My First Day Raw!

[DawnSierra]

Some time ago I had popped onto the forum to ask about how to go raw on a budget. With my husband and I having an EXTREMELY limited budget at that time it just wasn't possible. (I know I know.. I can already hear you telling me otherwise but please trust me. Our budget was pathetic..we were living on beans and rice.) Now circumstances have changed...

We are now living with my parents (yes just as painful as it sounds) We pay for room and board and help around the house a little and I make lunch for everyone (its our 'dinner'.) Anywho so if the hubby and I paying for food also.. why not used this pooled resource to try out some healthier foods? *shrug* Unfortunately I'm the only one in the family crazy enough to give raw a go. lol However after talking it over with my family and telling them how I've really wanted to try this for such a long time they were pretty supportive.. not interested but supportive. ;)

There are some difficulties here for me to contend with. Everyone else will still want their pasta and chicken and pork chops, etc. That means I'm surrounded by temptation. I mean seriously.. there are Klondike bars in the freezer at this very moment. So that's cooking for 3+ AND myself.

On the plus side I'm SUPER EXCITED! I just got back from the store with bananas and nuts and raisins and dates and cucumbers and summer squash and just all kinds of yummy goodies. (Nuts unsalted but most likely not raw.. got them at Sam's and aside from the spinach I doubt anything else is actually organic. Also I don't think my olive oil is cold pressed.)
((I would, of course, get ALL organic/etc however money and availability are still factors.))

Today I've actually been all raw but I have been considering whether or not I should still drink my soy milk rather than waste it or if I should add brown rice on occasion or plain yogurt to my diet. I think I might just take it a day at a time for now.

For now I'm working with what I've got and I just wanted to share my very first day with all of you. Sure I still can't handle health store prices and I think I'll be opting for walnuts rather than macadamias until I can afford otherwise but dangit.. I feel good about my decision. :D

Oh! Also, before I forget, I should mention I'll be 35 on November 17th! So my goal is to try and get into as many days of raw healthful eating until then so I won't feel down about getting older and feel I have something more to celebrate. (Too bad I'm too late to join the 30 day challenge.)

Oh! Oh! And BONUS.. I had my first green smoothie and completely grossed out my family! It was awesome! *high fives*


So far today I've had:
Big salad with tomatoes, walnuts, ground flax, red onions & homemade dressing (olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, herbs)
Big handful of walnuts. MMm.. crunchy..
Tea sweetened with stevia. (KAL stevia..I highly recommend it!)
And my big ugly green smoothie. Yum!! (1 large banana, handful of spinach, filtered water.)

Dinner will be either zucchini and summer squash "pasta" with garlic/tomato sauce or I might just pig out on the mini melon in the fridge.




Teenie Tiny Update:

I opted for the melon for dinner followed up by another green smoothie. This time I added 2 dates and a sprinkle of cinnamon to spruce it up.. man it was yummy.

Oh! And I never mentioned WHY I wanted to go raw. I've been fascinated with the idea behind it and though I'm not a vegetarian or vegan or anything like that I'm excited about good nutrition and there's just no way I think anyone can argue that the raw food diet is at all unhealthy. I'm excited by the IDEA of it all and I'm just hoping that I'll have that same kind of willpower I had back when I quit smoking (Oct, 8, 2006) to try and stay raw at the very least until my birthday. I think after that time I'll decide whether or not this is something that makes me feel good, feel happy, etc. and if its something I can feasibly continue. So its not so much to lose weight, though that would be nice, as much as just to feel BETTER.

Okay hushing up now... thanks again for the support.. :D

[AmandaButBetter]

Good job, DawnSierra! You're off to a great start. :)

[DawnSierra]

Thanks so much!!! :D

Its so nice there's this forum to talk about raw and ask questions and what not and I've found people to be so genuinely kind and helpful. :o

[spicyfull]

My Best to you........One Day at a Time.

[DawnSierra]

My Best to you........One Day at a Time.


Thanks so much! :D

Well surprisingly my husband has grown interested and decided to try some of the food. This morning I had a green smoothie and for lunch I made he and I both some zucchini/summer squash noodles topped with Alissa's tarragon pepper sauce - with Italian herbs in place of the tarragon and a clove of garlic thrown in. For dessert we had a slice of watermelon and later dates and walnuts for a snack. Mike, my hubby, actually liked lunch however ... I think we'd have both preferred saladacoo sliced veggies instead of peeler sliced. Otherwise it was all pretty yummy..

