Tag Archives: Raw Food Diet

Raw Food – 5 Days In

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Remember that post from a few days ago, the one where I mentioned that a smart person would have prepared their body for the raw challenge? Well, I was right. I am definitely not a smart person, and detox did indeed SUCK. There is really no other word to describe my experience the past few days.

Chills? Check
Headache? Intense
Fatigue? Absolutely
Aches and Pains? Yup
General Feeling of Crumminess? You Betcha!

Now, I wasn’t even sure I believed this business about detox, but let me tell you : It’s Real, and it means business. I may have even had some of those mood-swings I’ve read about, but I’m pretty tempermental already (just ask my husband…or anyone).

I was planning on daily postings about the raw-experience, but I’ve just been so darn tired. Like, 2-3 hour nap in the middle of the day, and in bed by 9pm tired. I would sit down at the computer and my eyes would start to droop. I figured I would have more energy later, but then when later came I was already asleep. Today is the first day I’ve gone without napping, and I feel much better all around. Fingers crossed this is the light at the end of the tunnel I’ve been waiting for. Along with the light at the end of the tunnel mentality, I’m also being strangely optimistic and looking at the silver-lining of the detox situation. The bad things I was warned about happened, so hopefully the good things I was promised will also happen (more energy, better skin, improved digestion, etc.).

Anyway, fast forward to today and I am still going strong at 100% raw. I’ve lost a few pounds, and best of all, Fletch lost the bet. One doubter down, 3 to go (my mom got in on the betting with 2 weeks). Here is a quick “cliff notes” version of the past few days.

Green Smoothie: 1 cup spinach, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1 kiwi, 1/2 cup water

Day 1 Dinner (for 2): 1 head red leaf lettuce, 1 carrot, 1 cup red cabbage, 1 cup broccoli, 1/2 a red onion. Dressing: cold-pressed olive oil, apple-cider vinegar, garlic, pepper.

Day 2 Smoothie: 1 frozen banana, 1 cup spinach, 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries, 1/2 cup water. This is like ice cream for breakfast. I would happily drink this every day.

Day 2 Salad: Romaine, Cabbage, Onion, Broccoli. Wrap: romaine, prosciutto, veggie falafel fail (was supposed to be in ball form, but I have no way of dehydrating, so was a spread instead) sunflower seed, purple carrot, cumin, coriander, cayenne garlic, onion. Hummus: raw peanut, cucumber, zucchini, garlic, olive oil (this was pretty good, if not as smooth as I would like, would make again). This meal was totally hit/miss. We loved the heat from the spices, it made it feel more like dinner, and also the lettuce wrap concept was a nice switch from eating salad with a fork. The wet consistency of everything was just a little hard to swallow (Fletch said is was like baby food). I think we needed some more substance in there, maybe a different green and some sprouts and only one sauce/spread like thing.

Day 3: Dragon Egg (aka Raw Coconut). New favorite kitchen utensils? Hammer and screwdriver to get the coconut water and then crack the shell off. Can you see how tired I was feeling??? I don't have a picture but this mornings smoothie was the same as yesterday, but with the yummy addition of coconut water and some coconut meat.

Day 3 Lunch: Leftover salad with an apple, a slice a prosciutto, and 2 slices of raw cheese. These two little treats (cheese and prosciutto) are so far my only hold-outs from complete veganism. I think they are keeping me sane.

Day 3: We've been to the grocery store every day so far. Today's big find, tomatoes on sale. I love me some orange and yellow tomatoes. Dinner featured a tri-colour tomato salad with avocado, mango, cucumber and a tangy lime-garlic dressing. Rave reviews all around.

May the 4th be with you. I put the smoothie in the Star Wars cup without knowing it was Star Wars Day. Fletch was beyond thrilled. Smoothie: 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen berries, 1 cup spinach, 1/2 water, 1/2 a mango.

I did a little experiment with the food processor (my new best friend). I think they turned out pretty good. Coconut Bars:coconut, dried apricot, carob powder, honey, almond. Molded into a log and then cut into bars. I wrapped them and put them in the fridge. They've been a great grab-and-go snack. I brought one to the movies with me and felt a tad less left out :) Also, Avengers was awesome!

Day 5: No food pictures today because we were busy hosting a garage sale (and by "busy" I mean lounging on the lawn, playing Monopoly, munching on almonds and apple slices, and waiting for customers to show up).

