I want to start off by saying that I love whole fresh raw fruits and veggies and even wheatgrass (in powder form).

BUT, no matter HOW MUCH fruit or veggies I eat every day, I still cave HARD around lunch time for that high fatty carb meal! It's like when I quit smoking, I truly didn't want to smoke but the addicted body CRAVED it and the withdrawls were just about unbearable. I guess food can really be an addiction too since I am having the same withdrawl symptoms?!

So after I've eaten myself full of fresh fruit & veggies every morning...guess what? Yep! Angry cave girl on the rampage forging for ANY high-fat, high-carb cooked food to get "my fix" : (

I HATE IT!! I get so angry because I do not want any cooked food...and I don't know how to break the habit.

QUESTION:

Are there any raw foods that are more filling than others that might help me.....maybe stay fuller longer? Would that help to break the habit of binging on SAD food? (thinking...sprouting maybe?-eat lots of sprouted beans???)

Please...everyone's advice is welcomed and wanted!! THANK YOU : (

I do too, and right now I'm eating zucchini cut like fettuccine, diced red pepper and romanesco (a brassica) tossed with a sauce made from basil, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, Brazil nuts, lemon, s&p all blended together creamy. This kind of meal helps a lot. Or I'll make a soup from a half avo (or a whole one if I'm really hungry), miso, sprouts (mung, adzuki and lentil sprouted together), grated carrots, spicy pepper blend, s&p, water for consistency, and whatever other veggies sound good at the time. These are my two main raw heavy lunches. If I'm really famished, I'll eat some dehydrated bread/crackers, but I don't have them on hand very often. Or I'll do a nutty, chocolate (cacao) smoothie with bananas. Hope that helps.

This may help. When you are in the midst of a strong craving, meditate in this way:

Sit down with good posture and with your feet on the ground. Close your eyes and breath deeply from the bottom of your ribcage. Bring your awareness to your breathing, as you inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Do this for a minute or more. Let yourself feel the cravings, but rather than be absorbed in them become an observer of your sensations, while keeping an awareness on your breath. This may not rid you of the cravings the first time, but it should help you relax and becoming better in tune with your mind and body. I think by doing it a few times you should be able to get a handle the cravings. When you don't react to the cravings, it will be hard at first, but just remember it will get easier every time.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2008 08:44PM by Joanne81.

For me, those feelings came up as part of detox. I did a cleanse for 2 weeks and I was done with the cravings for a while. I find that I can't even eat essene bread or anything resembling wheat or the cravings return.

When I needed a transition tool, I did the raw version of the dense, high fat stuff at lunch which will satisfied the craving, then I gently weaned myself off of it.


Good Luck!

Report immediately to the Ministry of Guilt and Punishment, department of Self Discipline and Flagellation. The Ministry guidelines suggest 50 lashes with a spiralized zucchini noodle followed by 3 salads, and a smoothie!

Ok, so that might not work, Rawtastic made a great suggestion, for a transition period try eating a high calorie raw meal for lunch. A seed or nut pate with a salad might work. Or you can always base a meal around a couple of big fat creamy avocados. Avocado with celery, peppers, onions and sprouts was my dinner addiction this past winter. And there is also the classic raw junk food snack...Dates and Nut Butter...A wicked combo, only to be consumed by members with extremely strong willpower to put the lid back on the jar!

Above all else, The Ministry forbids members to experience guilt or self directed anger over the consumption of a non-conforming or non-raw meal! After all it really is only a meal, and if you live to be 75, you’ll probably eat about 82,000 meals in your lifetime. This way of eating is all about being as healthy as we can be. And as we all know, stress is one ugly, bumpy, steep hill on any path to wellness.

Angry cave girl is encouraged to be well, have fun, and enjoy stress free, raw vegan deliciousness!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2008 11:24PM by swimmer.

ksandberg2002 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> I HATE IT!! I get so angry because I do not want
> any cooked food...and I don't know how to break
> the habit.
>
>Easy. Just watch any popular cooking show, particularly the most popular right with the lovely young woman who's initials are RR. I really like her, but I would not eat her food. I just watched a massacre of avocado, tomatoes, red bell peppers being burned in a pan with smashed tortillas, eggs and jack cheese poured over it. It looked like yellow, green and red vomit to me when it was done. I'm not trying to make a joke or judge -- that's what it looked like and I tried with all of my might to imagine how anyone could eat it.

