Hi Guys!
Welcome to my FullyRaw blog!

So many people ask me questions about being raw vegan and about my lifestyle. I'm always happy to answer, and I share information and stories in my YouTube videos and on social media. I know it's not always easy to find specific information quickly when you need it, so now I'll also be sharing my stories and advice in this blog column so you will have quick reference to your biggest questions about being vegan and living a fullyraw vegan lifestyle.

First up…the biggest question I get asked is about how to get started eating raw vegan. To be clear what I mean, raw vegan for me means to eat only whole raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. I'm happy to say that after 13 years of living the raw vegan life, I have lots of tips for you!

To make it easier for you, I split my advice into two parts:

How to Eat Raw Vegan, Part 1: The Basics. The most immediate things to know about what to eat.
How to Eat Raw Vegan, Part 2: Commitment and Community. How to continue the positive progress you've made once you're ready to make eating raw vegan more than a "could-I-should-I" experiment.

Let's get started! Here is...

How to Eat Raw Vegan: The Basics

1. Eat One Raw Meal A Day
2. Stock Up On Fruits and Vegetables
3. Try A FullyRaw Day
4. Eat Enough Calories
5. Exercise Enough to Get Hungry

1.Eat One Raw Vegan Meal a Day

If you're at the curious stage, start getting into the mindset that it’s possible, even easy, to eat raw vegan.

Even if you’re not sure about consuming a 100 percent raw food diet, eating one fully raw vegan meal a day can be a great start. The switch from eating cooked to raw foods is a matter of increasing the percentage of raw fruits and vegetables that you consume. The more fruits and vegetables you eat, the less room you’ll have for cooked and processed foods and animal products.

Many people find it easiest to start by having a fruit smoothie or a large fresh fruit juice and some perfectly ripe seasonal fruit for breakfast, while leaving everything else the same. Or, if you’re already a salad-for-lunch person, try having a smoothie or juice for breakfast along with your daily salad.

Mentally note (or write in a journal) if you enjoyed those meals, how you felt during the day, or if you need to make small changes to accommodate adding this raw vegan meal into your day— what will help you stay consistent, make it easier for you. Start slowly, and be mindful of your body. You aren’t just starting a diet; you are building a new life!

2. Stock Up On Fruits and Vegetables

If the good stuff is easily accessible, it’s easier to eat regularly.

Stock up with as many fruits and vegetables in your home as you can. Consider this a diet and lifestyle of abundance, not restriction and have an abundant selection of delicious fruits and vegetables to excite you about your options.

If you run out of food or do not have enough produce to eat, you will most likely get hungry and grab something else that is not as healthy. Fruit is your main source of calories. Fruit will satisfy your hunger. But remember that fruits and vegetables are lower in calories that starches and animal proteins, so you must eat more of them to get the necessary amount of fuel that you need to function. If you don’t get enough calories, your energy is going to lag.

Severe calorie deprivation is one of the main reasons that most diets fail. If weight loss is your goal, going Fully Raw mindfully will modify your weight naturally, but in my experience it will also improve your overall health, make your skin radiant, and give you unbounded energy. Fruit is the key ingredient to achieving all of these goals.

Stock your kitchen with enough fruits and greens to last you about a week. Dispose of or donate all the “junk” food in your refrigerator to make more room to store fresh produce. Junk includes processed foods, packaged goods, canned goods, boxed foods, concentrated sugars, and anything with ingredients you can’t pronounce. Out with the old…in with the new!

3. Try A FullyRaw Day [Need to build this out without duplicating what's in Blog 2 about going raw vegan for 7 days.TBD]

Can you make it through a full day of eating vegan? Come on--try it! I believe in you!

It actually might be pretty easy. If you already eat one or two vegan or raw vegan meals a day (maybe a smoothie in the morning, a salad in the afternoon—easy, right?). Now try three meals this way.

