So, I don't even know if it's even possible for me to go raw. I'm a standard american college student. can I even do this?

Benefits of Being Raw:
Health. I really don't feel healthy. I feel like I'm tired and sluggish all the time.

Weight. I can tell my diet has problems from its effect on my weight. I've gained weight since coming to college and I just feel bloated and....fleshy. Something has to change because I'm unhappy.

Fears of Being Raw:
Detox. Exams are coming up. How sick would detox make me? I can't afford to be slowed down during exams.

Variation in my diet. I don't have a kitchen right now...because I live in dorms. Still, only 4 weeks of school.

I had a naked juice today and a banana but then I had a burrito and a popsicle. And i think i had some chocolate earlier.

is naked juice raw? or v8?

I don't know. I really want to do this, but at the same time I'm just kind of worried.

well hi there darlin...i just left you a post in noff's diary cuz that was the only way i knew!!!! well first off congrats on even attempting raw and welcome to the raw forum....you can do it...and we will all be here for support and help along the way....start slowly...if you transistion you won't have as many detox symptoms and you will be okay....you just start adding raw foods into your diet...try to eat a raw breakfast and lunch...stick with mostly fruit in the morning to ease the digestive system...and then if you still need cooked eat that at dinner so your body can digest all night..... no naked juice isn't raw nor is v8...you gotta make your own juice or get it from a juice bar you know is fresh and just juiced!!!!! hmm it is not a perfection thing either...don't think that it has to be perfect all the time..this is a progressive journey to your happiness and well being...how you choose to go raw and how you do it is your journey and your journey alone...no matter what you call the shots not any of us...if you feel like you need a cooked meal that day then have it...don't feel guilty afterwards either....don't dwell on things...learn from it and move on....you will do wonderful no matter how you choose to do this.....hmm as for living in the dorms....do you have a small refrigerator in the room??? use that for fruits and veggies...but most fruits and veggies don't have to be kept cooled...the ones that don't buy them and eat them.....in your food hall...choose the salads that are vegan and raw...like lettuce and cucumbers and tomatos and carrots...and choose whole fruit.....no one will have to know you are doing raw...just choose the healtheir things over that milkshake or chicken patty or pasta or whatever you normally get...slow and steady wins the race right??? you can do this i know it...keep up the positive thoughts on going raw and just go for it!!!
keep us updated
love earth angel
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Hey, i like the title of your diary, reminds me I'm accountable for my actions.Very helpful with this raw adventure in all. So your a college student eh? I live in a house so i think you're very brave to chose this path knowing you're life is pretty much open for people to see and be in your face about it. Yeah like earthangel said, stock your dorm with fruit and veggies. It's probably be easiest to buy a few kinds of fruits that you really love or crave to always have and then a few bags of salad mix and make dressing for it, or eat the salads at your cafeteria or from stores. Right now I have a ton of strawberries and oranges from the farmers market and bananas. If you like bananas I'd recommend freezing them and either making a smoothie or eating them like a lollipop or a fork, it's a good thing to have around to mix it up every now again. plus it seems like a treat for me now. Having a transition time is always easier than doing it overnight. It might be a good option for you since you have finals on your plate and don't need a detox headache to deal with. So how'd you venture into raw foods? You met anyone remotely knowledgeable on it at your school? Well good luck with school, Keep posting! I'd love to hear how youre doing.

hey there darlin ....how are you doing today??? i hope all is well...any raw aspects today??? you can do it we are here!!!
good luck
love earth angel
xoxoxoxoxxo

hey y'all

well, 2 papers, 2 quizes, and a final in the past 36 hours....

funny, even after just the past couple days, I really feel more satisfied....and I am enjoying my food more. yesterday i had a banana in the morning, an apple, a naked juice (not raw, but still healthy...), grapes and some cheese, some dried fruit, some almonds... around midnight, I was feeling kind of drained and I needed to study more, so I ate two oranges. Those oranges were the most fulfilling things I think I've ever had.

today...i had a naked juice for breakfast....and a salad for lunch, with some frozen yogurt.
not all raw, but definitely better than I had been eating. plus, I feel like this food is delicious. my salad had sprouts, carrots, mushrooms, lettuce spinach,and white beans on it...sooo yummy. as i'm transitioning to raw, i already feel so much less bloated after i eat. instead of feeling just weighed down, i just feel...good. it's a great feeling.

nuff, thanks for commenting! i have no idea how i ventured into raw foods...i've felt really unhealthy this year, eating cafeteria food, and I also gained about 10 pounds...so I've been researching various ways to make my diet healthier and also lose weight. somehow, i stumbled onto raw, and it seems like everything i've read about it is just sooo positive and makes it sound like THE way to eat. unfortunately i don't know anybody who eats raw here...which is why i'm so grateful to have found this site.

