Hi Everyone:
I ate raw for 6 months about 6 years ago, and I loved it! However, I have kind of gone off and on raw food ever since then. I am now almost 28, am pretty happy with my diet and fitness goals. However, I know that I really want to transition to be a raw foodist for life. Have any of you experienced this as well -- going on and off of raw foods? Any advice for how to stick with it on a more consistent basis?
Thanks for any help you can offer!
Regards,
Optimist4life

I think just keeping a daily log on this website will be helpful. It will keep me honest, knowing that other people will be reading my posts. I was doing fitday.com for awhile, which was good, but I think feedback from others will be helpful. Plus, I will be happy to support others in their lifestyle goals.
This past weekend I went to a wedding and ate horribly...I don't even really enjoy eating junk food at the time. And I especially don't feel good afterwards. It's a good motivator to continue to eat well.
I am going to start on the raw food plan tomorrow again. My goal is to eat a handful of berries and nuts in the am, and a big salad with sprouts for dinner. If I get hungry throughout the day I will eat a piece of fruit or two.
I am currently roughly 160lbs, which at 5'9" is the top of my healthy weight range. People tell me I look healthy, fit, etc. However, I think I would feel much better 20-30 lbs lighter.
I am going to stick with the raw food plan, hopefully forever, and keep up swimming a mile + weights each day.
Thanks for providing a supportive online forum! Its good to know I am not in this alone.

welcome
I have been raw since june and this site is so wonderful and supportive. There are some real nice people on here and they are full of knoledge and experiance

I look forward to following your raw journey here.

I think most of us have gone and off the raw food journey at some time.

This forum is a big help in sticking with it. And for me, colonics or enemas help with the cravings. For others, other approaches work.

I would try to make a plan for each week, with same amounts of raw (and in my case alkaline) foods bought for each week.

In this way you monitor your daily intake.

I think without a little self-control and pushing it's sometimes difficult to stick to the diet.

Still, pampering yourself from time to time (not too often, of course) with what you really love to eat helps you stick to the diet in the long run..

Good luck,
Mel

Alkaline Food / Green Food Chart With pH Scale

you are definately not alone! i have been going more and more raw for 4 or 5 years now! lately ive been doing great...typically i juice, blend or have some cut up fruit in the am before work and i have a large salad at work (usually with olives or avocado and some seasoned nuts i dehydrated), and dinner varies quite a bit because i cook for my husband and 14 yr old son. if i eat a little cooked, i try to have salad with it. my husband likes the juices, so often i'll juice before dinner and then not want to eat at all--thats when i feel the best! i am currently 140 at 5'1" could stand to lose 20-30-lbs also. you are doing much better on the exercise than i am--i am lucky to get the dog out for a walk each day and i live at over 8000 feet in the colorado rockies. so the ice and wind keep me in, in the winter a lot. dont beat yourself up about the wedding food--just start again 'tomorrow' doing what you know your body really wants. thanks for your sharing..ll

Thanks to everyone for your support and feedback!

I am doing pretty well so far on raw foods.

Today I ate yogurt (not so raw!) with dried fruit and nuts for breakfast. Lunch was a delicious salad (lettuce, yellow pepper, olives) along with sprouted lentils (they are really cheap if you make them yourself), olive oil and vinegar.
I did also have green tea and coffee this am. I think this is going to be the most difficult thing to break.

Yesterday was good as well: salad for lunch and dinner -- dried fruit and nuts for snacks.

Today I lifted at the gym for 30 min (arms) and did 15 min. on the elliptical for a warm up. Yesterday -- swam a mile and lifted 30 minutes (legs).

For the rest of the day I brought 20 almonds, 1 apple, and a bag of carrots and celery.

One thing that I think will be difficult to give up (in addition to coffee) is eggs. Do you all eat eggs sometimes? I think it is a great source of protein, and I am a little worried about giving them up.

I think I am going to eat like this for 2 weeks, and then weigh myself then to see how it is going.

Thanks again for the support!

Sounds like you are doing great! No, I don't eat eggs anymore - and I used to love them. Dr. Mercola is into eating raw eggs [www.mercola.com].

Bad, bad day! Well, just in the evening. I ate quite well all day. But this evening my roommate baked a chocolate cake. I couldn't resist. Bad! No more sugar for me. It always makes me feel awful. I am trying to figure out what triggered it. I think it is that I have decided to break up with my boyfriend. I need to think of a better outlet than food.

