Ok... I never thought I would "go raw" but moved to California from Chicago 8 months ago to live in a more healty environment and after 2 of those months with accidental guidance and inspiration from a friend, went vegan. This was surprisingly easy, and I don't miss cheese or meat at all. 3 weeks ago I received a BLENDTEC blender I won in a contest. I needed it and wanted it badly, for the purposes of making juices/vegetable blends, etc. Since then I've gotten quite excited about food preparation and am taking nutrition to a new level. For the past 6 months I had cut out most processed foods anyway, just cooking rice and potatoes (major staple!) but eating things like cereal, etc. I wanted to replace juice w/ that as my breakfast and anyhow... somehow I stumbled upon trying to be HIGH RAW. I'm not giving myself "30 DAYS" or anything, I'm looking at the big picture. Exception foods will slip in but they are things like hummus, steamed brussel sprouts, oats, etc. which, despite not being "raw" are still somewhat healthy.

ANYHOW... aside from writing what I've been eating down - I JUST logged the past 5 days in FIT DAY.com - WOW. I'm glad I did! I am eating way more than I thought and the percentages aren't that great. Too much fat.

DETAILS...
I am 27, 5'9 - female - 163lbs (weighed on the first day, not sure if I lost any at this point though I feel slimmer). I have been at this weight for the past 8 months! I don't know why. Going vegan did NOTHING in the numbers/lbs department and I still have some flab. My goal is to get down to 140, which - in Chicago - used to be my "end of summer" weight, before it got cold again and I'd put the weight back on just to burn it off again. SO NOW I have no "end of summer" and no "winter" to struggle with. I exercise regularly and having Fit Day plug me at 24% BMI towards the end of "healthy" bums me out.

ANYWAY...........

HERE IS MY PAST 5 days.
My average is 2017 calories.
59% carbs, 33% fat, 8% protein on AVERAGE.

I need to lower the fat. ALSO - Fitday is a hassle to plug things in! I sprinkle TINY amounts of things and mix tons of pieces together so it's hard to be accurate. I tried to overestimate if necessary.

4/30/2010

24oz juice: dandelion, cucumber, grapefruit, ginger, mint, cilantro
1 banana w/ tbsp of almond butter + sprinkle of oats
4 dates
4 cups of salad containing: dandelion, red cabbage, onion, 1sm avocado, shredded beet, alfalfa sprouts, sunflower seeds, dulse, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, salt, cucumber
3 frozen bananas, cacao powder, cinnamon, almonds and dash of almond milk, cacao nibs
1 apple 1 tbsp almond butter
1 carrot w/ hummus
Small bowl of chia seed pudding

14 miles on bicycle
25 minutes elliptical machine

5/01/2010

chia seed pudding over oats, bananas, cacao nibs
2 dates
36oz juice: dandelion, red cabbage, lemon, grapefruit, cilantro, ginger, mint, sliver of beet, spirulina, cucumber
4 cups of salad containing: dandelion, red cabbage, onion, 1sm avocado, shredded beet, alfalfa sprouts, sunflower seeds, dulse, cucumber, lemon juice, salt
1 banana w/ tbsp of almond butter + oats
1 apple 1 tbsp almond butter
3 frozen bananas, cacao powder, cinnamon, almonds and dash of almond milk, cacao nibs
3 carrots with hummus and sprouts
3 cups of tea

6-7 miles walking
Tea b/c I was trying to stay up for a midnight movie.

