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Thread: Raw vegan journey

  1. #1
    Hemlock's Avatar
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    Default Raw vegan journey

    Week One:
    I'd just like to know who is currently raw vegan on this forum?
    I've gone as near to 100% as I can as this is the only way of life that keeps me thin (I tried it before, lost loads of weight then relapsed thanks to wine).
    I have 56 pounds to lose (at least) and no other diet has worked for me, I need to sort this out once and for all. I intend to stick to the raw lifestyle as much as I am able.
    As a healthcare worker I am fed up with my patient's asking me why I'm fat and why I don't follow my own advice (especially bad being vegan) so this I hope is the start of a lifelong journey to health and changing old die hard habits.
    I'm interested to know why the raw vegans became raw vegans and what they get out of it along with regular updates on the effects of the diet change.
    You tube has been a fantastic support as there is so much information.
    Silent but deadly :p

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Good luck with this, hope it helps yield the results you're aiming for.

    I'm interested in incorporating more raw food into my diet, too. Please share any particularly yummy things you may come across on your journey.

    gutts

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    I certainly will!
    Silent but deadly :p

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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Have you heard of or seen Ani Phyo's book, "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen"? It's pretty good and the recipes are awesome. I was raw for a few months - ultimately I didn't care for it and went back to being "normal" Vegan. However I do try to incorporate raw food as much as possible - this book is very good. It is especially good because the recipes are easy and fast. No weird complicated recipes like in Juliano's raw food book (Google it if you are unfamiliar - you will also have a good laugh at this guy). Good for a young guy or gal on the run with a busy life!

    Hope this helps and best of luck! Sorry I couldn't offer more on staying raw.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Thanks I'll give it a go. I went raw once before but failed as I only ate chopped raw veg, This time I'm making an effort with smoothies, nut butters, recipes and sprouting and it all tastes so much better.

    Week one - weight loss 6 pounds despite eating a ransom in nuts, raw tahini and fruit laden smoothies!!!

    Started the week feeling insanely hungry and had to eat every couple of hours for the first three days. It was a raging hunger that had to be satisfied immediately!

    After three days the hunger went and for the first time in my life I have to remind myself to eat. All my normal bingeing urges have gone and my blood sugar seems to have stabilised wonderfully (I'm not diabetic but prone to low blood sugar and binge eating).

    Feeling good and my skin has taken on a glow that wasn't there before. I'm also feeling more energetic and have spent hours working in the garden. This time round it's much easier due to effort put in making nice food to eat.

    I have had a niggling headache all week tho', could be not eating salt. I'm such a salt fiend i even put it on toast! Those days are over!
    Silent but deadly :p

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    I'll be interested to see how this goes - do you have a list of what you're eating on a typical day?

  7. #7
    Hemlock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Sure, yesterday I had a green smoothie - it was a bit moreish so I had 2 pints of it It consisted of:
    Breakfast:
    1 banana
    1 apple
    1 orange
    3 apricots
    3 prunes
    about 200 mls unprocessed coconut milk
    small handful of nuts
    as much spinach as I can cram in the processor
    a cup of water

    Didn't feel hungry all morning after that so worked in the garden all morning chopping wood and had lunch at 2 pm:
    Large green salad (came with organic veg box I order) with a large side helping of broccomoli I made with one large head of broccoli (I don't like the stuff this is the only way I can eat it):

    1 large head of broccoli
    2 large tablespoons raw tahini and 1 of pumpkin nut butter (bought in health food shop)
    2 tablespoons walnut oil
    small handful of nuts
    water to blend to the right consistency
    (I ate the lot)

    Afternoon snacks:

    1 apple
    small handful of walnuts
    2 raw carrots (large)

    Evening:

    fruit smoothie:

    1 orange
    1 apple
    apricots
    prunes
    the last of the coconut milk
    a few nuts

    That was a pretty typical day and even though I spent the day chopping logs for our woodburner I didn't feel hungry. If i was on a cooked food calorie controlled diet the nuts I ate would have sent me right over the diet calorie limit but wheras I only lose typically 2 pounds on the first week of a normal diet I lost 6 on this one eating whatever I want.
    Silent but deadly :p

