Transform your kitchen from a processed food haven to a healthy kitchen. You don’t have to give up all the foods you love to eat at once to become healthier and to start eating raw, organic, living foods. The best place to start changing your life and your diet is at the grocery store. Even if you don’t need to lose weight and are pretty healthy, take a tip from dieters: Go shopping with a list and don’t go to the shopping for food when you are hungry. Doing so will half you resist all those anpan cakes, pokki sticks, and senbei crackers.

To start detoxifying your kitchen, clean out your refrigerator and your cabinets. Throw out the half-empty bags of snack foods. Put any microwaveable foods in a dark bag and stash them somewhere in the back of the freezer. Or better yet, bin them. Out of sight, out of mind.

It’s a great idea to stock up on dried fruits and nuts for snacking. Invest in a good blender so you can start each day with a nutrient-packed green smoothie. I also recommend an affordable slicing device called a spiralizer (check Raw Rapture’s Amazon stores), so you can exchange your cooked pasta for zucchini angle hair shreds (which taste just as good if not better than cooked flour pasta!) and make other food look beautiful. You can get a juicer, but wait until you’ve incorporated your blender into your daily life. Save a dehydrator (they do not come cheap) for that stage when you rarely use the stove anymore, as then you can store your dehydrator on its new permanent home - on top of the stove! If you have an oven (which means you don’t live in Japan), use it for storage. Clean out those crisper drawers in the fridge to get them ready for an influx of fresh organic, raw foods.

Load up on fresh fruits, vegetables, and potentially sproutable nuts, grains, beans, and seeds. Look around for places you can find raw nuts and seeds. Buy high quality raw, organic condiments such as cold pressed olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and soy sauce. Buying such products in raw and organic form can be tricky at first; you’d be surprised how many nasties are loaded into our daily seasonings! If you eat honey, look for the unpasteurized variety too, as you’ll get more enzymes. Search for healthier sweetening alternatives such as dates, agave syrup and yacon syrup. If you love chocolate, explore the world of raw cacao online. Get genmai (brown rice) if you’re not ready to let go of cooked rice, which is such a staple in Japan. If fish is still on your shopping list, that’s OK, but consider getting super fresh tuna that you can eat raw or just sear and serve with raw sesame seeds and a small amount of soy sauce.

Make eating this way fun. Invest in those big, white square dishes that are good for serving colorful, fresh foods. It’s easier to arrange small portions of different foods that way. Getting new white dishes will be symbolic of this new, purer way of eating.  If you are not adept at using chopsticks, start eating with them, as they will slow you down.

Go to a bookstore (likely online if you live in Japanese inaka (countryside)) and get a cookbook (uncook book) or a raw food book so you can learn about eating as raw vegan. Buy a big vase and a bunch of sunflowers to symbolize letting the sun into your diet.

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Living in Japan as a raw vegan can be a challenge at first, but it all boils down to preparedness in the end, combined with the willingness to accept that you may have to carry a few things around with you all day. I used to do and still do a lot of traveling, and in the past I would just make sure I had cash on me, as food in the Big Mikan (Tokyo) is available just about everywhere. Even if the tab added up to quite a lot at the end of the week, I used to eat out at least 5 days a week, much more if you call grabbing a bento (lunch set) from the conbini (corner or convenience store) eating out too! Hauling food around just was not something I wanted to deal with, especially on rush hour trains jam-packed like sardines. In truth, there is not a lot of option on the road for raw food enthusiasts.

When I first changed over to a raw food diet, I anticipated that this reality would be the downfall of my raw food effort, but actually, after forming the habit of simply being prepared and anticipating situations, I find it has not been so difficult. Even though fresh, organic produce is insanely expensive in this country, because I rarely eat out as I used to, I am actually spending less than before.

Traveling anywhere while raw can certainly seem like a test to our strength. This is actually good, though, as it stresses our personal commitment to what we believe in and the extent to which we are prepared to bend to accommodate everyday challenges. Certainly there will be situations on the road when you will have to continually make decisions and find within your heart whether you wish to remain raw while on the move, or to take some down time and eat cooked foods. Remember to view your food choices as a lifestyle, and not a do or die strict diet. I believe our long-term success depends on this attitude.

