Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Raw Vegan 101: My Raw Feeding Routines and Tips for Sticking to Healthier Eating

I'm three years into living a vegan, "natural" lifestyle and I absolutely love it. It's simple, fast, clean, inexpensive and just feels so natural for me now- in more ways than one. Here are the routines that have evolved over the years, I'm always trying new things. If you have any tips or suggestions please send them, this is simply what works for me personally.


1) Wake Up: 4 Cups of Water / Tea or Coffee (Going to phase this out again. Don't want to become dependent.)  I take 1 prenatal vitamin for hair growth. Works!
2)  Smoothies: 2-4+ all day. 2 cups fruit, 2 cups water, stevia, 2 TBSP nuts or seeds, sometimes greens
3) Salad, Bitch: At least one giant salad a day. The bowl is a chip bowl nearly the size of my head. Chopped greens & whatever veggies I have on-hand with homemade dressing. See good ones I used to enjoy here. Kristina has some delicious ones in a video here. I love making honey mustard variations, mustard is my favorite dressing! Mmm...

Sometimes I have sweet potatoes (fries, mashed) or brown rice and veggies for dinner. Sometimes I make date rolls or raw cakes. I need to work on a consistent routine, but keeping to the 3 steps above keeps me feeling healthy. I have little cheats like vegan chips/dips and cooked sweets on rare occasion.

I'm going to experiment with more organic brands in time, but these are my current go-tos. 

1. Wash face and body with Dr. Bronners - Tea Tree Oil Soap at night. Shave with the same soap. I wash my face twice. Try it, skin looks better and it knocks out break-outs.

2. Shampoo and Condition with Griffin Remedy (shampoo / conditioner) once a week. My hair is curly, dry, and fragile so the less washing, the better. I use my roommate's flat iron once a week after I wash my hair.

3. Brush with my homemade mouthwash and toothpaste. Recipes here.

4. After shower I apply Ann Marie Gianni Herbal Facial Oil . (I love Theraneem oil, too.) I wake up with even-toned, balanced, blemish-free skin and can just wipe my eyes and go. No morning washing, no make-up. It's awesome.

Oil Note: I have very oily skin and like most afflicted with it, used to wash with lots of face wash and toner morning and night to "fight" it. This makes your skin produce more oil to make up for the drying alcohol-laden conventional soap and I always looked like an oil-slick. Washing twice, applying oils at night, and not washing in the AM stopped the cycle! Now my skin appears "dewey" and even. Sorry for putting you to sleep with skin care tips, zzzz...Photo above right after waking up and having my water. I just wake up and go.

5. Apply a little alba un-petroleum jelly to face and body as-needed. A little goes a long way.

6. Deodorant none! You smell less the cleaner you eat, I swears it. I apply this homemade one when needed.

Everything takes minutes and I feel much better about my skin/hair than I did when I was doing a lot more (toner/lotion/soap/eyeliner/concealer/zzzz/no more) as a teen and in my young twenties. Drinking lots of water and eating lots of veggies has made a big difference. Less is more! 

(Speaking of Simple & Clean it's the title of the prettiest video game song you'll ever hear. Listen before bed. You will dream of unicorns and rainbows. Any Kingdom Hearts fans here?)



1) Eat the "Good Stuff" First: Eat your salads and smoothies before your burger and fries, you'll find you'll have little room to eat as much "bad" food as you used to.

2) Keep The Kitchen Stocked: Keep your cabinet and fridge stuffed with dates, fruits, veggies, and the whole plant goodies you love to eat. When it's empty, you'll get oh so tempted to cheat.

3) Cook Ahead: Have homemade cookies, burgers, and more ready to go so the healthy snacks are at arm's reach.

4) Eat, Eat You Fool: Don't starve. Ever. Your body will try to compensate for the "famine" by leading you to the Burger King Drive Through. Extreme calorie restricting won't work long-term. Stuff yourself with fruits and veggies guilt-free 'til you're comfortably full.

5) Have Fun: Eat only what you love, there are so many delicious recipes. Play with it, do whatever it takes to make it enjoyable to you, personally.

6) Replace: Replace your favorites with healthy versions. While transitioning I replaced my burgers with morning star (Couldn't eat now! Ow!) frozen veggie burgers loaded with lettuce and tomatoes. Helped me switch-over.

