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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookOk so I started the 100% group and then stopped posting cause I wasnt able to keep up that high level. So here is my compromise. I am a minimum of 70% and a max of 100% depending on the day. I have been maintaining this level for three months with no effort, its natural and joyful. I have been expiermenting with Raw Food for a year and a half. I assume that tranistioning is a natural expierence like a rose bud blooming, it doesnt try to bloom, its not disappointed becasue it hasnt bloomed it just is! So here is a support group for those of us who just are!
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Yeah Ambikalee! I can finally post something! I agree with your philosophy, and it was beautifully stated. I could never post that I was 100% raw because I still enjoy the occassional cup of coffee and when we go out to eat I get a salad, but sometimes I have dressing that isn’t raw…or I get a vegan soup that is heated above the “raw point”. So, I kept being a little down on myself. But I have been high raw (80-90%) for 6-9 months now and I LOVE it! My family is too, which makes it a little easier for me…they are at minimum 70%.
Congratulations on being you and for having such a “Rawsome” idea! (Sorry, I had to be cheezy for a second there)!
I am so with you my rawsome sistas! I’ve been working on eating with love. Loving my body, loving the food, loving preparations, etc. One really good example of this, was when I was in VA this summer with my family. My mother made taco salads and had ground beef for the extended family and made my family some “beef” crumbles. She said, “I checked the box its vegan!” Her thoughtfulness and consideration was so touching, I ate her love!
I am with you guys too! I have been 100% (or almost – not everything was TRUELY raw) for a period of time but I honestly feel better being somewhere in the middle – I don’t feel great being 100%. I don’t think I will ever be 100% permanently because I hate the restrictions of it. (being vegan strictly is hard enough).
This is great! I have been working my way to a higher and higher percentage of being raw. Most days I am probably 70% raw. I am striving for higher, and this little thread makes me feel much better that I am not the only person that is not 100% yet. =)
The only thing with me is that I love steamed veggies,and I’m doing it very lightly.Also my herb tea every day,and sometimes brown rice.For evrything else I am completly raw.
Yay! This is beautiful. :o)
And while I feel sad when I hear that other people get down on themselves and it makes me want to say, “Be kind to yourself!”... it’s also very reassuring because I do it to myself, too. That’s one thing I’m really striving to be conscious of and turn it around every time I catch my negative self-talk. I can be my own worst enemy sometimes.
I think we’re all beautiful and vibrant and stumbling towards enlightenment every day.
Nice thread, ambikalee. :o)
I am 100 percent raw everyday except the days where I go to the bar and watch futball games(soccer to the layman). There I have chips and salsa with vegan chili. I always feel guilty after I eat it, but oh man its amazing.
LOVE this particular topic, as I think that we are very hard on ourselves and sometimes allow others to be just as hard on us. I don’t believe in being “The Raw Police” to anyone, and I won’t let anyone pound me down for not being 100% 365 days a year. We must learn to treat ourselves as we would our own best friend. With kindness, compassion, understanding and most importantly, FORGIVENESS. When we were little there were “do overs”. If you choose to eat out with friends or family and not do raw for that meal, then hey – give yourself a Do Over and go raw next meal :)
I enjoy eating raw but find it difficult to be 100% raw all of the time. Im with queenfluff on the restrictions and willmize that you gotta do what’s best for you and not be so hard on yourself. As long as your healthy and happy right!
ambikalee, thanks for this wonderful topic! I can feel so much love and acceptance from everyone posting, and it is very joyful! I also feel the most important thing is to promote kindness and gentleness with ourselves and learning to trust what works best for each of us. I’d been 100% raw for the last 3 months and felt great initially (after the first month or so), but then slowly felt worse and worse as my weight plummeted! (I think I’d gotten to be around 100# soaking wet and looked unwell from that perspective). In the last week I’ve been eating some (cooked) indian food once a day with friends visiting and have felt fantastic (more grounded, sharper and satisfied). I’m also working on finding a balance; perhaps 80% with some cooked veggies, indian dishes or quinoa in the evenings… I’ve also thought I’d allow myself to be 100% intermittently if it ever feels right for cleansing—it does suit in that way for me, I think.
Either way, I just want to thank you all for sharing your experience with this very healthy way to be and the perspective that less than 100% is still great!
I too love this topic, our food should make us feel good, everyone is different and you know what, this is a lifestyle not a diet….diets are for people who expect to fail. lifestyles are for people who want to live and grow and learn. Do what feels good, love thy self, forgivness above all things and practice gratitude( thats my socio-christian-yogic take on things;) xoxo
question though: how does one do the math on percentages of raw? 70% for example thirty percent of ingested items are unraw? hmmmm sounds awfully complicated….wink wink
Yes, omshanti, I was thinking of that too; I think the percentage has to be a pretty intuitive thing! :)
I wanted to add that I was surfing for info on the digestibility of cellulose with blending (yes, it’s supposed to be as effective as cooking for improving digestiblity), and found this wonderful article by an MD indicating that there are alternate benefits from raw and cooked versions of many cancer-protective foods. (ie, raw version gives you some benefits, cooked gives you others). Pretty neat and very synchronistic!
Here’s the link: http://ccmhi.org/RawversusCookedVegetablesforCa…
I set a goal of 90% Raw, just meaning “mostly.” I still have coffee, tea or both everyday, but I’m so happy with the changes I’ve seen, I can’t kick myself for those things. Weirdly enough, that 10% I’ve held out for cooked food makes me able to turn down the stuff that would usually tempt me. I always know I can have that stuff some other time, since there’s no pressure to be 100% tomorrow or the next day. Whatever percentage we’re at, most of us are still eating way healthier than most people.
That being said, I do want to give up the hot, caffeinated drinks for a while. It’s just a tough habit to break!
rediscovered, brilliantly put!”that 10%I
Great idea ambikalee! I have been at least 70% raw for the last almost week now when I discovered this site and decided to make better life choices. I also have a 13 month old who is mostly raw, too. I feel better and hopefully will see some weight loss here soon, too. Having a green smoothie with banana and a bit of PB right now as I’m typing. YUM! Anyone else have raw babies??? We both ate strawberries for breakfast.
I started in April becoming a Vegan because of a book I read “Skinny B i t c h” and soon learned in June about raw but it was a little difficult. As 2 months went by at 85% raw, I decided to go 100% in August. It’s been almost a month and I love it!
Haa… deegarry, I just HAD to check out something with a title as intriguing as “Skinny Bitch,” so I went to Amazon and read an excerpt. Loved it and ordered it on the spot! I can’t wait until it gets here. ;o)
Jen (about 50% raw lately, intuitively guestimating of course)
skinny bitch was a great book! i read it a while ago…interesting on my part is that i was an animal science major many years ago in college, spent an entire two years learning about what gross stuff goes into our food….and that did not make me go vegan! but 20 years later im infuriated with the state of our food in this country( and the world no doubt)And have made some changes. As an animal lover i often wondered why it took me so long….the chapter that caught my eye in the bookstore and caused me to buy skinny bitch was the one on pooping ! hahahahaha great stuff!
I “refer” to my lifestyle as high raw, just like ambikalee posted the topic as. It is a lot easier to explain to non-rawers what high raw means as opposed to a percentage.
Workout Angel: I have a 3 year old and 13 year old who are high raw. My 3 year old has been mostly raw her whole life naturally.