Last week I decided to go on a 7 day raw food diet, wanting to detox and cleanse my body to become healthier. For me, it started out as a way to lose a little weight and really watch what I was eating, but it did a lot more than that. It really helped me appreciate food, in its raw form. I was thinking more about how we get food, where it comes from, and why we eat it. It became more of a mental diet than a physical one. It was a great week, hard, but great!
Eating a 7 Day Raw Food Diet
Going on a 7 day diet seemed really easy. I mean, you can do anything for 7 days, right? Well, I can tell you it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. You are only eating raw fruit, vegetables, nuts, some grains, spices, olive oil and some vinegars, and all uncooked. Anything cooked needs to be dried or cooked at less than 105 degrees. I didn’t eat anything warm or hot all week. Here’s a few things I did to help me through the process.
- Get prepared. This diet is all about the preparation. Find recipes, plan your meals, and buy your food at the start. You need to have food on hand to help get you through the week, so you don’t grab something else that isn’t raw when you’re hungry. I did research on websites (listed below), wrote down all kinds of ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and kept quick snacks handy. There’s a lot of food prep too. I made meals, sauces, and snacks to have ready and on hand. It made it easy to put together a quick salad with lettuce already washed and cut up in a bag.
- Some of the food for my week: fruit smoothies, green spinach drinks, guacamole lettuce wraps, bananas with almond butter, mango salsa, cucumber and tomato salad, strawberry mint soup, chocolate walnut “brownies”, tomatoes with non-dairy pesto.
- Gather your friends. There were 4 of us that did this together, Alyssa, Christianne, myself, and Sabrena. We started off our week on the first night with a Raw Food Potluck. We gathered at one house and each brought something raw to share. We also all brought extras to take home with us, giving us each 3 more things to eat throughout the week. This was the best part, seeing what others were making, giving me ideas of what I could eat.
- Get the whole family involved. I don’t know how I did it, but my husband did this with me :). Yes, Jordan did all 7 days. I’m so proud of him! Even the kid were involved. We let them know what we were doing, told them we weren’t going to go out to eat (no need for temptations) and if they would help us. When it came down to it, my kids were wanting to eat more fruit and veggies than I’ve ever offered them before. I still gave them bread, dairy and meat, but now avocados on toast with a side of strawberries is my daughters favorite lunch!
- Making snacks. Thanks to Excalibur for sponsoring my dehydrator, it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. I love it and use it all the time. (Which by the way, you have 2 more days to win one for yourself from this week’s giveaway). It was on for almost the whole week, drying something. This dehydrator has a “raw food” setting, making sure your food is cooked under 105 degrees. It takes a little longer to cook, a couple more hours, but it’s still considered “raw” or “living”. Dried fruit was a great snack to have on hand, in my purse, in the car, everywhere.
- I love to make fruit leather. I usually make it outside in the sun, so in the cold Utah months, having a dehydrator has been perfect. It takes 4-6 hours and I have delicious rolls of dried fruit leather. I simply cut up and blend my fruit, not adding anything else, and pour it right onto the mats. I highly suggest using a raised spatula for spreading it out thin. I made all sorts of combinations too: mango-blackberry-strawberry, strawberry-banana, apple-pear. So yummy!!
- Restaurants. There is one official raw restaurant in Utah called Omar’s Rawtopia. On the 5th day, my friends and I decided to go eat there to help get us through the last couple of days. Everything on the menu is raw and it was all really good. Below is their spicy veggie sushi, sooooo good! They even had a few delicious chocolate desserts. I also went to the local grocery stores, Whole Foods, Good Earth, and Sun Flower Market. In each store there is a “raw” food section. They sold yummy local raw desserts and meals, a few from Raw Melissa, I love her stuff.
- Websites. Here is a list of some great websites, many where I took recipes from. It’s great how much information is out there. I have a lot more respect for those who choose to have a raw food lifestyle. So many great recipes for delicious raw meals.
- The Rawtarian
- The Best of Raw Food
- The Raw Chef
- Raw Guru
- Simply Raw Recipes
- We Like it Raw
After going through this diet, for all 7 days, I feel more empowered to eat healthier, be more “food” informed, and live better. I’m also going to have my good friend, Sabrena from above, start posting once a month on M&T sharing tips and ideas on living a more sustainable life. I loved my week of eating raw and hope to incorporate it into living a more healthy life.
I love MojoHeadz. https://firebeatfromla.blogspot.com/2019/09/mojoheadz-records-do-you-hear-that.html Mojoheadz records is the go-to market place showcasing the innovation and evolution of the genre. Seeing as the label was founded in 2019, the catalogue stretches back to include seminal tracks like Endego’s ‘Sorry’, but in more recent years its contemporary output has guided dance music with releases by psytrance and happy hardcore.Check this out review!!!
