I've been told that when switching to a raw diet, one mistake many people make is eating too much fat. I am also trying to avoid eating raw immitations of cooked food, as I think that defeats my purpose in going raw. I am going raw because I want to give good nutrition to my body and to begin thinking of food in a different way. So my question is how much should I eat? I am drinking 1-2 fresh green juices a day and then eating fruit and some soaked nuts and a large veggie salad. I have purchased some raw desserts (I know ...) and have some raw chocolate. Would anyone care to list how much food you are consuming each day? Oh .. and I'd also like to lose about 20 pounds. Prior to going raw I was exercising at least 60 minutes a day of cardio and strength training about 3 times a week. Can I continue this program eating raw? One more thing .. I'm pretty vain about my hair. I have long blonde hair and don't want to lose any of it or to have it become unhealthy. Any special foods, etc. people use to keep a healthy head of hair?

Dont believe everything you've been told.
The best way to go is to listen to both campaigns; the pro-fat and the pro-carbs. Learn from their experiences, and then use this knowledge you've gained to the maximum benefits of your own body and health.

What life style do you lead? Are you a pro-athelete? If you're then you might want to concentrate on carbs and fruits to produce the fast explosive fuel. Hmm, but if you are a pro athelete then you already know about this i presume.

If you just are a health enthusiast, like myself, do only the exercises that provide you with optimum health benefits then you dont really want to eat alot of sugars. Imo, you just have to avoid eating both fats and carbs in hight quantities; you chose either and i recommend that you do your homework.

Both will not make you fat if you eat them the way you should. If you eat alot of fructose rich fruits, and exercise you ll burn the calories, and same with the fats. It all depends on what you want, what do you do for a living...etc.

As for hair strengthening, i have the perfect recipe, even a vegan one, but i dont want to share it with anyone, because i dont feel that my contributions are welcomed over here (I am a new user, like you) so i will keep it to myself and share it with other friends and people who i feel i am welcome to be with.

Do your homework and you'll select the best of all practices. Remember that moderation is the best, always has been. There is a cure for every ailment out there. We just need to know where to look.

Best of luck



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2012 04:06AM by Duke.

Welcome, Molli!

IMO, the best way to do this is to continuously add more fresh ripe fruits, veggies, and nuts and seeds(and gourmet raw creations, as you wish) gradually over time to displace anything unhealthy cooked that you are currently eating. When I first tried raw, I ate almost nothing but gourmet raw, and felt great, so there's no reason to assume that this is categorically "wrong" for you. I think the main mistake people make is to not eat enough and to not eat a sufficient variety of foods. So, if you're going to do gourmet raw, be sure to eat things other than mock-whatever made of nuts--eat lots of composed salads, fake pastas made with spiralized veggies, and lots of fruits. It's very easy to meet one's calorie ration for the day on gourmet raw, what with all the fat, without necessarily hitting one's carb, protein, and micronutrient targets. This is why variety--having a variety of meals--is so important. As Duke says, consider what your lifestyle is, listen to your body, and make adjustments as you go. Good luck

lovely advice i agree... the most important thing is to listen to your body... read as much as you can, and read to posts on here (they really help! )

but really its as simple as... what do you crave? and just trying different foods and really be aware of how they make you feel, transitioning to raw foods is a beautiful journey of better understanding yourself and your needs

good luck xx

Duke Wrote:

> As for hair strengthening, i have the perfect
> recipe, even a vegan one, but i dont want to share
> it with anyone, because i dont feel that my
> contributions are welcomed over here (I am a new
> user, like you) so i will keep it to myself and
> share it with other friends and people who i feel
> i am welcome to be with. \\

I would love to know your information, unfortunately statements like this are not very welcoming or friendly

you are setting the bar at what you are willing to contribute vs. what you are getting out of of here.

I would love to get to know you if you are open to that

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I agree Jodi, that this is a weird thing to say, that Duke has some useful info, but he is not going to share it. Is OK to not share some useful info, but then, whats the point of annoucing it to the forum? This feels like a passive aggressive energy to me.

It feels like he's trying to punish us or something...

Imma take my ball and go home, nyah nyah nyah nyah!

My 4 year old acts like that. It's sort of cute on her though .

Hi everyone, first post for me. Not quite 100% raw yet, but getting there...

Molli -
Having recently become vegan, and making the transition to a low fat raw diet, I've had some of the same concerns as you. Well, not the hair -- i have a crew-cut .
I tend to read a lot when engaging in new/foreign (to me) ventures, so here are a few recommendations:
"The McDougall Program" by Dr John McDougall: Not necessarily raw, but describes the basics of a low-fat vegan diet. He has many other books on the subject as well.
"The 80-10-10 Diet" by Dr Douglas Graham: The "bible" of low-fat raw vegan, as far as I can tell. Just read it, and am using it as my guide for the process.
"The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell: This guy did the definitive study on the effects of diet on health back in the 1970s/80s, and talks about it in great detail here. His bottom line is essentially low-fat vegan as well.

One of the big issues for me has been determining if I'm getting the nutrients and calories I need. The site chronometer.com lets you put in the foods you have eaten (or plan to eat), and see how they stack up nutritionally

Hope this helps, and good luck!
snow

Eat a lot and always have food with you.