Your whole food, plant-based life.

Raw Food Challenges

pumpkin

I was recently asked, “what the biggest challenge that people face when they first go raw?” It’s a great question because raw can confuse people. Do I need to be 100%? All the recipes look so confusing! I wouldn’t even know how to start!

It may be a bold statement but in reality, raw is much easier than cooked. You can throw a meal together in minutes. And clean up is so easy. All of our recipes are very tasty and quite simple, so use them. You get energized by your food instead of feeling like you have to go and nap. Plus there are no dirty pots and pans with baked on food to deal with!

There are different approaches to going raw. I believe in learning how to replace unhealthy food with healthier versions. Trying to go 100% raw all at once can be difficult and potentially set you up for failure. It is like learning to count from 1 to 100 without any of the numbers in between. That is my philosophy, not everyone’s.

You can start to make real changes once you get over 51% raw. The easiest way to do this is with the green smoothies. They are easy to make and very easy to incorporate into your diet. Greens are extremely valuable to us. By simply throwing a handful of spinach into a blender combined with some fruit and a few dates, you have guaranteed a big serving of the nutrients that are so important to our health.

Zucchini Flat Bread

My second piece of advice is: be prepared. Make sure you have some flat breads on hand that you can throw some veggies on and make a sandwich. Or spread with a cashew cheese for a quick snack. Once you get used to it, the pre-planning becomes quite simple. It just requires a little forethought.

Setting up your pantry also helps. Subscribe for Rawmazing’s Updates and get a PDF chart of my pantry set-up. The sign up is in the upper left corner of the website. Just sign up and when you confirm, you will receive an email with a link to the pdf. Make sure your confirmation doesn’t get stuck in your spam folder!!

Start by planning to replace one meal a day. Or make sure the meal that you eat contains 51% raw food. You will be amazed at what a difference it makes in your life and how easy it becomes to make changes. Little changes lead to big changes and before you know it, you feel like a completely new person!

Share Via
Share on Pinterest
Share with your friends










Submit

9 Comments

  1. sue wrote on February 24, 2010

    I have been raw for 3 days now and it is a constant struggle especially since i am waiting for surgery and feel i am a bit depressed.All i want is comfort food.Hot chicken soup meant comfort to me so I have to change that thinking.
    my husband wants only meat and potatoes so all my food is for me.Wow is it a struggle I make his favorite dishes and I can’t eat them.I have good reasons to be raw and it is the person I am but it is still hard.I was raw in the past but never for more than a month.I am going to make the sweet potatoe fries for tomorrow.That is what is the hardest -soaking and then dehydrating then eating -talk about impulse control!!!I found a cranberry raisen carrott apple scone recipe that is amazing and I made them and froze them so I can have them when the craving hits.When I went raw last time my dr did my cholesterol-i swear she had her script pad out ready to put me on lipitor but the reading was so low she alsmost fell off her stool.I no this way od eating works and it is amazing but it is so hard to convince my friends and family.
    thank you for reading my rant and would be happy to email any othe raw foodies like me.sueleroux@yahoo.com

    Reply
  2. Nadia wrote on September 19, 2009

    I agree, transitioning into a new diet and not jumping right in is the way to go.
    I went from being a processed food junkie and meat eater to being a vegan who eats about 85% raw and no longer east any processed food, over the course of 2 and a half years, and I feel great! I didn’t get any side effects that people get when their body’s go from standard american diet to vegan over night.

    Reply
  3. Eating Raw Foods Info wrote on September 13, 2009

    Good post. I appreciate your approach to going raw. I agree that if people try to go from the SAD to 100% raw , they are bound to get frustrated, feel hungry and give up.

    We eat between 70-80% and I feel good about that. We also eat whole grains and beans/legumes. I find I need these sometimes to feel full and get a shot of protein.

    Reply
  4. Lori- pure2raw wrote on September 13, 2009

    Great post. I get the same questions as well. My answers are pretty similar as well. I always tell people that raw is easy and not scary. And that once people start incorporating the smoothies into their diet they are amazed by the way the feel!!! I love that!!!I know still for many people it is difficult to process or make that change though I feel with education and having the right attitude helps!! Being prepared is a great idea… having things on hand is key!

    Reply
  5. Michelle Mangen wrote on September 12, 2009

    Susan:
    You truly inspire me to eat more healthy and reading this post shows that it can become second nature by making just small changes in our current eating habits.

    I’m going to have to download your pantry list you mentioned!

    Michelle @mmangen

    Reply
  6. Eco Mama wrote on September 11, 2009

    Another gorgeous photo! Such beautiful colors…

    Reply
  7. Hanlie wrote on September 11, 2009

    Nice post! I really believe that we should make changes gradually, otherwise we struggle to maintain our new lifestyle. This is what has finally worked for me, and I am not eating much more raw food than I ever thought I would.

    Reply
  8. Trevor wrote on September 11, 2009

    Another great article!!! Thanks Susan!

    Reply
  9. Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) wrote on September 11, 2009

    Your food always looks so yummy! I love it.

    Just wanted to swing by and let you know I have 2 Giveaways goin’ on, Stevia and Chia Seeds. Just wanted to pass along the info 🙂

    Reply

Post a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.