Struggling On A Raw Food Diet?

Are you not getting everything you had hoped for out of your raw food diet? If so, you're not alone! Many, many people find themselve exactly where you are. I myself was struggling with my raw food diet for quite a while, until I discovered the information that I am going to share with you in this article.

Most raw foodists say they eat "a lot" of food. But the thing about raw food is that it is MUCH less calorically dense than the cooked food they were raised on. My first thought, if you are not feeling awesome, is that you are not getting enough calories. Are you tracking your caloric intake on a website like Cronometer.com? Doing this really helped me to better understand the foods I was eating, how much I should be eating, ect. I suggest aiming for at least 2500cals per day for women, 3000 for men, and significantly more than that if you excersize or are otherwise active.

Next, it's best to examine where your calories are coming from. Namely, are you eating enough fruit? On a raw diet, there are 2 places to get our calories from: fats (nuts, seeds, avocado) or sweet fruits. Obviously, greens/veggies could never supply enough calories to keep us going throughout the day. Fats are good in small amounts (maybe 1 avocado or 1 - 2oz nuts per day), but I don't think there can be much argument that we shouldn't be getting the bulk of out calories from them!

So that leaves us with fruit as the bulk source of our calories. What could be better? Everybody knows how nutritionally awesome fruit is. However, sadly, many people are scared to eat too much fruit because it's "too much sugar". I hope you haven't fallen into that trap. Remember that the sugar in fruit is accompanied by fiber, nutrients, water, ect. It is not refined and it is nothing to be afraid of. It is worth noting that generally any study that points to fruit as the source of health complications (such as obesity or diabetes) used isolated (refined) fructose or glucose, NOT whole fruit.

In fact not only is fruit not bad for us, but it is what our bodies run on most optimally. It is delicious, it digests so easily, and it kicks cravings like none other! The energy in fruit is very easy for us to utilize, as our bodies run on glucose. It takes very little relative effort by your body to convert simple carbohydrate sugars to glucose, which means more energy for you!

Now that we know fruit is the best source of calories, how much of it should you be eating? Fruit is far less calorically dense than cooked food or even raw fatty sources of calories like avocado, nuts or seeds. In a typical day I eat:

-breakfast: 9-10banana smoothie, w/ water (or other calorically equivalent smoothie) for around 1000calories
-lunch (I eat at school): green smoothie (ex: 5nanas, 1c pineapple, 1/2cilantro, 1c greens, 1c water) or monomeal (of oranges, this time of year), about 600cals
-2nd lunch (I eat again several class periods later in study hall): green smoothie or smoothie, about 600cals
-dinner: GIANT SALAD (1+ head lettuce, half a cuke, half an avo, 1 tomato, strawberries/apples/oranges, and 1/2c+ dried fruit or dates, + fruit-based, homemade, fat-free salad dressing (leave me a comment if you'd like some ideas, I'd definitely do a post on that), or a blended salad, 400 - 500cals
-----------------
All this = around 2,700cals.

Eating this way, I feel AMAZING, better than I can remember ever feeling! I have so much energy. I am 5'2 weighing 100lb, and I've been eating this way for over a year now....so all the sugar in this fruit certainly hasn't made me fat! (;
(Oh, here you go, if you don't believe me:)

I was never fat, but I haven't always had a nice, flat stomach, either! Here's a before & after.

What does a typical day of food look like for you, in detail/numeric amounts? If you still have questions, feel free to post a comment below!

Peace. (:

Posted via DraftCraft app

Curry-Ginger-Lime Soup

Tonight, I got to make dinner for the fam - and of course I wanted to give the people I love something yummy that would also nourish them, like all food should.

Well. Dad didn't want to be adventurous and Joe wasn't hungry - so I actually just made dinner for Mom and I... but she loved it! (And so did I.)

Tonight, we dined upon a delicious Curry-Ginger-Lime Soup!

If you're craving a savory, flavorful, creamy, warm raw soup yourself, give this one a try!

The ingredients are as follows:

• 1 endive
• 2 c lettuce (I used romaine)
• 1 c warm water
• 2 Tbs fresh ginger
• 2 Tbs lime juice
• 1 tsp curry
• ½ avocado

• ½ cucumber
• 10 small dates (or 5 large)

I know, it's kind of a lot of ingredients. But it sure is good!

It's very easy to make, too - no worries! 

1. Chop dates and cucumber into small-ish chunks.
2. Blend romaine & endive with warm water until smooth.
3. Add ginger, lime, and curry. Blend again, just until mixed.
4. Add avocado. Blend one last time.
5. Pour into a bowl, mix in dates and cucumber, and enjoy!

