How little is too little?

[Amii]

I want to be 100% but I don't have the money.

The first thing I want to make clear is that this is not about me being cheap. I know a lot of the people on here will assume that I'm just cheap but I literally do not have the money or the access to the money.

If I am to maintain a 100% raw diet I can only afford maybe four days worth of food out of a week.

Usually on a 100% raw day I will have a smoothie for breakfast, and salad for dinner and lunch. I doubt I go beyond 1000 calories. How healthy and sustainable is this?

I really cannot afford the lifestyle the way that a lot of you seem to be living. Advice please?

Is it okay to only eat once a day? Would a nutrient-packed green smoothie get me through the whole day? Two meals? Any advice appreciated.

[ShelShel]

Honestly, I think it would be better to eat several meals a day and not be completely raw. :rolleyes: When I started raw...it was only breakfast. I ate a smoothie and then finished the rest of the day with my family and their regular meals. I still lost weight and received the health benefits of eating raw in my day. I eventually increased, but this was as my body and budget could. If you can't afford to eat 100%...don't. Enjoy what you can and make the rest of your day healthy, if not raw.;) This is your journey...do it how you can.

[xPIXIEx]

Honestly, I think it would be better to eat several meals a day and not be completely raw. :rolleyes: When I started raw...it was only breakfast. I ate a smoothie and then finished the rest of the day with my family and their regular meals. I still lost weight and received the health benefits of eating raw in my day. I eventually increased, but this was as my body and budget could. If you can't afford to eat 100%...don't. Enjoy what you can and make the rest of your day healthy, if not raw.;) This is your journey...do it how you can.


This!

It's exactly what my family is doing right now. There's almost NOTHING at the farmer's market during this time of year. And buying everything I need for 4 people to eat 100% raw is not feasible when I'm forced to shop at the grocery store. We're doing as much as possible, adding more as the weather permits. :) Do the best you can.

[Tsurugi_Oni]

That's definately not healthy in the long run. 100% is just a guideline, not a demand. What's important is that you move move away from processed and into whole foods as much as you can. If your Raw diet can't provide the health that you need, then you need to adapt and figure out a compromise.

[D'vorah]

You need more food than that. If you have to eat non-raw, keep it "clean." Avoid processed foods, meat, dairy and grain. I'd suggest adding steamed vegetables and potatoes, or rice.

D

[Katie P]

I'd say add more fruit....apples/ bananas, their pretty cheap. I'm not going to suggest anything other than raw :)

Eat when you're hungry. Honestly I don't count calories but for this thread's sake I'd say that there are alot of days when I get 1000cal sometimes more sometimes less. I eat when I'm hungry & I don't worry about the rest.

[Revvell]

If you've got any ethnic stores around you, check them out. They tend to be less expensive than others. Dates and sweet and filling. Combine them with bananas and/or put them in your smoothies. Figs are inexpensive at ethnic stores. Whatever each culture eats, the raw food tends to be fairly inexpensive.

We've got Asian food stores here where EVERYthing is WAY less expensive than the "American" supermarkets ~ everything raw, that is.

[Tsurugi_Oni]

If you've got any ethnic stores around you, check them out. They tend to be less expensive than others. Dates and sweet and filling. Combine them with bananas and/or put them in your smoothies. Figs are inexpensive at ethnic stores. Whatever each culture eats, the raw food tends to be fairly inexpensive.

We've got Asian food stores here where EVERYthing is WAY less expensive than the "American" supermarkets ~ everything raw, that is.

Ohhh yah, thats the key! This nugget of knowledge is lost to most Americans. And of course bananas are filling, energizing, and cheap.

I wouldn't recommend potatoes and rice as a firsthand non-raw carb source. Butternut Squash and Sweet Potatoes (Okinawans live off of sweet potatoes) are MUCH cheaper than rice, and MUCH more nutritious. And if you get em ripe, they are sweet as candy (even the squash). If you bake a half-squash in the oven a sweet caramel glaze will form on it due to the sugars.

[streetsurfer]

I just got from a local stores reduced rack in the produce section...six bananas for $.49, eight pears for $.79, 1 lb. button mushrooms for $.99. And in the produce section not on the reduced rack, four tomatillos for $.50, a four inch peice of ginger root $.12, half a huge papaya for $.99. Produce is cheap, doctors are expensive. None were damaged enough or old enough to not be used or even make me not want to eat the whole fruit. The mushrooms were fresh, they just had a tear in a corner of the wrapping.

