A blank page in a blank book.

That's what she fancied herself. What she hated about herself. What she aspired to be. Nothing more than literally and literaturely pure, fluttering with the breeze of the anticipation of being filled with something too wonderful for any actual written word.

Enlightenment. Nirvana. Heaven. Whatever it was people called it.

But she wasn't. She was an imperfect human being with a quarter of the book already filled, some with academia, some with daydreamy doodles, some with sketches hinting at masterpieces of fine art, and some with scribbles and smudges of the mistakes and flaws she tried to cover up or forget.

Though the math was not always perfect, the daydreams were childish and hazy, the sketches merely hinting but never coming to fruition, and flaws did not make her a monster. She was not a hero, but nor was she a bad person. She had no real talents, and never did she stand out amongst her peers. She was a blank page, not pure and white, but nonetheless somehow still empty.

She wasn't sure if that was deserving of the distaste she found in that feature. Her ambitions were not tied to this life, with it's dramas and attachments and objects and objectives. If she was poor in talent and plain in feature, and if she strove to Harm None, was that not okay? Did that not make her a blank page in a blank book?

On to my actual introduction.

I am female, 5'7", 162 pounds, measurements 13.5 36 32.5 40, bodyfat 32.25%

I live in the American South.

I have been vegetarian since 2009 with a lot of periods of pure veganism.

I am allergic to not only wheat, but apparently barley, rye, rice, oats, corn, and peas. Getting those results from a scratch test was one of the big pushes to going raw. I suspect I have a leaky gut, and this is what I'm trying to heal through raw and living foods. I also have plenty of weight to lose which I've gained since going to college in 2008.

I currently eat about 50% raw, and my goal is to be 100%, though I admit I'll be okay with 90%.

To give you an example of my usual diet, this what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast: quinoa and millet, soaked overnight and cooked in the morning with 2 plums, pomegranate seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, cinnamon, and maple syrup
Lunch: kale salad with lemon juice and EVOO, raisins, cranberries, chickpeas (soaked, sprouted, cooked), and walnuts
Dinner: brown rice and lentils, soaked, the lentils sprouted, and everything cooked with shredded raw broccoli and red cabbage, topped with garlicy cashew cream.

Yesterday I threw out anything in my apartment that isn't vegan/cruelty free and stocked my refrigerator with fresh, organic fruits and vegetables and my pantry with organic, raw seeds. In addition to going totally grain free, I am attempting to reduce my consumption of nuts and fat. I won't be replacing them with seeds, though I won't go too crazy on them either.

One of my biggest reasons for starting this journal is support. Veganism isn't really accepted in the south, and eating all raw foods is just plain "unnatural." What could be more natural that the fresh, raw, organic foods mother nature provides? I don't know.

Then there's my BFF, who also decided to start a healing diet in January. One based on the premise that raw foods are generally not good and cooked food is superior. When I asked what exactly she'd be eating, she replied somewhat sheepishly (because she respects my dietary choices even though she doesn't think veganism is for her because she tried it once and didn't like it) "bones and meat cooked to broth, well cooked, non fibrous vegetables, fermented foods, eggs, fish, fruits, nuts, and seeds. It's sort of like the paleo diet minus starches and plus bone broth."

Bone broth. Bones. Because human teeth are capable of crushing bone. Oh wait, they're not so we have to cook them for hours. I can understand the fish and even the eggs, and I get how people's palettes are used to eating meat, but bones? They can't even taste good.

I love my BFF. I'm just venting because I need to. I love her, and I hate to see her trying so hard and suffering with this half misguided diet. The one saving grace is the diet includes juicing. Ah ha! That's how it heals you I bet. Juicing and fermented vegetables. Apparently the diet is supposed to be followed for 1-3 years. I bet if it weren't for all that meat and bones, those raw fruits and veg and lactobacillus would work a lot faster and better. That's what I'm hoping for myself. Maybe my BFF will see how well I'm doing and she'll give vegetarianism a second chance. I really hope so.

