In researching this a bit, I've discovered there are thousands of articles on the "Why", and thousands more on interesting tips and subtopics of raw eating, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding some articles on how to get started with good practical advice on what sorts of things to eat.

As best I can gather, we're supposed to eat a lot of fruit and a lot of greens. I have no idea if I should weight it in one direction or the other, or how much I should eat, etc. I don't want to get sick from eating too much or too little of something, so some thoughts and advice would be appreciated. (thanks!)

Edit:

I think I'll break this into some questions:

1) Should I smoothie everything?

2) How much green leafy content should I consume per day?

3) Once I've prepared, peeled, blended, juiced, etc, how long is the longest I should be able to leave raw foods before I shouldn't really eat them due to lack of freshness?

4) Is it ok when smoothies congeal and get left for a while?

5) Is there anything wrong with freezing smoothies or preparing food with prefrozen goods like frozen blueberries?

6) What other "how to get started tips" come to mind?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2010 03:09PM by axefrog.

axefrog Wrote:
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> 6) What other "how to get started tips" come to
> mind?
Follow your instincts.

David Wolfe suggested something similar - i.e. leaning towards what your body starts naturally craving. i.e. when you think you need fatty stuff, go for avacados, coconuts, etc. when you need something lighter, go for the leafy greens, and so forth. The body is apparently reasonably good (once you get past the cooked addictions) at telling you what you need.

1. Smoothie what you want. Eat what you want. Use smoothies/juices if it helps you to get more variety. For instance.. I hate banannas but they're cheap and nutritious. So I blend them with other fruit into smoothies.

2. Personal preference really. But even high fruit people like Dough Graham recommend 1-2lbs.

3. Juiced or Blended - Drink right away. Unless you get into freezing. Cut up.. not sure on.

4. I guess it's "OK"..but it's gross. I have enough trouble drinking green smoothies without making it worse.

5. I use frozen berries in smoothies.

6. Try not to make it so complicated worrying about how to do this, that and just..jump right in and go with it and see where it takes you. Think of it this way.. you probably have had many days where you've eaten very unhelathy, junk food or the only "greens" were a few leaves of lettuce on a burger or in a salad covered in dressing. So.... if that didn't kill you..how can you go wrong eating all raw?

Some good points there. I suspect if I was getting deficient in something I'd feel it anyway. Thanks

Yep, eat a lot of fruit and a lot of greens. Some people weight it more in one direction than the other, but we're all a bit different. You may even find that once you get comfortable with one thing, you'll change and feel a different way at a later time. That's why you got the advice to listen to your body.

1) Should I smoothie everything? If you want. I like smoothies, but I also like variety. Check out the recipes on this site. There is more variety to raw if you want than just smoothies.

2) How much green leafy content should I consume per day? I usually include one huge salad a day. I like blending greens in smoothies.

3) Once I've prepared, peeled, blended, juiced, etc, how long is the longest I should be able to leave raw foods before I shouldn't really eat them due to lack of freshness? I like to eat it pretty soon. If I can't, I take whole fruit with me.

4) Is it ok when smoothies congeal and get left for a while? You can add some water and re-blend, but congealed sounds kind of gloppy.

5) Is there anything wrong with freezing smoothies or preparing food with prefrozen goods like frozen blueberries? I use frozen bananas and frozen blueberries all the time. Freshly picked and organic is best, but that's not always possible.

6) What other "how to get started tips" come to mind? Some people start by adding more and more raw gradually, crowding out the cooked eventually. Others go all raw for one meal a day or one day a week. Others (like me) go all the way all at once. This is one of those personal decisions. What do you think will work for you?

Good luck. Write again. It helps to "talk" with others about your successes, ideas, questions, challenges, etc.


My favorite raw vegan

I never have a problem with smoothies not being good later. Just shake it up in the bottle and drink. I also make batches of soup (savory smoothies) that last a few days and are fine also. I'd barely eat anything if I had to make something each and every time.

I prefer to refrigerate rather than freeze fruit & liquids because it seems to become almost tasteless frozen. The store bought stuff is even worse and most isn't raw anyhow. If you must do this for when you can't get access to fresh for awhile, just do what you can. It's better than other options.

Simple Raw Recipes & Health Tips

using an free online nutrition tracker is helpful as well. fitday.com is a nice basic one that can help you see what nutrients you may be lacking in. I find it interesting and helpful to enter in a few days of "normal" diet and then the raw days for a comparison. Once I entered in a whole day or lettuce and oranges with surprising results!
My advice to people who ask is to replace things in diet (and lifestyle) with healthier choices one by one (David Mason has a great philosophy about making small improvements daily). I think that slowly transitioning away from old habits into new, better ones is an easy way to incorporate them into life in a sustainable and lasting fashion. It just becomes what you do instead of something you are "doing" if you kwim. Any fad diet will quickly lose it's appeal, it becomes boring and work and not a lot of fun but changing how you live slowly and steadily and feeling the enormous beneficial impact, hearing people say how great you look, all that extra energy, well that makes it so easy to keep it up.

Good luck!

Thank you very much for useful recommendation!