The BAAAAAD List...

So, as you probably can't help but to realize I am currently what one could consider to be a Raw Foodist. I haven't really laid that out yet on my blog, but since it IS all about what I eat maybe it's time for some details. I have a very close relationship with food... some may call it an obsession... I find it more healthy to think of food as my hobby. You know, I am a baker by profession, but in my free time I play viola, hang out with my dog and my boyfriend, and obsess over food. That makes it sound better right? 

I have been vegan for about 10 years and very recently have leaped into the world of raw food. Being vegan has not helped to reduce the time I spend thinking about food, on the contrary. Have you ever notice that if you are at a mixed-ivore party (as in herbivore, omnivore, carnivore) you will see all the vegans hovering in the near vicinity of the food if there is anything they can eat available? Well I have. We like to eat, ok? Being Raw has increased my food preoccupation by at least double.

I have to learn all this new stuff about how to combine foods and how to prepare them... Not to mention having to eat ALL THE TIME to get enough calories. That is really my dream come true. I can eat AS MUCH AS I WANT and I am still slowly shedding extra weight.

It wasn't really about weight though. I mean, I ain't gonna lie, I don't mind if I loose a couple pounds of my donut weight; but I really had better reasons. I was SO addicted to refined sugar, I would sit awake at night in bed and have to get up for something sweet before I could fall asleep. Like most typical Americans, and really a lot of vegans too, I had a massive refined sugar and wheat problem and it was totally messing with my body. I have always had problems with allergies and athletes foot, but in the last two years I also started getting hives and mild eczema on my hands. I know that my allergies are caused by pollens, grasses, dust, mold, and my dog; I was also thinking that reducing the things that were adding to my bodies dis-ease and causing inflamation and mucus production couldn't hurt. My thought was that by ridding myself of the common causes of mucus production like soy and wheat I may help my immune system to do a better job. The sugar, well I have always been sensitive to sugar. I know it is the cause of my athletes foot, probably the eczema, and it makes me feel sluggish and tired to top it all off. I have done some raw fooding in the past and I have always noticed a difference in the way I feel when I increase my percentage of raw food. 

So I decided to go for it. 

I am now at almost a month of being around 95% (as close as I can figure) raw.

Here's what I have noticed:

Athletes foot gone in 3 days

Eczema gone in 3 days

Allergies and hives, still hanging around but I am gonna give it a little more time and try to sort it out

Energy is up

Sleep required is down

My skin looks great and feels softer

There are a couple of things I have discovered at this point in my rawness that I would like to note so that in the future I can look back at this and say "this is where I was at one month in..."

- Eating the following "cooked foods" (aka the BAAAAAD list)

• Raw Cacao?
• Nutritional Yeast
• Raw Cashews?
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Very rarely: Fermented Soy products like Namu Shoya and Miso (still trying to determine if soy affects my allergies)

-Using the following guidelines

• Trying to stick to a caloric breakdown around 15% protein, 35% fat, 50% carbohydrates, this is where I seem to have the most success, and hit at least 1200 calories. I have lost 5-7lbs and don't want to loose weight too quickly, definitely not muscle.
• If I want to try a small bite of a cooked vegan food I do. I am doing raw food because that's what I want to eat, not to deprave myself. Trying a small bite of a good smelling cooked food has helped me to avoid urges to binge
• Eating mostly fruit in the morning and at least one BIG green salad during the day.

It will be interesting to see where I am on this journey in 6 months...