Why was I watching this program? I'm trapped indoors because the air quality is very bad in my Calif city due to the wild fires and it's 108 degrees to boot. I'm flipping channels and surfing the net out of boredom. I couldn't turn my eyes away from the screen...you know how that goes...hahaaaa...when you're something unbelievably awful.

Seriously I do think if you watch one of these shows it will remind you why you're a raw foodist and perhaps it's negative reinforcement, but it will zap you back to reality very quickly.

Visualize this regarding those "carbs":

Burned vegetables and chopped white tortillas with cheese poured all over them. Glistening with an oily sheen and smoke pouring from them. Yuck.

Raw tomatoes, avocados, red bell peppers straight from the earth. Yummy.

ps. i don't own a TV....i'm housesitting and they have one of those monster big screen deals. couldn't help myself. ;-)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2008 11:27PM by rawangel.

Hi ksandberg2002

I struggled with this for about a year. I couldn't stop eating ice cream, chocolate, cheese and bread. Stay busy and dont keep tempting foods near you. Honestly it took me a year to break my junk food addiction. It felt like a waste of time, but I learned alot along the way. Once you decide to go raw, if your anything like me, you really gotta want it. Dont give up, never give up no matter what, you'll get it eventually. This will probably be one of the best learning experiences of your life (you will learn your own flaws). This may be harder for you than quitting smoking, no joke.

Once I realized that the excuse of addiction was bullshit than it started to fall away. I dont care what any scientist says about addiction, if you ate something (or smoked or drank something) it was because you wanted to. It took me a long time to truley understand this.

When it becomes more painfull to stay the same than to change, we will change.

-The Workoutman

I hear ya on the carb cravings. It's a struggle.

I had to order Babe's Fried Chicken for my group yesterday. YUCK! Part of my job, unfortunatly. The strange thing is I got pleasure from watching everyone eat greasy fried chicken, mashed potatoes with cream and butter, goopie gravey, green beans (which were probably beautiful to begin with) soaked in grease and brown liquid, white biscuits with butter.

I sat back and leisurely enjoyed my napa cabbage, broccoli, celery, carrots and sprouted mung beans and thought about how the food I was eating was nourishing my body, and I would feel good afterwards while everyone one else complained about being stuffed and sleepy.

Am I sick or what?

Just remember how you feel after eating that bad carb stuff. It's really not worth it. Last night I combined the wrong things and felt bad afterwards. I just need to keep thinking about that feeling and how bad carbs may look and taste good in the moment, but you will pay for it later.

Hang tough!

Hi K2002,I think that the best thing is knowledge.Read as much as you can about raw food,watch videos,listen to tapes,read raw food recipes just for fun.That helps a lot.I am always looking for new recipes so that I can make it any time.If you get busy with raw food books and tapes you will eventually forget the cooked food.Just break the habit of cooked food.It is a habit,an addiction and you break it with a new habit.

go to www.goneraw.com for great recipes,and many other sites too.

Good luck,
Cy

ksandberg2002,

You could be a little gentler on yourself here. We are talking about undoing a lifetimes worth of habits, and it isn't going to happen overnight. If fact, if you rush through this and force and control your body and mind to submit, you will find a backlash later that might keep you permanently in the throes of cooked foods.

I recommend taking it slow and easy. Allow yourself the cooked foods that you crave and desire. But be constant in your slow increase of raw foods, especially higher calorie fruits.

When a good portion of your diet becomes fruits, they will start to have an effect on your body where the cooked foods don't feel as good as they used to, and your taste buds and the whole eating experience will shift to prefer raw over cooked. But you cannot use force without there being negative consequences.

well said Bryan

When I wake up I start my day day by telling myself that its a new day and a new opportunity to do higher raw.

TO ALL OF YOU!!!!!

T H A N K Y O U S O M U C H !!!!!

I have really enjoyed reading everyone's comments and I am taking everyone's advice!!!! You all are so supportive and I feel so very lucky to have such great raw food friends on here : )

I will definitely take to heart and try everything suggested and get back to you all soon with an update!

Sincerely,

Kim

HEre is what i think. i believe that the media and our society puts a lot of ideas in our head.. for example. you could be in another room and hear the television commercial about a lunch special at a new restaurant. That information was given to your head reguardless of your beliefs. Your head will use that information whenever it wants. Remember the people who make billions of dollars in the food industry are inteligent people they know how to make you think you want something. THey use phychological tricks to sell their products, Try to avoid the food media on purpose.