Too bad I don't have a fancy high powered blender or a dehydrator BUT I think we can work with what we have for now.

Oh and for the record.. I ALWAYS have tummy issues but today.. it feels good. I haven't had any heartburn or cramping or other usual tummy upset even after all the onions and garlic I've been eating. lol Oh and I'm not hungry! I was worried I would be but even with just watermelon and a green smoothie for dinner last night.. I was stuffed!

So.. yup... its starting out pretty well. I'm hopefully and excited and despite making beef stew and rolls for my parents Mike and I enjoyed our lunch. Good stuff.. good stuff.. :D

[katchmoleen]

Welcome and congratulations on your decision. You will find there are a LOT of us who have to continue cooking SAD for our families while eating raw. I was lucky, my two teenaged daughters have gone raw with me, but the rest of my family is still SAD. I have them eating a lot of raw food but still have to fix them their meat and potatoes. I think they are all healthier for it. My goal is to make the meal all raw except for the meat. The other day I made raw spaghetti sauce and my SAD folks just added browned hamburger to it for their spaggheti. They all liked it! My dh says that raw food has a lot more flavor.
There are lots of us watching our budgets too!

[DawnSierra]

...My goal is to make the meal all raw except for the meat...

YES! I was thinking the same thing! Of course when I suggested it *chuckle* my Mother instantly reminded me of her dentures and how uncooked veggies would be too difficult to chew. (Geez.. used to be SHE was the one making sure I'd eat my veggies and now its the other way round.)

So for now I'm thinking salads, which my family already eats fairly often, and maayybbee.. cold soups? *cringe* I don't know yet.. but I'm already thinking of what we'll do for Thanksgiving. I might have my husband do the cooked foods like chicken or turkey and I'll make the raw cranberry sauce, maybe a nice salad and some dip with veggies. Maybe a nice fruit salad for dessert.

So yes.. excellent idea I know I need to try the same. Any ideas like the spaghetti sauce idea.. throw em my way! lol :D

Thanks yet again for the support.. :o


ON A SEPARATE NOTE:
B12?
Someone was posting some topics from another forum or something and then POOF their thread disappeared. lol Anywho it did prompt me to try and find fruits/veggies/nuts/seeds that contain B12. I found this from someone else's post.. http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/vitamins-nutrition-chart.html#vitaminb2
Though I clearly still have no firm grasp on what B12 raw foods I can eat but I did see some mention of miso and nori? *shrug* Again I'm a complete raw noob... some any links/info/etc would be awesome. :D

%
Oh and one more thing.. if I'm only eating only fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Mrs. Bragg's Aminos and dried herbs BUT I don't know with absolute certainty if the oil is cold pressed or if the nuts are uncooked what percentage of raw food would you say I'm eating... %95? *shrug*

[DawnSierra]

I'm on my third day raw and I feel good.
I have to be honest I'm surprised at how well I feel in comparison to stories of people having tummy issues when first starting raw. I read stories about your first week or so being "uncomfortable" and mention of stomach cramping, etc but I feel fine. I'm not exactly know for my iron gut. lol So I just wonder what is it that I'm doing right or what is it about me that would let me have such a smooth and pleasant transition...?
If I had to guess.. hmm.. hydration maybe? I do drink a lot of water and iced tea. On a related note.. it could be due to my not having any dehydrated foods due to my lack of a dehydrator maybe? lol
I feel good thusfar and haven't had any kind of problem.. in fact I'd say my tummy feels better than normal... :)


By the way.. I'm so proud I've been such a good girl. lol Here's what I've had so far today.. :D
* green smoothie
* BIG salad (romain, spinach, red onion, bell pepper, carrot, cucumber) topped with homemade dressing (olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, herbs) and almond ricotta on the side
* banana
* orange
* handful of baby carrots dipped in almond ricotta
* glasses of iced tea sweetened with stevia

For dinner I'm hoping one of my avocados will finally ripen so I can have one with a wee splash of lemon juice and maybe a pinch of salt. Delish!

