I am working my way to raw a bit slower, trying to gradually increase time I am raw each day and see how it goes.
I switched to all raw breakfasts first (about 3-4 weeks ago), once I was comfortable and in that habit, I started in on lunch. At first, I made a big salad for lunch, and then had a small serving of cooked dinner leftovers around 3 or 4 pm, that need for extra protien was a hard habit to shake...plus I was getting used to the volume I needed in raw food.
Now that I have more recipes, and am getting into my shopping habits, I have changed all my snacks to raw, no more hot tea, and I eliminated the afternoon 'protien' snack.
So far, I am now raw from morning until about 6 or 7 pm, and I am moving my dinners to more and more raw content. I am very happy at this state.....I feel great all day, and my medical problems (gastric related), love the raw foods so far.
I have had some cravings for chocolate, and sometimes breads.......but by telling myself to stay 'raw' through the day but not to the point of complete deprivation, I have done better then I have on other drastic food changes. While I do not have a weight problem, medical issues have driven me to A LOT of food restrictions over the last few years, so I have dealt with these crazy cravings before (although I have lost 3% of my body weight over the last 3 weeks which I am not complaining about).
If I get comfortable in this stage (raw until evening), and if it feels right, I will go ahead and replace my dinners as well and make the 100% plunge. But I am not pushing it at this point, I am just watching how my body reacts to different options and combinations, and taking it from there.
I am not a vegetarian right now, so this is double change for me, and something I am surprised at how relaxed and peaceful it feels to move into. Previously I was open to telling everyone around me all about the food path I was heading down now (removal of wheat, eggs, lower carbs......). But with these changes, I have remained silent, feeling like this is more something I would like to take on myself with none of the typical commentary from my coworkers.....and that I would rather see where this journey takes me instead of setting up paticular expectations.
All in all, this raw path has been a pleasant one, and am happy to see where it will take me....which is a first for all the diet related changes I have made over the years. I always felt 'I will do this for 3 months, and then bring such and such back in' kind of approach. This feels more like a permenant shift, and I find myself focusing on the different aspects of the food I am eating, rather then what I am not (example, suddenly kiwis right now are the most pretty and juicy and freshest things I have eaten, and thats so much fun to enjoy in that moment). That keeps me motivated to continue, I am excited to see whats around the next corner.
Erin
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