"5 Foods I Will Never Eat On A Vegan Raw Food Diet" -- RawRadiantHealth

Hello again. This is me checking in tonight to share with you a video I found to be most supportive for those (going) on a raw vegan lifestyle. I have heard from other raw foodists on this lifestyle that things like agave and namashoyu are fine- yet in this video Natasha reveals why they are in fact not 'health' foods, even if they are raw! One thing I would like to add is that salts, any salts, even the healthiest salt you can think of- Himalayan Pink salt, is not necessary nor beneficial for the body. Now- just like I promised I will tell you why. In my next post! Gonna go get some zzz's. <3 Take care. ^^

First REAL Blog.

Hello, fellow Earthlings!

Welcome to my blog.

This will be my FIRST 'real' blog entry for my FOOD oriented blog you are now at.

"You are here", says the directory map. ^^

Anyways- I decided to start blogging here every day from this day forth- and today is my mom's birthday too, how special! In honour of my mom I give you... Fruity-Turtle!

(I failed, oh well.) 

Ha, ha, ha.

So as you can see from my first post.. I am a raw 'foodist'.
Not a Buddhist.
A Fuddhist!
Uhhh.

I like to eat raw foods. All day, e'ry day. My philosophy iss.. that eating.. a diet comprised of fresh living fruits, herbs, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and leafy greens- un-cooked & un-processed- is the healthiest way to go- baby. ;)

"Then God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you." ~ Genesis 1:29

Muahahahaha, now you believe me.

>:)
     ;)

My personal ideology about all this is that well- we are only humans, we need to eat. It's not what's best for the plants and animals we eat- but it's necessary at the moment. So, I try to better consider their lives since they better ours everyday, and allow us to live with their life.

Obviously I will not support the current systems of greed, hatred, and ignorance these animals are literally enslaved within. I will not buy a product that wasn't 'created' in a way that is best for all- if I can help it. So- I am a vegan. However, I am not an 'ethical vegan'. I don't that think of plants as less then myself as a human- or less then animals. I actually would have no problem eating animals -- if they weren't shot in the head (which is how meat is 'harvested' on many 'holistic' organic farms), if that is what was available. If the animal simply died from old age, or if I lived in a place where hunting was a way of life and the animals were respected- I would eat meat, and be grateful for it. Simple. 

Animals and plants should be equally respected, and respected as equal -- honoured, served (and eaten) as life- one with who we are. No pun intended.

After having stopped supporting the current abuse of animals, from 'factory farms' to 'real farms'- with my money, my dollar, my vote, what is left is plant foods. So, now- how can I best serve (and eat) plants? ;) Pun intended.

Everyone knows you can cook em'. However, I believe that eating most vegetables in their raw state is a 'no-brainer' to keep the plant as fresh, crisp, and nutritiously delicious as possible. Cooking fruit is what I would call "fruit-abuse"- it totally cancels out all the benefits by adding unhealthy (sometimes toxic) ingredients to the meal.

As far as grains, and legumes go, I just don't enjoy them as much as I enjoy fruits. White rice is okay without salt -- but everything else just doesn't 'cut it' taste-wise (for me) without salt. I will expand on why I don't eat salt in a later post.

Off the top of my head we have...

Quinoa (KEEN-WAH) -- not very tasty, to me.
Lentils -- not very good, in my opinion.
Rice -- Delicious w/ salt, and pretty good without if it's white rice.
Beans -- Delicious w/ salt.
& Oatmeal -- Delicious with lots of things!

Then there's sprouted -- baby grain and legume plants- which contain raw starch just like their parents. These are not the best for digestion for that reason. They don't really appeal to me anyways- unless it's sprouted bread we're talking about! -- http://www.foodforlife.com/about_us/genesis-129  ... just kidding.

Yes- this is where I got my quote. No, I don't get paid to advertise for this bread company. :-)

I will do a blog about sprouts.. later. :)

Next, we have cooked starches. (Who doesn't love a potato covered in butter, topped with cheese/sour cream and laden with salt? RIGHT?) Here - we have potatoes - which I have gone off on a tangent with, and sweet potatoes, yams 'n' corn.

