70 Ways to Successfully Shift to Vibrant Health through Raw Foods!
1. Drink more water. Spring water is a good choice; definitely filtered water if you’re in the city. Try to drink 1 liter (2 normal sized water bottles) before eating or drinking anything else in the morning.
2. Start carrying a water bottle around with you throughout the day. A good rule of thumb to let you know if you’re staying hydrated is if you’re going to the bathroom once every 1-2 hours.
3. Make your own “designer” water. Spike it with sea salt, lemon juice, goji berries and/or MSM. Minerals to go!
4. Write the word love on your water bottle. Intention is very important. It changes the chemistry of the water.
5. Try eating a lighter for breakfast–fruits or juices or tea only. Sprouted grain bread or cereal with avocado or coconut oil on it is fine too if you need it.
6. Eat only raw foods for breakfast. Starting the day out like this will set a great tone for the rest of the day. Focus on fruits and greens as the morning meal.
7. Try just drinking water and tea and/or fresh juices for as long as you can. (Until noon would be ideal).
8. Cut out all dairy. Cut out eggs, milk, then cheese. Move to raw organic milk or cheese if you really can’t give up dairy. Read a book like The Bragg Healthy Lifestyle or The Skinny Bitch for motivation if you need it.
9. Cut out everything that walks on legs or has a tail. Cut out red meat, then pork, then chicken and then fish if you have to. Replace meat with avocados, young coconuts, olives, nuts and seeds. Refer the the tip above for motivation ;)
10. Try not consuming ANY dairy for 7 days and see how you feel. Eat some dairy on day 8 and see how you feel days 8, 9, and 10. Check out http://notmilk.com/for lots of powerful information and inspiration
11. Eliminate foods that contain simple carbs: what flour, white potatoes, white sugar.
12. Eliminate artificial sugars (in most diet foods).
13. Make the first bite of every meal raw. Re-educate the 260 taste buds of your tongue to the delicate natural flavors of raw foods.
14. Avoid eating all-cooked meals. Start with a big salad. Don’t eat your cooked food until you’ve eaten your raw salad.
15. Eat a salad with/as your lunch and dinner. Definitely try and eat some greens with every meal.
16. Eat all raw until dinner, or for a day OR for the whole week!
17. Buy an eraser board to plan out your meals. Split into four quadrants: entrees, juices and smoothies, dehydrated goodies, and desserts! Look in your fridge and determine what you can make OR write what you’d like to make, then cross or wipe them off as you make them :)
18. Drink at least one green vegetable juice or green smoothie a day. A green smoothie is a blended food drink with 60% fruit and 40% greens (or more greens as you become accustom to the taste).
19. Try out one new fruit and vegetable every week. Variety and experimentation are key here! Examples: Swiss chard, fennel, mangoes, coconut, etc.
20. Try some new greens out-Kale, watercress, arugula, parsley (not just an herb!), dandelion, collard greens, mustard greens, Swiss chard, butter leaf lettuce, etc. Don’t just do spinach and romaine.
21. Buy your favorite fruits and vegetables organic and discover how much better they’ll taste.
22. Enjoy some raw “gourmet” dishes and/or desserts. Treat yourself to some raw ice cream or cheesecake!
23. Search “raw food recipes” online and begin to see how many possibilities there are for you. Collect recipes on a word document so when you have a certain ingredient you feel like using that day you can do a search-find for the word on your computer. It’s easier than using the index in a book!
24. Aim to switch over most, if not all, of your regular foods to organic. Recommended right away are apples, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, lemons, kiwis, tomatoes, celery, cucumber, spinach, and other greens. Organic food is grown without pesticides and other dangerous chemicals like chemical fertilizers, sprays, and is not genetically modified. (You’re also not paying for that stuff anymore. You’re supporting the organic farmers who work very hard to do this for us.)
25. Buy yourself a new kitchen gadget or spice each time you go to the grocery store. This could be a new way to reward yourself for your accomplishments!
26. Check out raw food recipe books at Barnes and Nobles or Borders. Sit down with a pen and notebook and copy down recipes you’d love to try out.
27. Buy yourself a raw food recipe book (I suggest starting with Raw Foods Made Easy by Jenny Cornbleet).
28. Get a colonic and see what comes out! That’s extremely motivating to eat better!
29. Buy a new exotic food whenever you go to the grocery store (e.g. aloe vera leaves or burdock root to blend in soups, smoothies, or juice)
30. Get a green juice at a local juice bar. Buy yourself a fresh green juice (can have a bit of fruit in there for sweetness). Good would be Celery-Apple-Lemon-Kale-Parsely-Ginger-etc. See this page for more juice combination ideas :)
31. Find before and after photos of those who have “gone raw.” This is a great collection.
32. Focus on all the foods you can now have now that you’re not eating all that other stuff!
33. Write down on paper all of your goals for your health (and other areas of your life too).
34. Discover a new hobby, exercise program, or healthy habit that will go will with your new raw food lifestyle (yoga, meditation, drawing, walking, etc.)
