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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookHi! I’m new to raw foods but not necessarily new to healthy eating. After recovering from bulimia nervosa, I began taking an active role in my health (with the help of my boyfriend). I rarely eat meat, only chicken once or twice a week and some days cheese or eggs. However, I have noticed myself really getting out of touch with food and with myself, occasionally snacking on ice cream and milk chocolate because my family leaves it around. This frightens me because of my strong tendencies to binge (not as strong as before, thank god!) Also, I’ve had no time to work out lately with school and work that I feel like my diet, which is high in carbohydrates and calories (2000+), is unnecessary for my inactive lifestyle. A raw lifestyle seems unattainable at the moment with my hectic lifestyle and small budget (no $ for a dehydrator or juicer), but I would LOVE to reap the benefits of living food.
All of the people here sound amazingly kind, helpful, and supportive…so, if you don’t mind, do you have any meal ideas for someone transitioning to a raw food lifestyle?
I’ve already made some flax bread which I dehydrated in the sun but it was way too flaxy tasting and bland (probably because it was made of whole flax,ground flax, garlic, and seeds). Also, I made some sushi but it turned out pretty miserable (just nori, cucumber, and kale). I absolutely love raw kale, lemon juice, and olive oil as well as green smoothies! And what are some staples I should buy? Oh, and one final question: every raw meal plan I’ve seen is simply fruit and veggies with hardly any healthy fats nor carbohydrates. I have a very busy lifestyle and cannot live off of merely fruits and veggies, can I?
Thank you!
Comments
Welcome!
It seems you already are into Green Smoothies. Bananas are plentiful and cheap (my roomates and I dumpster dive) and excess bananas get put in the freezer. We use them with water and collard greens to make really creamy smoothies (all we have is a cheap and old Osterizer blender, nothing fancy). So definitely keep green smoothies in your diet.
I am a student so it is hard to find time and money to be raw, but it works. Things I like to have: Olive oil, Lemons, Good Sea Salt, Coconut oil (really satisfying and nurturing), Sunflower seeds (soaked for an hour then blended with red or yellow bell pepper is the good base for a yummy almost cheesy spread that works well with nori and spinach), Celery and Carrots are great, Bee Pollen is a great way to get plenty of nutrition, Garlic is heavensent, Raw cashews are definitely a luxury but nice to have occasionally..
Fruits are the best source of carbohydrates since they offer delicious glucose which is brainfuel…if you have really busy days try to bring some varied pieces of fruit with you (orange, kiwi, banana, apple, pear, whatever you fancy) and snack throughout the day…drink plenty of fresh purified water too..
All that I just listed is how I get by…I hope it helps
brontesaurus – Hi & welcome! I ate meat (fish, chicken & beef) and raw goat cheese for two and a half years; I just ate everything else raw. I felt great! Finally, I quit eating meat & dairy about a month and a half ago, because that’s what my body wanted. I never set out to eat 100 raw; just to listen x%x feed my body what it wanted, and that turned out to be raw food! I was eating all that raw food for quite a while with only a blender – no juicer, dehydrator or food processor. I just got the other equipment one thing at a time, & I learned how to make things with what I had. When I quit eating meat, I started eating a ton of greens, & I HAVEN’T MISSED MEAT AT ALL!!!!! I am satisfied. I use avocados in my salads, make sauces with nuts, etc. & I do great. Sprouted lentils are good for me, too, because they fill me while giving me the extra enzymes available from sprouting. I love guacamole, & sometimes I’ll just have a plate of guacamole covered with sprouts (alfalfa, sunflower, etc. – whatever you have)! I just got my son his own profile, because he comes up with recipes that are really good & I want him to have the fun of sharing them (even if he refuses to eat them:), and I think he deserves the credit. He loves it when people comment on his recipes or his post (Look in introductions “Hi! I’m new”). Check out his “Superhero Dressing!” and “Celery Salad Wraps” for ideas with just a regular blender.
brontesaurus – I thought of some more things. When I was eating meat & then everything else raw, I was eating a ton of food because I was extremely deficient in vitamins & minerals. I couldn’t buy supplements back then because I was living on Food Stamps, which only allowed me to buy food, so I had to get all my nutrition from the foods I ate, and I knew that salmon has over half of all the vitamins & minerals we need, including iodine, which I needed to heal my thyroid. Fish also have omega-3s, and I didn’t yet know how to use flax seeds. Flax oil was considered a supplement, so I couldn’t buy it. (Although Food Stamps can buy chewing gum – maddening!) Good organic beef is a source of several nutrients as well (I started craving it when my hair was falling out & than found out it had vitamin B6, & that a B6 deficiency could lead to hair falling out. I ate a huge steak & within 2 days my hair stopped falling out. Anyway, I did the best I could with the resources I had. Now, I am eating a ton of greens & green juices, because I finally have a juicer – yay! I also bought spirulina & another supplement that is a combination of kelp, dandelion root & alfalfa. I have taken various other supplements over the last year or so. Anyway, since bulimia nervosa results in some major mineral deficiencies, I thought this information might give you some insight. I believe that I could have stopped eating meat a lot sooner if I had more knowledge, as well as access to things like green juices, chlorella, spirulina, flax, etc. Kale, parsley, & other dark greens are amazing sources of tons of vitamins & minerals, but kale doesn’t break down well just by chewing it. If you can’t juice, I make a variation of a kale salad recipe on this site. The original is called “Rock & Roll Kale Salad.” Check it for directions & possible variations you might want to use. My version is more simple & not sweet at all. I use 1 bunch of kale, 1 avocado, the sea salt & lemon, 1 clove of fresh garlic, crushed or minced (this replaces the garlic powder), and the other powdered seasonings called for in the recipe. You put it all in a gallon ziploc bag & squish the heck out of it for several (10?) minutes. The salt helps the kale break down a little so you can chew it up better. I make it after one meal to have for the next meal. So after it has been in the fridge for a few hours, I dump it out & add shredded cabbage (I like purple), a small handful of pinenuts, and sometimes green onions. I mix it up & eat it, & it is really filling & feels GOOD! I made it every day for about a week. At first I ate the whole thing, & now I sometimes have to save some for another meal. I decided my body must have been needing kale & I just now found a way to use it! After the first few days, I wasn’t as starving for those minerals, and I didn’t need as much. I hope this helps!
Thank you so much!