5/02/2010

chia seed pudding over oats, bananas, cacao nibs
32oz juice: dandelion, turnip greens, cucumber, lemon, cilantro, grapefruit, ginger
1sm avocado with sunflower seeds, tomato, sprouts, dulse
1 apple 1 tbsp almond butter
2 dates
3 frozen bananas with cacao powder over oats with some almonds
Hummus with sprouts and tomato, 1 carrot

2-3 miles walking

5/03/2010

28oz juice: dandelion, turnip greens, cucumber, lemon, cilantro, grapefruit, ginger
chia seed pudding over oats, bananas, cacao nibs
1sm avocado with tomato, onion, sprouts, dulse and lime
12oz smoothie: frozen strawberries, frozen goji berries, frozen banana, hemp seeds, cacao powder
Handful of cashews
Some goji berries
4 cups salad: spinach, turnip greens, red cabbage, tomato, onion, sprouts, avocado, sunflower seeds, lime, beets
2 dates
Small bowl of chia seed pudding
Few handfuls of cashews

11 miles on bike

5/04/2010

32oz smoothie: grapefruit, lemon, ginger, frozen strawberries, frozen goji, frozen banana, cacao powder, spirulina
Chia seed pudding over oats and bananas with raisins, cacao nibs, sprinkle of coconut
Some cashews
4 cups salad: spinach, turnip greens, red cabbage, cilantro, onion, avocado, 1/2 green apple, sunflower seeds, dulse, garbanzo beans, lime
1/2 apple with almond butter
3 frozen bananas with a few strawberries, one date, cacao powder

2 miles walk – rest day

PLEASE GIVE ME FEEDBACK / SUGGESTIONS!

SO TECHNICALLY:

- I have been vegan for 6+ months
- For 3 weeks have incorporated juicing into my diet / more raw
- Just 5 days eating under scrutiny and trying to work towards 90% raw


The first 3 days of going near 100% raw I was SUPER hungry. I felt like I was eating all day. Now it's leveling out, but I also reduced my exercise to make this transition less complicated or make me feel like I'm not doing something right. I JUST bought more fruits (frozen for juices) and nuts yesterday (May 3) so I was snacking on those a bit. I go to the cupboard and eat some nuts when I want a quick taste of something; I need to get some carrots for this purpose and other things like that so I can not have such a high percentage of fat.

OTHER ISSUES / PROS / CONS

- I used to have HORRIBLE sleep troubles; taking me 3 hrs to fall asleep. Changing sleep patterns (staying up til 6am sometimes) and now it's so much better! This seems to be common, but I also wake up VERY easily now, it's great!

However, I'm still quite tired during the day. My peak energy only lasts like 3 hours. I feel focused but it's a calm focus that doesn't push me to ACTION sometimes.

- My skin was noticably softer when I went vegan but now it's unbelievable! Skin health is really great right now.

- I do feel lighter, and stronger. So far so good. I'm psyched and serious about this!

Hey, glad to hear you're psyched!

Although I do eat some nuts, I snack on fruit. I find that spacing out servings of fruit throughout the day helps to to maintain my blood sugar level (and consequently my energy level). It also keeps me from being ravenous when I eat a meal. My experience is that I can't wait six hours between meals like I used to. Would that help you?

(My sleep and skin are better too. It feels great.)


My favorite raw vegan

NICE !!! thats great, you sound very dedicated to yourself. thats sexy!
anyway, yes, if you want that fat to come off, it is CRUCIAL to cut back on those fats to nearly zero for a minute. say a week. then after you have gone through more of that hunger you feel.(which by the way is a sign that something you were eating was/is imbalanced, and is addictive.) eventually after being 100% raw, the pain the hunger all goes away. except for normal hunger. but it just doesn't seem bad aftewr you have dedicated yourself to eating stuff your body needs.
try to have days of very very little fat. like only an avocado or something. somedays i use a tbls of flax oil in my smoothie. and maybe an avocado later.
I have been raw since sept. and i have currently lost 130 pounds !!!!!!!
key to the weight loss is low fat, high greens. also, the freezing the fruit for juice souunds sketchy to me, as it is unknown how freezing affects food completely. don't get me wrong, i freeze some fruit for smoothies. Just giving a warning to not freeze EVERYTHING, as we don't know what is lost.
good luck!!!! your diet sounds great so far, and if you have any questions, hit me up!

The Raw Lion 440 pounds to 225 pounds!

OK....... I tried to lower the fat percentage today. I ate a TON of fruit. I was generally leaning more towards the veggies but tried something new. I also didn't eat chia seed pudding, anything with cacao, or frozen banana 'yogurt' which all rule.

still I ended up at around:

72% carb %6 protein, 22% fat.

