Hello I am Brigette,,,,

I am new to Raw vegan does anyone have any tips for me?

I have been a plan Vegan for a long time now

I live in Spokane wa..

Welcome Brigette,

There is a lot of info on this board. Read through the posts and then if you have any specific questions, just ask. The people here are very nice and helpful. When I started, I checked out books from my library and read as much via the internet that I could find. Take it one day at a time. You've made a great decision.

welcome dreama, I too am from washington but south of tacoma. going raw is a wonderful beginning. There are many books that you can read. I enjoy ann wigmore books. Everybody here are real helpful and nice feel free to ask any questions

Yes:

-Always be prepared and eat BEFORE you leave the house and bring a snack. NEVER get caught someplace hungry.....or feel compelled to eat crap.

-Prepare and bring a tray of cut fruit....or your own snack to events.

-Don't mention the word raw. Simply inform other that you are there to be with THEM. Let interested people know you are on a 'special diet' of fresh fruits and vegetables. Do NOT answer any rude, impolite, or pushy questions about your diet. EVER.

-Always stay full.

-Be very conscious and make lists of small goals that you are MOTIVATED to keep. Set small time frames with each item and KEEP THOSE GOALS. If you can't keep them - set smaller goals.

-Keep it simple...and don't worry about food combining...fasting...mono-eating...cleansing.......organic produce....or fancy equipment and recipes.....unless you are really moved to do so. Eating well DOES NOT take tons of money...time....or headache.

-Just some basic tips...which I hope are helpful.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

These are all really useful comments! I am only just finding out that people get very defensive about food if it comes up in conversation that I am trying to eat more raw produce and just eat less processed food and do more of my own cooking (I am VERY new to a lot of these ideas and therefore got really excited by it all and have now had to put the brakes on myself as it took a few bad experiences to realise not everyone is on my wavelength right now!).

I think whenever you talk about your diet a lot of people seem to immediately put themselves in your position, because food is something that we can all identify with easily.

So you are talking about your diet anymore, you are suddenly talking about THEIR diet. I remember mentioning Raw before and people would say "Yuck!" likely because they imagine a plate full of Steak and Eggs raw, even though they knew I was vegan.

When people enquire about what I am eating, I simply say "The fresher my food is the better I seem to feel", or "I just eat a lot of fresh fruit and veggies" and most people think "That can't be bad for you", whereas if you put a label on it as a specific diet it has a thousand critisims and/or points of view surrounding it.

You can make this so complicated, or as simple as eating as many fresh fruits and veg as you are comfortable with within your diet. Go with the level of complexity and amount of raw as you are happy with.

Phil.

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"Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it" (Chinese Proverb)

Hi Brigette,

I'm happy to welcome you to raw food. Any question you have, no matter how silly or trivial it may seem to you, will be answered here in spades. Do don't be shy about asking anything; you'll surely find many who've been in your boat here.

How long have you been eating raw? How is it going so far?

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

--Bumper Sticker