Frequently Asked Questions About Raw and 811rv

Calories and Food Volume, How Much to Eat?

Do I have to calculate percentages every day to make sure I'm eating properly?

No. By eating primarily fruit, vegetables, and leafy greens, your diet is automatically close to the ideal of 80-10-10. However, you may want to use a calculator to determine if you are getting enough calories for the day to meet your basic metabolic and exercise needs. Nutridiary (www.nutridiary.com) and FitDay (www.fitday.com) are two free online resources for analyzing the food you eat to make sure you are getting enough calories per day from raw sources. These resources are especially helpful to the newcomer because it is common to undereat fruit and overeat fatty foods when beginning the raw vegan diet. We recommend that you input your food information into Nutridiary* for at least a week to make sure you have the relevant information about your calories and the caloronutrient breakdown (percentages of calories obtained from carbohydrates, protein and fat.) It is easier to ask for help and advice from others when you can provide this information as part of your question.

+NOTE: We strongly recommend Nutridiary over Fitday, for various reasons that are beyond the scope of this FAQ (see the free article entitled Free Online 80/10/10 Analysis : Nutridiary.

How do I know how many fruits and vegetables to eat each day?

In the beginning, most people don't eat enough raw foods to obtain the necessary daily calories because they are used to eating concentrated cooked foods. You have to eat a larger volume of fruits and vegetables to obtain the same amount of calories that you do from cooked food, because fruits and vegetables are not as calorically dense. They contain a considerable amount of water and fiber, other nutrients that the body needs. Fruits are high in calories, while vegetables and leafy greens are not. So, it makes sense that most of a raw fooder's diet will be made up of mostly fruit, with large salads regularly to provide balancing minerals, such as sodium, calcium and magnesium. A healthy diet contains approximately 90-97% calories from fruits, 2-6% calories from greens and 0-8% calories from vegetables, non-sweet fruits, nuts and seeds.

How do I go about eating so much fruit all at one time?

Quoting Dr. Doug Graham: "It takes some practice to develop the ability to consume what, from the raw perspective, should be thought of as "normal" amounts of food for a human. Somewhere in between "all you care for" and "all you can" there is a happy medium that will enable you to increase the amount you consume. The stomach is very accommodating in this regard and will stretch quickly to allow you to consume normal/healthy quantities of fruit. At the same time, your image of what is a healthy amount, and your mindset about quantities of fruit will grow to match your ability to eat it." If you practice eating a meal of just fruit, only fruit, and nothing but fruit, it will get easier and easier to consume appropriate volumes.