10 Easy Steps to Transition Any Donut-Loving Burger-Eater to a High Raw Food Diet (Part 2 of 2)
by Clarissa Leventis-Cox and Tera Warner
In yesterday’s blog post, Clarissa shared her worrisome woes about how to get the family on the healthy bandwagon. It’s not easy in a world that exalts fast food, but with Clarissa’s 10 easy steps to transition, you’ll be sitting around the family table feasting on fresh food before you know it.
Yesterday’s article looked at the first three steps, and in this article steps 4-10 will be revealed!
4. Find Foods that Can Easily Be Substituted for Raw/Healthier Versions
There are so many amazing, delicious recipes and foods to eat out there. You may just be stuck in a rut of doing what you know because you know it. Strap on your adventure hat and prepare for change, discovery and new, exciting things. Once again, start by changing one habit at a time – start easy. Once that becomes comfortable, move on to the next item on your list.
Consider the possibility that they might actually like it even better. If you offer something with the fear or assumption that they won’t like it, you’re done before you ever start. Feel enthusiastic, confident about your adventures and get out there and just make it happen! Good, healthy food DOES taste amazing and makes you feel amazing. So just start!
Here are a few examples of meals that we substituted as we transitioned to a healthier diet.
DRINKS
You can almost make changes here without anyone realizing you’ve done it. It’s effortless to make a refreshing drink and undeniable that “raw” in this case will always be preferred over a pasteurized, lifeless, carton-juice from the grocery store. Our upcoming 10-Day Juice Cleanse is loaded with creative, nourishing recipes the whole family will love!
Fresh Raw Lemonade
Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice
- 5 cups water
- 3/4 cup honey.
Directions:
Mix all together. Add fresh mint sprigs and citrus slices, as you wish.
A few other things we did to improve the quality of things we drink:
- We bought a filter for our drinking water.
- I started juicing and making more green smoothies. I would make these in bulk to last at most 3 days. Live enzymes and the nutrients would be depleted by then, but it is a far better option than store bought.
- Our son had some nut allergies in the beginning, so we opted for raw goat’s milk for him for a while. Now we alternate between raw goat’s milk and raw homemade almond milk, but plan to stick to more of the latter.
- Use a straw or a thermos to mask the taste/texture/colour of some green smoothies… it works!
- Try adding raw green powder to fruit smoothies.
SNACKS & DESSERTS
The world of raw food desserts is one of the easiest to introduce people to. It’s very easy to find healthy alternatives to conventional desserts. Check out Angela Elliott’s book, Decadent Gourmet, or the huge volume of recipes in Have Your Cake and Eat it Too by Monique. These books are a fabulous addition to any health-enthusiast’s recipe library!
Fresh fruits, nut balls, spinach chips, raw cookies, raw ice cream, apple with almond butter, banana with chocolate fudge, raw popsicles (blend fruit with some veggies and freeze), tomatoes eaten freshly picked from the vine, goji berries, dates with filling, raw applesauce, raw pies and cakes, etc.
BREAKFASTS
Our homemade dehydrated cereal with sliced bananas and fresh almond milk- Fresh fruit, breakfast fruit pudding topped with flax seeds and berries
- Raw oatmeal, ‘buckwhix’ (our dehydrated cereal version of Wheetabix, which the boys used to love)
- Applesauce, etc.
APPETIZERS
- Anything with dips and sauces
- Flax seed crackers with spinach avocado dip
- Spring rolls with mung bean sprouts
- Raw hummus
- Soups served in spoons
- Anything bite size
MAIN COURSES
-
Start ‘easy’ by serving up 1/2 cooked and 1/2 raw items together:
e.g. 1/2 cooked (pasta) and 1/2 raw (sauce and veggies) - Move on to substitute the cooked pasta with raw vegetable ‘pasta’ made from carrots, zucchini, etc.