My roommate is very sweet, but she asked me if she could "intervene" if I get "scary skinny" from eating raw. This is going to be a challenge. She is a great girl, and eats pretty healthfully overall. However, I think she has quite a few indulgences that cause her to be overweight. She tells me that she is jealous of my body and doesn't think I need to change it. However, I know I would feel more comfortable in my skin if I could really stick to a raw vegan diet.

Well, my 28th birthday is in 12 days. I am going to take it day by day. I think I need baby steps to raw food. Therefore, my baby step goal is to eat nothing but raw food for the next 12 days. I'll think about it as my 28th birthday present to myself. When I have stuck to things in the past, it has been because I had a game plan. Therefore, when I am about to do something I know I will regret, my plan is to brush, floss, and rinse my mouth then drink a whole bottle of water. After that, if I still have the desire to do something that I know I will regret, I will write an entry here.

I signed up for spinning in the am at the gym, and will likely swim a mile after that.

So, my goals for tomorrow are as follows:
Exercise:
Spinning
Swimming (1mile)
lifting for 30 min

Food:
Breakfast
1 box of berries
20 almonds
Lunch
salad with sprouts
Dinner
salad with sprouts

Feeling the need to indulge -- clean teeth, drink water, and write here.

I know that I can do it -- I just need a daily check in -- every morning and every night.

Welcome !!! I went 100% raw for about 5 months - then slipped off the wagon, or the fruit tree LOLOL - I think part of it was not having good raw foods ready to take to work with me each day - I didn't have the foods available - and the health food store I work in has non-raw (cookies and chips!!!) samples sitting out frequently - so I would just grab some because I was hungry. Sounds like you have a great plan in place for dealing with the rough spots !!! You GO !!!!

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Thanks! I think you are totally right. Having good food on hand makes it easy to avoid the bad stuff.
Also, I try to think about how much I enjoy what I am eating -- the healthy way.

Today:
rasberries and 25 almonds for breakfast
green tea (I am not going to give this up - I decided!)
a large salad with lots of different veggies, sprouts, and olives
10 pecans
For dinner I will finish the large salad above, as I only ate half of it.
maybe some more berries if I am hungry.

Exercise:
I swam a mile and walked 30 min (total) to and from the gym.

So far so good. I had another box of berries, some pecans, and tea.
Feeling really good
So, this is day 1 of 100% raw (bad weekend). Tomorrow is day 2, and I am going to see how long I can hold out.

Yesterday finished well -- finished my large salad, came home and went to bed.

food today: 2 boxes of raspberries, 20 almonds, big salad.
exercise: swam 50 laps, did a 45 min spinning class, 30 min. of weights

I feel on track and great. A bit tired from lack of sleep, but overall great.

This is my 3rd day doing 100% raw with no cheating:
I have been keeping up with my rigorous exercise routine.

Food consists of:
Breakfast: box of berries & 20-30 almonds
Lunch: Big salad -- greens, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, celery, olives, and home-made sprouts
Snack: fruit and about 10 nuts
Dinner: Big salad -- greens, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, celery, olives, and home-made sprouts

I also drink green tea (with honey sometimes) and water throughout the day.

So, I feel good. However, I am worried about carbs. Does anyone pay attention to that, or do you all just assume that you are eating fewer calories and carbs shouldn't be a concern?
I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Thanks!

Well, I am back to square one, again.
I am trying to figure out where this pattern comes from. It is on-going and if I don't do something about it, this is going to happen for the rest of my life.

I did quite well all of last week sticking to eating raw. However, I did have a few pieces of Halloween candy.

I didn't consider this to be terrible, however, since I was sticking to raw eating really well throughout the week.

But...Friday came and it just went downhill from there.

I went swimming Friday morning. Then I met up with a friend for lunch at the Cheesecake factory, where I am happy to say that I ate a big, raw salad.
Friday night my roommates had shabbat dinner. I feel pretty good about how I ate there as well. I made a huge salad with sprouts and I mostly ate that. My roommate had also made a delicious and healthy lentil soup, so I had some of that.

I went to a party after and had some slices of apples.
Overall, I felt good about Friday.

Saturday I also felt good -- walked to and from school (30 min each way). Breakfast I had a box of berries. Lunch I had leftover salad from the night before. I went out to dinner with friends to an Italian restaurant. It took me about 5 minutes, but I managed to order a big salad with only vegetables for my dinner. I put lemon juice and olive oil on it.
Then...here is where it gets bad. I had a piece of bread, and some of my friend's pasta.
Then...later that night I went to a party where there was a piƱata. I ate chocolate. And when I went home I had MORE PASTA! At midnight! That is probably the worst thing that I could do if I want to lose weight.

