How to Go on a Fruit Fast and Successfully Become a Raw Foodist

At last I am doing it. I have become a ‘raw foodist,’ this means eating only uncooked foods. In the past the longest I’ve ever done was a 10 day fruit and vegetable fast, which meant eating only fresh fruits and vegetables. I remember feeling awesome, experiencing loads of energy and a clear mind.
I’ve always thought about doing a raw food diet for longer, though it is seriously challenging. There is the personal aspect of overcoming

temptations from corrupt taste buds and the desire to consume other foods. Next is communal pressure of going to other people’s homes and events and not being able to eat. And further we have the Jewish religious observance challenges. There seems to always be a chag, some sort of festival that necessitates consuming various foods. And of course there is Shabbat where we need to eat bread Friday night and Saturday, day. There is also the obligation of having some hot food on Saturday. Thus I will never be able to do a pure 100% raw fast for more than six days. However on Shabbat I can minimise my consumption to only a small piece of bread and just a drop of hot food.

Eating only raw food has its challenges and one of them is the time it takes to shop for and prepare food. It is a lot easier to put a pot of rice on the stove to boil than throwing together a fresh salad. It is easier to make a coffee in the morning than a fresh cup of orange juice, never minds the time it takes to make an apple, carrot, celery, kale juice, with added coconut oil, cacao powder and other stuff.

On the upside, there is not much dishes to wash. There is no grease and burn stains to scrub off the bottom of a pot. Usually just a cutting board, a knife and either a blender, food processor, or juicer.

For me having to work full time along with a million other time commitments I need to multi task in order to prepare my food. I do an hour of vocal exercises in the morning while I prep the food I’ll need for the day. I used to just do the vocal exercise by themselves but found I could move around and prepare food at the same time. Then in the evening I can listen to an hour lecture while I continue with food prep.

If you choose to go on a raw food diet or any diet for the matter and want to succeeded at it, you must take responsibility for your own eating. Many people fail at their diet and blame someone else. For me it starts with the food shopping. This past Sunday I went the market. It took three hours to buy everything I needed for the week: 20kg carrots, 8kg tomatoes, 13kg bananas, 5kg cucumber etc…It takes a good bit of time walking around to find everything and then loading it into the car.
You may also say, “Wow, that’s a lot of fruit and veg and must be expensive!” Not true. At the local market it’s far cheaper than what it would cost in the supermarket. I also buy very ripe or damaged stuff because it makes no difference if it’s going through the juicer or in the blender.

Here is some of what I paid: $10/20kg carrots, $4/8kg cooking tomatoes (These are delicious, the best I’ve tasted in months!) $5/for a 13kg box of ripe bananas! So is this really expensive?
Anyway I am now one week into it and hope to go at least a month. I will please G-d post more on how it is going.