Advice on Raw Diet For an Actice Person

[Wehey]

Hiya all....my 1st post here!
I am very interested in trying raw foods and was wondering how it would work with someone who does a lot of exercise (me)

I lead a very active lifestyle with windsurfing, kayaking, cycling and gym work being some of my activities. The problem i have now (eating a normal processed/cooked diet) is getting enough calories and quality protein to keep my energy levels up (3500+ on very active days) and to repair tired muscles.

Would this be achievable on a raw food diet as many of the foods would be low calorie types? (i presume)

Any advice would be great!
Thanks

[hatsoff2halford]

There are a ton of raw foodist who are very active and get even more calories than that. It's definitely possible. Look up Charlie Abel, that will show you the potential.
Not all foods are low calories. Nuts and seeds are VERY high in calories, bananas are relatively high and avocados are high in calories as well. After awhile you just adapt to having to eat whatever it takes to fulfill your requirements. It may seem like you're eating a lot, but your body instantly uses whatever you eat for fuel, and it's usually very easy on the digestive system.

[Wehey]

Hi,
Thanks for the quick response.....
Are there and good sites out there with more onfo on what you can actually eat? Meal plans etc as all the sites i have come across seem to want to charge you for the info as if its all some big secret?

[Defiance]

Hi Wehey,

Yes, yes, and yes! You can easily fuel your body for your active lifestyle with the raw food diet. The problem you are having now, and why you need all those unneccessary calories is that your diet of processed/cooked food is so deficient in nutrients that your body is constantly craving nutrition. Your body can't absorb the nutrients that have been altered by heat, and most of the enzymes and nutrients have been destroyed anyway during the cooking and processing. Calories are not the issue--your goal is to get as much nutrition per calorie as possible! We have been brainwashed to worry about calories, and that is not the answer. You don't need a ton of calories! That is detrimental to your health and longevity.

Since going raw from an Atkins diet about a year ago, I eat MUCH less than I did before, but have much more energy, feel better, am never sick, and I am working on gaining more muscle for my upcoming fitness competitions. I do take in quite a few superfoods, because I have a very active lifestyle to support as well. It may be hard to believe now, but a tiny amount of superfoods and good whole foods will give you so much more available nutrition that you will have far more energy on almost no calories!

As far as what to eat, please check out my blog at Defiant Health!. I am posting recipes for free and also recording my progress toward my next competitions. Check out the page about protein--there are a lot of answers on there. Also an excellent website for tons of free raw recipes is Gone Raw | sharing raw, vegan recipes and advice. Some of my recipes are on there, under the name Jukebox.

Good luck, and contact me if you need any help or advice!

Christy

Be Defiant!

[MasterD]

If you are that active, I would definitely go for the 80/10/10 approach: FoodnSport | Home of The 80/10/10 Diet & Dr. Douglas Graham .

[Dimond]

Some other websites:
Charlie's Gym
Tim VanOrden
RawFoodFrank
Storm Talifero

[Wehey]

Excellent advice...thanks to you all!!

So, a quick question........would oats and wheat flakes (as brought in health food store) be classsed as raw foods??

[TropicThink]

I'm about 80% raw, and it works wonderfully. The remaining 20% or so is usually protein dense foods or even some grains. I currently train twice a day six days a week, so I consider myself fairly active.

I AM losing weight, though, but that's part of the plan; I'm getting back into boxing and slimming down (A LOT) to make make weight.

The effect of eating raw has been astounding. I never even thought about boxing again until I started eating raw last year. It's made me feel like 18 again (I'm 33). Things that had seemingly been gone forever, like my reflexes, quickness etc, are now back. It's just nuts. I didn't know how shitty I had been feeling until I started eating raw. I've been an insane health geek all my life (I'd stay up at night reading about the molecular structure of nutrients when I was 14), and even though I despite that fact ate incredibly unhealthy for a number of years (and lived a very unhealthy lifestyle in general with constant partying, too little sleep etc) when I did eat what was considered healthy by conventional standards, I didn't really feel very healthy. Going raw changed all that. Now I'm definitely the healthiest I've been for at least ten years, and it just keeps getting better.