I hope that rant didn't make me look like too much of a jerk. I promise in real life I think before I speak. I just really needed to get that off my chest.

Today's menu:
Breakfast: smoothie with two cups each spinach and kale, one orange, one mango, and one banana
Lunch: huge salad with kale, celery, tomatoes, raisins (not raw, but I still have a little left over), avocado, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, three plums as a snack
Dinner: zucchini noodles and raw marinara sauce (5 tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic, 10 leaves of basil, 1 Tbs EEVO)
Snack: two bananas

I spent the morning reading through the forums. Some of it made me very happy, to see the intelligent and understanding conversation, but some of it made me very sad, especially the "is veganism losing" thread. The drama and stresses of the unenlightened are like children fighting over something they'll forget in an hour. I don't need to burden my mind and spirit with it, but sometimes it's hard. Especially right now with my BFF. She's "paleo sort of" and has totally been taken in by the shortsighted and manipulated "science" paleo gurus promote.

"Vegan diets are deficient." Then how come we don't all have deficiencies?

"People who eat adequate fat live longer and healthier lives." No real issue there, but humans only require a few grams of essential fatty acids, the rest is made for you by your body when you eat fresh fruit and veggies. No need to complicate it or confuse the body by eating additional, non human animal fats.

I visited a paleo forum, and wow, the negative energies of that place were enough to make me a little sick. I feel so sad for all those people torturing their bodies with butter and flesh foods. So much aggressive attitude brought on by their "predatory" diet. And constipation, digestively and spiritually. It was like watching a slaughterhouse video for the soul. I am very thankful for the positive energies and health giving love of fresh, whole, organic foods.

Today's menu so far:
Breakfast: I was feeling lazy, so I just had four plums.
Lunch: salad with kale, romaine, mango, cucumber, avocado, chai seeds, and sunflower seeds with cashew dressing.
Dinner: I think I'll have fun with my blender and make gazpacho and maybe fruit sorbet for dessert.

I didn't update yesterday, but I was busy grocery shopping or at BFF's house.

Breakfast: fruit salad with 1 mango, 2 bananas, walnuts, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and coconut
Lunch: huge salad (brought to BFF's house) kale, tomatoes, apples, raisins, spouts, avocado dressing
Snack: four plums
Dinner: another smoothie

BFF warned me not to look in the refridgerator, but she was nice enough to store all my food there for me. Next to her dead animal bones probably, but at least it was wrapped and cold. We did eat together, which was hard. Since going vegan, my senses are so keen as soon as she took her soup out to heat on the stove all I could smell was cooked to death flesh. She was so proud though. She took pictures of the colourful veg. And the brown bits of ground beef. IDK but I think that's telling you something. She also thought my salad was pretty.

Today: I was pretty lazy. Just class and then home for a nap that lasted way too long.
Breakfast: Banana, mango, kale, date, and cacao smoothie
Lunch: Kale salad with apple, walnuts, chia seeds, avocado, and lemon juice
Dinner: a nap

Breakfast: banana, kale, and cacao smoothie
Lunch: romaine salad with sprouted lentils, sunflower seeds, tomatoes, and avocado dressing. Two mangos for desert.
Snack: four bananas. I have been going through so many bananas it's crazy.
Dinner: Romaine lettuce cups with avocado, cucumber, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, and my cashew cream.

I'd like to get some more simple dinner recipes. I'm not tired of my humongous salads yet, but I would like to get a little more creative with dinner. Is there a good book or website for simple things? I love looking through this one, but then it has a lot of complicated stuff and a lot of nuts (which I'm not trying to make the base of my diet) and things like mock tuna (why would you try to replicated tuna anyway??).

I also want to begin setting up my raw kitchen. I have a spiralizer, a smallish blender, a food processor, and knives and a cutting board or course. I'd like to get a dehydrator and a vitamix, but those are both expensive purchases, so I'll get to them when I get the money. Anything else I need?

I love reading about your journey, I find it very interesting

Regarding more simple recipes, you can watch the videos of Jack Albritton on Youtube, he is making nut-free dinners, he has some good recipes.

