I was on a raw food diet for 2 weeks going on the third. What I found difficult was the absence of meat. I am a meat loving person. I was craving for it yesterday and went to a Brazilian barbacue place. Today, I had chicken curry for lunch. I regret for what I've done, and don't want to eat meat anymore. But I find that the raw vegetables I eat aren't tasty. There's something like protein that's missing on my diet. I have been eating nuts, but I am a nut person. I mean, it's OK - but having been raised in Brazil, it's difficult to leave that out. I wonder what goes good with a salad. My raw salad doesn't taste any good with the raw dressings I've tried. I've tried the green Thai curry dressing (too spicy) and hemp powder, nutritional yeast with almond milk or the powder on top of them. I also tried another dressing posted on a site, and found it too oily and the combination of the soy sauce and oil to be disgusting. Do you have any suggestions to make your salad taste any better? I mean, something I can stick to? I like simple cooking, everything blended.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2008 09:58PM by cpak.

Set smaller goals - with timetables. Somewhere between oscillating between all-raw and a chicken curry dinner....you'll find a level that you ARE very comfortable with....and can sustain for life......and then stretch from there (not pull or tear!).

-As for the salad question, use whatever transitional dressing helps you to increase your overall % of fresh, raw plant foods in your diet. Balsalmic vinegar helped me because I could carry it around...it didn't need refrigeration....and it was very low in calories (my goal was to lose weight). All raw dressing can be tasty. Your basic lemon-juice & garlic is quite good. While pureed carrot and giner is sweet and tasty. A fresh salsa or guacamole is also very good on a salad.

-Just some suggestions.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I like an olive oil/balsamic dressing with some mustard and agave syrup and garlic in it. It's not totally raw but helps with the transition stage.

Cut the meat out slowly maybe - you know, cut it down to every other day, then once every 3rd or 4th day and so on. It takes a while to get used to such a different way of eating. I found it easier to go over to mostly raw as I was starting from a vegan position. I think that if you are used to meat and dairy it's a huge adjustment to suddenly go raw vegan. some people do but it's not for every body. If you crave meat then I would say just be easy on yourself and don't set impossible targets. It's not a question of failing or succeding but a path that you are setting out on.

Maybe you should plug your intake into fitday. Unless you're not getting enough calories, you're getting plenty (probably excessive) protein.

[utopiankitchen.wordpress.com]

a dressing i use on salads all the time is 1 tbs olive oil, 1tsp lime or lemon juice and a teaspoon or more or cayenne pepper...very nice.

yeah cpak,

Great advice above.

You didn't fail my friend, you were just practicing. You only fail when you stop trying. Look at this journey like you would the process of learning a new language. You won't be fluent the first time you try to speak. Keep speaking!

I found that my tastes have changed so much since switching to raw. Eat the veggies that you know you like and mix in new stuff from time to time. soon enough you will really love so many things that you thought never tasted too good before raw. For me it was Kale... now I love it so much that i have to push myself to eat other greens.

stick with it and be kind to yourself.

Aloha Nui Loa,

Greg

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices. - William James

There is no pill that can be swallowed,
There is no guru, that can be followed, - Michael Franti (Pray For Grace)

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. - Albert Camus

cpak, I suggest going in phases wherein you listen to your body to make the next step. When I first went raw, I went from 100% SAD to 100% raw vegan mucusless. I was that way for about 1.5 months when Christmas came along and my step-sister made roast beef just for me since I didn't eat the pork that she and her family were eating. I felt guilty and ate some along with mostly cooked as that was all there was on the table. I was sick for 2 weeks with a very bad cold. During that time, I thought well, I was sick anyhow, might as well go for that last round so I order Chinese, etc. After that, I didn't touch meat again. I did cling to dairy for a long while and then gave that up, too. At each step, my body told me when to move forward. I didn't try to impose conditions on myself b/c I thought I had to. I knew when it was time to move to the next stage when my body/mind started rejecting the thing(s) that were at that phase. Good luck. Therese

Well my advice is you are going to have to make your food taste good if you will stay raw

salty taste
sweet taste
bitter taste
hot spicy taste
lemony/vinegar acid taste

all should be in your recipes strong.

Thanks for all of your input. This morning, I am trying raw again. The smoothies I make are delicious. The only thing is the salad. I have gotten another recipe from a raw food recipe book. It's called Raw Foods sold by Pure Food and Wine in New York. Hopefully this one is better than the Thai Green Curry Dressing. Hopefully this is the last time I say Adeus to cooked foods including meat.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2008 12:26PM by cpak.

Just keep on trying. that happened to me when i try to change from a meat eater to a veegtarian. You are craving meat beacause the taste is still in your mouth and still in your body. The more raw food you eat the more you will forget the taste of meat. You will have to use you will power and your mind. Each time you crave meat say something like this. "It is poison and it is not good for me, it will only make me sick" then try to eat a fruit or something that you like. You will get use to the taste of eating raw and just the thought of meat will make you sick because your brain will tell you that it is poison. All the best, to be healthy will not come overnight, you will have to work hard, but dont give up. We cannot let our bodies rule us, we are in charge of our bodies, lastly, if you fail do not be hard on yourself, just try again, you can do it.

Jackie/new kid

I found that I craved, NOT cooked food, but the tastes of the foods I used to eat. Suvine's post reminded me of that. Some here may scream, "TOXIC!" But, I sometimes craved the spices and flavors that were added to the cooked food I had formerly eaten. I found that by mimicking those flavors (using spices or garlic or ginger, etc.) that I satisfied my cravings.