Many have the understanding that it is super easy to maintain the raw food lifestyle during the warmer months, there are plenty of local fruits and veggies in season, you can grow your own, and try several new dishes too. But once the seasons start to change, the leaves start to fall, and the temperatures start to drop, we are often left with the dilemma of how to make this lifestyle work in the winter. When the average person thinks of what to eat during a snowy day, automatically hot soups and mugs of cocoa come to mind, and maybe some of the dishes that are automatically associated with the holidays, such as turkey or ham. How does a raw foodist compete with that? And further more, how do we have that feeling of warmth and satisfaction after a meal?

Karen Knowler, a raw food coach, says that from her personal experience and that of others, “it entirely depends on how new you are to raw foods. Eating raw in winter is a bit like training for a marathon — you can’t expect to run the whole way your first time out; your body has to adjust and it has to adjust incrementally over a period of time.” Take a moment to reflect on where you are in your holistic journey. Get in touch with your body and your reasons for transitioning into a raw food lifestyle. What is important to you?

The best way to approach this is to ease yourself into the winter months with your mind, body and spirit aligned. If you are very new or up to a couple years in (or somewhere in between) perhaps your goal isn’t so much that you are 100% raw but that you are making healthy decisions. Do what feels right. So if you have been raw all day and your body says “hey gorgeous, this raw food is amazingly awesome, but it is wicked cold outside, let’s have some vegetable soup tonight,” then we think you should make yourself the healthiest vegetable soup. Do what feels right. It is so important to work with your body here, to weed out temptations for bad food decisions (greasy foods, etc) and make each decision one that will provide the most benefit to your  body. It is also important to recognize cravings, where they come from, and what emotion you attach to them (you may even have to write down when cravings occur to recognize the pattern). Surviving the winter in the raw does require a bit of will power, but overall it requires a sense of self and a knowledge of your purpose in this journey.

Let’s say you’ve been raw for quite some time now. How do you survive the winter? Perhaps you are more focused on “I want to be 100% raw all the time,” or whatever your personal goal may be. How do you achieve this? Well, if you are a seasoned raw foodist, you should still listen to your body and get in touch with yourself and your needs. Over time (and this time period is different for everyone), your body will adjust so much to raw foods that you will find yourself not craving the psychological comforts of cooked foods. A lot of our attachments to warm cooked foods are both psychological and habitual, whereas overtime your body has developed these new, healthier eating habits and will respond to your lifestyle accordingly. Even still, when you have reached this stage in your journey, it is something that personally you will know as you walk your own path to wellness.

No matter what stage in your journey you are in, here are some practical tips we hope will be most helpful to you in your journey:

• Take your food out of the refrigerator ahead of time, so it can warm to room temperature.
• Freeze fruits and vegetables in the summer for use during the winter. You can then put these in smoothies or to make raw ice creams.
• If you don’t have a dehydrator yet and have been on the fence about whether or not to purchase one, now might be a good time to strongly consider it. We have an article here on what to look for in a dehydrator (along with other raw equipment). Dehydrators are great taking the “chill” off of your meals.
• Warm raw soups in your dehydrator or improvise using your stove, as long as it’s below 118F it’s still considered raw!
• If you feel you need to, eat heartier raw meals during the winter. Perhaps salads may not be as appealing to you when its snowing outside than when it’s sunny and warm. We will be providing some more hearty, easy raw food recipes in the days to come to get you started.

Really use this season as time to reflect upon yourself and observe your own patterns and habits. You’ll stay on path more if you are able to identify certain feelings and cravings up front. Identify them  and put them in their place. Do not beat yourself up if you happen to stumble, trip or fall. There is a great quote that says “when you stumble, make it part of the dance.” Remember how magnificent and radiant you are, and give yourself the pep talk you need to get through.

References
Winter in the Raw by Karen Knowler (click here to view article)
Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes “Successfully Raw” – a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you’re ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now atwww.TheRawFoodCoach.com.

Winter Health Survival Guide http://www.rawbc.org/articles/winter.html

Eating Raw Foods in The Winter http://www.rawfoodswitch.com/tag/eating-raw-food-in-the-winter/

Response:Yes, protein is essential for the structure and function of every cell in our body. It plays an important role in the functioning of our organs and muscle tissues, along with enzyme production. Amino acids are the building blocks for proteins. It is a common misconception that you can only get proteins (or enough proteins to function) from animal products. In fact, plant proteins are more than compatible with our bodies and provide the essentials that our cells need to perform daily tasks.

The World Health Organization states that humans need about 5% of their daily calorie intake to come from protein. This constitutes a healthy diet. Actually, by being a raw food enthusiast, you have the option to get your daily dose of protein from a variety of sources. So no longer do you have to think “gee, I should make sure I have chicken tonight so I get my protein.” Now you have multiple ways to get your protein, from your breakfast smoothie to your afternoon snack. On average, fruits have roughly 5% of their calories from protein and vegetables (especially green leafy ones) have 20-50% of their calories from protein.

Here are some great plant based foods that are packed with the proteins your body needs to make things happen:

• Dark leafy greens such as kale and spinach (great in salads, in juices and green smoothies)
• Fruits such as peaches, avocados (great in smoothies), and raisins (consider making a raw trail mix)
• Nuts such as Brazil nuts, pecans, pistachios (good for snacking)

So go forth and get your protein in more creative ways than ever before! Take that!!!!!

Response: We all know that calcium should be a very important part of any diet. We have to take care of our bones and teeth. A common myth is that the only place to get calcium is from diary products, particularly milk. So let’s arm ourselves right now with some useful tidbits of information about calcium and raw foods. This way when someone asks, you’ll know exactly what to say.

Calcium is more than present in the raw food lifestyle. Here’s where you can get it:

• Nuts and seeds (sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds and flax seeds to name a few)
• Fruits (oranges, limes, figs and berries)
• Veggies (such as kale, which is great in juices, dandelion greens, kelp, parsley, and watercress)

Looks like you could get a good dose of calcium by plugging some of these ingredients into a meal or delicious smoothie! Take that!!!