Help me! I feel I am at a critical point with raw foods. I am so tired of eating the same foods every day. I really miss the variety a cooked foods diet brought. I eat the same thing everyday – a green smoothie for breakfast, a salad for lunch, a bigger salad for dinner. BORING. I do not have, nor can I afford, a dehydrator. I can barely afford this diet with a hubby and two kids. WE’re spending 4 times the amount of money on food that we used to. And we don’t HAVE it to spend, if we did, it wouldn’t be a problem.
So what do I do? The cravings are hitting HARD, and I’m getting just plain sick of going to the grocery store to drop more money every other day.
Is it possible that this just isn’t a “doable” diet for some people? Especially those who are already on the poverty line or under?
Comments
You’ll have to try the taco meat recipe posted here. I could live off of it- never get sick of it. Spread it on dried nori or boston lettuce, top with all sorts of veggies and roll up….it’s really good and walnuts are cheap. There are other roll up recipes as well, that are great for lunch or supper. I don’t have a dehydrator either, and found my food bills were getting crazy high. I find it helps to snack on cheap fruits and vegetables between meal (organic carrots/apples/ bananas are not too pricey) and then I’m not bored with a salad for supper.
Ambikalee, are rice paper wrappers RAW???? That would change my whole world.
Skyespice, hang in there. You were doing so amazingly well with your two weeks of 100% raw and your husbands progress too. I was very inspired to stay at 100%. I don’t have much new advice for you. Where I live produce is very cheap. I live without a dehydrator and do ok. Like spiritedmama said, different salads (like raw pad thai, or cole slaw) help a lot as do soups, tacos, and deserts. Also, for cravings, green smoothies are a godsend. Also cheap to make. Good luck, you can do this.
I’ve thought about the oven thing, but my oven temp doesn’t go below 170 degrees, which is way to high. Any other suggestion for that? I really miss bread…
THank you all for your support. I totally fell off the wagon today, and I’m ok with that. I love the way I feel with raw, but being this frustrated is mentally taxing.
Plus, I was reading information on beyondveg.com and some if it kind of worried me. Anyone else been there?
You may be interested in the book The Raw Food Detox by Natalia Rose. She writes about the 5 levels of raw food diet. If you are having a really tough time with Level 1 (95-100% raw) you may want to consider dropping back to Level 2 (85-95% raw) for a while, instead of getting burnt out on raw or adding stress to what should be a positive lifestyle. I like her philosophy of : eat raw until dinner. It’s a simple way of looking at it, and makes it easier. Start your day with a green drink, then eat fruit, then your salad or raw veggies. Have a snack of nut butters or dried fruits and nuts. Then relax about raw and eat what you miss: a baked sweet potato with maple syrup, some sprouted flourless bread, a vegan taco, etc. Keep it light and healthy. You may find that by just relaxing a little bit, you go all raw the next day instead of going off the wagon and eating a ton of cooked food. Find what makes you happy and incorporate it into your life. Remember: you are so far ahead of most people in what you’re doing. You are an inspiration! Make sure you feel emotionally healthy where you’re at, and you’ll want to continue forever.
Audrey, Ah well, seemed too good to be true. How do I tell if the nori is raw? I remember someone told me the green is, but the black isn’t or vice versa. I can never remember.
Thanks Lucy, I’ll remember that with the nifty mnemonic device “B-raw”