am i eating enough?

[PdaFunk]

Hey so I am really not doin so good in the money department right now and its hard to eat raw. So this is what ive eaten today

5 bananas
half a canteloupe
a cucumber
two tablespoons of bee pollen
and a little bit of greens

thats all i can realy afford to eat right now and im afraid im not getting enough calories/nutrients. what are your thoughts? should i just go back to SAD? or would it be better off to stay raw and just eat light for a few weeks? thanks!!!

[SevenKindsOfCookie]

Perhaps you could introduce some quinoa into your diet? It's fairly cheap and has a good amount of calories and nutrients. Best of all, it can be sprouted and eaten raw. You can make a nice salad with it as well.
Also, if possible, you can look for some wild greens. They are free and usually much more nutrient dense than the ones you get in the store.

[PdaFunk]

Thank you. I'm not sure what quinoa is but i will look into it =] I take it I'm not eating enough? Im very active...and doing the math thats probabably not even 1000 calories a day...

[Revvell]

Personally, I'd get a part-time job to receive more income yet, if that's not possible, start growing sprouts. They are packed with nutrients and filling. Go to a grocery store near closing and purchase what they've marked down. You can eat like a millionaire with a few tips. Check out frugalraw's site.

[PdaFunk]

Thank you both for the replies! I work and go to school, so I don't really have time for another job haha but I will defenitly try to buy marked down foods. =]

[snoops]

how about some seeds - sunflower,hemp - cheap and caloric and WAY better than SAD

[Zanjabil]

Eat more bananas, especially for breakfast, they are cheap, eat as many as it takes to fill you up. Eat seasonally, buy locally(fruits and veg), you have to eat enough to give your body the fuel it needs. Good luck on your journey.

[SevenKindsOfCookie]

Yeah, you'll need more calories. Eating a raw doesn't have to be all that expensive.
Sprouted grains, seeds and dried fruit are generally pretty cheap and both dense in both calories and nutrients.
For example, one cup of quinoa will give you over 600 kcal, most of the iron, magnesium, phosphor, potassium and riboflavin you'll need in a day. On top of that a wopping 22 grams of good protein.
And dried fruits like organic raisins, while not the most nutrient dense, are usually cheap and will provide you with about 500kcal per cup.
Sunflower seeds for example won't give you as many calories, but it's got plenty of good fats.

[rawrawks]

Get some pots n dirt and a few plants and grow food in them. I did that. Also sprouting is cheap. Just buy the seeds. Bananas yes.

SAD food not the answer...to me, that will cost you a ton in problems.

[RawkinOnSunshine]

I'm in a similar situation, except I can't afford near that much. I work full time/sometimes over time and am in school as well. My rent is a bit high for my income but convenient and pet friendly...And then, my priority is keeping my pets well fed. So I feel your pain! I would definitely not resort to SAD though - raw is WELL worth it.

I have a question about quinoa though - if I go to bulk barn, for example, and buy it there, will this be sproutable? How exactly do I sprout it? The nutritional value looks great, perfect to bulk up my diet of limited reduced-to-clear produce.

[Celeryhead~]

No, you are not eating enough.

[SunChild]

No I am a young girl and I eat twice as much and sometimes I feel hungry!

See what you can do! In the long run you will need more.
That is like 1 meal for a man.

Get more in! Sometimes we have to look at what we can afford and be realistic, going hungry or under eating is not.
Do what you feel your body deserves, without any guilt. If you feel good eating whole cooked foods, then fine do it for a while, if not, and you feel good fasting a little, then do that! As long as there is not too much inner conflict. Be kind to yourself.

[Jenifae]

Of course we're all gonna tell ya to stay raw! :)

Looks like you need more Greens/Veggies. I would try to add some more bulk veggies like: carrots, broccoli, etc. Maybe some Avocados. Apples are somewhat reasonable and good. You could add nuts & seeds for calories if you can tolerate them. Soak and dehydrate them if you can.

Bananas are Great and Mangos are caloric and filling.

[kidkid]

i would also look into food stamps in your state and see what they offer. There is no harm in applying, and you will probably get something from the government. Food stamps recently saved my butt and i would recommend them to everyone.

[Mikey_H]

Sunflower seeds, apples, bananas, quinoa in bulk, carrots, lettuce heads, and brocolli are a few I can think of that are almost always pretty cheap.
I've realized that buying locally, like in local produce shops, is almost always much cheaper and as long as food is in season it will be very good. And get in the habit of going to the local stores frequently, like every other day or so... then you will only have what you need for those days and over time will waste less food... and less money.

I'm an active person and I need MUCH more food than what you listed, and I know I spent MUCH more eating SAD...

Invest in healthy oils if you want to add some extra calories during the day but more importantly just find out where the local stores are and study the price differences of the produce compared to the supermarkets.

[Silveretta]

Sprouting quinoa is sooo easy- just soak it and then ideally put it in a strainer, cover it, and in a few hours it will sprout!
Some don't like the taste, but I do!

[SevenKindsOfCookie]

Sprouting quinoa is sooo easy- just soak it and then ideally put it in a strainer, cover it, and in a few hours it will sprout!
Some don't like the taste, but I do!

Also, make sure to wash them properly. Qunioa is coated with saponin. It's not harmful but it does taste like soap. :)

[RawYorkCity]

Eat more bananas, especially for breakfast, they are cheap, eat as many as it takes to fill you up. Eat seasonally, buy locally(fruits and veg), you have to eat enough to give your body the fuel it needs. Good luck on your journey.

Yes yes, I sometimes only eat bananas for days because they are so cheap! Some call it going on "banana island." :cool:

[PdaFunk]

Thank you all so much for the replys! I appreciate it. Well I'm NOT going back to SAD. I don't care if I go hungry. I figure its better to eat less and get more out of it than eat more for nothing. I'm defenitly going to look into quinoa, sounds like a really good food. Not much experience with sprouting but it doesn't seem too hard. And about the inner conflict thing...I would feel worse eating SAD, even though I know I'll get enough calories. I look at normal food, and it makes me sick to think how it's made!
Yuck! But that's just me =] Thank you for all your support, none of my family or friends really understand why I'm raw, and I havn't been raw long enough for them to notice any drastic changes. So again, thank you =]