Simple sounding right? Lots of people do it, it can't be that difficult, right? Its not brain surgery or space travel, so how hard can it be? These are all the thoughts that were running through my head as I read a friend of a friends blog about her raw lifestyle. I mean, I've done harder things than this- I've lived in a foreign country whose language they don't teach in American public schools, graduated from college, eaten mainly a flour paste and beans for 8 weeks, treked mountains and lived as a vegetarian in the American South. Certainly, going raw isn't going to be any harder than all of that.
Well, that was what I thought. Now, after doing a heck of a lot more reading and thinking about the practicalities of what this new raw lifestyle is going to mean for my life, I'm not so sure of the ease of this experiment.
So who am I? I graduated from college in Memphis last December and I now have two jobs, one as the Assistant Manager of the hostel in Memphis and one as the Interim Community Service Coordinator at the college I graduated from. Neither of these jobs pay the big bucks so my diet will not consist of anything that is not a good price at the Memphis Farmers Market or on sale at the Easy Way.
Also, I work a lot and when I am not working, I usually just want to sleep because I am so tired from working. In the past, the busyness, tiredness and lack of money means that I have gravitated towards food that is quick, easy and cheap. Food that is full of preservatives and a whole host of other "not so good for you" stuff.
I think like most people, I am an emotional eater. When I am upset, nervous, stressed, etc., I tend to eat more than I should or foods that are not good for me (I mean, seriously, who considers a carrot to be comfort food?)
Finally, I live in the south and that means two things- food and more food. As a group, Southerns seem to eat more food and eat food that is breaded, fried and full of butter. Even our vegetables require full sticks of butter (think Paula Dean). Thinking about my favorite restaurants in Memphis, this is so true. I LOVE Central Barbecue but do I really need to eat a pulled pork sandwich the size of my head with a side of mac and cheese and coleslaw? Nope (oh but it is so so good! ) Or, how about my second favorite restaurant- Gus's Fried Chicken. Now, Raw or not, if you come and visit Memphis, this is a restaurant you need to try but in all honesty, I don't need to go down there and order two pieces of meat with beans, coleslaw and fried pickles. Its just not good for me.
So, I'm going to try something new. I'm a 20-something taking charge of her life and how she fuels her body and doing it all with very little time and money.
Its going to be quite an adventure!
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