[DawnSierra]

Okay I doubt any is interested in this BUT.. lol

I finished the day yesterday by having an avocado for dinner and a green smoothie. For this smoothie I used watermelon and spinach and it was pretty tasty.. just tasted like watermelon; HOWEVER I had my first bad experience since I started my raw food diet. :rolleyes:
You see for many many years I've said I'm allergic to melon but I was laughed at and told that was silly. I was told since I hadn't actually been to a doctor and been diagnosed and that they had never HEARD of such a thing it was probably just me being a picky eater. So I thought they were probably right and since all it did was give me an upset tummy when I was little.. it was probably psychosomatic. So when I saw a mini watermelon at the store I grabbed it and thought I'd give it a try and most likely, I thought, it was all in my head and after all they are so good for you. So I was fine eating it straight but when I blended it I become very ill. I can only imagine it was most likely something to do with the seeds being broken down or something. At first I only had a warm tongue (which I asked some online friends about who laughed at me lol.) Then my whole mouth was warm. Then my throat was warm and started to feel sore. Then my stomach felt warm and the nausea set in. Later I got sick but nothing serious... mostly just felt very queezy and nauseous. Just to be on the safe side I took an antihistamine and drank some water and did my best to get a good nights sleep. Today I feel a lot better.. however my tummy still feels just a little unhappy with me.
So lesson learned... I'm glad the mystery is now solved and I'm feeling a little better. ;)

Today I feel a tad puny but again nothing major so I'm eating as normal.

And just because I've been listing my daily deeds.. today I've had..

* green smoothie (spinach, banana, filtered water)
* salad with various veggies with little veggie rolls on the side filled with carrots, bell peppers, spinach, tomato, almond ricotta wrapped in cucumber seasoned with just a little nama shoyu

I'm not especially hungry today but I think I'll probably have some grapes later and if the bananas hurry up and ripen one of those would probably help ease my tummy.

And to think I was JUST recently wondering why I was doing so particularly well with this raw food diet. haha Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.. ;)

Oh and by the way.. been raw for just 4 days and I've lost 5 pounds. Wild huh?

[katchmoleen]

Very sad to be allergic to melons! :eek: My older daughter ( of my two older daughters who are raw with me) can't have bananas, so that does limit the smoothies and deserts I can make. She hasn't eaten bananas in years, and her reaction is like yours. Nausea and headache. I have tried to talk her into trying it again, but she won't. Smart girl, lol.
Glad you are doing so well.

[DawnSierra]

Aww.. I'm sorry about your daughter. Gosh I don't know what I'd do without my bananas! Not only do I use them in my green smoothies but the help ease my aching tummy if I have heartburn/etc. :(

As for me.. well its a shame I was really excited to try watermelon again (it had been YEARS) and this does limit my diet a bit. No biggie though.. ;)

[DawnSierra]

Okay I should let this thread die BUT.. I'm just so proud to say THIS IS MY SEVENTH DAY RAW! *dance* :D

I was going to continue to sort of keep track of everything I was eating but after a few days I didn't want to bother. lol It been pretty easy going for me, aside from that whole watermelon allergy, but my husband is now trying it out (maybe 80-90% raw?) and he's not happy.
I made fresh corn salad (fresh corn cut from the cob, finely chopped tomato and red onion with fajita seasoning and some olive oil/lime/mrs. braggs aminos for dressing served on romain lettuce.) (Its better with avocado but I'm all out.) When Mike sat down to eat he picked up his fork, looked down at his plate and SIGHED with the most pitiful expression. He then proceeded to eat with sullen eyes and a ever present pout. Poor thing.. I keep trying to make things he'll like but he isn't happy with the raw. He says the food tastes fine, aside from the tomato soup I made lol, but it needs MEAT. I keep telling him hes free to eat whatever he likes but I don't know.. maybe its the weight loss I've been having that makes him feel the need to force himself to eat healthy. *shrug* I just eat only things I like so long as there raw and healthy and I eat a variety. I'm pretty happy.. but I feel bad for my hubby. I love him SO much and I want him to healthy AND happy.

Anywho sorry to go on and on.. I just wanted to update. So I am STILL going strong on 100% raw. However my hubby is trying to come on board .. but hes not so happy. Hopefully he'll find some raw things he likes. Maybe he'll even decide to add just a little bit of cooked meat now and then if it makes it more bearable so he won't give up all together.

I'm hopeful and gosh.. I feel SO much better.

