I titled this "100th time's the charm' because of all the times I've tried the raw food diet and didn't do as well as I wanted to.

THE FOREVER SMOOTHIE FAST

(Because it's as boring as a fast but, unlike most fasts, it can be done forever!)

I was a part-time raw foodist doing mostly smoothies during the day and then going back to cooked at night. Wanting to go 100% raw, I researched what other raw foodists ate for supper and last week I came across Tanya Zavasta's Quantum Eating, and the answer hit me - eat nothing for supper. I haven't read the book yet, but the info on her website lists all the reasons to stop eating after 2pm. She says that it's like doing a mini-fast everyday and it gives the body more time to heal at night.

I knew that if I were to eat my last meal at 2pm I would have to bulk up on something that would carry me through an evening of no supper and cooked food smells. So I was inspired to do a dates and seeds smoothie at 2pm, a warm green avocado soup at 11 am and a fruit smoothie at 8am.

I've never skipped supper on a regular basis before and 100% raw was like a dream I'd never reach, but overnight I went 100% and I've been 100% all week. Finally! Green smoothies are famous for helping kill cooked food cravings and those, combined with the carb-loaded date and seeds smoothie at 2pm, makes me impervious to cravings. I'm a little hungry at night and I smell the food but I'm detached from it, the same way I might smell food at a fair and keep moving -it's not for me.

I thought I'd share my recipes, I use a Nutribullet with the 24 oz. Cup to make these, and each recipe makes about a quart.

8am Pina Banana Smoothie

Add 2-3 bananas to the 24 oz. Nutribullet cup and fill it the rest of the way with pineapple. If pineapple is unavailable, than I use any other fruit I have on hand like oranges, kiwi or frozen strawberries. If any any of the fruit is frozen let it thaw for at least 10 min to make blending easier.

Fill the cup about halfway full of water AFTER the fruit is in the cup and blend until smooth.

---

11am Cream of Avocado Smoothie

This is a warm smoothie so start by heating about 2 cups of water.

Tear up a handful of green with your hands and position it as far away from the blades as possible so they don't clog the blades.Since I'm using the Nutibullet cup, that means that I add the greens first.

Garlic to taste, I use a small clove or 1/2 of a larger clove.

2-3 stalks of celery (these make the smoothie naturally salty with good sodium).

1 Tomato (also adds good sodium and the lovely tomato taste).

1/2-1 Avocado - the avocado makes the smoothie creamy and it also keeps the smoothie particles in suspension so that they don't all float to the top. If I run out of avocado, then the smoothies are rather awful. I think I'll try adding a banana the next time I run out of avocado – which I hope is never.

This should fill up the 24oz. cup but if there is still space, I top it off with various other vegetables such as some cucumber or pepper slices.

The water that was heating should be warm by now, so I pour half of it into the cup and put the rest back on the stove to continue heating while I blend the smoothie.

Test the smoothie to see if it is warm enough, if I want it warmer, then I tweek the temperature by adding more of the hot water that I reserved on the stove and blend again.

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2pm Date Smoothie

This smoothie that is high in carbs and fat is the key to the whole skipping supper routine.

1 cup dates

young coconut or 1/4 cup of your favorite seeds or nuts

Seeds and date blend better if they are soaked, so when I make my green avocado smoothie at 11am, I start soaking the dates and seeds. Like the green smoothie, I make this a warm smoothie by heating the water and blending. I actually haven't tried this recipe with young coconut yet but I know it will be awesome, I just haven't gone shopping since I thought of it. When I get a young coconut I will soak the dates in the young coconut water.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2016 09:19PM by Ifeelgood.

Hi Ifeelgood

I love Tonya Zavasta and I certainly agree that eating earlier in the day is optimal. I generally eat my main meal around 3-4 these days, and I try not to eat anything after that as I sleep much better that way. But I often slip up and have a little snack later :/

But as for smoothies all the time, I'm not sure that's advisable, both in terms of digestion (an important part of which is in the mouth when we chew), and teeth/gum health.

It might be good to add in a nice big crunchy salad, maybe as your 2pm meal, and use the smoothie as the salad dressing. Give your teeth and jaw a good workout Just an idea



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>I love Tonya Zavasta and I certainly agree that eating earlier in the day is optimal.

I did read Tonya books and even chatted with her on Google+.

She is an inspiration. I disagree with her on the optimal eating time though.