[www.youtube.com]

[rawtropicalliving.com]

Also you can always search on the Internet for simple raw vegan recipes and you'll find interesting ones. I usually get my inspiration looking for pics of raw vegan dishes or ingredients, then clicking on the pics for the link to the website where the recipe is. I agree, most of the recipes are complicated and with some fats in them, but you can find good ones too.

Also check the Youtube channel "DoubleOrganic", he has nut-free recipes and also lots of recipes on his website:

[www.youtube.com]

[www.doubleorganic.ca]

And these articles might help:

[www.sunfood.net]

[www.sunfood.net]

[www.sunfood.net]

[www.sunfood.net]

[www.sunfood.net]

[www.sunfood.net]

[www.sunfood.net]

[www.sunfood.net]

Where there is fat, you can leave it out. That's what I do: I look for recipes, then try to make them without using the fats listed in the ingredient section. And I also look on Instagram for yummy-looking pics, then I read the ingredients in the comment for that pic.

Regarding your kitchen tools, I'd say you have the right ones, no need for dehydrator or other expensive ones, you have the essentials, which is great. I try to focus on juicy, hydrating fruits/veggies, which require less or minimal tools. My essential ones are the food-processor, the blender and the spiralizer, but the most important is my knife.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Also check LJ Jackfruit on Instagram and Youtube, she has lots of tasty simple dinners with no fats and they look great (she posts her recipes in the comment section on Instagram, and also on her Facebook page).

[instagram.com]

[www.youtube.com]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Ela2013 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I love reading about your journey, I find it very
> interesting
>
> Regarding more simple recipes, you can watch the
> videos of Jack Albritton on Youtube, he is making
> nut-free dinners, he has some good recipes.
>
> [www.youtube.com]
> eos
>
> [rawtropicalliving.com]
> fo/
>
> Also you can always search on the Internet for
> simple raw vegan recipes and you'll find
> interesting ones. I usually get my inspiration
> looking for pics of raw vegan dishes or
> ingredients, then clicking on the pics for the
> link to the website where the recipe is. I agree,
> most of the recipes are complicated and with some
> fats in them, but you can find good ones too.
>
> Also check the Youtube channel "DoubleOrganic", he
> has nut-free recipes and also lots of recipes on
> his website:
>
> [www.youtube.com]
>
> [www.doubleorganic.ca]
>
> And these articles might help:
>
> [www.sunfood.net]
>
> [www.sunfood.net]
>
> [www.sunfood.net]
>
> [www.sunfood.net]
>
> [www.sunfood.net]
>
> [www.sunfood.net]
>
> [www.sunfood.net]
>
> [www.sunfood.net]
>
> Where there is fat, you can leave it out. That's
> what I do: I look for recipes, then try to make
> them without using the fats listed in the
> ingredient section. And I also look on Instagram
> for yummy-looking pics, then I read the
> ingredients in the comment for that pic.
>
> Regarding your kitchen tools, I'd say you have the
> right ones, no need for dehydrator or other
> expensive ones, you have the essentials, which is
> great. I try to focus on juicy, hydrating
> fruits/veggies, which require less or minimal
> tools. My essential ones are the food-processor,
> the blender and the spiralizer, but the most
> important is my knife.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Wow thanks so much that was so inspiring. I'm glad to see my writing are entertaining somebody! I am still lost in all the articles. I really loved the one about salads. It has inspired me to be more creative with my salads.

I really needed that today too. I had a moment of weakness and ate some cooked food. Not even very good, it was vanilla soy milk and (vegan) granola. Not too bad, but considering the grain allergies, not something I should be eating. And the soy milk is full of sugar. It's organic cane sugar, and I don't believe moderate consumption of sugars is harmful. It's actually beneficial, but sugars from raw fruits are obviously a better choice.

Thanks again for the comments! I've decided to take this slip up as a learning opportunity. I can make grain free, raw granola. I just need to think of a way to not eat a lot of it or not make it too fatty. Maybe dried fruit chips? BFF says her juicer can make almond milk, and she said I could come over a use it.

