January 09, 2015:

- 10 red apples
- red cabbage sauerkraut
- zucchini spaghetti in cauliflower tomato dill sauce, next to grape tomatoes and white cabbage sauerkraut

The cauliflower tomato dill sauce was so creamy again (I didn't mix it with sauerkraut juice this time).

I went shopping today too. I got 4 kg red apples (some are so beautiful, similar to Jonathen apples), 10 oranges for eating (not for juicing), 8 boxes (250 g each) of cherry tomatoes (the ones I liked best from yesterday), 2 bunches of dill, 10 regular tomatoes, 1 large zucchini, 1 head of white cabbage for sauerkraut, 1 bottle of sparkling water. This time I paid around $15, but these will last me for a few days.

I love how pretty the red cabbage sauerkraut juice is - it looks like red wine
I prepared a new jar today: assorted pickles (white cabbage, carrots, cauliflower).

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2015 10:24PM by Ela2013.

January 10, 2015:

- 1.7 l choco banana milk (14 bananas, raw carob, water)
- white and red sauerkraut with zucchini spaghetti in cauliflower tomato dill sauce, next to cherry tomatoes

Another shopping session yesterday afternoon: I got 10 regular tomatoes, 2 heads of white cabbage for sauerkraut, 1 head of cauliflower, 18 small carrots, 3 lovely red peppers, 3 green bell peppers, some bananas with ripening potential. This time I paid around $10, but these will last me for a few days also.

I moved the fruits and veggies in the nets from the oranges, so that they have air and don't spoil.

I kept drinking the sauerkraut juice, it's so good and the red one has such a pretty colour.

I prepared a new jar: assorted pickles (white cabbage, carrots, 1 green bell pepper). I read that you can pickle peppers the raw way, but with salt - I'm trying the salt-free version, just like with sauerkraut.

[phickle.com]

[www.vegan-raw-diet.com]

[www.vrg.org]

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

January 11, 2015:

- 10 oranges
- red sauerkraut
- zucchini spaghetti (marinated in lime juice) with tomato dill sauce
- cauliflower rice with dill and lime juice
- cherry tomatoes and 1 large red pepper

This evening I had something else in mind for my dinner, but my husband brought me some lime quarters which needed to be used, hence the lime juice. So I had to be creative in "the kitchen" and decompose my cauliflower tomato dill mash into tomato dill sauce for the zucchini spaghetti and cauliflower dill rice to go with the lime juice. Everything turned out good, maybe a bit too lemony for me, but full of vitamin C for sure. The limes were good, I like their flavour, especially when they are ripe (their peel is supposed to be more yellow, and not green as most people assume).

I prepared another jar today: assorted pickles (white cabbage, carrots, 1 red sweet pepper).

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

These days I've been feeling more hungry, maybe it's the PMS, or it's because of the vitamins I'm taking.
I've noticed the increase of appetite once I started taking the B12 and vitamin D supplements.
What do you think, have you experienced increased hunger when taking B12 and vitamin D?

January 12, 2015:

- 8 red apples
- sauerkraut with plum tomatoes and cherry tomatoes
- 3 red apples
- raw carob in between my meals (for a different taste)

I prepared the last jar: assorted pickles (white cabbage and carrots). I only have 4 large jars to use, so I prepare them as I eat their content, then I wait for a few days or more for the pickles to be ready.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

January 13, 2015:

- 9 red apples
- califlower tomato dill puree with plum tomatoes (lunch)
- califlower tomato dill puree with cherry tomatoes (dinner)
- 1 red apple

Yesterday I went shopping. I wanted to get only apples, but I saw these spotted bananas and I just couldn't ignore them. So I bought 8 kg bananas, 4 kg apples and a 1 kg bag of carrots - I've been craving carrots a lot lately, I started to really like them, especially my pickled ones). As I was waiting in line to pay, a man saw what I bought and said: "You must have a large family". I said that all those were for me. I'm more and more getting used to these remarks, I find them amusing. I even explained to him why I got so many bananas: they were hard to find - the spotty ones, they still needed to ripen more - I didn't get into the choco banana smoothie part though

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

January 14, 2015:

- 10 red apples (breakfast)
- few plum tomatoes (snack)
- cauliflower rice with tomato dill sauce, next to cherry tomatoes (lunch)
- 5 apples (dinner)

The cauliflower rice was very satiating.