Oh and I lost about 8 pounds now.. :D

[Green_Woman]

Way to go, Dawn!!!

If you feel like having some group support, feel free to jump on board the "90-Day Challenge" thread and hopefully we can share some recipes around and get you some ideas that your sweetheart WILL like!!!

:D

Wishing you all the best!

[DawnSierra]

Aw thanks! I just might do that! Then again I have Alissa's book and so many recipes I've found online I try something new nearly every day. :D

I will say he seemed okay with what I made for lunch today.. zucchini 'pasta' with pesto, topped with chopped tomatoes and portobello 'steak' on the side. It was SO filling though.. gosh.. but tasty.. :)

[DawnSierra]

Well its my last day raw.. day 30. *phew!*

Its been a really interesting experiment for me and ended up leading me on a unexpected path.

In total I lost about 13 pounds and my skin looks very good! Good enough people actually remarked on it.. that was a pleasant surprise. :D

However some things ended up being a struggle after about week 2. I fell into ketosis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis), which I knew nothing about. That's fine though for me being I'm not a diabetic however if I were that might have been a little dangerous or at the very least unwise honestly. Unfortunately I read again and again, here this forum as well as elsewhere, that those muscle cramps you may experience after starting the diet were due to detox.. which isn't exactly true; its actually due to the sudden and dramatic decrease in carbs and your body turning to burning fat for energy. (According to what I read on wikipedia and elsewhere.) So that COULD be a bad thing for others but again.. no biggy for me. If my body wants to burn fat it can go right ahead and keeping doing it for all I care. lol
Another thing that came up unexpectedly, being I drank green smoothies all the time and took vitamins with every meal, I was surprised to find I had developed an iron deficiency. My hair has thinned some and my gums towards the front of my mouth turn pale and very irritated.. even appearing slightly torn/abrased. I believe the first symptom I noticed was pale inner eyelids and that's when I upped my vitamins but then the other symptoms followed.
The only other thing that bothered me a bit and, again, this didn't come up until about halfway through my 30 days raw experiment, was my absolute lack of energy. I weirdly felt better physically BUT I was VERY sleepy nearly all day long. I like feeling better but feeling downright sleepy during the day when I know I got enough sleep that night.. bleh..

So I learned alot and I think, despite all my green smoothies and vitamins to compensate, I just couldn't seem to eat enough to really keep my strength up and keep me entirely healthy. I think its a good thing for some but its not for everyone. I just don't seem to have the appetite for it.

I had decided I would consider what to do with my diet at the end of my raw food experiment. I was thinking of adding eggs and/or lean meat back to my diet but continuing to eat raw fruits and vegetables and making them the bulk of my diet. I knew I didn't want to add back grains or legumes or sugar/fructose or anything with MSG or an overabundance of other nasty chemicals. Come to find out that there is a diet called the paleo diet that.. well that's pretty much it. lol (Though raw meat is right out for me.. no thanks.. I prefer mine cooked.) Anywho my entire family is now on board, even my parents, so we're going to give that a go and see what we think.

So essentially I will strive to eat as many fresh raw (preferably organic) fruits and veggies... just no longer 100% starting tomorrow.) ;)

I'm SO glad I decided to try raw and I'll definitely be referencing Alissa's book for lots of raw healthy recipes.

Thanks to Alissa and everyone here at raw food talk!! *hugs*

[Fethenwen]

Wow that is wonderful you went raw with such motivation for such a period of time!
Too bad it ended with ketosis, I think also that it would be a good idea not to continue with the 100% raw diet just yet as you are still unexperienced.

I HIGHLY recommend tracking your eatings with Fitday.com or something similar. This is a very useful tool to keep track on what you are eating. Getting enough calories a day is very important, otherwise you end up getting tired.
Eat more sprouts (beans and quinoa etc.) and fruits to keep you full through the day.
It really sounds like you certainly didn't eat enough food overall.


You should also read more about raw foodism, about minerals and vitamins that are essential and how to get them. Consider also to eat supplements of B (especially B12), D, iron and calsium if it feels like you need it. Especially in the beginning. Later on you might not need any.

Good luck and hugs!

I'm also in the very beginning of raw foodism, but I'm starting this slow. This week I'm only about 70% raw, and will slowly increase raw ingredients. I still eat cooked whole rice, quinoa etc., and sometimes bread.