One week. I survived a week!

Well, it is still a little premature to say it, since there are a few more hours left for the day, but I think I can safely say that these hours should pass without me faltering on the diet.

One week of raw food. 21 meals of uncooked food. Nothing heated above 115F, and since I don’t have a dehydrator that meant only room temperature food. But I survived and live to tell!

The basic principle of eating raw is to consume a diet of primarily (or exclusively) un-cooked whole plant food (75-100% of the time). The diet is centered around fruits, vegetables, nuts (in moderation), and seeds (in moderation), nothing cooked above 115F. While you can choose to be only 75% raw, I thought since I am doing it for a week, I would go completely raw.

This is the first time I have ever tried a crazy diet idea and seen it to full completion.

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I survived another coffee get together today. Every Friday, a group of us ladies meet at someone’s place for coffee and treats and general chit chat. Being raw or even gluten free/sugar free means that I can not have any of the goodies my friends make. Today the host had served an apple pie, a pumpkin pie, and a pumpkin bread. None of which I could taste, but from what I heard my friends saying, they were absolutely delicious. I just consoled myself by repeating 3 more days to go every now and then someone took a bite of pie from their plate. And continued chewing on my strawberries and apple. It did help when my friends noticed that going raw/gluten free was suiting me. I do have kind friends and that gave me the nudge I needed!

It’s not all that bad either. Not since I made these bars to treat myself.

These are raw, vegan, gluten free, sugar free, butter or oil free energy bars!  And they are pretty good. Well at least the “raw me” who has been deprived of all things indulgent thinks they are pretty good! If you are into raw energy bars maybe you should try these.

They are super healthy too with chia seeds, sunflower seeds and dates instead of sugar for the sweetness.

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Today is Day 2 of my going Raw diet.

Somehow I survived Day 1. Although, watching television in the evening was painful. Every other advertisement on TV was a food one. A juicy burger between a sourdough bread and lots of close up shots- seriously painful to watch. And I never noticed how many shows have their scenes around food. People talking with chinese take out boxes, or sitting at the table to eat warm beans and grilled chicken with mashed potatoes. I knew that eating raw would make my senses more active, but I did not know that just one day of raw food would make me so much more observant to what’s happening on TV. I never noticed that food was such an integral part of the idiot box’s life. Raw Food Revelation 1!

Day 2 has been easier for now. But it’s going to get tougher in a few hours. My friend’s kid has her birthday today and my friend is having a small get together- the food on the menu- pizza and cake. No, this diet is not going to be as easy as last week when I was only on the gluten free, sugar free diet. At least my food was warm last week. It was cooked. And I could eat cheese. But this week none of that. Just raw fruits and vegetables and nuts.

Day 1 I started my day with some watermelon, soaked almonds, and a cup of this homemade almond milk that I am sharing today. I added some pistachios, saffron and crushed cardamom seeds.

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