In the past, I have gone raw twice for a couple of weeks and during both times I was over the moon about it. I didn’t do it last year because honestly, summer in the UK isn’t really motivational to go raw. I still missed the experience and so the decision to do it this year was very easily made.

For this time, I wanted to be a little more ambitious. I will go fully raw for the month of May, I will do more research than the last times and I will document my journey on my blog. A little word of warning at this point: It will be a trial and error situation, I am not an expert and this is my journey to discover the Raw Vegan Lifestyle. Tips and tricks are more than welcome so feel free to leave a comment with some constructive criticism or let me know about your own experience.

Why a raw vegan diet?

There are many reasons for people to live a raw vegan lifestyle. I will tell you about mine:

1. Health: We all know that processed food isn’t good for us – vegan or not. By eating a raw vegan diet I want to avoid artificial ingredients you would find in processed food. It is a detox from many chemicals, sugar and salt my body doesn’t need. Also, raw fruits, vegetables etc. contain more vitamins than their cooked equivalent.
2. Energy:  I noticed during my past experience that my energy level on a raw diet was way higher than on a cooked diet. I didn’t need any coffee to feel awake and would jump out of bed at 6 am (and those who know me will get that this is close to a miracle since I am NOT a morning person). Especially fruits are easy on the digestive system and when your body doesn’t need to spend all the energy on digesting your food it can use it otherwise.
3. Sleep: Another experience from the past: my sleep quality skyrocket on a raw vegan diet. Falling asleep was easier and I would feel rested in the mornings – hence the jumping out of bed.
4. Skin: My skin was glowing after just a few days on a raw food diet. The black rings under my eyes disappeared and my skin completely cleared up.

These are some of the reason why I decided to go raw for a full month and potentially live a high raw lifestyle after that. At this point, I am hoping that my expectations for this month aren’t too high but we will find out eventually.

It is important to me to stress that weight-loss is not a goal of this journey. I love my body and I am really happy with my weight. However, I will still weigh myself on the first and the last day of May just to see if this lifestyle has any impact on my weight.

Potential issues and compromises

Every major lifestyle change comes with some issues that need solving. During my research, I stumbled upon a few things I will have to keep in mind.

1. Calories: Most raw foods are not as calorie dense as cooked foods. This is why I will need to have an eye on my daily calorie intake and make sure I give my body enough energy to work with. I will use Cronometer to track my nutrients intake. I will also need to do a lot of food prep and make sure I always have a snack in my bag.
2. Fat: People tend to binge on nuts and avocados when they go newly raw. You don’t want to overdo it. I personally prefer an 80/10/10 balance in my food. which means that 80% of your calories come from carbohydrates, 10% from proteins and 10% from fats. Cronometer will be my friend in this quest, too.
3. Cheat Meals: Generally, cheat days won’t be necessary. However, I know that my mum will visit me in the middle of May and we already booked a vegan afternoon tea because of Swiss mothers day. I will indulge in that but not throw my whole journey out of the window because of it.
4. Money: The base of most of my meals are brown rice, potatoes and pulses which are cheap and healthy but don’t work in a raw lifestyle. Buying only fresh food can be rather expensive, especially, if you go for organic food. I am on a budget and will need to be attentive to the money I spend on food. I will buy some frozen fruits because they aren’t steamed before freezing and therefore compatible with a raw vegan lifestyle.

Preparations for Raw Food May

Yes, I decided to call my whole journey Raw Food May and will also use the hashtag #rawfoodmay on social media.

What did you do to prepare for this journey? First and foremost: research. I already owned Fullyraw Kristina’s recipe book The Fully Raw Diet which is definitely helpful. Also, I asked for tips in Facebook groups, read other blogs and watched plenty of videos on Youtube. There might come a post about my favourite sources, we will see.

Next, I compared some prices online and decided to and buy some frozen fruits at Aldi. I am not an Aldi fan but somehow I got carried away in the store. I spent £33.17 on fruits and vegetables. At this point, I am not sure how long that will last but I will let you know. I will also need to buy dates, nuts and raw cacao powder.

There was one thing that upset me with my shopping: the sheer amount of plastic that comes with it. I tried to find a recycling location where I could bring the wrappings but there is not a single one in the Liverpool city centre – shame on you Liverpool! According to recyclenow the next Tesco that offers a recycling bin for plastic wrapping is in Formby, 10 miles away from where I live.

After carried three full bags home (and looked like an idiot doing it) I faced the next challenge: Where can I put all this food? It was like playing Tetris in my kitchen but I succeeded!

Let’s start that journey!

With a kitchen full of fresh vegetables and fruits a feel fairly ready to start this journey. I might even start a day or two earlier, depending on my mood. You will definitely get a weekly update on my progress. For a daily update follow my Instagram account a.vegan.foodie and have a look at my story.

And for now: go #rawfoodmay !