New to Raw

[ChrisLandan]

Hello, my name is chris and i am new to the raw lifestyle and to a vegan diet overall. Since entering college i have felt an urge to change my way of living, from being largely sedentary and eating whatever was closest. I have always been extremely active and had a relatively healthy diet. For the past 6 months or so i have been eating very healthy (with respect to an traditional american diet) but recently, as my family has been going to nutritionist and learning that our "healthy" diet is leaving us with some deficiencies i have been doing some research. Thus, i came across this raw vegan diet.
In the past just for reference i have been eating only whole grains and complex carbs. For protein i have eaten mainly fish and and chicken breast. Any extra fat has come from peanut butter and almonds. However i easily adapt to new diets and so far haven't been tempted to eat any "junk food", so i think it is possible for me to be successful in this, although suggestions are always welcome.
So, for the past week i have eaten nothing but fruits vegetables and nuts (however i can't claim it to be 100% raw because the dining courts at my college are a bit iffy, even at the salad bar). However my first question is, that if i am trying to gain weight in muscle would this diet be appropriate, in terms of the amount of protein i need. The second question i have is that after this semester i will be moving out of the dorms and therefor will not have a meal plan. My budget for food will be 50 dollars a week, would this be suitable for this diet. My main goal is for long term health and i am willing to try just about everything while i am young and able, so that i can stay healthy.
Thank you for reading this and for your suggestions.

[BeingK8]

While I do want to be encouraging to anyone who wants to take charge of their health in this way, I also want to give what is my honest opinion since you're asking for opinions.
Be sure to know that this is just MY opinion and does NOT mean it has to be YOUR experience.

$50 a week, while doable, is going to take some creativity and commitment on your part because it is a budget, even though it's not the tightest of budgets for this idea. I mean, this way of life can be tough enough when you have tons of money to spend on convenience raw, vegan, "extras" like tahini at Whole Foods or Wild Oats or even a local, independent HFS for $11 a jar and raw, organic, almond butter at anywhere from $17 to $23 a jar or $6-7 for some umeboshi vinegar or 8 or 9 bucks for some Nama Shoyu. (Those are not unrealistic prices, even here in an area where cost of living is not all that high compared to the whole nation).

The reason I throw those things out there is because they seem to be the kinds things so many of us like to have on hand for quick fixes, for jazzing things up, for variety. Sure, a raw food diet is primarily about veggies (and leafy green ones first and foremost) and fruits, but we tend to want ways to make that stuff seem more interesting or palatable sometimes, and it seems an especially big deal to do that in the beginning when transitioning.

Anyway, my point is, if you had TONS of moolah to throw into being a raw foodie, for getting all organic produce, all the extra condiment items to make raw more interesting and palatable when new to it, to buy the fancy gadgets for convenience like a juicer and awesome blender and dehydrator and self-watering sprouter system and you had a luxurious kitchen ideally laid out for it, it can STILL be challenging because there are the social, biological and psychological aspects that can be tough. And now you're throwing in the extreme limitation of $50 a month. Honestly...$50 a week doesn't seem to be quite enough to feed a college student who's eating S.A.D. Organic produce can be expensive. The one thing I would highly recommend is getting into sprouting. It's a good way to add nutrients that can become a cheaper means of procuring fresh produce.

And, you have yourself to evaluate. Maybe you're the kind of person who thrives against the odds and has something to prove this way. I don't know you and certainly can't make a guess from your post. Maybe you want to be a success story to motivate and support other people by your story of, "Hey, if I could do it as a college student on $200 a month and living in a crappy college kid apartment, you can, too!"
Are you creative and resourceful? Are there areas in your budget where you can reallocate money to groceries? I guarantee there are (and I have done this myself - looked at the areas that were not as beneficial or essential and redirected the money away from them toward food). Are there ways you can think about this as an investment in your life? Are you interested or are you committed? Are you willing to use the power of your mind to come up with solutions to the challenges inherent in making such dramatic changes when you have grown up in the modern west? Are you willing to go asking around at local stores for produce they're going to discard to toss into your smoothies? Are you willing to not spend money on a new pair of jeans to buy produce that week?

And on protein? I'm going to hope and assume that either someone with more knowledge in this area will come and answer or that you'll find stuff by researching. I've never been interested in building more muscle than a usual healthy amount for an ordinary female who just likes being strong enough to make everyday life easy and enjoyable. BUT, I do believe it's possible to be extremely strong and actually build muscle and look better this way. Look around the net at raw vegan bodybuilders or raw bodybuilding. And at whatever else anyone posts on here.

Whatever you decide, best of health and happiness to you!!

[Psychalone]

Hello, my name is chris and i am new to the raw lifestyle and to a vegan diet overall. Since entering college i have felt an urge to change my way of living, from being largely sedentary and eating whatever was closest. I have always been extremely active and had a relatively healthy diet. For the past 6 months or so i have been eating very healthy (with respect to an traditional american diet) but recently, as my family has been going to nutritionist and learning that our "healthy" diet is leaving us with some deficiencies i have been doing some research. Thus, i came across this raw vegan diet.
In the past just for reference i have been eating only whole grains and complex carbs. For protein i have eaten mainly fish and and chicken breast. Any extra fat has come from peanut butter and almonds. However i easily adapt to new diets and so far haven't been tempted to eat any "junk food", so i think it is possible for me to be successful in this, although suggestions are always welcome.
So, for the past week i have eaten nothing but fruits vegetables and nuts (however i can't claim it to be 100% raw because the dining courts at my college are a bit iffy, even at the salad bar). However my first question is, that if i am trying to gain weight in muscle would this diet be appropriate, in terms of the amount of protein i need. The second question i have is that after this semester i will be moving out of the dorms and therefor will not have a meal plan. My budget for food will be 50 dollars a week, would this be suitable for this diet. My main goal is for long term health and i am willing to try just about everything while i am young and able, so that i can stay healthy.
Thank you for reading this and for your suggestions.

