Help going and staying raw

[breathless]

Hello. I really enjoy this forum for all the support. I want to be 100% raw for all the benefits so I can look and feel my best, most importantly I want to look younger. Have you ever seen the raw foodist who is 72 years old? I can't remember her name, but WOW!

However, even though I know it is best for me, I can never manage to stay raw. How do you do it? Maybe my problem is I just don't have enough self control. I always have a green smoothie every morning. Some days I can stay raw til dinner or lunch, but other days I'm munching on SAD food even before lunchtime. I am asking for help because I want to join the raw challenge for March and this time I want to be successfully raw for 30 days. I was 100% raw for a couple weeks back in January and I was looking good and not needing so much makeup. I was also losing weight without exercising! My husband told me I was sparkling. Sadly, I just couldn't keep it up and reverted back to my old habits because it was just too easy.

I work full time and go to school part-time, so I don't have much free time. I find that when I am stressed, I go back to my old favorites, coffee and carbs.

Maybe if I had a lot of raw food on hand, it would help. What are some of your favorite recipes to help you stay on track? I have only a blender and food processor.

[Raw Angel Mom]

First, i want to say that you are doing fantastic

WOW, a smoothie every day and you manage to stay raw most the day. This is phenomenal and way better then most people. Be proud of you.

Raw food is a journey. Alissa discovered that in order to stick to raw you need to go with freedom. Meaning, if you need to have more raw gourmet food then so be it and enjoy them without guilt. Your mind needs to feel comfortable, it is the mind that makes you eat cook food at night.

-Perhaps, you can plan to have something wonderful and very comforting for the evening.

-Carry dates in your purse or nice emergency snack.

-Plan in advance (if you want certain gourmet food, you need to have nuts soaked etc....)

-If you can afford it and you have nice raw food restaurant in your area, treat yourself.

-Write down on a card why you choose raw, carry this also with you, put one on your mirror and fridge.

-Focus always on your accomplishment and don't be hard on yourself.

-Don't be afraid to eat tone of fresh fruits in the mornings and green smoothie.

If your mind is giving you constant craving then you will need to step back and start to feel your emotions to see what is it that you are trying to suppress with food. It could be stress, not feeling adequate, losing faith in you etc.... Just sit with your emotions and feel the pain of the choice to say NO to this cook food. Sometime people eat because they are bored. Once you find out why, then have a plan.

You may also consider to do a detox. Sometime, parasites will give us unhealthy cravings to survive in you.

Truly, you are doing wonderful and you will get there.

Consider to juice (fruits, cucumber and many wonderful greens are amazing for the skin)

[Raw Angel Mom]

Favorite recipes

nut tart from Alissa's (she has great suggestion with her DVD)
You can make blueberries pie
chocolate pudding
coconut pudding
sunflower pate (great as dip with vegetables)
quick pasta
Alissa's mock salmon
Alissa has many easy recipes that doesn't require dehydration
Soup are also quite easy to do
tacos with iceberg salad instead of the shelf



Raw made easy for 2 has great suggestion for busy people.


I am busy also, but now i am content with just whole food not gourmet. In the beginning of my journey, i would plan in advance. With my child at school, i make gourmet food for her now but even, she prefers whole food also. Your taste but will change. With raw food, you can eat a desert as a meal.

[adobegirl]

I agree with Raw Angel Mom.

First, be gentle with yourself and give yourself credit for what you are doing and focus more on that than the other stuff. As you do that, the rest will come.

One of the best pieces of advice I got from Alissa's book was to have more food than you think you would ever need when you start out. And make sure you eat frequently in the beginning. If you are getting what your body needs and aren't hungry, you might crave SAD foods less.

If you are hungry, and on the run, it's hard to not just grab stuff. If you need to, maybe put a small cooler in your car packed with goodies.

I found for me (and I actually still keep it around) what helped was to make the raw cheesecake and always have it in the freezer. I use those little silicon cupcake holders and pour the mixture in those and freeze them and then peel it off and put them in ziploc bags to stay fresh. I don't make the crust part anymore, just the filling. They are great for when you are home and need something more than a fruit or veggie or can't wait to make a salad or something.

I also used to make a lot of crackers. My dehydrator was going all the time. Those are great to keep in the car. In your cooler, you can pack little meals or snacks such as the crackers with some nice dips, finger food veggies (with dips). When I started out raw (and even now sometimes), when I was hungry, I was starving and it used to hit me out of nowhere. I also (still) keep dehydrated egg plant (brush with oil and a little salt). They are a chewy snack and the oil will help you feel fuller longer.

You will find that the longer you are raw, the less you might need some of that stuff, but it's great when you are starting out and are really trying to stay all raw. Don't worry about calories or too much fat, etc right now.

Hope that helps.

PS. Raw Angel Mom- I really love reading your posts. You are so encouraging and uplifting. Thank you for all your input. :heart :heart

[breathless]

Thank you so much for your encouragement and kind words!

adobegirl: Do you have the recipe for the cheesecake that you could share? As long as it doesn't require dehydration?

rawangelmom: I have made Alissa's mock salmon and enjoy it very much. Do you happen to have the recipe for sunflower pate? I made once once, I think from Ani Phyo's recipe, but I can't remember how to make it.

As far as having dessert for a meal, the dish that I made that made me want to know more about raw was a raw apple pie. I think I need to make that again.

I made the most delicious marinated mushrooms yesterday (mushrooms, lemon juice, ACV, olive oil, garlic, and basil) and brought them to work with me. I got a salad from the salad bar and then poured the mushrooms on top. It was so good and so filling. I think I will have to add that one to my rotation. If I could find a bunch of recipes like that, say 4-5, I could plan a week worth of raw. If I keep adding new recipes into the mix, it shouldn't be too hard to stick with it.