- Experiment with dehydrated breads and ‘wraps’ to create sandwich-like items (puree spinach with flax meal, salt, tomatoes, spices and dehydrate)
- Salads or fillings with tomato, corn or avocado are always a success in our house
- Avocado sushi (nori wrapped avocado)
5. Have Raw Choices At Every Meal
When you put an abundance of beautiful, fruits and veggies and healthy options on the table, people WILL eat it. It’s irresistible! You don’t have to have it all figured out, but you do want to make sure there’s always some healthy option at the meal. Here are a few tips to make things easier when you’re transitioning:
- ASK: Do you want to drink your raw vegan foods (smoothie/juice) or eat it (salad) today?
- Make sure to have lots of fresh fruits around for desserts/snacks
- Make foods and drinks to last at least 2 days (less work for you!)
- Organize and plan your meals!
6. Keep Trying New Raw Food Choices…
Don’t Give Up!
Just because they didn’t like your collard wraps, doesn’t mean they won’t like what you try next. Be willing to experiment, get a thick skin so you can handle it if they don’t like it, and no matter what happens, KEEP TRYING. The only way out of junk food jail is through the fresh food forest. You have so much to gain by gently, persistently flying your fresh food flag. One day, they will notice and suddenly start looking a cucumber in the eye and on that day, it will all have been worth it.
And even if they never do, you will know you did what you could and you looked after yourself in the process. Compromising your own health, vibrance and well-being because others don’t want to join you or aren’t interested will ultimately leave you feeling drained and unhealthy, and then nobody wins. Here are a few more tips to try:
- Use greens as ‘wraps’!
- If the family doesn’t like something, keep at it to discover the raw foods that they do like
- Keep the raw foods that they like around
7. Allow Some Old Treats During The Weekend or Special Occasions
Remember, enjoying the food also helps the body digest it better! If you cut off everything, you can struggle with the classic rubberband effect of what you avoid, tends to persist. The more you try not to have something, the harder it is to avoid it and the more you want it. You’ve got to be willing to put your attention on the things you DO want and consider why you want them.
Eventually it becomes easier to turn away the foods that ultimately leave you feeling bloated, tired, weak or overweight. In the meantime, there’s no need to start a full ban on the foods you’ve come to know and love. A gentle gradient is the most effective way to make chance, and keep it in place for the long haul.
8. Have Fun and Don’t Get Worked Up Over It!
- Make the food fun and appealing (use straws, make edible food art together, make it bite size, give it a striking name – we’ve had Jedi power, Jawa juice, etc)
- Understand that transitioning takes time and people’s cravings change
- Plan and organize a weekly menu
- Write down every raw vegan food item that the family liked and put it on a list under breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and dessert — so you don’t have to think next time you go food shopping or plan for next week’s meals
- If plans fail today, there’s always tomorrow!
9. Invest In Good Appliances
You don’t need to break the bank to get started with some simple, helpful kitchen appliances. Even a decent quality vegetable peeler is a fabulous tool for making some pretty creative, new foods in the kitchen. Rather than spending your nickles and pennies on takeout pizza, coffee and donuts, consider collecting and saving them for one of the following:
- Juicer, like Champion Juicer
- High speed blender, like Blendtec
- Dehydrator, like Excalibur 3900 Deluxe Series 9 Tray Food Dehydrator
(one that you can control the temperature) - Raw vegan recipes books, etc
10. Lead By Example
Those little eyes are always watching! Something is going to rub off sooner or later. Putting your attention on what isn’t healthy, positive or uplifting never makes the world feel like a friendlier place. Compassion, patience and simply doing the thing you want others to do is the only way to pave a path to a healthier world.
If you’re putting your energy into picking fights instead of picking fruits and wild edibles, then it’s time to reassess your priorities, point your finger at your own nose and get busy making your life a thriving example of what works in the world!
Calling All Burger-Eaters
One of the best things you can do for yourself and any brave burger-eater on this planet is invite them to take our Rabbit Food Challenge. For 7 days they’ll get to experience the benefit of a simple, wholesome plant-based diet and see for themselves the difference it can make to their energy, health, attention, sleep, etc.
Our next version of this program is starting up soon, you can register here and prepare yourself for the experience of being able to finally look a cucumber in the eye, and LOVING IT!