The tomato dill sauce was very creamy and dense, even if I just used tomatoes and dill, I love this sauce, and it was wonderful on the cauliflower rice.

Shopping in the evening: 5.4 kg red apples, 10 oranges (2 kg). I went to the same supermarket to see if they had spotty bananas again, but they were kind of greenish. Instead, they had amazing red apples (my favourite) and some great oranges on sale. I love it like this, when I go shopping and I adapt my menu according to what I find and what I like.

My pickles are doing so great, I checked them. The experiment works perfectly (the pickled red sweet pepper and green bell pepper), I will prepare more in my next batch.

January 15, 2015:

- cauliflower rice with tomato dill sauce, next to cherry tomatoes (breakfast)
- 5 red apples (lunch)
- 6 red apples (dinner)

The previous evening I had made cauliflower rice from 1 head of cauliflower, and I still had half of it left, so I kept it cold over night on my balcony and I wanted to eat it in the morning, it was amazing with the tomato dill sauce, so good.

Shopping yesterday evening: 19 kg red apples.

My pickles are doing amazing now, I'm seriously craving them.

January 16, 2015:

- 2 l choco banana milk (15 bananas, 3 teaspoons raw carob, water) (breakfast)
- homemade sauerkraut, pickled carrots, pickled cauliflower, with cherry tomatoes (dinner)
- 5 apples (late night snack)

The homemade sauerkraut and pickles turned out absolutely amazing. I finished 1 jar already and I replaced it with a new batch. I still have 3 more jars to go. Yay!

Btw, I'll make sauerkraut and pickles during summer too, at this point I think I just can't live without them. And I feel so much better ever since I included fermented veggies in my diet

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

January 17, 2015:

- 2 l choco banana milk (13 bananas, 3 teaspoons raw carob, water) (breakfast)
- homemade sauerkraut, pickled carrots, pickled green bell pepper, with cherry tomatoes (dinner)
- 5 apples (snack)

January 18, 2015:

- 10 oranges (breakfast)
- raw napa cabbage (snack)
- homemade sauerkraut, pickled carrots, pickled red sweet pepper, with cherry tomatoes (dinner part 1)
- raw napa cabbage marinated in the sauerkraut juice (dinner part 2)
- the sauerkraut juice (dinner part 3)
- 4 apples (snack)

I bought 1 head of napa cabbage (Chinese cabbage) for the first time, to try it, it was on offer (reduced from $1.5 to 60 cents/each), I found a lovely one of 2 kgs. It has an interesting taste. I will make napa sauerkraut as well.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

January 19, 2015:

- 1.8 l choco banana milk (13 bananas, 3 teaspoons raw carob, water) (breakfast)
- homemade sauerkraut, pickled carrots, with 10 plum tomatoes and 2 red sweet peppers (dinner)
- 5 apples (snack)

Today I prepared 1 jar of fresh Chinese cabbage sauerkraut, after finishing the last sauerkraut jar, which was the best, as I let it sit the longest, for 4 weeks.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Yesterday morning I went shopping to two large chain supermarkets at the entrance of the town. I got 2 heads of cauliflower, 3 bunches of dill, 2 long cucumbers, 3 red sweet peppers, 3 yellow peppers, 20 tomatoes, 2 packs of plum tomatoes (500 g each), 10 carrots, sparkling water and 2 lovely 1.7 l jars for pickling. I prepared them yesterday evening. So now I have 6 jars for pickling

January 20, 2015:

- 1 l choco banana milk (7 bananas, 3 teaspoons raw carob, water) (breakfast)
- 7 apples (lunch)
- 7 apples (dinner)
- 2 apples (snack)

January 21, 2015:

- 11 apples (breakfast)
- napa cabbage homemade salt-free sauerkraut (dinner part 1)
- 6 apples (dinner part 2)

That napa cabbage (Chinese cabbage) wasn't suitable for making sauerkraut, I didn't like the taste, so I ate like half the jar and threw away the rest, it was too soft for pickling. The best cabbage for making sauerkraut is the regular white cabbage, which is harder than the napa cabbage (napa cabbage has soft leaves, similar to lettuce).