And I need to get on those salads. It made me crave them just reading the article.

I forgot, what sort of ways do you cut the fat out? Especially in dark green salads, I think they need a little moisture. Just more liquids and fruits?

For the salads, I use tomato dill sauce as a dressing. Or tomato cauliflower dill sauce. Or just blended tomatoes. Sometimes I like to eat the lettuce leaf by leaf next to cauliflower tomato dill mash or with zoodles. Lemon juice is good on lettuce. And you can always add green/spring onion or chives to your salads, I find they make the salad more tasty. I eat butter lettuce as it's my favourite, I don't usually eat darker greens. I made a raw spinach puree in the food processor yesterday, but today I bought a slow manual juicer for leafy greens, so I'll have spinach and other darker greens in the form of juice.

I'm glad I could be of help

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2015 02:03PM by Ela2013.

Ela2013 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For the salads, I use tomato dill sauce as a
> dressing. Or tomato cauliflower dill sauce. Or
> just blended tomatoes. Sometimes I like to eat the
> lettuce leaf by leaf next to cauliflower tomato
> dill mash or with zoodles. Lemon juice is good on
> lettuce. And you can always add green/spring onion
> or chives to your salads, I find they make the
> salad more tasty. I eat butter lettuce as it's my
> favourite, I don't usually eat darker greens. I
> made a raw spinach puree in the food processor
> yesterday, but today I bought a slow manual juicer
> for leafy greens, so I'll have spinach and other
> darker greens in the form of juice.
>
> I'm glad I could be of help
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Wow that sounds so good I'm drooling. I'm glad to find some ways to cut fat, as I don't think my body is really cut out to deal with it. Maybe just oils (and of course animal fats) but I'm not sure about whole fatty raw foods. I have been constipated since going raw. I tried eating chai seeds and drinking more water, but I finally broke down and bought a laxative. I looked it up on the Internet, and maybe I have a issue with not producing enough bile to deal with too much fat. Hopefully reducing my fat will help with the constipation and maybe this will motivate me to stick to the diet and lose this extra weight.

I think that if you focus on less/no overt fats, and on juicy, water-rich fruits and veggies, plus drink plenty of water, your digestion will improve. I notice that if I eat fats or denser foods, my digestion slows down, but otherwise it's very fast. Also give it time, your body needs to adjust and function properly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Ela2013 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think that if you focus on less/no overt fats,
> and on juicy, water-rich fruits and veggies, plus
> drink plenty of water, your digestion will
> improve. I notice that if I eat fats or denser
> foods, my digestion slows down, but otherwise it's
> very fast. Also give it time, your body needs to
> adjust and function properly.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I hope so. I didn't want to thrown myself into detox too quickly, so I've been slowly moving from fats to carbs and removing nuts. Sometimes even soaked and sprouted raw nuts and seeds can be irritating to digestion. I don't want to drop it all too quickly, but eventually if like to have them only as treats for friends and maybe if I really want some.

I went online and read some raw vegan success stories to see what they did right. I really liked Megan Elizabeth's story, because minus the steroids, it reminds me of my own. I have a lot of extra weight is like to lose but haven't been able to even as a conventional vegan. I'd like to lose 45 pounds and get to 21% body fat, which is supposed to be idea for women. Right now I'm on the high end at 32%.

Megan stared off as a high fat "gourmet" raw vegan, which since I eat kind of a lot of fat, I am too. I think it makes for an easier transition with less detox to taper off fats slowly.

She found success when switching to a low fat raw vegan lifestyle, and that's something is like to do as well.

I'm going to finish out what nuts I have and not buy any more. Then I'll be more moderate with my seeds. I think I'm going to buy another bag of chia seeds, but those will be my last ones except just occasionally. Chia is supposed to be good for leaky gut and constipation, and I'll keep it to a minimum to reduce the slowing effects of fat.

I haven't been updating, but other than finishing off the soymilk I've been pretty good about eating raw. I'm not going to worry too much over small things while I'm in transition. I'm loving this way of eating. I feel so alive and in keeping with my humanity.

