Rawchel

Today I embarked on a new journey: I’m transitioning to a raw food diet. This is more of an experiment than anything else. I love veganism (one of the best choices I’ve ever made), but recently I feel like my health hasn’t optimal: I’ve gained 10 pounds over the past year, I don’t sleep well, I’m low on energy, I get headaches daily, and I’m lacking mental acuity.

I realized that I needed to push my diet to the “next level,” but I didn’t know what that meant until my trip to San Francisco last week. Although I’d always been wary of raw food, we visited a restaurant called Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley. It is an (almost) all raw restaurant, and it totally changed my perspective on the diet. I had a “pizza” and the most amazing chocolate/banana/walnut cake. The food was delicious, but more importantly, I felt energized, light, and “sharper” than I had in a long time (which is saying a lot, because we were worn out from walking everywhere). I realized that a raw food diet doesn’t have to mean eating salad all the time, and that it had the potential to help me achieve a healthier, happier life.

I spent this past weekend acquainting myself with the basics by reading Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo and “The Easy Way to Get Started and Succeed with Raw Food” from www.kristensraw.com. I’m also lucky to have some supportive friends who have experience with raw foods (thanks Chels!). I have determined that, to start, I am aiming to eat 2 raw meals a day (as well as any snacks) with one cooked. If that goes well, then I will slowly increase the amount of raw food I eat. However, I have no intention of being strict, extreme, or even 100% raw (unless I end up loving it so much that I really want to) - I just want to find a healthy balance.

I have decided to start this blog about my journey into raw foods to maintain motivation and be a “progress report” of sorts. I also hope it will help anyone else who is interested in going raw. I’ll try to post daily to track what I eat, how it makes me feel, etc. Comments, suggestions, and questions are always welcome!