Yum!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everybody (in the US) had an awesome, cruelty free Thanksgiving! I know I did. I just wanna share some pictures of my high-carb, low-fat, salt-free, whole plant food vegan (not raw, though) thanksgiving dinner!

Here's my pumpkin pie pudding, chillin' next to everybody else's!

Basically just roasted pumpkin pureed and blended with dates (soaked in water a few hours), and pumpkin pie spice, to taste.

On top is some delicious, creamy coconut milk (which is basically the consistency of whipping cream).

And here's my dinner! Fruit salad, squash, steamed brussels sprouts, more fruit salad, a baked sweet potato, and cranberries! All made from whole plant foods, without salt. All the 'side dishes' everybody else was eating and loving!

I love being a raw vegan, but I think sharing some traditional cooked foods with my family on special occasions is really awesome. I don't get to share meals with people a lot, because my family are a bunch of omnivores; so I think I'm missing out on an element of social life that a lot of people take for granted. Therefore, on the few occasions that I do compromise and eat some (still delicious) cooked foods, I really enjoy eating what everybody else is eating and sharing.

Fruit People Protein!

I talk a bit about protein on a low fat, high fruit raw vegan diet.

Did You Know...

Did you know that humans cannot taste fat or protien? Our taste buds pick up 5 flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty.

When you eat meat or something fatty, you're actually just tasting the sugars, minerals(salts), acids (sour), ect. Isn't that fascinating?!

Moreover, these are the flavors found predominantly in raw fruits and vegetables! So excite your tastebuds.... Naturally! Eat your fruits and veggies! (Especially fruit )

Woodstock Fruit Festival 2012!

Vegetables?

I had the most delicious peach this afternoon. It was delicate, sweet, juicy, flavorful... Just another little reminder that fruit is so perfect for us.

If it smells good, feels good, looks good, and tastes good in its natural, raw state - then it is probably the ideal food for us. Simple concept, right? That's why I love it. ☺

Fruit fulfills all of this criteria.

Certainly, meats, dairy, eggs, legumes, and grains do not.

Neither do vegetables, in my experience.

SHOULD we be eating greens? Its still a question that I toy with in my head, and I have been very back-and-forth on the topic for the past few months.

For now, I have come to a conclusion: eat only fruit until I find myself attracted to or wanting to eat these greens in their raw, natural state. Until this happens...I cannot believe that we should be eating them.

Peace, sunshine (actually if you're in the US, I s'pose we'd be better off wishing for rain...) and loads of fruit to all.

❧

Cure Your Constipation!

An LFVR diet is obviously the simplest, healthiest, most yummy way to cure constipation (as well as any other issues you might have). What are you waiting for?!

Youtube Videos!

So, my friend has recently jumped on board with veganism, and of course we have every reason to be thrilled!

Remember:

In addition, it's certainly worth remembering that by eating vegan you are also declining to support an industry that enslaves and murders millions of animals in a single day.

Anyhow, after learning of all this, Brittany was convinced - and not only that! She's feeling very passionate about her decision! So, we were inspired to begin a YouTube series documenting her progress and experiences as/becoming a vegan, as well as discussing some important tips for succeeding on a vegan diet, as well as going in depth on why we should all work towards being vegan ourselves!
This series will be exceptionally nice for you if you love learning about the raw, vegan, fruitarian, 80-10-10, or any other diets of the sort - as we plan to (at least briefly) cover them all!

In addition, these videos are seriously just going to be a lot of fun! We both have a lot of personality, and a lot to say... And I'm sure this is going to shine through in these videos! (Can you tell I'm a little excited? Haha.)

This is our first video. It just discusses the reasons that Brittany chose to go vegan!

Second video, Brittany's first mono fruit meal! She discusses some of the simple reasons that mono meals, if possible, are always the best!

There will be more coming! And they'll be posted here - if you're interested, subscribe on here or on YouTube, and have an amazing, fruit-filled day!

What I Ate Today & A Recipe!

• 1/2 head kale
• 1/3 head romaine lettuce
• 1 roma tomato
• 1 pineapple
• 2 1/2 zucchini
• 3 bananas
• 3/4 c sun-dried tomatoes
• 4 Tbsp chili powder
• 3/4 c orange juice

Nut-Free, Overt Fat Free, LFRV Tacos!

Ingredients:

• Some sort of greens (kale, romaine, etc)
• 1 zucchini (or you could use other vegetable such as maybe carrot or beet?)
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• Chipotle pepper
• Garlic (optional)
• Sundried tomatoes

Instructions:

• Grind sundried tomatoes to small bits/chunks in blender/food processor
• Add zucchini, blend until chunky
• Spoon mixture into bowl
• Mix in chipotle, chili powder, & optional garlic
• Wrap a small/medium amount of the mixture in each of your greens, and enjoy!

