Are you, without question, 100% raw?

[~ladybug]

http://i40.tinypic.com/dtcnp.jpg

I've been eating very high raw and have been very happy at that level. But I'm feeling a strong pull to take the plunge to 100%... with NO questionable products whatsoever.

I keep reading the difference is like night and day. I want to know that.

Are you 100% raw? Not one questionable thing crosses your lips? What's it like?

Or, have you gone from high% to 100%-no-doubt. And if so, what changes have you seen?

Thanks!

[rawbabymama]

Questionable is somewhat subjective...some people consider foods dehydrated at all to be questionable. What do you consider questionable?


For me, one bite of cooked food kills what I call the "raw magic". I was 100% raw for 15 straight months back in the day, before I got pregnant. It was pretty amazing...my energy was incredibly, I felt wonderful every day, I never got sick, my skin was beautiful, I didn't need deodorant - I'm talking pure, vibrant health...a miracle for me, as I was always sick as a child/young adult.

Any amount of cooked food, for me, means I am constantly playing "catch up". For example, I went back to 100% raw March 27, but last Thursday, after an incredibly traumatizing experience, I ate some cooked food (sprouted corn tortillas w/raw local organic grass-fed cow milk cheese warmed in the pan & 3 cups of red wine). I am finally, five days later, back to where I was health & weight wise the day before. I have had ill effects from something as seemingly innocuous as steamed broccoli (gained weight, woke up feeling hung over). I have been doing this for years, and I am tired of it. I am determined to stay 100% raw permanently and stop making my body constantly have to do damage control.

So, yeah, definitely night and day. I think the experience varies for everyone. Some of us are more extremely affected than others.

Best Wishes,

Michele

[Dimond]

I'm 100% raw and eat very simple now. But questionable really depends. I'm quite picky with what I'll eat, but there are always things that may or may not be perfect.

If you're happy with being high raw, then stay with that. Do whatever you want and don't worry about it. You can always change back.

[T-Bird]

Give it a whirl and report back to the group!:)

I've been 100% for several months....possible hiccups black peppercorns and red pepper flakes. I've heard most people don't count spices you use so little of????

I get most of my food from a raw food chef on this 4 month program...not sure about his spices:eek:

Almost at the 3 month mark - and I've now where near found "raw magic".

I'm trying to keep the faith.

About 6 years ago I went 100% for 3 days and had "raw magic" - despite up to 30 days, and currently at about 90 on my longest ever - I've never gotten back there.

Kind of like naria or brigadoon......I know it's around here somewhere!

[rawbabymama]

Aww!

This made me laugh! Check all those empty cupboards once the cooked food is cleared out, it might be in there!

[~ladybug]

rawbabymama - For me questionable would be anything I wasn't 100% sure of. We have pecans picked up from a friend's yard, so those would be ok. My sunflower seeds sprout so they're ok. I probably wouldn't dehydrate, just to be sure. No packaged anything.

I know just what you mean about the catch up. I eat a little more cooked on the weekends so Monday on into Wednesday, I'm catching up. I'm tired of it too.

Dimond, I have been happy but I want to at least try the next level.

T-Bird, I think I'll do just that. Are you doing anything different now than when you had the magic? Any little suspicious thing that might be holding you back?

That magic is what is drawing me.

[T-Bird]

T-Bird, I think I'll do just that. Are you doing anything different now than when you had the magic? Any little suspicious thing that might be holding you back?

I don't know, not that I can pin point. I met someone at a raw food event that experienced the same thing - first time was incredible - never got there again. He'd tried many times!

In between then and now - I've had a lot of silver removed from my mouth - and had a head injury that affect my thinking 6+ months, maybe still does, lol. How that might be in with things, I don't know.

So I started just regular - coming from pretty close to 50% raw as my normal eating the past few years - signed up for the raw food box program at the local raw food restaurant. ALOT more and varied foods and greens than I ever would thought to buy.


Then I added green smoothies.

Then wheat grass juice.

Nothing near it!

I have about 6 weeks left on my raw food program - getting prepared meals. I'll see how I can tweek things up when I'm on my own...

Maybe too much dehydrated food? IDK. Maybe mercury problems? Residual head trauma?

I keep hoping!

[rayofsunshine]

nope! But my process is to get closer and closer.

[Humanist]

Dr. Kristine Nolfi wrote that she had a tumor that diminished in size on 100% raw. When she dipped below 100% raw, it started growing again.

I was 100% raw for eight months, except for raisins and dried fruit. Had a lot of energy. Most of that time I was living a very strenuous life, hitchhiking around Europe and living in a pup tent.