January 22, 2015:

- cauliflower rice with tomato dill sauce, next to 10 plum tomatoes, half a long cucumber, 1 red sweet pepper, 1 yellow pepper (breakfast)
- 6 apples (lunch)
- 11 apples (dinner)

The cauliflower rice was amazing, so satisfying and filling, I've been craving it for the past few days.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Yesterday I downloaded "The Starch Solution" for free and I want to read it. I notice that so many people on Youtube are giving this diet a try, so I want to know what the book is all about exactly. But from the first pages it says that people are starchivores. Which I totally disagree. When I was eating starches (potatoes, polenta, my homemade bread, pasta, and even peas), I felt miserable - bloated, constipated, slow digestion, bad skin, congested nose, lethargic, heavy, sleepy, I gained 5 kg easily. Once I went raw vegan, I easily lost those 5 kg. On raw, when I upped my intake of dates and bananas, I gained the 5 kg back. When I switched to juicy fruits, I lost those kg, I hope this time for good. So yeah, I'm definitely not a starchivore. And yes, I also gain weight on fruits, but I'm definitely a fruit bat

January 23, 2015:

- 12 apples (brunch)
- cauliflower rice with tomato dill sauce, next to 10 plum tomatoes, half a long cucumber, 1 red sweet pepper, 1 yellow pepper (dinner)

The cauliflower rice was extremely satisfying and filling. For the rice I used one head of 1.4 kg of cauliflower (without the leaves). For the sauce I used 12 tomatoes and 2 bunches of fresh dill. This morning I woke up with no hunger

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

I asked Cronometer about my calories from yesterday, January 23 (I had 12 apples and a very large dinner of cauliflower rice, tomato dill sauce, cucumber, plum tomatoes, peppers):

Energy: 1606 cals
Calorie breakdown: 86% carbs / 8% proteins / 6% lipids

Today, January 24, 2015:

- 12 apples (breakfast)
- my pickles were ready: sauerkraut, carrots, 1 green bell pepper, 1 red sweet pepper (dinner - very large portion)
- 8 plum tomatoes half a long cucumber, 1 red sweet pepper (also for dinner)

Energy: 1621 cals
Calorie breakdown: 91% carbs / 6% proteins / 4% lipids

The pickles turned out great. I ate almost 2 jars, as the veggies are large in volume when I place them in the jar, then they shrink as they ferment and I am left with less of them.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

My menu these days:

- lots of apples
- my sauerkraut and pickled carrots, with delicious plum tomatoes

The other day I found spotty bananas, so I got 6 kg. I wish I bought more, but I was about to go to church and I couldn't carry too much in my backpack. So I'm going to have more choco banana milk

January 29, 2015:

- 2.2 l choco banana milk (14 bananas, 4 teaspoons raw carob, water) (breakfast)
- my sauerkraut and pickled carrots, with 2 small cucumbers, 3 tomatoes, 1 red sweet pepper (dinner)
- 5 small local apples (snack)

Yesterday I bought 10 large oranges. The other day I got 6 kg of small local apples, on offer, very cheap. They are very good.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

January 30, 2015:

- 10 large oranges (breakfast)
- 4 cherry tomatoes (snack)
- my sauerkraut and pickled carrots, with cauliflower rice (1 small cauliflower), tomato sauce (4 tomatoes, I had no dill), 1/3 long cucumber, 11 cherry tomatoes, 1/2 red sweet pepper, butter lettuce leaves (dinner)

Yesterday I bought: 12 red apples, 5 small heads of cauliflower, 3 long cucumbers, 20 tomatoes, 1 large white cabbage for sauerkraut, 3 boxes of 500 g cherry tomatoes, 4 zucchinis, 4 red sweet peppers, 3 large heads of butter lettuce. It was very expensive, like $22, but it will last me for a week I guess, because I don't eat much of these in one sitting, I have them just for a different taste (I'll make up for it in summer, when all these are cheap and I can eat as much as I want - during winter, they are quite a luxury).

