I was talking to my middle daughter on the phone tonight (she lives a state away) and she and her husband are trying to convert to vegan with an eye toward mostly raw. And our conversation made me realize just how much I've learned on my raw-journey.
Eating a living foods/ raw diet every day is hard...until you get the hang of things...
Not because of the temptations of cooked food (yes, that's hard too)
But because in my experience...I get hungry every few hours...and if there isn't something raw and healthy ready made or quick to make to eat NOW or within minutes...I will eat anything... or at least I used to...
Now I'm prepared...
1. I keep fruit available at all times...if I am leaving the house at least one if not two pieces of fruit goes with me...because I am guaranteed to be hungry before I get home...even if and especially if it is "just a trip to the market..." (this used to be nuts, seeds, or granola, but now that I am limiting my fat to <10g/day, those days are over)
2. I always have a bottle of water in my hand...most hunger pains are just thirst in disguise...
3. Every couple of days I prepare a couple of long keeping salads (cole slaw, carrot salad, or wow waldorf) and divide into individual serving containers, so that when I'm hungry I can grab one, or if leaving for an impromptu picnic grab and go...
4. I eat more than I used to at one sitting...
Gone are the days of portion control. I used to limit my calorie intake when it was the SAD diet, but now I eat bowls of salad (big bowls not cereal bowlfuls)
How can I do this? I've eliminated almost all fats and oils, including nuts and seeds, the fat intake I do get is from the veggies themselves. I've eliminated all meat, dairy, pastas... Those are on huge calories...whereas my bowl of veggies may only add up to 150-200 calories... it takes a lot of veggies to add up to 1000 calories a day...I do have an occasion bowl of grains (no more than 2 cps per week)...Irish oats, or heirloom red, brown, or black rice, or red quinoa...all are great sources of protein but also pack a caloric punch...so never more than a cupful...the nice thing is that they are filling and take longer to digest so on days I know I am not going to be able to eat every two hours, I eat oats for breakfast, or mix rice or quinoa into my veggie entree... not raw...but definitely helps me stay mostly raw...
5. If I am faced with a restaurant situation (driving by fast food joints, or actually going into a restaurant to meet friends) I push away the temptation of cheating several ways... if it is because of the msg craving (I actually drool driving by KFC and McD because my body remembers my "fix" can be found at those places) I visualize myself as I was, hobbling around with a cane or unable to get off the couch, and as I am now feeling great and healthy...healthy always wins that battle. If it is because I am at a table in a restaurant and my companion is eating a cooked meal and I am eating salad...I focus on how vibrant and bright colored my meal is compared to theirs...and if all else fails (maybe because they are eating prime rib and prime rib always knocks me off the vegan bus) I visualize a healthy happy cow grazing in a field then try to visualize myself actually cutting through its jugular, hearing its screams as I'm being soaked by its blood... I can't do it, so I keep eating my salad with a happy cow grazing in my thoughts...
If you are new to raw, and having a hard time not cheating...I hope this helps
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