[gs4life]

for me, the difference between 100% raw with no questionable items (dehydrated foods, nuts, packaged raw products) and high raw is like the difference between night and day. when i eat only juicy fruits and leafy greens my health, energy and mental clarity soar!
i find a big difference is also whether i eat low fat or high fat. even truly raw nuts and heavier raw products will not give me the "raw edge" i'm looking for. this isn't to say that i never have nuts or gourmet raw, but when i do i can definitely feel the difference and body suffers likewise.

[Cheremoya]

No. 70 to 80 % at the moment. Cut back the nuts.

[freshlight]

I'm with gs4life: 100% raw is 1000% life! Go for it,-it's WORTH it.

Salt, nuts, seeds,dried fruit&herbs, AVC, honey,oil, yeast, agave etc. don't belong to the raw food lifestyle for me. Neither do bananas.

The juicier-the better. YAY!

[LotsaRaw]

I'm with gs4life: 100% raw is 1000% life! Go for it,-it's WORTH it.

Salt, nuts, seeds,dried fruit&herbs, AVC, honey,oil, yeast, agave etc. don't belong to the raw food lifestyle for me. Neither do bananas.

The juicier-the better. YAY!


Why no bananas?

[Veronica01]

Because they're hybridized and not really natural? idk

[freshlight]

They taste cooked (to me)

[GoingtoRAW]

I was at 100% raw several times when I took detox classes and I could definitely tell the difference between raw and high raw. Even though I feel really good on high raw (except when I don't drink my smoothies), I feel even better at 100% raw. I am working really hard to get there and stay there.

[SheLovesToEat]

i have done both..... been 100% raw and now i am just high raw because i use spices and i like coffee.
but....my meals are 100% raw foods.

speaking just for myself.....i find no difference. from what i have found if i stick with raw meals and snacks.... the spices dont matter...and i do love coffee in the morning.

for a long time i was pretty tight about what i ate but i find that its easier to stay raw when you just stick with whole foods and good seasonings.

its all about the individual YOU and what works for YOU.
i have had that 'raw magic' and its awesome when you get into that zone but ... like others..... it seems to have vanished for me. LOL
100% raw or other wise... i cant seem to get it back.
i can get close.... but its not like it was.

try 100% and see how you feel. if not you can always modify your diet.

[T-Bird]

i have had that 'raw magic' and its awesome when you get into that zone but ... like others..... it seems to have vanished for me. LOL

Wow - this is such a mystery! LOL - in a sad, ironic kind of way.

if I had known I would never get that back - I wouldn't have ever strayed!!!


I'm having such a hard time sticking with it lately.....3 solid months and nothing much to report in changes.....it is honestly getting harder to keep at it when nothing is getting better.

[SekhemNefer]

I don't understand the raw magick business. I see no difference between high raw or 100% raw. But i must say I haven't been 100% raw as long as high raw.

The only difference in my life is that if I eat high raw to 100% then I tend to dislike cooked foods more and more. And the cooked foods that once gave me satisfaction taste so bland to me. Plus, I get really sick more getting full off of cooked foods. It just sits in my stomach. I rarely get a full feeling being raw, but satisfied. However, if I do want to eat until I am full on raw, I don't get a heavy sick feeling that lasts for 2 to 3 days like cook foods make me feel.

[rawbabymama]

I don't understand the raw magick business.

LOL! I don't know why this made me laugh so hard...

I think, for me, the "magic" - which is really just this feeling of energy, vibrant health, being in tune with the universe/nature/the big electron~whoam... The best thing to compare it to is the feeling I get when I am in the ocean, or standing in the pounding rain, or feeling the wind lift my hair...like that, but all the time.

Maybe it is our bodies crying out in joy at finally getting the right foods, at no longer having to cope with dead foods. Maybe it is like being in love, that wonderful thrilling euphoria which, if things are good, eventually dwindles down to a nice cozy content feeling.

I feel the "magic" in waves now, nothing like when I first went raw. Of course, I was a decade younger, with no major stress acting as a barrier - I finally had my own apartment w/a great view, I had wonderful friends, I had a job I loved which paid well & had an extremely flexible work schedule, I had a kitty, and several terrible traumatic situations had recently been resolved. Plus, my health was a lot worse - going from having daily asthma attacks to being able to breathe for the first time in my life was pretty intense...I mean, the additional oxygen alone would be enough to make one feel pretty magickal. Also, switching from S.A.veggie-D. to 100% raw food overnight is a big difference than switching from organic, whole foods w/only 20% cooked foods to 100% raw foods off and on for years. Maybe my body is like, "I don't believe you really mean it!" :confused:

I am feeling a little better each day, a little more energy each day. It isn't the instant :D that I felt back in '99. I realized that all the other times I went raw, part of me going back to less than 100% raw was not feeling completely fabulous within a week. I've learned so much in school about the effects of stress on our bodies that I understand it is unrealistic to expect an instant transformation after everything I have been through these past 8 years. Yeah, I had a messed up life as a teenager, but nothing compares to the stress of being a single mother of a special needs child skating the poverty line. I need to give myself more time & not give up on my body's ability to heal.