I have chosen to not include these foods in my diet because, 1. I have to cook them, 2. they are not optimal compared to fruit, and 3. they only taste good with toppings! Why did I need honey and raisins with my sweet potato, anyways? Perhaps it was my body asking for some real fuel -- fruit!

Frederic Patenaude, one of my role-models in this movement, (The Raw Food Movement!), eats cooked foods. So really you're not gonna die if you're eating oatmeal for breakfast or a sweet potato for dinner on a lenient raw foods diet. If that's all you've got, eating is healthier than not eating- and you need to eat a lot of carbohydrates to be at your personal best. Yum.
So, eat cooked 'carbs' if you want/need to, this is about health, not purity or superficiality. High carb diets are undeniably healthy for you cooked or raw.
It's also easier on on the pocketbook sometimes- to eat cooked.
At the moment I've committed to going all out, I'm not struggling to live this way (I'm only about 2 months in) so, why not go for fruit instead of cooked denatured grains and starches when I simply feel.. like eating something simple!?
P.S. (As I'm editing this blog post) I can tell you that what I have consumed on a raw foods diet in the past four months has been less then optimal, to put it plainly. I will blog about my struggles thus far soon enough. So, really, don't be afraid to eat cooked if you need to. You're not gonna die, even if your ego does. ♡ ♥ ❤

Tip: Do not identify yourself as a 'raw-foodist'- do not identify with a particular personality as a healthy person- If you have to identify with something- let it be the foods that are nourishing you, one and equal as life as who you really are in the physical, as the physical. Be a healthy person by taking care of yourself- as all, as one, as equal, here as the physical, take responsibility for yourself as everything here, and I mean everything of yourself. 

Disclaimer: No one can really tell you what you like, what you enjoy, or what you need.. but -- ME! No, actually I mean you. So, listen to your heart and if you're resonating with me- that's coo', too. Live the passion(fruit)ate life. Here is the first moment of the rest of your life.

Ehemm.. anyway. So after this realization that I didn't even enjoy most cooked foods- that I was mainly addicted to salt- and seriously craving carbs (honey is basically sugar, and raisins are literally dried up fruit- both seriously concentrated), I knew right away. I was gonna be a low-fat, high-fruit, raw vegan.

Let's talk briefly about macro nutrients. Here we've got carbo-hydrates (sugar-holding-water), proteins, and fats. For a fit, energetic, and healthy body, and a big grin on your mouth -- I recommend to you a low-fat, high-carb, raw, vegan diet.

This can be accomplished by eating lots of fruit, unlimited veggies, and small portions of fat when desired, which is found mostly in nuts, coconut meat, seeds, avocado and durian. Literally that's all you need- 'as God says'. ;)

In macro nutrient levels of; 80% carbohydrates (80 percent of calories coming from carbs), 10 percent coming from protein, and 10% from fat, you will be up and rolling.

Adopting this lifestyle will also solve most symptoms/consequences you are dealing with/facing with regards to health.

Willing to try it? Make sure to research this diet first @; foodnsport.com, 30bananasaday.com, thebananagirl.com, durianrider.org, fullyraw.com, fitonraw.com, fredericpatenaude.com, -- and so forth. You'll want to check out these 'peeps' Youtube videos for sure. Definitely explore the possibilities on a raw food lifestyle on Youtube, and learn something new.

Also- at cronometer.com you can track your macro nutrient levels, which I recommend for newbies on the raw food lifestyle. It is fun to learn about what you're eating. :-)

If you have any questions just ask me, comments are welcome.

Black Friday eBook Giveaway from Brandi Rollins

Are you interested in the benefits of a 'raw food lifestyle'? 

If you are, you should go check out rawfoodsonabudget.com! 

  For this years Black Friday Giveaway, site creator Brandi Rollins will be giving away buckets of eBook prizes to many lucky winners. Each will receive the 3-eBook package shown below. That's more then 500 pages of raw information to get you started- or simply more well-read on the subject. Winners will be selected from this Friday on up 'til Sunday. So, don't miss out on this!  

Check it out @: 

http://rawfoodsonabudget.com/events/black-friday/comment-page-1#comment-76363

Enjoy!

UPDATE: I won these three eBooks, yay! Thanks Brandi. :)