Raw Food and Time Commitment

[Mrs. Papaya]

I'm doing my first raw 30-day challenge, and I love it. I love eating so many delicious fruits and veggies. I love sprouting. I love that my skin sometimes looks like it's glowing and I actually want to work out. I'm hoping to extend my 30 days for at least another 10, if possible, and then hopefully end up at about 70% raw.

The only problem is the time commitment it takes. I have spent so, so much time in the kitchen, washing and chopping and storing vegetables. And the dishes! Dishes pile up at a much faster rate on a raw diet. I'm not even doing anything super fancy or any recipes that require like 20 ingredients, but even so, it takes a LOT of work.

I'm not complaining or saying it shouldn't be that way -- convenience and and disconnecting from the process of preparing our own food is a major reason why there's such a health crisis today. I LIKE doing all this stuff for my food. In the long run, however, I don't think it's sustainable for me.

I work full time. I also have a creative career on the side, which means the world to me and is a major factor in my life. I also have a family. I can get by 100% raw this month because I am dedicating myself to it wholeheartedly and pushing other things to the side for the time being. But I can't do that forever -- giving up my creative career would kill me. If only I didn't have to have a full-time job and could find a wealthy benefactor who pays me to buy, clean, chop, eat and wash up after all my fresh, raw food!

I know I can't be the only one with this problem. Does anyone have any insight or thoughts?

[ReneeH]

Hi Mrs. Papaya!

I commend you for doing the 30 day challenge! Especially with a family, it is a "challenge" sometimes!

But, you CAN do it! I also have a family, I'm a flight attendant who works red eye flights 2-3x's a week, I hold Raw and Living Food Classes and homeschool my two adorable kids!!! Believe me, I know what busy is!!!!! Yet I choose to eat Raw and feel like I'm successful at it. I'm not trying to adhere to anyone's perfect 100% Rawness. I just eat Raw. I'm as Raw as I can be for me.

I take Raw food that I've made at home with me when I'm working and I make the best Raw choices that I can when I'm away in another city. Eating Raw is something I do for "ME"!!!! I take care of everyone else during my waking hours, but you know what? I ***deserve*** to take care of "ME"!!!!!
Why? Because I'm special!!!! And so are you!!!! :) and, if Mama's sick and beaten down because of eating badly, then nothing gets done and nobody's happy!

Come ON!!!! Say it with me.... "I CAN eat Raw.... I'm WORTH it!!!!"

:)

[Stina]

Huh......it doesn't take me long to rinse and cut vegetables for a salad, I can easily make a satisfying salad in less time than people spend waiting at a fast food drive thru. I often mono eat fruit, what could be easier than that. Smoothies only take a few minutes. If I'm not willing to do that, I've got my priorities wrong. I'm always amazed at how easy the raw diet can be.

[changeisgood]

I don't know how long you've been doing raw beside the 30day challenge.
It does get easier. You will find ways to shortcut. Youll get faster. It will become a habit, second nature. And, when you go back to regular way, you will miss it. It is worth it!
I also have a busy schedule, we all do. I get up 1/2 hour earlier so I have time. If I don't, I'd rather put less make-up on then miss having my smoothies in the AM.
You will get more organized, basically all you need is a cutting board, knife, peeler, strainer (I put my greens in it to wash with the kitchen sprayer)and blender or.... I don't use any plates. And while I'm drinking it, I am cleaning the blender, it is very fast. Or load up the dishwasher.
While I'm cooking for my husband, I am preparing my meal so we can eat together. I leave out these items so they are always near me. I even took a door off a kitchen cabinet so everything is visible to me.
Anyway, good luck, I'm sure you can get it down to a science !

[ReneeH]

Just one more thing about the time commitment.... You can eat as simply or as gormet as your circumstances allow.

Try choosing one day a week to un-cook, then eat off of what you make! Have you tried the 30 day plan in Alissa's book? She recommends fixing meals on day 1 and day 3 or 4. That way you always have food available for you to eat and you're not spending obscene amounts of time in the kitchen washing those dreaded dishes!

Another tip: when you make meals for your family, sip on a Green Smoothie! It'll keep you from nibbling! :)

I wish you success on your journey!

