I am a Freshman college student and i want to start a raw diet, is it best to start going all out, or ease into it?
And how do I ease into it - are there steps to starting?

Hi and welcome! It depends on what you feel is right for you in how far or how fast you go with transitioning to the raw plant based diet. There are things to consider, you health now is the biggest one, and since you are starting college you may want to go a bit slower then all out.

Read a lot of things here, articles, posts, do some searched on menus, and find some raw food books at your local library, and used book stores, craigslist maybe. There are tons of websites that promote this life-style. You can find local raw pot lucks via meetup.com too.

Getting a blender might be the most useful thing to get and besides a small fridge is all you really need. If you are eating in the cafeteria, eat any of the fresh raw foods that they are offering and horde some for later if you can, like fruits that keep in a dorm room if that's where you are at.

There's a learning curve as with everything so be patient and remember it takes some time to become familiar and comfortable with knowing what you are doing and what you are able to eat and prepare. For now, concentrate on eating fresh fruits, tender green veggies, salads, some raw nuts and seeds, dates and flaxseed crackers are good transition items to have. If you 'cheat' make it as whole foods as you can, and stay away from the worse offenders like alcohol, salt and fat ridden chips, and white processed products like bread, sugar, milk, pasta, rice.

Check out the main forum here also, where there is much more info and faster and more responses.

Love,
Prism