deleted thread

 

Oh hey.

Umm, let's see, experiences... experiences... I've been raw for 4.5 years now, you'd think I had a few to share.

Actually, I'm curious about how many people out there doing raw are taking supplements, and if so, which ones?  There are some pretty great choices out there these days, hundreds more than when I got started.  I would have loved to have Thor's Raw Power and Nature's First Food back then.

 

Yeah, MSM is great.  I mix about a tablespoon of powder into my glass liter-bottle of water and drink from it all day.  It's improved my digestion considerably.  I also take a little bit extra after workouts, because it really does decrease workout recovery time and reduces soreness and all that good stuff.

Other than MSM there aren't any "specific" supplements I do on a regular basis.  I'm a big believer in getting as much as you can from whole, fresh foods... which of course is what being raw is all about.

I've been thinking about being a raw foodie for months now. Right now I'm vegan but I've had days of 100% raw and felt awesome, but I'm holding off full time until I get a dehydrator.

Really the dehydrator thing is an excuse to put it off until I'm totally mentally ready. I tried about 4 months ago but was unprepared and felt deprived but only because I worried myself into feeling that way. For some reason cooked foods are a huge crutch for me.

ANYHOO, is there anything I should know that you came across or have seen as an oddity/issue? I plan on the big switch in roughly a month or so.

I have mixed feelings about dehydrators.  They're totally unecessary for success in raw foods... but they do provide an outlet for converting cooked recipes to raw, and a tool for being creative with raw foods.

Dehydrated foods don't tend to be terribly healthy to base your diet around, so -- and I know you've already identified this but I'm saying it anyway -- don't let the lack of having one stop you from going raw.

I was going to post a whole lot more about this, but I turned it into a journal post instead.

As for your question about oddities along the way:

Personally I just underestimated how often my body's needs and appetites would change with regards to food as the seasons changed and my activity levels fluctuated.  I would go a week or two eating similarly every day, feeling like "hey I've got this under control, it all makes sense to me now!"  But without fail, somewhere along the line I'd feel very differently and have to respond by eating differently... and by the third or fourth week, the weather would have changed enough that the same fresh foods either wouldn't be available or just tasted differently somehow.

Hard to explain.  :)

Just be prepared to change as the seasons change, as your emotional states change, as you exercise more or less, as you go through your menstrual cycle, and so on and so forth. 

Get really in tune with your intuition, if you aren't already, because going raw means you're going to be relying on it.

Thanks a ton. I started today with it (dehydratorless), and I'm content. My little two year old has been grabbing all my food and gobbling it up, so it seems like he knows whats good for him, too. I'm pretty excited about it in general.