Before going on a high raw diet this June, I was not preparing my own food. I would either eat at my workplace or school, or would eat the food made by a person who comes to cook at our house.

Since going raw, I've been preparing my own salads and I realise that I am spending far more time on food than I used to earlier. It takes me half an hour to wash the vegetables thoroughly, then peel and cut them and put them together. Then it takes me almost another half an hour to eat them because I chew them very thoroughly until it is all liquid. Add to that washing the dishes and soaking nuts for the next day and sprouting, and its almost 1.5 hours for every meal, except when I eat an entirely fruit meal where I don't have to do much.


In this country one can get hired help to prepare food but I am not sure if I would trust them to wash the vegetables thoroughly. Since I am not cooking the vegetables I think I should be very careful that they are well washed because I am not relying on the heat to kill the microbes. Also, it seems that cooked food needs less chewing, and hence, can be eaten more quickly. And, earlier I would re-heat food prepared in the morning for dinner, but now I avoid that because once cut the vegetables lose a large proportion of nutrition.

All this makes me spend an extra 2 or 2.5 hours on my food everyday as compared to earlier.

Have you felt that a raw food diet takes significantly more time from your life? If yes, how do you minimise the time spent on it? How does a person with a full time job manage to eat raw?

If no, where could I be going wrong?

Any thoughts or tips on this would be helpful.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2015 05:53PM by iandthou.

I think it does take more time than the average diet. Most people are outsourcing their food prep in various ways; eating processed food that has been pre-made, or partially pre-made for them. Hence the name 'convenience' food

So when you start doing everything from scratch and making sure your food is pristine then yes, it's more time-consuming.

You can save time by eating more simply - like you say, eating simple fruit meals that don't need preparation. I also don't spend as much time washing my food as you do, I just pretty much dunk it in some water.

I like fresh juices so I spend a lot of time preparing those, and washing the juicer (my least favourite task, lol). I also like to grow my own sprouts and veggies, and make fermented foods, so they take even more time too. But it's sort of like a hobby for me too - I quite enjoy pottering about in the kitchen, I listen to good music or inspirational podcasts while I'm doing it, so it doesn't feel like time wasted.

Think of all the people eating their takeaway pizzas and stuff, delivered straight to their door - they don't know what is in the food, and they don't know what energy the person was giving out while they prepared the food. Then they eat them mindlessly while watching TV. Now THAT to me is a waste of time, and health.

I think of it as a time investment - I'm prepared to use some of my precious time to make sure my food is excellent quality. And I reap the benefits every day, in feeling healthy, happy and full of energy.



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It takes far less time for me.

You can find what works for you.

since it seems like it's not working for you

>>>ince going raw, I've been preparing my own salads and I realise that I am spending far more time on food than I used to earlier. It takes me half an hour to wash the vegetables thoroughly, then peel and cut them and put them together. Then it takes me almost another half an hour to eat them because I chew them very thoroughly until it is all liquid.

blend or juice half and chew half


>Add to that washing the dishes and soaking nuts for the next day and sprouting, and its almost 1.5 hours for every meal, except when I eat an entirely fruit meal where I don't have to do much.

you don't need to do those things. soaking and sprouting.
you are choosing to do it since you think you derive benefit.
but they are not necessary.

Considering I've always made food from scratch and never got into those microwave it up in 5 minutes junk food, raw foods really don't take any more time than cooked foods did. A lot of new techniques to learn when I went raw and some PRICEY equipment I felt was a good investment (juicer, blender, dehydrator).