Breakfast: banana smoothie
Lunch: huge salad with kale, mango, celery, chia seeds, and puréed mango as a dressing. I Haven't perfected these fat free dressings yet, but I'll get there. I think I want to buy some raw vegan cook books.
Dinner: smoothie with bananas, greens, and mango.

I have been alsolutly devouring raw vegan information. I think I need to simplify my meals, so tomorrow I'll start working my way toward more fruit, less fat, and mono meals. Or at least less complicated ones.

I found some great information here! [gettingraw.blogspot.com]

Two hard things have come up for me since transitioning to a raw vegan lifestyle. I've mentioned my bff a couple times, and that she's on the paleo diet. She's usually okay about my way of eating, but she's still stuck in the low carb mentality. At least she's drinking veggie and fruit juice.

Last weekend when I was over at her house, there were a bunch of other people, and some of them were really cool, but a lot of them were also under the paleo thrall. They're from her gym, and it's big with the weight lifters because they think protein makes them big. Yeah all that dead animal flesh definitely makes you big. In the gut.

One of them has a little girl who I shared my mango with, and I was explaining my raw vegan diet to her when her parents come up and say "please don't lie to my daughter. You can eat what you want, but please respect our wishes as parents." Wow I understand other people's kids, but when did eating become such a religion? All I was doing was explaining why fruit is good, which is apparbelty an afront to their low carb paleo gods.

Well, I think it's the common reaction, especially from parents. I've encountered many opinions against the raw vegan diet for kids, all saying that those who feed their kids raw vegan foods are totally irresponsible and crazy. My brother (as much as I love him) gives his two little girls commercial-sold puree food, animal products, and he says this is a healthy diet. Indeed, the girls are beautiful and healthy, but then again define "healthy" in a non-vegan (and obviously non-raw vegan) world. They do eat raw fruits and veggies though, but the fruits and veggies are definitely not the main part of their meals...

The best you can do is ignore the paleo thinking of others and the narrow mind of parents (and of those saying that raw veganism is a bad thing).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

This is a very interesting website:

[dimondhealth.com]

It also has some recipes:

[dimondhealth.com]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Thanks for the links. I really like his philosophy on raw foods. It makes sense as opposed to religion. A few raw fooders are guilty of it, but paleo/crossfit is a crutch for its followers. I'm happy that it brings people a little health, but so many of them are still not actually experiencing the true vibrant health of raw vegan foods. Too many supplements to get through the day, too much stress trying to fight the recurring weight gain after the initial few pounds, too much fat, too much meat. Whatever happened to taking joy in eating abundant healthy fresh organic foods?

I think I'll send BFF those links. If she reads them, maybe that's one more seed ready to sprout. (lol)

I fell off the wagon again this weekend. Why do I crave soymilk? I really need to learn to make raw but milks. It doesn't look that hard. I don't want to eat a lot of nuts (too fatty for the base of a diet), but if having some keeps me from processed boxed soy milk (vanilla flavor omg!) I did at least manage to find raw granola. It's made with sprouted buckwheat, so not too bad there. Just got to do better with the soymilk.

My stomach is all bloated. I haven't really lost weight since going raw, actually now after the falling off, I'm up a pound and a half. I Had some constipation before raw, it was one of my primary reasons for healing through raw foods, and it's still a problem. I drink senna tea, and that helps, but without it I just don't go.

Bananas, raw 5
Cabbage, raw 4 cup, shredded
Carrots, raw 1 cup grated
Avocados, raw 1 avocado
Lemon juice, raw 0.5 lemon yields
Zucchini, raw 1 large
Tomatoes, sun-dried 1 cup
Tomato raw 21 grape
Mushrooms, white, raw 1 cup, whole
Salt, sea salt
Grapes, fresh 3 cup, whole pieces

Calories Summary
1525 kcal

Nutrient Targets
80%

General

Energy 1524.9 kcal 99%
Water 1891.0 g 70%

Carbs 312.1 g 101%
Fiber 55.9 g 223%
Starch 38.2 g No Target
Sugars 193.0 g No Target

