I suppose, when it comes to food, the ideal day would be eating 100% raw. It’s doable. Definitely doable. Yet I have yet to do it.
Breakfast is easy: fruit and/or a glass of Greens+.
Snacks are nuts, seeds, fruit or raw veggies. Yum.
Lunch is a large salad of greens and whatever vegetables I happen to have. (See picture – some staging for presentation may have been taken into consideration.)
Then supper hits. Another salad? More vegetables?
Don’t get me wrong. I like eating raw foods, but after eating raw the entire day, I feel like something else.
Maybe it means simply eating my salad in a wrap, or mixing my vegetables with some warm quinoa, or sautéing the greens in coconut oil. I also purchased some brown rice pasta I hope to eventually try to replace the whole wheat pasta I was eating before (and wondering why I always felt hungry and tired).
So while eating 100% raw is doable, I don’t do it.
And that’s okay.
My goal is not to be a raw foodist, or even a vegan, vegetarian, or anything else that you want to label it as.
My goal is to eat healthy. To feel good about what I put into my body during the day.
Changing my eating habits has changed my perspective.
Even on a “bad” day where I might eat something not normally on my meal list (such as my Mom’s lasagne, yum) I don’t feel guilty at all. I look at my food diary, something I’ve always kept when I get serious, and think, Wow, I am eating so much better than before.
So while I think Eating for Energy is wonderful and has taught me so many valuable things I think every single person on the planet should know, if I deviate a little, I’m okay with that. If I tried to be “perfect” it would drive me crazy and I’d quit. I know I would. (And kudos to anyone who can go 100% raw.)
I was thinking I should buy some gold stars and put one on the calendar for each day I eat 100% raw. Maybe that would give me some extra motivation. I wonder how many I would collect in a month.
(I just checked my food diary, and I actually have eaten 100% raw twice during the past three weeks since I started.)
Nichole
“…If I deviate a little, I’m okay with that. If I tried to be “perfect” it would drive me crazy and I’d quit. I know I would…”
Thanks for these words, they’re SO true. I tried to stick to some strict rules in the past, they drove me crazy and instead of pleasure of eating fruits and vegetables I was obsessed with negative thoughts. Then I just got tired from it and threw “the 100% healthy nutrition” fanaticism away from my life.
Yesterday it was my mom’s birthday, I ate quite a lot of different foods, drank alcohol, and today I’m back to my fruits-n-veggie usual diet and I DO NOT feel guilty of anything!
That’s great, Paul.
I know for me feelings of guilt after eating something “bad” was a big detriment. Now if I choose to eat something not on my meal plan I tell myself that it’s okay and not allow myself to feel guilty.
One meal, or one day, is not the end to healthy eating. I just make sure to listen to my body. Even after just a few weeks of eating healthier I find that some of the foods I used to enjoy I don’t enjoy as much anymore, so I know I don’t need them anymore, or at least not as often.
Thanks for being so honest Nichole. It’s great to see how your perspective has matured and you’re right – it’s not about being 100% raw. And, is that really perfect for everyone if it’s not sustainable???
Do what works best for you and feel great while doing it – keep it up!