[mcster]

Really? One of the things I'm looking forward to is cutting down on my cooking time. Microwave and pre-prepared food are out of the question for me regardless and making a salad or making raw soup is much faster than making rice and veggies, a burrito or even a (cooked) soup. Are you making elaborate dishes?

[Mrs. Papaya]

I'm not making extremely elaborate dishes but I am juicing every day (have to wash/chop/prepare veggies, then of course wash the juicer). Then there's the blender to wash every day. And lots of knives and cutting boards and hand juicer for the lemon juice. Plus I'm sprouting all the time, so constantly rotating soaked seeds, etc. Big salads every day -- multiple things to wash/chop and store in the fridge.

Today I washed three salad spinners full of lettuce; made a fruit smoothie; juiced a big green juice; soaked, blended, and strained almonds for raw almond milk; washed hulls off a big batch of sprouts and started another batch; made salad dressing, which involved chopping lots of basil and juicing lemons; made a batch of raw tomato soup; etc. I think I washed the blender three times today, plus the juicer and knives and cutting board. I know I can't be crazy and that other people find it time-consuming, too? Hopefully all the work I did today will let me rest for a few days, at least, but I feel like I'm thinking about food preparation all the time and my feet hurt from standing in the kitchen so much! Again, not trying to complain, just being honest that it can take me a long time. It's not like I come from a history of fast food, either -- I was a (cooked) vegan and made lots of meals. However, my husband and I shared the cooking duties, but now he does most of the cooking while I make my raw stuff for myself, so that could be part of the difference, too.

[klomasius]

Ugh, juicing...

It's so fiddly! I normally simply make smoothies in the blender - shove stuff in, blend, pour out, rinse jug, drain jug.

No wonder you are spending lots of time in the kitchen, I'm currently on a 30 day juice fast and the fiddliness of the juicer really annoys me! Today I'm just having orange juice made with my handy hand held manual citrus juicer, much easier!

These days my food is REALLY quick and simple to make. Fruit for breakkie (no prep, just peeling if that) then salad for lunch (lettuce, tomato, avocado, onion, sprouts etc. chop, put in bowl, add a bit of salt, wash up is knife, bowl and chopping board). Dinner is often something similar.

The only time I go labour intensive is if I'm using my equipment, blender, food processor, juicer espeically if I'm using more than one peice of equipment a day. I mix it up, so some days are a little more work than others, but on the whole I spend less time in the kitchen than I used to on SAD, but I did make a lot of my own meals when I ate cooked.

[ReneeH]

I agree with you, Klomasius!

Honestly, I think you're making this harder than it has to be.... Who decides what you're preparing....YOU! So, the answer is not complicated...SIMPLIFY! I fear if you don't, you're gonna drown! What do I mean? Well, you've already said you feel you can't do it after the Challenge. You'll talk yourself out of it for sure if you keep yourself in your kitchen all day, especially when you don't have to!!!

Alissa says in LOLF that she didn't become a Raw Foodist so she can stay in the kitchen all day! Did you? If the answer is no, then don't. SIMPLIFY...that's the key! :)

[mcster]

It's a lot harder to cook for one person so I agree with you that cooking for yourself only may be amplifying the situation for you. I also agree that the juicer is a hassle and may also be aggravating things for you. Try using the vitamix? Also, remember what it was like to wash all those pots and pans?

[cattail]

I'm doing my first raw 30-day challenge, and I love it.

The only problem is the time commitment it takes. I have spent so, so much time in the kitchen, washing and chopping and storing vegetables. And the dishes! Dishes pile up at a much faster rate on a raw diet. I'm not even doing anything super fancy or any recipes that require like 20 ingredients, but even so, it takes a LOT of work.

But I can't do that forever -- giving up my creative career would kill me. If only I didn't have to have a full-time job and could find a wealthy benefactor who pays me to buy, clean, chop, eat and wash up after all my fresh, raw food!

I know I can't be the only one with this problem. Does anyone have any insight or thoughts?

I have a slightly different perspective: When you were younger, learning to cook, things took time, and you had to think about what you were doing. You had to think about which utensils you needed, which pans, which ingredients. Might have even had to read recipe books. You learned which dishes to make extra of, as they would make tasty leftovers, and you learned which ones only tasted good newly made. It took time to gain that skill, but you did and the activity became routine. There were probably even a few blunders - burned stuff, overcooked stuff, too soupy, too dry, whatever.