Just ONE avocado and some cashews pushed me to that point; disappointing. I also ate my avocodo on its own, vs in a salad so I could savor the fattiness vs having it lost within the greens. That was helpful. Today was also only 1400 calories; though I feel FULL! I had been pushing 2000 all of my other raw days. I'm glad I brought more fruit into the fold!

I also rode my bike 12 miles (as transportation) and spent 30 min on an elliptical machine... I do need fat but I doubt I could ever get to 80/10/10 (not my primary goal but those numbers are in the back of my head).

I eat all throughout the day. I don't feel as hungry as I did a few days ago. Sometimes the hunger comes as a wave or like the tide but then goes back in and disappears. Sometimes I feel like I am eating for the sake of eating because I am excited about all the cool stuff in my fridge and throwing different combinations together.

Here's what I ate today:

05/05/2010

12oz smoothie: celery, turnip greens, lemon, tangelo, ginger, cilantro, cucumber
1 banana
12oz smoothie: frozen strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mango, goji berries
Fruit salad of 1 banana, half an apple, 1 cup strawberries
3 carrots with some hummus
Fruit salad with pineapple, blueberries, mango
1sm avocado with tomato, onion, jalapeño, lime, cilantro
1 date
Some cashews
4 cups salad: kale, turnip greens, spinach, cilantro, green apple, onion, jalapeno, sprouts, lemon juice, dulse, cucumber

The first smoothie was WAY too salty; too much celery. Too complicated of a mix... still usually everything I make is tasty so that's OK. I ditched it midway through and had a better fruit smoothie later in the day. I also remembered... DUH!!! you can make fruit salads! So I did that today too. Definite fruit zone, I had to encourage myself to finish the day with a salad to get in some more greens.

OH YEAH.....
I don't really have ANY cravings! The first few days I wanted potato chips (crunchy/salty) but I feel ok now! Well, I do crave some things that are in my fridge.. I'm not as exhausted either, and still go to bed fairly early but I don't crash like before.

I can't wait until the newness wears off a little and food preparation and running errands to get missing pieces (produce always runs out at different times) isn't the focal point of my day. I'm jobless so I have time for it but I think a lot about what I'm going to eat next, etc. This is decreasing as days go on.

Anyhow, I'm into this. I look at a lot of 30 day trial blogs and it's interesting to see other people's approaches and reactions. I'm glad there is a community online as well, I find my reading this stuff so much! Thanks for the comments.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2010 04:49AM by stellium.

ALSO...... the being jobless thing means I have access to my kitchen at any point in the day. This is bad on one hand for quantity of eating but good in general... I WANT a JOB very badly not just out of desperation but I like to feel productive but I DREAD getting an office job where you sit all day and eat candy, doughnuts, etc.. but that's where my experience lies. I think something part-time would be OK. I worry about the flexibility of this 'lifestyle.' One company I interviewed for mentioned that they buy lunch everyday. Which is cool, technically but what does that REALLY mean? Fastfood chains etc. I'd be the weirdo in the corner with an apple. I don't want those kind of environments at all.

ANYHOW, I hope with starting ground up making changes in my life I will be able to attract more appropriate circumstances and people into my life. I think it will work but the jobworld has always been a weird thing for me, never quite finding the right thing.

I just ate my first cooked meal - on the 9th day. Not because of uncontrollable cravings... since I started I've just been avoiding friends and staying out too long etc. I walked 7 miles today and went to Whole Foods. Usually I'm fine but today I was pining (mentally only) for some vegan non-raw things. Just things with different textures, non-produce carbs. I walked around other shopping areas waiting to meet my friend and saw tons of people eating outside. I had to mention my choice to "eat mostly just produce" (how I phrase it to my friends) and I feel rigid and anti-social. So I ate some spinach pasta with dulse and some garlic. It was good, I hope it digests OK. It was a small portion; I'll move on. On fit day I'm still within a good range of fats/carbs/protein and the calorie amount is below 1500. PLUS YEAH - I walked for so long! When I spotted the remaining garlic in the fridge; that was it. I wanted it. This was AFTER a smoothie. I spotted some sun-dried tomatoes at another market today and they were like $4.99. I was maybe going to try that zucchinni pasta but that's too much to spend on one item like that... I think that's why I caved. STILL, I'm doing pretty good.

