trouble focusing on raw

[breathless]

I am trying to go raw. I have been trying for some time, but I cannot ever really stick to it. This morning, I was feeling good about having a raw day. I started with a green smoothie made with one head romaine lettuce, one tomato, one banana, and two tablespoons ground flax seeds. It was delicious and filling. I had it at about 6:45-7:00 a.m. I went to work and everything was fine. Then at around 8-8:30 I noticed a foggy feeling, like I was having trouble thinking, concentrating, and focusing. Plus, I could feel a headache coming on. This lasted until about 9:30, when I broke down and had a veggie omelet, two slices of rye toast, and a cup of coffee with cream. I felt immediately better, and now it is 11:14 and I am still feeling fine but so disappointed in myself.

I am wondering what can I do to stick to a 100% raw food diet, all day long. I have Gabriel Cousen's book on Rainbow Cuisine and will try the Green Campfire Stew tonight for dinner and then I guess I'll try another green smoothie tomorrow morning for breakfast. Gabriel advocates cutting out fruit for three months, but since going raw is so difficult for me right now, I'll just wait until I'm 100% raw before I try his Phase I.

I thought I was doing good by having so many greens in my smoothie this morning as opposed to fruit. Normally when I am trying to be raw, I'll only have fruit in the morning, but that gives me a spaced-out feeling. This was different, but I still felt like I couldn't function until I had some caffeine and some "grounding" type food.

If anyone has any ideas on what would help me, I would be grateful. I am happy to have found this forum with so many supportive individuals.

Thank you,
Stacey

[BlackKat]

greens and fruits together are great in smoothies. I usually do something along the lines of kale, chard, collards, spinach. Darker the better. Romaine has nutritional value but lots of water. Your body is going thru detox. Any time you eat something that is not raw your symptoms go away because you were having withdrawl from those foods. Like a drug addict pretty much. The longer you stick to it, the more the headaches and fogginess will go away but you must go through detox- afterwards you will start to feel the amazing raw food benefits.

Try bringing snacks to work since you are eating an early breakfast. Likehand full of seeds if you get a headache, sip on some coconut water to keep you hydrated and add some more fats into your diet. Coconut oil is great, hemp seeds are amazing. Complete protein and keeps your satisfied for a long time. Chia seeds added to smoothies are another option. Try switching it up every day. Try juicing and sprouting. Sprouting is very easy and adding some sprouts to the top of salads for lunch is an energy protein booster.

I notice that I tend to give into cravings more when I am not eating enough. So make sure you are eating whenever yourbody tells you to eat. The headaches wont be so harsh if you add more seeds, nuts, avocados... etc. The "heavier" foods help with slowing detox.

Everyone's opinion about fruit seems to be different. I couldn't live without it when I first went raw in fact fruit was what kept me going for the longest time. Everyone is different so experiment with different foods. It's the only way to find out what works best for you.

[qwerty988]

Maybe you just need to eat more?

This morning I had a quart of green smoothie for breakfast, too. But i also had almost a quart of fresh orange/grapefruit juice and a whole avocado's worth of guacamole on flax crackers!

If you need to have coffee, have it with fresh almond mylk. Or try green tea, I really love that in the mornings too. You don't have to sacrifice everything at once. You can wean yourself off coffee gradually.

Also try adding cashews or almonds to your smoothies -- makes them MUCH more filling and substantial!

It does sound to me though like you were having some caffeine withdrawal along with just plain old not eating enough.

Welcome and ENJOY! :heart:

[MysticTree]

It does sound to me though like you were having some caffeine withdrawal along with just plain old not eating enough.



I'd go along with that too. Eat, eat, eat. Then eat some more; as long as it's raw, it's good :o)

[Ucat]

Then at around 8-8:30 I noticed a foggy feeling, like I was having trouble thinking, concentrating, and focusing. Plus, I could feel a headache coming on. This lasted until about 9:30, when I broke down and had a veggie omelet, two slices of rye toast, and a cup of coffee with cream.

Large part of the raw food detox comes from giving up coffee and other stimulants. In your case this sounds like classic caffeine detox symptoms. I recommend giving up caffeine first (very gradually!) or at least slowly transition from drinking coffee to green tea. Also cut out all soft drinks which contain caffeine, and check all medicines etc. for caffeine. It is a very powerful stimulant with all kinds of health problems.

In my case, giving up caffeine gave me more energy than 2 months on a raw food diet. It was a huge difference in the clarity of mind etc. I strongly recommend giving up caffeine before going raw. And NEVER drink it on an empty belly or after only a light meal, whether raw foodist or not.

Do your research online (there are also good books) before attempting giving up coffee/caffeine, though, because it can be a lot harder than transferring to raw foods! But after 2 days to 2 weeks you will be free (normally the worst should be over in 2-3 days).
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www.cheap-health-revolution.com

[Ucat]

since going raw is so difficult for me right now, I'll just wait until I'm 100% raw before I try his Phase I.

Don't be too hung up about 100% raw, most people who are raw foodists are not 100%. A majority raw food diet should already give you massive health benefits. I would recommend transitioning for a couple of years at your own pace before trying 100% raw.

I would recommend as the first stage challenge to slowly make a change to eventually having a no-caffeine and all raw breakfast. Then a big snack of fruits in the morning, and green tea with some healthful non-raw lunch. Keep doing that until it feels completely easy and you feel ready to move on. Then keep postponing your coffee/tea and non-raw meal later and later in the day. But stake it SLOW! The main thing is to make yourself feel comfortable.

The alternative way is to first completely give up caffeine and only then start worrying about raw foods. This is what I would recommend now, although not what I did myself (sigh). I recommend this for two reasons: 1) to be clear about which benefits are because of being free of caffeine and which because of raw foods, and 2) caffeine is so powerful that it can override many benefits of raw foods (as happened in my case). But many people end up doing what I described above, instead.

Also, not all raw foodists give up caffeine. It depends what you are doing this for. If it is for weight loss, don't worry about the caffeine too much. But if it is also for general health, well-being and ESPECIALLY if it is for energy, the caffeine should be the first thing to go.

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www.cheap-health-revolution.com

[MysticTree]

In my case, giving up caffeine gave me more energy than 2 months on a raw food diet. It was a huge difference in the clarity of mind etc.

I agree. For me, giving up 3 and more litres of diet coke a day has had an even bigger positive impact on me than eating even 100% raw.

[breathless]

Thanks for all your support! I am going to try eating more. This morning I made a green smoothie of an entire 6 oz bag of spinach, two bananas, three kiwis, one apple, three tablespoons ground flax seeds, and water to mix. I had had half and brought the other half to work with me. I also filled a tupperware container with store-bought mung bean sprouts and about half a bag of carrot broccoli slaw. I squeezed a little bit of lemon juice on top and added a tablespoon of olive oil. I was hoping to pack more food, but I ran out of time.

[fastfreedom]

Feel happy about adding more raw to your diet. Don't get down on yourself for not going 100% overnight. Just continue consuming more raw everyday. Then eventually you'll be eating all raw. For me the more greens I consumed as juice and smoothie the easier it was to go raw. But it didn't happen overnight, I just kept increasing the greens in my juice and smoothies until I finally went 100%.

Also if you have something raw to eat that can fill you up at the first sign of hunger that will help you eat more raw. What I remember was that I would allow myself to grow increasingly hungrier and hungrier until I finally caved and went for the SAD item and devoured it like a fiend. But if I were to eat something raw the first moment I even noticed a slight amount of hunger I could fill my stomach and be satisfied, then I wouldn't go for a SAD item.