Frederic Patenaude Raw Foods Diet

Watch the preview YouTube Video to get a peak at what’s inside this DVD series. For more information on the Low Fat Raw Vegan DVD Series, click here. On the video, click “HQ” after it has started for better quality.

To order the Low Fat Raw Vegan DVDs, click here.

It’s Not That Complicated

I’ve noticed lately from reading some comments left on my blog, that a lot of people are trying to make the raw food lifestyle a lot more complicated than it is.

There always has been a lot of confusion in the natural health field, as well as plenty of contradicting opinions. This is literally paralyzing many people from taking any action at all. They feel lost and don’t know what to believe anymore.

Others are turning simple recommendations and observations into dogmas, and the raw food community into a cult. They are unable to think outside of these rules and think for themselves.

Are you making it too complicated?

Are you confused by all of the different diet theories?

Let me offer you a quick guide to eating raw without the confusion and the dogma.

1)    Be Self-Motivated. The only reason why someone would take the time, energy and effort it takes to eat a raw food diet and learn how to do it right is because they should be able to gain something for themselves. If there are no benefits to be gained, then there should be no reason to do it.

That motivation is usually health-related. Either improving your health, overcoming an existing condition or avoiding illness in the future. You should be very clear what your motivations are in the first place, and avoid following someone else’s motivation.

Don’t just go raw because someone is telling you it’s the right or “cool” thing to do. Do it for your own reasons.

2) Eat fruit. Eat Vegetables. Eat little fat — The concept is very simple. The basic idea is to eat fruits and vegetables! Don’t make the raw food diet much more complicated than it is. It’s not about jars and pills and prepared meals, it’s about eating fresh produce!

Also realize that you’ll always be hungry if you try to live on raw vegetables and greens, that you’ll inevitably be drawn to junk foods. It’s just not sustainable.

The only way to make this diet work is if you get enough calories. I believe that fruit is the ideal food for human beings, and I think most of our calories should come from fruit, with minimal quantities of fat.

As far as the percentage goes, I say 10% or less. If another percentage works for you, then more power to you. But make sure you are honestly evaluating your results before coming to any conclusions.

3) Get Some Basic Nutritional Knowledge.

A lot of people are confused because they don’t really understand what fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and other nutrients really are.

They eat a large apple for breakfast and wonder why they’re hungry after 45 minutes.

Spare yourself a lot of trouble and spend a few hours to study the basics of calories and nutrition. Eventually you should be able to look at a piece of fruit or a meal and be able to evaluate on the spot how many calories it contains.

4) Do Your Tests

Every single “guru” or author in the field makes recommendations based on the diet that they’re eating or trying to eat, and what they believe is best (if they’re honest).

Each of these people took the best of the information that was available to them, tried to synthesize it in a way that made sense, and created their own program.

You should do the same. Test the theories out in your life, after you evaluate them with logic and eliminate the non-sense.

Don’t just take what I say word-for-word. Learn to think for yourself.

5) Respect your Body

I might be a big fan of mangoes, but maybe mangoes don’t agree with you. Respect your body and avoid them for the time being if they’re not working for you.

It doesn’t mean that sometime in the future you might not give them another try. Maybe at that point they could agree with you.

You’re the only person who really knows your body, so don’t try to force someone else’s preferences as your own.

6) Know a Few Great Recipes

You can’t enjoy this raw food lifestyle if you don’t enjoy the food. That’s why you should know at least 5 to 7 great recipes that you really enjoy and could eat day after day.

If a recipe is NOT appealing to you, then don’t try to convince yourself that you like it. Maybe you don’t, at least for the time being!

If you’re not enjoying the foods, you’ll eventually quit. So discover some recipes that you truly enjoy, and don’t hesitate to modify existing recipes for your own tastes.

7) Don’t live with too many rules.

Eliminate the word “rule” and replace it with the word “suggestion”. For example, you might know some basic food combining “rules”. Instead of calling them rules, think of them as “suggestions for food combining”.

Simpler meals tend to digest better. But they can also be boring for some people. Certain combinations are appealing to the taste, but more difficult to digest. It’s all a compromise.

Choose what makes sense to you depending on the situation. If you find that a particular combination digests perfectly well, then go for it, even if there’s a “rule” against it.

The reverse is also true.

Keep things in perspective. Only 8% of the US population follows the basic health recommendations (No tobacco and alcohol, exercise 3 times a week, keeping a healthy weight and eating at least 5 fruits a day).

There are only actions and consequences. If a particular action always leads to negative consequences and very little to gain in exchange, then it makes sense not to repeat it.

If on the other hand, an occasional indulgence brings you certain benefits (social or personal), with minimal consequences that can be manageable, then it’s certainly something you could consider.

Only live by your own rules, not someone else’s.

7) Eat For Long-Term Pleasure

The average person only lives for short-term gratification.