[qwerty988]

If I could find a bunch of recipes like that, say 4-5, I could plan a week worth of raw. If I keep adding new recipes into the mix, it shouldn't be too hard to stick with it.

That's exactly right, that's how you do it!

It can seem overwhelming at first..... just relax and take your time, you'll find the foods you like and you can gradually build from there!

Btw, I love marinated mushrooms, too. Have you tried guacamole? I found I ate that a lot in the beginning, and I really liked having some kind of nut pate in the fridge for those gotta-have-something-good-NOW moments hahahahaa!

Anyhow keep it up, you're doing great! :heart:

[qwerty988]

PS. Raw Angel Mom- I really love reading your posts. You are so encouraging and uplifting. Thank you for all your input. :heart :heart

Ditto...!

[breathless]

Thanks, Qwerty! I love guacamole.

[qwerty988]

You're welcome!

Here's a simple nut pate I make a lot -- I got it from from rawfoodswitch, I think:

a cup of soaked walnuts

Place in food processor along with:

A big chunk of onion
a carrot or two
a celery stalk or two
curry powder
cumin powder
soy sauce or salt to taste

Process until smooth and creamy...... delish, curry-flavored all-purpose nute pate! Really nice wrapped in collard leaves or lettuce. I like it because it's tasty and walnuts are easy to find and pretty inexpensive.

Also don't forget smoothies and raw soups...... a nice basic blended-salad raw soup you can throw together in a few minutes:

a few tomatoes (I use roma)
a cucumber, peeled
a stalk of celery
a clove of garlic
1/2 an avocado
a handful of greens (I like spinach or kale)
salt to taste
I also like to add: a jalapeno pepper or cayenne
cumin
nutritiional yeast
soy sauce

Another EXCELLENT meal -- one of my staples -- is massaged kale salad. If you don't know how to make it, check it out on youtube, there are several videos showing you how. It is DELISH and can be made in advance and stored in the fridge.

A really wonderful site for recipes also is the rawterian's site. She has lots of really nice simple recipes listed there. I think it's therawtarian.com.

Anyhow, welcome and enjoy!

[adobegirl]

adobegirl: Do you have the recipe for the cheesecake that you could share? As long as it doesn't require dehydration?

I can't remember where exactly I found the recipe, but I'm pretty sure it was on this forum. It's super super easy to make. Here is the recipe for the whole thing, but I've gotten to where I just make the filling. I rarely make the crust and even more rarely put the fruit on top. I like the filling just as it is. :) Changes that I do/did are in blue. The other notes are from the original user.


Raw cheesecake recipe
Inspired by recipes in Ani Phyo’s book, “Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen”

Crust ingredients:

1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts (or a combination of walnuts and macadamia nuts) (I use almonds and walnuts when I do make the crust. After soaking the nuts, I peel the almonds.)
1/2 cup dates
1/4 cup dried, unsweetened coconut
1 pinch sea salt

White cheesecake filling ingredients:

3 cups cashews
3/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup agave or honey
3/4 cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
Up to a 1/4 cup of water, if necessary to facilitate blending

Fruit topping ingredients:

2 cups frozen strawberries
1/2 cup dates

How to make this raw cheesecake recipe…

1. Throw the macadamia nuts and dates into your food processor. (Don’t add the coconut!!) Process nuts and dates until well processed but still airy.

2. Next, get our your cheesecake pan (or just a basic glass brownie pan if you’re like me and don’t have fancy cookware) and sprinkle the coconut on the bottom as your very first layer. The point of doing this is to make it so it’s easier to remove the cheesecake and the coconut stops the crust from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Then press the macadamia nuts and dates down into the pan to form the crust.

3. Throw all creamcheese icing ingredients into your high-speed blender and blend! Add as little water as necessary to facilitate blending. (Try to add as little water as possible.) (My blender isn't wonderful so I start out in the food processor and then transfer to my blender. I also have to add a bit more water than people would in a high speed blender, but it still comes out great.)

4. Place the above in freezer for an hour or so (so that it will firm up). (I use those silicon cupcake holders and just pour the filling into them and freeze for a bit and then peel the cupcake holders off and put in ziplock bags.)

5. Meanwhile, throw your strawberries and dates in your high-speed blender. Blend until nice and smooth. Pour this mixture on top of the crust/creamcheese, which was just in the freezer for about an hour. Replace the raw cheesecake recipe back in freezer. Freeze until this raw cheesecake recipe reaches the desired consistency!

6. Defrost this raw cheesecake recipe for about one hour before eating (or just slice from freezer and enjoy this delicious raw cheesecake)!

:heart :heart

[breathless]

Adobegirl: Thanks so much for the cheesecake recipe. It sounds delicious! Next time I go shopping, I'll get the ingredients to try it. It sounds like something fun to do this weekend.

Qwerty: That nut pate sounds delicious too! It will be a good change from the mock salmon pate, which is the only pate I know how to make. When making this one, how long do you soak your walnuts? Also, where do you find nutritional yeast?

I do enjoy massaged kale salad, but I think for me, to help me be successful at raw for a month, I will need more variety. I'll have to check out the rawterian website.

I made a green smoothie this morning with pineapple, parsley, and banana. It was okay, not a favorite, but still good. Then, for work, I packed 6 oz of blackberries, a honeycrisp apple with a packet of raw pecan butter, a banana, and an avocado. In my desk drawer, I have some raw trail mix, some dried figs, and a raw revolution bar. Tonight, I was going to make the mock salmon pate, but maybe I'll try this new one now and spread it on cucumber slices.

Thanks for your help!