So, today I am back on track. Swam a mile and walked to school. I had a box of berries for breakfast and for lunch/dinner I ate a salad and some almonds.

My friend sent me a photo from last night. I compared it to a photo of my going-away party in Geneva at the end of August. I think I was much thinner then. I have managed to put weight back on, despite my obsessive thoughts about food and weight.

So, this is my pattern. Start off strong Monday eating really raw and healthy...do well throughout the week...by about Thursday or Friday I become more lax (eating some cooked food, chocolate, etc.)... now a piece of chocolate here or there wouldn't be the end of me if that is where it ended. However, once I start eating badly on Thursday, I hit a downward spiral that continues through Friday and Saturday (only at night, mind you I still eat really well during the day and exercise)...then on Sunday I feel bad about it, eat really well. Monday starts off strong, and the whole cycle continues.

Now, looking at the contrast between photos of myself when I was in Geneva and photos of myself now, I am trying to think of what I was doing right in Geneva that I am not doing right now.
I think these are the keys:
1. in Geneva I hardly ever ate at night
2. on the weekends, I was out hiking and biking instead of sitting in the law library
3. i didn't have junk food and chocolate all around me the way that I do now that I am back in law school.

I am truly quite depressed about this cycle, and feeling disappointed with myself that I put weight back on that I worked so hard to lose in Geneva.

I think the key is to NEVER fall off the wagon. If I eat a Hershey's kiss on Thursday, then I am a goner for the rest of the weekend.

Has anyone else ever experienced this type of pattern? What have you done to get yourself out of it?

that's interesting b/c i was reading victoria boutenko's "12 Steps to Raw Foods" today and she said there are 2 kinds of eaters- compulsive eaters, which most people are, who eat out of boredom, stress, anger, or other emotions, or eat when they're not hungry and eat past the point of fullness, and normal eaters, who eat when hungry and stop when full. she said normal eaters are often able to be less than 100% raw and can eat a few bites of cooked food, or one cooked treat, and then go back to eating raw with no problem. however, she observed that compulsive eaters do much better eating 100% raw because just one bite of cooked food often makes them break down and eat the whole cake, or eat cooked food for the rest of the week, unable to get back to 100% raw for long periods of time. i totally agree with this. i found that it's easier for me to just say, "i'm going to ONLY eat raw food" b/c when i know i'm able to eat cooked food, it can be too tempting and it's easy to blow it. sounds like this may be the case for you, too.

at any rate, i wish you the best of luck this week! try to learn from what's happened in the past, and remember, you are still on the right path to better health. if you fall off the horse 100 times, and you get back on 101 times, you're still victorious. take things at your own pace and keep your long-term goals in mind

Thank you so much for your feedback. You are totally right. I am a compulsive eater. I would say that I pretty much have it under control, but then something will trigger me to eat one bad thing and then forget it.
I am going to take your advice and eat NO cooked food. I am an all or nothing kind of girl, and I think doing that way will be best.
I gave up diet soda (well, any soda for that matter) over a year ago and it doesn't even occur to me to order a soda or drink one. It's like completely outside of the realm of possibilities. I plan to be like that with cooked food some day too -- like I couldn't even imagine putting something cooked in my mouth.

Thanks for your supportive feedback and advice!

Well, it's 12:34 and I have officially made it through day 1 (again).

Today I ate:
a box of berries
tons of water and green tea
a salad for lunch and dinner with home-made sprouts
35ish almonds.

I swam a mile about walked about 2.

Feeling good about being raw, again! Let's see how long I can keep it up -- hopefully forever!

So far so good today. I was hungry from not eating much in the evening, so this am I had 2 boxes of berries and about 20 (soaked) almonds.

Someone pointed out that I am supposed to only keep one thread. Thanks for the heads up! I'll stick to this one.

It is 11:56pm and is officially the end of Day #2 100% raw!
For breakfast I ate 2 boxes of berries (I was hungry!) and some almonds
Lunch and dinner were each half of a big salad with sprouts (I had some olives with lunch)
For a snack I ate an apple and almonds.
Drinking tea now.
Oh, I also drank green tea in the am.

I am all geared up for day #3 100% raw and am really excited about it!

I swam 50 laps (fewer than my normal 66) today, but I am happy that I made it to the pool at all considering my very busy day.

I am well into day #3 100% raw
for breakfast I had an apple and some soaked almonds
lunch i had a big salad with sprouts
snack: a box of berries and almonds
green tea and water all day.

for dinner I plan to have the rest of my salad from lunch and swim a mile.