Vitamix Recommendation: I highly recommend the vitamix blender, I use mine every day. If you buy through my affiliate link you not only help support me (I get a small commission), you also get free shipping! I used to use the Ninja blender and it's competent but you won't look back after the vitamix, it's improved my raw recipes 110%, it was impossible to get my soups and smoothies smooth before it.

More body care and recipe posts shall come into the future. Do feel free to share any recommendations and tips, I love learning from you!

The Raw Vegan 101 Series: 
Part 1) What is it and Why is it Good for You?
 + Another Raw Info Post
Part 2) My Raw Routines, FAQ, and Tips to Stick to It (You are here)
Part 3) Essential Raw Vegan Tools, Books, and Resources (April 8)
Part 4) Pantry Staples for Creating any Dish you Crave Rawfully (April 15)
Part 5) Adding More Raw Healthfulness to Your Diet On-The-Cheap (April 22)

Extra) Straightening Out Misconceptions and My True Mission
Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

20 comments:

  1. I was going to ask for the link to your salad dressing (I think you missed it) but then I remembered I pinned that bitch!
    Don't be mad over my suggestion because I know Vitamix is an affiliate. If peeps can't afford the vitamix my Ninja master prep professional works incredibly well and its easier to clean than the Vitamix. I dreaded cleaning that thing at Whole Foods and it kind of scared me because once it shot its blade out and went into the microwave like a freakin ninja star. Could have easily been one of us! We all had a very healthy respect of the blenders after that! :D

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  2. Oops, forgot to add that link, will update the post. It's true, especially if you're mixing something thick the blade at the bottom of the vitamix is a bitch to clean. I fill it with soap water, run it for a couple of seconds and it's squeaky clean. No prob with you sharing the ninja tip, I'll have to hunt down someone who has the master prep professional and see how it stands up. My regular ninja made chunkies, not smoothies. Blendtec contacted me to suggest their blender which has a screw-out bottom for easy cleaning and is just as good as the vitamix but I want to try it out more first.

    And yes, the ninja star shooting out is the stuff of nightmares, aaah. I fling knives around the raw vegan kitchen when washing like a fool sometimes but a vitamix blade is scarier.

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    Replies
    1. Salad ideas/dressings: http://www.thriftcore.com/2013/01/five-easy-delectable-salads-4-lush-raw.html

      Great video with raw dressings, I make variations of her honey mustard one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_z9xhwjOOw

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    2. Is the blender this guy? http://www.amazon.com/Ninja-Professional-Blender-Blending-BL660/dp/B00939FV8K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396375981&sr=8-1&keywords=ninja+blender+professional

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  3. Now we know how do you have a doll skin ;) I agree that we shouldn't wear any deo or even parfum, our natural odor is the best you can get, no fakes here! Im preparing myself to eat raw for a week or 2 on summer time but I know that to make it possible I need to go far away from the goodies that portugal has to offer and to tentations of friends to eat this and that. A retreat in the nature sounds like the solution

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    Replies
    1. I want to go on a raw detox again. I'm still struggling to find the best nutrient-balanced permanent solution, will have to sit down and draft one out or maybe get with a pro. Good luck trying yours out. For me helped to just know I had to dedicate myself to the 2 weeks and complete it and I resisted temptations even when they were put right in my face by my roomie and our pals. Damn that pizza looked good when I was making myself a tomato and olive salad, haha. I will always remember...

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    2. Speaking of scents I took a class on essential oils and have been reading about it. Want to experiment with them more as scents, medicinally, for home cleaning etc. Posts to come.

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  4. Have never done raw veggie diet, but have been juicing and smoothies only. Feel so much better getting rid of all the toxins.

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    Replies
    1. Definitely agree adding smoothies and juices alone will make a huge difference.

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  5. I have to constantly work on being healthy--- I am a sucker for junk food!

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    Replies
    1. It definitely beckons you back with a siren's call! My next hurdles to clear- SLEEPING (oh god, look at the time) and exercising consistently ;p

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  6. I appreciate these posts so much! Can I ask for your honey mustard dressing recipe? I'll check your link too. Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. I'll update with it soon, let me play with it some more to get it right. It's a mix between one in the video in the post and one from my job- mostly dates, a little bit of cashews, a little mustard powder and water. It's very sweet and savory :D

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    2. No prob :D Can't wait to get to making more and sharing more recipes.

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  8. Really nice tips and Thanks to shared useful information with us. Keep it up!.
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