Least likely to be raw

I have my friend Monique to thank for my raw journey. Can you believe that only 2.5 years ago I was enjoying the Atkins Diet? Of course I gained all the weight back after giving it up. My friend Moe was recommended this diet from her naturopath and talked to myself and another friend about it one day at a raw restaurant. In addition to loving the raw food at the restaurant, she let us try some of the lunch she had packed that included fettucini alfredo and date nut torte. I loved it and was immediately intrigued. I bought a couple of books she had recommended – Green for Life by V. Boutenko and Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen. I started drinking a green smoothie a day immediately and occasionally tried a raw recipe here and there. I was pregnant at the time so I didn’t want to do anything too drastic for fear of detox symptoms affecting my baby. I was so amazed at the stories I read in the books. I have never eating enough veggies and fruit in a day’s time, and here was a diet that consisted only of those things (+ nuts and seeds). How could something soooo good be bad at all? What I love most about the raw diet is this: 1. I don’t have to feel guilty about what I eat. This guilt about eating has plagued me most of my life and I find it so freeing not to worry about this any longer. 2. I can actually feel GOOD about what I am putting into my body. It’s not just eating to eat, it’s eating to really honor my body and give it what it’s been craving… FINALLY!! 3. The adventures of finding a new delicious raw recipe to enjoy, and share with others. 4. How regular I am! 5. My skin is GLOWING! WOW! I’m getting younger! 6. The energy that comes from following this diet! I just feel so good… it’s like every cell in my body is singing and vibrant. 7. I’m passing all this great nutrition onto my baby through breastfeeding! 8. The weight loss 9. The purging of years of damage to my body through cooked food chemicals. 10. The green aspect of saving so much power as you don’t cook on a raw diet!

What I like least about this diet: 1. The social ramifications. It’s hard to eat differently from others, especially when on a trip. 2. It’s hard to get my toddler and husband to eat raw. 3. The occasional expense. 4. Man am I gassy at times! Not fun!

So happy to be a part of this site and looking forward to reading and learning more about others up here. Can’t wait to try some of these delicious recipes. Thanks for this site!

Comments

  • heartshapedskyheartshapedsky Raw Newbie

    what an amazing post, congratulations on a beautiful life- i’m with you on the postives and the hard stuff!

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    lndysay – welcome! that’s quite a transition from Atkins to Raw. I’m glad you found goneraw – i’m new to raw, and this site has helped me commit to eating raw and has offered me a world of advice, recipes, and support. The 10 good things you mentioned hit home with me! The guilt is gone, the energy is here, but most of all I’m HAPPY!

    The social ramifications are super hard. Tonight i’m bringing my own food on a work cruise event, and it’s a bit nerve racking to plan it what and how to take food. But it’s the first time in my life when i’ve been totally optimistic about tommorow: and I wouldn’t give that up!

    The good news is, that i hear the social part gets easier the longer you’re raw.

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    yes it does. actually, i recently gave up wine, and was REALLY worried everyone would be like: “now you don’t even drink wine anymore? what next?” anyway… i went out with some people and no one even noticed that i was eating a green salad and had a glass of water. it’s really more about how comfortable you get with this than anyone else. i’m pushing myself to come more and more out of the closet with this… telling people casually in conversation if it comes up, anything to make it seem like no big deal. =)

    the gassiness goes away. worry not!

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I agree – with the feeling energy, depression lifted, and social part getting easier! My friend, when she first heard I was starting to eat raw, was worried (though she didn’t tell me until much later) that I would be like some of the “weird” raw foodists she had talked to before – very negative, and judgemental of anyone not eating raw. She told me later that she was glad I wasn’t turning out like that. :) I had a hard time with social things with family and on dates, especially. I had to tell my family to just not worry about trying to make something for me, that I would bring my own food. It saved us all a lot of stress. On dates, I would explain a little about my lifestyle and suggest we go buy ingredients and I would make us a good dinner. Depending on how adventurous my date was, I would either make a completely raw meal, or just make part cooked and part raw. I just kept it fun cuz that’s what life, & therefore food, should be, and my attitude of fun and my joy usually rubbed off enough to make the evening fun even if they didn’t love my food (but they usually did love at least part of it), and the ones who were weird/controlling about it I didn’t go out with again :) The only times I’ve really had trouble socially is if I was feeling insecure, and when I was insecure, the situation would have turned out awkward no matter what happened – it really wasn’t about the food at all :)

  • Wow, thanks for all the nice and thoughtful comments! What a cool community this is. And so necessary because this way of eating is so different from anything I’ve ever done. And I think about it all day most days. I’m sure in time it will get so I think about it less as it will be automatic. But for now… there’s a lot of food prep and tough choices on what to eat next because I just want to make everything! :). You know, I hadn’t thought about it, but this diet is a good litmus for others in your life and how they feel about you.. ie, what Angie wrote about her dates above. This would have been a good “weed out” diet when I was dating guys! It poses other interesting problems when you go raw and you are in charge of feeding a family. Fortunately, I definitely married the right guy because he’s been supportive. I can say there is so much upside… everyone is eating more fresh good stuff, and pooping more to boot! I know, gross, but that’s a very good thing. Anyway… it’s so nice to have an outlet to share what I feel about this way of life with others because there are times I think I am going to explode because I’m so excited or want to talk about something I’m learning here. I’ve been on a lot of diets (Body for Life, Zone, Atkins)... I anticipate this one sticking and becoming a way of life. There is SOO much upside. Now where’s that bottle of organic raw wine? ;) Cheers!

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