raw ups and downs

[Mangold]

Hi there its me Mangold aka Ben.

Hello to everyone, I'm really keen on having some discussions about our raw lives!

This is me and my relation to raw foods:
I first read about the benefits of raw food in about 2002 and straight away became about 75% raw and it was of great benefit for me. I was suffering from Asthma and CFS and it somehow never really came back.

I had my ups and downs with raw food in the last nearly ten years. It does play a big role in my life, though I am not yet really balanced with it and I now have the "problem" of sometimes doing it very intensly. I do several days or a few weeks of juice fasting and feel great, afterwards I also do manage quite well to cope for the first few days after the fast with raw food but then I tend to eat more and more and sometimes fall back into a standard vegetarian diet and even eating sweets, choclate etc. So as you can see I really would like to be more balanced with everything.

Furthermore I'm interested in juicing. I do have a green star juicer at home, though I am not totally happy with its capacity to really make the green juice. When I want to make spinache juice, which is kind of my favorite juice, the green star creates a lot of foam. If someone can give me some kind of advice on that topic I'd be quite happy as well.

See ya

Ben

[sport]

I have a green star and find the same thing. I have just purchased (but i has not been delivered yet) a juice press and I am hoping that it is a better way to do it. I will use the green star with the blank plate on to grind and then use the press to extract the juice.

[laura-jane]

Hey Ben. Wow, you've been involved with raw foods for a long time now. Many people seem to follow the same pattern that you're talking about. How you ever made a mental *commitment* to going 100% raw?

I'm not sure about spinach juice. I don't do a lot of juicing myself.

[DawnD]

Hi Ben and welcome. My progression to where I am now started with simply eating a salad along with dinner, then adding a piece of fruit, then smoothie for breakfast, then higher quality cooked foods...then progressed to raw. The point is to keep heading toward better quality food til that becomes your standard. I just finished my first 30 Day Raw Challenge and it was an awesome learning experience and an exercise in self control. My energy and clarity of mind, in what could have been an otherwise exhausting month, were remarkable. Keep adding raw meal ideas to your routine and learning then take the challenge. Experience the difference that a raw lifestyle can make.

Good luck with juicing...Im a Vitamix gal myself.

[Mrs. Papaya]

First, are you straining your juice through the small metal strainer? This gets rid of the foam and makes the juice taste better.

I juice lots of greens in my Green Star but I do add some carrots -- between 3-5 carrots for about 2 or 2.5 cups of green juice. Adding a carrot now and then during the juicing process seems to help cut down on the foam. Plus you get that nice sweet taste. Good luck.

[spicyfull]

I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW................Welcome to MY World.

[Lady Green Jeans]

Ben,

Welcome. Great place to be for support whether transitioning or jumping in 100%. Read my first raw book in the 90's--David Wolfe along with several others. Have been in and out quite of few times--sometimes staying longer or shorter, sometimes 100%; other times not so good.

This time seems so natural and I feel so awsome it just may carry me forward without stop.

Sorry can't answer the juicing issue. I do smoothies but not much juicing right now.

[Mangold]

Dear Raw-Food friends,

thank you for all your comments and remarks!!!

@laura-jane
You think many people follow this "pattern"? I did make a committment to go 100% Raw. I was raw for four and a half month completely last year. Then though I fell back into cooked foods when I also had a mentally / emotionally challenging time, and afterwards I have managed to fast a few times up to two weeks and I felt great then, though I could not keep it up into my diet.

@DawnD
Thanks, this remark may be helpful for me. Perhaps I could start with a vegan diet at first, and then stay with it for a while until making further changes. Or what do you think? Anyway I will stay with my raw fresh juices as I absolutely love them :-)

@Mrs. Papaya
I do strain my juice through the small metal strainer, I guess I only do have that one and the blank piece. I also added some carrots to the juice but sometimes I just wanted to have the pure plain green juice without the carrots.

@Lady Green Jeans
I hope I get you right, why do you think this time is better / easier for you, do you have any suggestions for me?

Thanks again to all of you it is great to read you suggestions!

Ben

[Amba]

Hi, Ben!

This book was very helpful to me.

12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food

[Mangold]

Hi, Ben!

This book was very helpful to me.

12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food

Thanks a lot, it seems really interesting, I may purchase it soon!

[speltrong]

Hi Ben! My husband and I just recently went 100% raw after being vegan for the last 11 years or so. I know that for a lot of people, slowly edging your way into raw works, but for us the only way it would have worked was to commit to 100%. I just know that if I didn't have that little rule in my head, I'd probably find little excuses to eat cooked food.. you know, if I'm having a bad day, or things are stressful or whatever, guess that entitles me to eat cooked food! And from there it's a slippery slope for me and I'll head right back into eating mostly cooked food. So with making the mental commitment to go 100%, I might still eat too many nuts, or a piece of raw chocolate on a bad day, but to me that is far better than lapsing back to cooked food. On the bright side, hubby is on board with me, and we're just sailing right along and couldn't be happier. We haven't really suffered from cravings for cooked food or anything, though I'm sure if I were to allow myself to have even a small amount of cooked food, those cravings might come right back. I'm just not very good at moderation!

Anyway, just wanted to share my two cents, for whatever they're worth. I wish you luck and hope you find the right thing that works for you!

[Mangold]

Hi to all once again,

Havn't posted for a while and I have been struggeling with the raw food to be honest for a while. Time ago it had always felt like abstinence not consuming cooked foods, even though the raw food felt great for me, bodily and mentally, but I always had some food cravings and went back to cooked food quite quick.

I'm not a fortune-teller though I feel that this time it feels much more natural to eat raw and it does not feel like abstinence or denial really. I also just LOVE the feeling of feeling CONTENT, FULL and happy without over- and over filling the stomach but only just after some normal decet raw meals.

I don't know why this is the case at the moment. But indeed I have tried everything which was possible to accelerate my sluggish metabolism by heaps of sports, enemas and fasting. Recently I added Spirulina and Chlorella Algae into my diet and I felt really really much more content even after cooked food meals. Then recently I added some more plant-based powders like Maca, Green Powder, and some others.

Anyway I just wanted to share this with you and that I just really really enjoy that it is this way. It is really absolutely wonderful to feel happy and content without ever having to stuff you up with raw and / or cooked food until nothing more fits in. Even more it is stunning that, after about 1 year ago I was completely "finished" after jogging for 20 minutes and I had muscle pain for four days. Now I run for up to an hour, no muscle pain and it just feels great.

OK thanks for your support see you soon!

M.G.

[Saria]

That's good you're doing well with it now! I am pretty new to raw but I also have been able to run further than before. That's one of the many things that let me know I'm getting healthier!