I first got inspired by Frayed Laces, who asked if we could do something for 50 days, what would it be? I said that I wanted to try to eat raw vegan for 50 days. However, 50 days is a really long time, and seems like kind of a daunting task! I’ve been trying to eat raw vegan lately, and I’ve been doing pretty well on the vegan front, but not so much on the raw front. It’s really hard to eat raw vegan at restaurants or with friends, and at home, there are just many times when I want cooked food.
So I decided that I’m going to declare September to be a “challenge month” for me (this challenge-for-a-month idea was inspired by Charlotte). I love the idea of challenges (and am doing pretty well in the Worth the Weight challenge: I’m down 4 pounds since we started!), but don’t feel like waiting a month to see how I’m doing, so I’m going to set a new challenge each week (or maybe keep the same challenge if I feel like it) and try out some new things as well as form some new great habits.
Finally, I’m going to throw in some inspiration from a comment that Chia left on my last post. (Among other things) Chia said:
When I was really fretting about being vegan, I suffered a lot of aches and pains as well. When you eat a meat/dairy diet, you’re getting quite a bit of fat in comparison to a true vegan experience.Fall in love with healthy fats. Avocados, olive oil, flaxseed oil, even an evening primrose oil supplement… these things all helped my aches, pains, and ails quite a bit. Fats cushion your joints and if taken properly can actually help you lose weight.
This made SO much sense to me! My diet has been really low-fat lately (perhaps even dangerously so), especially since I haven’t been making an effort to include the healthy fats. Here’s a chart of my fat intake for the last month:
It’s really low! There were only two days when I hit the recommended intake. Therefore, my challenge for the next week is: to include a healthy fat in every meal. No more just veggies or just fruits; I’m going to expand my horizons and be sure to get nuts, oils, seeds, etc in there.
For breakfast, I made a kale-banana-coconut milk smoothie, but I threw some all-natural organic peanut butter in there to add healthy fat. I didn’t like it very much (it sat very heavily and made me feel a little sick when I drank it – I’m so used to the fresh feeling of just fruits/veggies), but I think that’s actually a good sign – it probably means I wasn’t used to getting much fat before. I’ll work on it, and keep you all appraised of my progress!
I am going vegan as well and have realized that I am going to have to slow down and work my way into a vegan lifestyle. Right now I have stopped drinking milk and I only eat meat once a week.
I eventually want to go raw vegan so I will have to keep this info in mind. Thanks to you and Chia for the heads up.
Jenn
Hi so just to let you know, last november i was 30lbs heavier! I got a juicer as a birthday present and juiced every day and also made green smoothies. I was really into it. I was loving it too!! I ate i would guess 90% raw!!! Lost 30lbs. Today, i eat cooked food. No meat or chicken but i do eat cooked fish. Lots of veggie burgers, salads, nuts, almond butter, fruit galore, i did gain about 5lbs back but for the most part i keep it off. Running has saved me too!!! You can do 80/20. There is so many ways to approach raw. If you need help, i’m here!!!
Michelle
Great goals!! Good luck, way to set aside a month to improve your eating habits. 🙂 I like it!
Good luck on all of your upcoming challenges. I’m sure you’ll blow them all out of the water!!! 🙂
Sorry to hear the dr. didn’t find anything (don’t you hate that!?!?!). Hope you’re back running soon.
Eat raw walnuts: One of the so-called super foods. They are a fantastic source of “good fats” and if you eat a handful about 20 minutes before dinner they act as a very effective appetite suppressant.
I hope your knee is better. 🙂
Good luck on all those challenges. From what I’ve read about you, if anyone can do it – YOU can.
Way to chart it all out! Good luck with the challenge! Sounds like a fun idea!!
woo hoo!
Im a bigbigbig fan of good fats.
flax, nuts, oils, the fatty fishes.
when I did low fat(back in the day) my joints ACHED and throbbed.
no longer.
can you tell Im excited for you?
🙂
Miz.
I think paying attention to healthy fats makes a LOT of sense. Good for you for paying attention to that aspect of your diet!
Ok so this has really been on my mind since reading your post. I often go through periods of doing 30 day challenges and this idea of 50 days has really grabbed my attention, but I think it scares me… isn’t that strange. I really would like to say I’m going to go raw, but knowing we are going on the honeymoon that seems unlikely.. so I’m still trying to pick something.
But I wanted to let you know you’ve got me thinking and I’m really enjoying hearing more about your raw adventures so keep it up.