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

January 31, 2015:

- 1.5 l choco banana milk (11 bananas, 3 teaspoons raw carob, water) (breakfast)
- 1 mandarine and lots of sliced oranges (pre-dinner snack)
- my sauerkraut and pickled carrots, zucchini spaghetti (1 zucchini) with tomato dill sauce (3 tomatoes), cauliflower mash with lemon juice and dill (1/2 small cauliflower), 1/3 long cucumber, 10 cherry tomatoes, 1/4 red sweet pepper, butter lettuce leaves (dinner)
- 3 red apples (snack)

Yesterday my husband brought me 3 boxes with orange slices, lemon slices and lime slices (left over from the party in his club). So I need to use them, so that they don't get bad. I ate all the orange slices (they were sliced very thin, like for decorating cocktail glasses, so they were very easy to eat off their peel). I used some lemon slices on the zucchini spaghetti, and some more lemon slices in the cauliflower mash. I still have plenty of lemon and lime slices. Keep the vitamin C coming

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

February 01, 2015:

- 1.25 l choco banana milk (8 bananas, 3 teaspoons raw carob, water) (breakfast)
- juice of lots of sliced lemons and limes (pre-dinner snack)
- my sauerkraut and pickled carrots, cauliflower rice (1/2 small cauliflower), 1/3 long cucumber, lots of cherry tomatoes, 1/4 red sweet pepper, lots of butter lettuce leaves (dinner)
- 6 red apples (after-dinner snack)

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

February 02, 2015:

- 2 red apples (breakfast)
- my sauerkraut and pickled carrots, with 12 cherry tomatoes (lunch 1)
- 8 small apples (lunch 2)
- my sauerkraut and pickled carrots, cauliflower rice with tomato dill sauce (1 small cauliflower), zucchini spaghetti (1 zucchini) with tomato dill sauce (3 tomatoes, 1/2 bunch of dill), 1/2 long cucumber, 10 cherry tomatoes, 1/2 red sweet pepper, butter lettuce leaves (dinner)

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Ela, I love hearing about your continuing progress and raw adventures. I'm in the same boat with no overts. I enjoy being able to relate to the odd looks on shopping trips and of course your raw cuisine. I really admire how you've been able to infuse your diet with traditional influence -- the emotional ties are more conflicting than any smell or taste, and even the thought of cutting them is terrifying to me.

On another note, I am now on a cauliflower kick myself. I love mashes now (though I add a bit of curry to mine!).

Manta91, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. Yes, raw foods are absolutely amazing, I learned this recently yet once again. It's indeed hard to let go of the old flavours and taste, as they are so much connected to that comfort and feeling safe and secure, but the feeling of vitality and vibrancy that raw food offers is so much more appealing and beneficial. Everyone is on a personal journey and in time it will get easier to transition and then stay raw for ever...

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

From February 4 to February 8 I was away in another town to a funeral (my uncle died Monday evening) and to visit my family. The funeral was very sad and the chapel in the cemetery was freezing cold, which made things even harder.

I stayed with my mom and my dad in my childhood's apartment. I went there with my husband and our car, which helped me bring my food - I took lots of already washed apples, some cauliflower rice (from 1 small cauliflower - in a box), tomato dill sauce (6 tomatoes and 2.5 bunches of fresh dill - also put in a box), 1 long cucumber and 1 red sweet pepper (already peeled, cut and put in a box as well). On the way I ate lots of apples, I also had water. The first evening I ate the cauliflower with the sauce and the cucumber and pepper.

The next days I bought more apples, one morning I had a breakfast of 5 oranges (they were not that juicy, so I didn't buy more for another meal), in the evenings I had apples again, and I had apples whenever I was hungry. I also had one meal a day consisting of cherry tomatoes (my mom had some in the house, and one day I bought a 500 g box), with long cucumber and red sweet pepper.

Both my mom and my grandmom told me I lost too much weight (I lost those 5 kg, from 52 kg to 47.7 kg) and that I need to gain back a few kg. My mom said that if I feel ok eating like this, and if my blood work is ok, then she is ok too (which really surprised me, she always said she will never agree with my raw veganism and that I will die soon).

