andesuma

I have been raw vegan (or beegan now, if you will..hah), for 5 years this coming November. I also come from a family of Nutritionists, Nurses, PhD's/Doctors, etc. (medical professionals), so it's the environment in which I was raised. (I just mention that so you know from where my advice comes. ) If eating some soup, steamed veggies, etc. feels good to your body, then by all means, do it!! From my experience(personal as well as research and observational) I strongly feel the cravings for "heavy" foods come from two things: 1: Not consuming enough greens, this ALWAYS got rid of my cravings. 2: Detox will make you crave heavy foods to slow the detox process down. There is no harm in being "as raw as you want to be". And you will certainly be a healthier, HAPPIER, human being eating primarily raw food thru out the day, and then say having some soup, veggies and a salad for dinner. Then just eating all processed cooked foods. Don't be hard on yourself with it being "all or nothing". I, personally, choose to(feel I have to) remain all raw, because I feel AMAZING eating this way; and I couldn't imagine eating any other way. It feels very normal and natural to my body. However that is not for everyone. And I do usually tweak my diet a bit during the colder months. (consuming more greens, more yang foods etc.) My recommendations for you: 1: Maybe check out some raw soup recipes? then you could alter back and forth cooked soup and raw soups. You can have them slightly warmed, and spicy if you like. 2: Consume a BIG salad before each cooked meal you eat. Not only does it help aid digestion and flourishes your inner world with lovely enzymes, but it also could help correct your cravings for dense foods by supplying your body with more greens I hope that information helps you! ~~~ Oh also, since you're in SLC, have you been to Sage's Cafe raw food nights?? They have one every month. Check it out: www.sagescafe.com Maybe you could meet some more rawies and exchange ideas and recipes? Also, Omar's Living Cuisine is THE most divine raw food restaurant I have ever been to in my life. http://www.omarslivingcuisine.com/

For some reason I read this as "Circus CONTEST this weekend in Portland", and I was TOTALLY ready to bring my hula hoop and stilts!!! Damn.

haha agreed. Here are some very useful websites to check out: www.living-food.com www.rawfoodexplained.com www.cafegratitude.com www.lovingfoods.com Also... go to Google.com, type in "raw vegan", and there will be thousands upon thousands of links for resources and information. go to YouTube.com, type in "raw vegan" , and there will be hundreds upon hundreds of instructional videos not only for nutritional purposes, but also for different recipe ideas. Best of Luck with your transition!

Flanders always has the best advice But also herbs like echinacea and goldenseal and astralagus (sp wrong), all work very well in helping boost the immune system. I use to make herbal teas and tinctures constantly to keep myself from ever getting sick.. then I went raw, and don't seem to need herbs as much.

Ok, so I was looking thru this section, and just had to comment on how freakin' cute you are! Totally. Love the progress pics as well, excellent results.

Ok, so I was looking thru this section, and just had to comment on how freakin' cute you are! Totally. Love the progress pics as well, excellent results.

High five! But WE are human.. (personally I think it's more adhering to tradition for "tradition sake" is what is the main culprit.. the "creature of habit" mentality of the masses.) We can change this. We have the power within all of us to live in harmony with this planet. This generation has just gotta make it happen. ~~~ As the lovely Tonya Kay said in an interview once... "Motion is Growth, and Stagnancy is Death" & personally, I believe this planet is just beginning to come alive...

I thought that beach looked familiar!! I was there for the Holidays. Had lunch & dinner at 118 degrees ...mmmmm... best seaweed salad ever. I saw two people having sex on that beach! they were going at it for like an hour...I swear.. You guys all look fabulous though! I can't wait to move to Lalalaaaand...

This is SO perfect! Wish I could have made it..I'm sure it was a brilliant event! Thank you so much for posting this Robert! The food looks...incredible. yum!

Oh yes... these are gorgeous! I will be posting my love for the mango, as soon as I get a chance! thanks for starting this Richard

http://www.naturalnews.com/022837.html

Yes I have been. I've been consuming bee/flower pollen for about 6-8 weeks now.. (after years of studying bees, pros/cons etc. before I made this decision) So, I've still been vegan well over half of my life. But according to you, and a dead guy, I'm not in the club anymore. hmmm.... wish I felt some sort of loss..

I wasn't boasting, I was stating a fact. Because, yes, it does buy me a considerable amount of credibility (and experience), since I am actually an adult..and you, apparently, are still a child. Grow up.

still didn't work oh well, in my signature it goes.

Sweetie.. I've been vegan over half of my life. (longer than anyone else, (except loveliberate) on this forum I'd like to add...) I have heard and experienced it ALL. The whole "bee" controversy has ALWAYS been there... it will never go away. If you are torn about it now, you'll probably still feel the same later. It comes down to where you draw your lines with health.. with the planet, with nutrition, and with animals. All the vegans on this forum support the exploitation of bees as well, because they all buy produce. The question is not IF you are a hypocrite or not, but if you are willing to ADMIT you are a hypocrite (because we all are) Do what feels best for you, in your heart. If you feel consuming bee/flower pollen works best for you, as long as you know your supplier (personally), and it's organic. I feel you are doing a service rather than "stealing the honey"... Do what is best for YOU and do not feel oppressed by others dogma. Also.. I plan to be a bee keeper one day [/b]

Gotta love the people that think biodiesel is a good alternative.... Biodiesel IS a good fuel alternative. It depends on HOW you get it/use it though... obviously from corn, is a very inefficient process & way to go about this. It should be.. "gotta love the willfully ignorant masses and greedy government who think ethanol from corn is a good alternative..."

