I am in the process of transitioning to this lifestyle and right now my diet consists of fresh fruit as well as steamed frozen broccoli, peas, and spaghetti squash. I want to get these cooked veggies out of my diet because I feel like I enjoy them too much and I find myself wanting more and more of them and desiring less fruit.
I eat the steamed veggies solely to satisfy my savory craving as I haven't yet been able to satisfy that craving with raw salads/pastas.
SO...I am wondering if a good next step in the transition proceses would be to eat seaweed sushi paper (nori) instead of the steamed veggies to satisfy this savory craving. I have found nori at my local store that says it is sodium free on the package. Do you think it really could be free of sodium or is that too good to be true? The brand is called Emerald Cove if you want to look it up.
Do you think eating nori instead of the steamed veggies would be a better step towards raw, or is eating the nori a bad idea and the steamed veggies would be better?
Also, as of now I don't eat any overt fats since I am trying to lose a few pounds and I hear people say they get addicted to avocados, which from my understanding can inhibit weight loss. If someone could explain this more I would really appreciate it!
So, does anyone have an opinion though regarding if it would be better for my health and weight loss to eat the nori or 1/2 an avocado in the evening for my savory craving, or would the steamed veggies still be the better choice? (keeping in mind my goal for weight loss and overall optimal health)
Thank you for any advice you can offer!!
Permalink Reply by Reed on I wouldn't stress over it. It's not technically part of 30bad but eating 90-95% raw is better then 10% if you never start. Seaweed sushi paper is just roasted Seaweed and it takes a large amount to even make an ounce. Mostly protein and fat from being roasted. Many people use a crutch to transition over. In a few weeks you'll probably loose interest in them anyway and if >90% of your calories are raw and you hold 80/10/10 you have a very good start. I add raw spirulina, chlorella and seaweed to my smoothies to keep the protein at 10% and to keep hemoglobin, iron high as I donate blood every 8 weeks.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21278762
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10426118
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nori
This is for 100 grams so just keep it under an ounce (28 grams) a day as your transition over.
Nori is about a third protein and a third dietary fiber. It contains high proportions of iodine, carotene, vitamins A, B and C, as well as significant amounts of calcium and iron. While the nutritional value varies, one example of 100 g of dry yaki-nori contains:
41.4 g of protein
3.7 g of fat
36.0 g of dietary fiber
280 mg of calcium
300 mg of magnesium
2.4 mg of potassium
6 mg of iodine
3.6 mg of zinc
11.4 mg of iron
Permalink Reply by Jessica on Thank you for sharing all of this. I think I am going to try using the nori to get myself off of steamed veggies. I am worried about getting stuck with crutches transitioning, but I am finding that they are necessary for myself to stay on this path, or maybe that's just a self-defeating mindset? Either way, I would rather transition slowly than not get to my goal at all.
Do you (or anyone else) think it's an issue if while trying to get off of the steamed veggies that I have been eating that I eat as much as 10 nori sheets in 1 day?? That would be 100 calories of nori. I ate that much tonight actually. It just tasted so good and satisfied my savory craving really well.
I am thinking that I would allow myself 10 sheets of nori a day to start and then try to widdle it down to 5 and then less and less until it is out of my diet.
Also, do you or anyone else know if it is possible to have sodium free nori as the package I bought says it is sodium free. Is that possible? I ate the nori tonight and it tastes like all nori I have had before with that salty type seaweed taste.
Permalink Reply by Vicki Sorenson on I've been snipping up a couple of sheets of Emerald Cove nori in my plain lettuce salads, with a splash of lime. Very satisfying. Helps the greens go down. No biggie.
Permalink Reply by Jessica on Do you put the nori in your salad on a daily basis or only occasionally? Do you find that it makes you retain water the next morning or have any adverse side affects?
Permalink Reply by Vicki Sorenson on I've just started experimenting with it the past couple of weeks and haven't noticed any adverse reactions. I've been adding it almost every night. I'm finding that the simpler my salads are, the easier it is to get that pound of greens in...and the emptier I am in the morning for my yoga practice. Little flecks of innocent nori add the right amount of interest to my pile of lettuce.
Permalink Reply by Jon Fergus on Avocados are very high in fat. Not recommended to have more than 1/2 per day, but there's nothing wrong with getting that 1/2 in - they're calorically dense as well, so you'll get more from the avo than the nori, imho. In terms of weight-loss - the golden rule is to eat enough fruity carbs to have the energy needed to live a healthy, active life - then weight loss (or rather "weight normalization") happens naturally. Trying to 'make it happen' will only keep you on the metaphorical treadmill. It's been said before, but never too many times: aim for health, let the weight take care of itself.
Overall the only 'cure' for cravings is to eat enough. What's your total daily intake at now?
Are you eating lots of greens? Why not have a giant salad at night instead of the steamed veggies?
Permalink Reply by Jessica on Thank you for your input. The reason I am not eating a giant salad instead of steamed veggies is that I don't yet enjoy the taste of a big salad or raw pasta. I have tried it a number of times and I just can't eat past 1/4 of the salad or pasta without just hating eating it. That's why I moved on to the steamed veggies for my savory taste and am now trying to switch that over to the nori to move away from the cooked. Right now I eat about 2 cups of spinach a day for my greens. Is that far too little? I just don't like the raw leafy greens yet. I do really enjoy the nori I had today though. I am worried though that eating the nori will make it hard for me to to like the greens, but I am trying to accept that I am transitioning and it will all come in due time. Also, I ordered a spiralizer from amazon that is going to arrive on Monday so I am excited about that. Before when I tried to make raw pasta I had to make thick strips using a peeler, but once I get the spiralizer I am hoping to make thin spaghetti noodles and I am hoping that will make the raw pasta taste better to me. Right now I am not getting in as many calories as is recommended on this site. I am working my way up to it though. You say it is okay to eat 1/2 an avocado a day, but I heard in one of freelee's videos she said that she eats 1/2 avocado per week, and I never hear DR mention anything about eating avocados..
Permalink Reply by Macuilxochitl on Well, let's make a deal: just eat the 2500 cals a day, and if you manage that, you can have your nori sheets or whatever. If not, no savory for you. The bottom line here of course is that if you can crave stuff, you obviously are able to eat more -it's really hard to crave any food when fully carbed up-. This will prevent you from cutting short before even reaching the goal.
Permalink Reply by Jessica on That is a good point. However, I have experienced days where I have eat 2500 calories from fruit and still craved savory things. I think it was due to my lack of greens though.
Permalink Reply by Jon Fergus on Feel free to eat avocado so long as you maintain the 80/10/10 ratio. You'll notice though, that eating even a half an avocado will impact that ratio strongly unless you're eating enough overall cals - the less your overall intake, the more likely the fat from the avo will throw your ratios out of whack.
The spinach is good; glad you're getting that. I like Marco's deal below - sometimes we need to set rules for ourselves and have a little self-discipline to get through certain changes. His point about cravings is right on the money - I know several women who need over 3000 cals per day or they fall into the same trap; the 2500 is a guide and a minimum.
Just keep working towards the goal...
Permalink Reply by Vicki Sorenson on Good point Marco. I recommend you get yourself a food scale, too. Weigh out your 1 pound of greens for the day. Have a portion in a green smoothie, have some for "lettuce chips" as a snack, and have the remainder as a salad. Just get 'em in! Your taste for it really will change.
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