My grandmom said I will kill myself eating like this, that I will die and that I'm starving myself willingly. I told her I eat so much, I eat so many fruits and veggies, but she said it's not true, she implied that I have the mindset of an anorexic girl wanting to be skinny. She said I didn't eat anything with them at the funeral, and I didn't sit with them at the table to eat in my mom's house, and that I didn't eat anything in her house when I visited her, so I never eat. She also saw me drinking water and said I drink like tons of water, way too much water, so I drink water instead of eating, to make me feel full. On the contrary, I was drinking water while talking to them in front of the TV, as I drank so little water the whole time I was there visiting them, as I had no time to. Also, when I'm with them I must talk like all the time, as they love to just talk talk talk while watching TV or pictures from their travels on the PC. So all this talk makes me thirsty.

Anyway, yesterday morning, me and my husband left their town to go back home to our mountain town, it was such a relief. On the way back I had more pre-washed apples (looks like I was on apple island) and some water. But due to those awful conversations with my grandmom, I had a bit different mindset which made me think I should buy some frozen veggies again, to make me feel better and maybe more satisfyied than apples all the time (since the oranges are just not that good this year, it's a waste of time buying them for eating - they are good as orange juice though). I was also worried I would lose more weight - yeah, my grandmom kind of made me think I lost too much weight. I could have bought bananas and dates to feel more full and maybe to gain weight, but the dates were too expensive and most of them looked kind of dry, and the bananas were not way near ripe and ready to eat. I've also been having a very fast digestion from all the apples, and too many bowel movements, which made me think I wasn't assimilating the food.

So I bought a 400 g bag of mixed frozen green peas and carrot cubes, a 1 kg bag of frozen green peas and a 1 kg bag of frozen spinach. After 7 months of 100% raw, buying frozen veggies which aren't technically raw was kind of weird. I thought a lot before buying them and one time I almost didn't dare buying them, which made me think it was weird to have such a hard time buying something I wanted - like I knew it was forbidden or something. I don't want to feel like this about food, like I'm not allowed to have something, like I'm on a diet for losing weight. It was an awful feeling. I want to refuse buying food for not being beneficial to me, but not feeling so guilty when buying it, especially if it's just flash-blanched veggies and not something from McDonald's.

At home in the evening I ate the frozen peas and carrot mix, I added to them some tomato sauce (from 3 tomatoes) and I ate them with a jar of my sauerkraut. The combination was very good, the veggies were still crunchy, so they were not cooked all the way in the blanching hot water. I always remove the outer transparent shells of the peas before eating them (which makes them easier to digest) and I always rinse the frozen veggies first when taking them out of the bag. Then I de-shelled the peas from the 1 kg bag and mixed them with another tomato sauce (again from 3 tomatoes) and ate them with 1 red sweet pepper. I ate everything very slow, I chewed them thoroughly like I'm supposed to, for a better digestion, so it took me a lot of time to finish the meals (like a few hours). But it was nice, as I was staying in bed watching TV with my husband, just relaxing after such a difficult journey (more of an emotional roller-coaster I would say).

As I was eating the frozen veggies, I had some intense cramps (might be from the frozen veggies or the sauerkraut) and afterwards I felt heavy, I even had a frozen veggie belly. But I had a good night sleep, I was very tired as I didn't sleep well in my parents' house, I only slept for a few hours every night.

This morning I woke up feeling heavy, with no appetite, so I'm drinking lots of water. I had one bowel movement, but I feel the digestion is a lot slower now.

Judging by the way I'm feeling now, I won't be buying more frozen veggies in the future, as I don't feel as vibrant and energetic as I feel on raw foods. Also I'm missing out on the fresh fruits/veggies I could be eating instead of the frozen ones (even if it means more apples or my sauerkraut). My mom told me I need the bananas, I need to always have bananas in the house ripening, as they help me feel full and not lose weight. It was nice to hear this from her, I liked that she didn't told me to have cooked food, but she agreed with bananas. That's quite a change, a positive one. So yes, I'll be buying more bananas, even if I don't find spotty ones, but I'll get the yellow ones and let them ripen. No dates though, I'm worried for my teeth.