Fat 36.0 g 212%
Monounsaturated 20.3 g No Target
Polyunsaturated 5.7 g No Target
Omega-3 0.6 g 59%
Omega-6 5.0 g 42%
Saturated 5.9 g n/a
Trans-Fats 0.0 g n/a
Cholesterol 0.0 mg n/a

Protein 34.4 g 88%
Cystine 0.4 g 151%
Histidine 1.0 g 143%
Isoleucine 1.0 g 68%
Leucine 1.7 g 59%
Lysine 1.6 g 72%
Methionine 0.4 g 53%
Phenylalanine 1.2 g 131%
Threonine 1.2 g 106%
Tryptophan 0.3 g 113%
Tyrosine 0.6 g 66%
Valine 1.4 g 75%

Vitamins
B1 (Thiamine) 1.4 mg 132%
B12 (Cobalamin) 0.0 µg 2%
B2 (Riboflavin) 2.2 mg 198%
B3 (Niacin) 20.8 mg 149%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid) 9.3 mg 186%
B6 (Pyridoxine) 4.5 mg 348%
Folate 591.4 µg 148%
Vitamin A 22122.4 IU 948%
Vitamin C 307.9 mg 411%
Vitamin D 6.7 IU 3%
Vitamin E 9.0 mg 60%
Vitamin K 388.8 µg 432%

Minerals
Calcium 379.5 mg 38%
Copper 2.9 mg 319%
Iron 13.0 mg 72%
Magnesium 487.4 mg 157%
Manganese 4.6 mg 256%
Phosphorus 875.5 mg 125%
Potassium 8197.1 mg 174%
Selenium 20.7 µg 38%
Sodium 472.9 mg 32%
Zinc 6.2 mg 77%

That was my menu from yesterday entered into Cronometer. I'm going to keep doing these, though formatting it in here too me forever, so I probably won't post many. I had no idea how much fat I was eating. No wonder I haven't lost weight. I really want to get to no overts, but just the one avo was really difficult, I was craving fatty foods all day! Its amazing how addictive fatty foods are. This is way worse than going fully raw. I'm going to allow myself the whole avo for now and gradually work my way down to 10%/calories max.

I'm also coming up short on some nutrients. Calcium, easy, I only had the cabbage instead of my usual dark leafy greens because the store was out of organic, and I don't like the idea of my healthy fresh veg covered in pesticides and petroleum-based fertilizer.

Same goes for Iron, because I know green plants have iron in their chlorophyll. I'm not worried about vitamin D, because dietary D isn't all that important, and it's finally warming up in the South.

Should I be worried about vitamin E? What are some good low fat sources of Selenium?

BFF said she was worried about me (LOL) As far as not getting enough vitamin D and b12. I told her that D from the sun is best, but she still said I had to have dietary fat. Does this extra body fat I'm trying to "eat" not count? I think I'm okay. It's pretty impossible to eat NO fat, just not fatty foods. Even fruit has fat, not even avocadoes.

Bacteria in your gut make Vitamin B12 and vitamin K, so I wasn't worried about the B12, but I also started my raw journey to heal my gut, so I think I way supplement for now.

Does anyone know of a good b12?

Breakfast: six peaches
Lunch: cabbage salad with mango, cucumber, and summer squash
Dinner: almost a quart of mixed citrus juice (Orange, lime, grapefruit) and a glass of BBF's carrot, beet, and celery juice.

BFF let me experiment with her juicer. I think I want one. The juice is very good for her energy and sense of well being.

I'm glad that you found these websites useful.

You can easily make nut milk, my favourite (and the only one I made) is walnut milk. You soak the walnuts overnight, then put them in the blender with as much water as you like, blend, then strain the milk. You can keep the walnut pulp, mix it with lemon juice and dill and make a great "cheese". You can mix the walnut pulp with lemon juice and red pepper and make a beautiful red pate. And eat it on lettuce boats. You can add raw carob or vanilla or cinnamon to the walnut milk. Or make it sweet with stevia drops.

