Hi all,

I just wanted to get some ideas if anyone has any for us on foods to eat for my husband who works long hours and has never experienced a mostly raw diet? We are planning on doing a 30 day mostly raw way of eating next month and I'll be packing his food each day. (for a 12 hr shift) He works long hours (in a restaurant no less) and rarely has time to sit down and eat while there, so he asked if I could pack stuff that's easy to eat pretty quickly. He was initially opposed to the idea of eating this way, even for a month, but I backed off on the suggestion and just told him I only suggested it because I don't want him (or me) to die of SAD eating, or cancer like some of my family members. He came to me yesterday and said he'd like to try it and will be quitting caffeine and cigs at that time too.,,

Kind of challenging, but not impossible. Maybe it's not an ideal way to go about it, but he said he would be willing to try it if I could give him stuff to eat each day....I was raw for a year, about 4 years ago and while it was incredible in many ways, I let fear dictate the reasons why I stopped. Now my eating's completely erratic. Sometimes I eat pretty well, and other times - not so much, Also, I didn't know enough about the long term effects of 100% raw years ago, and some of my long term raw friends were looking and feeling sick, despite some of them being raw educators. (Not all of them,. some still look great). Anyway, I am much more open to doing things slowly this time, and to just do what feels right. This is my husband's first time doing anything like this, and I know it's not the easiest way to go about it, but it's how he wants to do it.

I really want him to experience the amazing way that eating high raw can make you feel and look. I used to get such an amazing feeling of well being just from eating a salad or green juice. Any ideas you guys have as to how I could help him along with some food ideas or something to see how our present way of eating isn't going to help us in the long run, would be great.

Thanks a lot....

Wanilla,

The easiest things would be raw fruits, already cut up so that he could snack on them at break times, or green smoothies in a Thermos; he could sip these over the course of hours. If you put a lot of fruit in the green smoothie, it's very filling.

Good tips from Tamu, as always!

I would like to add -

For you husband to be willing to try this is a great step on his part. But I see a couple of tough hurdles here; For someone who has never really tried a RAW diet, 30 days may be a fairly long stretch to start out with.

On top of that he wants to cut out caffeine and cigs as well. Some major withdraw/craving & detox symptoms will be sure to manifest during this time.

The smoothie idea is a great one. If he has a sweet tooth or a liking for bitter tastes, you could tailor the smoothies in the direction that he has a flavor for. That may make it easier.

Skip through all TV commercials, since many of them are pushing beer/pizza/fast food.


It may be easier to go through a transition period where you do a couple of prepared, but raw dishes throughout the month. Here is a great website for recipe ideas. Type "raw" or "vegan", something like that in the search box.

[www.recipezaar.com]

You will come up with many great alternatives to the SAD/cooked food diet. Looking back, I should have done a transition period for myself & family. It would have made things much easier for us.

Good luck! Let us know how it works out!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2010 11:21PM by juicerkatz.

My boyfriend agreed to do this as well! Perfect timing. I've been making him dinner and he's been doing great. What kinds of foods does your husband like? If he likes gazpacho, I'd make him a watermelon/cucumber gazpacho with sesame seeds and avocado, maybe put it in a thermos. Also, instead of tomato/mozzarella/basil...you can do tomato/avocado/cucumber/basil.
Hope this helps! Let me know what he likes and maybe I can think of more recipes.

This has been excellent information, thanks everyone, I will take the transition advice too, I think it might make him (and me) more open to staying the course if it's somewhat enjoyable in the beginning....

Honestykindnesslove, he likes most anything and has always been open to eating whatever cooked or even raw salads, etc I've made, exempting a couple of really bad dishes here & there! He works in fine dining so it can be challenging trying to think of stuff that would seem tastier to him than what he's getting. He says he wants to try more raw, but doesn't know about some of the great transition dishes that are out there yet. We're in LA, so I remember some of the places I used to go in the early months. I think he thinks it's all salad and is worried he'll be hungry. I'm going to try the gazpacho & check out the recipe link above as well....whatever works, I'm open!

[www.merawyoucooked.com]

check out this book written by my buddy Emma:

"Me Raw: You Cooked is the first book of its kind, written for raw foodists and their non-raw partners providing valuable insight in to a raw-cooked relationship.

Co-written by my partner and myself, Me Raw: You Cooked details what happened in our relationship when I made the decision to 'go raw'. It outlines a very personal story of the ups and downs of a raw-cooked relationship as well as giving useful advice on how to overcome the practicalities of maintaining raw and peace at the dinner table!

Me Raw: You Cooked is different than a lot of other raw food books because it was written from both perspectives with both partners in mind. If you are raw you will find guidance on the kinds of issues that may arise between you and your partner. If your partner is raw you will glean insight in to what to expect.

A further bonus of Me Raw: You Cooked is the recipe section which contains some delicious tried and tested dishes aimed at raw-cooked couples with fantastic recipes that can be easily adapted and shared.

Above all this is a love story so whether you're one day in to raw or one decade you're sure to find value in this book."