Hello,
My name is sacha,I am 21, I live in England and my raw journey began just after x-mas. I did a cleanse (colonic, v.glamorus!!) and in reading up on the cleanse ended up learning alot about raw food. I have been experimenting with the raw diet and have had some real high points HOWEVER....
I have been working in a cake shop!! So everyday at work I have been surrounded by white flour, sugar and cream cakes and have ended up binging on cake every other day, then because I have felt guilty about eating so much rubbish i have fasted the following day and have fallen into a really unhealthy eating habit I am a normal weight but would like to lose a stone or maybe even just half, however as i have always been quite happy with my body the whole weight loss thing is new for me, I put on a bit of weight since working in the cake shop and giving up smoking (both about 6 months ago) I feel I have cracked the smoking thing now..never again but have possibly transferred my addiction to food. I never really understood obesity before but now can totally see how easy it is to fall into unhealthy relationships with food and dieting is soo hard!!! So I found myself a new job at an organic cafe that does green juices and weatgrass and no cream cakes, that I start next week and I finnish my cakey job in two days time (I think it is important to add i have no problems with raw on my days off!) So i want to use the end of my old job as a clear mark to begin my raw food life properly.
So, things I find hard with raw food....
Not drinking alcohol : to be honest i don't need alchohol and i feel more than ready to let it go but I find other peoples reaction to me as a non drinker really hard, it is really hard to socialise and not drink as there seems to be so much pressure to drink, any advice on this?
And the same with eating out and eating at friends/family/travelling how do you guys do raw when not at home and in control of the food preparation?
Sorry for the long post but I am chomping at the bit now and cant wait to get properly on to raw.
Love and light
sachmo

Hey, Sachmo; welcome!!! Good for you for changing jobs to suit your new life! I am looking to do the same, and may actually have some leads (finally, after six months!!!). I work in a fancy restaurant with yummy, bad foods.

Organic wine is becoming increasingly easy to find, even in bars, and is generally raw. When I eat out, I usually order a huge salad with whatever raw veggies they have and no dressing.

Good luck! Looking forward to hearing of your progress!

Sundancer

Hi Sacha,
Welcome! Congratulations on embarking on a raw lifestyle. You won't regret it.
Sundancer is right-- you can probably drink a little organic wine from time to time.
With regard to restaurants, I know what you mean. I'm afraid I've never done well with restaurants and trying to eat the house salad while everyone around me chows down, lol, so I tend to just stay away from restaurants. (I'm a wimp.) A lot of raw foodists are quite inventive, however, and will even talk to the waiter or the chef and have a simple raw meal prepared for them, in addition to asking for a large salad. If you have a favorite restaurant or two that you go to frequently, this could be a possibility.

Sharrhan:


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Hi, welcome! fantastic switch of jobs, good work!

Me, I'm coming back from raw so am again in first stages so I don't leave house without food....bananas in purse, dates, raisins....or, if extended leave, I pack a lunch and feel like I'm going on a hike. I take salad, dressing, lots of fruit with me. From past experience, this becomes less of a problem as there is less pressure of "have to eat" --- you can go longer without eating without discomfort. Almost everywhere you can find some sort of fresh food, a salad in restaurants.

Enjoy the process!

Thanks so much for the replys, i used a forum to help me give up smoking and found it helped soo much that I was chuffed that i found one for raw foodies. I have decided to do another cleanse starting tomorow so I can feel really 'clean' for when i go raw, and also as I have a raw friend comming to stay so I will be finnished in time to make lots of yummy foods and juices with her
As for drinking I think I just have to be strong enough to say no to booze as I don't like the effect it has on me anymore and i don't want to be peer pressured into doing it, frankly i don't want the kind of peers that put that kind of pressure on me
And again i suppose there is usually salads in restaurents so that should be ok. Cheers for the advice, talk soon.
Sachmo

Off to a great start with my cleanse...Not,
Was waiting for my delivery of apple juice to arrive, it didn't arrive until 5pm so I ended up having some croisants i brought home for a neighbour!!!
Also started reading paul mckennas I can make you thin to address the binge eating and one of the golden rules is to eat what you want rather than what you think you should in order to get back to a natural food habit which seems fair. So for dinner I think I am going to eat a mixture of raw and cooked foods and have some soy sausages, i figured I only have 2 more days before I finnish my job and have a fresh start, also I have the rest of my life to walk my raw journey so it makes more sense to do it a bit more gradually, also nice to say goodbye to cooked foods somehow ( a little strange I know!) Hope everyone is well and good and has had a rawer day than me!
Love and Light
Sachmo

It's okay Sachmo -- no one will clock you with a banana! I did that with french fries last week (I'm transitioning back again after a bad holiday spell) -- I bought a bag of organic ones and fried 'em up and ate a bunch to say goodbye. It kind of made me not miss them so much because we said our proper goodbyes!!! ;} Hubby thinks I'm a whack job now! I say clean out your fridge and say goodbye while you have your last two days of the bakery job, then you can really make a clean break! And people are right -- the more you eat raw, the less you want alcohol -- and the more it affects you! I'm a cheap date now!!

