My Fully Raw Week and What I Ate

In an effort to reset my system and heal my body of any damage from the emotional eating these last few months, I chose to do a week of fully raw. No cooked foods, no oil, only fruit-sweetened, and consumed as much fresh fruit and veggies as my body craved. Things have been stressful and overwhelming here at home and I found myself going back for a second helping of food or eating dessert when I was already feeling full. It was as if I was filling a void of some sort or maybe it was my body’s way of protecting myself from falling into my very old ways of starving myself. Whatever the reason, it needed to stop. My clothes weren’t fitting like they used to, I was sluggish, stressed, and not feeling like my usual self.

Before I got pregnant with Willow, I followed a mostly raw diet so this wasn’t a new transition for me. I go through phases with raw food…it’s definitely easier for me to eat that way in the warmer months, so with the temps feeling like summer, this week was really easy for me. My body literally craved lots of fruit, smoothies, salads and veggies. I also think that reading Medical Medium helped give me the push I needed to heal.

I didn’t plan out a specific meal plan, but when we did our grocery shopping for the week, I stuck to only fresh produce and a few raw snack items. I knew in my mind that I’d be doing a lot of salads, juices, and smoothies, so sticking to our weekly budget, I purchased accordingly. Since my week was successful on so many levels, I decided to share what I ate and include links and/or recipes that helped me. I also unintentionally planned this fully raw week during my cycle and what shocked me most was my energy level. Normally I’m really sluggish, uncomfortable and unmotivated to do much of anything, yet I managed to run, work out and keep up with my very active four-year-old. I had very minor cramps for a few hours on day one, but they went away pretty fast and I didn’t look or feel bloated. During my teens and twenties, I used to have debilitating cramps and fatigue, so this was a HUGE improvement!

You’ll notice in the “what I ate” portion of this post that there were quite a few repeat meals…I have Willow to thank for that! When it came to making smoothies/smoothie bowls, she made the same two requests! She did not eat a fully raw week with me, but came pretty close – she would see what I was eating or drinking and wanted whatever I had instead of the meal I prepared for her.

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TIPS & EQUIPMENT:

Know who/where offers the best prices for what you’re looking to buy. We buy the bulk of our organic produce (and frozen fruit) from Trader Joe’s since that’s where Josh works (so we get a discount and the prices are really reasonable). I supplemented with fresh produce from Natural Grocers + Whole Foods — All organic and most of it on sale. As for frozen fruit/veggies, we buy a 3-lb bag of organic antioxidant blend via Costco for under $10 and also a large bag of organic frozen broccoli for around $7…both last us about 1.5-2 weeks. And how can I forget the dates?! Costco is my go-to for dates as you can get a 2-lb container for under $9.
To go along with the first “tip” I highly recommend downloading the Whole Foods app to your phone! There’s lots of great coupons and a list of sale items. Most of the time we aren’t able to use the coupons because they’re usually for foods that we don’t eat, BUT there have been a few times where there’s a $5 off produce coupon when you spend $25…so easy to do.
Wash and chop fresh fruit/veggies when you get home from shopping, if able. For example, when Josh brought the bag of beets home, I scrubbed, peeled, and chopped them for the week, which made smoothie prep super easy! Also, having everything washed and ready to go made snack time a cinch and throwing a salad together happened really fast.
During this fully raw week, my Vita-Mix, spiralizer, and food processor were my best friends! Oh! And my nut milk bag!
Soak your nuts/seeds!

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WHAT I ATE:

When I wake up, before I consume anything, I do oil pulling for 15-20 minutes and then I always drink at least 32 ounces of water before eating. I stuck to that routine for this week. Throughout the day I drink at least another 30-40 ounces of water…so I won’t include that in my daily breakdown below.

I learned this really cool trick for oil-pulling a few months ago and it makes it super easy! Gently melt coconut oil (I usually do this by putting it in my dehydrator) and pour into candy molds. I store mine in the fridge and pop one in my mouth first thing in the morning.

Anything marked with an asterisk (*) means I’ll share the recipe at the end or at least approximate measurements.

MAY 9 – MAY 15, 2016

Monday:

BREAKFAST: Sliced banana + apple topped with chopped dates and Ceylon cinnamon
SNACK: Gopal’s Nori Power Wrap (curry)
LUNCH: Big fruit salad and Humm Chai Kombucha
SNACK: Fresh coconut water
DINNER: Broccoli-berry smoothie bowl* topped w/ dried mulberries + shredded coconut