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What was your diet like pre-raw?

Greetings everyone!

Forgive me if I am asking a question that's been discussed before, but honestly I'm not even sure what keywords I'd type in to come across it if it has. So, alas...

I'm curious as to what sort of diets everyone ate before they got into raw foods. I mean directly preceding raw, as in, were you vegan or vegetarian first and then transitioned to raw (or started incorporating it more), or were you eating totally SAD with meat and lots of junk food, or were you a health conscious omnivore, or etc etc. And do you think that the change from whatever diet had an effect on your experiences with raw food... for example, I'd imagine it to be an easier transition if you were already used to whole foods than if you lived off'a fast food or whatnot, because your palette would be more closely aligned with the often subtle vegetable flavours and such. I'm curious to know if my speculation has any ground in truth.

Synchronicity,

Aurora

Comments

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    I was probably a half raw or 60% raw, steamed or baked cooked food, very little grains whole-foods vegan, so I was already pretty healthy.

    Daily, I would have at least 10-20 cups of mixed greens, sprouts, lots of fruit, 3 lbs. or so of steamed broccoli, maybe some cooked sweet potatoes, some kale or collards (steamed), etc.

    I had three days of detox, mucous and sore throat, headache.

  • I was completely SAD. For approximately a year prior to finding raw, I was trying to lose weight by eating "healthier" but that included Budget Gormet Frozen meals, trying to cut down on junk food, calorie reduction by smaller portions of SAD, etc. After struggling and being miserable for a year or more, I had lost a total of 10 pounds (I say total because who knows how many I lost and regained throughout the year as I starved and binged :-). I just kind of gave up then, went back to regular eating, and stumbled on raw a few months later.

    But not definitely now vegetarian; hadn't even ever heard of vegan. So I went straight from SAD.

  • joannabananajoannabanana Raw Newbie

    I was a vegan first and then started seeing blogs with raw recipes. I would make the raw stuff and it was great, so I figured I would try the lifestyle out. So far, so good!

  • Oh brother- I was the absolute WORST!

    ***I went directly from SAD TO RAW

    My SAD days went something like this:

    breakfast- milk and cereal (raisin bran or wheat chex)

    lunch- pizza and gatorade or hamburger and fries or salad with ranch dressing

    snack- nature valley granola bar or wheat thins

    dinner- chicken and rice or enchilada or pasta with heavy cream based alfredo or worse! Chinese take out!

    dessert- slice of cake or a cookie

    I mostly followed my recipes from food network's website or this one cookbook called "healthy living." Unfortunately nothing I made was healthy. Most of the recipes required ingredients like canned veggies and packaged food seasoning. I used vegetable spray, canola oil, refined sugar, barbeque sauce, vegetable mix, mayonnaise, sour cream.

    I used to bake tons of stuff using corn syrup, cake flour, food coloring, chocolate chips, and condensed milk. EHCK! Now, I can't help but look at something like corn syrup or cola and think 'death in a bottle.' I look back at those days and think how uncomfortable I always felt after a meal. I never had weight issues but I did have MAJOR acne problems. I spent tons of money on products for my face and body because I was literally covered in pimples and grease!

    I stumbled upon raw while surfing the web and I instantly fell in love with it! We also just moved to a different location and have easy access to the farmer's market. Food tastes amazing and I feel great too! The acne is slowly clearing, but all the cysts are gone like magic!

  • I am still transitioning, but have been vegan for about 3 or 4 years and vegetarian for about 17. I've been a healthy eater for about the last 5 (whole foods, minimal processing and additives) but before that anything meatless was fair game!

    I think taking steps toward healthier eating has made the idea of raw seem a lot more doable. I guess it depends on your situation - I'm doing raw because I have a chronic illness I'd like to improve, but for someone who already feels relatively healthy I can see it being more of a challenge to go raw if they enjoy eating cooked/unhealthy foods.

