I need all your expertise.....beginning the RAW journey

[Guest guest]

Hello one and all!

My name is Tammy and I'm embarking on becoming RAW to be healthy.

I've been lurking and reading much here and on the internet and from

books I have purchased because I am genuinely interested in becoming

RAW. I have many obstacles to overcome......a husband that's

resistant to changing his menu, 20 years of diabetes

(insulin-dependent), 2 very little children who are naturally

resistant to changes in their diet, and in-laws who think I am a

health nut whacko. In the past 4 years, I have, and still do follow,

the Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type guidelines, seen a Naturopath, make my

own baby food, and have recently begun the Dr Natura Colon Cleanse.

All of these changes have been difficult and arduous and exhausting.

I don't think I will succeed becoming RAW unless I make gradual

changes to my lifestyle. If I try to change too much too fast, I will

become overwhelmed and just have to give up. So, I am most interested

in your ideas on how I should begin the transition, keeping in mind

all the obstacles and resistance I will have to endure. Even if

my husband will not become RAW, I can work on a gradual change in his

diet. He is willing to try new things as long as he is still getting

some of his (sad to say) unhealthy stuff along with it. I am open to

ideas!

 

Thanks!

Tammy

[Guest guest]

Hi Tammy,

 

I have had to go slowly, as well. There are so many ways to do it.

And the specifics depend a little on what type of raw diet you want

to do. Have you done any reading on particular issues with being on

medication for diabetes and changing your diet? Some people will

tell you you shouldn't eat much fruit, but from all the research

I've done, that doesn't make sense to me. However, there may be

things you'll want to do to keep yourself more stable as you

transition, and I'm not sure of the specifics of that. I would

trust Dr. Doug Graham's advice, if he addresses that (new book

coming out any day).

 

I've been on this path for about 2-1/2 yrs. First, I just read a

LOT and researched online and participated in groups like this. It

took me awhile to get enough info to understand how I might actually

eat this way. I found that the type of raw diet that made the most

sense to me is Natural Hygiene based (simple, lots of fruit, some

veggies, tender greens, a few nuts and seeds if you wish). So once

I had figured that out, at least I knew what I was aiming toward.

Since I hadn't eaten a huge variety of fruits before, I began by

just trying some new ones. I'd do a little research, and just buy 1-

2 new things a week. I also began having a whole meal of fruit here

and there to see how it felt and realize it was possible. In a few

months, I progressed to having fruit almost every day for my first

meal. Then I added the second meal. This was harder. I wasn't

able to do it every day. But I was able to do it pretty

frequently. After a few months, I was doing 2 fruit meals almost

every day. I tried doing all-raw for 1 to several days a few

times. I could feel my body cleaning house. Then I decided to do

one month raw and was really starting to feel good, but having a lot

of cravings, and ended up going back to eating some junk. Right

now, I'm doing my 2 fruit meals, with some days being all-raw and a

few stretches of a few days. I'm really starting to pay more

attention to how I feel when I eat different foods, and am naturally

wanting more raw and less junk, which is nice.

 

Some people feel it is easier mentally to go 100% raw and eat as

much complicated recipes, nuts, desserts, spices, etc. and work on

gradually simplifying the raw diet than to keep eating some cooked

food. Who knows? Everyone's different.

 

My husband was very resistant to all of this at first, but I think

he was worried I was going to try to change him, or I was going to

change so much that our relationship would change. I came to the

point of being less invested in him changing, and reassured him that

I loved him and that we can grow and change and continue to accept

each other. He started having one fruit meal, and now does 2 most

days. He is interested in getting healthier, but needs to go at his

own pace and it needs to be his choice. But he notices he feels

good eating this way, and he will also eat pretty much anything I

put in front of him.

 

You could also try just adding more salads, having fruit for snacks,

or having fruit before " regular " meals.

 

We eat large smoothies almost every day (bananas, frozen berries or

mangoes, and romaine lettuce is our current favorite). Also just

large bowls of any kind of cut up fruit (honeydews lately,

persimmons). Or applesauce (pureed dates and apples). If I go raw

all-day, I usually have a big salad for dinner.

 

This got kinda long! Hope it helps a bit.

 

Good luck to you,

 

Laurie

 

 

 

rawfood , " kirakait " <TLWaithman wrote:

 

If I try to change too much too fast, I will

> become overwhelmed and just have to give up. So, I am most

interested

> in your ideas on how I should begin the transition, keeping in mind

> all the obstacles and resistance I will have to endure. Even

if

> my husband will not become RAW, I can work on a gradual change in

his

> diet. He is willing to try new things as long as he is still

getting

> some of his (sad to say) unhealthy stuff along with it.

[Guest guest]

Thank you, Lauri. All your ideas are great ideas. It looks like this will be

my most difficult journey in changing my diet....to date. Taking it slow will

keep me in the ball game. As far as worrying about blood sugars and diabetes,

I'm not worried at all. I take no medications other than insulin. My mother,

who is also diabetic, has been going to an alternative doctor who has changed

her diet to 80% raw. She eats fruit all the time now and her blood sugars have

never been so excellent and " in control " and level. (We have both been diabetic

for 20+ years now). It does seem to contradict what medical doctors and

so-called " nutritionists " prescribe for diabetics. Fruit is usually a food

minimally allowed as it supposedly raises your blood sugar (severely in

diabetics). That is not what is being observed in my mother's experience with

an 80% raw diet. I believe in results, not theories...what I observe to be

true, and not what someone tells me is true. If it's working for my mom and

bringing her blood sugars down (fruit and all), and she is decreasing the amount

of insulin she has to take, then slap me in the face if I don't take heed of

those results!!!

