Andie Tries: Raw ’til 4

Miranda Shelton, Opinion Editor
April 20, 2016

What is raw ‘til 4?

Raw ‘til 4 is a popular movement and lifestyle in the vegan community. It focuses on eating raw fruits and vegetables, few fats and seeds and little to no animal products. It’s essentially eating whole, unprocessed, raw foods until 4 p.m.

The challenge:

I will be eating raw foods for 5 days and tracking my progress and discoveries. I am not able to go completely without animal products for health reasons, so I will be doing a bit of a different variation on the normal rules. However, I will not be eating any of the animal products until after 4, so that I will be able to closely experience what a raw ‘til 4 vegan would experience.

MEAL TRACKER

Day 1:

9:30 AM- I cup of raw greek yogurt with pear, raspberries, and blueberries.

11:30 AM- Raw vegan chia pudding and a salad from Whole Foods

I was starving, tired, and cranky the whole day. I very quickly realized eating this way is very time consuming when you factor in meal prep time, and that if you aren’t a smart shopper you can spend quite a bit of money on groceries. I also found myself so hungry when the clock hit four that I ended up buying pizza because I was craving junk food. I’ve decided to create a meal plan and pull some recipes from the internet to make this easier on myself. I’m hoping tomorrow will be better.

Day 2:

8 AM- 2 cups of raw yogurt with chia seeds, raw almonds, raspberries and blackberries.

11:30 AM- Kale, date, hempseed, chiaseed, cocoa powder, and banana smoothie.

2:30 PM- Homemade chia pudding.

My entire opinion on this raw food movement has flipped. I feel amazing. I spent the day really being aware of what I eat. I had a hunch that yesterday was so awful because I hadn’t had enough protein, so today that’s what I focused on. I found an awesome website called Raw Food Recipes and adjusted my meal plan a bit based on some recipes I found there. By the end of the day, I felt like a new person. The most interesting development I found, however, was that by the time 4 o’clock rolled around, I didn’t want to binge. I was feeling great and wanted to continue my healthy eating into dinner.

Day 3:

9:45 AM- Overnight oats with raspberries and raw almonds.

2 PM- Chocolate mint acai smoothie bowl.

Another great day! Before I went to bed I decided I was going to treat myself to my favorite overnight oats in the morning, so I woke up to an awesome treat. I believe very strongly that how you take care of yourself in the morning dictates how the rest of the day is going to go, and in this case I was absolutely right. I got a little creative with my lunch and made my first acai bowl. That was probably the most challenging part of my day. I forgot to put the lid on the blender, and I honestly don’t think I will ever get those stains out of my clothes. Nonetheless, it was delicious and nutritious and gave me a great energy boost to get through the rest of the day.

Day 4:

8 AM- Vegan raspberry oat energy bites.

10 AM- More raspberry bites.

11 AM- ACCIDENTAL BROWNIE INGESTION.

12 PM- More raspberry bites.

I have fallen in love with raspberry oat energy bites. Let’s just say I had made a batch for the week, and I need to make another before I go to bed. I did have a little blip today, my first throughout the entire challenge. I wrecked my streak and ate a brownie in the morning. It was sitting on a table at work and everyone was telling me how delicious they were. Without a thought I put one in my mouth, and it wasn’t until later that I remembered I was even on a challenge. At first I was so angry at myself, but as the day wore on I realized it was a blessing in disguise. This is because it gave me a chance to really understand the physical effects those kinds of foods have on my body. About half an hour after I ate it I felt nauseous and bloated, and frankly I was shocked. Who knew one brownie could cause that much turmoil on my insides? It really solidified the importance of eating healthy for me, and gave me the power to really finish out my challenge strong.

Day 5:

9 AM- Vegan raspberry oat energy bites.

11 AM- Raw garlic cashew spread with assorted vegetables.

3PM- Zucchini and squash “spaghetti” with pistachio pesto.

I have officially finished the last day of my challenge, and I am so unbelievably proud of myself. It was definitely a hard thing to start, but once I got into it I really got into it. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t sure I would make it. I have never been one for counting calories or tracking my weight loss. I try to eat healthy, but I allowed myself junk food every now and then. Now I realize that’s not something I can let myself do. This challenge helped me realize that eating well isn’t about restriction. It’s about putting food into your body that makes you feel good.

While I really enjoyed trying out raw ‘til 4, I don’t think I will be continuing the lifestyle, at least not to the extreme that I have done in the past week. I do want to make a point to incorporate more raw foods into my diet, and make a point to eat cleanly whether my food is cooked or not. All in all, this has been an experience that has changed my life for the better.

Favorite recipes! (All from rawfoodrecipes.com)

Vegan garlic cashew spread-

Ingredients