karmynmalone.com

This past Wednesday I decided to do an experiment where I ate my normal 100% raw diet but excluding condiments like herbs, spices and honey.  Apparently it’s believed that these substances cause water retention.

I was aware that SALT caused water retention but I didn’t know about the other condiments.

I decided to try it out for a week, but was convinced to try it for two weeks.

Well last night I rebelled and started eating one of my favorite raw recipe that uses small amounts of condiments–my dear Roger’s World Famous Savory Veggie Stews.

I suppose I couldn’t help myself.  They’re really tasty, mineral rich (thanks to the huge amount of leafy greens they contain) and very satisfying.

It’s always been my goal to eat a very simple raw diet consisting of mono meals of fresh fruit and greens (eating “mono” means eating one type of unproccessed fruit or green until satisfied and waiting until hunger returns before eating another “mono” meal).

Well I realized that I’m not READY yet to do so.  Even though I knew that I could start eating the condiments at the end of my two week experiment that it was still too much of a committment for me–one that I wasn’t ready to do as of yet.

I do eat simply as much as possible but I like to know that I can have a simple raw recipe when I want to.

This got me thinking about the importance of transitioning at the proper speed, which is quite individual.

When I first heard about the raw food diet back in 2005 thanks to Jinjee Talifero’s “The Garden Diet” website (http://thegardendiet.com) I knew that the raw vegan diet was the right one for me so I IMMEDIATELY jumped into it (going from eating the Standard American Diet to eating a MODIFIED version of a raw diet.

I atte plenty of raw greens, vegs and fruit but I also ate a very lightly seared tuna steak once a day because I wasn’t ready yet to give up animal products–this came almost a year later.

I also realized that I jumped into eating a 100% raw diet too quickly and ended up going back too eating cooked food, despite the benefits I was getting from my modified 100% raw diet (which included a small amount of fish).

It took time for me to completely transition to a 100% raw “beegan” diet (these days the correct term for vegans that use honey is “beegan”).  The good news is that I’m eating a diet I have ABSOLUTELY no problem sticking to.

The thing that helps me stick to it is knowing that I can use condiments like herbs, spices and honey in small amounts to make good raw food taste GREAT.

I mean there are worst things I could be eating …

Also compared to how I looked when I first started the raw diet to now is ASTRONOMICAL.

Here’s what I looked like when I first heard of the raw diet back in Sept 2005, thanks to Jinjee Talifero:

And here is what I look like now:

I know many in the raw food world like Nora Lenz (http://www.rawschool.com/) and Dr. Douglas Graham (http://foodnsport.com/) recommend that the best way to transition to a 100% Natural Hygiene style raw diet (eat simply, plenty of fresh fruit, a small amount of greens and an even smaller amount of nuts/seeds/avocado and ZERO condiments) is to do so SLOWLY.

Nora Lenz recommends a gentle transition otherwise you’ll end up backsliding which in her opinion is worse for the body than going back and forth between more optimal and less optimal eating.

Dr. Douglas Graham basically says something along the lines of “direction not speed.”

So despite my wanting to do a two week experiment free of condiments, I’m not ready as of now but maybe things will change.

My birthday is coming up Tuesday so who knows maybe turning 31 will make me ready or perhaps I’m better off waiting a little while longer.

I mean I could be eating worse things than small amount of condiments in my raw food …

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Karmyn

P.S. Wanna learn more about my se cret recipe system that keeps me and many others eating a 100% raw diet?  Check out Roger’s Savory Veggie Stews System
http://sn.im/n8ekh

P.P.S.  Wanna join the exclusive support forum where you can ask questions from Roger who’s been eating a 100% raw diet for almost 9 years?  Learn “How to Go Raw” here:
http://sn.im/hpp98