For example, these Dorritos chips taste great when I put them in my mouth. I get immediate pleasure. If I’m a dumb robot, then that’s all I care about and that’s perfectly fine. Eat the Dorritos and be happy in the moment.

Smart people consider long-term consequences of their choices.

If I eat these Dorritos, they will taste great, but they will also ruin my sleep. I will wake up the next day feeling terrible. And if I keep on eating these Dorritos every night, one day I will wake up and I’ll be 40 pounds heavier, and sick.

Therefore, I’ll pass on the Dorritos, and instead eat something that might not give me that instant jolt of pleasure, but that’ll still taste great and leave me feeling much better after.

Eat foods that make you feel great. In the moment and in the long term. That’s not a rule. That’s a suggestion!

“Who Else Wants to Watch Professional DVDs and Become Confident in the Kitchen With the Most Amazing, Simple and Delicious Low Fat Raw Recipes Ever?”

Watch the preview YouTube Video to get a peak at what’s inside this DVD series. For more information on the Low Fat Raw Vegan DVD Series, click here. On the video, click “HQ” after it has started for better quality.

To order the Low Fat Raw Vegan DVDs, click here.

Dear Mr Patenaude, I just read your book the Raw Secrets, and it makes a lot of sense.. However, the fruit-section is quite hard, because as long as I can remember, I do not like fruit, I get shivers if I even think of them.. (ok, because I got myself in bad health conditions with unfood, diabetes, candida etc) so, is it wise to use only blended salads without the fruits, and maybe start to eat them whenever I feel like I’m ready? Cause I have the feeling if I just start to eat them now, I’ll go crazy with itchiness etc.. Anyway, thank you for all the information and I cannot wait to get myself better! Cheers x

ANSWER: A transition is certainly possible, however you should be aware that a blended salad without fruit has almost no calories, so it would be impossible to survive on them and you would lose too much weight too quickly and be very hungry all the time. I wouldn’t recommend living on blended salads with fat in them (avocados, nuts, etc.) because that would bring the total percentage of fat in your diet above 70%, which is very unhealthy. The main way to get well is to remove the cause of your health problems. Living on a high-fat diet will certainly not help you and will only make things worse in the long-term. I would much prefer that people go on a simple low-fat vegan diet that includes cooked items such as potatoes and rice (but avoid gluten-based products) and then progressively include more fruit to phase out the grains, rather than going on a high-fat, all-raw diet and from there try to lower the fat content. For health, it’s much more important to eat low-fat than to eat all-raw.

IS COCONUT OIL FAT?

I have a question in regards to your article on sugar with fat, and I would appreciate it if you could be kind enough and answer it as it regards something I eat on a daily basis and if there is a problem with combining, I would like an alternative option. Here it is: Every morning I grind flax seeds and add all kinds of seeds like hemp and chia, sometimes I even add freshly ground sunflower seeds and pumpkin (sprouted of course). I grind some goji berries which is low glycemic sugar and then I add flax oil and coconut oil. Question is whether the oils are considered fats, whether seeds are fats, and whether goji berry fall into the category of sugar since they are really low glycemic. As a matter of fact, when I eat fruit, I usually add seeds. Thank you Frederic, Shoshannah Sarah

ANSWER: I’m glad that you read the article, but for further information you should also read my fruit report at http://TinyWebLink-001.com/?pid=2961304

Flax seeds, hemp, chia, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds — even when sprouted — are still high in fat. Flax oil and coconut oil are definitely fat. In fact, they are 100% fat by calories, just like any other oil. I recommend avoiding the combination of fruit and fat in general (except for small quantities in salads), and limiting the percentage of fat in the diet to less than 10-15%, which will be something like half an avocado a day for most people, maybe more if you’re very active.

CONSUMING VEGGIE STEWS AND GREENS ON THE GO

PLEASE, can you and Roger get your heads together and come up with a plan on how we can consume all these green smoothies, stews, etc. during the day in which we do NOT have access to a Vita Mix! These are not portable drinks and need to be consumed right after making. Not all of us have or can have the type of job the 2 of you have. Also, Dr. Cousin suggest a diet of mostly fruit and Roger claims (and you endorse) a diet of Savory stews with some fruit. Is one more important than the other? Thanks!