earthangel, thanks so much for looking after me i saw the post 'cheers for earthangel' and i looked at it....seems like you are such a huge inspiration to everyone.

so...i'm aiming to keep like 60-75% of my diet raw. I'm really excited to see how my body feels.

hey there....congrats gal on going for it!!!! i am soo happy for you and very proud of how wonderful you just jumped in and got your whole self immersed...i think that is the way to go..just start adding things and it takes off...you don't have to plan to be raw just do it haha!!! so keep up the good work..i am glad youa re already feeling so much better...hope you did well on the tests and quizzes keep it up
love earthangel
xoxoxoxoxoxoxx

good day fellow aspiring raw eater, heh heh..
hm anyway well the follow through with eating more raw is awesome! When I first ventured into this a month or two ago I did the talk but..well you know the rest. Those naked juices are fantastic i know! I hope you can get fresh juice soon cuz oh wow..it's f'in AMAZING! really is. haha well how' so hows today going? yeah i got some great food at farmers market, you have a good one where you live? Oranges are fabulous here right now, almost every stand has strawberries and oragnes and they're worth every cent too. Hey you notice any changes mentally yet? I noticed the more raw i eat the more I'm motivated to go to class i am and also when im there i can easily give my full attention be alert. get back to you later!

hey there...where are you from btw??? hmm well i hope today is going well for you!!!!! talk to you soon....take care
love earthangel
xoxoxoxoxoxxoo

ah, after a few not great days, i'm going to try to get fully back into it.

the day before yesterday and yesterday - i had cooked food for dinner. first because there was a banquet and i was like, mmmmm. and then the next day, for basically no reason. plus, today, i went to breakfast with a friend and there were verrrry limited raw options, so i had some fruit and then also some cooked food.

i've been telling myself that this is ok, because i'm just "transitioning" BUT i can't use that excuse forever because if i do then i'll never finish transitioning. So, no more excuses. Time to do it.

One great thing about raw : i feel like i can eat however much I want. If i want to eat 3 apples, then by George, I'm going to eat 3 apples. I can't remember the last time I was just like, hey, if you want to eat it, you can eat it (as long as its raw). GREAT feeling.

hey earthangel thanks for the support! I'm from Virginia....keep Virginia Tech in your prayers. I don't go there (thankfully), but a whooole lot of my friends do (none of them are hurt, thank God). ah, so insane.

hey noff! naked juices are so yummy. next year, when I have a car up here, i'll definitely have to hunt out farmer's markets and juice bars! mmmm, sounds amazing. how long have you been raw? it's definitely difficult, but i think (and feel free to assure me on this) that its worth it. out of curiousity, have you lost weight?

hey there.....well good for you getting back at it and keepin on it!!!! you are doing great...oh and that is an amazing feeling if i want 4 oranges or something i will have it...although sometimes my crazy mind gets in the way haha but that is a freeing feeling!!! so yay for raw foods!!!!! well i def already had virginia tech in my prayers and thoughts and all of the families of the lossed loved ones what a tragedy...i am glad that none of your friends were injured...
well keep up your good work and transition!!
take care
love earth angel
xxoxoxoxoxoxox

hello again
well i've been on and off the wagon many a times over the past couple months. I came to the same realization though, that i could say i'm transitioning to coveer every slip up and not make any real improvement with becoming more raw...or i have to get tough with it and stops making exeptions. Yeah I've lost some weight, started at 140, i'm 5'2", I'm at 130 now, almost a week being 100% raw. What made me finally go 100% was a gradual transition though that i had to plan out, no spur of the moment cooked meals. How are you doing with the transition? I'm emotionally hooked on cooked food so saying goodbye is soooo hard. You having a good day yourself?

hey there............well i just wanted to say that it is awesome that you are even trying to do raw...so if you want raw transistion foods that is awesome too...like raw gourmet or ice cream!!!!! just as long as it is raw then you can eat is your next step you should go for for your transition
keep it up
love earth angel
xoxoxoxoxxoxo

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

yayyyy

i just weighed myself. which i hadn't done for a while..and it was 171, which means that i haven't GAINED any weight and have probably lost some.