  8. #8
    Hemlock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    The trauma of visiting a restaurant!
    I said I was a raw vegan and could I have a large salad with nothing on it. They were a bit nonplussed by this and sent the chef out! By the time he finished talking to me the whole restaurant knew I was a raw vegan and was looking at me wondering why I was so fat - the shame.
    What I got was a beautifully presented salad with everything on it but in a nouvelle cuisine portion size that wouldn't feed a gnat
    Next time I will ask for it to be supersized
    Silent but deadly :p

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Good work on braving the restaurant, and getting what you wanted (well, apart from the portion!). I've had similar experiences going out with colleagues who are all meat-eaters to steak houses and the like. People look at you as if you had two heads when you ask for a salad (because that's pretty much all you can eat from the menu) and hold the crispy pig flakes and shavings of coagulated bovine secretions (obviously put in a much more diplomatic manner ). I find they tend to pause after you've ordered, as if expecting you to add something, "Oh, I almost forgot, I'll have a big lump of dead animal to go with that carefully crafted salad. And a beer. Actually, on second thoughts, just the beer."

    gutts

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    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Quote Hemlock View Post
    As a healthcare worker I am fed up with my patient's asking me why I'm fat and why I don't follow my own advice
    off topic, but i find this unbelievably rude and wouldn't dare say something like that to anyone!

    good luck Hemlock, i hope it works out for you. how did you get through the first few days of being hungry all the time? i know when i've increased my percentage of raw foods i constantly feel like i'm going to pass out and never make it to the next stage
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  11. #11
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Hi Gorilla, I've had a week off work annual leave so I've been able to feel like death in my own home I go off for a hot bath when it all gets too much. Hopefully by next week I will be back to normal. At least the hunger has worn off now.
    My patients are very special - they have no qualms about playing guess the weight of the podiatrist...I'm going to show them!
    Silent but deadly :p

  12. #12
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Well this forum blog has turned into how to be a raw vegan in northern climes on the dole as we had some bad news yesterday - still no worries. I always thought what was the point in doing raw vegan if you had to spend £200 a week on exotic fruits and hours of food preparation.
    Sadly we don't live in a country where mangoes and avocados grow in the wild all year round. We live in a country where our natural diet is brussels sprouts and turnips in winter, neither of which make good smoothies
    We will just have to be a bit more inventive.
    The veg box is cheap so we can still get that each week and we live near the sea so I'm going to try harvesting some seaweed and go out into the country to see whats left for a wild harvest.
    Fortunately I still have a large packet of Infinity Foods raw cacao nibs to sprinkle on everything!
    Oranges are cheap at Morrisons at the moment as are pears and apples, they are all a pound a bag.
    I also bought a sprouter a few weeks ago and have loads of bags of watercress seed and dried beans which will make good sprouts and are also really cheap to buy in bulk so I have not been defeated yet!
    Tomorrow I will see if brussels sprouts and leafy green cabbage will make good green smoothies alternatives - probably ok if I hold my nose and think of it as medicine
    I also have a good stash of vegan vitamins and minerals I bought a few weeks ago which will hopefully help us through the winter.
    Thank goodness for Riverford farms cheap organic veg boxes without which we would have to give up going raw!
    Silent but deadly :p

  13. #13
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Quote Hemlock View Post
    Well this forum blog has turned into how to be a raw vegan in northern climes on the dole as we had some bad news yesterday - still no worries. I always thought what was the point in doing raw vegan if you had to spend £200 a week on exotic fruits and hours of food preparation.
    Sadly we don't live in a country where mangoes and avocados grow in the wild all year round. We live in a country where our natural diet is brussels sprouts and turnips in winter, neither of which make good smoothies
    We will just have to be a bit more inventive.
    The veg box is cheap so we can still get that each week and we live near the sea so I'm going to try harvesting some seaweed and go out into the country to see whats left for a wild harvest.
    Fortunately I still have a large packet of Infinity Foods raw cacao nibs to sprinkle on everything!
    Oranges are cheap at Morrisons at the moment as are pears and apples, they are all a pound a bag.
    I also bought a sprouter a few weeks ago and have loads of bags of watercress seed and dried beans which will make good sprouts and are also really cheap to buy in bulk so I have not been defeated yet!
    Tomorrow I will see if brussels sprouts and leafy green cabbage will make good green smoothies alternatives - probably ok if I hold my nose and think of it as medicine
    I also have a good stash of vegan vitamins and minerals I bought a few weeks ago which will hopefully help us through the winter.
    Thank goodness for Riverford farms cheap organic veg boxes without which we would have to give up going raw!
    Sorry to hear things are tough, but much respect for persevering.