  • luxdivonluxdivon Raw Newbie

    so my story goes something like this,

    I grew up on a SAD diet, which my parents still eat today. It was a healthy SAD diet, and for dinner if would often look like this. Chicken, steamed rice w/butter, sugar and spice, and frozen veggies heated up on the stove. Throughout my whole life, i've had a weakness for sweets. If we had SAD cookies, brownies, cake in the house, I couldn't resist. Oftentimes I could eat a whole bag of cookies in one sitting. I wasn't fat growing up because I couldn't do my sweet binge every day or anything. I was in the army for 4 years, so I ate whatever the army fed me. When I went to college, I had developed some pre-cancerous cells. I had surgery to cut it out. They came back. They did surgery again. It came back again. At that point, I knew something wasn't right. So I took to my own devices and started researching. I came across a book named "A Cancer Battle Plan". I went to a very low-saturated fat diet, and ate way more veggies, and did juicing. I also ate a lot less meat. I switched to eating more black beans. I still drank milk. On this for 3 months or so, went back to the doctor, my cells came back normal. That was all the proof I would ever need. So at that time, I was eating healthy because I knew I HAD to. I still wanted the SAD diet. And I hadn't started learning all the other horrible things that are happening with our food. Of course I wanted it. It is meant to be addictive. So That was years 23-30. In the last few years I had started a serious relationship with "boson havoc" (that's his name on here) . I fell off the bandwagon a bit, and was eating more meat, too much cheese, mexican food, and things like sausage. After this last christmas we both looked at ourselves, and said, Man, we're getting fat, we gotta do something about this. So lead back to the healthy diet, the high fiber, low fat. Through-out this we stumbled upon "natural flavors", monsanto, GMO, MSG, and realized that even the minimally processed food we were ingesting had these addictive flavors. I think that's what made it so hard to get entirely away from the SAD diet. Well we started trying to only buy foods that had pure ingredients. Then we went to a raw food party, and it was awesome. My beau was going away on a trip, which left me the perfect time to do the master cleanse. It all came full circle. When I was done with my master cleanse I tried to make a hot soup. It was disaster, and a sign. Try raw food out. That was a little more than a month ago, and I love it. I am now eating this way because I Want to. We hope to have an all "raw food" wedding in Fall of 2010, with food we've grown ourselves, flowers in our garden, A dress i'm going to make, and at the house of a friend dear. : )

    p.s. i realize it's a novel, but thanks for listening.

  • joannabananajoannabanana Raw Newbie

    I've had fun reading all of these! I love this site because you don't have to be 100% or even 10% raw in order to be interested in raw foods and talk about them.

    I was also just thinking how far our society has deviated from its natural way of eating. We basically all grew up eating fattening, cooked foods and it's a total 180 to how nature intended us to eat. I'm glad we're getting back to nature even if it has taken a while.

  • I grew up eating decent meals. My mom cooked every night, spaghetti, chicken, meatloaf, tacos, etc and we always had salad or veggies. We ate chips and drank soda with lunches. I wouldn't say I was fat, but I was chunky in school. I played soccer for 8 years until high school and then once I got a job I didn't have time for sports. I tried to eat a vegetarian diet in high school but I gave in after about 2 months. My younger sister has been a vegetarian for 7 years or so, and my family has been really awesome at making sure she had something to eat at holidays. I was in a relationship with a guy who ate SAD and I gained about 30 lbs over 4 years because we ate out EVERY NIGHT! I worked at a gym and hired a personal trainer for weight lifting and I noticed I did get stronger, but the weight wasn't going anywhere. After that relationship dissolved, I cut out chips and soda and cookies and all sorts of fast foods and I upped my cardio and weight training. I only lost about 10 lbs over that year, mainly because I would still over eat pasta and rice and mayo and other delicious condiments. I got married in July of fast year and while on a trip to Whistler, I ordered a plate of nachos and I was completely disgusted as I ate them and the meat that went on them! I gave up meat then and there and I haven't eaten it since. I don't miss it at all. I knew my body had been telling me that something was wrong (I was having digestion probs) and I decided I would just start over with my diet. I went vegan for the first 2 weeks and slowly added small servings of cheese and yogurt. It really wasn't that hard once I transitioned into vegan again later. I sometimes miss the taste of cheese but my body feels so much better now. I hated cooking when I was younger but now I love experimenting with raw foods and seeing what I can create. I am also not working right now so I regularly bring my husband lunch at work. I love making him raw and vegetarian meals and I am so happy that he doesn't mind! His parents make huge meat and potato meals with pre-packaged veggies and he hates it! Once you get the hang of "cooking" things raw, it truly become so much easier than going out somewhere to grab a bite to eat. Plus, I don't get migraines anymore ( I've had them since age 13) and I don't have digestive problems anymore.