I know it sounds stupid...but for as long as i can remember i've been a total yo-yo dieter. i go from eating absolutely nothing to just devouring pans of brownies. food has been my obsession and also my downfall for soooo long. so, the thing about raw is even though I feel like I can eat anything, I was really afraid that I would be gaining weight. because I just wasn't sure if it was really possible for me to eat however much of something i wanted and NOT gain weight.

apparently it is. praise God for raw food and raw foodies!

i had an apple for breakfast and I'm planning on having a salad in a couple hours ...then I'm headed over to the library to study, but i'm going to bring a lot of fruit.

i have felt pretty tired the past couple days. and I've had a couple headaches. but it hasn't been unbearable or anything... I'm not sure if it's detox or if it's stress, but either way. Raw is worth it.

Yesterday, I had a biggg yummy salad (spinach, carrots, mushrooms, almond slivers, ground pecans and sunflower seeds!)...i think i'm going to have to cut out some of the nuts though, because I feel like I'm taking in too much fat. after eating that salad, I wasn't hungry for the rest of the day, but I still ate dried fruit and an orange. So my salad today is only going to have a few nuts on them. not a lot. but a few.

today i'm aiming for like, 95%! I would say 100, except for i'm planning on drinking tea in a little while...I haven't decided if I'm going to give that up or not...hmmm.

thank you guys for being here!

noff, I'm totally hooked on cooked as well. Like I said, I've had big problems with food for sooo long. Giving up the sugar is hard for me. Yesterday, I had half a chocolate chip cookie, but I noticed that it had a funny aftertaste....and I was like hmm, fruit tastes better than this, especially dried strawberries. So it's a struggle, but I'm figuring out that it's worth it. good luck yourself. i can't wait until i lose more weight, get more energy, and have been raw for a while

earthangel, you're amazing. thank you for all your support!

hey gal!! yay you...i know the feeling getting on the scale and just knowing it will have mnoved or it will be a higher number then you think...but you are doing great and the scale showed that too!!!! you didn't gain and probably did lose!! awesome awesome...don't worry so much if you eat more fat at the beginning..just take it slow and do what you can...but if your body is craving fat eat some avo's and if that doesn't work have a few nuts....your body might need the fat to heal itself......sometimes it is the good fats that you haven't been giving your body for years...and it is now craving...it uses the good fats to get rid of the body fat!!! so don't worry be happy

keep up your awesome work hun...have a great day and take care!! will check in later this evening!!!
love earth angel
xoxoxxoxoxoxo

hey,

dont worry, school will be soon over and u will def be a little less stress. and more able to concetrate on your food. Stress is another factor in my life, it makes me crave food and def binge. But i know u want to feel good by the summer. So do ur best.

FYI-are u eating reg nuts ior raw nuts??? reg nuts are roasted and nothin but pure fat w no vitamins....

also get urself a book and educate urself. it will def help... geez, im still learning everyday....

I'm with benet girl on learning...I have two books and wish I had thousands...or a raw guru to educate me...
Lowering your fat intake is wise if you aren't craving fat. Earthangel is right about the good fat though, but I'd say that unless you feel like eatng that food, don't force it. I find that when I eat nuts I always overdo them and then feel cravings for other cooked foods...
well good luck to you, I think it's awesome you're doin this,

ahhh, hey hey

well, benetgirl you're so right. i know the almonds i eat are raw because i bought them myself--but the sunflower seeds and the almonds i got in the dining hall the other day...those were probably roasted. bleh. so annoying. that makes it a little harder to be raw. oh well.

today i had a salad (no nuts on it, but i did have some white beans - but still a veggie, so i guess i'm getting somewhere), and then i was still sooo hungry. i didn't want to chew, i wanted something sollllid. i caved somewhat and had some blueberry bran bread and soy milk, which wasn't in my plan. but oh well. i then later had some dried fruit and a banana...and around my friends, i ate half a cookie. BUT i turned down pizza.

so, not great...but baby steps. i didn't eat ice cream today! plus i refrained from pizza. i'm realizing that even 90% may not be something i achieve until i go home for summer...but that's only a few weeks away. still. baby steps.

by the way, do you guys have any books you recommend?

thanks for y'alls support!!! hope you guys had great days

hey there...good job today!!! you really did well taking on all that!!! so keep up the good work!!!! check on the nuts they might be raw you never know...i thought the sunflower seeds for the salad a t alocal place wer cooked but turns out hey are raw!! so you might luck out cuz beans aren't veggies ......another thing to remember to keep from feeling bloated yucky when eating nuts...always soak them overnight before eating them.....to release their enzymes or else it doesn't matter you aren't geting the vitamins and stuff in the nut cuz it can't be released with out soaking...so that is something to think of too!! but i htink you are doing great!!
keep up the good work
love earthangel
xoxoxoxoxoxoxxo

oops. beans are legumes, aren't they?

