Myth Buster

I wanted to take a moment and debunk some"myths" or questions that others have asked and even ones that we have asked while on our search for true health.  We wrestled with some of these questions and I am guessing some of you are too.

        1.  I will have to give up all the foods I love...
Well not necessarily.  You have the choice of what you want to eat and what you don't.  I thought for sure I would miss having milk on my processed cereals in the morning, but I haven't missed it at all.  I also haven't missed bread, rolls, chips and everything that has added refined sugar.  If you would have asked me to give those coveted foods up a couple months ago, I would have said no way!! However, once you cut back or cut certain foods out all together, and replace them with something healthier, I can almost guarantee you won't miss them. This is not a "diet" this is a life style change.  This is not a short term purge of certain foods, but a long term development of healthier eating habits.

       2. Eating healthier is more expensive...
Again...not necessarily.  You can find good deals on fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds.  Joining a buying co-op can help, or getting to know your local grocery stores and markets.  Especially if you are not afraid of stopping by a couple different places to get the best deals.
Now this was hard for me...I was very used to going to one mega store and getting what I needed and going home.  I never compared prices or tried other stores for better produce or different selections.
For the most part, fruits and veggies do cost more than a bag of chips, however, for us it is worth the little extra.  Also, the more we have changed our diet, I realize I am not buying as much, because we just aren't eating as much.  To be honest our grocery bill is on average the same as it was before.

Now there might be more upfront cost as you start to stock your pantries with healthier items and possible different equipment.  When we started this journey all we had was a blender, and not a super fancy one, like a vitamix.  Heck...our first day trying a raw breakfast, our blender broke!!  I finished "mixing" the smoothie I was working on with a potato masher (thanks to Chris' genius idea).  We didn't have a food processor, but thanks to a great friend, who had an extra one, we are now able to process food.  Chris found an amazing deal on Craigs List for a food dehydrator and that opened up so many more options of foods and recipes to try.  There are deals out there, but you can start with what you have and not spend a bunch of extra money.

        3.  You have to buy a bunch of expensive appliances...
Well as stated in question 2...no you don't!  Yes the expensive blender, juicer, processor and dehydrator are extra nice and supposedly will last longer, however, we have a $25 blender that does everything that I need it to do.  Our food processor and dehydrator were used and work great. Plus, you can do without all these items, it just will be more time consuming, chopping and blending everything by hand. You can even use your oven for dehydrating if it is capable of low settings under 130 degrees.  The only thing we started with was a blender and that broke the very first day.  We went without anything for about 2 weeks, so don't let the equipment stop you from trying new, healthier recipes.

        4.  I will be hungry all the time if all I ate was fruits and vegetables...
I would be too! That is why you have fun by adding sprouted nuts and seeds and, healthy oils, like coconut, or cold-pressed olive oil.  Plus the great thing is that you get to eat your fill.  I haven't gone hungry yet! I eat when and what I want and I have lost weight doing that.  It is not just about what you are eating, but how you are eating it...in it's most natural state, as raw as possible.

        5. Do you just eat salads all the time...
NO!!! In fact we only eat salads a couple times a week.  There are so many ways to prepare raw foods.  I have a whole page dedicated to some of my favorite recipes we have tried.  Some of the yummy things we eat include: smoothies, live "bread",  pates of all sorts, fruit leathers, granola bars, chocolate mousse, popsicles, stuffed mushrooms and peppers and more.  I have enjoyed all the different recipes and flavors and hope you venture to try some as well.