    Joannabanana- I agree about our society and the way the view food or convenience over nutrition! It's kind of gross! I had a guy tell me the other day when he found out I was vegetarian (I didn't want to scare him by saying vegan!) that "i wouldn't be alive today if my ancestors didn't eat meat" and I responded by telling him that I am lucky to have the option to choose and the availability of all these fruits and vegetables!

  • sv3sv3 Raw Newbie

    I'd say I grew up eating pretty healthily (by junk SAD standards anyway). My Mum would cook freshly prepared meals every days which included plenty of veg. She wouldnt give us junk. She didn't let us drink fizzy drinks and we had to beg for 'treats' like crisps, McDonalds, choc, etc. I turned veggie in my early teens but went back to meat a few years later. I was always very slim and so never really thought about eating healthily until I started to get a bit older and stopped being so active. An office job brought home just how in-active I was and I started to put on weight. After a year travelling in Oz, I'd put on loads of weight and read a book by Allen Carr called 'The easyweigh to loose weight'. He touched a bit about going back to nature and how lost we'd become in what kind of food we ate. I started to eat loads of fruit/veggies and started food combining. This worked well but I soon slipped back into old habits.

    It was only last year when I started running and getting into my fitness that I started to think about how I should fuel my body for ultimate energy. I read Eating for Energy by Yuri Elkaim and it all made perfect sense. I have been transitioning since then. I've turned veggie again and honestly dont miss meat one bit. I am now on the path to veganism but I don't want to rush things. Now I know about raw, it would be almost impossible to ignore and go back to my old eating habits.

    (Sorry for waffling on!)

  • I really give kudos to people who went right from SAD to raw. Well, RIGHT BEFORE doing the raw thing, I guess I was SAD, but that would be misleading. I started eating whole foods about 20 years ago and became vegetarian shortly after. I gave up dairy and egs for several of those years. I ate a lot of veggies. Agave and celtic sea salt and maca, and raw cacao nibs were things that were already in my pantry or I was familar with. I was able to start making recipes right away w/o going to the store after finding Sunny Raw Kitchen BLog. So I figure this is easier for me.

    But RIGHT BEFORE doing this (about 7 months ago) I was SAD. When my boyfriend passed away, I guess I was bitter and angry and didn't want to care about anything and I said f*ck it and started eating SAD. Meat and all. After 20 years of not touching it. I lost interest in my love of cooking gourmet veggie and whole foods. Well, I stumbled upon Sunny Raw Kitchen Blog which led me to Heathy's blog. These foods were making my mouth water. My body was crying out for it. I printed out a couple of recipes and headed to the pantry. I pulled out dusty containers of agave and nutritional yeast and old raw nuts and seeds that had been sitting in the freezer for who knows how long. I whipped up some delicious things and I was back in the kitchen "cooking" again. I am back to eating healthy again but even BETTER than before.

    I think it has helped me emotionally. I haven't had a panic attack in a while. I feel good many days instead of angry. I love it.

  • SuasoriaSuasoria Raw Newbie

    What interesting stories! Pirawna, I didn't know that about your BF. I'm so sorry for your loss.

    I started flirting with vegetarianism about 20 years ago in college, but it was not official. I wouldn't give up seafood, I really loved sushi and shellfish, so that took a few more years. In the meantime I learned to really love cooking. When I met my husband he was still eating a little poultry and seafood too, but he went vegetarian and I sort of became one by default. We ate eggs but I was never much into dairy so that wasn't a big issue to give up, but again, he made the choice to be vegan first and I adapted to it. I should also say we were becoming more and more educated about diet, health, and animal protection issues, and once you know these things you can't really go backwards.

    So we were vegan for quite some time, years and years, and then about four years ago we had the privilege of helping out on a documentary film on raw foods and meeting a lot of people who are involved in the movement. So we started playing with that, and learning more. He's been much more hardcore about being 100% for prolonged periods. He juices, does green smoothies, is into superfoods, etc. He's ridiculously healthy.

    Really my main interest in learning to prepare raw foods was rooted in developing my culinary repertoire. I live to impress people in the kitchen. Now I can give someone food, watch them swoon, and say "and can you believe that's 100% raw??" I dig that.

