The One Month RAW Challenge

[cee3peeoh]

Just to clarify about your post, Sim.......do you mean the raw food lifestyle as defined by this forum or do you mean the raw food lifestyle as defined by some group outside of this forum? I did read the first post in this thread and it said "no rules. just the obvious. eat all raw." So why not raw meat? I have experimented with raw meat in the past and i am looking forward to testing it out and seeing how that feels in my body, since doing this cleanse. As I understand it, it is also a part of the raw food movement, albeit, a controversial part perhaps.


Love, Nanay
MC 1/34 days

Wow Nanay....I didn't know that those discussions existed and that there were folks in the raw movement who eat raw meat. Share some sources if you have any....in the meantime, I'll do some searching to read more about it....really curious now. I guess the most that I've read so far was more about raw and vegetarianism. Thanks for sharing.

Congrats on 34 days. I'm heading there....day 14 and going for 40.

Res, you're the ichiban senior member!

[Sim]

Hi Nanay, Cee3 , Res, and all~
Nanay, I was talking about the Raw movement outside this site. To my knowledge from all that I've read, and of course, I could be wrong, there are no raw foodist gurus who approve of or include raw meats in their diets. If you were to look through all our wonderful raw food recipe books, you will not find meats in the recipes. You may find tofu in some books that are partly raw, partly just vegetarian. Tofu is a staple for vegetarians but not for raw people. Years ago, I used to eat raw kibbe (made with ground lamb or ground beef) and steak tartare (which is also raw ground beef) and loved it...but aside from living this new lifestyle now, I don't think I'd chance it anymore with all the e.coli out there. And it somehow doesn't make sense to me that Raw foodists who put such an emphasis on assuring themselves good health would even think about eating raw meat. So if you or Cee3 or anyone can find info on raw meat in the Raw Movement diet, I'd be fascinated to read about it. And Nanay, CONGRATS on your extended cleanse!!!! FANTASTIC!!! You rock! It is no small thing and you deserve all the smiles we're sending you. Tell us what it felt like and tell us what the best part was for you. And how wonderful of you to help evacuees. Our hearts are with you out there in California.

And cee3, you too! Day 14 and going strong...good for you!

Res, freedom and discovery are what life is all about...yay!
And yes, you are Number One, as cee3peeoh so clearly stated.
I think we'd all agree on that
Although there's salt in nama shoyu, the dehydrated veggies seem to come out differently when I soak them in the shoyu than when I just sprinkle them with Celtic. Maybe it's the liquid that keeps them just a bit less dried out. Try both methods for the same amount of time and see how it works for you. I'm curious. My best results came from soaking sweet potato chips in nama and olive oil, then drying them off and sprinkling them heavily with nutritional yeast. They were the best snack! Of course, I ate them all waaaaay too quickly.

[TeePee]

Hello all!!

Just checking in to say hi. busy, busy, busy. Thinking about a cleanse next week, as there are only 2 days of school!! I for sure need to "clean up" a bit!

Hope everyone is well!

[MindUtopia]

Hi all,

Just wanted to check in. I've been doing raw for a week now after my cleanse and just love it. I'm amazed that I just don't think about cooked food anymore. I was planning doing this for a month and then seeing what happened, but now I really can't see going back to a mostly cooked diet. I know I will eat cooked food occasionally when I don't have any other options, but hopefully that will be few and far between. Last night in fact I ended up eating a vegan cooked soup. I've been waiting for a paycheck to come through that's been delayed, so money has been really tight and I'd literally eaten myself out of raw food over the weekend. It's was down to either not eating dinner, or eating soup, so I decided to do the soup. It tasted so rotten! Literally, it tasted dead! I had no idea how spoiled I've been by eating raw. I can't wait to go shopping this afternoon so I can get back to eating good food again.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Take care,
Karen

[nanay]

Hi Nanay, Cee3 , Res, and all~
Nanay, I was talking about the Raw movement outside this site. To my knowledge from all that I've read, and of course, I could be wrong, there are no raw foodist gurus who approve of or include raw meats in their diets. If you were to look through all our wonderful raw food recipe books, you will not find meats in the recipes. You may find tofu in some books that are partly raw, partly just vegetarian. Tofu is a staple for vegetarians but not for raw people. Years ago, I used to eat raw kibbe (made with ground lamb or ground beef) and steak tartare (which is also raw ground beef) and loved it...but aside from living this new lifestyle now, I don't think I'd chance it anymore with all the e.coli out there. And it somehow doesn't make sense to me that Raw foodists who put such an emphasis on assuring themselves good health would even think about eating raw meat. So if you or Cee3 or anyone can find info on raw meat in the Raw Movement diet, I'd be fascinated to read about it.

Hey Sim and all,

Sorry this is so long in coming and so short...i'm a little rushed these days and its taking me more time to eat and think about what i will eat and shop for it etc., than doing the fast.

Here's some quick thoughts:

For raw foodists eating raw meat and dairy, check out Carol Alt. I know she has at least 2 books out and a website called rawnutrition.com. She also has a newsletter I've just subscribed to and an email series called "7 Steps to Raw" and specifically mentions that not all raw foodists are vegan.