After 5 days I’m getting pretty into this raw food thing. It’s the first time an “eating experiment” of mine has had serious results, and even though they’ve been mostly unpleasant, they have been on track. Besides, results are results and I can’t help but be motivated by any sign of progress. I even
went so far as to purchase a raw food cookbook today (a big step for a 30-day trial, might this last longer?), and I’m very excited to try some of the recipes. Pancakes and maple syrup? Yes please!

As restrictive as this diet is, I’m finding it surprisingly easy to follow. I think the fact that you can essentially have any food, it just has to be raw, is very helpful. That may sound confusing, but what I mean is that there seems to be a solution or substitution for everything that you give up when you quit cooked food. Raw cheese, dehydrated breads and crackers, raw cacao, sprouted grains. It’s all there, just in a different form. I guess for me that is strangely comforting. Even the price of things isn’t throwing me off. It’s more like “this is expensive, so I should only eat what I need”. We’ll see how long this new mentality lasts, but for now it seems to be working.

Now if only I could get my hands on a dehydrator….anyone?

Taking the Raw Food Plunge

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After doing my research I’ve decided that I am ready to try a 30 day raw food trial. I know, you think I’m crazy. I do too. This is the most limiting food challenge I’ve ever attempted. Some friends of mine have taken bets. My husband (he has so much faith in me) thinks I will last 3 days. The other bets are a week and ten days. I’m still taking bets…so just let me know :)

Fortunately I’m not going raw-vegan, so there are still some yummy raw cheeses to look forward to. I did some “market research” in the Byward Market yesterday. My friendly neighborhood cheese expert at La Bottega tells me there are plenty of raw cheese for me to enjoy. They also sell a raw salt-cured beef (we tried a slice – delicious), and prosciutto, now if only I could find a bread-like product to enjoy them on! We also stopped by Market Organics, and I definitely hit the raw jackpot there. They had a whole aisle of raw food products! The only issue is that they are not cheap (I believe I was warned about this). I am feeling inspired though. I see experiments of kale chips, dehydrated crackers and raw-milk yogurt in my future. I also found out that our local farmers market is starting up down the street on May 6th. Too bad it couldn’t be a week sooner (I imagine I’ll be going through a lot more produce than usual), but at least there is a grocery store close by.

Now, although I have been doing my research, a smart person would also be prepping their body. I decided my challenge would start May 1st. I made that decision about a week ago, so I could have had a week to slowly start removing cooked foods from my diet. I, apparently, am not a smart person. As much as I love food, and trying new things, I am psychologically averse to deprivation. Knowing that I am going to go without cooked food for a month (if I make it, which I will) has led to a few days of very bad choices. You would think I was planning on being marooned on a desert island indefinitely….Sushi, Chinese Food, Burgers & Beer. I certainly am going out of cooked food land with a bang….

Man, detox is going to suck. If I thought going off caffeine was hard (just as an update, I have nixed the morning coffee habit, but coffee during the day has slowly crept back into my life…), now I am going off of caffeine, sugar, bread, and alcohol  ALL AT THE SAME TIME. And to top it off detox will apparently make have bad breath. Great…so on top of feeling miserable for two weeks before feeling better I get to smell bad as well.

Why did I decide to do this again?

Exploring a Raw Food Diet

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As you might have noticed, I love exploring and experimenting with different diets and ways of eating. Raw food is one that I’ve been hesitant to try. In my (limited) experience, most raw diets are also vegan. Already being accustomed to a vegan, or even vegetarian, diet and then switching to raw is one thing, but making the leap to a raw-vegan diet directly from an “omnivore who loves to cook” diet seems pretty intense. Especially for someone who would probably list eggs, butter, cheese, and bacon in her top ten list of favorite foods. But, raw foods keep popping up in my life, and I can’t help but be curious.

Aside from salads, or meals that have coincidentally been raw, my first experience eating “raw” was last weekend. We were in Montreal at a family wedding and a group of us decided to try out a raw food restaurant called Crudessence. There was some definite hesitation among the group. How could we have a sandwich without bread? They offer pasta dishes? Made from what???