If you have made the commitment to staying raw, PREPARATION is key! You need to make and take a good old-fashioned lunch bag or box with you. In the past I did work at on place at which I couldn’t access food, and I recall eating really well because I had no choice but to bring my own lunch. I do remember it being a chore preparing my daily lunches, though, and perhaps that’s why I was dreading traveling raw. But actually, now that I don’t have to pre-cook a meal, and realize that I can be well nourished and very satisfied without any fancy preparation, I understand that my worries were unfounded. If I don’t feel like putting in the 5 minutes it takes to assemble a salad using what ever is in the fridge in a plastic Tupperware container with my little bottles of oil and vinegar on the side, then I just chuck a banana, apple, or whatever in a plastic bag, and make sure I have emergency bags/ boxes of nuts, seeds, and dried nuts, and sometimes homemade trail mix in my main bag. I do just fine this way!

One thing that is always in my bag when I leave home in the morning is my 1.5 liter bottle of green smoothie, which takes me through the morning and eliminates the need to have a sit-down breakfast - I “eat” my smoothie on the way to work and at my desk/ in class and once I’m at the workplace. If you’re taking a flight somewhere, however, be sure to down that smoothie before you attempt to get through security, as liquids are a no-go. It seems like common sense, but I’ve been stared at hurriedly sucking back my green mush that I got caught with before. Laws on bringing in fresh produce to other countries are strict too, so always have dried foods, seeds, or nuts at hand just in case when traveling internationally, too.

The one down side with this raw on the road lifestyle is that my everyday shoulder bag has gotten big and somewhat heavy. I have had to forgo my snappy, small designer purse for a durable lightweight, multi-pocketed tote bag, but I’d be lying if I said it looked dowdy! I imagine that for men who are used to not carrying anything but their back-pocket wallet, this carrying of food around might take some getting used too. In Japan, it is the norm for men to carry bags, fortunately. The current trend for both men and women is stylish cycle courier bags, which I think are useful and look cool whatever your age or gender. Luckily by the end of the day my bag usually gets considerably lighter after having consumed all or most of my stash. Liquids are heavy after all, and fruit contains a lot of liquid.

Be glad that making food preparation and taking it all with you will keep your wallet healthy, as you are no longer paying over the top for low-quality food. However, if all else fails, there is usually fruit for sale at service stations, in convenience stores, and on trains. Even some Starbucks chains sell bananas now.

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Particularly for the beginning raw foodist, the mere thought of how to manage when facing the prospect of dining out can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. This was certainly true for me when I first changed my eating habits. However, in fact, you can get the food you want, and even get away with not having to explain your raw food diet to your waiter or dining mates. Salads are your best option, but with all the dressings and toppings that usually accompany your order (items such as meat, cheese, croutons, marinated fruits and vegetables, and heat-processed dressings full of refined sugar), even this simple dish can pose a challenge. Try the following tips to make your experience a positive and empowering one.

1) The best type of restaurant where you can get away with making special food requests in Japan is at an izakaiya, which is fortunately the most likely type of eatery in which you will find yourself when eating out at night in Japan. I have found that most izakaiyas are extremely accommodating to my needs. Most of the time I order all the salads they have on the menu, asking them to ditch the dressings and undesirable toppings and kindly add more veggies. As for Japanese family resutora, they should be avoided as most times there cannot accommodate your requests; the menus are set. Other Japanese eateries, unlike those in many other countries, will tend to focus on a particular food or item, such as okonomiyake, ramen, or soba/odon, which are all off our list of places to eat at.

2) If you live in a western country, you have a lot more flexibility. Especially in North America, the norm is to cater to individual preferences, and it is also far less unreasonable and less uncommon to be finicky as a customer. may have to create your own salad from the raw ingredients they have listed in the various salad descriptions or that they have on hand. Most restaurants will have Romaine lettuce, Iceberg lettuce, field greens, and spinach. Choose one of these types of greens as your salad base, then, choose some raw vegetables and request a quarter of a half of a an avocado (if they have it). Stipulate that you want the actual avocado, not guacamole, as the latter at restaurants consists of very little avocado mixed with ranch dressing and other undesirable highly processed stuff. You could also order greens, fresh berries, and apple slices. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. Most restaurants will be more than happy to accommodate you, just make sure you are very clear in what you want, and make sure the waiter writes down the details of what you say. If they do not bring you enough vegetables on your salad, ask them for more.

