My goal through this challenge is to eat as much raw organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds as possible without breaking the bank. Ideally, and all organic diet would be the best choice, as any chemicals or pesticides are obviously harmful to health. Realistically however, I am not able to afford all organic, but that doesn't mean I have to sacrifice health! What I will be doing is purchasing essential organics, meaning most all greens I consume and all "thin skinned" fruits or veggies. As a general rule of thumb, I will be using EWG's 2011 "Dirty Dozen" Shoppers Guide which can be found here.
http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/
In addition to choosing organic when I feel is necessary, I will also be attempting to consume the foods raw, in their natural state, as often as possible. By this I mean just grabbing and eating, without preparation. In the few months I've dabbled eating mostly live foods, I've learned it can easily become a lot of work to make a "meal" with raw foods. Of course, this journey would be boring if I didn't spice it up, so I will do my best to keep you entertained by concocting dishes that may be pleasing to the eye!
As for the equipment I have available for this trial, other than simple kitchen utensils and a cutting board, I currently only own a cheap, yet very suitable high speed blender, a small food processor, as well as a very cheap, yet efficient dehydrator. Unfortunately, I do not own a juicer, so I will not be able to make vegetable juices, a great sacrifice I am aware of. While not a big fan of carrots, celery, or beats, I occasionally have a desire for them and will not hesitate to seek out and purchase whatever other vegetable (or fruit) I may be craving over the course of the 30 days. Again, utilizing the Dirty Dozen list as prime reference as to whether or not to buy organic will be common practice.
Now the general consensus in the RAW food movement is that the calorie intake on any given day should be divided in the following percentages: 80% carbohydrates, 10% protein, and 10% fat. I am not going to stick to this regime, as through my experiences, I've come to realize that on any given day you're body might want more or less of one or the other. It will be interesting to monitor the numbers for general purposes, so that information will be included, but as another rule of thumb, I'm just going to listen to my body and see where I end up at the end of the 30 days. Actually, I'm not going to set a daily calorie goal, nor keep track of the exact amount of calories I intake. I will be utilizing an online tool available at http://www.calorieking.com/ to keep track of the general amount of calories I consume, but exacts (through weighing and measuring) seem a bit overboard for the purpose of this trial. I figure the best way is to keep it simple.
Another generally accepted fact in the lifestyle of a RAW foodist is that nuts and seeds need to be soaked and dehydrated before consumption. As you may or may not be aware, soaking nuts and seeds not only helps the body more easily digest the foods, but also allows the enzyme inhibitors of the nut or seeds to be released, which ultimately allows you to absorb more of the "live" properties of the food. Enzymes are found in all living things, and are used in the body to digest the foods we eat. Although we produce them internally in our bodies without problem, many RAW foodists argue that by eating more enzymes through live food, we allow are organs to relax and let the food enzymes do the digestive work. Some believe that this contributes to less stress on key organs in the body, and allows longer lasting, more healthy organs. This concept however, has been heavily debated, so to find out more about this, please research! I'm not totally sold, myself, that the idea of consuming more enzymes than we produce ourselves is necessary, but I wouldn't doubt that the concept holds some truth. My lack of research in this area is at fault, but regardless, I have gotten in the habit of soaking and dehydrating my nuts and seeds before consuming, and will continue to do so for the duration of this trial.
Without further ado, what I will be eating!
Green smoothies will be the most popular item on the menu throughout the 30 day challenge. Now, what is in a green smoothie you ask? Basically, any organic greens that I have in the fridge will go in there. This will consist of mostly prepackaged organic greens, usually whatever I can get off the reduced rack at the local market. Some of my favorites already include baby spinach, baby romaine, baby arugula, any spring salad mix, Italian salad mix, etc. Fresh organic kale is also very cheap, so that is a prominent choice to include in any green smoothie. Accompanying the greens will be mostly bananas, which themselves will contribute the most percentage of daily calories of any single fruit or vegetable in the diet. Occasionally, apples, mangos, pineapples, strawberries, or any other fruit I desire may be included in the smoothie.
Raw fruits, as already stated will be an integral part of the diet. Bananas, apples, oranges, pineapple, strawberries, mango, and pears are amongst my favorites that are easily obtainable and at a reasonable price. Simply grabbing a few bananas here or there as a snack, or an apple and an orange when my energy gets low will be just as important as preparing a smoothie. Other than use as snacks, occasionally just chomping on an array of fruits will be a choice in order to satiate my caloric needs.
Veggie salads, usually consisting of a base of baby spinach and romaine, topped with cucumbers and possible avocado have already become a favorite of mine, and were actually a decent part of my diet before jumping into raw food. Previously however, I would deplete the benefits of the salad with excessive amounts of dressings or other equally bad additions such as jarred olives and croutons. I do not currently have a source of raw olives, so as of now, they will not be included. I'm not big on making RAW dressings from extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, as well as various seasonings, so don't expect to see much of that.
Fruit salads, usually created very similar to the above veggie salads, however, mostly without the avocado, might include any combination of fruit that I am craving. Occasionally, I will blend up a combination of bananas and water, with or without greens, sometimes accompanied by another fruit, in order to make a sweet and flavorful "dressing."
Raw nuts and seeds, after soaking and dehydrating, will be excellent choices for snacks in order to get the fat my body desires. I will choose favorites such as cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and flax seeds.
Dried fruit will mostly be limited to handfuls of raisins and goji berries or the inclusion of them upon salads.
Fruit and nut bars are great homemade on the go snacks which I've found help me satiate the fat that my body needs.
Trail mix is also a great homemade snack to carry along on your way out the door that basically provides a similar purpose as the fruit and nut bars.
Lastly... as the holidays are upon us, expect a nice pie recipe or two near Christmas and New Years.
One last thing to note is that I will be making it a priority get at least 30 minutes of non-work related exercise in each day and to intake about 2-3 liters of water per day, which equates to about 6-10 normal glasses of water. I don't have a specific exercise routine planned, and will honestly just be doing whatever it is I feel my body needs for that day, starting slowly, and hopefully increasing the amount of exercise as the trial continues. On days I work excessively or those on which I get some good hard skateboarding in, I may skip exercise that day or the day after. It's all going to be according to what my body is telling me and how I feel. In regards to the amount of water I will be drinking, I've come to those numbers through my own personal research and experience with what my body requires. If you decide a trial like this is something you want to pursue, please find your happy medium for water intake, although I feel it should never be less than 2 liters daily. Every morning upon waking, first thing I will do without exception is drink 1 liter of water. I've done it daily for a month now, and it helps to get everything in the body moving and active, as well as immediately hydrate your body. If there's any coffee drinkers out there reading this, please try this for yourself - you'd be surprised how awake and attentive you are 5 minutes after drinking an entire liter of water! If you've never tried, you can't say it won't work for you, so give it a try! :)
I plan to update the blog daily, but if problems arise, a delay may be imminent. I'll do my best to be as descriptive as possible with what I'm eating and how I've prepared it, including pictures where appropriate. With all of my posts and updates, I will include everything I've eaten that day, as well as a general count of the calories and the ratio of carbohydrates, protein, and fat to see how I'm doing. Recipes for anything that required advance preparations such as the bars, trail mix, and pies will be included where appropriate.
Now that all of this is out of the way, I can go soak some of the nuts I just got in the mail today from http://www.sunfood.com/ in preparation for day one tomorrow! Expect each day to be posted each afternoon (pertaining to the previous day of course), and barring any unforeseen circumstances, within approximately 24 hr intervals as well.
Thank you for reading!
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