how do you get all your nutrients?

[reggaedog]

I'm not sure exactly what people who eat a raw diet actually eat - like what does your meals look like?

I tried going back to a regular diet and I got sick so I'm going back to trying to eat raw food again. I guess it's sad that I had to remember how bad I felt so that I could stay committed... but I"m sure a lot of people go through that.

I had trouble with fatigue,weakness, and lack of focus in my thinking which is why I went off of the raw diet - so I figure I didn't do something right - and keep in mind when I say raw diet - I was not 100% raw and I also may not have been eating the same foods you all were eating so I may have been missing something. I have Alissa's book, but I'm not sure I did it right. The recipes seemed a little complicated for me so I ate mostly fruit and nuts - so I"m sure I wasn't doing something right - so I'm trying to learn.

I think yall are doing a great thing and I wish I could have done it better without having to learn my lessons the hard way.

God bless and please be patient with me.

Thanks

Rick

[RawSar]

Hey Rick! I've had to get sick from a SAD meal a FEW times to realize that the SAD diet isn't the way to go for me and that I need to really stick with RAW. So don't stress about it too much, we slip and fall but we get back up again.

My boyfriend and I keep our meals as simple as possible. Mornings: Lemon water with Chlorella and Spirulina (which has tons of nutrients and protein).
Later we'll have a fruit salad with whatever fruit is in season. Lunch is a green juice/vegetable juice/fruit juice or green smoothie. Dinner is always a big salad with a simple avocado dressing or simply just a fruit blended for dressing.

We both see a Naturopath regularly where we get electro dermal screening done that tells us if we are low on any vitamins or minerals or what organ is weak.. We don't take any vitamins or minerals that our body doesn't need (otherwise they build up and can become toxic)

Your body will go through a detox which could (I'm not a doctor) be why your having trouble with "fatigue, weakness and lack of focus in your thinking"
Keep track of what you eat and when you feel these come on..
Stick with RAW the best you can!! I highly recommend the EDS to help!!

All the best
SAR

[DebB]

One of my all-time favorite meals is Alissa's Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms and Karen's Kale & Avocado Salad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlpy2RcsOtc). I could eat this meal several times a week and never tire of it.

[spicyfull]

Have you purchased any RAW Books like Alissa's? Reading RAW Books, going to RAW Preparation Classes will teach you OH SO Much. You can learn here but there is Nothing like hands on Experience.

Where do We get our Neutrients? I always like to say First Hand. Usually the Cow chews the Grass and People chew the Cow. We just cut the Cow out and Chew our own Grass.

Going RAW can take several tries. I Encourage you to keep trying, stay connected to this Forum. Here you have Family to talk to who have been through what you are experiencing.

When you first began RAW, you will experience Fatigue in a BIG way, that is because your little body is working so hard cleaning up years of JUNK, your job is to keep feeding your body RAW. During this time even though you feel bad, continuing to eat RAW is like adding more wood to the fire, eating RAW will win and all these other feeling will subside.

So I encourage you to hang in and you WILL be Happy you did.

[reggaedog]

I guess I really had no idea how bad I felt trying to eat normal cooked food - it was such a huge difference - it's sad that I had to go through that to get my attention... hopefully I'll remember the experience.. whenever I get to where I really want to eat normal food again. It's more that I want to fit in with other people so much - than me wanting to actually eat this stuff - if that makes any sense. It is hard to eat differently than other people for me.


thanks

Rick

[reggaedog]

I really appreciated the comments..

[beckx]

hi rick.

raw food IS normal food. its the stuff with the weird chemicals in it to make it taste artificially bad to other animals and insects or artificially good to us that you have to worry about.

don't be too hard on yourself. this is a big lifestyle change that can be really difficult, especially if you don't have a lot of raw support in your life. i've gotten away from raw a bit myself for the last few months, but back full speed now. i think even most of the raw 'gurus' have... so we're in good company.

just take it one day at a time. :)

beckx

[Revvell]

Actually, in our society, eating cooked food and the carcasses of animals is "normal". It's not natural though.

