New Year, New Diet

I am rushing in the New Year with some changes to my already unique lifestyle. Feeling sometimes disappointed in my way of living made me wonder where I can start to being a better vegan and a better person. On my own time over the course of last semester, I watched videos of raw vegans who made recipes and documented their experiences. A while ago, I made a post somewhat criticizing the raw vegan diet because some raw foodists have a “holier-than-thou” mentality against anyone who isn’t raw foodists and now I’m learning that Paleo dieters have mentality toward non-meat eaters. I figured that people who embrace labels are the very ones who are looking for a group to belong to, clinging on to others for their own personal worth and happiness. For this reason, I won’t embrace the “raw vegan” label. Also, I won’t be fully raw because it is unrealistic, considering that there are cooked foods that are just as healthy as raw fruits and vegetables.

I decided to at least partially embrace the raw vegan diet at around sixty to seventy-five percent. I am doing this for several reasons:

1.       People who are wholly raw vegan seem happier with their diet than people I’ve seen on any other diet. They have a bond with other raw vegans that I haven’t seen anywhere else. Their motivation is being a better individual and they are more focused on health than saving the world. I’m not saying that animal rights and saving the world are not important, these things matter to be very much. However, a healthy mind is a healthy body and a healthy body is a healthy planet.

2.       This is something I always wanted to do, even as a kid. When I was a teenager, I told my mom that when I become an adult I want to eat only raw fruit and vegetables for the rest of my life. She told me that I read too many books and I should be more realistic. When I was even younger, I also didn’t think that I would ever go through life without eating animal flesh and here I am, not eating any animal products. Now, almost thirty, I get to embrace something that I always wanted to do.

3.       I need more energy. For the past semester, I haven’t been too careful with my health and wellbeing. I was starting to look and feel feral. Caring very little about my appearance and how I felt due to school. I thought it was a good idea to get my energy fix through Starbuck’s Refreshers that are sugar-laden, caffeinated and dehydrating. I was not realizing how overtime this can be dangerous.

4.       I need to give up sugar, whether it’s processed or not. Sugar is poison. It will also be the hardest product to take out of my diet. Another food I must give up is wheat products. This will also be difficult to give up. It is possible to live a life without sugar and wheat. I will also have to give up processed foods unless they are the vegan nutritional powders that can carry over as meals.

5.       Lastly, I want to have great skin and great hair. Crap falls into my eyes, even when I wear glasses. It is usually dead skin that I have to exfoliate pretty much everyday. Not to mention that certain skin types require more care than others. The people who are on the raw diet, they have great skin, nice hair (regardless of texture) and well-toned bodies. These are things I want as I reach my thirties.

What a 60% raw menu looks like on a Saturday (no school):

Breakfast:

-A nutritional smoothie made of Vega protein powder or more economical brand mixed with cashew milk (or raw almond milk or Almond Breeze), apple juice (freshly juiced) and ice blended together. A bit of chai tea can be blended into the soaked cashews to create milk infused with chai.

Lunch:

-A pita pocket filled with homemade veggie burgers (recipe coming soon), lettuce, tomato avocado, alfalfa sprouts with vegan mayo or mustard. This can be served with FullyRawKristina’s lunch box menu (the first suggestion).

Dinner:

-Raw vegan spaghetti with marinara sauce (raw), simple salad and cut fruit.

-For a light dinner, another smoothie with a vegan nutrition bar (healthy alternative to Cliff bars) can make for a light meal.

There are other suggestions for blending raw meals and cook meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am experimenting on this. Some might argue that going fully raw will be taxing on the pockets, but being partially raw vegan can help keep food costs low. Another suggestion is comparing the prices of junk food such as chips, sodas candy and desserts and process foods with fresh fruits and vegetables, bagged beans and nuts.  I bought a bag of apples for about $0.79 a pound. A large bag of plain Lays are about $3.99. At a reasonable store, $4 can purchase a pound of apples, bananas and a bag of beans. At a dollar store, a bag of beans is under a dollar, so is a bag of rice. Not to mention that I put back some veggie patties in the grocery store because this past weekend I made a large batch from scratch and put them in the freezer for future meals.  Being a broke artist, it is possible to live on a high raw vegan diet and still have money for art supplies.