Dear raw people,

I was raw for a month or so - from February to March this year. It was amazing. I had so much energy, my skin cleared up a little and I didn't need nearly as much sleep.

Then I had to organise this event. I did the cooking for it and was present throughout the evening without eating a thing. I brought the leftovers home with me at around midnight. But by that time I was tired and starving and, without really thinking, ate all the nachos.

Since then I haven't been raw at all. It's a constant battle, and cooked rubbish always seems to win. I don't understand this at all - surely the benefits of raw that I experienced would hold some weight? Cooked food makes me feel awful - so why do I always turn to it?

Is there any hope for me? I SO want to be 100% raw, but can't seem to hold to it.
And to make things more difficult, my mother is mad that I want to be a raw vegan. I can't persuade her that it's not a fad. However, she also hates my spots so we made a deal this morning that I'll clear up my skin in a week and she won't criticise my meals for a week. I should make the most of it and eat 100% raw, but so far today I haven't eaten anything raw. What is wrong with me? I have no self control!

Any advice would be hugely appreciated! Many thanks!

Hi miss_tanya!

I'm currently high raw, was an ethical vegan anyway so stuff like cheese, milk and other junk has never been a problem for me to avoid. If you need an extra incentive not to eat/buy dairy and meat products, just look at videos and pictures at peta.com or viva.org.uk.

Being busy does make it a little harder to be raw! Coming home, starving hungry, and faced with a quick cooked dinner or a cold, boring salad, isn't much of a contest So....

1) If you think you'll end up eating bread, at least get yourself a more healthy alternative. Health food stores stock sprouted bread (made from hemp, quinoa etc). Get yourself a tub of nut butter to spread on it. Unlike normal bread (which is laden with fat, salt, even dairy products), sprouted bread fills you up very quickly, so you wont feel hungry enough to binge on junk food. Only use a little nut butter though.

2) Have a look at all the raw recipe sites- this one, goneraw.com, fromsadtoraw.com and gliving.tv, to work out meals you like and will want to eat. Try and work out ahead of time your breakfast, lunch and dinner meals so you don't find yourself staring at your fridge thinking "What now?"

3) Green smoothies! My skin is looking so good from drinking this stuff! Blend fresh pineapple chunks with spinach, kale, a banana and other greens. It is so filling and nutritious, you'll find you wont have the urge to snack on rubbish because it wont appeal to you. The taste of the pineapple is so sweet, you barely taste the green stuff.

4) Water. 8 glasses a day. Minimum. Go to toilet regularly too.

5) Salads don't have to be boring. Make a giant tasty layered salad from different greens, sliced bell peppers, scallions, fresh herbs, sprouts, nuts and seeds. Find/make yourself a tasty salad dressing or houmous to go with it.

6) Take a packed lunch with you when you're out for the day! pack a salad, nuts, seeds, a banana, apple, other fruit.

In all honesty, it'll take longer than a week to see amazing results. I saw differences immediately in my first week, but as it went on, other changes were so much more striking- glossy hair, clearer skin, weight loss etc.

Consider most junk food a poison, research the ingredients- the preservatives, colours, artificial sweeteners etc- and you will become passionate about not sticking that rubbish in your body.

Good luck! Seriously, you'll look fab. You just have to stick with it.

you can too do this! cooked food is hard because you`re an addict plain and simple. you also have connections....emotional connections to food dating way back to childhood and it`s hard to reprogram. i was watching my daughter in gymnastics the other day and there was a toddler with his mother watching their sibling as well. the toddler got grumpy after sitting an hour in a stroller and started to fuss and the first thing the mom did was shove some food in his face. no judgement cuz i`ve been there and done that as i have 2 kids. point being....food connections go waaaayyy back go back to your reason for going raw to begin with. is it solid? what does your mother have to do with your food choices? why does she not support them? hve you tutored her on the benefits and also the way feedlot animals are raised? the average person doesn`t know what goes on...just like buying that cute puppy in the window. never mind that it came from a place worse than hell and its parents are still confined in a cage big enough to lay down in if it`s lucky. feedlot they don`t want to see that or think of it that way. by buying that puppy in the window they are supporting the horrid puppymills just like people who buy meat and the like are supporting the feedlots. maybe if you talk with your mother and educate her she`ll accept your choice better? just my 2 cents. i do know however that you can do this...you just have to want to
patty

though I am a newb here, I can promise you that food makers have no intention in making it easy for you to stop eating their wares. Nature has no such agenda. As such, you can bet there is crap in food not on the label that furthers THEIR agenda, not yours. MSG, for example is known to increase appetite . . make you eat more (even making you eat more by leeching out nutrients and tricking your brain into trying to replace them by . . . eating more).