    gutts

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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Thanks
    Silent but deadly :p

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    cedartree cedarblue's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Quote Hemlock View Post
    Tomorrow I will see if brussels sprouts and leafy green cabbage will make good green smoothies alternatives - probably ok if I hold my nose and think of it as medicine
    i'd have to pre-empt you there and say, NOOOOOOOOOOO.
    i'd suggest trying to juice them instead of smoothie-ing them but even then i find them way too strong even to chug down with nice tasting additions. GAH!

    really thinly shredded/grated b sprouts make a good additive or base for a raw coleslaw though or a grated addition to a tasty salad.

  16. #16
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Go on with you! We're tough people in the cold lands, we drink cabbage smoothies and eat raw beetroot! Not like those soft Californian raw vegans
    Silent but deadly :p

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    CATWOMAN sandra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    I really admire what you are doing Hemlock..............I just know I couldn't do it.

    I'm the sort of person who, if I eat even a little of something that doesn't agree with me......I'm sick for days. I have tried eating raw in the past but have never been able to manage it for more than a day. I know I'm hopeless and maybe I should try harder but I just wanted to say, good on you!

    Is there any advice you could give me to enable me to even begin to eat more raw food? I would really appreciate it.
    I like Sandra, she keeps making me giggle. Daft little lady - Frosty

  18. #18
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Not really Sandra, I have to say I crave cooked food a lot I just make myself eat raw stuff although I will say after a week on raw food you do lose all the food cravings and stop thinking about food so much.
    Smoothies have been the saving grace really, easy to make and taste nice.
    Silent but deadly :p

  19. #19
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Well I just keep losing weight despite eating loads and feeling stuffed all the time. I have lost 9 lbs in a week and a half.
    I was semi joking about the cabbage smoothy or so I thought then I discovered that Valuev's family (the 7 foot Russian boxer giant) has a secret. It is a family tradition to eat winter vegetables including potatoes, cabbage, beetroot and turnips RAW! Now that's what I call really hard raw foodism.
    I believe they do also eat meat but still - raw potatoes, I would have thought it would give you the runs!
    I'm going to try it all in the name of science of course and see how it goes eating winter veg raw.
    Hopefully my next post will not be from hospital!
    Silent but deadly :p

  20. #20
    CATWOMAN sandra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Quote Hemlock View Post
    Not really Sandra, I have to say I crave cooked food a lot I just make myself eat raw stuff although I will say after a week on raw food you do lose all the food cravings and stop thinking about food so much.
    Smoothies have been the saving grace really, easy to make and taste nice.

    Thanks Hemlock. I like the idea of the smoothies.........I love making fruit smoothies. I think I will give eating raw a go for maybe one day a week.

    I don't want to lose any weight though as I'm only 7st 12lbs as it is. Hopefully, if it's only for one day each week though it won't have too much effect.
    I like Sandra, she keeps making me giggle. Daft little lady - Frosty

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    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    i've never found smoothies filling at all so i know that wouldn't work for me if i was hungry!

    glad to hear you're losing weight Hemlock hope the raw winter veg don't make you ill!
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  22. #22
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Raw potato....brrrrrrrrr......never, never again I might try soaking them overnight and then marinating them one further night to see if it's any better but quite honestly those Russians seriously must have zero taste buds.
    You do start off hungry all the time Gorilla but after a week it just wears off and settles down, I hardly ever feel hungry now.
    Sandra - 7 stone 2......you must be only three foot tall!
    Silent but deadly :p

  23. #23
    CATWOMAN sandra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Ha ha! I'm 7st 12lbs not 7st 2lbs............and I'm 5' 2" tall............that is still quite small but not just as small as 3 feet!
    I like Sandra, she keeps making me giggle. Daft little lady - Frosty

  24. #24
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Quote Hemlock View Post
    I was semi joking about the cabbage smoothy or so I thought then I discovered that Valuev's family (the 7 foot Russian boxer giant) has a secret. It is a family tradition to eat winter vegetables including potatoes, cabbage, beetroot and turnips RAW! Now that's what I call really hard raw foodism.
    Yeah but Valuev still got his arse kicked by someone a quarter of his size so he's not all that . . .

