Hey!

I'v been vegan for nearly 2 years, and just witgin the past few months, I've been soaking up as much raw vegan information as I can. I believe I am ready to embark on the raw journey at this point. I'll be recording my days here, so others can hopefully benefit from my experiences.

Cheers!

Day 1!

I feel great so far, and I have no cravings of which to speak. I did very little exercise today however, since I stayed busy all day. Honestly, I might not be able to get adequate exercise until our canadian spring gets better. No worries, though - I'll be doing plenty by the time summer hits.
I normally don't like to record what I eat daily, but here's a list of some stuff I have for the week:

- tomatoes
- cucumber (curly)
- kale
- spinach
- green onions
- apples
- sweer oranges
- bananas

I don't know if I want to include concentrated sugars, like dates, just yet. Since I'm not too active, I won't think I can handle concentrated amounts of sugar so fresh and natural is probably best right now.

Day 2:

Today was a very educational day. I'm doing great so far - blended 2 apples, 1 banana and handfuls of spinach. Very satisfying. (not all I ate though - this is just 1 meal).

My only wish is if I would have gotten into this sooner. It was easy to get into, but maybe that's because I've been vegan for 2 years prior to this.

I actually got my dad to get into it with me, and he's doing great as well. He said he was keeping it for 1 month to see what happens health-wise (he's had a few small problems with his health he's hoping to clear away).

I'll try to update a few days at a time whenever something big comes up.

Cheers!

Day 4: Just checking in!

Day 6:

I had a Durian yesterday night - soo good. The only thing disappointing about it was that it finished. :C

I've been trying to stick to mainly fresh fruits and vegetables, but my dad brought Raw frozen Lima beans which we both ate, and that was too leathery and unpleasantly moist while defrosted.

I feel like it's better to eat food that is actually living than frozen, but maybe I'm thinking too far.

Day 11:

My dad finally steered off and ate a pack of raw almonds. Sigh. Well, there's that.

Everything's fine with me; no energy loss or anything of the sort. Not sure if this is a good sign or not, because from what most of the things I read consist of, I should expect symptoms. Maybe it's early still? Who knows, we'll see.

Day 13:

I've been noticing that eating watermelons or grapes (or any fruit with lots of water) gives me a belly-ache, and sometimes tenses my neck and shoulders. I tried researching why, and apparently it's got something to do with the fruit's natural sugars. Melons really hydrate me, so it'd be a shame to have to stop eating them when they make me feel bad every time.

Overall, I don't think I'm eating enough calories at all. You can only buy so many bananas and then they finish in the blink of an eye, haha. I'm also stingy about my greens and salads in general.

Great job! Yourdad too! Nothing wrong w raw almonds. :-) Can you get some cherries and or mangoes? Peaches?

Utopian Life Wrote:
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> Great job! Yourdad too! Nothing wrong w raw
> almonds. :-) Can you get some cherries and or
> mangoes? Peaches?


Day 15:

Thanks!

What worried me about the raw almonds was that what we were doing was 100% fat free. Basically all we ate were fresh fruits and vegetables, and got our sufficient fats from those. So my dad eating the raw almonds was literally a way of saying 'I can't stand not eating fat for so long and now I've succumbed'. I was disappointed, but I guess I also felt sorry for him.

Anyway, my dad went back to cooked food; I stayed. I'm sure he's learned something, and hopefully he comes back to it one day.

Actually, Utopian, I haven't eaten those yet! Mostly it's just been bananas and apples, the occasional pear (stopped eating the melons). I'll get some of those when I go back to town (hopefully the prices are lenient).

I was going to say, fruits and vegetables have fat. Even spinach has fat.

Fruits and vegetables do NOT have all the fats we need, especially on a raw vegan diet. How are you going to get enough EPA/DHA? You need a quality source of omega-3's so your body can convert ALA into sufficient EPA/DHA, such as chia greens, sprouted chia/flax/hemp seeds, and algae's which can provide direct EPA/DHA. The 80/10/10 Natural Hygiene mentality is outdated and downright dangerous when it comes to LONG-TERM health, for a multitude of reasons. It may be a good transition diet when one is coming from a SAD, but eventually it becomes detrimental. Sprouts/grasses, algae's, and seaweeds are vital on a raw vegan diet. FRESH fruit is great, but it's hard to come by unless you grow your own or forage for it, grocery store produce (even organic) does not apply. It was picked weeks, if not months ago, harvested before it fully ripened, and in many cases traveled hundreds of miles.

On a diet of strictly fruits and vegetables, where are you going to get enough zinc, iron, iodine, and the omega-3 fatty acids previously mentioned?

@Utopian Life: Haha, yeah, I should say 100% no added fats.

@jtprindl: Sorry, I should have mentioned that this was a 30-day test; not a lifetime goal. I feel good so far on it - I feel pretty clean. Do you know where I can find this data of which you speak? I'd be eager to learn more.

Going straight for the McDougall Program after my remaining days are up.

Fruits veggies nuts and seeds have plenty nutrients and omega 3s. Fruits and veggies particularly have perfect ratios. Some nuts do, some dont. You can easily look these up at nutritiondata.com to confirm and use nutritional trackers. :-) i dont recommend long term nut and seed avoidance amd whatever you do eat your greens and avoid grains. Sprouts are great. People on this site assume all fruit eaters follow doug grahams 801010 recommendations. Obviously not true. :-)

jtprindl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Fruits and vegetables do NOT have all the fats we
> need, especially on a raw vegan diet. How are you
> going to get enough EPA/DHA? You need a quality
> source of omega-3's so your body can convert ALA
> into sufficient EPA/DHA, such as chia greens,
> sprouted chia/flax/hemp seeds, and algae's which
> can provide direct EPA/DHA. The 80/10/10 Natural
> Hygiene mentality is outdated and downright
> dangerous when it comes to LONG-TERM health, for a
> multitude of reasons. It may be a good transition
> diet when one is coming from a SAD, but eventually
> it becomes detrimental. Sprouts/grasses, algae's,
> and seaweeds are vital on a raw vegan diet. FRESH
> fruit is great, but it's hard to come by unless
> you grow your own or forage for it, grocery store
> produce (even organic) does not apply. It was
> picked weeks, if not months ago, harvested before
> it fully ripened, and in many cases traveled
> hundreds of miles.
>
> On a diet of strictly fruits and vegetables, where
> are you going to get enough zinc, iron, iodine,
> and the omega-3 fatty acids previously mentioned?

I really agree with this! Many people are literally afraid of FAT, even though it serves a dietary purpose.

Tananana Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> @Utopian Life: Haha, yeah, I should say 100% no
> added fats.
>
> @jtprindl: Sorry, I should have mentioned that
> this was a 30-day test; not a lifetime goal. I
> feel good so far on it - I feel pretty clean. Do
> you know where I can find this data of which you
> speak? I'd be eager to learn more.
>
> Going straight for the McDougall Program after my
> remaining days are up.


This is a great lecture by Brian Clement, director of the Hippocrates Health Institute and will fill you in quite a bit on what I'm talking about.

[www.youtube.com]