Feeling good!

Well, it is 11:20pm and I have almost completed day #3 100% raw.
I ate kind of a lot today:
breakfast: apple and almonds
melon
lunch: big salad
snack: 2 boxes of berries and almonds
dinner: another big salad
snack: apple, carrots, almonds
oh, also had green tea and cammomile tea at night

I also swam 50 laps. Not sure why I ate more than usual today, but at least I stayed raw! I think I need to cut down on the number of almonds I am eating -- I'll eat some carrots and celery if I need a crunch between meals.

Looking forward to day #4!

Nearing the end of day #4 100% raw!

breakfast: box of berries and handfull of almonds
I didn't really eat a regular lunch -- just grazed here and there: carrots, celery, peppers, grapes, almonds. Didn't have a chance to really sit down
dinner: big salad with mixed greens, tomato, carrots, peppers, cucumber, and sprouts yum!!
a few more grapes...

did spinning for an hour and some sit-ups.

I am feeling great, and looking forward to day #5

oh, i also had some green tea and cammomile.

hey you are doing great! i feel like every day we stay raw, it makes the next day a little easier and it forms the habit. keep it up!

do you have the same amount of energy as you do on a cooked diet when you work out? in the past i've struggled to keep up w/ my running on a 100% raw diet. i just seem to feel a little weak and not feel like running as much. i think it may be due to low iron, and i'm now supplementing and doing green smoothies. i hope it helps...just thought i'd ask you since you work out a lot! anyway, have a great day tomorrow

Hi Meow:
Thanks for your note! It is tough to tell so far, since I have really only been doing it for 4 days. However, I find that it helps to eat some dried fruit and nuts about 30-60 minutes before a workout. A handfull will do you just fine. Maybe try that next time.
Good luck to you!!

This evening I ate a whole bag of grapes a lot of trail mix -- nuts and dried fruit. It was still raw, but probably too many calories and sugars. Do you think it is because I did a spinning class and I needed the energy?

I think I am going a bit too crazy with nuts, so I am going to try to wean myself off of them a bit before it really becomes a bad habit.

I'll be 28 in 20 minutes...ah!!

hey....happy birthday!!!!

i hear you about the nuts....it's really hard to only eat a small handful, i could eat a big sack of cashews right now, i swear.

but i wouldn't worry about the calories...sounds like you're working out a ton, so you need it!

Thanks :-).
I decided to count nuts each day, so I won't go overboard. Glad to know others are in the same predicament.

Day #5 100% is off to a good start :-).
I woke up early and went to spinning at 6am, then did 15 min on the elliptical, some sit ups and leg lifts. and 5 cartwheels. I try to do 5 cartwheels a day to be sure that I still can. I mean, how many 28 year olds can?

for breakfast i had the usual -- box of berries and 20 almonds. green tea
when i got to school i had about 10 more almonds. i think i am done with nuts for the day.

rest of the day -- salad and sprouts.

i am excited to start off my 28th year already on a good track with good health habits.

whenever i tell people that i am 28, they are shocked. they usually guess 22-24. so, i figure if i keep this up, i can continue to wow people with my young appearance :-).

one of the main motivating factors for doing this is my uncle. he is 3 years younger than my dad, but looks 20 years younger at least. he has eaten a mostly raw CRON diet since his 20s. he has very few wrinkles, hardly any body fat, and just seems really spry and healthy. i want to be like that too -- so i am feeling good about starting this in my 20's!

I just left a meeting that provided free food -- pizza, the standard in law school. I brought my usual big salad with sprouts.
My friend, Steve, gave me a hard time about it (as usual). He often gives me a hard time about my lifestyle habits. I also mentioned that I did spinning this morning and last night. He thinks i am weird, too hard core, etc. He also said that since it is my birthday, I should be eating cake and sleeping in.

It's frustrating to have a friend be so unsupportive about my lifestyle choices.
I am fortunate, though, to have friends that do support me.

Day #5 100% raw is going well:

berries and nuts for breakfast
snack of nuts and raisins (couldn't help myself -- was starving from spinning)
salad and sprouts for lunch
I'll probably have the same salad for dinner ( I just ate half)

Also, thinking of going swimming after class ends at 8pm. We will see how my energy is at that point.

Day #5 and going strong!

yay for you!!

how lucky that you have an uncle that has been raw for so long- what a motivation!

just ignore your friend....some people are just like that. how you feel is all that matters, right?