eat raw food

A community on web, where all members are interested in raw living. I have some things I really would like to ask the forum for: like what is a good book on detox and rawfood or does anybody have a recipe for a green smoothie, which tastes good?
Today I went to a party where I met another woman who enjoys eating raw, and she had brought a wonderful and tasty salad, which was very satisfying. I was proud when I managed to pass by the table with cakes and deserts.

The greatest difference is how I feel in the evenings (after work, dinner, some housework) – I still have the energy to be creative, and it seems that I do not need as much sleep as I used to.

In these last months I have noticed that I am almost always in a good mood and do not easily get angry or impatient. I think this is because I have got a higher energy-level and more stable blood-sugar.

Two days recently I did not have breakfast – then I felt the old “cottonwool” feeling returning to my head after a few hours, and I am convinced that this was because I had not eaten properly. Before I often went to work without breakfast, and I did not connect the feeling that it was difficult to concentrate with what I had eaten (or rather had not eaten). Strange… If a car stopped functioning, you would rather quickly check if it had any fuel.

I have ordered a dehydrator, which I have understood is a “must” If you are serious about raw-food. But due to some misunderstanding at the post office, it was returned to the sender instead of sent to me, so I am still waiting. I look forward to making dehydrated bread.

I say almost raw, because occationally I do eat a small amount of cooked quinoa, rice or bulgur, and maybe once a week a slice of bread that is not raw, but my guess is that I am living on an 80-90 percent raw diet, which actually is not completely vegetarian, I also include sashimi (raw fish), which I eat occationally. I have completely dropped coffee, milk/cheese, eggs.
And what are the effects?
I have lost maybe 3 kg weight in 6 weeks without trying, and I feel that my mind is a lot clearer. I used to be very tired when I came home from work, now I feel that I have much more energy than before.
I feel it has a very beneficial effect on me, so I will go on for some more weeks, and then evaluate what to do further. I would not mind losing another 3 kg or so.

That was so exiting, that after the weekend on raw food, I went home and continued. It has been very frustrating, because I have not yet learnt all the tricks and methods, and also I do not have a dehydrator or a juicer. And I have a family, that is not wildly exited about raw-food like me, they barely tolerate it. Smothie for breakfast, salad for lunch and different kinds of newly invented dishes with vegetables, avocado, nuts and seeds for dinner.
Fruit and nuts for snack. No milk, no heated food, no coffee. Does it sound crazy? Maybe, but I feel great, and my clothes are feeling looser – I would not mind to get rid of a few pounds, although that is not the motivation for doing this. I just think it is so exiting to see how the effect will be on my body after some weeks.
At the festival I met a boy that had lived on raw-food since December, he had lost 20 pounds.
I really, really need some good raw dinner-receipies before my family gets bored. That is why I defined a new goal, to learn to make new dishes. I would greatly appreciate to hear from anyone with an experience of raw food.

I have been reading about the benefits of raw food (fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts) for years and know how beneficial it would be to me, but no matter how much I resolve to eat only raw, I end up eating the same old junk food that I have eaten since I was a kid. Geez, I wish I could eat a banana or apple and think it tasted like chocolate! I reckon I can do it with the gourmet raw food that you can make but until they come up with a raw substitute for Coke I think I have no hope.