You might agree on an intellectual level that eating raw foods is a good idea, but does the thought of abandoning a lifetime of eating habits for the sake of what seems like a good idea seem like more than you can do?
Take Your Time
So don’t eat 100% raw. At least not all at once. That’s the surest way to guarantee you won’t even give a raw foods diet a fighting chance. Take your time. Go at your own speed. You won’t get any benefits if you don’t give it some time, so add as much raw food as you feel good doing at first and see how you feel.
Start By Adding More Raw Foods
Don’t think of a raw food diet as taking anything away from you, instead, think of it as adding more raw food in your diet. If you add in things like more raw vegetables, sprouts, fruits, and juices, you won’t be as hungry and when you”re not hungry, you won’t give into impulsive eating. If you want that steak, plan for it and enjoy it. Once you start eating more raw foods though, and you notice how good you feel and how much more energy you have, you will naturally want more of it, and that steak just won’t look as good to you.
Eat The Right Foods
You do want to be sure that you”re getting enough of the right kinds of nutrition from the right foods. You can check this years Dirty Dozen and Clean-15 list of the best and worst foods for pesticide residue. Eating raw foods doesn’t mean eating only the raw foods you like. Watermelon is good for you, but eating only sweet fruits can be as bad as the standard American diet (SAD). You”ll need to do a little research into which raw foods have the essential proteins, or what combination’s of food you need to eat to get enough protein. Raw food eating is intended to nourish your body in a completely different way, but just being raw isn’t enough. You want to do this to be in balance, and you need to balance the raw foods you”re eating for proper nutrition.
Try New Foods
One way to ensure that you are getting enough nutrients is to incorporate a new vegetable every week. Try something like kale or Swiss chard. The average produce department is full of things you might never have had before. You will find a whole new world of tastes and textures open up to you, and you will want more and more of it. A great way to slowly adjust your diet to enjoy raw foods more is to start drinking green smoothies. Green smoothies are made from fruit and leafy greens, plus they are easy to prepare and they taste great.
Stick With It
Very few people eat 100% raw and it really isn’t necessary for good health, but eating a vegan diet with a major percentage of it raw is a very healthy lifestyle. So, start where you are, go at your own pace, listen to your body, and stick with it.