Raw Beginning and Detoxification

[Maine Mama Doula]

Hi Mamas!

I'm 7 days raw vegan now, transformed from SAD (Standard American Diet). I started with the gall bladder / liver detoxification outlined by David Wolfe in The Sunfood Success System. The oil on Day 4 made me nauseous, but I held it down for 10 hours and passed gall bladder stones on Day 5 just like it said I would!!

The reason I started this diet is for my health and well-being. I am 75-100 pounds overweight. Most of this is due to stress and alcohol. My youngest, now 16 months, was diagnosed with a coarctation of the aorta at 9 months and had heart surgery that day. My world has been chaos for quite some time and I drank late in the evenings to cope. I put on 35 pounds AFTER having my last baby. My oldest just turned 4 and DS is a few months shy of 3. All the rest of the weight was gained through the three pregnancies. I was not overweight before having children.

I am LOVING the raw foods. I have been playing with being a raw vegan for a few months, but it wasn't until this cleanse that I actually decided to move forward with it. I haven't had a drink or coffee or meat or any medication in a week now, which is a lot for me. I was taking Ambien every night to sleep prior to detoxification.

The only concerns I have right now is that I am very tired (big change from insomniac) and very sore. I imagine the soreness will go with the weight and the chemicals in my body. Maybe the tiredness is just another side effect of detoxification?

Any other mamas out there detoxifying now? Any other mamas relatively new to raw veganism? Any imput from veteran raw vegans would be great too. I look forward to and welcome this new world of RAW.

[naturekate]

I'm a raw mama too and love it! As I type I'm eating raw key lime pie icecream and it's fabulous. In case you're interested it is:
2 large avos
1/2 vanilla bean
pinch sea salt
juice of three limes
3/4 cup agave

blend in food processor and freeze for a few hours. It's fabulous topped with raspberries or peaches.

Congratulations on discovering raw foods. I too believe it is the path to health (at least for my body). Pain is most likely detoxing. If you are low energy I would try eating more bananas and juicing. Keep up the good work!

[Maine Mama Doula]

Thanks for the reply!! I figured more fruits or even just more calories for energy. I've had chronic back pain for years which only got worse as I got bigger and breastfed three babies one right after the other!! I was surprised that it seemed to be getting worse, but now I'm just doubling up on the bras and that seems to help.

On Mother's Day, my Dad cooked up some spaghetti for dinner because he didn't want me to have to cook. He doesn't seem to get my new outlook on food and life. I ate it because I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I'm not letting it set me back in terms of moving forward. Only because it is all so new did I let one meal slip.

The key lime pie sounds great - thanks for the recipe!

Where do you raw-fooders buy the more "unusual" ingredients? Like vanilla beans or cacao beans...

[calynde]

You're doing awesome!

I would suggest eating a LOT of fruit for breakfast (or green smoothies)...it's where you will get your much-needed calories and hydration.

If you have a juicer, I would include a big green juice everyday.

Sleep as much as you can!

Movement will help. Even just dancing around crazy for a few songs every day. I do this on my mini trampoline and it makes me laugh at the same time, which can only be good!

A bit of sunshine every day will also help with the cleansing.

Combine the movement with the sunshine and it's just bliss.

Drink plenty of water upon waking.

Raw is AMAZING.

[Maine Mama Doula]

Green smoothies are great!!

I definitely need to work on the sunshine and exercise. Naps and weather seem to always be getting in the way, but I remember a time when I would run no matter what! I need to get back to that!

I'm loving the support/motivation here! I definitely need it. I had some wine the last couple of nights. I think that won't be allowed anymore because it makes me want cooked foods. =)

[naturekate]

I think it depends. Once you have been raw for a while, a lot of raw foodists drink wine or sake (the authors of Raw Food Real World for example), but you should totally listen to your body. I wouldn't drink wine while I was detoxing, but I do drink it in the evenings once or twice a week.

Also, and again detoxing is different, but I'm one of those people that feel like you don't always have to be 100% to gain the health benefits. While you are getting started eating 100% is probably very helpful, but again, on a more sustaining level I eat about 90% raw.