In any event, science is very effective at presenting us with more intense flavors and combinations and textures we never experienced before, but science and technology can do a lot. They can play me an image of the stars on the movie screen and the minute I prefer to see that rather than the real version outside I know I will have lost some of my humanity.

And more bluntly, sex with someone with syphyllis may feel good, but should you do it??

if you are uncomfortable with 100% right now why not just keep incorperating more fresh fruit and veggies and work your way up to it .. set your goal one day at a time .. dont say *tommorrow im .. * just wake up and tell yourself you are gonna have a 100% raw breakfast .. then snack .. then lunch .. next thing you know youve had a great day .. maybe you will only get 80% or 60% but thats better then 0%

find things you like in raw alternatives .. there are so many raw receipes out there

try new fruits and veggies that you havent tried before .. close your eyes and let your senses really observe what you are eating ... smell and taste and sound and texture are all really important ..learn what perfectly ripe stuff tastes like compared to unripe ..learn the difference between something standardly grown compared to organic

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Opinion:

-The only thing that is busting you - is your own self-image. Your own comparison of what you HAVE to be. The only 'right' thing for you is one step in front of where you are comfortable RIGHT NOW. Focus on THAT....every day....and you will see new heights my friend.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Usually it's not just one item that we're addicted to and have a hard time letting go. If stopping everything cold turkey is too challenging for now, then consider weaning off one item or a group of items in the same category at a time.

For example, if addicted to coffee, sugar, candy, bread, cookies, caffeineated beverages, try weaning off the sugar/candy group first without resisting the others. Then when successful with that effort (or even if not successful with that group) move on to the caffeine items. After working on that then move on the wheat/pastry items. Each time you cut down or eliminate unwholesome items, replace that new void with fruits/vegetables you enjoy. While you may not be able to conquer less than healthy habits in 1 gulp, it's very possible to do it in smaller moves.

There's a saying that you may want to keep in mind: "By the yard, it's hard but by the inch it's a cinch".

Wishing you vibrant health

Thanks so much everyone!

One of my problems is that I'm an all or nothing person - if I can't do things perfectly, I don't do them at all. Which, unless you're a heart surgeon or something, is bad news.

Everyone knows me as a health freak and I'm always telling people what they should be eating, but I don't follow my own advice. True, I haven't had any meat or milk since I was 18 (4 years ago) for ethical reasons, but when I started university I began to eat compulsively, and there's still some of that compulsion in me when it comes to eating. Yes, Dewey, definitely emotional connections here. I need to change my programming.

To be honest, I'm fine when it comes to shopping - it's other people's food that's the problem. My brother's been at home with cancer this past year, and my mother buys him chocolate, bread, cakes and biscuits (he's always eaten badly - which, I suppose, is why he has cancer at just 25). I just can't cope with seeing them everywhere! I have no will power. And at college everyone leaves me presents of chocolate (even after putting a sign on my door - 'Please do not feed the animals/Tanya)!

You're all legends. I'm going to print out your advice and read it regularly

So now I'm going to plan my meals for tomorrow . . . baby steps . . .

Tanya

I hear you!

-You HAVE willpower.......there IS a stage that you are comfortable with. Start from there. Do not compare yourself to others......or some big ideal.......keep setting smaller and smaller goals.....be HONEST about that process....and how you really feel....until you make psychic traction. You WILL do it.....it just may not be at the level you would like! LOL. (which is OK). Don't you think?

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

i too am an al or nothing. sometimes a good trait...sometimes not so good. we have a huge tendency to be so hard on ourselves. i`m working on it...life isn`t black or white all the time. and alot of the time something is better than nothing it`s about your pace and what you can handle. if you`re living at home and mom does the shopping and she`s not on your page then you just have to be strong and choose what you really want. 86 the bad self talk and replace it with i can, i choose, i don`t have to etc. i know you can do it...us all or nothings are stubborn and persistent
patty

Zeolite (natural cellular defense) always works for me in this regard. My personal explanation for this is that zeolite alkalinizes the blood, and when the blood is alkaline we crave fruits & vegetables.

If you're not inclined to try zeolite or find it too expensive, I'd recommend eating the most alkaline foods you can find. Before I discovered zeolite, grapefruits, lemons, and raw kombucha tea used to work for me. Just be sure if you eat lemons to rinse with saltwater afterward so the acid won't rot your teeth (I think that's how I ended up with a painful cavity - but zeolite neutralized that also).

I hear ya on the cooked food, definitely the more cooked food I eat the more I crave. The higher percentage raw I can do, the less I crave other food.

Thanks guys!

Patty, that makes me feel better! I can do it . . . maybe . . .

I've never heard of Zeolite. Must find out about that.

Yes, it's strange how you can't fulful cravings really. The more you eat, the more you need!