Four of us decided to be truly adventurous and order the Discovery Plate “a colourful plate of tapas comprised of our best appetizers and Chef’s selections”. I have to say, it did not disappoint. There were kale chips, hummus, cashew spread, vegetable sushi rolls, veggie balls (kind of like falafel), stuffed mushrooms, and some sort of tasty dehydrated crackers (sesame seed I think). We ate every last bit (as evidenced by the photo below). There was also a huge selection of smoothies and juices. Fletch and I decided to try the one we thought sounded the most “out there”. Spinach, almond milk, cayenne, banana, and mint. Weird, right? To my amazement it was delicious. I would probably make this at home and have it for breakfast quite happily.

I returned home to Ottawa thinking that I would probably experiment with raw food sometime ”later”. Much later (it is bbq season after all…and I have just mastered the perfect homemade veggie burger). Then, before I knew it, raw was popping up again.

My friends stopped by for dinner and they left me these tasty little treats to try. Apparently too much coconut for them (not me!).

 At first I was too distracted by the tasty vanilla almond coconut delciousness to realize that they were raw. Then I had a look at the package: raw, vegan, gluten-free. Hmmm, Laughing Giraffe you are clearly onto something here. But $8.99 for 6 balls? Ouch. I can do better than that. Oh no….now my competitive streak has been activated. I’m pretty much doomed right? Possibly, but at least I can learn from my mistakes.

My most recent mistake being jumping into a paleolithic diet completely uninformed. So, this is the information stage. What am I getting into? Should I try going all out (all in?), or just try out a few recipes? What is this raw business all about anyway?

Raw Diet Basics
Just as the name implies, a raw food diet means you eat raw foods. Specifically only raw, unprocessed foods. Raw is defined as having not been heated over 104F/40C. The reasoning behind this, according to raw foodists, is that foods start to lose their nutritional value after they have been heated. More specifically the natural enzymes in food that build proteins, repair the body, and help us digest the food are destroyed once the food is heated. There seems to be some scientific research to support this. I also remember reading somewhere that if the natural enzymes are destroyed the body has to produce it’s own. Apparently (or maybe I am just making this up because I can’t find the source of my info) there are a finite number of enzymes, so people who eated cooked foods age faster once their bodies start to run out. Don’t hold me to this…
Also, people report just generally FEELING GOOD. As quoted from Steve Pavlina’s raw food trial, he says, “I felt totally euphoric during my first raw trial, like I was constantly buzzing on an emotional high”. A natural high, no sugar, no caffeine, no alcohol. Sounds pretty tempting to me…

On the surface, this eating plan seems quite simple. The problems arise when you try to figure out what to eat. Many people have found that they just cannot get enough calories. Seems strange, but I think I understand what they’re getting at. After splitting that huge platter of food I expected to be stuffed, but all of us had the same reaction. “I’m still hungry”. If you try and get all of your calories from vegetables you will literally be eating all day. It’s just not possible (maybe possible, but maybe not realistic). You have to get your calories from somewhere, and most people turn to nuts and seeds. The problem here is that you are literally getting the majority of your calories from fat. A surefire recipe for not feeling good. This is something that I was particularly struck with when I was first looking at raw recipes. I love to bake, so I started there, and I came across this gorgeous looking pomegranate cheesecake (from Russel James – therawchef)

 

Looks great right? I’m sure it’s delicious. What’s it made from? Cashews and coconut oil. Fat and fat. In total there are 3 cups of cashews and 1 1/4 cups coconut oil. Sure, this would most likely be a special treat, but it clearly illustrates the trap of relying on nuts and fatty fruits like coconut and avocado. OK for some things, but really not a good way to eat all the time.

The other difficulty that I’ve heard that people often have with eating raw is the shear amount of time required to prepare their food. For one, you need to eat more food each day to get the calories you need. People seem to be stuck with the notion that their raw food diet needs to resemble a non-raw food diet, and spend hours each day trying to recreate familiar foods like pizza, pasta, breads, and crackers. I get it, but it doesn’t seem practical as a life choice.

The strategy that seems to make the most sense to me is a diet high in fruit (80-90%), followed by fats (like nuts, seeds, and fatty fruits- 10-15%), and then veggies (5-10%). I feel wrong even just typing this. It goes against a lot of what I think I know. Fruit = sugar and sugar = bad. Green veggies = the best. I suppose if I think about it in terms of calories it makes a little more sense. I could eat an entire green salad and only consume as many calories as in a single banana.

Alright…that’s enough food for thought for one day. I think I’ve just about convinced myself to give it a try.

Any thoughts? Do any of you have any experiences/tips for eating raw?