lisa m Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think it does take more time than the average
> diet. Most people are outsourcing their food prep
> in various ways; eating processed food that has
> been pre-made, or partially pre-made for them.
> Hence the name 'convenience' food
>
> So when you start doing everything from scratch
> and making sure your food is pristine then yes,
> it's more time-consuming.
>
> You can save time by eating more simply - like you
> say, eating simple fruit meals that don't need
> preparation. I also don't spend as much time
> washing my food as you do, I just pretty much dunk
> it in some water.
>
> I like fresh juices so I spend a lot of time
> preparing those, and washing the juicer (my least
> favourite task, lol). I also like to grow my own
> sprouts and veggies, and make fermented foods, so
> they take even more time too. But it's sort of
> like a hobby for me too - I quite enjoy pottering
> about in the kitchen, I listen to good music or
> inspirational podcasts while I'm doing it, so it
> doesn't feel like time wasted.
>
> Think of all the people eating their takeaway
> pizzas and stuff, delivered straight to their door
> - they don't know what is in the food, and they
> don't know what energy the person was giving out
> while they prepared the food. Then they eat them
> mindlessly while watching TV. Now THAT to me is a
> waste of time, and health.
>
> I think of it as a time investment - I'm prepared
> to use some of my precious time to make sure my
> food is excellent quality. And I reap the
> benefits every day, in feeling healthy, happy and
> full of energy.


Thank you Lisa.

Perhaps I should try spending less time on washing the vegetables. I tried that yesterday but I saw that after the first wash there was quite a bit of mud in the water, and I felt that another wash is needed. Some vegetables need very little washing, but spinach, cauliflower, bok choy seem to be full of mud, at least where I live! But I'll keep in mind to try spending less time on washing.

I totally agree that this is an investment into one's physical and spiritual well-being.

It seems that your work involves writing about and promoting raw food, so perhaps your work in the kitchen is part of your vocation? I am a psychotherapy student with a university life that takes 9 hours a day of my life, if not more, so spending so much time on preparing salads feels a bit off.

But thanks for responding and sharing your thoughts. Perhaps I will hire someone to prepare salads for me sometimes, or I will try harder to save time.

Thanks Fresh and kiwibird.

Fresh, I really like sprouts and soaked nuts, so I wouldn't want to stop taking them.

kiwibird, I agree that cooked foods take as much time as raw foods to prepare. But it's easier to outsource cooked food than raw food. Do you make raw food in addition to an office job, or do you have more free time for yourself than the average worker? I wish I could have more time to myself. Most people seem to be suffering from the 'poverty of time', as Jacob Needleman calls it.

There is a lot time spent soaking, planting, watering, and preparing the sprouts and many other meals. Good health gives us energy we can use for hours without getting tired.


And

A lot of time is saved from going to hospital, getting sick for days and being inactive that would have happened frequently had we been on fried food and SAD diet.

iandthou Wrote:

> Perhaps I should try spending less time on washing
> the vegetables. I tried that yesterday but I saw
> that after the first wash there was quite a bit of
> mud in the water, and I felt that another wash is
> needed. Some vegetables need very little washing,
> but spinach, cauliflower, bok choy seem to be full
> of mud, at least where I live! But I'll keep in
> mind to try spending less time on washing.
>
> I totally agree that this is an investment into
> one's physical and spiritual well-being.
>
> It seems that your work involves writing about and
> promoting raw food, so perhaps your work in the
> kitchen is part of your vocation? I am a
> psychotherapy student with a university life that
> takes 9 hours a day of my life, if not more, so
> spending so much time on preparing salads feels a
> bit off.
>


When I have muddy veg I put them in a bowl of warm water with some vinegar and give them a good scrub with a brush, it comes off pretty quick.

As regards vocation, actually when I first started with raw food I was a professional singer, and I also went through years of studying at university while following this diet, so I know what you mean, study takes up a lot of time and energy!

But like Raw Practicalist points out, it also saves a lot of time to be at the peak of health, not wasting time at doctors and hospitals, and also keeping your brain free and clear of medications. I remember sitting at uni watching the other students coughing and spluttering with all their illnesses, and feeling really thankful that I felt so good. So you are giving yourself a headstart in many ways.