  25. #25
    cedartree cedarblue's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    how's it going, hemlock?

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    Making changes Est's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Hemlock, just wanted you to know that reading this thread inspired me to increase the raw in my diet again. I was feeling awful from eating too much food, and too many carbs in particular, so decided to copy you

    Raw brekkies and a mostly raw lunch, plus a small cooked dinner, since last Saturday and I'm feeling fantastic. Thanks!

    Might up the raw at some point so will keep checking here and other raw threads for ideas
    .

  27. #27
    cedartree cedarblue's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    that's the path i'm on at the moment too, est!

  28. #28
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    cedar I'm so happy at the moment! It's like the fewer carbs I eat, the more I can resist them.

    In Pizza Express last night with friends as a treat, before I would have had noci, dough balls and a pizza. This time I just had the pizza, and that was all I wanted. It was great to finish the meal and still feel like there was some space! My friends were moaning about how full they were and how sick they felt, and for once I didn't!

    I also managed to go round my local co-op the other day and just put in shampoo and soya milk - before, I wouldn't have been able to resist adding in crumpets and crisps. Will power has returned!!!

    How are you finding it?
    .

  29. #29
    cedartree cedarblue's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    if i just have some pasta for a meal and stop eating when i'm just under full then i'm fine - if i also have some garlic bread with it - it's waaaay too much. it's all about will power for me! i'm trying to have oatcakes & rice cakes at lunchtime instead of a bread roll, toast or pitta, that kind of thing.

  30. #30
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    It's great that going raw is doing so well for your Hemlock

    Quote Est View Post
    cedar I'm so happy at the moment! It's like the fewer carbs I eat, the more I can resist them.

    In Pizza Express last night with friends as a treat, before I would have had noci, dough balls and a pizza. This time I just had the pizza, and that was all I wanted. It was great to finish the meal and still feel like there was some space! My friends were moaning about how full they were and how sick they felt, and for once I didn't!

    I also managed to go round my local co-op the other day and just put in shampoo and soya milk - before, I wouldn't have been able to resist adding in crumpets and crisps. Will power has returned!!!

    How are you finding it?
    Totally O/T, sorry, but they do vegan crumpets in co-op!? I've been having cravings for them since I keep seeing them on a tv advert.

  31. #31
    Making changes Est's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Warburtons crumpets are vegan (sold in my local co-op) and so are Sainsburys own brand (but they taste rank compared to Warburtons in my opinion!)

    'ere, stop making me think about carbs!
    .

  32. #32
    cedartree cedarblue's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    yes, poor hemlock, this isn't very constructive for her is it? maybe we should get back on the raw topic haha!

  33. #33
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Any updates Hemlock?? I'm dying to know what happens next! Thanks to you, i too am trying to up my intake of raw, and doing 1/2 salad + 1/2 cooked for my meals, but it's pretty hard with breakfast at the moment as i'm in France and living sans-blender. So smoothies are out. Also, fruit on an empty stomach kinda gives me stomach cramps. But what else can you eat as a raw breakfast?

  34. #34
    CATWOMAN sandra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Quote Hemlock View Post
    Sandra - 7 stone 2......you must be only three foot tall!
    Poor Hemlock hasn't made a post since this one where she thought I'd said I was 7st 2lb instead of 7st 12lbs. She must still be in a state of shock!

    I have been having fruit every morning for breakfast and eating raw food up until around 5 oclock each day. I do feel better for it, even though I have a cold at the minute.
    I like Sandra, she keeps making me giggle. Daft little lady - Frosty

  35. #35
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Quote JC View Post
    But what else can you eat as a raw breakfast?
    I often have salad-type for breakfast - sprouted seeds, cucumber, tomato, celery, whatever's going - as well as fruit. People seem to think that's peculiar but it seems to be normal in some countries, such as Turkey and possibly parts of Spain?

    I do have bread as well but then I'm not making any claims about raw-ness

  36. #36
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    Default Re: Raw vegan journey

    Hemlock hasn't made a post since....(09/11)
    Conclusive proof - a raw diet kills you


    (Sorry, hope you are doing ok Hemlock)
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