Transitioning to a RAW vegan Diet
Transitioning.
Let’s talk about it. How do you move from eating one diet—any diet—to eating a raw vegan diet? The answer?
There is no singular answer for everyone.
You see, transitioning to our natural human diet isn’t like going on any other diet—because it isn’t just a diet. When we start eating our proper diet we don’t just lose weight, clear up our skin, or improve our blood pressure.
Everything changes. Emotions come to the surface. Our minds open up. Our hearts expand.
It’s so. much. more. than a diet.
And it can be heavy. And scary. Most of us have no idea how much we use food to cope and suppress our emotions. We all do it. Every one of us at one point or another have used food to numb ourselves.
And let me tell you—it’s a lot harder to numb out or to escape eating watermelon than it is when eating burgers and fries.
Many people aren’t ready for the MASSIVE change that occurs when you start eating an abundance of living foods. They’ve never experienced anything like it.
That’s why transitioning slowly, sustainably and healthfully is SO important.
Unless you’re dealing with a severe terminal illness, It’s probably best to transition over time—even over years.
If your goal is permanent, lasting change—real, true and glorious health—then you need to take manageable steps to get there. Like everything else in life consistent, quality actions towards your goal is the key. It's incredibly tempting to try something that promises quick results for little to no effort. But no thing truly worth having is acquired without work. In fact, it's worth having precisely because you had to earn it!
Collectively it's long overdue that we break out of the diet culture mentality. It doesn’t need to be all or nothing. It doesn’t need to be bingeing on the weekends and only juice and smoothies during the week. We're not limiting or restricting ourselves because we eat healthy meals. Fruits and vegetables aren't a punishment. They're not something we have to suffer to consume. It's a TRUE JOY to be able to eat nature's bounty.
You choose how you perceive it. But so long as you're feeling like you're missing out or restricting yourself while eating a living foods, plant based diet, you're going to continue to struggle to enjoy and maintain a healthy diet. It's not just about what foods you eat, but about your mindset. You have to feel whole, abundant and truly satisfied with your choices or you'll continue to feel tempted by other things.
So how do you actually start transitioning?
Start off with a smoothie for breakfast every day. Have that become second nature for you and then work on improving lunch. Once lunch is easy for you, you can work on dinner. It's so easy to swap out a breakfast sandwich for a big smoothie or juice. There are also raw granola bars out there OR you can make your own--they're quite simple! Lunch can be more fruit. I like to have "mono-meals" of just mangos or bananas or grapes. A mono-meal is having just one fruit for an entire meal. So--depending on the size--I'll have anywhere from 3-10 mangos for lunch. It's simple. It's quick. And when the mangos are good quality, it's absolutely delicious!
Dinner's can be more challenging. Often times people crave a warm, heavy meal by the end of the day--especially if you under ate over the course of the day. Do NOT under eat. It's such a common mistake many people make when transitioning to a plant based or raw foods diet. I certainly made that mistake initially.
For dinner 6-7 nights a week I have a giant salad with a homemade dressing. It takes me about 10 minutes to chop my veggies and make a dressing and I'm good to go. A good salad NEVER gets boring or old. I've been eating salads nearly every day for years and I enjoy them now more than ever!
But remember--start with breakfast. Don't worry about the entire day until you've figured out just one meal.
Again; the goal is real, lasting, sustainable change. Enough with the yo-yo dieting and extreme dietary and lifestyle changes. It is exhausting. And demoralizing. AND unhealthy.
Baby steps. This isn’t a race. You’re not competing to have the perfect diet by next week. You’re working on your health and healing—like we all are. So stay consistent, make comfortable changes one at a time, and you will be amazed how far you will come in 6 months or a year.
For those wanting meal plans and recipes, check out my store. I have several meal plans there and a whole bunch of recipe books to provide inspiration and education on transitioning to more raw foods.
You totally got this!