Over 50 and new to it all

[NeGaGal]

Hi. I'm Karla and very, very new to the whole idea of eating raw. I didn't go looking for this; it sort of found me.

At this point in time I'm looking at my kitchen/pantry/freezer and freaking! I have mostly canned and frozen veggies. My evolution from a total SAD was in process and I thought I was doing a great job and then I found out about raw foods.

I don't have much of the kitchen equipment I'm reading about either.

What a transition! Any suggestions on transitioning without the total freak out feeling? Our children all still live at home. The oldest just found out his company is cutting back and his hours have been cut down. We'll be helping him with his finances now...

[sport]

Just remember that Rome wasn't built in a day.
You can do it at your own pace as long as every day is better than the one before. The direction is what is important and not the speed.

[RawKnitster]

There is so much you can do with fresh whole foods. The kitchen equipment is nice, but not necessary. I got by with a standard blender for a long time. Determination is all you need. And you've got that. Persistence helps, too.

Welcome to the over 50 club. Best wishes for a long and healthy raw journey. :)

[Veganforlife]

Welcome! THis has been discussed at good length, if you do a search, you'll be able to find some useful ways to be Raw and Frugal. Mattye wrote a book on this.
Get in touch w/your local grocery store and ask about their "seconds" of fruit and veggies.
Check out yard sales for "equipment"

Where there's a will, there's a way...

[Moretta]

Welcome and good luck on your RAWNESS journey.

[cara4art]

Welcome to our section of the board!
I'm 61, and loving raw myself! Since you are coming straight off of SAD, be very patient with yourself. It might work right now, like for the next week or so, to just start adding fresh raw foods to your meals, as the fruits and veggies are THE most important foundation of raw anyway, with other stuff added in like nuts, seeds, and maybe some sprouted things. As you add this fresh stuff and make it a larger proportion of your daily intake, it will progress that you will be eating less of the cooked foods and junk foods will drop out entirely. After that, eat one meal 100% raw per day, then two, and finally 3, along with the raw snacks of course. For some people this proceeds more slowly, others get sufficiently motivated to go 100% right away, with varying degrees of success. It might take a number of tries too - again, be patient with yourself and accept everything as a learning experience because this is an ongoing process. For us older ones, it might take more time to adjust than say someone who is only 19 and going raw after being on a pretty health-conscious diet before - as they say, your mileage may vary!
There are tons of recipes out there that are pretty simple - check out the recipes and food prep part of this board for some ideas, and google around too. Your relatives will benefit from some more fresh foods around, even if they don't go raw with you, which it might be a real stretch to expect. And as far as keeping costs down, looking around for stuff in season, and not going with the really exotic recipes really helps. Mattye here has her Frugal and Raw thing going on with great tips and recipes too. Another thing about cost, it can really depend on what area of the country you are living in too. If everything has to come in 2000 miles or so, it's definitely more expensive and not as fresh after sitting on those refrigerated trucks for lord knows how long, too. Hope this helps!

[NeGaGal]

Thanks to all who took the time to answer. I'm still reading on this site... there is so much!

[TXRAWKS]

Hey Karla,

I'm new to raw also and came from a SAD diet that wasn't very healthy. I'm 7 weeks in and now the cravings and such are over and am probably 95% raw. I added nuts, seeds, avacados and bananas at the beginning and didn't really watch how much of those items I ate. That seemed to get me over the SAD cravings and now I crave the raw more. The first 3 weeks were the worst for me then it started improving.

Hang in there and good luck to you on your journey!

[Marin Mom]

In addition to the good advice from the others check out the farmer's markets in your area. In order to cut costs, I showed up at closing time today and was able to get nearly all my greens for 1/2 price and reductions on many other produce items as well.

[NeGaGal]

Marin Mom, there isn't a farmers market where I live! I'm trying to find a co-op but what I've been told the co-ops are expensive to join. So, I'm not sure what to do.

[DebB]

Just popping in on this thread to say, "HI KARLA!!!!"

(I know her from another site)

I'm so glad you're HERE!!!

[Dianne K.]

Hi. I'm Karla and very, very new to the whole idea of eating raw. I didn't go looking for this; it sort of found me.

At this point in time I'm looking at my kitchen/pantry/freezer and freaking! I have mostly canned and frozen veggies. My evolution from a total SAD was in process and I thought I was doing a great job and then I found out about raw foods.

I don't have much of the kitchen equipment I'm reading about either.

What a transition! Any suggestions on transitioning without the total freak out feeling? Our children all still live at home. The oldest just found out his company is cutting back and his hours have been cut down. We'll be helping him with his finances now...
I was 50 in December.Started raw Oct 2 months prior .I am working on 100% and I stll have equipment to buy,Its a day e2 day journey....Have you been Raw as Of Yet.Or just thinkin of it?

[Blazin'Jane]

I just dove in a couple of years ago. There are all sorts of ways to do it. I gave away alot of canned, boxed, bottled things as I went along. Making the transition is likely to be a little pricey, but there's some good advice here about how to minimize that. Good luck! It's worth the effort of changing!!