ANSWER: It’s very easy to bring green smoothies around. My friend Diana Stoevelaar from Calgary makes 4 large green smoothies a day and she brings them in large “sports bottle” types of container (32 ounces each). If you add some ice or some frozen fruit in them they will keep for several hours. When I travel, I always make smoothies in advance with some ice or frozen fruit and bring them for the day. I also cut up fruit and bring them in plastic containers (Tupperware and the like). Also, keep in mind that the idea is not to consume mostly green drinks or veggie stews and some fruit. You got it wrong. I recommend mostly fruit with a Veggie Stew for dinner for active people, while everyone else can replace some of the fruit meals during the days with green smoothies. Roger eats a LOT of fruit during the day and at night he has several servings of his world-famous craving-busting veggie stews (which I highly recommend and that are still available at: http://tinyurl.com/mjq7r4)

I am wondering if your Raw Health Starter Kit is worth the money because I can’t imagine what information there would be which I haven’t heard of yet. You’re website gives already information about eating less fat and more fruit. But other than that, I can’t imagine that there would be new information, which does trigger me to stay 100% raw. I am having problems in staying raw and I am really desperate to find success. But I can’t imagine how it would be possible. Can you give me a reason why I should buy the starter kit instead of books like ‘conscious eating’ and ‘raw beauty’?

ANSWER: If you are desperate to finding success, then I assure you that the Raw Health Starter Kit will fill in the blanks. Very few raw books contain any recipes or real life solutions.  Too much of the information is confusing, contraidictory and have opinions that are often unfounded and go against common sense. Why waste any more time sifting through the endless information out there when I can share with you my 12 years of experience in living this diet and show you how you can achieve the same results by avoiding my mistakes? Check it out below:

Can the iPhone Help You Succeed With Your Health Program?

If you use an iPhone or iPod Touch or were thinking about getting one, you will love this article. I’m going to share with you how to use the iPhone to improve your health and fitness on the go, with my favorite “raw” programs.

I admit that I’m a bit of a geek. I love my iPhone. I use it not only to listen to music, make calls, track my expenses, and take pictures, but I also have found a ton of useful programs that help me succeed on the raw food diet.

Since Apple has sold over 50 million iPhones and iPod Touches I think I must not be the only geek out there.

Although the apps I will describe are great, I think there’s room for more innovation for the raw food community on this mobile platform. For example, what about a program that would automatically send you raw food tips every day? Or what about a database of raw food recipes you can easily search and view on the go?

I’ve entertained the idea of developing some programs for the iPhone (and iPod Touch), but only if there’s enough demand to justify it. So be sure to let me know in your comments if you think this is a good idea.

All of the programs below are available in the iTunes App Store.

Absolute Fitness — $14.95 — This is a great tool to replace “Fitday” and other similar nutritional databases to keep track of your calories, your fat intake, and your fitness activities.

The program includes a searchable database of foods, including most fruits and vegetables. If necessary, you can create custom foods.

You enter your foods eaten and it will automatically create stats for you. You can watch your fat consumption day by day or on average, and set your own limits for each nutrient.

The only missing feature is the ability to view the percentage of calories coming from fat, protein and carbs. But at least you have the amount of fat consumed daily, which can give you a good idea. I hope that the developers will improve this and add the caloronutritient ratio in future versions.

You can also track your fitness activities and see how many calories you’re burning daily. All in all, a great tool.

iHeartRate — $0.99 — Are you curious what your resting heart rate, or how fast you recover from a workout? Although you can take your pulse over 15 and 30 seconds and then multiply it, I’ve always found that method a bit complicated, leading to several trials to get a good number. With the iHeartRate app, you simply take your pulse and tap along with the other hand on the screen. After 10 taps the app automatically calculates your heart rate, and it’s pretty accurate! For 99 cents, it’s also a good deal.

Fitness Builder — $19.95 — This is the ultimate mobile fitness app! It’s more expensive than the more popular iFitness, but light years beyond. Look no further. This program features hundreds of workouts you can use in any circumstances, stat calculators, and the ability to track your workouts overtime.

You can also search workouts by locations and goal. For example, say you’re at a hotel and you want to do some cardio or body-building. Just put those preferences and the program automatically finds the best workouts for you.

When you’re working out, you have nice picture of each exercise, and you can stream videos if necessary. You even have a timer to calculate your rest time between reps. You can also track your results and can easily see how much you lifted last time for the same exercise. Of course, you can listen to your music while you’re working out as well.

YogaStretch — $1.99 — This is a nifty little app to have your own yoga instructor on the go. Simply select the duration of your desired workout (up to 60 minutes), and launch the program. An attractive female voice leads you through your yoga session, while on the screen you can see illustrations of each pause and time left.

Bento — $4.99 — Bento is a program made by File Maker to create various kinds of databases. An obvious use for us is the recipe database. I’ve started inventorying all of the new raw recipes that I’m creating. You can even take a picture on the go of your new creation. The best way to use this program is to also own the desktop version ($49.95) and use the iPhone as a synchronized version and an “on-the-go” recipe database.

Finally, why not load on your iPhone or iPod Touch my new Low Fat Raw Vegan DVD Series? It’s simple. Simply use a program like Roxio Crunch to rip my DVDs, so you can take curly-haired Frederic with you and watch your favorite recipe demos on the go!