As I was wondering how I would feel eating frozen veggies again after being 100% raw, I think this was a good experiment to help me in my raw journey and really appreciate the raw fruits/veggies, even if I don't have much variety now in winter time. I still have the 1 kg bag of frozen spinach for this evening (I'll mix it with tomato sauce and eat it with my sauerkraut - I won't rinse the frozen spinach because it's impossible to do that, I tried and it was a mess). Starting tomorrow I'll go back to 100% raw, I'm once again convinced that this is the right diet and lifestyle for me. I really miss all that 100% raw has to offer.

Btw, after these 2 days of not 100% raw, I'm expecting more detox some time soon...

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Btw, when I got at my parents' house, they had only 1 mandarine, 4 cherry tomatoes, 1 carrot and 1 red pepper as fresh fruits/veggies. They knew I was coming, they prepared nothing. My mom even told me "sorry, I didn't buy anything for you, that's all I have in the house". It's good I brought my own food, then I bought my own food. At the funeral gathering meal, my mom told the cook to make food only for the others, I only drank water. She even said "I didn't make any arrangemens for you". Like I'm on my own in this. My husband received a small bag with food from someone in the cemetery (it's the tradition to give away food in the memory of the deceased), and in that bag there was an apple which I ate. When I visited my grandmom, she offered me cooked food, then, when I refused, she offered me oranges and apples. I had one apple (she only had 3 apples and 3 old oranges).

I was talking to my mom about respecting others' freedom of food choice. She said herself that we shouldn't impose our opinion on others, she didn't do it this time (thank God). Still, she didn't help either. My husband said that it would've been easy to say to the cook to just cut some tomatoes, cucumber, pepper and plate them, just to have that comunion at the table of the gathering after the funeral. Even the water was still water, the one I don't normally drink, she could've bought sparkling water - btw, my mom did all the shopping for the gathering meal after the funeral, as she organised the whole thing (she bought the ingredients for the 3 courses and she gave them to the cook at the cemetery canteen to make the meals).

I'm happy that my husband is supportive of me, he is a great help with money, carrying my food shoppings, he takes care of me, though he is not even a vegan. However, he doesn't really like my family and their way of being, their lifestyle, so I guess that's why he defended me when he said my mom should've arranged something for me too. He is a great guy too. He doesn't really agree with my raw veganism, but there is nothing he can do about it so he goes along. He thinks it's just a phase and that I'll go back to a standard diet.

I just put into Cronometer my food for yesterday. Calories: 1897. Carbs: 79.8%. Proteins: 15.4%. Fats: 4.8%.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Today I went to this forum and I read my post in the thread about what things we treasure most in our raw vegan journey. It made me feel more motivated, stronger, ready to continue my journey. We have a saying here in my country: "A kick in the butt is a step forward".

My evening shopping today: I got 3 nets of juicing oranges (1 kg each), 1 box of cherry tomatoes (250 g), 1 red sweet pepper, 4 ripe orange peppers (they are actually the green/yellowish variety, but turned orange as they ripened), 2 small cucumbers, 5 red apples. And 4 kg of spotty bananas (almost ready to eat). Not much, I still have more food in my room, plus I like to buy less food in one shopping trip, as I go shopping almost every day, to get fresh winter air.

Today I fasted until 2 pm (from 11 pm last night) as I didn't want to eat fruit after yesterday's frozen veggies (which digested very slow). It took them the whole night and the whole next morning to digest, and I eliminated them around 2 pm. So I had the first smelly poo in the past 7 months - I got used to clean and fast bowel movements on the raw foods. I just drank lots of water, 2 l to be precise. Then, after 2 pm, I ate 6 red apples. After my shopping session I had some sauerkraut juice and a bit of sauerkraut. For dinner I had that 1 kg of frozen spinach which I mixed with the sauce from 6 tomatoes. It looked pretty. I ate it wih the cherry tomatoes, red sweet peppers, cucumbers and 1 orange pepper. The spinach had a good taste, but it gave me intense cramps and some bloating. I finished my painful dinner with few teaspoons of sauerkraut.

