Saturday, May 14, 2011
Monday, May 02, 2011
Trial & Error: Raw Food
The past few weeks I've been learning about and trying out a modified version of "the raw food diet". I know it'll be near impossible to stick to it 100%, so I've been doing as much as I can.
I've been trying to limit or eliminate my intake of the following items:
And I've been trying to include more of the following, but I still have a lot of work to do in this area:
Items from the above lists were taken from The Raw Truth: The Art of Preparing Living Foods
. The author puts them into categories that range from "Bio-Destructive" to "Bio-Regenerative". This book in particular also says that 60% of your food intake should be items from the "Fresh Foods" category, 20% should be from the "Sprouted Foods" category, 10% should be from "Cultured Foods", and the last 10% should be from "Dried Foods".
However, I have also heard that as long as at least 51% of your food intake is raw, you're set. That way, your body gets enough of a break from processing non-raw food items.
Luckily, to help me in this food-venture, I have been very fortunate to receive a gift of a Vitamix blender/food processor from my Mom. With this new toy, I have been able to try all kinds of juices and smoothies that I couldn't have tried otherwise. To give you an idea of its power, this machine will liquify carrots!!
Since the above-mentioned book spoke so highly of sprouts, I have tried twice to grow my own sprouts and have had no luck. The first time I tried lentils - and they sprouted like crazy! - but I had put way too many in the jar and I had to give it up. The second time I tried garbanzo beans, and after a few days they just turned black in the jar. I'm guessing they should have been put on a tray or damp paper towel after the initial sprouts came out.
In terms of my diet, what I've been doing during the week is having one mostly-fruit/some-veggie smoothie in the morning, a mid-morning snack of a banana, a regular lunch (sandwich, salad, yogurt, etc.), then a mostly-veggie smoothie in the evenings. On weekends, I'll have 1-2 smoothies each day, allowing for 1 meal per day to be more of a social nature. (i.e. going out with friends to a restaurant)
I'll admit, it was very difficult for me to follow the above regimen during the week-long break from work since there was no real routine. I went to the grocery store today to restock on plenty of fruit and vegetables so I can try out 5-6 new smoothies this week and get back into it.
That's that! Hopefully, I'll be able to update again with some more progress!
I've been trying to limit or eliminate my intake of the following items:
- chemicals
- preservatives
- hormone-based animal products
- synthetic materials
- food cooked in aluminum
- artificial colors and flavors
- meats
- canned foods
- cooked oils
- overcooked and packaged foods
- old and rotting food
- foods frozen for too long
- inorganic materials
- processed foods
- unknown and unpronounceable substances
- cooked fruits
- cooked vegetables
- cooked grains
- cooked beans
- frozen foods
- foods dried at high temperatures
And I've been trying to include more of the following, but I still have a lot of work to do in this area:
- raw, live, organic food
- whole food
- amino-rich food
- enzyme-rich food
- food dried at low temperatures
- rejuvenating food
- sprouts and chlorophyll-rich food
- cultured food
- medicinal herbs
- fresh, wild, hand-picked food
Items from the above lists were taken from The Raw Truth: The Art of Preparing Living Foods
. The author puts them into categories that range from "Bio-Destructive" to "Bio-Regenerative". This book in particular also says that 60% of your food intake should be items from the "Fresh Foods" category, 20% should be from the "Sprouted Foods" category, 10% should be from "Cultured Foods", and the last 10% should be from "Dried Foods".However, I have also heard that as long as at least 51% of your food intake is raw, you're set. That way, your body gets enough of a break from processing non-raw food items.
Luckily, to help me in this food-venture, I have been very fortunate to receive a gift of a Vitamix blender/food processor from my Mom. With this new toy, I have been able to try all kinds of juices and smoothies that I couldn't have tried otherwise. To give you an idea of its power, this machine will liquify carrots!!
Since the above-mentioned book spoke so highly of sprouts, I have tried twice to grow my own sprouts and have had no luck. The first time I tried lentils - and they sprouted like crazy! - but I had put way too many in the jar and I had to give it up. The second time I tried garbanzo beans, and after a few days they just turned black in the jar. I'm guessing they should have been put on a tray or damp paper towel after the initial sprouts came out.
In terms of my diet, what I've been doing during the week is having one mostly-fruit/some-veggie smoothie in the morning, a mid-morning snack of a banana, a regular lunch (sandwich, salad, yogurt, etc.), then a mostly-veggie smoothie in the evenings. On weekends, I'll have 1-2 smoothies each day, allowing for 1 meal per day to be more of a social nature. (i.e. going out with friends to a restaurant)
I'll admit, it was very difficult for me to follow the above regimen during the week-long break from work since there was no real routine. I went to the grocery store today to restock on plenty of fruit and vegetables so I can try out 5-6 new smoothies this week and get back into it.
That's that! Hopefully, I'll be able to update again with some more progress!
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