I once read a person could sustain themselves quite well on one kiwi, one banana, one avocado, one tomato and one egg per day (only mentioned egg because that is how I heard it....substitute that with something else in the produce or greens line with equal amount of protein which should be easy to do, ie sprouts, legumes, greens maybe). YOU CAN DO IT! (I'm not yelling at you, just emphasizing, and encouraging you to give it a whirl.)

[T-Bird]

flax seeds are cheap, make great crackers and are full of good calories.....

don't know why raw fooders would recommend steamed veggie and baked squash, when you can do them raw????:confused:

Now - rice and beans and potatoes and tofu would take you a long way food wise for cheap....but of course they aren't good for you.

Start looking into growing your own greens and herbs in pots - that can save $$$ if you do it from seed.

[T-Bird]

oh - and if all you can do for a meal or two is rice and beans, so be it. Trya to have a small salad with it if you can.

But if it's just rice and beans - that's what you got....

[Katie P]

What's with the recommendations of eating SAD food?

Come on peeps!!!!!

You know you could eat RAW & a lesser amount than cooked foods b/c nutrients are killed in SAD food!

[cbritton]

I second the idea of shopping at any local ethnic stores. My local Asian supermarket always has super cheap produce, and it's usually fresh. I just picked up some gorgeous avocados for .69 each. They also had some lovely fresh persimmons for .59 each and tangelos for .25.
Also, use flax seeds. Those are relatively cheap and you can make a host of things from them.

[Tsurugi_Oni]

flax seeds are cheap, make great crackers and are full of good calories.....

don't know why raw fooders would recommend steamed veggie and baked squash, when you can do them raw????:confused:

Now - rice and beans and potatoes and tofu would take you a long way food wise for cheap....but of course they aren't good for you.

Start looking into growing your own greens and herbs in pots - that can save $$$ if you do it from seed.

You dont want to eat too much acorn squash raw when u start, it might give u an upset stomach.

I wouldn't say rice, beans, tofu, and potatoes are bad for ya, but according to the raw food principle, they aren't ideal. But $$$ requires compromise, so I say for the sake of calories that non-raw could be acceptable. But before I'd ever recommend these 4 foods, I"d highly recommend sweet potatoes and acorn squash (SUPER nutritious, while the other 4 aren't). Plus acorn squash and sweet potatoes are high sugar foods, which is closer to the raw philosophy than grains and legumes. These 2 can be even sweeter than carrots if you get em ripe too.

[Mnbordergirl]

Hey, I feel your pain.

I can not afford to shop at Wholefoods, Healthway, Sprouts or ???? either. This is how I afford raw.

1) I shop for whatever I can get at ALDI. Bring your own bags, cash or a debit card (the overhead on credit cards is too high), and a quarter for the shopping cart. I can literally get my lettuce, oranges, bananas, and spinach, lemons, carrots and some veggies there for under 30 bucks a week.

2) Then head to the Korean grocers (Grand Mart), for the odd things that you wont find at aldi like avacodo, fennel, indian fruit and etc.

So when I am 100% I am spending about 40 bucks a week (USD) in fruit and Veg. I only buy enough for 3-4 days at a time too...so that way I dont waste (I used to buy enough food for an army..and then it would spoil...I learned that life did not end if I had to go out mid week)

Also, I am a shameless hand-me down wearer. There was this woman, who went on a diet at church, she started at about the same time as when I went raw. Anyway, she started a tad bit lighter than I did...so when my pants started to fall off of me, I went up to her and literally said, "You look great. What are you doing with your old clothes?" I now have 15 pairs of "new" pants in expensive brands I wouldnt buy. And I am happy to have them! :)

[snoops]

[QUOTE=streetsurfer;581559
I once read a person could sustain themselves quite well on one kiwi, one banana, one avocado, one tomato and one egg per day [/QUOTE]

Ahem...that is about 500 odd calories and I KNOW we don't count calories but come on - that would not sustain me even at my idea weight!!:)

[Aleesha Sattva]

If there is any more recommendations of eating cooked foods this thread will be deleted. This is a raw food forum folks... keep your suggestions RAW. The OP did not come here to get cooked food suggestions, if that's what they wanted they would be posting on a cooked food for cheap forum.

Now back to your regular posting,
Aleesha
Moderator

[Tsurugi_Oni]

Hm..... can't afford a raw food diet, and all suggestions have to be raw..

