So, I am excited to have reached a personal milestone…I have maintained a 99-100% raw vegan diet
for just over one year. It has proven to be one of the best decisions of life. I feel much happier, much more energized, and clearer in my thinking/problem solving ability than ever before. To be honest, I was surprised by the way raw foods have had such a positive effect on my life. I thought my prior diet was “very healthy” having been on a standard vegan diet for 6 years.
Within this short article I would like to share a personal assessment of my going from vegan to a raw food vegan. First and foremost, I applaud ALL conscious eaters who have taken the necessary steps to improve their health through a discipline of diet. The sad truth is that many traps of unhealthy eating remain in my former vegan diet, like: highly process foods, heavy starches, and refined sugars to name a few. I feel compelled to share this assessment with my readers, having personally reached new heights of health and fitness from my experience with raw foods, and from meeting people that owe their lives to switching to a raw food diet.
The most typical response I hear from people planning a raw diet for the future is that they understand the many benefits, but are either too busy to implement the diet or believe it is too expensive for them to diet right now. I understand 
this reasoning - it does present a huge barrier. I used the same rationale when I first heard about raw foods. I used to say “having a raw food diet would be great, but it is not practical for me RIGHT NOW. It can wait until I have more money and time.” I understand now that my procrastination with beginning a raw foods diet was defeating the purpose of the diet altogether. Raw foods are not about making sacrifices now –by eating a tomato instead of a cheeseburger– so that you can live a couple of months longer in your 70s. It is about living up to your greatest potential right now — this very second, and every second you are alive.
This natural source of added energy helps us feel better. We become motivated to act on the improvements we have planned for ourselves. Our awareness of ourselves and our surroundings come into a sharper focus, allowing for a higher personal development. 
I found that fewer sacrifices were actually required of me to maintain a raw foods diet than I had originally worried about. In reality, rawfoods taste better, they can be cheaper to prepare, and they offer us a natural way to live in harmony with the environment.
Becoming “raw” was a logical step in an ongoing process to improve my health. I studied what the recognized professionals were saying but, because the diet became a ‘trial and error’ effort to find out what made me feel better, the diet was self-taught. I will admit that I had to prepare myself mentally to be able to stick to the diet. There are times when it can be frustrating. Accordingly, like any new and positive change to promote self-improvement, it will take time to learn, adapt and adjust..
For those interested and/or willing to try the diet, I have included some tips that may help:
1. Approach raw foods with a positive attitude. If you bring a negative attitude, you are bound to have a poor experience. Raw foods taste better than any cooked food available…hands down. If you don’t like what you have made, try again. Have fun and experiment!
2. Make time. Everyone is busy, but you only have one life and it is ticking away by the second. It is vital to prioritize your time to include health and well-being in a quality lifestyle. It directly affects how you live and interact with everything around you.
3. Investigate the science backing the diet. We’re not making this stuff up! Research the works of Dr. Colin T. Campbell, Dr. Gabriel Cousins, and the works provided by the Hippocrates Health Institute.
4. Do not get trapped into a 100% raw or nothing diet. It takes time to learn new recipes and establish new eating habits. Just concentrate on adding these amazing foods to your diet as soon as you can. You will likely begin to feel much better and your interest in cooked foods will naturally decline. If this doesn’t happen right away, then don’t worry about it! Everyone responds differently depending on your body and previous eating habits.
5. If you are new to raw foods, you could try it out for an initial set time, like 30 days. This way there will be less personal pressure in the beginning to continue the diet forever! The raw food diet does have a learning curve. Also, if you are craving a cooked dish and it’s all you can think about, go ahead and have it, then continue with raw foods. It is important that you feel as comfortable as possible during the process and not feel discouraged. Being 100% raw isn’t a competition or a bragging right. It is about being healthy and feeling great.
6. Try a green smoothie. A great beginning step to a raw diet is to incorporate green smoothies into your diet. For more information about green smoothies, please google the Boutenko family. Victoria Boutenko’s book, Green for Life is a fantastic resource for smoothies and the physiological basis for a raw diet.
-A second step would be to transition to eating only fruit and green smoothies until dinner. Also, try to have dinner early enough that you have at least 5-6 hours to digest the food before you go to sleep for the night. You will wake up feeling refreshed and energized.
IS A “RAW FOODS” DIET REALLY EXPENSIVE? »« More Pictures from Vegan Love!
