Hello all :-)

To begin, my name is Deborah. I am anxious to begin eating Raw Foods but I am not 100% sure as to what I can have, can't have, and could really use some instruction. Could anyone recommend any Raw Foodist/ Detox literature that helped to guide them in the beginning or has really helped someone else? Or perhaps if anyone has any advice? I am sure most can relate to my ignorance and I would really appreciate the help.

Thanks,

Deborah

It all starts with digestive system and colon health. Here is the seminal book on that, may be old but very relevant [www.amazon.com]

[www.rawschool.com]

There are so many schools of thought on this and what works for one will not neccessarily work for all, you've got to find your own personal way.
Spending some time here reading the articles and posts and asking questions is a great way to figure things out. As for your diet/lifestyle changes, making small goals and reaching them, making more and reaching them, and so on is a wonderful way to slowly and steadily incorporate more and more healthy habits into your life. Add more fruits and veggies, raw nuts and seeds to your diet. Try making some sprouts at home. Find raw recipes for some of your favourite dishes and try them out. Remember that things will change for you from month to month, from week to week, maybe even from day to day. Be sensitive to how you're feeling, honour yourself when you need to rest, when you need to fast, when you need to eat until you feel really full. Just be gentle and loving with yourself and don't worry about "rules" or "shoulds" or not doing it perfectly.
Also remember that health has many components that have nothing to do with diet. Pay attention to how you're living the rest of your life as well.

Here are some amazing recipes, some of my faves.
[thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com]

And some great youtube videos by the fellow who started this website.
[www.youtube.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2011 10:37PM by coco.

Don't follow the crap advise on the rawschool.com page.

Hi Deborah. I am new to this too. I like to have a simple green smoothie every morning, bananas strawberries and spinach, and a really nice salad every day with olive oil and lemon juice, and as many pieces of raw fruits and veggies as I need. I've learned to go easy on nuts and seeds and not to buy too much produce at one time. Also don't suggest you run out and purchase any equipment, supplements or super foods until you figure things out a bit more. This way you won't waste money or get discouraged if you have things at your home that you thought you needed but really didn't. I like the book Rawsome, by Brigitte Mars.

februarygirl

Here are some raw foods you can always eat:

fresh ripe fruit
vegetables you would normally put into a green salad, ie lettuce, spinach, celery, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.
raw nuts and seeds.

So how to start? Start by increasing the amounts of fruits and salads you eat. You can learn how to do the gourmet recipe stuff if you like preparing foods. There are recipes here in the Recipes and Food Preparation forum, as well as at Living and Raw Food Recipes. Another forum for recipes is [www.goneraw.com]