You could definately dumpster dive for raw food!! Or if you have good sleight-of-hand you can stick it to the big man to make it happen. U know those farms that get subsidies? I think it's time to get some of your tax money back. During the fall you could glean if producers allow you, sub-prime fruit rots in the fields a lot of the time. You could also minimize your physical activity to bare necessity, sleeping when you aren't working to survive. If neighbors don't use pesticides on grass, you could also manually mow massive amounts of grass and juice it. Procure wild foods when available.

[Aleesha Sattva]

Let's review what is inexpensive in your market?

Apples, oranges, cantaloupe (that's an entire meal in one of those bad boys!), bananas (super healthy as well), chia seeds are a great source of calcium...

Because honestly I shop for my family... and the cooked/processed food costs WAY more than my raw food does.

I also buy by the case. I ask my local market to bring in a case of something that's not too expensive and I eat that. I can often get a case of cantaloupes, bananas, young coconut and a flat of tomatoes for $60 and that'll feed me for a week or two!

[Tsurugi_Oni]

Let's review what is inexpensive in your market?

Apples, oranges, cantaloupe (that's an entire meal in one of those bad boys!), bananas (super healthy as well), chia seeds are a great source of calcium...

Because honestly I shop for my family... and the cooked/processed food costs WAY more than my raw food does.

I also buy by the case. I ask my local market to bring in a case of something that's not too expensive and I eat that. I can often get a case of cantaloupes, bananas, young coconut and a flat of tomatoes for $60 and that'll feed me for a week or two!

Where do you live?? I know big retailers around here wouldn't do that, and small grocers don't carry the selection this time of year.

[RawKnitster]

I can't afford the lifestyle I'm living either. My New Year's Resolution is to make what is already in my pantry last as long as possible and to be extremely frugal in the coming year.

I don't know what your options are where you are living in England. Look around. Explore every store for the best prices. It is surprising what you can find once you start looking.

Don't forget sprouting. That can be a cheap way to add an extra day's worth of raw to your week.

[Aleesha Sattva]

I live in a very small town in Canada. It's amazing what a market will do if you ask nicely. :) I have two markets who will happily order cases in for me and give me (almost) wholesale pricing.

[D'vorah]

If there is any more recommendations of eating cooked foods this thread will be deleted. This is a raw food forum folks... keep your suggestions RAW. The OP did not come here to get cooked food suggestions, if that's what they wanted they would be posting on a cooked food for cheap forum.

Now back to your regular posting,
Aleesha
Moderator

Apologies. I didn’t set out to break the rules, but the OP couched in terms that seemed to suggest a mix of raw plus, or simply under-eating, one or the other, and I was worried about the small amount of food they suggested. Some of the less expensive raw suggestions mentioned here (ethnic markets) don’t hold true where I live, where we have long winter months that require shipped produce.

I was trying to be helpful and didn’t want to see the OP in starvation mode.

[Aleesha Sattva]

I totally understand your concern and I appreciate it as well. But attempting to find raw solutions is the point of this forum... not cooked ones. ;)

[RawKnitster]

Where I live there are several places a dedicated shopper can save. There is a local chain of supermarkets called "Central Market" that will let you order produce by the case for much less money. I get young coconut there. A case of 9 sells for $1.50 each compared to the usual price of $2.48 each.

Costco in another good option. I make a big compromise by buying non-organic dates at Costco. They cost less by more than half.

Another non-organic super saving option is a chain of "cash & carry" stores called "Smart Foodservice". It is focused to serve small retail stores and restaurants, but is open to the public. Not too many people outside the food industry know about it. Prices of some items there are even better than Costco.

[T-Bird]

I can't afford the lifestyle I'm living either. My New Year's Resolution is to make what is already in my pantry last as long as possible and to be extremely frugal in the coming year

I'm in the same boat, RK. Hoping to bring the garden into profitability 2010.....I've invested heavily in seeds this year - will have to live off what I've got seed wise.

Definitely need to shop more frequently - buy less - reduce waste. I'm bad about buying a lot - then not having a taste for it, or too lazy to make what I bought for, and then - money loss results.....

Aleesha point is good - but I get way tired of the same old thing......I took this year to allow myself any and everything to go raw....next year, I have to reign it in and make it much much much more affordable....

[Aleesha Sattva]

I change up what I buy (in cases) each time so I don't get bored :) Of course, when I'm fasting... cases come in real handy!