Once cooking/food prep was routine, you didn't have to think about it when you were doing it, and you could think on other tasks, fit it in your schedule without effort, and plan ahead subconsciously.

Now you are learning a new skill. You have to pay attention and think on what needs to be done, which ingredients go together, where the right utensils are. You haven't quite got the knack of the new way, and learned its shortcuts. Not only is it taking time, but it's taking concentration and planning.

For example, how many lemons should you juice? The recipe says: You need 1 lemon, juiced. You juice one into a bowl, pick out the seeds, use the juice. You wash the bowl, fork, and nifty hand-juicer (which used to live buried under all the other seldom-used kitchen toys). However, how often are you doing that? Are you finding that you are eating stuff that needs lemon juice 3 or 4 times in 4 days? How long will fresh lemon juice sit in the refrigerator before it goes bad? Maybe when you discover you are out of lemon juice, you should juice 5 or 6, and store what you don't use. Maybe you need to peel that entire large bag of carrots and put the unused ones in a dish of water in the refrigerator (only washing the peeler once for the entire bag and freeing up later peeling time)? Maybe you need to pre-wash/pre-prepare enough fruits/veggies for 3 days of juicing all at once? Maybe some of that juice could be frozen? Maybe you need to crush a bunch of garlic, again, storing what you don't use immediately.

How much of that kale salad will you actually eat before it goes bad? Can you make leftovers that you can eat over the next couple days? How about lime juice? Orange juice? Soaked nuts? Nut butter? Can you make extra green smoothy, freeze it, and do a super-fast reblend later? How many extra trips do you make to the grocery, because you ran out of cucumbers (or something else that you are really craving)? How fast can you "throw together" several meals to fill out the simple meals over the next few days?

These things take time to learn, internalize, and become routine. Not only is it taking you longer to figure out what to eat, and making lots of dishes, it's taking you extra effort. It's a valid complaint/concern. You'll need to give yourself enough experience to acquire the new skill (and the skill I refer to here is not so much "food prep", but "raw shortcuts/planning"). While you gain experience, on days when you are rushed, eat simpler things that don't need prep, and relax, realizing you'll get the swing of it.

- T

[klomasius]

Excellent post Cattail! :)

[Mrs. Papaya]

Thanks, cattail, that was both informative and reassuring!

[modernmonkey]

My kitchen workload has decreased incredibly. And everything is easier to clean, usually just a rinse.

I collect my compost in a washing up bowl that sits on the work surface and deliver it to the garden once daily.

The blender and juicer get used the most. We just rinse them immediately after use and give it a hot wash maybe twice a week. I have only one spinner and chopping board and knife, which means they too get rinsed after every use.

I love not having greasy pans and a dirty cooker. What a difference. Really, we are only using glasses and plates which get rinsed straight after use. The best thing about raw foods is how easily they wash away, no need for soap or scrubbing.


Nearly all our rubbish is compost so no separating garbage etc...

One thing I am going to differently though is wash and prepare salad stuff a bit sooner and have some tubs in the fridge ready for salads and smoothies. I think it will make us eat more and get through things a bit quicker and choose more of the green leafy stuff.

[mcster]

The blender and juicer get used the most. We just rinse them immediately after use and give it a hot wash maybe twice a week. I have only one spinner and chopping board and knife, which means they too get rinsed after every use.

Haha. I just reorganized my kitchen. I moved the juicer, vitamix and food processor right by the sink. All the spices and superfoods are stored right above them now and I have three fruit bowls directly behind them and a chopping board directly in front of them. "Cooking" and cleanup is so easy now! Now I just need to figure out what to do with all the counter space I have freed up...

[cattail]

Haha. I just reorganized my kitchen. I moved the juicer, vitamix and food processor right by the sink. All the spices and superfoods are stored right above them now and I have three fruit bowls directly behind them and a chopping board directly in front of them. "Cooking" and cleanup is so easy now! Now I just need to figure out what to do with all the counter space I have freed up...

You were in my kitchen!!! That sounds almost exactly how I reorganized mine. My fruit is actually over a bit and I have my "debris bowl" by my cutting board, like modernmonkey. Though lately, I've been saving that in the refrigerator for a friend's iguana.