hey there haha that is cute.....yeah no they are legumes lol...oh well though..but still check out your almonds and seeds on campus you might be surprised!!! good luck have a great day
love earthangel
xoxoxoxxoxoxoxox

ugh, not a good day.

started out ok...had a salad for brunch, but then had a chocolate truffle, then ended up going to dinner alone...and so then i was eating my salad really quick, and this girl from one of my classes came up and was like, Hey! Can we sit with you? and I knew she was just trying to be nice, so i said yeah, and then i ended up eating a cookie, some pasta primavera, and some ice cream.

my face is covered in zits. is that detox?

plus, i feel like my stomach is swollen. like, i didn't eat that much. but i look pregnant. is that normal? is that my body's reaction to cooked food now? ugh.

i feel horrible. and really heavy/bloated/round.

also depressing because I just realized i'm going to the beach in 3 weeks. bah.

i wish my skin would clear up and my belly would go down and that i could just be 100% raw without a struggle.

yeah I wish it wasn't a struggle at all, alas, we live in a weird world. I've been watching documentaries lately all focusing on the state of the world today and I'm much more scared/angry for it. Must find sanity! must stay raw! haha hey, itll work I keep telling myself.
Ya know each time i slip up and have cooked I have the same symptoms as you. It feels as though the cooked food is foreign and my stomach freaks out like that. maybe your stomach has shrunk a bit from being raw and then eating abig cooked meal stuffed it.
Upping your greens will clear your skin up faster! I'm such an advocate of wheatgrass but since most can't stand it and I'm wary of mold I'd say just make some yummy salads! don't worry about your belly, it will go down. Just keep makin progress everyday and you'll be there soon.

hey hun...don't stress yourself out about the cooked...it will only cause more stress hormone and more bloat and yucky feeling...worrying abuot the cooked is worse then some of the cooked itself...i read a study about it....so let it go and tomorrow is a new day...the bloat will go back down...tomorrow don't eat until you are hungry so even after you wake up your body is still focusing all energy on digesting the cooked stuff from yesterday...then you will get it passed out faster.... and if you have to eat something keep it simple with fruit....melons and grapes and such!!!!
i am here for ya if you need someone!!! take care of yourself and don't stress...everyone goes through these days hun!!!
your face will clear up once you get these toxins out of your body and are on raw....
love earthangel
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

noff and earthangel...thanks so much. this forum is awesome - it's so great to have support, especially since my friends aren't that into it.

ok. you're both totally right. Today is a new day. I know that being raw is exactly what i need right now. I know that God has given me a way to overcome my addiction to food and to stop feeling guilty, and that way is raw. God's grace is sufficient -that doesn't mean it's not going to be hard for me, or that it won't be a struggle, but it does mean that I can overcome this. I can be raw, and when i am, I know that I will feel healthy and pure and strong. Raw is the way.

Ok, so today, I went to church with some friends and they invited me to brunch afterwards. At first, I was like, no, i really shouldn't. But i decided to go - and I had a banana, 1/2 of an orange, and some canned fruit (i know canned fruit wasn't the best choice - but i didn't really think about it, and as far as slip-ups go, i can deal with it).

for dinner, if/when I'm hungry, I'm going to get a spring mix salad and maybe squeeze an orange or a lemon over it. i can do this. one day at a time.

You are doing great, yup each day is a chance to make it the best ever! haha 'm a bit hyped up with energy but I stand by that statement! So how's it going?

hey thinkingraw! i'm also really new to this whole raw food thing and i can completely relate to your struggles. i'm finally getting to the point where cooked food seems unappetizing and dead to me, but i still get cravings and i definitely had plenty of slip-ups. i think the best thing is to remember how awful you feel after eating cooked- bloated, sluggish, disappointed, etc. you don't want to feel that when you could be feeling energized, radiant, slim and happy eating raw! thinking about that has helped me get past some cravings.

it sounds like you're doing great today! just take it one day at a time, and remember that it will get easier and you'll start to really feel amazing!

oh YEAH.

i feel absolutely baller right now...and that's a good thing. my dorm had a 'cookout' tonight which consisted of take out chinese food and pizza. and at first i wasn't going to go at all, but my roommate talked me into it. I actually went and DID NOT eat it. I ended up going to the dining hall and getting some carrots, cucumbers, 2 bananas, and some salsa. I ate the carrots dipped in salsa (not raw, but i don't really care b/c it's *close* to being raw).

looking at the chinese food wasn't that tempting. yeah, it would have been really simple for me to eat it, but it didn't look very appetizing. it looked kind of dull..and wilty.