I hope to continue this but its' hard with outside forces. Funny thing is, I left my friend to avoid cooked food (I would have had a veggie sandwich all raw just on some bread) and instead went and made pasta at home.

ALSO, I wish people were more responsive here, I think I should find another forum. My friends all eat cooked and drink, two are vegetarian, one is a junk food vegan. I don't want to drink at all either. MY BODY is fine with all of this. I don't feel like a broke down or anything, I was just taking care of a need.

I feel weird relating to people since I started this (9 days ago but then also 2weeks before that when I started blending and making juices and upping the percentage). Detached. And my energy levels are high but since I ditched processed food in the fall 8 months ago I miss the energy that comes from being stressed, razzled, the frenzy. Now I'm just calm and sit around. Nothing gets done. I feel content, I don't know what to do.

You left your friend to avoid cooked food? Do you mean you ended your friendship? If so, I'd rethink that. A true friend would be understanding. Could you find ways to make food not an issue when you're together (e.g., eat before you get together so that at a restaurant you can do with a small side salad and not feel hungry; go hiking together or stuff other than going to restaurants)?

As to feeling weird relating to people and missing the energy from being stressed, it sounds like raw food has stripped away what felt like protective covering and some unfamiliar feelings are exposed. This is a great time to evaluate how things are going in different areas of your life and how you would like them to be. Do you keep a journal? Write some sort and long term goals as an entry. Do you have a friend or family member you can discuss deeper topics with? Ask them for help. Are you getting exercise? It sounds like you may be feeling depressed. Make yourself get out - even though it feels hard - because you will feel better afterwards.


My favorite raw vegan

I left my friend aka went HOME instead of going out to eat. We already hung out by walking around and going to an art opening. I could have continued, as it was early in the evening but I was like, nah - I gotta go. I don't have money for restaurant food anyway, and I don't want it. I could make a better side salad at home.

About feelings- since raw there are NO FEELINGS. I miss my feelings. I feel sort of numb and detached. Today is the first day in a few weeks where I had a physical feeling. Normally I'm a lot more amped up and sensitive. That's gone. I just feel mellow. I'm not that kind of person or aiming for "peace" or anything. I want activity, getting things done.

I exercise all the time. Everyday I do something active. I'm outside all the time, in the sun. I guess I'm just in transition.

Whoops. Just tossing ideas out. Sorry I didn't help.


My favorite raw vegan

It sounds like you're your own biggest barrier against some things. People are on here at their leisure so I wouldn't waste my time making a point to say you're not getting attention. Look for other boards! They exist! Many members on here also use other boards for similar and different reasons.

Can't help you with the feelings thing, I don't know enough about you. Eating a highly or entirely raw diet can feel very isolating, especially if social eating is part of your life. Being miserable about how isolating it can be is a choice. If eating raw for your health is THAT important, it won't matter what your friends eat and what your options are at restaurants. Also, eating is a social thing. A cooked meal here and there won't kill you, won't throw off your raw steez, and may make you happier.

So instead of being 100% raw for some reason, do you and be happy, whether that's 100%, 50% or 80%. Choose health, above all. The cooked meal you had sounds healthy, and that along with a diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables won't do you wrong.

Thanks....... I know there are other forums but some are SUPER cheesy or JUST vegan and junkfood vegans talking about induldging in mock-SAD foods etc... I found another one and will try it out. I just was looking through the back pages here and learning so much and am not turned off by the look/setup of this place so I was just hoping more people would be responsive. A lot of this is just me thinking aloud anyway.

