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Thread: Raw: Where to start?

  1. #1

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    Default Raw: Where to start?

    Hi everyone! I'm Chelsea and new to this forum. Ever since I went vegan a little over a year ago I've been temped to go raw, and haven't had the slightest idea of where to start. So, I was wondering if anybody here would be able to help me out? Maybe give me some resources or first hand experience? The things I really need help with are figuring out how to fulfill my nutritional needs for the day and possibly creating a meal plan. If anyone could help me with that, it'd be great!

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    Default Re: Where to start?

    Hi Chelsea,

    welcome to the forum!

    I start every day with a delicious "Green Smoothie" ... I put an apple, a pear, some grapes, a banana and whatever other fruit is available fresh (sometimes deep-frozen) into my blender together with a few lumps of frozen spinach or kale (better fresh if available) with some water and blend the hell out of it.

    This I fill into a few thermos bottles and it nourishes me during my morning office hours. Other than that, I eat some bananas, apples, pears whole to go with it, for lunch I have a huge (and I mean huge) salad. I'm not raw yet, but possibly on the way there.

    Best regards,
    Andy

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Sounds delicious! I'll definitely try that out. Thanks for the reply.

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Take a look at Victoria Boutenko's book "Green for life" or at her website: http://www.rawfamily.com/recipes

    Best regards,
    Andy

  5. #5

    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Hi Chelsea,

    how's your raw journey going? I think it's really crucial to be able to take things at your own pace, and instead of focusing on "cutting out bad foods" from your diet, start by adding more of the good stuff in. Over time, gradually, your body will start to want the good stuff anyway! So there's no point in pushing it. So instead of completely abandoning your cereal and toast breakfast, have your cereal and toast but use avocado or banana instead of marg, throw some berries in your cereal and make a nut mylk to use instead of soy or whatever you're currently using. My good friend Emma writes more about this on her blog - actually there's tons of stuff up there for a beginner and she's really accessable!

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Thank you! I've been about 99% raw since I posted the thread Great advice though - definitely will be checking out her blog.

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    i'm not raw at the moment but i found that the hardest times were those 'snacky' times when i would have baked cookies and chips etc because more fruit just wouldn't do!

    i'm more easy on myself nowadays but i try and eat as much raw as i can. like andy t, i start the day with a smoothie sometimes green, mostly not and have fruit for morning break at work. i find i need to eat the fruit in the morning as i move into more of a savoury mood after lunch time.

    i recommend rawdawgrory. google him. it's amazing his transformation weight-wise if you are looking to lose weight also. he has lots of mini recipe prep videos on youtube and i bought his going raw guide which is so helpful as its being real and not 'chuck it all away and go 100% raw NOW' approach.

    for me, i'm not convinced 100% is right anyway and i do hate percentage labels for this kind of thing.

    good luck and join in with some of the other raw threads on here.

  8. #8
    adam.rurka
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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    I'm a bit new to this vegan stuff. Why do people go raw food veggie? Is it because of the theory that heating food creates carcinogens?

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Good information here, I always start my day with a mass dose of fruit, normally melons, a peach, and a pear (i do not blend my fruit, i cut it up and eat it), Tea, my vitamins, lots of water and a handful of raw almonds. Back before when I wasn't vegan, I found that eating in the morning was hard for me to do, and often I would skip breakfast, but this fruit and nut combo keeps me going well in to lunch, without feeling overly full. Then for lunch I eat a gigantic plate of raw veggies, cucumbers, red green and yellow peppers, raw green beans, raw celery and a handful of raw cashews. Occasionally if I am at home, I grill some okra on my george forman, SO TASTY! this seems like a very light lunch, but I love eating raw vegetables, I do not use dip or anything because I think they taste refreshing just the way they are. If I need a snack I always have a bora bora bar with me. They are soooo goooddd (def. pricey) pomegranite/pecan is my favorite. Not only are they vegan and exceptionally good for you, but they take care of any sweet tooth craving I may have. I normally cook dinner, although sometimes I just make a big salad and throw a cup of cooked cous cous in to it, which is one of my favorite dishes. I eat a pretty substantial raw diet without even meaning to. I just like the taste of raw plant, I am very lucky. However, I could NEVER go completely raw. I read somewhere that eating around a 75% raw diet is very good. I like getting creative with cooking, I could never do it...Good luck to you.

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    I'm currently contemplating going raw, leaning mostly towards fruitarian, though haven't really come there yet. My breakfast is ALWAYS raw though, as it's mostly just one thing:

    THE AMAZING GREEN SMOOTHIE!!!

