Here we are on the last day of our 30-day experiment eating exclusively raw foods. I won’t say I’m sad to see this day come. We have learned a ton, we have enjoyed the food much more than we thought we would, and we both feel fantastic. But we’re ready to integrate some cooked foods back into our daily life.

What we love about eating exclusively raw

We feel amazing. Truly. It’s almost annoying how good we feel because we don’t want to eat exclusively raw forever. But wow do we want to feel this good forever! Our digestions are both rocking; we feel lighter; we’re satiated more easily; our skin is clearer and brighter… And, I’m not sure if it’s the raw meat or all the raw oysters I’ve been eating each week, but my libido (which – naked truth moment – has been in the toilet since the baby was born) is officially back. Yup, eat raw meat and you get horny. Now it’s starting to sound more interesting, isn’t it??

It’s simple and fast. Eating raw meat is so freaking easy it’s ridiculous. We’re big fans of slow-cooking and we love a good roast or stir-fry, but let me tell you, when you’ve forgotten to prep anything for dinner until the last moment, there’s nothing easier than just whipping out a piece of filet, slicing it up (thinly, of course! aesthetics matter!) and eating it.

I’ve fallen in love with my juicer all over again. One of the easiest ways to get a whole load of nutrients packed into a single meal is with the trusty juicer. Now, I’m not always a fan of juicing, and I have very specific requirements to do it “right”, but the juice-based smoothies we’ve been making (GAPS-style) are so delicious and nutrient dense, it’s a bit ridiculous.

Ice cream is easily and most deliciously made raw. Do I need to say more?

What we don’t love about eating exclusively raw

Socially this has been a very challenging month. We’ve tried bringing our food along, and it has worked to a certain extent. But there’s something very primal (I use that word intentionally) about sharing a meal with friends and family at every level – not just sharing a table, but sharing the whole meal. We’ve missed this tremendously. And we’re tired of saying no to compelling social invitations.

It has been challenging to keep our one-year old daughter interested in food as we did this experiment. We’ve realized how much of her healthy appetite was because of what we modeled and her desire to participate. When her plate looked different from ours, she was suspicious, and much less interested in eating overall. We’re both looking forward to sharing her meals – and her food excitement – again.

What we’ll do moving forward

As with any extreme experiment like this, it may not be 100% sustainable in the long term, but it certainly introduces new habits that we’ll integrate into our daily life moving forward. Will we eat cooked food? Yes. But will we eat much more raw food than we had previously? Absolutely!

A few traditions we’ve started that will definitely stay with us:

• Raw oysters at Shucks at the Culver City farmer’s market on Tuesdays.
• Regular “GAPS Smoothies” for breakfast, and will regularly add raw eggs and cream to all the smoothies we make.
• Lots more raw meat– probably several times a week
• Be strict about raw dairy. As in: only consume it raw.
• Lots and lots of cultured foods, especially cultured veggies. These have always been a favorite, but being both raw and extremely digestible, they have taken on a new prominence in our household.

How much raw will we keep in our diets? We’ll strive for a good 70 to 80 percent and see how that goes. Likely more in the summer, a little less in the cold winter months.

Overall, we’ve loved this experiment and it has been quite an eye opener for us. We’ll keep experimenting with recipes and share our findings with you!

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