Im on a roll at the moment, increasing my raw food intake and feeling better for it.
Over the past 8 years I have sucessfully managed to stay raw for over six months three times. I have also managed many 3 or 4 month stints.
I have never tracked my diet regarding nutrients or fat intake, just eaten what i wanted when i felt like it. Maybe i need to look at this.

I need to get some help and support this time around to stay raw.
For those of you who have managed to stay longterm raw what do you feel contributed to your success?
What have you learnt to avoid?

Actually, we should ask you the same question, I can only admire you for your raw experience (hoping that you will still eating predominantly raw when even when not 100% raw). I have done 6 months when I started, but was just learning then, made many mistakes as I am generally not a very well organized person. Most of the people on this forum I feel are better organized than me. So, I think that the first factor should be - get serious and do your best to prepare.

Hi rab
Sorry to dissapoint but i was not predominantly raw inbetween times. Apart from trasitioning to a higher level of raw in my diet, then combining raw and cooked just really does not work for me.
Once I reach a certain level of raw, I need to maintain it, otherwise I slip back into old habits very quickly! I remained vegan for the most part, eating some veggie dishes with friends ocassionally.
After eating cooked for a while, I would get sick again and eventually return to raw.
I really want and need to stay raw this time around, thats why I decided to try and get some advice from the many people here who have managed to remain raw.

Some quick things that have always helped me...

LOTS OF FOOD ON HAND, always. If you start to get hungry and you don't have a snack/giant fruit bowl full of food, it gets very hard to stay raw quickly.

Quality food. Sometimes conventional mealy apples at the grocery store just aren't appealing. Seasonal food, fresh food, local food, you'll have to really figure out where to shop and it gets annoying... but the best quality of food you can find is always the most satisfying (and likely nourishing!).

Gourmet. It's great to eat lots of fruit as much as possible, but there are days I would have died if I couldn't dive into a pan of raw lasagna. It's a nice "reward" to have, too. Raw gourmet delivers all the wonderful comforts of cooked food, but without the cooking. It's expensive and impractical and probably not the best to do constantly, but it does fill a place for comfort, cooking ritual, lots of things emotionally and psychologically... and tastes delicious. Even if you just make zucchini noodles with a spinach pesto and salad, there's that sense of "having a full meal," and it's really great.

Community. Make raw-curious friends however possible! I frequented raw restaurants, just sat at the (juice) bar, and years later, I have lots of friends. Some bold old men may sit down beside you and start a conversation like, "So, when was your last colonic?" These places are a goldmine. >8)

Learn to sprout!

Variety. Eat as many different raw foods as possible. This way, you are far less likely to miss any important nutrients. Sometimes, I think craving a certain nutrient could drive us to wanting to eat certain cooked foods.*

Patience, love, and compassion for yourself!

And finally... boundaries. If you do have to have a "slip," steaming a yam, or making a mostly-raw dip with some organic beans is a far cry from lying facedown in a parking lot at McDonald's.

*I called it "slipping," but if I do get a sincere craving for a cooked whole vegan food, I allow myself small amounts of it. Having been raw for so long, it's very self-regulating and I don't have a desire to binge. For example, I was PMSing last week and just really wanted BEANS. I made a raw chili, but threw in one (BPA free) can of organic black beans. It was great. I did that for two days. The rest of my intake was raw, so by counting calories, I was still 90-95% raw, hardly something to beat myself up about. Did my body legitimately need something in those beans? Possibly. It's been months since I've eaten them and will probably be months until I eat them again... I don't feel guilty or resent the fact that I did it. I wouldn't do it every day. I'm just saying if you do need to eat something cooked (and if we're talking going raw indefinitely for years, this will come up), keep it as clean and close to raw as possible. Also, I will steam veggies but toss them in oil AFTER steaming so ONLY the veggies get steamed and nothing else.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2012 09:29PM by phantom.

Good tips Phantom .

Tracking your macro/micro nutrient levels even if its just a sample week of your diet is a good thing in my opinion especially when it comes to more restrictive diets such as raw. You can see if there are any vitamins or minerals that you are coming up short in. Fitday.com is one of the popular programs to track your food intake.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

I did use fitday lots when I firsts went raw, mostly out of curiosity! Zinc and selenium were the two that needed the most attention, and that is easily remedied with pumpkin seeds and brazil nuts. Seaweeds are an awesome source of minerals, too.

Fitday doesn't account for organic foods grown in richer soil. So, if you can ace the charts with Fitday and manage to squeeze in some organics, you're even better off. <3

I did just have some bloodwork done not that long ago, and I didn't come up as deficient in anything, even B12! It has been four years.

One thing I also should have added to the list... fermented foods!

lots of food on hand , sit down and make your self a staples list and try to buy as much of it locally every few days

i have a small army of freezer packs to keep things cool

i have at least one cooler in my car all the time that i stock daily with my fresh stuff and also keep in there mason jars of nuts and seeds dried fruits etc.

i use thermal lunch bags at my desk with prechopped salads

green smoothies with me all the time

i have a magic bullet at work to quickly blend myself up a small amount of smoothie or dressing

i always keep a few standard things in the fridge at work ... apples, oranges, bananas

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Looking at your posts, Im pretty much on track at present.
I feel more prepared than I have evre done before and even more determined. However, I cant allow this to lead me into a place of false security.

I will organise a fit day account. I have never done that before, so will give it a try.

Jodie i know what you mean when you say a 'small army of freezer packs'! so do my family!

I forgot about my magic bullet, thanks for that.

Phantom, there were lots of helpful tips in your post.
Its long term thats the real issue for me, so the steamed veggies and keeping as clean as possible on the 'slip' when it happens (which it will!) - took that on board. Thanks.

I think I need to make a 'punchy' list and tattoo it on my hand to refer to in times of weakness and to balance, on the other hand tattoo the words 'loving kindness'

FFx