Eating Raw - Get Started Now!

You don’t have to give up the foods you’re used to eating all at once to start becoming more healthy and to start eating raw, organic and live foods. You know the best place to start changing your life and your diet? It’s at the grocery store, of course. Even if you’re at a good weight and pretty healthy, take a tip from dieters. Go shopping with a list and don’t go to the grocery store hungry. Make sure this shopping trip you can resist those Oreos and potato chips.

Clean out your refrigerator and your cabinets. Throw out the half-empty bags of snack foods. Put any microwaveable foods in a dark bag and stash them somewhere in the back of the freezer. Out of sight, out of mind.

Stock up on dried fruits and nuts for snacking. Transform your kitchen from a processed food haven to a healthy kitchen. Invest in a good juicer. Clean out those crisper drawers to get them ready for an influx of new organic and raw foods.

Load up on fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains. If you can’t give up meat and fish, consider getting super fresh tuna that you can just sear and serve with sesame seeds and a small amount of soy sauce. (I’m getting hungry just thinking about this!)

Make eating this way fun. Invest in those big, white square dishes that are good for serving sushi. It’s easier to arrange small portions of different foods that way. And getting new white dishes will be symbolic of this new, purer way of eating. Get some good chopsticks so you can take your time eating. This is really fun!

Go to a bookstore and get a cookbook or a food book so you can learn about eating raw foods. Buy a big vase and a bunch of sunflowers to symbolize letting the sun into your diet.

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Raw Until Dinner?

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So, let's say you're interested in a raw food diet, but aren't sure you can do it all the time. That's ok! You don’t have to eat 100% raw, certainly not to start. It's not easy to change habits overnight, especially when so many of us are conditioned to think of food as reward and comfort. Dinner at night with family or friends is something many of look forward to.

If you aren't ready to switch completely, try just eating raw foods throughout the day. If you go to work every day, take carrots, apples, grapes or dried fruit with you to munch on. If you usually go out to lunch during the day, go places where you can get a salad. If you take a lunch to work or school with you, include sprouts and fruit with it.

Steamed brown rice and vegetables and a little fruit might not sound very interesting, but I think you'll be surprised at how much energy you get from it. If you’re like many people, fast food lunches make you want to crawl under your desk and take a nap in the afternoon! They make you sluggish and tired. A lighter lunch of raw foods can keep you energized throughout the day.

The business culture is different these days, and there’s less of a routine than there used to be with a morning “coffee break” and then “lunch hour” and an afternoon “break.” That routine doesn’t work for a lot of people any more, but you can still get hungry during the day. By taking a variety of raw foods with you to work, you can munch periodically during the day. Sometimes it’s better to eat to avoid getting hungry. If we let ourselves go too long without eating, you end up feeling hungry and deprived - and that’s when it’s easier to make poor food choices. Eating raw foods periodically throughout the day will help keep your metabolism humming along, and keep your blood sugar at steady levels.

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