[Maine Mama Doula]

I've been doing a lot of reading and I'm thinking about a juicefeast. Have any of you raw foodist done this? www.juicefeasting.com

[Weisabunny]

Wow that is so incredible you passed gall bladder stones! I don't know anything about that but I'm sure docs would love to have go into surgery or something! Well done you!!!!

You have a lot going on with all the sweet kiddos! I have 2 myself. Fall 2009 one morning I woke up and my foot hurt, no more walking for exercise for me. That took 6 months to heal. Then I pulled my back, took 9 months to heal. Then I got SUPER tired and irritable. Took several months but found out I have chronic fatigue. Went to a naturopath on and off for almost a year, lots of money and time with no results. So all in all, my body was literally yelling at me to slow down!!!

Then everywhere I turned I heard RAW or met another person eating RAW (I'd only met one other person in my life). So I started researching it. I've been high raw for 5 weeks. I feel better than I've felt in a year at least. I just went through a tremendous stress (3 yr sick for a week, went to ER for dehydration, so I thought, appendicitis, surgery that night, in hospital for 10 days - VERY stressful for me). I never would have been able to survive that eating SAD, never! Yeah, I'm tired and stressed, but I'm functioning! No way on SAD.

That's sweet your dad made you dinner for Mother's Day. Sweet too you didn't want to hurt his feelings. It is hard trying to get others to get it. I just ask for salads, people seem to get that. And when I do eat SAD I fill up on salad first, use a smaller plate (not dinner size) and have just a little.

Re where to buy vanilla beans and cacao, depending on where you live... do you have a big chain like Whole Foods? Or a local coop or health food store? If not, there is a lot online. Even amazon.com has a lot of raw and super foods.

If you haven't already, you gotta check out Raw Food Rehab. It is the BEST site EVER!!!! A woman named Penni runs it. It's kinda like Facebook in that you have your own page, can connect with others, share photos. I have found it soooooooo resourceful, supportive, encouraging, fun, exciting. It has made it sooooo much fun for me! So many great recipes, photos, articles. And Penni posts video blogs. She is so kind and loving. If you join, look me up. I think you can put my name it Cari in the search and I'm the first one up there with a blue jacket on drinking my breakfast, green smoothie =).

Its been a process for me but very amazing ride.

http://rawfoodrehab.ning.com/

[christianmomof3]

Can you do raw food without the juicing and smoothies?
I don't have a juicer, but I do have a vitamix.
I don't like smoothies at all though.
I have made strawberry limeade and I like that though.
I also don't have a dehydrator although a friend of mine has one and I could borrow it if I knew what to dehydrate in it.
I love love love salads - that is my favorite food and I like to put lots of stuff in them so that is a good start I guess. But I also like my homemade breads and some cooked veggies and eggs.

[Maine Mama Doula]

Originally Posted by christianmomof3

Can you do raw food without the juicing and smoothies?
I don't have a juicer, but I do have a vitamix.
I don't like smoothies at all though.
I have made strawberry limeade and I like that though.
I also don't have a dehydrator although a friend of mine has one and I could borrow it if I knew what to dehydrate in it.
I love love love salads - that is my favorite food and I like to put lots of stuff in them so that is a good start I guess. But I also like my homemade breads and some cooked veggies and eggs.

I've been using a juicer my mother bought me, but I just ordered a Blendtec (Vitamix's rival). You can juice with a Vitamix, you just need some nut mylk bags. Blend all of your ingredients together and then strain and squeeze into a large bowl through a nut mylk bag. Poor into a glass, or in my case a 1 quart mason jar and enjoy!! For my juicefeast I am planning on using the Blendtec for most of my juices and they recommend a Vitamix over a juicer for juicing.

I have a dehydrator and I've never used it. I'll save that for when I have some more time to experiment with raw ;-)

David Wolfe's The Sunfood Diet Success System is what got me launched into raw and my favorite website right now is http://www.juicefeasting.com I am starting my juicefeast this Saturday and hope to go for 92 days. I have 85 pounds to shed and plan to do that with the juicefeast followed by 100% Raw veganism.

Also, thanks Cari for all the information!! And David Wolfe says that everyone eating the SAD will pass something like 300 or more gallstones with the gallbladder cleanse ranging in size from a pepper seed to something like an almond (not sure where the book is to quote right now).