How To Start A Raw Food Diet Without The Stress!

The most important thing I learned was to - Start Simply.

I know, I know, you're thinking, "well duh", but let me explain.

I began reading about how to start a raw food diet, decided was a really good idea and jumped into a 100% raw diet immediately. After about 6 weeks, I realized I didn't feel as good as I thought I would and I wasn't getting the health, beauty and weight loss results I had heard so much about.

Although you can begin very simply by adding more fresh fruits, raw vegetables, raw nuts and seeds to each meal, eventually, you will probably need some guidance in order to be able to tweak the diet to your individual needs.

Knowing how to start a raw food diet is easy enough, but being able to maintain a 100% raw diet or a high raw diet may take some additional guidance.

Although I had given up a lot of greasy or sugary treats in order to improve my health, I just wasn't convinced that a raw food diet was really the way to go, or that it was as great as some people say it is. It sounded a little too restrictive to me.

Being the cynic that I am, I have to experiment with new things for myself and, while I appreciate people's opinions, I prefer to test the waters myself and draw my own conclusions.

But after doing my own research and reading a couple of highly informational books, I discovered I was very misinformed!

The most shocking thing I learned is that most people following a raw food diet are actually doing in a way that's pretty unhealthy and that those folks are headed for serious nutritional deficiencies in the long term.

While I seriously doubt I will ever be 100% raw, I have ended up adopting a high raw diet (80-90%) that works for me, my lifestyle and my family.

And I've lost 20 pounds in the process!

I read a lot of books while I was doing my own research,but there was one book about how to start a raw food diet that I found really helpful for me and my family.

If you've done any reading at all about how to start a raw food diet, you may be freaking out about all the new kitchen equipment they say you need.

The truth is that you can start a raw food diet without buying anything if you don't want to.

Here's a list of kitchen tools you probably already have that are ideal for a raw food diet.

1.Good set of knives
2.Food Processor
3.Blender
4.Food Dehydrator

You can use your stove as a dehydrator of sorts if you don't already have one as long as you can set the temperature between 105 and 115 degrees or set it to the lowest temperature and crack open the door just a bit.

That's really all the kitchen equipment you need to get started, although I do suggest you invest in a good book about how to start a raw food diet.

Because there are so many tummy tempting raw food recipes to try, you will eventually want to invest in a few kitchen tools specifically for raw food that will make tackling some of the more complex raw food recipes much easier.

These are especially useful if you're trying to imitate a favorite cooked food such as the raw lasagna in this picture.

Here are the 4 raw food kitchen tools that I use in my own kitchen.

Blendtec HP-621-FLP Total Blender, Black

This blender has enough power to make green smoothies, raw soups and sauces silky smooth. This is the blender I have at home and I use it at least once a day.

Excalibur 2900 9 Tray Dehydrator

Why this particular brand for your dehydrated foods? Precise temperature control so that you never have to worry about overheating your food. Also, the design is much better suited to warming raw food on plates and in bowls than the old-fashioned round dehydrators with the hole in the middle.

Spirooli Slicer 3 in 1 slicer

The Spirooli slicer makes veggie pasta for spaghetti, angel hair, linguini and more. This is a great tool to help tame the pasta beast when starting a raw food diet.

Pinzon Stainless-Steel Mandoline

The mandoline slicer can make paper thin, long veggie slices for raw lasagna and other raw food delights.