90 Days of Organic Raw Vegan-ness: week 1

My decision to go organic raw vegan came about like any other life changing decision, in the form of a boy. The guy I had been dating suggested that, together, we embark on a journey into this uncharted dietary territory. Raw vegan for 90 days, organic at that, how in the world was I going to do this? Especially when Chipotle just released their new Fajita Burrito®. In the entries to come I’m going to tell you how I did it and how some days were amazing, while others were plain crap, literally.

The question I was most asked when telling my friends what I was about to embark upon was, “What are you going to eat for your last meal?,” as if I was going to be put to death. I guess I didn’t care, what was more on my mind was how I was going to mix up the variety of what these 90 days would bring me.

Greens: the base for all the food for the week.

After preparing a list of foods that were right for us based on two books — Eat Right 4 Your Type by Peter J. D’Adamo and Raw Food Real World by Matthew Kenney (did I also forget to mention we were going to eat the right foods for our blood type, more on that later) — we went to Whole Foods and started our three hour tour. The first thing I must admit is starting an organic raw vegan diet is not cheap. Your original investment in supplements, herbs, spices, etc. is going to put a crack in your piggy bank. Still, your grocery bill eventually plummets faster than Apple stock when people hear of Steve Jobs’ mysterious health issues. Depending upon where you live and what recipes you plan to make for yourself, plan to spend about $65 to $85 dollars a week on food. This averages out to around $10 a day!

No labels in the fridge. Jars ready to be filled with vegan goodness.

Oh poo! This also reminds me, investing in some good tupperware is the best thing you can do for this diet. Not only are you reducing waste by not buying processed junk in wasteful containers, but your food lasts longer in the fridge. IKEA sells tupperware that is redonkulously cheap, they have a seventeen piece set for $4.99!

Ok, so I am going to tell you that the hardest and most time-consuming part of this diet is the preparation of food. For a SoCal resident who eats Mexican on a regular basis (nerds how I love sour cream), this is the key to success when choosing to take on this diet. Think about it, you are sitting at home and you are hungry. The first thing you do is go to the fridge, nothing there; next, you walk out the door and grab the quickest, yummiest thing you can find to satisfy that hunger (oooh, Snickers). This diet will force you to rid yourself of all those terrible habits. You can easily eat 10 small organic raw vegan meals every day and never be hungry for that crap-snack again. Trust me, it works. I heart food.

Oat groats, it takes five days of soaking to eat these babies, but the end-result is quite delicious.

Homemade banana chips, oh so delicious.

I was surprised at the ease of the first week as far as cravings, detoxing and my own attitude towards the diet. Cravings really only hit me when I went jogging past some of the best smelly goodness restaurants in San Diego, but I quickly combated that with some dehydrated fruit chips when I got back home. As for detoxing, well, around day four the porcelain shrine was my friend. Im not going to go into detail, but when your body is consuming lots of roughage and raw materials things start happening. You get the picture. Finally, the thing I noticed most was my attitude toward everything. I was happier, more energetic and more awake than I had been in years. All this in just one week! I can’t wait to see what happens next.