I experimented with raw foods when living n Australia in the late nineties, but I guess the incentives weren't good enough back then seeing as I was already in pretty good health etc. I wish I'd just gone for it. The years between then and now would have been better for sure.

Try it. You don't have to go 100% raw. Even if you went 60% raw it'd be great, but I think the you'll see the REAL benefits at 80% plus. I go 100% raw here for short periods here and there as well, but hang around at about 80% most of the time, because it's easy and because that does seem the ideal ratio right now as far as gains in the gym etc go.

Personally, I'd advise you to stay away from eating too much fruit. You can certainly eat quite a lot of it being active, but I find that it is MUCH more beneficial to get those calories from other sources. Fructose isn't that great, and I don't like the long term effects you see in a lot of people on the fruitarian or the 80-10-10 type of approches. For fairly inactive people I think a high fruit diet is total madness (but then, why would you be inactive and expect to have good health?), and while it works for a lot of active people I do think there are probably better ways to take care of ones health. For a lot of people I actually think going OFF fruit (and high glycemic foods) for a few months can be a really, no, REALLY smart move. I do know there are fruitarians who are very, very healthy, but I think - at least long term - that they could be even healthier if they ate a little less fruit. That's my opinion, though, and as you know, everybody's got one.

If you just start by adding more raw foods to your diet, the transition is remarkably easy. Add a salad here, a green smoothie there etc. As you gradually eat more and more raw foods, the crap starts falling away almost by itself. And getting enough calories isn't very hard at all if you know what you're doing.

Biggest challenges: the detox and your friends / family / significant other. Overcome those, and I think you'll be eating raw for a long time. I'll NEVER go back to eating mostly cooked foods again. Raw is great. I hope you try it.

[Wehey]

Hi there.....thanks for the comments.
I am definately going to give it a try. For me its just a matter of collecting together enough info before starting and knowing what you can eat. At this stage my knowledge is limited. I went shopping this morning with the intention of filling my trolley full of good raw foods but when i got there i really didnt know hat to buy......Ok, there was tons of foods there....but what do i do with them??? Do i just chomp away on a brocolli?? Do i just munch on some nuts......???? Its making something out of all the foods that baffles me.....how do you put it all into a meal???
I ended up with apples, bananas, grapefruit, rasins, dried dates, mixed nuts, sunflower seeds, oats, tomatoes, peppers and a few more bits that i cant remember........what now??

[danas]

Originally Posted by Wehey

So, a quick question........would oats and wheat flakes (as brought in health food store) be classsed as raw foods??

no, they are processed

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Wehey

Ok, there was tons of foods there....but what do i do with them??? Do i just chomp away on a brocolli?? Do i just munch on some nuts......???? Its making something out of all the foods that baffles me.....how do you put it all into a meal???

Foods are there to be eaten, so I suppose the smartest thing you can do with them now is to eat them

Some people use juicers, blenders, dehydrators, they "cook" real meals with recipes and all that stuff. You can buy raw "cook"books, learn recipes and create complicated dishes with many ingredients. I've heard it tastes great.

Or you can simply take the foods in your hand and put them into your mouth. That's what I do. Yes, just munch on some nuts. Or greens or fruits. Why does it seem so incredible to you, isn't it the most natural thing in the world? You can eat fruit, greens, veggies, nuts and seeds "just like that". Getting hungry? Grab some food, eat it till you're rassasiated, that's it.

I recommend mono-meals for optimal digestion. That's when you eat only one food at the time.

Beware, nuts often aren't raw!

I wish you a lot of fun experimenting!

[Dimond]

You can eat these foods as is or use them in recipes. I have a link below and there are many other available on the website or in books. Broccoli or other veggies can be chopped up and made into a salad on it's own or with other ingredients. I have a mini chopper for that. Oats (in groats or flakes) can be bought raw, but rarely in a store. Raw grains require soaking overnight.

[TropicThink]

Good tips from Rose and Dimond. Definitely get yourself a monster blender and make a ton of green smoothies. Great health rarely tasted better!