3) Check out the restaurant website beforehand in order to consult their menu so you know what you will ask for on your salad. You could feasibly call and check if something can be prepared for you ahead of time. Sometimes, they may have other fresh vegetables not listed on the menu, so always ask what they have on hand in their kitchen. Most of the time, they will be happy to check for you.

4) If possible, eat something before you go out. A large portion of fruit would be best. When you get to the restaurant, all you will have to do is order your salad. The salads served at some restaurants are very disappointing as the produce is less than ideal, but if you’ve had a bite to eat beforehand, you’ll survive.

5) If you frequent the same restaurants, they will come to know you and be prepared for your order. This has happened to me for several izakayas I frequent in the Tama area, west of Tokyo. As a foreigner, I am even easier to remember, and they have come to accept my seemingly strange requests.

6) Especially if the place I am going to is an unknown, I will bring my own salad dressing, though I am not particularly fond of carrying around liquids in my purse. I would not recommend this practice when eating out with new people either, as I wouldn’t define the practice as the classiest of behaviours. For a good fruit-based dressing, try blending tomato, mango, lemon, and some water if needed. It’s not very ecological, but you can put your dressing in a disposable container, all too easy to find in any Daiso 100yen store across Japan. Use something like a Zip Lock bag for extra leakage protection. Fresh-squeezed lemon on a salad works just as well, and most places should be able to accommodate you in this regard. As your diet becomes more high-raw (pure), you’ll find you will enjoy the salad naked!

7) Although not common in Japan, some restaurants in western countries have a bar area, equipped with citrus fruits and a juicer or press, so ask if they will make you a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice. They can even put it in a wine glass with a nice slice of orange on the side for garnish.

8) Even if they are available, avoid ordering nuts and seeds in restaurants as they are generally not raw. They are often coated with salt and/or sugar, too. Olives are also a no-no, as they are generally marinated in salt, vinegar, and sulfites. You should also scratch out any dried fruits off your menu, such as cranberries or raisins, as these are highly processed and contain sulfites.

9) If people ask, “Is that all you’re having?”, just tell them that you already ate, ate a very late lunch, or simply have no appetite for some reason. This is not the time to talk about your raw food diet. You want to avoid having to defend yourself about your diet when people start asking questions, and want to avoid offending those who lack the knowledge of sound nutrition. Therefore, if someone at the table asks you about your raw food diet, just tell them you’d be happy to discuss it another time, as you don’t want it to dominate discussion, (especially in light of the fact that others are eating cooked food). Discussion of a raw food diet can be very uncomfortable for people who don’t eat raw, so move on to a new subject quickly and with a smile.

10) If you’re invited to a potluck type of event, bring a raw dish to share, and again, eat something beforehand in case your treat is a real winner and runs out before you get your share. And that does in fact tend to happen, even if you bring simply a raw fruit or vegetable tray or simple salad. Watch how most people react to really fresh quality fruits, vegetables, and greens. Humans love them by nature! You can feel proud and happy that you have fed others at the event well.

11) When you are socializing and talking about your raw food diet, unless you are absolutely sure that this is the lifestyle you want to adopt, avoid proclaiming that you are a 100% raw foodist. Just tell people that eating lots of raw food and ditching processed food makes you look and feel absolutely fantastic and that you’ll take it day by day and see what happens. This advice applies whenever you make changes to your lifestyle. (quitting smoking, for example)

Eating out and socializing for people following a raw diet can sometimes be difficult, but eating raw isn’t a special diet; it’s a lifestyle. With a little foresight, you can not only survive, but thrive, and going out will cease to cause you stress.

Feel free to copy and paste this article elsewhere, but please direct your readers back to my site by also pasting the following: “For more raw food articles by this author, please visit http://rawrapture.com.” Cheers!