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"How many times do you go shopping each week?" I often get asked. And when I'm at a grocery store, checkout clerks often say: "How many bananas do you eat?", "Is this all for just you?" and "Do you own a restaurant?" Sometimes, I hear, "These are all fruits and vegetables!" Imagine that. Imagine that, all day, the checkout clerk sees only one person who eats his or her species-specific diet.
With a low-fat raw food diet weekly shopping trip, shopping's a cinch. I make a big trip Saturdays or Sundays and a small trip, to pick up an extra case of bananas and the next few days' worth of greens, Wednesdays. Other days, I might pick up a bag of grapes or an avocado or watermelon on my way home. I go to only two aisles, produce and frozen fruits, and I'm in and out of the store in no more than 20 minutes during these big trips, including checkout time.
You won't catch me referring to complicated shopping lists while in a grocery store. What I need to buy is firmly rooted in my mind. I know exactly what to pick up for monomeals and to make some recipes such as Green 'n' Clean Smoothie, MangOranges Smoothie and Mexican Sun Salad with Creamy Avocado, a favorite end-of-the-day meal whose recipes are two of more than 25 published in Alive!, my raw food transition book.
Here's a list of what I buy during an average week (poundage includes only edible portions). It's a lot of food, but take note I consume about 4,000 calories a day. Also, have a look at my low-fat raw food diet sample menu to see how I eat these foods during an average day.
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Fruits
- Bananas: 38 pounds, or about 150 bananas
- Oranges: 28 pounds, or about 60 oranges
- Grapes: 3 pounds
- Watermelon: about 15 pounds, or 2 watermelons
- Mangoes: 7 pounds
- Peaches: 1 pound
- Raspberries: 1 pound
- Berry (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries) medley: 1 pound
- Granny Smith apples: 7
Greens
- Romaine lettuce: 8 pounds
- Dandelion or spinach: 1 pound
- Celery: 6 heads
Salad Ingredients
- Green and/or red leaf lettuce: 3.5 pounds
- Cucumbers: 4
- Bell peppers: 4
- Plum tomatoes: 3.5 pounds
- Grape tomatoes: 1.5 pounds
- Avocados: 12
- Cilantro: 2 bunches
- Parsley: 2 bunches
- Basil: 2 bunches
- Oregano: 1 bunch
- Thyme: 1 bunch
- Lemons: 10
- Limes: 10
Nuts and Seeds
- Flaxseed
- Walnuts
- Sunflower seeds
- Sesame seeds
- Brazil nuts
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[caption id="attachment_10843" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
A jam-packed refrigerator in spring 2013.[/caption]
So how expensive is it to eat this way? I like this saying: "Pay now or pay later." You can pay to live, play and work with your best self present or continue a brutal, decades-long collapse in health toward death in which you might become or already suffer from being overweight, tired or sick, perhaps even all these conditions. Pills are expensive, and many shell out to be able to stay "alive" or, really, to just exist. I'll put up the money to feel full of life any day—and I do every day! Put your money where your mouth is!
And remember, when an opportunity comes to buy wholesale, do not hesitate to indulge in your favorite fruit, even if nonorganic!
For more information and a guide on how to succeed, check out Alive!, my raw food transition book, which features a four-step program designed to help anyone go raw vegan. If you’d like a helping hand in transitioning to a low-fat raw food diet, visit my coaching page.
Find out what an average day on a low-fat raw food diet looks like with this sample diet menu!
Learn the basics of a low-fat raw food diet with this short guide!
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