Not just for the Bourgeois

So I have been loosely following the Raw till 4 lifestyle, and I do feel great! And I do feel like my body responds very well to a high fruit diet. On those end of the week days when I'm running low on fresh produce, I notice a difference in my energy levels when I haven't eaten fresh fruit for breakfast.
My dinners vary in what I eat, but needless to say my diet is 95 percent unprocessed foods. Because of my economic status, and also my love of cooking, that has been the way I've eaten for years. That is one positive thing about being on the underpaid side of life, eating out, or premade is just really not an option. This summer I have been eating a lot of Bibimbap, and lots of chopped style salads. For the most part, my dinner is often at least half raw also. It has been pretty easy so far. In the past when I would look into a more Raw lifestyle, it seemed very intimidating to say the least. Some of the videos I have seen on YouTube seem to devote every minute to either eating, or preparing food. For me, it has always seemed unrealistic, and not only that, but as someone who comes from an eating disordered past, I am not going back to a place ruled by food. Another issue I had was of course finances. I cannot afford to buy mass quantities of organic produce. I live in a city that doesn't even have a farmers market! And the few farm stands I've come  across use pesticides. In terms of organic, I don't have the luxury of buying all organic, however I definitely try my best to follow the dirty dozen. So I say all of that to say that I have to make a pound of organic strawberries last for at least two meals, or two to three smoothies. So for all of those reasons I always thought of a raw diet as not realistic, and like many things in life, not for us poors.
Well thanks to Fit on Raw, and Freelee the Banana Girl, two awesome YouTube channels, I learned that I too can eat Raw foods, and it just felt more comforting to have the option of eating a cooked dinner, especially here on the east coast,because, well winter. I discovered both channels around the same time, and it was within that same week that I started doing Raw till 4. Both channels are inspiring, and are great examples of the lifestyle, as they both glow with health, which just radiates a certain natural beauty that no pill, lotion or surgery could ever give you. Neither one of them use a dehydrator, and they don't have such high maintenance eating/preparing food habits.
In the end, to sum up my babbling, I am so happy that through the interwebz I learned this new lifestyle, and a relaxed way of looking at it. It doesn't always have to be all or nothing. Sometimes I can't eat Raw till 4, sometimes I eat Earth Balance cheddar squares for lunch, but I am a)doing my best and b)eating more fruit at a time than I have ever the majority of the time and I feel great!
We are all different, and so a high carb diet may not work for everyone, I am certainly no where near being a doctor. But a lesson I have learned is whatever kind of vegan someone needs to be, it is attainable. There is information for anyone, any income, and any dietary restrictions. There is no reason to feel obsessive about food. And when you find what clicks with your body, well it is pretty amazing!