    Seriously, my day is just not the same without it.
    I make it by blending: 1 piece of water-y fruit (melons, peaches, oranges) and banana or apple (most often both). Then I throw in as much greens I want (kale, spinach, savoy, celery, dandelion greens, mint, basil etc...) just use what you like, 2-3 handfuls usually cut it for me Lately I have been really loving putting in a small handful of almonds and a tomato too. Heavenly!!!
    Why kill when you have the choice to avoid it?

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    Does anyone watch the raw kitchen cookery program on sky active channel? I caught it last week, made my mouth water. She was making pasta out of raw veg, so I bought myself a spiralizer (I think they're called) and she made a raw cake so I logged straight on to goodness direct and ordered the ingredients (not cheap I might add!), can't wait to try it all out. not ready to go 100% raw but see how it goes.
    Recognize meat for what it really is: the antibiotic- and pesticide-laden corpse of a tortured animal. ~Ingrid Newkirk

  12. #12

    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Is that Shazzie's program? She's amazing, you could probably have gotten most of the ingredients from her site at detoxyourworld.co.uk but I can't promise it would have been any cheaper! A friend of mine who is a nutritionist was down there filming with her a couple of weeks ago so there should be a lot of new episodes coming up!

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    yes i think that's her name. i didn't know she had a website, i'll take a look now thanks.

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Quote adam.rurka View Post
    I'm a bit new to this vegan stuff. Why do people go raw food veggie? Is it because of the theory that heating food creates carcinogens?
    A very important question that's not been answered. Raw ≠ healthy. Eating fresh, raw fruit and veg is good for you but there's no good evidence that avoiding cooked food is good for you.
    "I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    I've just started to sway back towards a raw diet due to being rather fed up with the same old cooked meals. Don't get me wrong, I know there's millions of great recipes to try but I've just lost that spark I used to have when, after a large food shop, I'd rush into the kitchen and start experimenting. Now, with raw food I have that spark back and I get really excited playing around with new ways to prepare food. Last year I went 100% raw for almost three weeks and had some profound almost spiritual experiences as well as feeling lighter and full of energy. Now, after a stressful few months I want that high back in my life so its back to raw I go.

    On another note why does it seem like there's more people trying to make money out of raw food than people actually doing it? That part of the diet really bugs me, in every mag there's raw coaches, chocolate days, raw retreats, expensive product ranges etc etc etc.........it all gives the impression you need to be loaded and weak in the mind to continue with the journey !?!

    Back to the original question, I'd just recommend you take your time, enjoy a green smoothie each morning and try mono eating for the rest of the day. In the evening have a light meal with a cooked sweet potato or rice and then start looking at nutrition while taking a supplement for backup. If your worried about B12 try raw seaweed, it's full of the stuff and tastes great in a salad or sprinkled over seed butters....good luck.

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Quote chelssomers View Post
    Maybe give me some resources or first hand experience?
    I just got this book, and it seems very good.




    http://www.amazon.com/Healthful-Cuis...ref=pd_sim_b_2
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    That looks like a good read, is it American or this side of the pond?

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Quote Wildman View Post
    If your worried about B12 try raw seaweed, it's full of the stuff and tastes great in a salad or sprinkled over seed butters....good luck
    I know nothing about raw food but I know that the vast majority of nutritional science tells us not to depend upon seaweed or fermented food for our B12. I know nothing about raw food but didn't want misinformation to go unchallenged.

  19. #19

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    I am upping my raw intake at the moment, but to supplement the cooked foods I eat rather than replace them. Being a recovered/recovering anorexic very stringent rules on what I should/shouldn't eat aren't really a great idea for me.

    I did have a lovely green smoothie after my cooked dinner tonight because I was hungry still. Yummers
    Quitting something because it's hard is wrong, and quitting something because it's wrong is hard. One takes cowardice, the other bravery.

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Duplicate post, sorry

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Quote Blueberries View Post
    I know nothing about raw food but I know that the vast majority of nutritional science tells us not to depend upon seaweed or fermented food for our B12.
    That's my understanding as well. I think this thread is relevant although the title may suggest otherwise: http://www.veganforum.com/forums/sho...-and-spirulina

    ETA that seems a sensible approach for anyone really, Ms_D. One could always increase the proportion of raw:cooked foods later if one felt like it.
    As I have probably already said in this or another thread, I do eat quite a lot of raw fruit and veg but if I have more than a certain amount my digestive system doesn't respond well

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    Quote SmeepRocket
    I desperately want to go raw... But all the recipes tasted like their components.
    Quote SmeepRocket
    making it hard to limit myself to what that diet provides again.
    Quote SmeepRocket
    ...not crazy about raw vegetables, (and I almost always hate salad.)
    Doesn't really seem that a high raw diet is for you. It sounds like it would be better to try and increase the amount of raw foods in your existing diet rather than going high raw.

