Hi.

For several weeks now, I have been thinking very seriously about starting a raw food diet. Tonight (finally) I typed in "raw food diet for humans" into Google and found this wonderful site. Prior to the birth of my daughter, I was a zookeeper and have always fed raw diets to the variety of species I have worked with (with the exception of a cooked yam for one monkey).
Anyway, I have read the FAQ's and am still interested (lol!). I also read through some of the recipes and forgive me, but I don't know what some of this stuff is. I already buy mostly organic for my family, but we are hardly raw. There is no way I will be able to talk my DH into raw, so I am on my own and that's just fine. This Champion do-dad, is it really expensive? Is there a standard food processor/juicer that I can buy at say . . . Bed, Bath & Beyond, to get me started? Also, any advice on how to make a good start for success would be much appreciated. I know that sometimes, when people take too deep of a dive, they don't last. I want to last. Besides for good health, I would like to lose about 20 pounds, maybe a bit more . . . we'll see. So long as I keep raw nuts to a minimum, I should be able to drop weight as well and then easily maintain it by continuing with a raw diet, yes? THANK YOU in advance!!!
QP (San Diego, CA)

i have a jack lalane juicer i got at walmart for 100 bucks 3 years ago. it has suited us just fine although it doesn`t juice greens as well as i`d like. some day i want one of those champion do dads but i can`t justify the money yet. i will someday though because i want more green juice and i want to juice wheatgrass and i don`t think mine will do it well. the vitamix is also a popular gadget i think alot of people fail...or a better word would be learn and grow by jumping in too fast. i am high raw which means most of my food is raw but i`m not 100 percent and i`m a newbie also. i jumped in...that`s how i do stuff but i read alot and hang out on these crazy boards ALOT so i gain everyone`s wisdom stick around and you will learn. it`s up to you how fast to jump, you know yourself better than anyone else.
patty

Thanks a bunch Patty.

Hi QP,

I am about 6 weeks raw. I started with a Black and Decker blender from Wal-Mart. It didn't cost much and when it dies, hopefully I can get a Vita-mix...but its done great. To get around juicing greens, I pop my greens in the freezer. Then I can crumble them and put them into a smoothie. When water is added, they break right up. I usually have a smoothie with greens for breakfast (you can't really taste the greens if you use enough bananas & other fuit like berries), and then fresh fruit through out the day and a salad for dinner with homemade dressing. So I can get through my day raw with the minimum of equipment. This is a very easy lifestyle. I still cook for my family, but find I can eat easily on the go. I agree with Patty...if you stick around here, you'll learn alot. WELCOME!

Actually you don't need to have any appliances to be raw, but it makes it easier to prepare a wider variety of dishes (and different textures of the same ingredients) if you have them. Otherwise, basically a knife would be all you need at a minimum to prepare meals.

Regarding spending on appliances, you can go as simple or as expensive as tools go. The good news is that you can make tasty stuff with gadgets from your walmart/target/bb&b/linen & things as well as the more expensive ktec/vitamix blenders and related items. Although I have a standard size food processor, the one I use more often is a small black & decker hand blender that came with a food processor attachment to make my applesauce, hummus, etc. It works just fine since I prepare small portions at a time.

Wishing you vibrant health