me to get some idea of how people are eating?

As far as technical questions go, I also have a few regarding tools. I have a juicer that is the bottom of the barrel, target brand juicer that I got some time ago to "try" - I wanted to make sure I was going to be into this before buying an amazing juicer. Now, I want to juice everything I can get my hands on, but am debating as to whether I should buy the Green Star or the Champion. If I got the champion, I would also buy a manual wheatgrass juicer to use as well. (I believe the greenstar will juice everything - veggies, fruit and wheatgrass?) Also, I have a cuisinart food processor and just a standard blender. I am ordering a Vitamix asap.

Any information about the diet and what the heck I should eat would be great. Maybe I am just not getting "enough" and therefore am out of my mind by mid-late afternoon. I do have Natalia Rose's book, along with the 12 Steps to Raw that I am just now reading. I would also love whatever product info I can get on juicers. Thank you SO MUCH in advance!!

[RawSweetie]

Hi Veggiefreak :)

when you said you crave "white" foods, the first things I thought of were to make a whopping raw lemon cheesecake! YUM!! So good, it's a treat and could satisfy that longing for heavy, creamy, sweet "white" that comes over me, too, that just makes me want to say, "Mommmmyyyy! :p There are recipes all over for this. Do a search on the banana for it.

You could get your hands on a high-quality jar of coconut butter (not oil), because it has the coconut meat blended in. Some eat it with a spoon. You can spread it on a banana, have it with some pineapple....lots of things.

There are options out there that are raw and satisfying. Have fun!

p.s. I am JUST NOW REALLY trying to stay away from that afternoon bagel, so I know it can be a challenge. Big challenge. White SAD stuff is addictive as h*ll. :(

[beckx]

try green smoothies. make them in the morning, get as many greens into that smoothie as you can. give it a day or two and you should notice a significant decrease in your afternoon cravings. if it doesn't help, try a second green smoothie around bagel time for a snack.

green juices may work in the same way but i'm pretty sure the fiber in the smoothies is key to sustaining you through the day.

good luck and congrats on overcoming your ed.

oh and i have about a weeks worth of posts where i list what i'm eating on my blog (link in signature), though i've been juice feasting for the last few days. i think if you get enough replies you'll notice that most everyone eats pretty differently... really interesting.

[veggiefreak]

Thanks! I am not sure how I can do a smoothie until I get my vitamix (ordered TODAY!!!) I tried it in my food processor, not great. I have a juicer, but don't get nearly as filled up as I did with the smoothie in the food processor. Any ideas?

[Barbie2]

I use a standard blender for my smoothies. They turn out smooth and yummy.