    Quote SmeepRocket
    It's rather depressing because I was told I would probably be able to stop taking insulin if I went on a diet like that.
    Just remember to be careful and healthily cynical of health claims made about diets, even veganism. Don't stop taking your insulin without doctors' advice.

    Quote SmeepRocket
    Edit: Strangely, I went fruitarian about 10 years back because of a study that showed that plants have a concept of pain... But it wasn't raw, I ate things like spaghetti squash spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce, and tofu.
    I have 2 questions:
    1. Where did you find that study? Is it peer-reviewed?
    2. Did you eat squash and tofu as a fruitarian? Your explanation wasn't clear.
    Houmous atá ann!

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    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Quote SmeepRocket View Post
    http://www.jperla.com/blog/post/plant-suffering

    It's hard to find the study online, but here is one resource.

    One thing that bothered me about this was that these other vegans defended plants being unfeeling like a meat eater defends eating meat. I really don't think fruitarianism is practical for most people, but the data that exists is worth considering.
    You can add me to their numbers. One persons blog post doesn't undo all the rest of the scientific knowledge we have about plants. What's worse is that the idea that plants can feel pain is an idea perpetuated by meat eaters in order to suggest that veganism doesn't help remove suffering.
    "I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Meat eaters almost exclusively eat herbivorous animals. If plants would have been able to feel pain, eating meat means that the overall amount of eaten, "killed" or suffering plants would increase - compared with if human were living on a vegan diet. The 'plants can feel pain' thing mainly seems to be something certain meat eaters love to think, maybe as a means to feel less guilty about (indirectly) killing animals.
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

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    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Quote Korn View Post
    Meat eaters almost exclusively eat omnivorous plants.
    What?

    I hope the rest of your post wasn't directed at me btw, you should know that I'm aware of that already
    "I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

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    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Thanks, Risker! I don't know where that one came from (probably my bad English+ too much work lately). And no, it wasn't to you.
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

  28. #28
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    ^ Like Korn stated above, it's not really a weakness in the vegan argument even if it had the faintest chance of being true (which it doesn't).
    "I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

  29. #29
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Here's an already existing thread on the subject - http://www.veganforum.com/forums/sho...s-feeling-pain
    "I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Quote SmeepRocket View Post
    I didn't say it was a weakness in the vegan argument. I specifically said that veganism is still the best way to minimize suffering. Also, that is a fairly old thread with everyone just saying there's no proof. My last link is the most legitimate, and does show some evidence that plants respond to pain, and even alert other plants to potential destruction.
    It shows evidence that they have chemical responses to damage, if that's what you're suggesting then I agree. There is however, no evidence that they feel pain.

    Quote SmeepRocket View Post
    You guys are looking at it from a hostile approach, like I am making an argument against veganism, which I am NOT. I'm speaking to fellow vegans about the possibility that plants do have some concept of pain, without saying it invalidates the vegan diet.
    Not at all, and I think it's just me at the moment that's arguing with you, I don't think you're arguing against veganism, I just don't think you're correct.

    Quote SmeepRocket View Post
    Edit: I'm curious to hear a legitimate argument against this data, rather than a defense of veganism. We all know veganism is a ethical and environmentally sound decision. But why do you insist that there is no possible shred of truth in this? You might argue that the first two links, as are stated in them, are pseudoscience, and they haven't been repeated afaik on a scientific scale. But the last link on the physiology of plants makes a compelling point.
    I just did, it shows chemical responses, without which plants wouldn't exist, nothing about pain though.

    Quote SmeepRocket View Post
    A meat eater would say that animals are all instincts, whereas vegans I talk to this about say that plants are all hormones. Doesn't it strike you as odd that there are parallels in this line of thought? Surely it's worth seriously considering rather than just shaking your head furiously and denying it as vehemently as possible.
    The difference is evidence, for what you're suggesting there is zero.
    "I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

  31. #31
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    I don't know why I get in to these discussions.

    Okay, plants *might* feel pain, in the same way that there *might* be invisible pink unicorns. I see no evidence and I think it's foolish to risk your health on a fruitarian diet for such a hunch.

    I will now bow out of this discussion and I wish you good health on whatever diet you choose.
    "I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

  32. #32
    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Raw: Where to start?

    Hi SmeepRocket..... "rude", "silly", "dismissive"....
    From our board rules: "If you disagree with someone, discuss their viewpoints, not their personalities".

    This thread is off topic anyway, if you want to discuss whether plants can feel pain or not, please do it in the thread Rikser mentioned - or this one:

    You can watch a slaughterhouse video, I'll watch a video of a strawberry harvest - then we'll discuss'

    As usual: threads will (temporarily) be closed if they go to far off topic.
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

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