Thank you Sundancer, glad to know I am not alone in food farewells! I am getting ready for a two day cleanse starting tommorow. It is really important for me to have a clean start before starting the new job, also I like the idea of having a clean system before starting raw for good.. AND I cant wait for my beutiful raw friend to come down so i can share raw chocolate 'cheesecake' and yummy smoothies
Alcohol is no biggie, I have seriously gone off it and find it detracts from the natural high i get from good diet and meditation in a big way, it is just in the uk it seems everything is geared around 'having a quick drink', lets meet up after work and have a quick drink, come over to mine and well have a glass of wine, lets go out to a club and let our hair down (drink) I have managed all these situations without but i find people treat me differently, i get put at arms length a bit and feel self concious that I am not behaving in the same way as everyone else, same with the raw diet, such a death culture we seem to live in, where 'treating yourself' always seems to be associated with doing something that makes you feel bad afterwards.
I think this is something that just becomes the norm after a while and I hopefully will meet more people on a similar path to me also.... I found that now I don't feel like i am missing out on anything by not smoking and I have more non-smoking people in my life now that it has been a while since I quit, and smokers tend to smoke around me less, also I have my auto pilot 'i don't smoke' answer so I don't have to constantly battle with myself everytime I am offered cigs, hope the same happens with raw.. anybody experienced this who has been raw for a while?
Love and light to all
Sacha

Everything has been postponed 2 days so i can... finnish 'normal' eating at cake shop. Have 2 days to mini cleanse ..have friend down to eat raw... and then start new job! I love it when the world looks after me like that couldnt be more perfect... Looks like I can have my cake and eat it (Sorry, had to go there!)
That is a bit of a relief wasn't looking forward to finnishing cake job with a fast. have done this before but the whole feeling of this being my 'last' makes it all feel a bit more pressured and momentus than usual.
Night night all

Sachmo,

It seems like you are doing well.
I know that it can be easy to become disheartened.
I urge you to remember that you are becoming a beacon of light and inspiration to those around you. It may not be easy to have that awareness. The people whose lives you are touching will generally not tell you until years later.

Be gentle with yourself.
Guilt is not productive.
You are doing well.
Just the very fact that you are asking the right questions indicates that you will find the answers.
If I can be helpful or our site, that is great.

Shifts in habits and lifestyle and interactions with others, such as quitting smoking, alcohol, meat, etc., can present challenges which can test resolve.
Allow yourself whatever process you need to make it happen, whether that is cold-turkey or baby steps.
You will probably find it helpful to find local supportive people.

A few questions which might help as guideposts?
Is the end worthy of the means?
Am I worthy of this effort?
What do I really want?

If you post a reply to this message and would like my feedback, it would be best to send me a private message to that effect. Otherwise, I may not check this thread for a while.

***Info from the advisors at HealthNVitality***

So finnished in cake shop Yayyy, today I started the day with organic apple juice and psyliam/bentonite toxin absorber, and had that for lunch and also dinner another 2 doses to go (yum!). Feels really good to be cleansing again rather than poisoning.
Due to ever changing plans I think I am now able to continue cleansing through tommorow and maybe even sunday, so that is good. Although my mouth is already watering at the prospect of all the raw reciies I am going to cook!
Love and light to all
sachmo

Hi Sacha.

Thanks for your PM.

Your gratitude shines through.
I am happy to see that you have a high level of recognition of your tremendous value and of where you find yourself at the moment.
I applaud you for your willingness to admit which obstacles you are battling with currently.

In my experience, baby steps usually work best, especially if detox will be severe.
Yes, my previous questions will help to take you far.
You might also like to check out our site.

You asked how long I have been raw and how it started.
Personally, it has only been a few years that I have been more than 90% raw.
For the most part, it just comes naturally to me. Apart from social considerations, I prefer living foods and always have.

There are others in the healthnvitality team who have been 95-100% raw for a lot longer than me.
Each has their own story for how it started.

Love and light (right back atcha)!

If you post a reply to this message and would like my feedback, it would be best to send me a private message to that effect. Otherwise, I may not check this thread for a while.

***Info from the advisors at HealthNVitality***

Did a sound healing session the night of my mini cleanse.. twas beautiful Then awoke and had a LOVEY day yesturday,had an apple juice breakfast, a beutiful raw friend visited and in the morning we had a swim, a walk and a sauna, then we made a lovely veg smoothie out of celery, red pepper, carrots, spirulina, kelp, maca, chilli, a little miso, avocado and ginger... delicious however I felt full after 1/2 a glass so couldn't drink as much as I wanted too.
We continued with our beautiful day in the sunshine then went shopping, we got booja booja raw chocolate truffles and raw, dairy free vanilla ice cream (haha!! ate the whole tub with plastic spoons sitting by the river... suddenly not soo full!)
Then we went to a v.posh cocktail bar in central london, blagged our way past the doorman and got the barman to make us deliciouus raw virgin cocktail (I had strawberry chilli, paprica, and lemon, my friend had a virgin colada) which the barman then gave us for free!!! Manifestations are soo cool! ( then we went to Saf AMAZZZZZZING raw restaurent in shoreditch (it was friends birthday) I ate the most amaing nut cheeses, had a raw tart, salad and pumpkin pie for pudding sooooooooooooo nice. Awoke today feeling soo positive and nourished on every level. Had apple juice, kelp and spirulina breakfast. then for lunch had a banana, a pear, a plum and some cashews mmmmmm feel soo good and energised already...how much better will the future be!
I feel totally liberated since I have left the cake shop and soo much more connected to myself. Soo happy and grateful to have found the raw path.
love and light
x
sachmo

Too busy feeling wonderful to post! However can report am already thinner, bigger clearer eyes, cvlearer skin, whiter teeth, more spiritually connected. Am mostly raw now aside from buckweat pancakes.. don't know why i havn't done this before Must dash, a longer post another time .
Love and light to all.
x
sacha