  • my mom's pescitarian, so as a kid i was pretty healthy (whole grains, fruits, veggies, fish, sometimes chicken), besides your occasional meal at a friend's house. i went vegetarian at 12. 13-14 i was still vegetarian but really unhealthy. throughout 8th grade year, i was eating crap like poptarts and panda express every day since i was constantly hanging out with friends. i ended up being borderline overweight by the time my 8th grade year ended. over the summer, i had a bit of an eating disorder relapse and heavily restricted my eating. by the time school started, i was underweight and miserable. i had developed a lot spiritually over the summer and finally decided to heal myself, by myself, due to my lack of inner peace. over the course of a month or two i gradually increased my intake and used healthy foods as a way to prevent having a lot of guilt about eating. later on i changed perspectives and enjoyed healthy food because it was good for me. i then found out about raw food through a restaurant called cafe gratitude in san francisco. after a little research and a little under a month of incorporating things, i went 100% raw for three months.

    after that, the socially isolating aspects of raw (im 15), the fact that i was starting to turn raw into a someone restrictive habit, and that i was getting sick of nuts and too much fruit doesnt sit well with me, made me decide to start incorporating things like artichokes, yams, whole grains, legumes, etc. im now at around 80% raw and i feel fantastic :) my colon hydrotherapist says that according to my colon, my diet is extremely healthy and that my body's diggin it. works for me!

  • i agree -- these stories have been so interesting to read!

    before slowly transitioning to high raw, i would subsist on things like annie's mac and cheese, frosted flakes or fruit loops, quaker oats instant oatmeal, thai food, indian food, pho, coldstone, and white rice and kimchee and my korean comfort foods. i remember i'd think to myself on occasion, "when was the last time i had a piece of a vegetable?" and i really wouldn't be able to remember. (and then i'd think, "whatever.") i also really liked canned pineapple, greek yogurt with honey, baked lays chips, and reese's peanut butter cups.

    and then about two and a half years ago, i was introduced to raw foods when i randomly came across "raw food real world." of course raw food glammed up was too irresistable to pass up, so i gave it a shot for several months and ate very gourmet/junk raw, heavy on the elaborate, nutty concoctions. i was raw off and on for the next year until running across natalia rose's "raw food detox diet," which clicked with me instantly.

    now that i drink beautiful green juices everyday and eat gorgeous salads and lovely crunchy veggies, my skin has cleared up (and often looks radiant), and i go poo daily instead of every four days (which i thought was normal!!) i am so grateful to now be a conscious eater and intelligent detoxer. SO deeply grateful.

  • Thanks for all the replies everyone!

    I've been enjoying reading everyone's stories.

    Myself, I've been vegan for years, and health-conscious at least in theory but not always in practice. I avoided white flour, refined sugar and such, but I always had sweet tooth and I looove/d? baking. So I'd make, say, brownies with whole wheat flour and 'raw' sugar and replace margarine with tofu and such, trying to have my treats but make them a smidgen healthier. I ate a lot of whole grains and a reasonable amount of vegetables and lots of tofu and such. Sometimes fruit would fall to the wayside, though. I have done a few cleanses, especially over the last couple years, and each one saw me progressing towards healthier eating in general, although I'd often find myself slipping into old habits a few months later. 3 steps forward, 2 steps back kind of thing. Each cleanse took me deeper into raw foods, since they were an integral part of the cleanse I was doing.

    However, when my boyfriend and I went to Cancun, our eating habits really slipped, and we were feeling it by the end. So we've been eating high raw since we've returned and it's been working out very well for us.

  • I guess you could say I'm a "recovering omnivore". I still have lapses, but before going largely raw, I was mostly a vegetarian at home and omnivore when out with friends, (and social eating is still my downfall). But, yeah, I used to eat pretty "healthy" omnivorous, not much fast food or prepackaged stuff. I stick to this site like glue, because it helps my motivation so much to keep raw at home and explore things I can take when traveling and visiting people who eat a SAD diet.

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    i just wrote a post about this! http://bittsblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-i-used-to-eat.html

    i was cooked food vegan and gluten-free, plenty of sugar and drinks though. ugh.

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