It is true that we get used to a certain time of the day and it is the best for us. It is a personal issue.

But does having the main meal at noon look practical like she does, I asked her that question. It is the middle of the day where we are supposed to be more alert, ready to continue working.

If the food is supposed to be consumed raw, fresh then when are we to prepare the food. We could not do it a noon while at work. Or make those smoothies the night before or in the morning and cannot eat them until the next noon? The raw smoothies and juices are very perishable and best eaten within the hour.

I prefer to eat my largest meal after work and eat light a noon and in the morning if necessary.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2016 01:00AM by RawPracticalist.

All I know is that I've had more success with this than anything else I've tried.

As far as eating a big meal in the middle of the day interfering with work, it does interfere with modern men and women, but we are living in a artificial environment. I think that in a primitive, "Garden of Eden"- type environment, walking through the woods looking for food (or else gardening) WAS the only work. So it doesn't seem unnatural to me to eat during work time, because primitive man would have been surrounded by food, and looking for food was his only job. Even as late as a hundred years ago, most people were farmers.

I actually haven't tried a smoothie diet while working, since I quit a job a few weeks ago. But at that job I worked a lot of swings, so the smoothies wouldn't have interfered with work on those days.

Little adjustments I've made since my first post: I add spices like Italian seasoning or some heat to the Cream of Avocado smoothie, vanilla to the Date smoothie and drink some lemon water or other citrus juice when I wake up.

And as far as the timing of the smoothies, I don't set alarms for smoothie making time, but I do tend to make them within a hour or so of the times I mentioned. I thought mentioning the times was important because I'm spacing them out for optimal digestion. Eating one smoothie while another is still digesting is a recipe for an upset stomach!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2016 05:58PM by Ifeelgood.

It could be that the optimal eating time is more crucial when eating cooked food which take more time to digest than raw food.

It is less of an issue then on raw food.

Most people who eat raw do not mix many food items into a single meal, which help digestion while a cooked meals contain usually many ingredients and most are fried.

RawPracticalist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It could be that the optimal eating time is more
> crucial when eating cooked food which take more
> time to digest than raw food.
>
> It is less of an issue then on raw food.
>
> Most people who eat raw do not mix many food items
> into a single meal, which help digestion while a
> cooked meals contain usually many ingredients and
> most are fried.

Incredible. Is this whacky "information" you're presenting as fact something you've channeled from some planet X alternate reality bot or something ?!@#&*%

What's whacky about it?

Or you're just jealous that maybe he channeled it from the planet x alternate reality bot you usually channel from?

For some when there is no oil in the recipe then it must have come from another planet

That's great that you're doing well with it ifeelgood.

As far as timings/eating at work goes, I'm not so worried about smoothies etc being super-fresh - if I have to make them the night before, then so be it. I'd rather that than leave myself unprepared and hungry if I happen to be running late the next morning. I add a little kefir to them to keep them alive and kicking I've seen studies that say fermenting veggie juice can increase mineral content such as iron and calcium, so maybe it's even preferable to do it that way...! But sure, whenever possible I make and drink them straight away.

I think to a certain extent we've been conditioned to eat our main meal at the end of the day as it suits a 9-5 society. I used to live in France and they take these long 2 hour lunch breaks, the kids come home from school and everyone chills out and has a big meal together. That's the way to live



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You're joking! The kids come home from school for lunch? I think that's a great idea because they get to get out in the middle of the day and get some sun.

I agree with you about smoothies getting old fast, I like to drink them within about 10 minutes. When I visit my mother she will offer me smoothies that she made who-knows-when and it turns my stomach. I always turn her down unless I've actually seen her make the smoothie.

If I did have to work and pack a lunch, I would not pack a smoothie or else I would buy another Nutribullet and keep it at work. When I work days and had to pack a lunch, I packed one container of frozen berries for my first break and another container of chopped avocados and tomatoes for my second break and at my third break I would eat anything that was left over. I also packed date-nute fudge sometimes. Also at work I drank a lot of the Master Cleanse (lemonade with maple syrup and cayenne pepper).



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2016 09:46PM by Ifeelgood.

Ifeelgood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You're joking! The kids come home from school for
> lunch? I think that's a great idea because they
> get to get out in the middle of the day and get
> some sun.
>
>

well I'm not sure if that's still the case.. it was a good few years ago when I was there..



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