Many people have asked me how I began eating raw.
I was never overweight till after my first pregnancy. I was diagnosed as hypothyroid during my second/third trimester. So 6 months after delivery I reached a maximum weight of 78 kgs,. I was never this fat and I myself could not come to terms with it.
I started researching what I could do. One day I read about Raw Diet on Internet. I started reading more and then I remembered my Mom had done raw diet for 3 weeks many years back. I remembered eating salads (kosambri) with her. I searched for a naturopathy institute where I could learn about this diet. But then my baby was very young and I had joined back work so I had no time to go for these courses, Internet and few books were my guide.
My Raw Diet
I started raw diet slowly. I used to have a green smoothie and some fruit/veggies in morning. Then 2 rotis/phulkas with salad in the afternoon. In evening I used to have my tea and bhel(with raw sprouts, tomato, onion, coriander and a bit of puffed rice ). Night I used to eat something cooked or raw.
After this I slowly proceeded to almost 95% raw. Morning, a green smoothie(not regularly) and huge bowl of salad. Afternoon a bowl of fruits with nuts, raw oats (and milk, which I stopped later). Evenings a cup of tea and raw bhel. Night used to be a light salad or fruits.I could not leave my evening cup of tea easily. But the second time I started raw, I gave up tea from the first day!
Somedays I used to be 100% raw :)
Exercise
In the beginning I used to exercise for 20 mins(cardio on few days). After that I had no time for exercise. I shifted my home, setting up home, setting up garden(we started growing our own vegetables) kept me physically fit. I joined yoga for a few months. Later gardening kept me fit.
Results
Coming to results. My weight reduced from 78 kgs to 58 kgs in a year or so. My hypothyroidism got corrected. My skin looked much younger. I had dark rough skin around my elbows and that got cured. I used drool during my sleep and that stopped. Due to eating at nights during pregnancy and while nursing, my gums used to bleed. That stopped. My dark circles around eyes reduced. My acidity vanished (I used to throw up yellow liquid while brushing my teeth most mornings). Finally I had a flat tummy :) This was what was visible.
My blood tests showed what was invisible. I had the perfect report. My hemoglobin was above 14. Ph was 7.45. TSH(thyroid) was normal. My cholesterol was on the lower end of the normal range. HDL was good.(I don't remember the numbers , but will put it up some other time.). I was one of the very few at office whose cholesterol was normal.
For people who start raw diet, here are my suggestions.
- You can start slowly. Very few people can go 100% raw from beginning. Please listen to your body and go with whatever you feel comfortable.
- Sometimes you are tempted to eat junk, dont give in easily. But in some cases its OK to give in otherwise you might hold back too much and one fine day you just gorge on junk food.
- Never limit the amount of food, at least in the beginning. When you start raw you'll feel full quickly. So eat often and eat to your hunger. Keep loads of raw foods available at home so that you never run out of raw food(and be tempted by cooked food). I used to buy so many bananas in the beginning as though I had a monkey as a pet :D
- Start reading books/websites and watching videos on raw diet. There are even good documentaries on this subject. It'll keep you motivated.
- In the beginning you feel that not much variety of raw food is available locally.This is not true. Start exploring local foods. You'll be amazed that there is so much variety that can be eaten raw. (I'll write another post on this). Especially in India the variety of fruits and vegetables you get for raw food is just abundant! Nowadays you get lettuce etc quite easily.
- Organic or non-organic? Organic is always best. But if you don't get organic don't stop. Just start eating raw even if non organic. But avoid eating raw cabbages , broccoli etc in which the amount of pesticides/chemicals is more.
- Vegetarian or Vegan. I was vegetarian from beginning. I love curd. So I still consume curd. My consumption of milk is almost nil.I don't get good quality raw milk, so this alone is not raw.
- You'll soon learn on different groups of foods to include in your diet. In the beginning you might eat more of fruits and nuts(carbs and fats), since they are comfort foods. But later on try to include more greens and vegetables.
- Keep some raw food always handy(nuts, carrots, fruits like apple, banana) so that you don't reach out to junk food (like biscuits, chips) when you are very hungry. I've done that many times. I used to pick up some junk food while leaving office because I would be stuck in traffic while driving back.
- Eat lots of variety. There are so many fruits and vegetables to discover. There is so much variety on Earth that you can eat one new food every single day of your life and you would still have not tasted all food on this planet(David Wolfe). Eat seasonal foods.
- Last but not the least your body starts detoxing once you move to raw diet. If you transition slowly the detox too will happen slowly. If not, detox will happen fast. You might pass motions many times a day (2-6). All your toxins are getting thrown out. Don't worry(on the color or any other aspect of motions :) Since you are detoxing, make sure you are having enough liquids (or water) and nutritious foods. Never limit food quantity in the beginning.
Once you start raw diet your body will start craving for raw foods. Even if you consume junk once in a while, your body will automatically come back to raw foods since your taste buds have changed :)
Hope this helped. Good luck and have the best day ever!