You can go overt-fat free if you want, just for a week, to see how you feel. It's not hard, at some point you won't even crave fats.

This is a very good vegan B12 I take, I chose it after a lot of research:

[www.amazon.com]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Ela2013 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm glad that you found these websites useful.
>
> You can easily make nut milk, my favourite (and
> the only one I made) is walnut milk. You soak the
> walnuts overnight, then put them in the blender
> with as much water as you like, blend, then strain
> the milk. You can keep the walnut pulp, mix it
> with lemon juice and dill and make a great
> "cheese". You can mix the walnut pulp with lemon
> juice and red pepper and make a beautiful red
> pate. And eat it on lettuce boats. You can add raw
> carob or vanilla or cinnamon to the walnut milk.
> Or make it sweet with stevia drops.
>
> You can go overt-fat free if you want, just for a
> week, to see how you feel. It's not hard, at some
> point you won't even crave fats.
>
> This is a very good vegan B12 I take, I chose it
> after a lot of research:
>
> [www.amazon.com]
> -Chewable/dp/B001PKZI74/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hpc_3/180-9
> 549213-3665957?ie=UTF8&refRID=0ZH1P5XMY50HF72R7CTS
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sites were really great! Does the walnut milk have B12? I am actually trying the no overts right now, and it's pretty great. I don't crave fats at all, but I am missing the texture. I still crave soy milk though. I'm really wanting some soymilk and granola. Omg soymilk and granola.

Today I ate:
Breakfast: 8 bananas
Lunch: 4 plums, 4 peaches, a pint of strawberries
Dinner: kale salad with 3 apples and a handful of sun dried tomatoes. Lemon juice dressing.

As far as I know, walnuts don't have B12. But they are a good source of vitamin B6, which helps to better absorb the B12. They also have magnesium, vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids.

More about walnuts here: [www.whfoods.com]

As a matter of fact, from what I read, there is actually no no plant source of B12, so that's why I take this B12 supplement.

More about vitamin B12 here: [www.living-foods.com]

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

Went to whole foods for some shopping with BFF. Eating raw wasn't too hard but I didn't do it 100%. We both had the kale salad (contains olive oil and dried cranberries and sugar). I added a ton of fresh veggies and fruits to mine (carrots, onions, and a fruit salad on the side). I added some almonds as well. BFF added blue cheese, and grilled asparagus. It was a bit of a fat fest for the both of us.

I've never liked cheese. Any milk product just grosses me out. I blame school cafeterias forcing milk down kids throats for 8 years. Cheese is just, rotten mamary express from another creature. Yuck.

We both had kombucha (strawberry plus chia for me, omg even moar fat, but this one at least has some good fiber so hopefully that won't stop me up too badly). BFF had a mojito one. Both were pretty good. It made me want real strawberries though. I haven't eaten enough fruit today. Probably going to feast on bananas for dinner.

What's the raw stance on fermented foods? Aren't we not supposed to eat rotten things? That's basically what fermented food is though, but then the bacteria is good too.

I personally love fermented veggies, the raw ones which I made at home, with no salt.

Some say it's rotten food, some say it's good bacteria and helps digestion.

I stopped making mine because of the idea that they are somehow causing stomach cancer, though this mainly talks about fermented veggies made with a lot of salt and spices, like kimchi. I guess no conclusion was made so far, and everyone does as he/she thinks is best. I felt good eating fermented veggies, though few times I experienced stomach pain after eating sauerkraut (I must admit I ate a whole 1.7 l jar).

Doug Graham told me on his forum that he rather thinks that sauerkraut is more like rotten food. He has this comparison between a rotten cabbage in the field (which you wouldn't normally eat thinking it's good fermented cabbage) and the actual sauerkraut. So he believes these are both the same thing. But I disagree: sauerkraut is controlled "rotten" cabbage, not just a cabbage left outside on a field to rotten. Sauerkraut is "rotten" in controlled sealed environment, in clean water, with no air coming in.

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2015 11:28AM by Ela2013.