I tried the raw veggie diet (mainly veggies, not fruit), juiced the veggies, ate nuts, and in 4 days, I lost 8 lbs! Iweighed 165 before the diet, and went down to 157. This was 3 months ago, and I have kept that weight off!!!! I am working out every day and dropped just 2 lbs in 3 months, frustrated, I’m going to start the 7 day veggie nut diet starting this Wednesday!
Wow, what a cool thing to try. I’ve been consulting several people about how best to go about the business of trying a food diet. I tend to be a little nervous about trying new things, but some of these recipes sound so good that I think what I need to do is just try a couple. Plus it’s so healthy and energy conscious.
Hi, just thought I would leave a message to say how it?s very nice to read this info from someone that actually knows what they are talking about. Sincere thanks. David
Thank you for your article/s of which I found to be most informative and more importantly, relevant to what I was looking for, plus I will return to catch your updates, sincere best wishes.David
I think that it is wonderful that you were able to stick with this diet for a week. I think that I will try this as a jumpstart for getting healthier.
hi, i love your website! i have a question for you. i have been searching for a dehydrator to make my juice pulp into crackers. i heard that the excalibor is the best in comparison to other dehydrators. can you tell me why they are better?
also, if i didn’t have a dehydrator, can i just use my oven and set it for 100 degrees?
thanks!
It’s so important to give our bodies the best nutrients to maximize it’s performance, this can only be achieved with raw foods.
I loved your post! As a family we try to eat healthy everyday and as much raw as we can. This winter I totally got off the wagon (pregnant) and although the food is still healthy 75% of the time, it hasn’t been as raw as it needs to be. Your post inspirited and motivated me to get back on the wagon and feed my family better. We are even planning a week of raw only. My husband and I both need the nutrients and detox!
That is so cool that your family joined in- fabulous job! I have a friend with a raw food site- AddictedtoVeggies.com. Her recipes are amazing! Half the time I would never know that they are raw foods. My favorite thing about a raw meal? Feeling ENERGIZED at the end, instead of super full.
I LOVE that you did this post. I’ve been wanting to do a cleanse of sorts and had really been leaning to the raw diet. I love the girls in this picture. I’ve been spending a little time with Sabrena at Bikram and it’s been really fun to see you guys through pictures. I’m going to save this post and refer to the places you mention for great Raw items. Thanks!
This is awesome. I love raw food. I think it is great you posted about this. We all need to eat more raw food. And you can have bread! From the dehydrator. I have made torilla chips and anything else you can imagine! I bet you felt amazing when the week was through!
I agree. I am finding that I have a ton of energy by adding more raw food to my diet daily. Good for you for committing to a week!
I have been considerign going raw for awhile now…how was it on your budget? That is the part that stresses me out the most! And I only have a small dehydrator, and think it might be necessary to get a larger one…UGH! :) Thank you!
I tweeted this giveaway! I really hope I win, it would be amazing!
Hi Marie!
This is wonderful! You have inspired me to try this with my family.
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers!
Shelly xo
I think I could do this—I love fruit and veggies, but it would be hard to have no bread products!
This is amazing! I’m a vegetarian and in college so trying to stay in shape and keep healthy is basically impossible! I work at a dining hall and so I have plenty of kinds of food at my disposal, but unfortunately that includes oily wings as well as fresh fruit! I keep myself healthy by running and swimming but it’s just too expensive on a college kid’s budget to buy stuff at whole foods or earthfare! This is a great idea though, my friends and I are definitely stealing it!
I am really impressed! And you aren’t a vegetarian? I am, and I started adding more raw every day. I really should do a 7 day like you did. I would love to hear more about how you prepared ahead of time. And which site had the brownie recipe??? ; ) I bought a very inexpensive dehydrator last year because I was worried I wouldn’t use it enough to be worth the Excalibur. But I tell you, I have used it quite a bit! And I haven’t even made fruit leather yet!
Did you end up losing weight?
How much?
Let us know! :)
You have inpsired me. Now I need to win that dehydrator!! BUT what I really want to know is if you and your hubby lost any weight? And if so, how much?!!
I think it was only a few pounds, but we ate a lot considering. I didn’t lose any, my body was going through more of a “let’s find some balance here” as I had been eating pretty bad before and it was just trying to figure itself out!
Good job! I am impressed, I tried a four day diet and was light headed by day two and gave up :) maybe if I planned better I could make it through a full week but I doubt it. With the resources you posted, I might just have to try :)
I am so proud of you!!! And your post made the week look so blissful. Love you and am so proud of your for the changes you’re making in your life! Best raw week ever (though as I mentioned, mine was only 6.)
I admire your ability to do this and stick with it for the week. I’m not sure I could.