Trying to go veggie/raw...perhaps some advice? recipies?

dumb_blondes_rock

Ok so I am one of those people that things come to me at about 1 in the morning when i can't sleep. I watched this show called secret lives of women and it was about extreme dieting, and one of the women on there was on a raw diet and she was ranting and raving about how wonderful it was blah lbah blah...anyways, during one of my insomniac nights i was watching another show, oprah, that was talking about where our food comes from and how meat is and all this, then right after that blood sweat and takeaways came on and they had to work in a chicken factory in thailand (where a LOT of out meat comes from) and it was sooo horrifying, and it was even as gruesoime as i know it can get....so i thought to myself "i really want to try to become vegetarian." Now i also know myself and i had to tell myself that if i don't like it then i can always go back, but i wanted to give it a fair shot. so then i remembered that one show about the raw girl and i went online and looked it up and seen the most amazing transformations in people i have ever seen! Some lost massive weight, but didn't have all that weird skin and such, and when people lose a lot of weight they tend to look older, but these people looked so young and full of life. so then i told myself i would give an honest shot to trying to become raw, at least 75% raw, so i set little goals for myself and did TONS of recipe research and whatnot to really get excited about it. and it is sooo interesting how people create dishes that we are used to eating out of different things (like "lasagna" or "chocolate cupcakes"). So for right now, my first goal is to give up red meat and pork(making homemade biscuits and gravy tomorrow morning and thats the last of the pork in the house) and in a month from now i have to incoopoorate at least 3 vegetarian meals into the week. and hopefully by february of next year i will be completely vegetarian (with other little goals in between). But one of the goals is to try a raw food meal once a week, so i really need some recipies that you guys like, or even just vegetarian recipies in general. and also jsut any upbuilding stories you may have about becoming veggie or raw.

p.s. I also am trying to do this because i'm the main cook(ok....ONLY cook) of the house and so what i cook, my dad will have to eat and he has psoriasis probably over 75 % of his body and no medications are working and that was one of the sucsess stories i have read about a few times is people overcoming psoriasis and ezcema(which i haveand dont' want to be on steroid cream for) Also, i am in the beauty industry (cosmetologist) and we will try ANYTHING to maintain our youthful apperance, so what easier way than to "eat away your wrinkles"...actually if i become raw and make a recipe book i should call it that haha...

p.s.s. has anyone seen that movie food inc? if so please tell me if you enjoyed it or not. and sorry the post is sooo long!!

marii92

Hey =] I don't have any raw recipes, but it sounds interesting. Could you link me please? Which show was it?

Oh and good luck!!

dumb_blondes_rock

http://www.giveittomeraw.com/

http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/raw-food-weight-loss-diet.html

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/09/26/weightloss.angela.stokes/

http://www.giveittomeraw.com/forum/topic/show?id=1407416:Topic:75478

http://anotheroneyearproject.com/episode-14before-you-grocery-shop-again-food-101-with-michael-pollan/

http://www.wetv.com/video/34919619001/extreme-diets-going-raw

here are some websites that have to deal with what i had mentioned...hope it was helpful, as it was extremely inspiring to me

dumb_blondes_rock

oh i forgot the blood sweat and takeaways one....http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/blood-sweat-takeaways/

jelben

The BBC Good Food website has lots of fabulous recipes - not necessarily raw food, but wonderful vegetarian, vegan, low-calorie or law-fat recipes. Here's the link:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/vegetarian/

Have fun!

Oh, and an inspiring book to read is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

makeitallsue

bump, sounds interesting, would like to look into more when I have time. Thanks for sharing

dumb_blondes_rock

thank you so much or the link and book suggestion!!

acakeforawife

You might want to check out the blogs Choosing Raw, and Veggie Girl

http://www.choosingraw.com/
http://veggiegirlvegan.blogspot.com/

Both have a lot of resources for the raw / vegan lifestyle, but they also just show a lot of the stuff THEY eat and how they manage their food, so it's really interesting and let's you see a REAL person does it.

Good luck!

newbierun14

I'm a new vegetarian. I started with a new years 2010 after reading many books on just how bad meat is for the environment, our bodies and of course the animals from which they come from. I have to say the beginning was definitely difficult, I would go for a non vegetarian meal at a restaurant and then have to consciously think, oh right I'm not eating that anymore. After the first month it definitely gets easier, and I feel so much better! I don't feel sluggish, when I go out for runs my body feels like it has the energy it needs. It's also a lot of fun finding new recipes and figuring out what to eat.

For recipes, I generally pick a vegetable or a food I want to eat that day/night for dinner and just do a google search. There are so many websites with lots of recipes. The big thing to watch when becoming veggie is not relying on cheese or fried things to "make things taste better." Food taste great simply prepared, but our bodies thing that since we aren't having meat we need cheese and oil to make veggies taste good.

I've never done raw, but I do eat lots of raw vegetables and try to keep cooking to a minimum. If you have any questions just ask! I'm more than willing to help another future veggie!!

sissy56

In reply to the original post, my husband and I watched Food,Inc on TV last week. Yesterday, we went to farmer's market to make arrangements with the grass-fed beef and free range chicken farmer to start getting meat from him. That pretty much says it all. It's a great movie to watch if you're looking to get away from processed foods, but prepare to get really angry with the food industry.
Fast Food Nation and The End of Overeating are 2 more books about how the food industry tries to manipulate consumers at the expense of our health. Sorry for the soapbox-type reply.