This is the Cronometer breakdown for today: Calories: 1216. Carbs: 79.8%. Proteins: 12.2%. Fats: 8%.

Next time I crave frozen veggies, I'll keep in mind the way they make me feel...

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Yesterday after dinner I got all those cramps. Plus I got a headache that lasted the whole night. After each frozen veggie dinner, I was thirsty. These frozen veggies were dehydrating. It's good I ate sauerkraut at the same meal with them, as I think it helped digesting them. On these 2 days, the pain in my hip increased.

This morning I woke up with more cramps and the same headache, and also feeling cold and with a runny nose. I had another smelly poo, this time it was the spinach, which digested faster than the peas and I eliminated it around 10 am (I finished eating it at midnight yesterday). I'm going to fast again this morning and drink plenty of water, then have my fruity meal, so that my intestines are as clean as possible before eating the fruit.

As a conclusion: raw vegan food is what works best for me on every level. I was weak, I let myself be influenced by standard diet eaters, I let them change my healthy mindset, and now I have to deal with all the negative effects. Lesson learned.

As advice for anyone following a raw vegan lifestyle: NEVER eat cooked foods again, not even frozen veggies (their effect on the body is the same as cooked foods), as they will mess up your digestion, your energy level and even your self esteem, your self confidence (they do make you feel guilty for abandoning such a healthy lifestyle).

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Back to normal

February 10, 2015:

- 10 red apples (lunch)
- my sauerkraut and 1 yellow pepper (dinner)
- 1 cherry tomato (for the taste)

Calories: 1296. Carbs: 93%. Proteins: 4%. Fats: 3%.

This time I fasted from yesterday at midnight until today at 1 pm. And I also drank 2 l of water.

After eating all raw today, I feel bloated and my digestion is still slow. I need to give it time...

Bw, the spinach is still not fully digested...

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Today is day 3 of smelly poo, plus some smelly gas. I can't believe how fast my digestion changed from being quick and clean to being slow and not clean. This morning I woke up feeling a bit better, still with some cramps and headache, little energy. I started my day with 1.4 l fresh OJ (from 3 kg oranges). I'm going to have some red apples later on for lunch, then for dinner my sauerkraut with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red and yellow pepper. Maybe I'll buy some cauliflower or zucchini, to make rice or zoodles with tomato dill sauce, I miss that. And most of all I miss my super fast digestion. I still haven't digested/eliminated any raw food from yesterday and today, due to the frozen veggies being stuck in my colon.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Another reason why I let this happen: I didn't have an easy, private access to the Internet to motivate myself through Youtube or to come to this forum for inspiration and support, and I was feeling alone in this, and I questioned my actions.

I also realized that I don't care how cheap frozen veggies are - I'd rather eat raw and more expensive veggies and fruits and feel my best, than save money and suffer.

And I realized that experience is indeed what makes me know what's best for me. So I'm embracing this experience. If I didn't have this experiment, I would still believe that few frozen veggies won't harm me.

I was also watching too many Raw Till 4 Youtube videos because I liked the respective Youtubers, so I was under the impression that these "cooked" veggies would be ok for me. After all, what could be wrong with some blanched veggies, right?

But now, after seeing the negative effect on my body, I am 100% motivated to stay fully raw for the rest of my life, like these veggies aren't even an option for me now. So I'll just stay away from anything that is not beneficial for me.

Today is day 4 of not feeling well. There were no changes to my meal plan for yesterday, except for half a bunch of fresh dill which I added to my sauerkraut, to help with my digestion. I didn't buy zucchini or cauliflower, as I was feeling very bloated and with cramps yesterday afternoon, evening and night, so I didn't want to slow my digestion any more than it already was. I feel I'm still not digesting the raw food, as I keep eliminating spinach (and probably peas too). It's such an unpleasant feeling.

The meal plan for today is: red apples for breakfast (I had 7), more red apples for lunch, the same dinner as yesterday.

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Yesterday was day 5 of my journey back to health. The previous day I ate according to my meal plan, except for little raw carob in between lunch and dinner, for the taste (I was missing the sweet taste of raw carob, since I have no totally ripe bananas for my milk yet) and for some energy. Yesterday I continued to be very bloated and have intense cramps - looks like I get bloated whenever I eat something now (all raw, of course). I think I really messed up my digestion. Yesterday morning I had my first poo that was not spinach-like, but more like resembling the oranges and apples I've been having these days.