First Meal/Breakfast: Start with a large juice or smoothie--32 to 64 ounces (1 to 2 quarts). The meal jump-starts your energy for the day. After a night of rest and fasting, your body is fully charged with energy, but it needs an influx of fuel to turn that energy into activity, both mental and physical. By pureeing or juicing whole fresh fruits and vegetables, you streamline digestion and make all of their nutrients readily available to your body.

Second Meal/Lunch: Indulge in delicious fruit. Have a humongous platter—a mixed bowl of rainbow fruits or mono-meal with one fruit, like bananas or grapes; whatever appeals to you.
You need enough carbs to keep you fueled through your day.
Eat until you are completely satiated. Gravitate towards sweet fruits, because these tend to have higher calorie content than vegetables for the same volume. This means you will feel more satisfied after eating a meal of fruit than you would after eating a meal of greens or vegetables. Eating Fully Raw is all about eating sufficiently and abundantly.

Third Meal/Dinner: Keep it simple, especially when you’re starting out. For dinner, I always start with a small plate of fruit to help satisfy my calorie needs. Even though I will be eating mostly low-calorie vegetables, I still want to consume at least 600 calories in the meal. The second part of my dinner is almost always a colorful rainbow salad. I try to eat approximately 2 heads or bunches of leafy greens in my salad, and I love to top it with chopped bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, chives, avocado, beets, purple cabbage, or more fruit.

Make your first meal of the day a giant 32 ounce) juice or smoothie. Have a fantastically abundant salad for lunch, then dive into a dinner of fruit and veggies. Keep it simple or make a special dish, whatever fits your lifestyle.

2nd Meal/Day—Humongous platter of fruit—mixed bowl of rainbow fruits or monomeal with one fruit.
You need enough carbs to keep you fueled through your day.
Don't worry about being too full. Your stomach is a muscle like any other.
It will expand and contract to the amount of food you give it.
Dinner: Split this into 2 parts: Make the first part a small plate of fruit Citrussy Fruit, which will drain
Epic Salad
Epic Raw Marinara

4. Eat Enough Food to Get Enough Calories

Don't worry about being too full. Your stomach is a muscle like any other.
It will expand and contract to the amount of food you give it.

Yes, you read right. Make sure you are eating enough calories! This is one of the most important tips.

If you've ever dieted or know anything about dieting, it's often about calorie restriction. When you're eating raw vegan, it is the opposite: Because vegetables and fruits are naturally low in calories, you have to—and it's fun to!—eat a lot of the good stuff to get the calories to sustain your energy.

Truly, not eating enough calories is the #1 reason why most people fail when they start a raw-food diet, so try to get into the right mindset early and establish a positive routine.

If you want to be able to thrive in your day, and stick to your diet, then you must eat enough.

People think that eating three bananas and a salad in one day are going to be enough for them, but they're not getting sufficient calories to fuel their body's needs. They get tired and they blame it on the diet, on the food, or on what they're missing.

Please eat with enthusiasm, eat enough. How can you tell? Use tools like: Cronometer, Tap N Track, Fitmeter, Nutriday to help you collect information about what you're eating and your calorie consumption.

Nutrients: Eat the Rainbow/Eat Variety
The colorful pigments in fruits and vegetables are an indication of the powerful nutrition inside.
If you’re not eating enough, whether raw or other diet, you won’t get enough nutrients,
Including as many rainbow colors in foods as possible, a lot of greens (the most important--most of the minerals are in greens). If you’re still hungry you’re not eating enough fruit.

Protein: Comes from the greens--kale and romaine are great, spinach (problem with oxylates). The darker the leafy greens the better. Greens are also great for hydration.

Snacking: Grab a piece of fruit, Celery Stick with tahini or almond butter, fruit, greens, nuts or seeds.
Variety, Monomeal.

[End] Don't forget to check out How to Eat Raw Vegan, Part 2: Commitment and Community, for more tips and advice on eating raw vegan. [Live Link]