Also, check out Aajonus Vonderplanitz....he has 2 books out and discusses the health related concerns in eating raw meat and dairy---he is listed in the reading resource section of the book "The Complete Book of Raw Food" which is a large collection of suggestions and recipes from the top names in the raw food movement. Not sure I agree with him entirely, altho' I think he has some valid points....I am still digesting some of his thoughts and contributions....we'll see. Of course, I'll continue experimenting, reading, and listening to my intuition and my body.

My post cleanse is going great! First day I had 2 pears--VERY slowly over the course of the day. Second day, pear, tomato, sunflower sprouts, tiny bit avo....not all at once of course. Had a cucumber, 1/2 an avo, a kiwi, and my first green smoothie yesterday (orange juice, avo, spinach, frozen banana--i liked it and so did my family!) The kiwi made my tongue irritated, kinda like pineapple does sometimes...does anyone know what that's about? This morning is another green smoothie---frozen berries, flax oil, 1/4 avo, 2 handfuls organic baby spinach, juice of one orange. So far so good!

Energy good and seems to be steadily if slowly improving. Digestion i would call adequate, my stomach at first felt a little tense. I'm still working on slowing down. I notice now how much i eat in a rush or on the fly......not so good, me thinks.

Very excited about raw food....talked to my mil all about it and she is going to make breakfast a raw meal this week...gave her smoothie ideas and she was excited to try them too. Then next week she may try adding raw lunches. Anyway it was fun to share. I'm thinking about doing a little raw prep class or something cause sharing really helps me.

Well not so short i guess. LOL! It's like when I go in the store and think i'm only gonna get a few things...Ha! Well, anyway, thanks for all the stimulating conversation! Can't wait to hear more from all of you!

Love, Nanay
post cleanse, day 4
MC 1--34 days

[TeePee]

HI Nanay,

Real quick, I just saw your post mentioned your tongue becoming irritated with the kiwi. And then you mentioned pineapple. Mine does the same thing, usually happens with strawberries too. Sometimes with the cashew cheese and lots of garlic. I've had this problem before going raw, sometimes with provolone and wine.....and tomatoes, which ususally all came together!! My sister experiences the same thing. Dentist calls it "geographic tongue" because it moves around.... You can google it.. but it has gotten significantly less since eating raw.

[Sunnyshine]

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Dehydrating experiment #1: the salted parsnip chips tasted better (in my opinion). They weren't tough at all. The unsalted ones were still very good--I was surprised that they took on a mildly spicy flavor that's not obvious in a fresh parsnips. I also epxerimented with thickness and the thinner ones were better, as I suspected. Keep in mind that I used red Hawaiian sea salt, which is milder than regular salt.

Now also keep in mind that I've never used a dehydrator before...I was shocked to see how much they shrunk! I literally gasped when I opened the dehydrator... I gasped and then I started cracking up at all the mini-chips I'd made! I had no idea! They were tiny--about 1/3 the size as when they went in. But they taste great, so who cares

[Res]

Hi Everybody:

Busy as usual in here and I'm glad about that. Sorry I'm AWOL - busy at work and I hurt my back. I'm going to live though. I'm grabbing a second at lunch to pop in.

Mercola is definitely not raw and he doesn't believe we should eat ANY grains AND he eats steak tartare but honestly I couldn't do it unless I was starving. He takes free range grass fed hamburger, forms a patty with a little hole in the middle and cracks an egg there and eats it. yesh... he's brave. I love the guy though and agree with a lot of what he says but disagree with some too. I don't think I've found my total guru which is probably good because then I'd stop looking for myself.

So much wonderful stuff said here and so many amazing people completing 35 day cleanses!!!

Be back soon.

Love,
~Res

[joeynicks]

What do you think about the Green Star?

[nanay]

Hi everyone,

Still here, still raw, day 6 post cleanse. Dinner at the in laws tonight, had salad, took an avo, and tomato and made some dressing.....was good and i noticed later that i hadn't really thought about the lasgna on the table at all.

Been out of the house doing raw and taking it with me quite a bit which has worked, but i am feeling the need to have some at home time to experiment and prepare some things too, so that i feel that my food has variety and is satisfying in other ways than just physical. Anyone else notice this? I think it's something about taking time for myself and self-nurturing skills.

Has anyone on here taught or led any kind of raw prep classes? I'm thinking I'd like to try and I would love to hear your experiences.

Dropped almost 5 more lbs. since stopping the cleanse on sat. That's 25 lbs. total plus 4 more before the cleanse---almost all my clothes are REALLY too big now, but i'm feeling anxious about spending money on smaller clothes too.....doubting my ability to maintain I think. Thoughts, insights? I'm going to explore my thoughts about this a bit more, too.

Thanks for making the effort to post, Res. Sorry to hear about your back....I missed your posts and prescence and was wondering if you were ok. I'll keep you in my raw thoughts.

Love, Nanay