I meet a lady whom told me a little about raw foods, but I didn't have time to ask her much. I want to know how to start this and how to know what to buy. I was told by a doctor I have high blood pressure and I am over weight 240 and with my hight I am round as tall. please help I want to change how I eat. I pray God has lead me to this site.

Hi Tina, welcome to the forum and the raw food life style.

From personal experience eating raw foods combined with some form of exercise will certainly help with high blood pressure and weight issues. The exercise part doesn't have to be hard exercise, just getting out and walking, or moving you're body (slow dance, tai-chi, hula-hooping, yoga, etc. are all good).

I can't really off much in the way of advice on transitioning, I got lucky and had a very quick and smooth transition to raw foods. I think one of the keys is keeping it fun, eat tasty interesting things, don't worry about counting caleries, just eat what you want (providing it's raw). As for transitioning, if you are going try and transition to raw foods slowly, avoid eating cooked foods with processed sugars, diary, or too much oil.

Start eating raw foods and let us know how you get on. There are many raw recipes (some quick and easy, some are more time consuming and require more tools) online.

Good luck,
Ian.

tina-
welcome! so glad you found your way here.

for your first "raw" shopping trip, hit the produce section first. fill your cart. grab the fruits and veggies you already love, and then try a few that you've looked at and perhaps never bought. for salads, make sure you have a good variety, sprouts, dark greens (fresh, not bagged), dark lettuce, tomatoes, avocado. don't buy dressing. get bragg's apple cider vinegar and that green olive oil (extra-virgin), if you don't already have those.

for breakfast, i found a large bowl of fruit is delicious. you might want to look into food combining, but i'm not going to go into that.
and for lunch, a huge salad with everything!
for dinner, start with a salad, and then, if you want to transition a little slower, have a small cooked meal. steamed veggies with olive oil.
even better, though, have another dense salad.

snack on raw nuts, one handful for a snack. and more fresh fruit.

stay away from anything in a package. there are raw food bars out there, and they are delicious, but kind of addictive b/c they are sweet and fatty.

you can totally do this, and you will find yourself feeling better every day you eat like this!

peace-
Mama Cass

Hi tina,

I recommend starting with the book Green For Life:

==> [www.rawfood.com]

It is the best book for beginners. That website also has good packaged foods such as olives, crackers, and nuts / seeds.

Flax seeds and hemp seeds are two foods that you should eat daily because of the essential omega-3 fats they contain:

[www.rawfood.com]

Take care,

Mike

Opinion:

-It CAN be as simple as analyzing the general percentage of raw food that you ARE comfortable with NOW....and simply writing down a goal to increase this...and stretch perhaps 1-2% per week....until you hit your goal.

-The above advice is great. Eat the fruits, vegetables and nuts that you LOVE. Avoid the things you hate. Bring a snack bag wherever you go. Eat whatever lo-cal snacks and condiments that will help you increase your percentage of fresh, raw plant food. If slathering your salads in lo-cal dressing helps you eat more dark, leafy greens...then go for it!

-In the beginning, don't get bogged down with rules, machines, or cleansing regimes. Let the fresh food and exercise do that for you! Ha! ha!

-I would suggest, in the beginning, to eat as WIDE a variety as possible. Eat HUGE amounts of fresh raw food, especially dark, leafy greens in the beginning. Get plenty of rest, and go slow...so that detox doesn't bother you much. Be accepting of where you are NOW...and work with it.

-Eat before you leave the house, bring a snack bag, and eat when you return. Don't expect restaurants (or others) to cater to you - or understand your requirements...because they probably will not! LOL.

-Just my opinions / suggestions....which I hope are helpful to you.

-David Mason

Keeping notes can be useful too, noticing what seems to work and what doesn't.

Hi SUMMERS!!

Just follow all the folks advice above. They know what they are talking about
I can't improve on their advice except for ONE sage and VERY reputable piece of information that might help you out a great deal. And that is


confucius says:

you musta hava FUN!!!

tada!!!

my extremely sage and sound advice for you

here's what i started doing (i'm a beginner too!)

i take one evening every two or three days to labor over a cutting board (please invest in a QUALITY vegetable knife--will cost you at least $50--I am telling you, having good knives is a luxury most people do not know... but it makes your life easier, and make food preparation truly enjoyable).

i grab large tupperwares and fill them with diced veggies... bell peppers, celery, carrots, zucchini, onion, shredded cabbage, fresh corn cut from the cob. it's a big colorful salad. when you're hungry, dip into the tupperware for convenience. fill another tupperware with chopped fruit and toss in raisins and some walnuts, which will soak in the fruit juice.

a few quick and easy favorites:
1) in a bowl....
1 chopped apple
1 sliced banana
raisins and walnuts
a little nut butter and honey over the top (raw sources, ideally)

2) hummus (sprouted and home made when you are ready to tackle that)
carrot slices
celery
"chips" (raw sliced yams)

3) frozen grapes... just sooo fun to eat. ever tried it?

4) frozen banana, frozen bluberries (or any berry)
blend in blender with a little bit of water (just enough to let it mix, but still be thick) = frozen smoothie

5) avacadoes and tomatoes = a divine food combination

6) 1/2 shredded red cabbage
1 diced onion
a bunch of sunflower seeds (if you like)
pour soy sauce over the mixture

7) lettuce wraps
anything you would put on a raw sandwich, and just roll and eat. (later you will learn out of make all kinds of "sushi" rolls.

Demogirl06, ...love the lettuce wrap idea!

Hi summers! And welcome!

Fruit helped me to lose weight and took my blood pressure down. Green stuff helped, too, like arugula and kale. You may want to incorporate more and more raw food as you get accustomed to it and the ones you like at that, like some other people have said. I wish you many successes! And you have support here!

Hi Summers
Wonder if my experience would be of help.
I have other health issues as well as blood pressure.
I kept a few notes of my journey.


week preceding sept 19
blood pressure 150/100 heart beat up too 104
doctor did all his tests and said my heart beat was too erratic for medication.
What ever that means. At that time i was actually staggering a bit when i walked
and all ways just wanted to lay down and go to sleep. (waited for about 6 months
to talk the doctor about this.

so i started juicing sept 19/06

my heart rate dropped to 74 in a week
at this moment (oct 27) my heart beat is 56 i have not checked blood pressure it must be down as i get dizzy for a second when i stand up to fast i never before.
will soon. I feel great. My mood is wonder full. A lot of aches and pains are gone.

this what i did.
sept 19 drank only juices for next 25 days except for a bit of cooked rice
bout every 2nd day. I juiced carrots, cucumber, celery, beets, wheat grass.
I now have changed to growing barley for the juicer instaed of wheat, some good reasons.

if i was to do it again i would not use as many carrots which was
in size it was about 1/2 of the bulk.
would use more celery. (sugar in carrots) the web page below will explain why.


I have one tbl spoon honey 1 time a day with green tea other than that stevia. Lost lots of weight so am eating the rice to slow that down a bit and for bulk.
Kind of hesitate to mention this but .. about 3 oz of buffalo steak with the rice.
How could i eat that, very easy blood pressure 150/100.

This is what i did not recommending it there are people here a lot more knowable
than me that can help but wanted to share this with you.

i got a lot from this web page and the rest at the site, a good read
[drbass.com]
i mention that as you said "and I am over weight 240"
i allways wanted to know how sugar/starch effected our body.

I have no idea where this way of eating is going to take me but it sure looks
like it will be exciting. Let us know how you make out.

Good Luck

One last thing

Cooking stove and deep freeze for sale!
Never could cook good anyway.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2006 09:18AM by GoneGreen.