Fruitarianism, To Me

[update - original from 1-8-12]

I feel like there are so many different forms of fruitarianism, every fruitarian seems to practice a little differently, and for different reasons. Some of us eat seeds and nuts still. Some of us eat greens. Some of us eat only raw, others will eat cooked fruit, and others will only eat one type of fruit in a sitting.

Every fruitarian seems to have their own definition of fruitarianism, their own beliefs about the diet - so, as someone who has talked about the wonders of this diet in the past, I figure I could provide a definition, of what I mean when I say that I practice fruitarianism.

Well, I eat fruit, very simply.

Sweet fruits, fatty fruits, vegetable fruits.

I eat commercially grown fruit, because my parents sponsor my eating this way, and purchase this food for me. And we're not super rich, so, though it would obviously be better for me, we just can't afford to eat all organic, and I don't expect my father to spend more than he already does on feeding me.

In the summer, I eat lots of organic fruits like zucchini and tomatoes, that are grown in our garden;

I do eat dried fruits, because they keep longer, so my father can buy a bunch and store it for when we don't have any other food in the house, or when I am not going to be home for an extended period of time, as it travels much better than raw fruit. Also, in the summer I will dry tomatoes and zucchini, since there is such an abundance of it at the time, but I will definately be missing these foods 6 months later.

I eat frozen fruits. I definately prefer them over dried. They taste more like the real thing, more fresh, alive. Personally don't like eating them frozen; I will take the fruits out of the freezer a day or 2 before I want to eat them, and put them in the refrigerator, so that they thaw without spoiling. I have also in the past tried blending frozen fruit in the blender, to make a sherbet kind of thing. It wasn't bad, but icecream was never really my thing.

I do not eat a mono diet of fruit, I will eat mixtures of fruit if I feel the need.

I do now eat mono-meals whenever possible, though if I don't have enough of a single food available, I don't think it is the end if the world to mix fruits.

I eat (or drink) juiced fruits, such as grapefruit. I really like citrus juices mixed with pure carbonated water.

I will eat olive oil, mainly drizzled over fresh tomato slices or something of the like; I also use olive oil rather than shaving cream and lotion, and it works super well.

I no longer use olive oil as a food at all. You can visit this post if you'd like to know why.

I will eat things like powdered Cheyenne pepper, or things of the like, but not herbs or spices made from roots.

Since adding greens back into my diet (visit this post for why I did this), I do use herbs. I still do not eat spices made from roots or seeds.

I do eat fruits with seeds such as raspberries, cucumbers, and tomatoes that have the seeds in them - but when it is at all possible, I work my way around, and avoid eating seeds. I do this because seeds are baby plants, who will never get a chance to live and flourish, if they are chewed up and digested by me; it makes me rather sick at the thought that so many people are so against abortion - but will eat eggs and nuts and things like it's nothing.

I do not eat plain seeds or nuts, because - as I said above, I like to avoid killing things,, and purposefully taking the life of a seed, to eat it definately falls under that category.

I do not eat coconut, as it is actually a nut, that would give life to a new tree if given the chance.

I do not eat foods that have been cooked over 110 or so degrees. I have experience as a raw vegan, and do believe that at a certain temperature, enzymes begin to denature, and therefore makes it much harder to digest the food you eat. (This is why many people feel sleepy after eating a meal.)

I certainly do not eat vegetables (any part of the plant that is not the freely given flesh surrounding the seed, nut, or other reproductive method), or animal products such as eggs, milk, and meat (by meat I mean all meat - red meat, chicken, fish..).

I do now eat greens. Visit here for why.

In addition, I would like to point out that I recently completely cut added salt out of my diet. I'll do a post in the future as to why I chose to do this.

I do not restrict my intake of fruits at all. If I feel the need to eat 12 avocados, I will do so, providing I have this many at hand. My body knows what it needs, if it tells me it wants something, I am going to try and give it what it needs. Likewise, if I am just not hungry one day, I will not force myself to eat, for fear of not getting nutrients or calories - as I've just stated, my body will ask for what it needs, nothing more; nothing less.

Along those same lines, I definately do not take vitamins. I have complete faith that this diet is what is right for me, as well as the rest of us. If they are vitamins I need, they can be provided by this food that is natural to humans. I don't need to supplement and drown our organisms with nutrients that it is not asking for, that it has no need for.

I follow this diet largely for ethical reasons. I do it because I've come to the realization that killing a plant to eat, is just as sick as killing an animal for food. Just because the tree has no voice to protest, doesn't mean it wouldn't if it could.

Despite this, I do also have complete faith, that an all-fruit diet is absolutely the one for us.

I feel it could solve many of the problems we deal with today, and ultimately create a much healthier, happier, empathetic, caring, understanding, calm, all-knowing, and ideal society.❤