Here is a reminder for me about the effects of cooked food: [www.towardsfreedom.com]

So I'm on day 6 of my ordeal today. Yesterday I was bloated the whole day, especially in the evening after only few bites of cauliflower. I had apples the whole day and beautiful cauliflower rice with tomato dill sauce and cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red sweet pepper and butter lettuce for dinner. And again a bit of raw carob in between lunch and dinner. Also yesterday I bought like tons of lightly spotted bananas, 10 oranges, some tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, long cucumbers, red sweet peppers, 2 heads of cauliflower and 2 heads of butter lettuce. My main concern is that I get bloated as soon I take a bite to eat, be it fruit or veggie. In the morning I wake up with a flat stomach, but as soon as I eat something I get bloated and I get cramps. What do you think I should do? I just ran out of ideas. I know it's just a phase, and that it will eventually pass, but it's just so annoying

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Good news! I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yesterday I didn't get bloated, I only had some light cramps, but in the evening I was already feeling lighter.

My food for yesterday: breakfast was 10 oranges, lunch was 3 large red apples and 1 smaller apple, dinner was cauliflower rice (1 small cauliflower) with tomato dill sauce (6 tomatoes, 1 bunch of fresh dill), cherry tomatoes, 3/4 of a red sweet pepper, 1/2 of a long cucumber, butter lettuce.

This morning I eliminated the oranges I had yesterday morning, so I guess this means I have no more frozen veggies in my colon. And I'm back to clean, fruity @#$%&. I feel lighter, my stomach is flat and I had no cramps so far. I also feel that my digestion has improved a lot and it's almost back to normal, it's much faster now. I guess my punishment is over, this is the end of my 1 week ordeal.

I'm so grateful for this experiment and for this experience, I learned so much more about my body and I got more confidence in this lifestyle and 100% motivation to continue my raw vegan path. Now I'm celebrating with my choco banana milk (1.5 l) (15 bananas - most of them were small ones, 4 teaspoons raw carob, water)

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Yesterday was the first day I finally felt good, light, no bloating, no cramps. My digestion is fast again, back to normal. I had bowel movements after every meal and even some more. I now feel clean inside again. I had only one bad moment yesterday afternoon, when I felt dizzy, weak, and I suddenly got hot flashes, like having a fever. I thought that was a bit of detox.

My food for yesterday: lunch - 1.5 l choco banana milk; dinner - my sauerkraut, butter lettuce, 10 cherry tomatoes, 1 long cucumber, 1/4 of a red sweet pepper; snack - 3 orange slices, then later on, 4 red apples.

Today I started my day with lime and lemon juice, then another choco banana milk (12 bananas, 4 teaspoons raw carob, water).

It feels so good to be clean and light again

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Day 3 of feeling great today. Yesterday I was feeling so good the whole day, so light, and my digestion was again like Speedy Gonzales, so very fast.

My food for yesterday: breakfast - 1.8 l choco banana milk; snack- 3 red apples; dinner - my sauerkraut, 1/2 long cucumber, 1 red sweet pepper, tomato dill sauce (from 6 tomatoes and 1 bunch of dill) (the whole combination was so good); snack - 2 red apples.

Yesterday I bought around 8 kg oranges to eat, but today I tried them and they were kind of flaky so I decided to juice them. So today I started my day with 4 oranges (I ate those), then 1.8 l fresh orange juice (from 5.2 kg = 25 oranges). Sunshine in a bottle

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.

Another day in Paradise yesterday, I felt really good.

My food for yesterday: breakfast - 4 oranges, then 1.8 l fresh orange juice (from 21 oranges); lunch - my sauerkraut, 1/2 long cucumber, 1 red sweet pepper, tomato dill sauce (from 6 tomatoes and 1 bunch of dill); dinner - 4 apples.

Today I'll start my day with some more fresh OJ

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Raw vegan for life. Vegan for the animals. Raw for my health.