For everyone else out there looking for the "raw magic" maybe you have your own complicating factors...what is different now, in comparison to the first time? Do you feel the magic at all, even in small instances throughout the day? I say give it a chance & don't give up.

[T-Bird]

I am feeling a little better each day, a little more energy each day. It isn't the instant that I felt back in '99. I realized that all the other times I went raw, part of me going back to less than 100% raw was not feeling completely fabulous within a week. I've learned so much in school about the effects of stress on our bodies that I understand it is unrealistic to expect an instant transformation after everything I have been through these past 8 years. Yeah, I had a messed up life as a teenager, but nothing compares to the stress of being a single mother of a special needs child skating the poverty line. I need to give myself more time & not give up on my body's ability to heal.

wow rawbabymama! I have soooooooooooooo been there! Tough childhood/single mom/kid with problems/poverty.

I hope things are better for you now and you are making progress! (((hugs))).

[green jeanie]

oh it exists alright...that mythical raw magic thingy

i had it best the very first time i went raw....started with a 3 day cleanse, had my first colonic and then went 100 % for 2-3 weeks eating only veggies, pumpkin seeds and flax oil...in fact i was eating flax oil and "raw cashews" so I was still in the grey but baby I was flying high

since then i have adapted my modes of high raw in many ways

but with experience on my side to take me and teach me 100% always calls me back

and as soon as i do it....the switch flips to ON again in very noticeable ways

as soon as introduce my so-so / barely breathing foods....the lights dimmer....so again with DIRECT EXPERIENCE i educate myself and naturally evolve to go for what feels the best

which happens to be 100%

last week i had a belly ache from too much rich raw so I had some kefir....it helped immediately but the next day i was foggy and tired in the morning for the first time in a loooooong time... so now i know

with no cashews, almonds, store bought "sundried" toms certain highly concentrated spices i am a plugged up, gobbling up, chunked up mess

i still dehydrate things lightly and on rare occasion but they always just .....dehydrate me ;) so it ends up not being satisfying

i know i have "the high" when:
I go from needing 9 hours of sleep to only 5-6
I never lose the love and compassion for my patients at work
I meditate every day naturally no matter what
I think about others in my relationships with greater sensitivity
I have an abundance of laughter and friendship
no frustration, negativity, competition or despair
and have total awakened gratitude for every bite of my food

good luck!:)

[T-Bird]

Great post green jeanie!

I'm trying to keep the faith and keep searching....


I know - "it's out there somewhere"

[Veronica01]

T bird, you haven't noticed feeling any better in 3 months of raw? Have you checked how much fruit you are eating versus nuts and oils? I find i get really tired and sluggish eating nuts and oils, so i reaaally limit them and when im on mainly fruit and green smoothies and salads I feel the energy sky rocket and it's night and day for me. :) Check out your ratios on fitday.com and enter a few days and see if maybe your fat levels are above 15% of your calories. Try tweaking your food choices until you feel the difference. :)

[T-Bird]

hey Veronica,

3 months - not much in changes.

My skin is a bit better - I never had acne - but I hated having a "reddish" complexion and that has tamed down and going back to a more ivoryish tone like I had when younger.

The other thing that was good was that I wasn't bloating so much. I was generally very bloated most times, and that calmed down after going 100%. Now it's back the past few weeks, and I don't know why - I haven't changed my eating except to add more greens and a wee bit less of the heavier foods.

This past week I've notice I've been craving green smoothies alot - had a small one last night with cilantro and avocado. This mornings had 3 cups backed assorted baby greens, 2 oranges, 2 bananas - all organic. I tried to use as little water to process as possible, putting the oranges on the bottom so the juice would do the processing. It just wasn't enough lol!

So - I'll try to go in that direction. More smoothies and less of the other stuff.

[Veronica01]

Try it out and see how it feels. I don't add any fat to my green smoothies either, it slows me down. :)

[mongodelight]

Eat what tastes better. Raw food. I discovered grasses today. I am just walking around grabbing grasses chewing them up. Maple leafes and the flowers of it make a good salad green base f.e

Cooked food got no taste, it only got salt and is completly disgusting garbage:D

But i am so ridiculously loaded with superfoods that i dont grave these salty cooked foods anymore.

Cooked food is just a drug and a main reason u grave it is the salt.We re all deficient in many minerals. Thats why we grave everything with salt in it.

Salt gives us the illusion we get minerals but we dont get anything. we need real superfoods and wild superfoods to get our minerals.


And yes its a difference like night and day. But one day everyone is ready for 100%. There is no way around it. It feels too good to stop trying.

[jurence]

The difference isn't night and day, but after using raw soy sauce i can definitely feel my body is dehydrated for about 10 hours regardless of how much water I drink.