RAW FOOD and my absence...

I've been struggling with wanting to try a raw food lifestyle for about a year now. My boyfriend had been a raw foodist for 2 years and still rants and raves about it. He did it while he lived in FL, and found it much harder to stick to here in NY because we don't have the abundance of fruit that FL has, all year round. Right now my reason/excuse is that I'm too broke to buy my own food, so I've been living off the foods my mom buys. I'll be 28 years old in 3 days, so I feel pathetic evening writing that. But that's what you get for going back to school full-time at this age! I know it'll be worth it once I graduate.

Soooooo, my boyfriend wants to go back to being at least 80% raw. Does everyone know what a raw food diet is? Basically, it's vegetable, fruit, nuts and seeds. Nothing is cooked above 110 degrees with the idea that once food is cooked, it loses it's natural digestive enzymes, and most of it's nutritional value, thus your body doesn't get the maximum amount of nutrition. Plus, it's the way we're designed to eat if you think back to almost the beginning of our existence. Stoves and microwaves didn't exist back then. We were natural grazers and ate from the fruits of the land, so to speak. Well, I'm due for a heft tax return in about a week or two, so him and I will shack up at his apartment for the weekend and jump start or raw food life. We'll buy an abundance of fruits and vegetables, and make all sorts of juices and smoothies. We'll go hiking, play tennis (weather permitting!) and hopefully that will help us both get into a healthier lifestyle. My boyfriend is naturally thin, and in shape, but suffers from digestive issues, some anxiety, etc. All of which, we believe, can be cured from eating a more natural diet. Has anyone tried the raw food diet? I did it for a week and felt absolutely amazing. I had sooo much energy! However, I was living off of watermelon, which I hate, so I eagerly jumped back into cooked foods. :( I don't think I could ever bee 100% raw, but I have to start getting closer to it. After our "weekend", I will start by replacing at least one meal with raw foods. And hopefully, your body will start craving the REAL food, over the processed cooked foods, and I'm hoping I'll slowly work my way up to about 80% raw, and about 2 raw meals a day plus 1 healthy "cooked" meal. The benefits of this diet and lifestyle are incredible. I mean, look at Demi Moore! She's a raw foodist and it's like she's not even aging! I do believe this is "the secret" to a truly healthy lifestyle.

I've been absent from this blog for a few weeks. I'd like to say it's because I didn't have my own computer (I just received a new netbook on Saturday as an early birthday gift, and I LVOE it!), but it's probably more because I've fallen off my diet, yet again, and am ashamed. I've stayed about the same weight, which is good, but I can do better. I'm soooo sick of trying and failing all the time. There's got to be an easier way. Why is eating right so difficult in this country? We really are a Fastfood Nation. It's sooo much easier to eat better in other countries. In England, for example, if you look at the ingredients of Gatorade it's: mineral water, beet juice for color, sugar, vitamin A, etc. etc. HERE, it's: water, high fructose corn syrup, red 5, yellow 3, etc. etc. It's SO HARD to stay away from chemicals and processed foods, but it IS do-able! And in my eastern nutrition class, he said Spring is the time for cleansing your body of all the heavy, fatty foods from the winter and to start to prepare your body for the light foods of summer. So I'm trying to take that, and run with it! Ugh, am I really going to spend yet another summer fat and ashamed?

I hope everyone has been doing better than I have. But I'm motivated, yet again! Also, my first soccer game is this Sunday and that is sure to kick my ass! :)