[D'vorah]

I totally understand your concern and I appreciate it as well. But attempting to find raw solutions is the point of this forum... not cooked ones. ;)

I got it. And I apologized.

[Aleesha Sattva]

yup you did. thanks http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x87/recyclinggoddess/dance013.gif

[cara4art]

I totally agree with the suggestions to shop at the ethnic food stores if one is fortunate enough to have any where one lives. Where we are, San Francisco, has them in spades, and that fact makes a raw diet mucho more affordable than if we shopped exclusively at Whole Foods, etc. I do pick up some bulk stuff there and at our older, established co-op when I'm over in that area of town(about once a week). Asian markets and Latino markets are gold mines of tons of raw food - you wouldn't believe the deals we get nearly every week, especially at our Latino fruit stands! There are things of course, barring the ethnic markets, that are cheaper in season. Right now, cabbages, cauliflower, colder-weather greens, all sorts of apples and citrus are plentiful. Squashes and yams are around too. It IS the nature of the beast though that in many areas of the country that even with eating seasonally, there's less variety than during the warmer months.
Sure, make as big an effort to be raw as possible, but if it's not there for you with the family, then at least stay away from processed junk and supplement with natural foods lightly and simply cooked. Even with this one is way ahead of 90% of the population out there so don't feel bad if you have to do this. More raw is better though, and there are raw foodists who do indeed adapt to colder-weather raw eating. One can go denser in food, some more fats and with warming spices, and likely one needs it to withstand the cold.
Last but not least, get out those sprouting jars - you will be able to have your own organic fresh sprouts with the rest of your food, and if you are able, get into doing some microgreens from your sprouts - guaranteed fresh organic greens for lots less than at the supermarket. Google how to do this - there's tons of info out there.

[Stina]

Things I do to be able to eat raw on a painfully tight budget:

-garden
-forage for wild food
-sprout
- buy non-organics
- formed a co-op with a few friends and buy directly from the organics warehouse that sells directly to the health food stores

It's a journey; that's for sure.

Also, lots of f ermention to I can eat cheap-o cabbage.

[streetsurfer]

I apologize for mentioning egg also. Though it did not come across where I was quoted, I did try to convey in my original post that I didn't recommend that, but that it should be substituted with with greens or something equally or more nutritious than an egg. I was just pointing out a way as I had heard it that you could meet your daily nutritional needs. This came from a natural health radio program. At around 140# I believe I could get by on the banana, kiwi, tomato, avocado, and one other substantial fruit or veggie for at least three days a week, if need be for financial reasons.

After snoops pointed out the caloric numbers, it does make me wonder if this is a valid statement. I will gladly and hereby do retract that statement.

[Green_Woman]

Amii - What precisely is your monthly budget? Was it you who posted earlier on about having $100/month on which to live?

I used to think I couldn't afford to eat ALL Raw on a budget, either. But then I got deadly serious about what my BUDGET really meant (http://www.daveramsey.com) (ex: no movies, cheapest cell phone bill around, lowered energy costs, no clothing shopping, no fancy raw foods, just necessities, etc., etc.... cut EVERY corner I could possibly cut) and cut my budget down to half what it had been before.

You CAN eat Raw on an impossibly cheap budget. Because nothing IS impossible, if you want it badly enough to make it happen!

[Aleesha Sattva]

I totally forgot about Mattye Lee's Frugal Raw recipe book... check out her blog here (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/blog.php?u=2970)!

[gecko]

Amii

I know you said you were in the Midlands in England, but whereabouts? If you are in one of the big cities try hunting down the asian markets (I know Birmingham, Leicester and Nottingham all have areas full of asian shops).

We are just starting out and live in a small town outside of Leicester and I've found that the Morrisons, where I used to shop, is not cheap for fruit and veg. Lidl and Aldi both have much cheaper veg (spinach, cabbage, broccoli, lettuce much cheaper). However, finding cheap fruit is more challenging, Morrisons do "value" bags of bananas and apples (though the apples are usually badly bruised) but everything else, at this time of year, is pretty expensive.

We are trying to be 100% for at least January, but whether we'll be able to afford to stay that way through the Winter, living here, I'm not sure. Summer is easier as I can grow quite a lot of stuff in the garden.

Unfortunately we just don't have the same access to the range of cheap fruit that most americans/canadians do - or even those Brits who live in London/Bristol/Brighton.

Gecko