Thursday, June 5, 2008

Transitioning

I am living proof that transitioning from a SAD (standard American diet) to a 100% raw diet is very difficult. There are so many reasons and factors about why we want the foods we want and old habits are hard to break. Anyway, I don't know if I will ever reach 100%. I mean, good grief, I can't even go 100% for a day!! But, in the act of TRYING to eat raw, my food habits have changed drastically over the last three months and a "bad eating day" now looks like my "best eating day" three months ago. So, even though I have days that I don't do well, I have to look at the progress I have made overall.
If you are interested in starting to eat more raw foods, or just want to eat better, here is part of an article from Angela Stokes at Rawreform that you might find useful.

Try not to put yourself off going raw by thinking of the big changes - take things slowly, be kind to yourself and don't punish yourself for 'mistakes' - no-one's demanding you must be 100% raw now or indeed ever . The first thing to consider is simply introducing more raw foods into your current diet.
A great tip for beginners is to eat just fruit before lunchtime - perhaps three different acid fruits for breakfast - e.g. pineapple, grapes, plums or nectarines, then snack on something with slower-release sugars like an apple or banana mid-morning to see you through to lunch. Most people find this an easy step towards being raw, as they bargain it off against eating their normal fare the rest of the day; as they get used to it, they realise the health benefits and want to continue increasing their raw intake.
I remember reading in the Boutenkos' 'Raw Family' book that after a few months of eating raw, the packets and products in supermarkets begin to look like toys - I find this to be true - only one area of supermarkets starts to look real - the fresh produce area and I often wander past the other aisles in amazement at all the many brightly packaged things for which I have no use.
Useful transition foods: cottage cheese, sprouted wheat bread, cooked hummus, vegan pesto, all kinds of gluten-free products (esp. pastas and muesli), carob treats, steamed vegetables, cooked gluten-free whole grains such as quinoa or millet.

2 comments:

Melissa said...

This is great!!!

I am extremely interested in the vegan pesto. I'm going to see if I can find a recipe online.

Andrea said...

I think you are doing great, Laurel, and making much progress!