I definitely agree with Potter.. But you CAN also just focus on eating as much raw as possible, just keep increasing your raw food intake..until your cooked food intake gets cleaner and cleaner, until eventually you're eating one or two cooked things, and then one day you just won't want it anymore! I love this method, because you feel NO deprivation. It is also what worked best for me Good luck in achieving your goals! We are here to help.

I was wondering why you wreaked of garlic and bananas!! just kidding also, Nice avatar mister!! I can't upload one because it just gives me a red X

I do!!! I've been wanting to do SOME kind of cleanse for the change of seasons.. though I'd probably have to start Monday, since I'm going to be out of town all weekend.. and don't think I'll have blender access.... I'll probably do more of a AM superfood/green smoothie, PM green smoothie combo. But, yes, I'd like to join. How long did you want to go for??

<333333333 yes! me toooo.. I agree. I primarily kiss apples... REED avocados are probably the best to kiss, they are very smooth & juicy Though I don't think I'd try to kiss a durian....

totally...me too, and I ONLY kiss the purest, ripest, organic and most local /close to my heart produce that is available... Sometimes I say thank you as well... hah mm mm gratitude is delicious!

I bet that is sooo true... Fruit is so sweet and sexy though! I just can't help myself..

To clarify what I was pointing out. I was trying to say that the difference between raw vegans and vegans is one thinks of the WHOLE/universal effects of everything, and the other does not(not as indepth anyway). (I'd love to meet a vegan that doesn't produce waste, or recycles 100% of EVERYTHING they use , which is extremely easy when you are raw..) I never mentioned raw honey, but I did provide some amazingly insightful links that explain the reasons for consumption of raw honey. Where the line is drawn when it is "ethical" and when it is not, (obviously non-organic commercial honey is another story). Also, that makes no sense. Since we all use to live on raw food! (except the past 100,000 or so years), so that transport comment is invalid. Also everyone could be raw without consuming much produce (ie. the inuits), there are ways to go about it. Although I am very pro regional eating, and from my understanding... most raw foodists really like eating local and organic foods You say tomato, I say tomahto, again..it's a personal decision. Just like going vegan is. And none of us are in any position to judge. [/i]

Ok.. here we go ... This is one very distinct difference between being vegan, and being RAW vegan. Raw vegans not only eat the way they do for health reasons, but on a global scale, it is MUCH more about ethics than veganism is. (in my opinion) How is consuming food in its natural state, without plastic, without metal, without man-made synthetic substances NOT ethical for other animals and the environment?? Think about it. Want to know one major reason their is mercury in our waters? Chlorine plants. Plants that manufacture chlorine(mercury is a by-product from the manufacturing process). And between a vegan and a raw vegan, which one is more likely to use chlorine cleaning products? Which one is more likely to be concerned about organic food? Which one is more likely to drive a petroleum fueled car? Which one is more likely to grow their OWN food and compost?? If that isn't sublimely ethical, I don't know what is... Raw vegans not only care deeply about their OWN health, but about the health of the entire planet. Much more so than vegans. (in my humble opinion..) ____________________________________________________________ A major reason a lot of people do go raw vegan, and a lot of people want to eat raw food, is because they want to be in harmony with nature. The natural cycle of things includes our communication and spiritual relationship with other animals on this planet. The natural cycle of things includes life and death as well. The role that we play within this cycle is very important. What is the most harmonious sweetener to our energy bodies, what is the most natural (non-manufactured) for the planet, what is one of the OLDIES (millions of years) and most ancient foods? Bee products. To avoid going off on a very long winded rant. I will simply say that I consume royal jelly (occasionally), and bee pollen. And I get it from FRIENDS whos bees I know. I know how they are treated, and I know that my purchase of those products not only supports my friends livelihood, but also the re-population of bees on this planet. (Not to mention I think bee pollen smells, feels and tastes DIVINE) Also, in my mind, bee pollen is not a product of the bees. They transport it. It is a flower product. And probably could be put into the same catagory as every piece of produce & food on this planet, since without the pollination.. without BEES, our food does not exist. So the whole "animals need to be left alone" blah blah, needs to stop. Because we are ALL in this together, and we all need to help each other as much as possible. Not be self-righteous. And not be judgmental or dogmatic about it. When it comes down to it, consuming bee products is a personal decision everyone has to make for themselves. ___ ___ ___ I highly encourage those questioning our relationship with bees to read thru Anthony's blogs on bee products, and why he consumes them as well: http://rawmodelcom.blogspot.com/ Also, Angela Stokes has a lot of bee info on her blog as well: http://rawreform.blogspot.com/ enjoy

David Wolfe is definitely the Freud of the 'raw food movement'