Returning to Raw Foods (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Returning to Raw Foods

[Alex]

This was an unexpected post. I forgot all about the raw food trial that you did and BAM here you are at it again. I think that's great!

I hope you give us an update every now and than about tasty recipes, side effects and health issues, and your overall feeling on and about the raw food diet.

Good luck!

[Jonathan Mead]

That's awesome! I'm doing my best to transition to an all raw diet. I'm probably around 60-75% right now. Slowly but surely..

[Michelle]

Very cool. Please do give us occasional updates. You are an inspiration!

I also never felt better than during the period I ate raw. I think you need to be strong to deal with the social consequences though, and I am just not ready yet. However, even the short period I went raw helped change my life in many ways: I eat many more fruits and veggies and exercise regularly now!

[bart]

I have to admit that when your raw food blogs started flooding, I kinda took a break from your site. I understand the value of the experiment but the complete blog hijack was a bit too much for me. It is good to hear that the 30 day trial you did triggered a need to continue.

I started a Paleo 30 day trial today and I can only hope it has the same impact as your raw trial had on you.

[Rose of Cairo]

Hey Steve! I'm very happy to hear that. I'm going back too, this time with a lot more preparation and background knowledge. I'm transitioning now.

Awesome, awesome, awesome.

[Dave Kaminski]

It's funny. I recently made it a priority to take a good look at my eating options and habits and you continue to discuss it.

[Dan.Linehan]

I suspect a raw diet that is slightly higher in oils and fats will remedy any skin problems.

Also, do you use Dr. Bronners? I'd highly recommend that product line. The stuff basically cured my decade-long dandruff problem, like it never even existed.

Congrats on the new diet!

[beel]

awesome! congratulations steve...

[Akashic_Librarian]

Ach I feel horrible saying this, but my parents have banned me from going beyond vegetarianism, its such an anti-Stephen R. Covey attitude but i'll be damned if they will change their minds!

Anyway this is really cool news Steve, I really want to know how you get on with it, hmm a post in twelve months would be very revealling me thinks?

[sebzzz]

Glad you're back to raw food. I'm on raw food since early January, but still in detox.

I don't have a hard time at all with the food, I love it very much and I think that this and knowing deep down that it's the right way to eat helps me stay on the diet.

I still have mucus in the morning, some random fatigue, weird sleep patterns and weird bowel movement patterns but I'm positive that it will come to an end soon as it's not unusual to experience detox symptoms for a couple of months.

I documented myself a lot by the same time. I'm following a low fat diet but I don't measure my fat intake, but I do take lots of greens, much more than Steve took on his trial. I also alternate between them. There is so much available.

[Lisa McGregor]

I'm most interested to hear about the mental clarity on raw food. I remember that you had problems with dry skin on your previous raw diet and i'm sure that if you include oils and fats of the healthy variety you'll be o.k. I also would like to get back onto raw diet. I do find it very difficult though.(psychologically)
Best of luck
Lisa

[Curyous]

I'd really like to try eating more raw food, but I'm not sure how to do it. Can someone please point me toward some resources?

[Andrew Brunelle]

So, Steve's back on the wagon...of raw foods. Great. I eat maybe 50-60% raw now and it is definitely worth doing in my book. It's just hard to do it at social gatherings. I'm sure there's a way around it.

[Technicolor Tim]

Congrats on going raw, Steve! I'm experiencing amazing results with the raw lifestyle myself, and can't see myself eating all that much cooked food in the future. Best of luck with it!

[sebzzz]

Originally Posted by Curyous

I'd really like to try eating more raw food, but I'm not sure how to do it. Can someone please point me toward some resources?

I think the best place for all things raw food would be Living foods Don't let the simple design fool you, it's full of good info. I especially like the forum board. People there are very open minded.

After that, you might also like Raw food explained

[RRR]

I found a great restuarant out in Vegas while I was vacationing and scoping out a new place to live last weekend. Go Raw Cafe. There is one in Summerlin/Spring Valley, on Lake East Drive near the corner of Sahara and Durango. According to the website, there is another in the east off of Windmill lane, I think thats in Henderson. A big menu for any of you LV residents who want a complicated raw meal.
Go Raw Cafe - Living Cuisine & Juice Bar In Las Vegas, NV

Was there a reason you had such a restrictive diet without spices and onion? If you increase your fat do you expect the fat meals to decrease your energy as they seemed to in your 30 day trial? I've noticed the diet isn't that complicated to follow aside from the social restriction; Do you think you can continue on it longterm without the photographing and weighing?

[saule]

I am very excited that you posted an update on your raw food diet. I've been wondering how you were doing. I am a new to raw-foodist myself (2 months 100% raw) and it was very interesting and informative to follow your trial. I know you won't be recording and updating your every calorie, but I do hope you will post once in a while about how it's going. I think you will find it much easier now that you decided to include more fat in the diet. I also think more raw oil and other fatty foods in the diet will help with the dry skin. Best of luck to you Steve!

