I am totally new to the raw diet way of living
but so ready!!

My problem is two-fold..
First of all I dont really know where to begin..(I have bought ani's raw cook book)..but I am a little overwhelmed and I don't have a lot of time to prepare each day..I just dont know how to go about it

My second issue is that I work out alot and I am often hungry and a big eater!
I'm afraid that I wont feel satisfied or full or I will become weak as I burn calories..
also, where do we get the protein from?

any suggestions?
Thanks

Welcome.

Plants provide exactly the right amount of protein that you need. It's a myth that plants lack protein, the protein content is 10%+.

If you're a big eater then you'll LOVE raw foods because you can eat so much of them and yet you'll have hardly any calories!!! For a while at the start, you'll struggle to eat so much, I'm sure you'll be eating more than you ever have in your life!!! But it contains so little calories you'll lose weight.

That you work out a lot is great, many body-builders are actually fruitarians (they eat close to or at 100% fruit alone). Your body will prepare you for whatever it is you want to do and be extremely good on it. Many people say they have come away running far faster, better endurance, better strength etc.

Now I'll warn you, while raw fruit & veg will develop muscles better and faster than protein, it probably won't let you develop super, professional EXTREME and disgustingly huge muscles that you see on tv. If you REALLY want to shoot for that... then by all means go ahead and buy whey protein or whatever. But you'll might end up with terrible heart problems, be on medication etc. when you're old... pure, raw, natural fruit & veg wouldn't let you do that! It would just make you extremely fit and strong, but again when it comes to UNNATURAL strength, the whey protein is just like a light form of steroids. It'll mess you up.


rcullen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am totally new to the raw diet way of living
> but so ready!!
>
> My problem is two-fold..
> First of all I dont really know where to begin..(I
> have bought ani's raw cook book)..but I am a
> little overwhelmed and I don't have a lot of time
> to prepare each day..I just dont know how to go
> about it
>
> My second issue is that I work out alot and I am
> often hungry and a big eater!
> I'm afraid that I wont feel satisfied or full or I
> will become weak as I burn calories..
> also, where do we get the protein from?
>
> any suggestions?
> Thanks

how old are you?
are you male or female?
are you already vegetarian or vegan or are you coming from a standard american diet (SAD) ?
are you overweight or workout to maintain physical health?

sorry not trying to be nosey its just hard to paint a picture till you get some of the paint

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

hi
im 46
a woman
im not a vegan but i do eat (try) to eat healthfully (fish or tofu for protein)
im not overweight--im 5'7 and 125..(recently gained 10 lbs)
i work out daily.. but im noticing new fat (especially belly) and i have digestive issues of course..
im looking for a better healthier way of living

thank you so much for responding
any suggestions on how to get started?

im not familiar with Ani's un-cookbook

but do you have a blender? you could start websearching for smoothie recipies that would help get you into the raw groove and they are generally quite quick and easy to make and also quite handy ifyou have a hectic on the go life

welcome to the forums !

there is also a ton of recipies on www.goneraw.com [www.goneraw.com]
that you can find raw vegan substitutes for the non raw vegan things that you like to eat they have recipies there for mock tuna salad, pizza, cream of mushroom soup, lasagna etc etc i found these to be quite helpfull while transitioning to help with the cravings and also to not feel like im missing out on things for example i make a marinaded yellow zuchini that tastes like the fried chicken i used to eat .. its not the chicken flesh i crave but the flavors of the seasoning .. does that make sense?

later on you might want to look at investing in a juicer

get started by going to the grocer and getting lots of fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds and add them into your diet while eliminating the things you want to cut out

good luck and hope you stick around and keep us posted !

i love how all these new folks likeyou are coming here more and more it feels like our brother/sisterhood is growing everyday

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2009 09:51PM by Jgunn.

thanks so much
i will try all youve suggested
ive never done anything like this so im excited too
yay

twom more quick questions
im not going to get fatter by eating all this right?
like the avocado and just the amount ill need to eat?
and i will feel full right?

rcullen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> twom more quick questions
> im not going to get fatter by eating all this
> right?
> like the avocado and just the amount ill need to
> eat?
> and i will feel full right?

Yes you will. As Richard Wrangham (fool that he is for condoning cooking), has shown recently, you don't even absorb what little calories there are in fruit most of the time!!!!

I have (on rare occasions) eaten pieces of fruit such as one blueberry or something that have come out completely undigested. Your body doesn't digest all of the calories, it mostly just takes the nutrients.

So even with 300calories of grapes (which is a fair amount of grapes, let's be realistic here), you don't even get the full 300 calories!!! If it worries you a lot, you can check the scales every day. And no, it's not broken even if you don't believe your eyes!!! (although you're a light weight, I don't know if you're at the best of your health to lose anymore... see what raw food has to say about it after you go through it and whatever that is... THAT'S your ideal weight).



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2009 11:29PM by SuperInfinity.

rcullen,

Welcome to the raw food world and welcome to our raw food support forum. It can be overwhelming with all the information out there about raw foods. But an easy place to start is to eat foods that most cooked food eaters already eat raw: fresh fruits and salads vegetables. To eat these, there is not much new you have to learn, except perhaps learning about food combining and learning how to make your own salad dressings out of fresh raw produce.

The secret to eating fruit is to eat fruit as simply as possible, which the simplest way to eat fruit is to eat only one kind of fruit in a meal. So for me today, my first meal of the day was 5 pounds of watermelon. Or for dinner yesterday my first course was 2 pounds of red flame grapes.

There is a recipe forum on this website, as well as a recipe page on [www.living-foods.com]

It does take some time to get used to feeling full on raw versus what things felt like when eating cooked foods. For me, after eating a cooked meal, I was used to having a brick in my stomach for several hours. This told me I was "full", and this is what I looked for in the raw diet. However, you really don't get that feeling on the raw diet. So there is a different feeling you need to get used to.

Welcome rcullen!

Though I consider myself still 'transitioning' to raw; here's something that really helped me bridge the gap:

I spent every morning for a few months checking craigslist until I found a Vitamix blender (used is way more afoordable). I hear Blendtecs are good too, basically anything with some real horsepower, not the cheap-o ones from Walgreens. I would say a good secondary item would be a dehydrator which is frequently sold second hand.

Try out green smoothies. (It took me a damn long time to get over myself and drink something green, but I swear, they are really good). If you can manage to start every day off with a bunch of greens and fruit it sets a good tone. I tend to fall off the wagon as soon as I run out of fruit / don't get in breakfast.

Welcome welcome

I have anis book it is good, but complicated and a bit nut heavy

no need to prepare elaborate meals all the time, of course if you enjoy to prep elaborate meals..go for it

Wishing you all the best on your journey

Get lots of produce and dive right in

thank you for your note
i just had my first green smoothie..i mean i think i did..kale, bananas, a few strawberries and blueberries..and some hemp
pretty good..hope it was the right combo
im not sure how to combine the fruits and vegetables..not sure what you meant by that..
thanks so much

one thing i noticed
i was reading a blog that people were adding posts about what they were eating throughout the day..
it was like they were eating nothing
a few pieces of fruit and a few nuts maybe..
is that how it works? like i said i CAN eat and i'm concerned that if i supposed to eat a banana and some nuts im gonna fail

I think often after being raw a long time people can reduce their eating

EAT eat as much as you need when starting out!

dont be worried, eat until you are satisfied ..no need for restriction! first thing..go raw