Raw life survival tips

[Zero Cool]

I've become accustomed to living in a non-vegan world. Having to explain myself at restaurants, bringing my own food to BBQ's, etc. As I am now getting into a raw diet I can only imagine how much more difficult these things will be. Everyone I've ever mentioned Raw-food eating to has given me a puzzled look back. I've never met anyone who knew what it was. I don't mind being different and having to explain why I am doing it, but I was just wondering if any of you have any good tips or advice or past experiences for dealing with these type of situations. For example, what do you do if you want to go to a restaurant with other people?

[thecatspajamas1]

I saw on a raw website a pretyped card that you could print out. You give it to the waitress to give to the chef, and it says something like... "i only eat raw foods, please make a salad/plate out of any of the following ingredients..... i appreciate your creative efforts."
If I can find it, I'll post it.
Or you could always just ask for a lettuce salad with oil and vinegar, and get a fruit salad, because it seems most places have those things. Or you could do 90% raw, which is what some raw foodists do.

[health freak]

i imagine myself giving this card to the waitress...

They're gonna look at me as if i'm some kind of an alien or freak. They may even call the police! ok i'm joking. For me, i simply avoid eating at restaurants cause i don't wanna start conversations about my eating. Not many people are open-minded to the different.

My friends know me so they never ask me out on a dinner or something...

[Odinsfury]

I also avoid going out to restaurants. The last time I went to a restaurant I ended up with a plate of romaine lettuce with vinegarette dressing.

[Zero Cool]

I'm not really ready to avoid restaurants yet. I like eating out with my co-workers and I go on lots of dates. I guess I just have to face the fact that I will always be having salad.

[health freak]

true.. it's the price we have to pay for choosing man's natural food in a society that depends on not natural food sources....

[Zero Cool]

Kind of feels like being woken up from the Matrix. ha ha

[cedarblue]

unless you can find a raw food restaurant (and they do exist but i only hear about them in the usa) a salad maybe the best hope - don't forget to remind regular restaurants that all sorts of fruit and veg can make up a salad - the quality of the salad however will ultimately depend on the freshness and vitality of the ingredients.

[health freak]

Kind of feels like being woken up from the Matrix. ha ha

Actually, modern society IS A HUGE MATRIX. If you consider the potential of self-therapy our body has, sustaining it with the right fuel, all the misinforming of people about our fake dietary need and dependance on meat and dairy, the drug companies who bribe conventional doctors for chemical drug subscriptions advising meat eating while at the same time the solution to health problems lies in natural food and finaly, the beautiful images about happy cows with their children that companies put on their products while the harsh reality consists of animal cruelty in slaughterhouses where the kids are violently separated from their mothers so they can milk them to death and then toss them in the Mc Donald's meat machines for burgers....

...If you consider all this yes i think we live in a huge MATRIX and thank God we've been woken up!

(BLUE pill or RED pill. that is the question ;) :D )

[thecatspajamas1]

I also avoid going out to restaurants. The last time I went to a restaurant I ended up with a plate of romaine lettuce with vinegarette dressing.

hahah! the story of my life

[Glossgirl]

I think you just should go for it, asking for raw food in resturants. Only if you want to. You migth get 3 times a salad and fruitsalad, 1 time nothing and the 5 time something so delicious its worth it. At the same time you create a path for other vegans and raw vegans :)

I am not a raw vegan, but living in the meat - milk loving country its often a "problem" at resturants. Last time I ate at a resturant with only seafood and meat on the menu I ended up with a giant portion with nuddles in peppersauce over differente woked vegetables, delicious bread and a salad, cucumber, tomato and parsley salads for a cheap price because I left out the meat :) Other times I end up with fries, ketchup and a salad( for example grapes, cucumber, tomato and onion) with a vinigarete. I like that though.

[Robert]

I am surprised that you all have such difficulty with eating out. Ireland is not renowned for having hugely varied or particularly accommodating restuarants yet I never have any problem finding something on the menu that suits my particular dietary needs, and thus far have never had to resort to a salad.

[Zero Cool]

Well, in Japan the only thing raw on the menu is fish. ha ha

[berta_the_aspie]

you'd think japan would go rawvegan since theire soooo far ahead on everything else (cellphones!!!:))

i actually havent been to a restaurant since goin vegan 2 years ago... my town uhm i mean 5k village has a disgusting diner with greasy food and two pizza diners, none of which has heard of soy cheese or soy in general really...

I'd go raw if i lived in a huuuge city with raw restaurants

[Zero Cool]

Mose people here don't even know the word vegan. They know vegetarian though. And although there are some vegans here, a lot of them don't tell anybody because they don't want to stand out of the crowd and be different.

But yeah, the cell phones kick ass!

[berta_the_aspie]

yeah uhm same here when i tell ppl in the arctic im vegan they think its a sect or something:(

[Zero Cool]

You live in the arctic? Thats so cool. No pun intended.

[health freak]

I imagine, being a vegan in the arctic must be really hard! Let alone raw vegan! I find it hard in Greece that we have lots of fruits and veggies throughout the year. Imagine the arctic!!! It's the attitude that modern society has towards vegans that makes me furious...

[cedarblue]

always eat enough so you do not get hungry, eg, the other day i felt hollow so had a nectarine which didnt do anything so i ate 2 more and felt better. sometimes mono-bulk eating of one thing can be satiating.

when getting peckish lately i've found eating 4 or 5 dried figs to to the job.

[cedarblue]

I saw on a raw website a pretyped card that you could print out. You give it to the waitress to give to the chef, and it says something like... "i only eat raw foods, please make a salad/plate out of any of the following ingredients..... i appreciate your creative efforts."
If I can find it, I'll post it.

any luck on finding this thecatspajamas?

[Kristen's Raw]

It's available in a Raw food book.....I'll grab it later and look it up but you can just make your own...with what the catspajamas1 wrote about appreciating your creative efforts to the chef....then list a bunch of fruits, veggies, olives, avocado, things that you can eat. Type it really small in Word and print it off so it's the size of a business card. Get it laminated and voila!

For social occasions it varies for me...but here are things I have been known to do:

1. Call the restaurant before hand and tell them what you'd love to have if possible.

2. Eat 2-3 salads there or any veggie side dish they have.

3. Don't be 100% Raw at a restaurant or social occasion and eat as much Raw as possible (maybe 2 salads and 1 side dish of cooked veggies or hummus or miso soup - if it's vegan..etc)

4. Eat beforehand and just drink water when you're there or warm herbal tea.

5. Sneak in your own Raw flax crackers (and maybe some Raw almond butter) and have them with a salad that you get there. Or, sneak in a Raw snack bar of some sort.

Personally, I love just ordering 2-3 salads and enjoying the confused looked on the waitstaff's face when I do. Hey, I'm here for my health and not theirs, so it doesn't matter to me what other's think. I'm responsible for my health and other people are not, right? It's up to me to make a difference. In my purse, I also tend to bring a little fresh mixed Raw Organic olive oil, Himalayan Crystal Salt, and lemon juice...just enough for a couple salads. Then, I get the salads at the restaurant with no dressing and quietly add my own. Yum!!!

Cheers!
Kristen's Raw

P.S. I have a great little blog that I recently started where I give tips, tricks, recipes, etc. It's still quite new, but you might want to check it out if you're interested in learning more about Raw.

www.KristensRaw.blogspot.com (http://www.KristensRaw.blogspot.com)
And...if you have any questions...feel free to email me. I'm here to help!

[cedarblue]

..when buying nori sheets, make sure you buy the untoasted, darker sheets. the green toasted is obviously not raw - read the packaging - it's not all raw.