meow thanks for the post! i'm really looking forward to getting to the point you are at. honestly, i think slipping up and eating pasta the other day might have been sort of helpful, because i realized just how bad cooked food makes me feel. i love how being raw makes me feel. i can't wait to get past this beginning phase and get to where i feel energized, radiant, and slim!

thanks for the positivity y'all. you're SUCH a big help.

hey there hun....yay you for doing so well today!!! and yay for your new found thinking...of course each day is a new day and you don't have to worry...no one is here to judge you are say anything mean or like oh you ate cooked...haha we are here for support to help you through it and be there for support!! awesome that you feel so good about yourself today that is great!!! keep up the good work hun!
take care
love earthangel
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

hey there,


U r doing great. Why? U R Trying!!! and wanting a change. the best way to transition is to educate yourself as i mentioned before. What books are the best?? It depends.

My first book was on juice fasting..cant remeber the name...


But my first raw book was by David Wolfe.. Eating for Beauty...very simple and educational.. I suggested u look at it at the bookstore..
then I went on from there.. to his Sunfood Diet System,

[dw.successultranow.com]

then i went on to other juice books cause i juice a lot. And now I want to purcchase the new 80/10/10 by Dr. Douglas Graham.

[www.foodnsport.com]

Also I usually go to the bookstores and pull out all the books on raw foods and etc. and sit there to educate myself. this also aids me to go raw. I need to live and breathe it, and surround myself w education and the raw lifestyle. my friends are not raw, and as much as i love partying with them, the nights after partying end up w all of us eating. I will never stop partying and enjoying having a good time. I love to dance, i love my friends, i like having fun. but i also like to be healthy, think clearly, continue being a better woman, have energy and become a raw human being. hey and have a rockin body too. i admit i love to dress up and feel good. whenever i was thinner a while ago, i def enjoed my life better in all dif various parts of my life. now i feel like dead. but slowly rejuvenating. The point of this is that once i get better control w my raw food lifestyle, i know i will be able to hang out w my friends and resist all the urges of their lifestyle. I will be in ccontrol, and not be afraid. And if i slip it will be by choice, cause no ones perfect.

Go to the bookstore and pick out a book that suits you, but makes sure u know what these people are talkin about. Cause some of them dont and just want to mprint out a book. I am still gathering info from all books i read, and add them to my lifestyle to see what works for me. Everyones different.

what a beautiful day,


i went to my first class at 9:30....and went to lunch afterwards at like 11. I went to the dining hall and got baby carrots, salsa, raisins, and a spoonful of nutella (i used to be so addicted to that stuff...just having a little was sooo yummy). anyway, i got all of this in a to-go box and then i went and ate it in one of the gardens. it was absolutely lovely. i ended up falling asleep there and then meeting one of my friends there...so i got a little bit of sun and just spent some time feeling blessed.

i also missed 2 classes. but oh well.

i went to the library briefly...had some green tea...studied a bit...went to pray at the chapel with a friend...then went to dinner because i was hunnnngry.

for dinner, i got a salad (nice leafy lettuce, red and green peppers, lots of carrots, some almond slivers, and lots of mushrooms. with some raisins on the side...and some vinaigrette on top. i drank a glass of soy milk...and also had about .25 of a cup of ice milk (aka, soft serve ice cream).
i might have an apple or some almonds later tonight if i get hungry.

I feel good about myself. I know that I'm trying, but I'm making progress. no more ranch dressing anyway and significantly less ice milk. plus - no soda. *i'm going raw straight from full SAD. i wasn't a vegan or even a vegetarian before this...so it's a big change.*



Ok. So, i *think* that this is the non-raw food I ate today (please correct me if I've missed something):
nutella, green tea, soy milk, vinaigrette, ice milk, posssibly the almonds



question: what about raisins? i was hoping that they were raw when i ate them today...but the ones i ate might have been altered.

goal for tomorrow: no ice milk. no soda, soy milk, tea, or coffee-just water.

yay! i'm going to leave the vinaigrette for now...i don't have the means to make my own dressing for salads, so for the next 2 weeks or so, I'm just going to deal with vinaigrette...besides, if that's the only non-raw thing i eat, then i will have made serious progress.


benetgirl, thanks for the tips on the books! i will definitely look into them - i'm looking at the sunfood diet and eating for beauty on amazon right now. i absolutely love sitting in bookstores and reading through books. that's such a fun thing to do. one of the worst things about being a college freshman at my school (this is also making going raw a lot more complicated) is that I can't have a car with me. so i'm essentially stuck on campus 99% of the time. after school is out and i have transportation again... i'm going to spend a day in a bookstore...then i want to go to the grocery store. mmmm groceries.


k. more later. study study time for me. love love and thanks y'all.