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Where to start

I am not raw….I would have to say that our family ate less than 1% of our diet as raw veg. My new years resolution was to increase this percentage this year and I came across a wonderful raw foods cookbook that inspired me and fascinated me… now where should a ground zero person begin to educate themselves and not make freshmen mistakes like not sprouting nuts? Who knew? So, PLEASE… your favorite basic books, people, conventions What appliances are a must….BIG pitfalls to avoid like certain foods that are dangerous raw?? At what % point is there diminished returns…

Comments

  • That’s a big question to respond to! I would really go through this site and look through different posts. You can do a search for a specific term or food in the forums section. It seems to me that everyone has a different approach to raw, but that’s also what makes this site so exciting—it just educates the approach you are taking and refines it at the same time.

    But for my personal take on raw—I would aim for lots of greens (so as to help reduce your cravings to cooked) via green juice and green smoothies. You should definitely buy Green for Life—Victoria Boutenko’s book. And fruit. You won’t need as many fats as time goes on, but I would make sure to include some fat everyday while your body is getting used to things. I would purchase a blender (I highly recommend a Vita Mix) at the very least, you may want a juicer as time goes on. I would not get a dehydrator to start out—I would really keep the focus on greens, fruits, and a small amt. of nuts/seeds/avocado. And if you need to eat cooked, try to keep it to one meal, try to keep it vegan, and try to keep it light. Try to keep everything organic.

  • hi Rosemary- excellent choice, madam;) the very first time i heard about living a raw vegan life was an accidental trip to www.thegardendiet.com...trip of a lifetime…from then on i was so thankful. raw turned into an obsession for me, finding all sorts of resources and feeling that the information was just right, exactly what i needed. so after a year of obsessing over raw food i jumped in on january 7th and it’s PERFECT!!! there are so many inspirational beautiful people giving information…on youtube you can see videos of Juliano, Matt Monarch, Matt Amsden(his book rawvolution is delicious), David Wolfe….and so many others. also visit Angela Stokes at www.rawreform.com for ejournals…
    right now i am feeling :D eating whatever i feel like and have an inkling it’s getting better and better. my appliances are a blender, a nutmilk bag, a juicer and a food processor.
    LOVE

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    go gradually and naturally, otherwise you will end up added stress to your diet, which isn’t much better than junk food =)

    i think we can get a little centered around recipes… so here are some tips i’ve gotten from other people that have helped me;

    here’s something really simple that has helped me: http://www.lytnyc.com/fyi_xml/ComboSheet.pdf

    (the bottom right part with meal suggestions… you can incorporate the combinations when you feel comfortable… cuz, remember, in the beginning your body won’t be that sensitive to this stuff, since you’ll be “cleaning out”)

    best tip: start lunch and dinner with a delicious salad. make sure to buy good organic greens that are full of flavor. if you skimp on produce, you won’t like it and won’t end up eating it. (that said, there are lots of great tricks to getting good produce for reasonable prices)

    much luck to you,
    porter

  • Hey Rosemary :) I just started going raw (2/3 days ago) and I’m trying to read up as much about it as possible at the moment. I have started with fruit smoothies for breakfast and various combinations of salad/vegetables for lunch with something small raw or cooked for later (or nothing depending on my hunger). Today I went to a local health food shop and found some raw items which I am adding into my diet.

    My advice (not that I know a lot about raw yet!) is start out with a raw breakfast or raw lunch and slowly incorporate more into your diet. It’s alright to have a few cooked things if you feel you need them! It’s a big change and should be done slowly. Educate yourself with plenty of books/articles/ forum posts on the subject. Ask lots of questions! So far no-one has been annoyed with my many questions :)

    Good luck!

  • Thank You! I am going to start with the Raw for Life on the home page here and it looks like I can make a list of people from there….Will probably get the Green for life book kellygoneraw recommended and I am thinking of going to the Raw Spirit Festival in September in Arizona… it seems so far away both in time and location! I agree that the forums are full of contradictory advice and opinions!! BUT THANK GOD FOR FREEDOMS and places like this to rant and rave in so we all can take away what we like and believe in and what has worked for others!
    A few years ago I made a big change in our home by starting dinner with a hand sized multi-colored raw salad. This brought big benefits into our lives and made us all healthier. I have no intention of becoming 100% raw I am aiming for something like 75% (over the course of two years) at best, achieved with small permanent changes, like our more formal dinners served in courses, beginning with a small salad. Right now I have begun replacing about 50% of our snack foods with things like the kale chips and various raw cookies that I concocted after pouring over the recipe section here and in raw cookbooks.
    Are there people to avoid? Anyone who you think make the movement look bad? People who have made newbie

  • Many raw foodists I have read seem to suggest that eating 75% raw will go a long way, so I am guessing that less that isn’t “ideal” and more than that is even better.

  • I totally second kellygneraw’s suggestion on getting the book “green for life”. It shows the difference that only starting the day out with a green smoothie made in folks who were not eating raw. A lot of those people ended up becoming more interested in raw foods and were able to increase their raw intake. Also, its just a great read and it really opens up our eyes on the importance of greens!

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