35. Read some good articles on raw living foods and/or enzymes if you need further convincing that this is a wonderful and impactful way to eat!
36. Surf some great websites. Some to check out: www.welikeitraw.com, www.living-foods.com, or naturalnews.com
37. Watch some raw food videos (on http://www.youtube.com/). Search for Angela Stokes, Shazzie, David Wolfe, Raw Foods, etc. I have a bunch up there too ;) Click here to go to my channel.
38. Join the local raw food communities and groups. Check out http://www.rawfood.meetup.com/, Conscious Choice, etc. Attend a meetup and make a friend :)
39. Get some phone numbers of like-minded people to help you stay focused on your goals.
40. Check out the local raw and/or organic restaurants. It’s easy to feel normal and sane here. It’s also easy to make conversation and friends here. (Recommended Restaurants in Chicago: Cousin’s Living Vitality, Karyn’s Fresh Corner, The Chicago Diner, Lakeside Café.) Check out http://rawfoodrestaurantguide.com/blog/ to get a pdf of all the raw food restaurants in the USA and even abroad.
41. Start shopping with those “better choices” in mind (it is so much easier to do this when you are regularly shopping at natural grocery stores)
42. Go to the Asian market and get some coconuts, durian, and whatever other exotic (frozen) fruits interest you.
43. Buy a young coconut and a big knife and learn how to open them! http://www.rawguru.com/html/openyoungcoconut.html
44. Take joy in taking more meals into your own hands (i.e. not having to order food from typical restaurants).
45. Carry around a notepad with you so you can write down ingredients or things to buy at the store as they come to you! Write down recipes you’d like to try out.
46. Enhance your digestive system incredibly with probiotics and digestive enzymes.
47. Chew your food well: “Drink your food, chew your juice.” “Chew your food well for your stomach has no teeth.”
48. Plan your meals out ahead of time so 1) you get to making it right away when you get home hungry, 2) you’re excited and looking forward to it, and 3) you don’t get desperate and eat something (anything) else!
49. Try out different vegetables that you’ve eaten cooked, raw (corn, zucchini, sweet potato/yam and butternut squash are very good raw).
50. Spend time making your own raw food snacks and/or desserts! Come up with your own creations.
51. Order a sprouting kit online and begin growing and eating your own food. It’s so easy and gratifying. This saves you lots of money too :). I recommend the Easy Sprout from http://www.sproutpeople.com/
52. Visit a local farmers market or two. Check online for special events and local listings.
53. Cut out any foods and condiments that have “Frankenstein ingredients.”
54. Make a real habit of reading any and all labels of packaged foods you’re eating.
55. Spend some time at Whole Foods, or your local health food store checking out the produce and more natural foods and products.
56. Visit and get to know your nearest health food stores (I’m not talking GNCs!). (Visit a Life Spring Health Store if you’re in Chicago.) Talk to the people there about their favorite supplements and brands.
57. Go through your kitchen and get rid of some of that Frankenstein food ;) Detox you kitchen by replacing junk you’re eliminating with raw transition foods. (Leave designated areas for foods family members are not ready to part with.)
58. IF you’re aiming for 75% raw – Eat an all-raw breakfast and make sure that ¾ of your plate is raw for your other meals. Beware cups of tea and coffee or glasses of wine that may knock you off track! (85 to 90% raw may be 6-8 cooked meals a week. 90 to 95% raw may be 3-5 cooked meals a week.)
59. Stay at your goal raw food intake percentage for about a month before you move up.
60. Snack on fresh organic fruit, vegetable sticks, low temperature dried fruits, or a handful of raw organic nuts and seeds.
61. Keep it simple and always go one day at a time! Be loving and kind to yourself J
62. Spent time making the food taste and look beautiful. Make sure that everything you eat you love.
63. Buy some yummy raw cookies, cakes, bars or crackers to have for dessert or to snack on.
64. Visualize yourself in perfect health.
65. Write out monthly or weekly goals for yourself as they relate to your health and diet (as well as other areas of your life, too)
66. Try at least two new recipes a week.
67. Buy yourself a Vitamix blender, Green Star juicer, or Excalibur dehydrator. You’re worth it!!
68. Pick a few good “lines” for conversing with others about your new diet/lifestyle and practice feeling comfortable talking about it.
69. Get support through chat groups, raw meetups, potlucks and gatherings, raw personal sites, raw food prep classes, lectures, subscription websites like http://www.thebestdayever.com/, coaching programs, etc.
70. Smile and always have the best day you possibly can!
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