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Please help me in this trial!

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  • Morning_theftMorning_theft Raw Newbie

    My suggestion would be: don’t worry about protein or calories, that is not the point. Try to eat a higher percent of raw, and let your body guide you to what you need. And give it longer than a week, don’t just jump into it and jump out. Transition slowly, it might help. And have fun! This can be much fun if you let it. Good luck!

  • Hi Wow Thanks Love,

    There are a lot of different ways to go about your diet. But in your situation you may want to try to get sunflower seeds. One cup of them will give you about 30 grams of protein a day and 800 calories. The fat in them won’t make you fat as long as you are not eating breads and rice.

    The reason I say this is they are pretty cheap and most salad bars have them even though you didn’t mention it. Your situation sounds kind of hard because a lot of people get into drinking smoothies. Do you have access to a blender? If not I would recommend making raw bars from any fruits, nuts and seeds. Just soak the fruit to make it mushier and mush it all together with your hands to form bars.

    If you can eat about 4 cups of greens a day that would be good. Since you are older Can you request certian things for the salad bar like broccoli, spinach beets, etc that are super dense in nutrition? Chick peas would be great to eat for protein and have no fat but you’d need to sprout them. You could ask if the kitchen would allow you to sprout lentils, garbanzos, peas etc.

    Some people here don’t eat beans but they are super high in protein and no fat. A lot of people here eat a huge volume of fruit- bananas, strawberries, oranges, etc. in smoothies so that is where it will be hard for you but you could probably go about 80% raw pretty easily.

    If you were going to do it long term I would recommend a multivitamin but a week shouldn’t be too bad for you. Are you used to eating a lot of sugar or have you been limiting that already? The hardest thing to stop eating is carbs for a lot of people but if you have dried fruit and other snacks like pumpkin seeds you should be ok.

    Let us know how it goes. That should be interesting and I’m sure ther are other people here going to college who have had to deal with your same kind of situation. Do you like your school? Would you say it’s pretty stressful? You should eat more pumpkin seeds if you can because they are high in zinc (which gets depleted when you’re under stress) especially if it’s around exam time.

  • Thanks so much to both of you! I do have access to a blender…but less access to fresh fruits. We have bananas, oranges, grapes, some melon, and a LOT of apples. (It all depends on the season and day) What exactly is the benefit of sprouting the chick peas?

    writeeternity,

    In answer to your question, I really do love my school. It’s weird being away from home starting at such a young age (14-18) but you get used to it and it’s worth it. It can get pretty stressful, yes. Especially when you have to constantly defend your eating habits in a school of 514 with about 5 vegetarians and no vegans.(My school also has the highest percentage of eating disorders in the country, so my habits can seem controversial). The hardest part for me has always been carbs, and that’s the main reason I’m trying raw-food. I’m good at restricting my diet, but not at limiting it…and bread isn’t raw.

    Thanks again for both your answers and I’m really very excited to start this!

    If you have any other suggestions, please let me know!

    -Marlen

  • Hi Marlen,

    An easy thing to do would be to blend up a couple of bananas with water for a milk. You could pour this over nuts and fruits for a kind of cereal if you like to eat a heavier breakfast or just drinking banana would make you feel more full than just eating one. If you can save some greens from the night before or make yourself some sprouts you could start adding some greens to your smoothie. If you add greens some kind of citrus and banana make it better.

    Marinating would be something you could do. Get olive oil and vinegar and have carrots and broccoli, onions, peppers together (at lunch)and then you could have that at dinner for something different.

    If you can order a mix like a hemp protein shake that would be a great thing to have to fall back on if you think your nutrition is too limited.

    Apples can be fun. You can cut one in half hollow out the inside and put stuff in it. I use a melon baller. And it’s better if you can squirt some lemon on it to keep it from getting brown. You can make a waldorf type salad, carrot apple, spinach etc. You could put bananas, raisins, and peanut butter in there for breakfast.

    I am so suprised there are so few vegies there- as in vegetarians. wow! Maybe if it works for you you could convert more people! You could post what you’re eating and how you’re feeling and we could cheer you on or give you ongoing ideas. Good luck! (Liz)

  • elizabethhelizabethh Raw Newbie

    My BIGGEST recommendations to you are the following: 1- green smoothies! they are a horrid green looking and absolutely DELICIOUS breakfast…or snack, or whatever. basically just take a big handful of greens (i like baby spinach), two fruits, water, blend and off you go! great source of high quality protein and “green energy” 2-another green one….wheatgrass juice! if you have a place near you that sells it fresh, get it and invest in a cheap manual juicer…two ounces a day should suffice! also if you can’t find a place that sells it fresh, grow it yourself (its very easy). google it! you can get the kits by mail order.

    best of luck to you, make SURE you get your greens (biggest mistake of most raw foodies is too many nuts and not enough greens). i’d get a few raw food books from amazon, and check into this site a lot, for lots of easy recipes and good advice from real live raw foodies. good luck!