$50 a week, I'd say it's doable, as long as you have some good resources, and I'll explain how.

Siimply put, sprouts. They are the easiest, most effiecient and oddly the most nutrient dense food the raw diet has to offer. They also conatain plenty of minersla, vitamins, EFAs and Amino Acids (proteins are harder to break down) for body building and general health and well being. If you like I can give you a nutritional breakdown of how sprouts are superior, but for now lemme just explain my advise on making it work.

My suggestion is to buy bulk. Find somewhere where you can bulk of grains, beans or seeds or any combination of the 3. Basically all you need is the seed/grain/bean and some water and some time. Normally beans, grains and seeds are hard on digestion due to the enzyme inhibotors and phytates which prevent the absorbtion of nutrients. Thats why most cultures cook these items. However by srpouting them you actually increase their nutrient content and when the enzymes are activated they break down the proteins into amino acids, the fats into fatty acids and the starch into simple carbs, this making everything more absorbable. The vitamin content increases, if you sprout with sea salt the mineral content increases, and you also get plant hormones which can combat excess estrogen in the system (especially important if you're worried about sexual function or keeping a masculine/feminine figure).

Nutritionally speaking you don't need alot of sprouts to meet your daily "needs". When you're on raw foods you don't need as many calories as when you were on cooked foods. This is because less energy is spent on digestion. When no enzymes are present in the food your body has to work harder to break the food down, and since cooking destroys alot of the nutrition, it has to spend even more energy processing and eliminating toxic minerals and vitamins. So for example when you eat cooked meat, it may have a certain amount of calories in it, but the amount of calories your body spends breaking it down doesn't leave you with much NET energy, and thats what it's all about. FOr example a banana may only have 100 calories but since your body harldy uses any energy to break it down and elimeinate it it has a high NET energy than say mashed potatoes. You can usually tell because the meals that make you tired afterwards are usually the cooked food meals which drain your energy. ON raw foods such events rarely occur. Therefore if you can get 1-2 cups of sprouts a day that will meet you caloric and nutritioinal needs. If you'd like me to back that up I will gladly do so.

So, my suggestion is to find some bulk seeds/grains. If there's any local farmers you may be able to get it from them at a discount, rather than a retail store or company.

HERE (http://www.bulkfoods.com/search_results.asp?txtsearchParamCat=14&txtsearchParamType=ALL&txtsearchParamMan=ALL&txtsearchParamVen=ALL&txtFromSearch=fromSearch&txtsearchParamTxt=1874)'s some bulk wheat, 25lbs for about $40, WHen you sprout wheat it increases in size and weight so you could EASILY estimate 5lbs of wheat sprouts a day for 7 days, plus you'd have an extra $10 for sea salt or some treat or something, just to give an example.

Best of luck!

[Psychalone]

also...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ro5aCQIxe0&feature=related

[ChrisLandan]

Thank you all for the response, there is defiantly enough information to get me started. I wanted to wait a couple of days before posting again just to see how a 100% raw diet would take. So far it's not bad, i haven't felt much difference overall, except for the excruciating stomach pains but they have started to diminish as a spread my food more throughout the day. I have one more question however, i am going on vacation in a month with my family and i know i wont be able to have a raw food diet there. Would it be prudent for me to postpone this change till after the vacation so i don't get sick from eating cooked foods. Thank you again.

[meowimacat]

I think it's doable. I only work part time at the moment and earn £300 a month. I keep my diet very simple, and don't really make fancy dishes. I usually go shopping 3 days a week to get fresh produce, and buy whats on offer. I plan my meals. When I have some money left over I splurge on more fancy things such as almond butter, or flax powder. I'm slowly building my cupboards up with things like that.
I'm also starting to sprout alfalfa seeds, and I'm growing some of my own veggies, so hopefully by summer I wont have to go shopping as often, I can just make do with whats in my garden.
Good luck!!

[Psychalone]

Thank you all for the response, there is defiantly enough information to get me started. I wanted to wait a couple of days before posting again just to see how a 100% raw diet would take. So far it's not bad, i haven't felt much difference overall, except for the excruciating stomach pains but they have started to diminish as a spread my food more throughout the day. I have one more question however, i am going on vacation in a month with my family and i know i wont be able to have a raw food diet there. Would it be prudent for me to postpone this change till after the vacation so i don't get sick from eating cooked foods. Thank you again.

If you can, run out to whole foods or your local health store and pick up some ACTIVE enzymes. Q-zyme is what I used to use, I can vouche that it's active, but you can test. Enzyme supplementation will give similar results to the raw food diet in terms of digestive health and energy. Otherwise, it's up to you. You won't get sick because you haven't had enough time to re-sensitize. Fasting is usually when you can get into trouble but unless you've been "high raw" for awhile (couple weeks to couple months) you won't feel the effects of cooked food. (or so has been my experience)

[sport]

Keep it simple.
You do not need to buy any of the prepared raw treats. They are not the best source of nutrients.
Get to know the produce manager in a local store. He will let you in on bargains. You can sometimes buy a box of bananas at greatly reduced rates if they are deemed (over ripe) but that is the best way to eat them.
Sprout. A cheap source of nutrients.
Only buy organic when an item is high up on the "dirty dozen" list. Buy conventional for items with low pesticide residue.
Watch for bargains and offers.

[ChrisLandan]

Thank you again for the advice. I have found a great little asian market that sells bananas in 40 pound boxes. Also i have been wondering about Sunmaid dried fruits, such as raisins, prunes and currents. They come fairly cheap and are really high in calories. Would it be ok to have a large portion of my fruit come from these?