Real Raw

I have been some sort of vegetarian for most of my adult life. For various reasons, I have veered from vegan (no animal products in my diet) to ovo-lactarian (allowing milk products and eggs), to what I jokingly call "pescatarian" — a vegetarian who also eats fish. I didn't begin the vegetarian lifestyle to support any ideals; I simply have never really liked meat all that much. For a short period, I chose to eat vegan because I read that it was easier to lose weight. Unfortunately, it didn't work in my case, and I found it much too difficult to eat as vegan at restaurants or as a guest in others' homes. (Most restaurants slather their "vegetarian' dishes with cheese.) So I gave that up pretty quickly.

This summer, my boyfriend/partner Rich and I went to Salamanca, Spain for three weeks to study Spanish as part of a college language course. I knew, ahead of time, that we were to stay with a Spanish family and that during our stay it would be extremely difficult to remain a vegetarian — at least not without insulting our hosts and Spaniards in general, who do love their jamon (ham). While in Spain, I ate chicken, pork, ham, all manner of sausage, and probably some beef, though I don't remember it being offered very often. My stomach didn't explode and I didn't die. However, I often felt bloated and overfull, and looked forward to returning to my normal diet.

After coming home, I announced to my family that I would, from now on, eat a more "relaxed" vegetarian diet. What I meant by that is that I would primarily eat as a vegetarian, but would eat chicken and fish on a limited basis to help promote family harmony and when invited to others' homes for dinner.

The problem was, I gained weight while in Spain — not an easy feat, since we were walking at least 5 miles every day. And now, at 170 lbs, am the heaviest I've ever been. Mulling over my weight issues and wondering how I would deal with it this time, I began to think about eating raw. I have acquaintances who eat raw and swear by it. They are all thin, radiating health, and definitely to be envied.

Eating raw makes sense to me. Vitamins and enzymes naturally present in food are not destroyed by cooking, nuts that are soaked are more easily digestible, etc. But, most of the people I know who eat raw are either: young and unattached, attached to another person with the same food ideals, aging hippies (unattached or attached), people who focus on meditation and yoga, spiritual living, etc. I don't know anyone attempting a raw lifestyle who has a family.

I, by contrast, live with a boyfriend who, while he is tolerant of my diet vagaries, prefers to eat a "normal" diet, and a teenage son who adores meat and potatoes, pizza, hamburgers, and all of the other nasty, bad-for-you foods you can imagine. I also like my morning coffee and my evening glass (or two) of wine and am not prepared (yet) to give those up.

Still, the whole raw idea appeals to me. Out of curiosity, I borrowed a few books about raw food from the library and began skimming. Here's what I found out: the average raw recipe requires hours of soaking nuts and/or grains, all sorts of strange ingredients that I've never heard of before, and hours of dehydration. The ingredients are expensive, as well. How would I do any of this and still keep my family intact? There is no way that my family will eat raw food, which means I would have to cook separate meals. That's not as difficult as it sounds: I'm used to cooking separate vegetarian food for myself while cooking meat for my family. A raw diet also seems like it requires planning far enough ahead to manage all that soaking, blending, and dehydrating.

Feeling somewhat discouraged, I began to problem-solve. Maybe I could start with some small changes and work my way up to a raw diet, with the goal of an eventual 80/20 raw/normal ratio. If I remain flexible, so that when we are invited out or go to a restaurant, I am willing to eat some cooked food (I can always order salads, right?), then it won't interfere with others in my life too much. I decided that I would begin with eating raw breakfasts and go from there.

Eating raw is definitely out of the mainstream. Is it possible for an all-American woman like me, middle-aged, a mother and grandmother, busy writer, consultant, and girlfriend to do this? If I manage to accomplish my goal of eating an 80% raw diet, will I experience enhanced health and more energy, as all the books claim I will? Will I live longer? What will the effect be on my family? My life?

My one-year experiment begins tomorrow.

Will you share this journey with me by reading and commenting?