Modari

This is great to hear! I have been mostly vegetarian (I occasionally eat free range chicken/fish) for nearly 15 years. I decided to become a vegetarian when I was 15 after reading "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins. My husband is vegan so I really only know how to cook vegan foods. I have been experimenting a lot with raw desserts lately and have to recommend "Ani's Raw Food Desserts" by Ani Phyo. You seriously won't believe that these desserts are good for you (in moderation)! There is an amazing chocolate cake with frosting made with avocados. Sounds weird, but it is to die for.

Another book that I would recommend to anyone that is interested in vegetarianism or nutrition as a whole is "Healing with Whole Foods" by Paul Pitchford. It is an amazing reference book about nutrition and has a lot of great recipes. I have a few friends who are holistic nutritionists who swear by it.

Good luck!

sexygenius

one cow feeds many families-one chicken feeds only one family-also chicken's are typically treated much worse and their diets are aweful-buy lean grass fed beef-super low in sat fat- and much better for you and the enviorment/animals- i would go veg- but animals are far to tasty..

perrim

I did a raw diet for about 6 weeks before getting pregnant with my first child about 4 years ago. I felt fantastic, lost about 5-10 pounds and really enjoyed it. BUT, it takes TONS of time, preparation and $$$$$. I don't think I'll ever go back to 100% raw, but I do try to eat at least 50% raw on most days and although I haven't officially sworn off meat and dairy, I eat very little of it now and try to make sure that it's organic or at least grass fed, no antibiotics/hormones, etc.

The things I really enjoyed when I ate raw was my "green lemonade" which (if I remember correctly) was a drink I juiced with kale, celery, basically anything green (the darker the better) a fuji apple and 1-2 lemons. I found my juicer and dehydrator essential tools. There are lots of great books out there on the subject. Check out the raw food detox diet, anything by Gabriel Cousins, and anything by David Wolfe.

Just consider yourself warned that it takes tons of dedication if you want to go 100% raw at some point. Personally, I think at least 50% raw is great. The people I know who have eaten 100% raw for an extended period of time do not seem healthy to me. You lose vital nutrients restricting your diet that much and they're usually really weird too just kidding...sort of!

dumb_blondes_rock

I'm a new vegetarian. I started with a new years 2010 after reading many books on just how bad meat is for the environment, our bodies and of course the animals from which they come from. I have to say the beginning was definitely difficult, I would go for a non vegetarian meal at a restaurant and then have to consciously think, oh right I'm not eating that anymore. After the first month it definitely gets easier, and I feel so much better! I don't feel sluggish, when I go out for runs my body feels like it has the energy it needs. It's also a lot of fun finding new recipes and figuring out what to eat.

For recipes, I generally pick a vegetable or a food I want to eat that day/night for dinner and just do a google search. There are so many websites with lots of recipes. The big thing to watch when becoming veggie is not relying on cheese or fried things to "make things taste better." Food taste great simply prepared, but our bodies thing that since we aren't having meat we need cheese and oil to make veggies taste good.

I've never done raw, but I do eat lots of raw vegetables and try to keep cooking to a minimum. If you have any questions just ask! I'm more than willing to help another future veggie!!

that is the major reason why i wanted to go veggie...i mean yes it is sad the living conditions and the way the animals are treated...but the health factor is what is doing it for me. thank you so much for the tips, i need all the help i can get lol. I am going to try to get soy cheese, but i am not really a cheese person(i don't need it on tacos or eggs or have to have it on things of that sort). I'm going to try to retrain y palete to actually like the real food instead of the greae and oil.

dumb_blondes_rock

I did a raw diet for about 6 weeks before getting pregnant with my first child about 4 years ago. I felt fantastic, lost about 5-10 pounds and really enjoyed it. BUT, it takes TONS of time, preparation and $$$$$. I don't think I'll ever go back to 100% raw, but I do try to eat at least 50% raw on most days and although I haven't officially sworn off meat and dairy, I eat very little of it now and try to make sure that it's organic or at least grass fed, no antibiotics/hormones, etc.

The things I really enjoyed when I ate raw was my "green lemonade" which (if I remember correctly) was a drink I juiced with kale, celery, basically anything green (the darker the better) a fuji apple and 1-2 lemons. I found my juicer and dehydrator essential tools. There are lots of great books out there on the subject. Check out the raw food detox diet, anything by Gabriel Cousins, and anything by David Wolfe.

Just consider yourself warned that it takes tons of dedication if you want to go 100% raw at some point. Personally, I think at least 50% raw is great. The people I know who have eaten 100% raw for an extended period of time do not seem healthy to me. You lose vital nutrients restricting your diet that much and they're usually really weird too just kidding...sort of!

I read a story about a woman who couldn't bget pregnant for years, and went on the raw diet and whithin a few months became pregnant.
And i have to say LOL about the weirdo thing cause i know exactly what you meant....almost like they make *raw marijuana brownies* or something cause they are almost a little spacey.My family is full of hippy-ish type people , especially my mother, so trust me when i say i know EXACTLY what you are tlking about

thank you for the book suggestions! i will definantly have to hit up barnes and nobles

dumb_blondes_rock

In reply to the original post, my husband and I watched Food,Inc on TV last week. Yesterday, we went to farmer's market to make arrangements with the grass-fed beef and free range chicken farmer to start getting meat from him. That pretty much says it all. It's a great movie to watch if you're looking to get away from processed foods, but prepare to get really angry with the food industry.
Fast Food Nation and The End of Overeating are 2 more books about how the food industry tries to manipulate consumers at the expense of our health. Sorry for the soapbox-type reply.

i don't know what soapbox reply means lol...but thank you for your take on food inc...i just didn't want to expect something and it be completely boring or anything. I'm already upset at the fast food industry for making food that i like so much that makes me have celulite at such a young age lol(ok so its really my fault, but isn't it always easier to blame "the man" for our faults? lol)