In short, I sorted out tons of details in these first 9 days! I mean at first I was just seeing if I could eat all raw, then I realized I was eating too much fat. I also realized I was getting to complicated with mixing things and want to keep it simplier ie. juicing/blending. I also learned to up my fruit intake and am eventually striving towards 80/10/10. I have a hold for that book at the library and am next in line, looking forward to it.

I think I am doing pretty good so far. I am NOT a restarant person PERIOD. The way I hang out with friends is not "let's go out to eat." AT ALL. Most of the time I see my friends at shows (bands/music) and sometimes we do things before or after. A lot of people drink as well but I haven't had a hard time turning that one down really. I just get hungry more often on raw AS WELL as having a 'normal person' sleep schedule for now where if I'm at a show/party and it's 1am I start to get irritable out of hunger or wanting to sleep soon. That used to never be a problem.

I won't have a cooked meal for awhile I don't think. I just really wanted that garlic in the pan for some reason. OH - I also learned on fitday more about measuring proper portions. Before the whole "deck of cards as serving size for meat and 15 nuts" as serving sizes seemed to restrictive to me. Now I work within it and I can eat a TON of fruit so it's not a big deal!

Thanks again for reading and responding.

I feel better now about this.... like I'm in a groove. Today was my best day at like 82/7/11. I realized this lower fat thing is mostly not eating ANY FAT and avoiding it aside from maybe a few nuts. This in the end is good bc those $5+ bags of nuts are going to last AWHILE.

I'm still eating less than 1500 calories but don't feel hungry all the time. I can go out and shut the hunger up if it comes out after a few hours. I may have cut back on exercise a little and am definitely sleeping more. I feel my mind coming back to me and I'm starting to stay up later (my old ways). I think I am finally adjusting. My body digs the fruit and I am enjoying variety.

I seem to be consistently short on a few vitamins like calcium, sellium, Vitamin E, Iron, Zinc, Niacin.. like within the 35%-70% range. I need to eat more nutrient-rich greens but they haven't looked good lately (collard greens, turnip greens, I bought some dandelion which I love but it had SLUGS inside, sick). Any other suggestions are welcome...

Also Vitamin D is super low or non existent but I live in LA - it's sunny all the time! Not sure what to do about B12. Sometimes I have rice milks that have enriched vitamins which has B12... is that technically not raw?

Also looking for more ideas on low fat high protein foods.

don't be discouraged by the lack of posts here , typically it slows down quite a bit during spring and summer around here and most of us are outdoors getting jazzed up about the abundance of warmer weather ive noticed this trend since being here almost 8 years now keep up the good work it sounds like you are making interesting discoveries about yourself

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

the isolation is normal, it goes away. shoot, by the 6th month i felt totally normal again. the weirdness in the beginning is your body going through MASSIVE physiological changes. serious ones. but not only serious, but positive. keep in mind your body is flooding with toxins ......so it isn't all fun and games in the beginning. it can take months if not years of detoxing before you feel free per se. I feel completely normal now and i have been raw for like 8 months. also, eating the cooked food randomly will make you feel out of it, depressed, hopeless, etc. its creepy. cooked food really is weird stuff. as addicted to it we are, there is still something addictively creepy toxic about it.!

The Raw Lion 440 pounds to 225 pounds!

Yeah... in addition to going raw I'm totally broke, my car needs to be fixed soon, lots of excuses to avoid going out. It's starting to bum me out.

Anyway, I'm 2 weeks and a day or two in. Doing pretty good though I've had two cooked meals. Interested in the 80/10/10 diet, been keeping my percentages in those categories, or trying to. At first I realized I was eating 30% fat! Who knows what that percentage was when I ate cooked. Now I know how to stay below 10% and I've adjusted and it's easy! Just avoid overt fats. Not a big deal. I will probably eat a small avocado tomorrow.

Sometimes I get bored with the lack of variety but then just head to the store. Lots of produce in season right now.

I also finally got a bed for the first time in 8 months. Ridiculous. Now I hope to sleep better, moving towards optimal health. I just need to get a damn job.