I haven't started this yet, but I really, really want to. I've known about raw living for a long time, and I've wanted to give it a go.

I'm 31 years old, and I'm not obese, but I'm the heaviest I've ever been in my life. I'm not active anymore, I'm constantly stressed out and fatigued. I'm a smoker, and I want to quit that, too. After looking this site over, I've decided I need a complete overhaul...a major lifestyle change. I'm so ready for it, and I feel that this is the way to go!

Any advice would be most appreciated. There was a time when I loved life, but now I'm always stressed out, and I just don't enjoy life anymore. I want to be free of this once and for all!

How should I start? Is it possible to start by cutting out everything that is cooked, or should I ease into it? I'm already one step ahead in the fact that I've always enjoyed vegetables, and I've always preferred them raw. I've never really been a huge fan of cooked veggies.

Also, I do not have a juicer, and I really can't afford to buy one at this point in time. Are there any juices out there that I can buy? I've had juices by Odwalla and Naked, but I'm not too sure how good they really are for you.

So, as you can see, I'm clearly uneducated about leading a strict, healthy lifestyle. I would be eternally grateful to anyone who can point me in the right direction.

Thanks!

~Hollie

Advice:

1) Start small and set specific, do-able goals with timetables. A great first goal is to try to make it to an all-raw breakfast for the rest of your life. A MAJOR improvement in ANY life!

2) If you start slow, you can always speed up. If you fail at large goals....it only makes you feel bad. But even the smallest successes breed confidence and greater successes.

3) NEVER go hungry...but rather stay extremely full on very healthy fruits and vegetables.

4) ALWAYS eat before you leave the house and always bring a snack. Never show up someplace hungry and feel obligated to eat crap.

5) Understand and accept at the outset that people eating poorly will probably not understand or condone what you are doing. Be prepared to support THEM....and to never attempt to explain or justify your eating choices. You can always say, "I'm not hungry"....which should be true! Heh..heh.

6) You don't NEED a juicer or any other expensive item. If you feel you want to experiment, then drop by your local thrift store. You can usually get a juicer and a blender for under $10.00!

-Just some tips that have helped me.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Eat lots of fruit and have a big salad every day.

You can get a $4 manual citrus juicer. That with a tolerable $40 blender, a $3-$8 shredding tool (I got mine from the Asian store), and a good knife will be enough.

hollieanne

Quote

How should I start?

The answer to that question is different for everyone. There are two things that greatly increase your chances of becoming a lifelong raw food eater.
1) Learning - learn from the good and bad raw food experiences you encounter.
2) Perseverance - if you try something and it dosn't work then try something else. Don't give up.

Some people find it easiest to go all raw, all at once. That worked for me
Other people find it works better for them to make changes more slowly by steering their shopping cart into the produce department more and more and steering their cart into the other food isles less and less as it feels right to them.
I wish you success on your raw journey.

I live in NYC, and I've been trolling the web for raw restaurants in the city. There is one that is completely raw, and I looked at their menu...wow! the food looks delicious, and the descriptions make them sound even more scrumptious!

The dessert menu definitely caught my attention...I do believe I'm going to have a smooth adjustment into a raw lifestyle.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts/advice/experiences with me. I'll probably have a lot of questions in the next few months...I hope you guys don't mind :]

Hi Hollieanne. I've just gone all uncooked and I find this journal rather supportive and helpful [www.shazzie.com] + these transformations are also rather amazing [www.shazzie.com] which can be very inspiring.Also possibly write a list of reasons to pursue this. I need leverage to keep going initially.So get a big huge list of all the reasons to pursue this and stick with it! To be perfectly honest,its not actually that bad,I thought it would be a lot more difficult and I am already feeling a lot more energy and feel a lot more grounded too(which was a big problem for me) and this is only after 11 days.

Totally unrelated!
[www.youtube.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2009 08:30AM by ROIRRAW.

I usually get my appliances at yard sales or second hand stored. If you could find a hand juicer for citrus that would be helpful. I have an older model vita mix now but I started out with a blender and then a borrowed majec bullet to make smoothies. I use a coffee grinder to grind flax seeds. I have found dehydrators at yard sales. I paid 2 and 4 dollers for the dehydrators and they were in practally new condition. I now have a dehydrator that I can gauge the ten that cost me 10 dollers. I use a cutting board and a good sharp knife mostly.

Best of luck

one of my favorite things to eat is peanut butter...do i have to cut this out, too? are there raw alternatives? i've tried sunflower butter before, and i rather liked it.

Hollie, Welcome. There are alot of knowledgeable and supportive people here on this board.

Peanuts have arsenic and are high in mold. I would avoid. You can eat raw almond butter but it is high fat. You can eat raw tahini (sesame seed paste) but that is high in fat, too. Try raw hummus, that's delicious and a great alternative to the starch/protein/fat that you have in peanut butter.

I've never eaten sunflower butter. I imagine it is cooked but check it out.

Find things that you can substitute for your staples in your previous cooked diet. As you continue to cleanse and detox, your taste buds will change and eventually, you end up with an entirely new set of "staples".

You can find great free raw vegan recipes at goneraw.com

Be sure to get enough nutrients and allow yourself the time you need to completely become 100% raw vegan if that is your desire.

Good luck. Therese