Nowadays my careers involve a mixture of things: I still sing, I'm a therapist, and I promote rawfoods, so yes I have a bit more incentive to mess about in the kitchen I guess But in general I try to keep it as simple as possible - juices, smoothies, simple salads.

Sometimes I make cakes or something, then I get annoyed at myself cos they take so long and they're so messy, lol. And they generally involve bad food combining - nuts & dried fruit etc - so I prefer to spend my time on the sprouting and fermenting instead

It sounds like you have the option of getting hired help, so why not get her to help with washing the dishes - juicer, blender etc? That would save a fair bit of time.



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Thanks

Quote
kiwibird, I agree that cooked foods take as much time as raw foods to prepare. But it's easier to outsource cooked food than raw food. Do you make raw food in addition to an office job, or do you have more free time for yourself than the average worker? I wish I could have more time to myself. Most people seem to be suffering from the 'poverty of time', as Jacob Needleman calls it.

I do not work outside the home anymore, but before I was raw, I used to work a normal 40 hour a week job. I would be up at 5am to make a full breakfast and something to bring for lunch (never ate out), then cooked a real dinner with a main dish and one or two side dishes (from scratch) after work. I was a long time vegetarian back then and had already learned the hard way the importance of making food from scratch rather than relying on processed junk. I also have a husband who will eat healthy if it's put in front of him but would never put forth the effort to make healthy foods for himself. It's important to me to make sure he has healthy meals to eat at home and take to work since I don't want him eating fast food and TV dinners all the time because it's more "convenient".

You make time for what's important, and IMO, the food you choose to fuel your body and mind with is one of the most important decisions and use of time of your day. To be honest, I would probably find raw foods easier than when I was a cooked food vegetarian in regards to food prep and working a job. Keep it simple on work days- Smoothie or juice for breakfast, bring some fruit and nuts or a salad for lunch and do zoodles, raw soup, salad, fruit platter ext... for dinner and save the fancy gourmet raw foods for the weekend.

Also, you mention being starved for time. You should look into minimalism, which is far more in depth kind of lifestyle than a style of interior design. Applying the principles of minimalism to your work and social life can free up a whole lot of wasted time you can spend doing more important and enjoyable things. Just something to think about.

Kiwibird Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
>
>
> I do not work outside the home anymore, but before
> I was raw, I used to work a normal 40 hour a week
> job. I would be up at 5am to make a full breakfast
> and something to bring for lunch (never ate out),
> then cooked a real dinner with a main dish and one
> or two side dishes (from scratch) after work. I
> was a long time vegetarian back then and had
> already learned the hard way the importance of
> making food from scratch rather than relying on
> processed junk. I also have a husband who will eat
> healthy if it's put in front of him but would
> never put forth the effort to make healthy foods
> for himself. It's important to me to make sure he
> has healthy meals to eat at home and take to work
> since I don't want him eating fast food and TV
> dinners all the time because it's more
> "convenient".
>
> You make time for what's important, and IMO, the
> food you choose to fuel your body and mind with is
> one of the most important decisions and use of
> time of your day. To be honest, I would probably
> find raw foods easier than when I was a cooked
> food vegetarian in regards to food prep and
> working a job. Keep it simple on work days-
> Smoothie or juice for breakfast, bring some fruit
> and nuts or a salad for lunch and do zoodles, raw
> soup, salad, fruit platter ext... for dinner and
> save the fancy gourmet raw foods for the weekend.
>
>
> Also, you mention being starved for time. You
> should look into minimalism, which is far more in
> depth kind of lifestyle than a style of interior
> design. Applying the principles of minimalism to
> your work and social life can free up a whole lot
> of wasted time you can spend doing more important
> and enjoyable things. Just something to think
> about.


Thank you. Thanks so much especially for mentioning minimalism. I have heard of it before but not really read anything properly about it. Could you recommend a good introduction? I feel I am already living significantly more simply than most people I know and really want to go forward in this direction. In the meanwhile I'll google minimalism and see what I can find.