  • Ok, I don’t exactly know what you’re going through, because I have my own apartment and I do my own shopping, BUT if I was stuck eating at a dining hall the first thing I’d do is find whoever is responsible for the dining hall that they do not include enough fresh fruit and vegetables. You don’t have to jump out and say that you’re raw vegan, instead tell them how you really enjoy fresh fruit, it helps you concentrate better in school (hehe sneaky sneaky) and you think that they should include it because its healthier than, say, pizza. Also, give them some suggestions of things you’d like to see… and ways they can improve their salad bar (if its not to grand).

    If that doesn’t work, I’d probably try to stay high-raw and continue to eat oats, nuts, and incorporate flax into my meals (preferrably in a smoothie)

    you’ll be 18 soon, going to college, and you’ll have more freedom. So if it is difficult to be 100% now, atleast think of this as a transition to raw. Good luck, you’re definitely in a tough position, I admire your determination!

  • alpdesignsalpdesigns Raw Newbie

    My advice is a little different. Instead of trying to go 100% raw in your first week, add more raw food to a steamed veggie dinner, raw fruit to oatmeal, eat some salads for lunch. Green soothies are great and are easy to make. I think you would do better to go into this gradually. A quick change to your diet might put your system into shock. It might be longer lasting for you if you didn’t see this as a trial run, but as a transition period that will introduce you to a diet that you will see as more of a lifestyle change. You will gradually want to eat all raw. It’s not always about what you eat. Sometimes it’s about what you don’t eat. It’s just as easy to eat raw junk as it is cooked junk food. Don’t get wrapped up in all the high fat, nut recipes every day. Eat more simply.

  • Buy a Magic Bullet blender! I think everyone should get one, especially for quick nutrient dense blended salads, smoothies, adding green powder and that Raw Power powder, etc. I seriously get an energy boost and love the taste of that stuff. I’ve been blending in my Magic Bullet every day for 3 years! You could also ferment vegetables in mason jars, and use that in blended salads and protein powder added blends.

  • Raw_ChocoholicRaw_Chocoholic Raw Newbie

    Don’t forget about sprouts! Whenever you can get your hands on some seeds stockpile them! Also, I do like the magic bullet blender idea, except mine broke down 3 days after I bought it. The tribest is probably better, and Oster sells an personal drink sized attachment which will fit onto their regular blenders. Use this time to read more about raw also, so you’ll know what to expect in terms of detox when you go 100%-ish. Also, with more knowledge it will be easier to defend being raw if you need to.

  • stylistchickstylistchick Raw Newbie

    can you get to a grocery store? i find the “o.n.e.” brand young coconut water at a major chain store here. its delicious, loaded with electrolytes and potassium and will also help you detox in the beginning. i love these little cartons because they are preservative free and no added sugar, and very portable.
    maybe you can stock up on them and keep them on hand.

    maybe you could get a juicer and talk to the dining hall kitchen employees about giving you raw veggies?

    green smoothies are good, although i have to say i have not acquired a taste for them and i’ve been doing this diet for almost 5 months.
    i hate them!! but it seems most successful raw foodist drink them everyday.

  • To avoid the eating disorder label, emphasize to skeptics that you want more food (in the form of raw veg, fruit, sprouts, seeds and nuts) not less. The volume you need to eat to get all your calories and nutrients is much greater than in the SAD. Could you get your family to send you raw staples – nuts, seeds, dehydrated goodies – in a care package or can you order on line?

    I agree with the green smoothie suggestion – the more dark green leafies you eat the more nutrient packed your diet will be. Also, they really kill the cravings for whatever your poison is. When I first heard of them I thought it was INSANE! Drink spinach, yuck. The trick is to start with some fruit that you like and add maybe 5 baby spinach leaves – you won’t taste them. Then you can just build your way up. Lemon juice, cinnamon or raw cocoa powder also help them go down a lot easier. My mix today was 1 banana, 1 large ripe pear, 4oz. baby spinach, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and water – yummy!

    You might consider tracking your calorie and nutrient intake with one of the free programs they have on line. Not to limit, but to prove to parents, teachers etc. that you’re getting everything you need – in fact, probably more than your SAD peers.

    Oh, in order to eat beans raw they have to be soaked in water over night then sprouted by rinsing and draining 2x a day for a couple of days, otherwise they’re very hard and toxic. Your salad bar beans are all cooked.

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