 

I really enjoy hearing about your gradual transition to RAW. I do not care how

lengthy the post is, believe me. I found it to be most helpful and profoundly

reassuring. I am happy to learn that your husband is making the gradual change

as well. I do think my husband will probably follow in your husband's footsteps

as long as he can do it at his own pace too. I am wondering, however, how I am

going to get my (nearly 4) year old to eat veggies. She does not like

smoothies, but this could also be her age. She is always ebbing and flowing

when it comes to different foods. My 1 year old, however, will drink and eat

just about anything I give her, as long as I don't repeat more than 2 days in a

row, lol! Already a " variety-eater " . I will go looking online for others with

young children and learn some of the tricks they use to get this good nutrition

into them.

 

I have a Vita-mix blender which I got to make my own baby food a couple years

ago. Bonus! I guess this appliance will be a great addition to helping us go

RAW as well. But I'm thinking of getting a dehydrator now. Do you use one? Do

you know of a decent one I should look into to purchase?

 

I really appreciate your help, thank you!

 

Tammy

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Tammy - don't worry about your 4 year old and vegetables. Let her eat as much

fruit as she wants and she'll be good to go.

 

Check out www.rawschool.com Nora is a Natural Hygienist and she eats virtually

no vegetables.

 

I've often wondered if we played with food with a child what would be the

success rate of green smoothies with that child. Let her play with the spinach

and taste it THEN put it in the blender with a bunch of fruit. Let HER put the

fruit in and taste each one before it goes in to show her it's all fruit and

that the spinach doesn't really taste bad. Maybe don't call it spinach, if she

doesn't know what it looks like already. Sometimes, or a lot of times, kids

have preconceived notions just from hearing things on tv or from other kids

about taste or icky this or that.

 

Just some of my early morning thoughts.

 

Shari

 

 

[Guest guest]

rawfood , " kirakait " <TLWaithman wrote:

>

> Hello one and all!

First of all, don't obsess over it. If it's exhausting, you won't

keep it up. Take it easy and make your changes gradually. I did it in

four days but I didn't have anyone but myself to consider. Start with

yourself and then incorporate more raw food into the meals you fix

for your family. Don't push anyone to change if they don't want to.

When other people (your husband included) sees how much better you

look/feel, they'll want to know what's going on. Some will want to do

it, too (though not many), some will admire you for your

determination " , and lots will think you are insane. However it works

out, I wish you all blessings!

 

Tommie

http://reallyrawfood.com

Going on 17 months raw!

 

> My name is Tammy and I'm embarking on becoming RAW to be healthy.

> I've been lurking and reading much here and on the internet and from

> books I have purchased because I am genuinely interested in becoming

> RAW. I have many obstacles to overcome......a husband that's

> resistant to changing his menu, 20 years of diabetes

> (insulin-dependent), 2 very little children who are naturally

> resistant to changes in their diet, and in-laws who think I am a

> health nut whacko. In the past 4 years, I have, and still do

follow,

> the Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type guidelines, seen a Naturopath, make

my

> own baby food, and have recently begun the Dr Natura Colon Cleanse.

> All of these changes have been difficult and arduous and

exhausting.

> I don't think I will succeed becoming RAW unless I make gradual

> changes to my lifestyle. If I try to change too much too fast, I

will

> become overwhelmed and just have to give up. So, I am most

interested

> in your ideas on how I should begin the transition, keeping in mind

> all the obstacles and resistance I will have to endure. Even if

> my husband will not become RAW, I can work on a gradual change in

his

> diet. He is willing to try new things as long as he is still getting

> some of his (sad to say) unhealthy stuff along with it. I am open

to

> ideas!

>

> Thanks!

> Tammy

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Tammy,

 

Sounds like you have a great attitude to help you on this journey.

That's exciting that your mom has found a doctor who advocates a lot

of raw and that she's seen success! My understanding about the

blood sugar stuff (which comes from Elchanan, an owner of the

group " Path of Health " at

http://health.PathOfHealth/) is that the

culprit is fat, rather than sugar. I can't explain it fully, but

it's something to the effect of the fat blocking the absorption of

the sugar. If you are interested in that, you might want to check

out that group and search the archives and/or post.

 

I don't have experience with kids--hopefully some others can chime

in on that aspect. Some things I've heard people mention are: don't

try to force certain foods; get them involved in food selection and

preparation; prepare fruit in some way rather than expecting them to

eat it whole; have lots of yummy fruit around and accessible so they

can see it, get used to it, start thinking about it and wanting it,

and where they can even reach it. Certain recipes off the top of my

head are: sliced bananas with a bit of date sauce poured on top

(pureed dates w/a little water); wraps of chopped fruit inside

lettuce leaves; chopped fruit w/chopped nuts on top; mixed fruit on

skewers. A couple great sites that talk about raw kids you might

want to check out are mawintheraw.blogspot.com and

www.livingmom.net.

 

I use my Vitamix daily right now, but haven't gotten into

dehydrating. The name I see the most for those is the Excalibur--

maybe others can help with that question, also. You might search

ebay for deals.

 

Have fun!

 

Laurie