[Phill]

Alright. While the 30 day raw food experiment was interesting, it didn't really get my attention. This posting has. I am going to look into this approach. It sure makes sense. Thanks for some of the above links by posters.

I more than likely will move toward raw gradually too.

Thanks for this update, Steve.

Phil
Life from Phoenix: Great Livin' at 105+

[Curyous]

Originally Posted by sebzzz

I think the best place for all things raw food would be Living foods Don't let the simple design fool you, it's full of good info. I especially like the forum board. People there are very open minded.

After that, you might also like Raw food explained

Thanks, I'll check them out.

[Bodhi]

I'm glad to hear you are going back to raw. I'm looking forward to updates on how the diet is working for you. I'm also glad that you are going to steer away from the 80/10/10, I tried it and didn't like it. I'm currently eating eating a mostly raw paleo diet and its working very well for me. I think protein and fats are very important for our bodies.

[krackato]

I'm pretty surprised that you went back to a Raw Diet, but I think it's awesome that you're going back. I have friends that love the raw food "lifestyle."

[jt0802]

What's preventing you from eating food cooked and raw? There's nothing against raw foods, but why focus on that only? There is a universe of food out there, and restricting yourself to eating only food that is raw seems very limiting to me. (Ok, I am very close to the restaurant industry, love to cook, and am married to a chef, so loving all food is paramount in the household). There is some variety with raw foods, and of course, the closer to the original state, the better, but--sure, carrots and broccoli can taste ok raw, but sautee them with a little butter and soy sauce, throw in peas, chicken, etc. and voila, you've got yourself a stir fry. And how about soups?

[modeca]

I found this post via a raw food community I'm part of . I've been experimenting with raw for the last 8 months or so. I totally agree that the energy boost a raw food diet gives you is very noticeable and a real boost.

However, I was nearly 100% raw at the end of last year and I actually lost nearly a stone in weight (and I'm a skinny person too!). At first, I thought this was great but I was clearly not listening to my body. It culminated in a couple of episodes of fainting. This has never happened to me in my life and was quite worrying.

My doctor confirmed there was nothing wrong with my blood pressure, heart rate etc and advised me to think carefully about my diet and calorie intake.

Since Feb I've been supplementing my diet with some cooked foods and small amounts of fish and meat to boost my calories and to make sure I get enough B12. Vitamin B12 deficiency is one of the most serious problems that raw foodist and vegans in general can experience. There's no real plant substitute that provide bio-available B12 and if you are totally meat/ dairy free you need to be really careful and consider taking a supplement.

Anyway I don't want to dis a raw food diet, but I recommend that anyone interested should do plenty of research and ease themselves into it gradually.

[ehillis]

I would think that you get an excess of most vitamins and minerals on this diet, but is there anything that you miss out on? I drink protein shakes both for recovery from long ultimate practices and tournaments and because I have trouble keeping weight on. The powder is processed but not cooked, I think. How would protein shakes, or similar supplements, fit into this diet?

[overstep]

Hi Steve's avatar

If you went raw a part of all of us went raw as well. This is also true in reality. Before January 1st I was 20% raw, after reading about your raw trial I gradually raised it to 80% and it stays like that, but I have a sensation that it will go higher soon.
I'm used to eat 5 apples and 10 bananas during the day between the meals, I have a whole stack of them at home and at work.

[tinatina]

Hi Steve,

I didn't understand what you are trying to say about your urine pH changing from acidic (cooked food) to alkaline (raw food). What does it imply? Is alkaline urine better than acidic?

[Joeschmoe]

I don't have any advice. I know it to be true that you are fully informed on all aspects of the diet from the perceived lack of protien to b-12 "issues." I know people think that they are being helpful, but i think Steve is that last person that needs help with vegan/raw diet issues.

I just want to congratulate you on making this switch for yourself, free of doubt. You are an inspiration to many.

[rawbecca]

I started reading your site because of the raw food trial, but now I stay because you talk about things that not only apply to raw food, but life in general.
I especially like the thought about being an example (albeit, a non-verbal one) regarding things you've changed in your life. It's a challenge for me to feel social when I seem to do such weird things, but reframing it so that I am acting as an example (and not a snooty one) will help me access the courageous part. All the things I've done in the past, that have really helped my life, have been helpful for others and I just need to accept that not everyone will hug me and shower me with money because I caused them to look at their own life.

[Thomas Veulemans]

Hi Steve,

During your 30 day trial I think you advised one of your readers who had started to eat a lot of fruit to keep a fairly low fat intake. From your recent post it seems that keeping such a low fat intake is not a focus of yours. At the same I guess you are still going to eat a lot of fruit... Would you mind sharing what led you to change your mind: new information you came across, how you felt during your various trials, or yet something else?

Kind regards,
Thomas