Revvell (http://www.CafePress.com/Revvellations)

[reggaedog]

I tried going at least 60-80% raw last year but I was having several problems
1) I was having a great deal of fatigue.
2) I was having problems cognitively - most everyone said I was scattered in my thinking and not very coherent. I was obviously missing something in my diet. After several months of being back on meat, I'm far improved over where I was, but still have some cognitive issues.. So. I don't know. I'm reviewing my medical records to try to understand what might have been going on and attempting to talk to the doctor about it..

so? I don't know... I'm trying to research the raw diet better to see if I can make better sense of it. I read what Alyssa eats and I don't see how you can get all your nutrients just eating some fruit a few nuts and a big salad and maybe some crackers or whatever. But she looks pretty healthy... so. I will try to read her book again and try to learn before trying it again. but I really think a raw diet is a better choice I just have to learn what to do and what not to do. For me the problem is it isn't exactly inexpensive or easy to find produce in the middle of WINTER in WISCONSIN.

God Bless..

Rick

[raw runner]

I tried going at least 60-80% raw last year but I was having several problems
1) I was having a great deal of fatigue.
2) I was having problems cognitively - most everyone said I was scattered in my thinking and not very coherent. I was obviously missing something in my diet. After several months of being back on meat, I'm far improved over where I was, but still have some cognitive issues.. So. I don't know. I'm reviewing my medical records to try to understand what might have been going on and attempting to talk to the doctor about it..

so? I don't know... I'm trying to research the raw diet better to see if I can make better sense of it. I read what Alyssa eats and I don't see how you can get all your nutrients just eating some fruit a few nuts and a big salad and maybe some crackers or whatever. But she looks pretty healthy... so. I will try to read her book again and try to learn before trying it again. but I really think a raw diet is a better choice I just have to learn what to do and what not to do. For me the problem is it isn't exactly inexpensive or easy to find produce in the middle of WINTER in WISCONSIN.

God Bless..

Rick

the only issue you are facing,in my opinion, is you don't allow yourself to be really what it wants to be.
For example, if you need to eat five bananas at 1 AM, do it, don't ask yourself why you are doing it.Another thing, try to be ignorant on the raw diet.Don't read books, don't search on the internet for infos, just try the common sense.You'll soon find out what is good for yourself.
Listen to your body, if eating potatoes gives you flatulences, just eat less but don't cancel them from your diet.I think people fail in the raw food diet because they don't give all the means to go where they want to go.These means are the food,all the food,every fruit, veggie, nuts, seeds, even meat.This site is the rawfoodtalk but it isn't written the rawvegantalk so even meat in the raw form should come into play for those who want to eat meat.Personnally i don't but hey you might.i just say that if you don't allow yourself to be mistaken sometimes,you won't find your way in the raw food diet...

[adiebabe]

Offhand, it sounds like a B12 deficiency (just guessing since you said meat-eating again, it's gotten better). That can get pretty serious... It can take a long time to show but for the most part, can be reversed (it can take some time though). It's definitely something you should look at supplementing though, since being raw, you could easily be deficient and not know it until damage has occurred.

You definitely need to know what your body's requirements are. If you can get it through your food, great! If you can't or aren't sure you can get enough, it seems wise to check into supplements. You want to be a healthy raw foodie!

[raw runner]

Offhand, it sounds like a B12 deficiency (just guessing since you said meat-eating again, it's gotten better). That can get pretty serious... It can take a long time to show but for the most part, can be reversed (it can take some time though). It's definitely something you should look at supplementing though, since being raw, you could easily be deficient and not know it until damage has occurred.

You definitely need to know what your body's requirements are. If you can get it through your food, great! If you can't or aren't sure you can get enough, it seems wise to check into supplements. You want to be a healthy raw foodie!

offhand???why???

[adiebabe]

offhand???why??? Because I'm not a doctor, nor am I privy to any real information on his condition, just the limited bit he posted (but combine that with the fact that B12 is the easiest thing for vegans and raw foodists to become deficient in, and it's a logical guess).