On my second week of semi-raw foods now. Your advice was great! Thank you EZ Rider for the link to advice about food combining. Last week was all raw foods, as kind of a detox. The first 3-4 days I felt tired and had headaches, and then I started to feel better. Friday night I went back to partial raw foods--I eat raw all day and then at night I have a cooked meal with the family. I have noticed that my energy is now much higher, my mood is GREAT (the best it's been in a long time), and I have NO cravings for regular food. I had a bowl of cereal the other night and hated it, it tasted so bland. I have no desire for meat. Please tell me the cravings don't come back!

I guess my only question for now is--do any of you have families that don't/won't eat raw, and how do you eat with them? I could eat something different for them, but I don't want to make 2-3 different meals every night (my step-son won't eat anything but meat and is very picky, plus I have 2-year-old twins). Any advice?

Regular food? Wouldn't that be fruits and vegetables? Why not make it "regular"? That's the most nutrient-dense way to go for body healing and energy.

I have a boyfriend who I usually spend half of my time with; he's an omnivore. He orders me whatever I want or we go to the grocery store. Anywhere we go will have spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, or fruit.

Make yummy raw food and offer to share it. Fruit smoothies are a great choice. I would suggest berries and bananas for picky eaters. If you eat enough fruit smoothies in front of them they are going to want it too. When you make your cooked meals I would gradually make them more and more healthy. Whatever healthy foods your stepson will eat I would make that a lot. Talk to him about what is in meat and where it comes from. It is disgusting and he should know exactly what he is choosing to eat. It is a parents job to educate children about what they are putting in their mouths. Look up THE MEATRIX animated movies. Beans are a great way to transition them from meat. If you make something for yourself, make a little extra and offer to share. My kids all have to try new foods. Mixing raw with your cooked is great. You can skip the cooked part if you want and everyone can learn to eat new foods without giving up their traditional (regular, LOL) food. For example, a good meal is Tostadas. A flat corn tortilla with cooked beans and then loaded with lettuce, tomato and grated carrots. Or a couple of favorite foods and a salad. I always put everything on their plate. If it is new or they have previously not liked it I put a very small amount on their plate and they must eat it. Tastes change. I have found my kids gravitate toward the healthiest foods. Take it very slowly and let it always be their choice to eat (not try) something. We talk about how they feel and behave when they eat certain foods. I would put priority on gravitating away from meat and dairy. They are the worst. There are so many alternatives. For example you can take quinoa macaroni add flax oil, almond milk and nutritional yeast and you have a healthier version of mac and cheese. What we put in our mouths is so personal, so kids need to be handled with care when changing their food. You can however make compromises with them on what you will and will not cook or allow them to eat. You are should not have to do something you find unethical for someone else. When you teach kids that you are teaching them to stand up for their own ethical beliefs. Some things should be completely off limits, like artificial colors and flavors and high fructose corn syrup. There are tastier, healthier alternatives for sweets out there.

With the little ones, they are a blank slate. Start feeding them mostly or all healthy raw foods right away. My husband still eats meat (not much and I don't get near it) and my kids are all 90% or more vegan. When they were young we would say, "That's meat, dead animal, we don't eat that." and when they were old enough to understand and make a choice they chose not to eat it. If you all sit down to eat together, you don't all have to eat the same thing. You and the little ones can skip some of the unhealthier foods and share the healthier ones. Explain to them that you are choosing for the three of you to eat healthier foods so you will be strong and healthy. There is a cool book called THE HEALTH GUARDIANS. You can find it online.

I hope this helps.

Wow, pakd4fun, this is an amazing seminar in proper food education for children. I have friends with kids who have intuitively followed your advice, and their kids are really healthy and even-tempered and bright. And I have friends who are loving parents, but who lack the, I dunno, zeal? to do things this way, and their kids are getting more and more unhealthy as time goes on. I don't have children, but hope to some day, and I know it would be much easier to start them off right, than to backpeddle and try to make healthier modifications once bad eating habits are ingrained, but that it MUST be attempted. It's never too late to get well, right?

Crowdreamer, I can hear your enthusiasm and happiness coming through your e-mail. I believe that if your keep this up, you will be modeling the best example of what it means to be Raw and that your family will be interested enough to follow, at least with certain foods. I wish you the best of luck introducing them to your new ideas and trust that they will appreciate your offerings as manifest love for them.

Thanks, Tamukha. As for my step-son, those are all great ideas, but I'm afraid it won't work for him. It's too late. He will NOT eat fruit, I have offered him smoothies and he sees me eating them all the time. He won't eat strawberries (most kids LOVE them), not even on strawberry shortcake. Beans, veggies, he won't TOUCH them. If we order him a burger at a fast food restaurant and they make a mistake and put a veggie on it, he won't touch it because the veggie has actually touched his burger. It's okay though, I usually make him make his own meal when we have something he doesn't like (which is often). But I have compromised in the past and made burgers, and I don't want to do that anymore, so I guess he'll be eating lots of TV dinners (he's 14). I could try the faux mac n cheese thing though.

As for my little ones, they will eat just about anything, which is fortunate. I have fed them lots of fruits and veggies since they were little, so they love anything I give them. The only thing I worry about with them, though, is that at this age they do need lots of protein AND more fats than adults. PLUS, they have peanut allergies, which means I can't give them ANY type of nuts. So, I can feed them fruits all I want, but what do I do about protein and fat? Any ideas?

All foods have protein.

Avocado is a good source of fat and EFAs, along with other fruits as well.

Thanks Tamukha. These are things that have worked well for us.

Quinoa is 40% protein. Avocado and oils have fats. I think my kids eat too much fat. I have cut down on the nuts I buy and I have noticed an improvment in their health.


As for your stepson, I wouldn't give up yet. My nephew was just as bad as your SS sounds and he turned it around drastically at 16. He became vegetarian and thought the foods he previously would only eat before were disgusting.

I would continue to educate him about the unhealthy food he eats without nagging about it. There is a pushy line that should not be crossed. You could make him aware of the torture those animals go through. Like if he eats dairy you could say, "those poor dairy cows, having their tails chopped off without sedation. It just breaks my heart." or if he eats Jello (horse and cow hooves) you could say those poor horses, having their hooves cut off sometimes while they are alive and not sedated, isn't that horrible? Just so people can have this weird sugary blob. It just seems so wrong to me." You could also talk about how unhealthy people around us are that are eating the foods he eats. Becoming a great example of health will make the biggest impression in the long run.

It sounds like you are doing great with the little ones.

proably the simpelist? way to encourage others to eat healthy is to lead by example. for instance, if your overweight and drop weight by the raw diet and keep it off and start to glow and feel great in general, the others are bound to catch on! this may take time, but in the meantime,consistent action results in consistent results!