Have been vegan for 4+ years and wheat free for nearly 3(i think!)...my fms keeps flaring and I have heard great things about raw, (several friends have been raw for periods of time) and I am going to give it a shot!

So, what would be the best way to start being 'raw'? Each morning I already have carrot, celery, apple and orange juice (my son loves it without the celery!)...as I find I have been craving celery

Anyway, any and all suggestions warmly (but not cooked!) welcomed!!

TIA
bek

Hello Veggiebek, welcome to the forum.

I would say the best way to start each morning is going for a nice long walk to set the tone for the day, comming home to a big bottle of fresh clean water, Having a big GS for breakfast, and having lots of sweet juicey fruit!

YUUUMMMMMO

LOve BB
XXX

The best advice I was given when starting out was to eat as much raw and organic fruits and vegetables as possible(prior to meals, in between snacks etc.). Psyc yourself up with some good raw publications too(ie Raw food Propaganda Joe Alexander, books by Victoria Boutenko, Gabriel Cousins etc.)

Good starting out gadgets include:

Blender

Juicer

And lastly enjoy what you are doing( and have fun:)

Wishing you well on your journey!

warm welcome VB...

awesome including more fresh pressed vege and fruit juices is an excellent way to get more raw into your day...and pure liquid gold and goodness for your body..fruits focus on detoxing,green focus on rebuilding your health..

enjoy!

if you know of somewhere I can eat and have my feet massaged, you will have made my day!!!

Well, I have been winding down cooked food this week, and plan to start raw food in earnest tomorrow!! Even a couple of days being mostly raw I have found I don't actually want cooked food...pretty amazing I reckon!!

Thanks again for all your welcomes, information and enthusiasm!
Bek

so how do I know if I am eating enough food carbs? I don't tend to have much of an apetite anyway, and have always just eaten to my hunger...

I have just got butuenko's (sp?) 12 steps to raw from the library...are there any other recommended titles?

so how do we know we are hydrated? some sure signs are consistent happy mood. ie it takes a lot to irritate or knock us down.

frequent and clear urine...8-10 times a day. and a couple of times a night. ive measured my urine output during optimum hydration. its between 1litre and 3 litres a night. anything less than that means im dehydrated. ive done years of experimenting and thats my personal conclusion.

how are we sure we are eating enough fruit carbs? well go on one of those free nutrition sites like fitday.com or nutritiondata.com and punch in your fav fruits and its carb content. say its mangos or banana or pear. just type in how many kg you normally would consider a daily intake. then see what you really need to consume based on your height, weight, and activity level.

i know im undercarbed if im scared of doing big miles on the bike. if going training seems daunting despite having enough sleep and water. then i know ive been undereating on the carbs.

i first learnt this when i rode adelaide to perth. i was in ceduna getting bashed by the headwinds. i found this cycling magazine in a backpackers. it talked about how undereating carbs kills motivation. cos our body goes into shut down mode..just like being dehydrated or underslept...it wants to conserve energy rather than go all day/ night..

so i increased my carbs to more realistic levels and powered my way to perth. now im raw i can ride even harder. before riding 300km in a day was a massive feat. now im up to 515km in a day and aiming for 600km solo this new years day. and yeah know body is riding that far on fruit rations. its eat big, go big. stay slim. cos fresh fruits digest so good..no water retention or hassles. and when we eat so much fruit we are less likely to be eating combo abombo's every day.

so yeah we all have different fitness goals. some of us dream of doing the big stuff. some of us are happy with enough energy to keep up with the kids or walk the mutt around the block. whatever our goals, there is a sweet amount of sweet fruit that will fuel us towards and past them. find your sweet spot and get stuck in!

and last time i read 80/10/10 it had a little food chart in the back that made for easy calculations.

so does that make sense? ie eating enough carbs to fuel our body to achieve our health and fitness goals...