I felt compelled to share some of what I've been dealing with this past week...

I recently finished a 10.75 day watermelon stint and felt the clearest, happiest, and healthiest I can remember feeling, possibly ever. I normally only mono 2-3 days, if I mono at all. Before this, I was slowly getting my fat % down to 20%, eating lots of fresh, doing very well.

So, I was a total prude after breaking the melon mania, too. I wasn't eating any overt fats at all (minus one avocado after breaking the fast) for the week or two after. No salt... no spice... no nothing.

I got stuck one night for many hours without food and caved into a salty noodle soup--that was Tuesday night. Since then, I haven't been able to keep my 100% raw. I've been oscillating so wildly, which I don't want to do.

Anyway, the baked potato I had tonight was actually moldy, and it really turned me off, so I don't think I'll be wanting one of those for a while. I decided to scale things back, add more fats and some Larabars back to my diet (MY GOD THEY HELP ME STAY ON TRACK!)... and go from there.

Basically, I got carried away with how well and how purely I was eating, I didn't stop to carefully consider the psychological ramifications of all the tastes and textures I was parting with. I ended up feeling deprived, and instead of carefully placing my chips and uncooking the occasional raw gourmet to satisfy those urges, I crashed and burned.

Tomorrow is a new day. I'm definitely sick of feeling too tired to get out of bed in the mornings... yeah, cooked food will do that to you.

That really is the challenging part of long fasts--you shouldn't be doing them unless you're 110% prepared to maintain that new level of health, or you'll go out of balance. I feel like, ARGH @#)($_) @(#%+_@)%(*#)%

Slow and steady wins the race...

Hey baby -- tomorrow IS a new day, and you did a great cleanse, even if you did end up "slipping up" -- Just pick up and keep going. The beauty of raw foods is that it only takes a couple of days on raw foods to feel fantastic again (barring the detox, which, when we eat well to begin with, is minimal, if we do slip)! We love you!!

I have had some recent experiences in my raw journey that have caused me to re-think my commitment to raw and how to stay raw. I have concluded that I want to eat the natural raw foods and be healthy but in order to do that I need to adopt more of a "moderation in all things" approach to raw because being too strict causes me to slip up and risk not being raw anymore and I am committed to being a raw food eater and for now that means high raw. Maybe later all raw will feel right again. Time will tell.

It's all just a part of your raw path/journey. You're still on the path and have learned something from your recent experience. So, it's all good if you look at it that way. ;-)

*HUGS*

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

i think we get in trouble when we label ourselves. be easy on yourself and learn from your "mistakes"
i hate to call them that cuz they`re NOT mistakes, they are experiences in which we learn from
patty

I get caught hungry sometimes too and I don't have anything good to eat so I will eat something restaurant cooked or processed and tell myself it's just a treat. I try not to get to upset about it though I pay the price the next morning and have to battle back the cravings for something salty.

I tend to forget how addictive cooked food is and what a slippery slope I'm on when I'm just gonna have that one Ritz cracker with some hummous on it at a social gathering. Just like an alcoholic having a little sip of the punch.

hey phantom

u had an intriguing experience
and an extraordinary adventure

with this came priceless knowledge

The most honorable thing that you're doing is continuing to commit to the lifestyle changes you've worked towards achieving. Not everyone in your position would do the same thing. I'm sure everything will work out for you. <3





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2008 07:44PM by rawfrancois.

Thanks, everyone.

I loaded up on a variety of fruit, and today I've been eating just that (with a handful of nuts!). I feel so much better... my head is clearer... I've had awful anxiety last night and a bit this morning, though. It's easy to take for granted the positive emotional states that abound when eliminating cooked food... for me, anyway.

"Slow and steady wins the race..." That says it all!

Awsome phantom! Keep it going, and it gets better every day.

did you write 10.75 watermellon feast???? I think that is fantastic. I bet you really learned a lot in those days. I am so impressed. We have eaten cooked foods for so long that it is very hard to make that change. I think in some ways our mind can decieve us. For me I sometimes need to get those reality checks. I think you will become stronger in this situation. I think you have done good. Do you meditate? I think that and some exersize might help you as well as eating. Perhaps reach out to someone and share your knowledge to someone or a green smoothie? Some of those things can help you get balanced. It is not all about eating but shareing and helping others. Best wishes
Pam