Raw food :: Week 1 results

"Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit." B.K.S. Iyengar

This week I completely stopped eating meat and started 'raw vegan'.... the results are already really good but it hasn't been altogether easy. My reasons for trying the raw food diet was because I was tired of feeling run down, really low on energy, wanted to be healthier and was interested in treading lighter on the earth. 

I'd never ever tried 100% raw food before, let alone go completely vegan so its been a little bit of a struggle towards the end of the 7 days. I'd been doing well sticking to it except for a couple of slices of vegetarian pizza and an ice-cream on the last day. (Eggs and dairy are a 'no-no')   There are many reasons why people go vegan, and its a topic that can get pretty heated in the 'vegan Vs vego' world. That's why I feel that pursuing a raw vegan diet is a very personal choice and so my focus is on writing about the health benefits rather than the other more 'ethical' reasons as to why people are switching to a raw vegan lifestyle. For anyone interested in finding out what I mean there is plenty of information out there, including the film 'Forks before Knives', and the much heavier documentary, 'Earthlings'.

After a week I thought I'd include some of the dishes I've been preparing as I'm yet to buy a blender and food processor (necessary equipment for easy raw food meals) but that they're not completely essential as you can see below. It's best to use fresh and organic vegetables and fruit as they have the most nutrients and won't be coated in any nasty pesticides or chemicals.

Coconut Curry with sunflower sprouts
This is an easy and tasty dish and takes about 10 mins to make:

• Carrot
• Red pepper
• Snow peas
• Zucchini
• Broccoli sprouts
• Sunflower sprouts
• Lime
• 1 x can Organic coconut milk
• Thai curry paste

1. Add coconut milk to a pan on very low heat and combine a teaspoon of curry paste.

2. Chop up the carrot, zucchini and red pepper and add to the coconut curry sauce. Allow to heat slightly no hotter than 40 degrees celsius (1 minute)

3. Add snow peas and take off heat. Toss vegetables in the sauce. Top with sprouts and wedges of fresh lime, squeeze over lime juice to taste!

Another alternative to pasta is thinly slicing zucchini and cabbage into strips and adding to a tomato sauce mixed with vegetables. I really like adding a bunch of fresh sprouts to the top of these dishes. You want the veges to be as 'living' and crunchy as possible so make sure you avoid over cooking them.  

Portobello mushrooms are great as raw food pizza bases! Add toppings of diced celery, capsicum, zucchini and any other veges you like, squeeze some fresh lime on top and a dash of soy sauce, really delicious. 

The secret to getting enough protein is to eat plenty of dark leafy greens. Surprisingly they have just as much protein as meat, spinach has 5g of protein in every 1 cup serving.

Finally, I tried a tasty vegetarian lasagne tonight. 


Raw vege lasagne

• 2 x Zucchini
• 4 x tomato
• 2 x Avocado
• Mushrooms
• Fresh Basil
• Tomato pizza sauce

Combine avocado and chopped basil leaves in a bowl and mix to make a nice paste. 


Start the lasagne by layering slices of zucchini in a dish and cover with the avocado basil. 


Next layer slices of organic tomato, then some tomato paste, and keep layering with mushrooms, avocado and so on.

Put in a really low heated oven to set for about 15 minutes then it's ready to eat! 

 So to recap, before this first 'raw vegan food' week I'd been transitioning over to a raw food diet over the previous three weeks, eating probably 2 to 3 meat dishes within those weeks including dairy. I've definitely noticed a massive increase in my energy levels already since switching to raw food. I've lost 2kg in the last 1 and a half weeks without even working out too hard and my skin is much more rehydrated than before I started so the results are proving other raw foodie's theories are right!


The next step is to buy a blender and food processor this week and start getting really creative with raw food recipes.
Please leave a comment below or email me if you have any questions on whether you're thinking of starting a raw food journey too or if you have any topics you'd like me to cover. 


x ~ Arielle

A new day, a new outlook

I've always had a love for nature and animals and considered myself fairly sustainable, but it wasn't until a few months ago that I took a genuine interest in looking at my carbon footprint and realised I wasn't as environmentally conscious or as healthy as I thought. 


A few months ago a small group of designers and I decided to participate in a CSIRO Energymark program to learn more about energy, climate change and to find out ways to reduce our impact on the environment. What began as a program to learn more about reducing pollution, water use and improving as a designer, evolved into a strong personal desire to rethink my overall lifestyle and start making changes. I felt like this new information I was discovering was too important to push aside and forget about. 

"Knowledge, without action, is useless.  It's not what you learn, it's what you live."  

Dr Kyla Dillard

Along with this I'm currently midway through studying a Masters of Architecture and was feeling a strong passion for learning as much about sustainable green architecture and design as I could. I discovered architect Michael Reynolds and his documentary, The Garbage Warrior, which promoted eco-architecture and building self-sufficient communities using natural, renewable energies and recycled materials. This was a major turning point for me as an emerging architect and I've decided to base my final university assessment on designing a green building, incorporating the environmental systems and technologies I had been researching.  

Northey St Markets, Brisbane Australia

A healthy fridge!

Now, instead of buying takeaway food, drinking skim milk coffee and even shopping at big major supermarkets, I've recently opted to go to the local organic farmers market and buy most of our groceries from there. As you can see its been a few months in the making, but the reason I'm writing all of this down is because I want to explain exactly why I've decided to live a 'living foods' lifestyle and hopefully inspire others to take a second look at ways to improve their health and the environment. I have to admit I used to think vegans were a little extreme and there was a time where I never would have thought I wouldn't want to eat meat or dairy, but now I feel like it's not as hard, especially when there are so many delicious vegetarian/raw food recipes out there! In saying that its taken me 3 weeks to get off eating meat all together.
I recently purchased a very inspirational book called 'Live RAW' by Mimi Kirk.  

Mimi Kirk

Mimi Kirk is very inspiring at and 73 years of age looks amazing. A vegan for 40 years and only a raw foodie for the last 3 years, Mimi says, "Feeling like you’re in your 20′s at 73, is quite an amazing thing. I accredit this youthful look and spirit not only to my attitude, but really to my way of eating which is a raw vegan – living foods lifestyle... so many people asking my secrets on health and longevity, I thought this was an opportunity to share my life and possibly help others to transition into eating a plant based raw food diet." 


Raw food is about eating 'living food', and to be honest it's a bit of a journey for me so I'm currently researching recipes and more on how I can improve my health and lifestyle. It's about eating food in its most natural and freshest state, uncooked (not cooking it over 40 degrees C) unprocessed and organic. I love to cook and prepare food and plan on being as creative as possible along my raw food journey. Mimi writes, "Raw food is not "rabbit food". Raw food includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, grains, seaweed, spices, herbs, oils and sweeteners, all in combinations that excite the palate." (Live Raw, 2011 p2)
 

The final catalyst for my change in lifestyle was a documentary called 'Forks Over Knives'. The trailer below is really good, try and watch it if you can as it was so eye-opening and solidifies why a plant-based diet is worth the effort.





Now that I've decided to try a plant-based diet I'm excited to learn more about health and the environmental benefits along the way. I know that there'll be challenges, but I hope this blog helps to share my successes as well as struggles. Please feel free to add any comments below, or tips if you're already a vegan/raw foodie. 


x ~ Arielle