I'm fine the entire day, but don't seem to find the thought of raw satisfying at dinner. I end up eating cooked vegan, which leads to crappy vegan snacks later like corn flakes. I know it's emotional as "dinner" may represent family time, cooking, etc. Like a lot of women I'm still cooking for my family while transistioning. I know what represents "dinner" should not be linked to food, and logically I know that because there's no problem with breakfast, day-time snacks or lunch. I really would like a raw soup, but I've failed miserably so far. YUCK!

Any easy recipes or thoughts? What do you eat for dinner?


WendySmiling in Oklahoma
www.16weeks2health.blogspot.com
12/17/10.......240/155/125

It's tough work. Some people are more fruit type, and some more vegetable people. If fruit, then watermelon works well. If vegetable, a hearty Kale salad with almonds and balsalmic vinegar is the transitional meal that worked for me.....along with fresh made vegetable wraps/burritos. You know? LOL.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Don't worry I think a lot of us are in the same boat.

If I know that there are going to be company over or something and we are all eatng together I have 2 staple recipes that usually go over well for everyone.
I will either make pesto with pasta for them and zuchinni pasta for me
basil, pinenuts, garlic. little olive oil, salt if you want(in a food processor) I have never had any one complain when I serve this. Or I make bruchetta, tomato, basil, pinenuts, garlic. ann just eat it without the bread, or with some raw cracker if it's special.

I know they sound so similar but sometimes when I want cooked food these 2 things will satisfy that, all the flavors or something.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2008 05:27PM by meganbubbs.

I know this might sound kind of silly, but one thing that really helped me with eating less at night was going to bed early. I found that I was just eating to keep myself awake. Also, I am pretty happy in the morning, but sadder in the evening = emotional eating!

There's so many wonderful foods you can eat for dinner-super large salad, soups, zucchini pasta/lasagna, wraps, etc. Any particular type of soup you're looking for? I have some posted on my website, but you can contact me if you have something else in mind. I love soups. What SAD foods are you eating? Maybe find a raw version of whatever it is. Having it made in advance makes it simple to just grab it when it's time to eat.

Simple Raw Recipes & Health Tips

The way I transition is if I want to eat cooked food, I'll simply make gluten free...I can have fries and beans and all kinds of yummies which fill me up...Yet I'm still detoxing on it and clearing out the gluten. The next day I can go back to raw with renewed strength and not feel guilty about eating cooked.

Without this method, I don't think I could transition to raw 100%

I eat mostly raw on weekdays but weekends is more difficult...So if I get bored, I just eat gluten free...

I think gluten is the biggest toxin of all...Before going raw, I went gluten free and this was where I met my biggest detox reaction to date. I got another large detox reaction after going from gluten free to raw but not as bad as SAD to gluten free.

I am eating a lot of zucchini pasta/soup lately.Just make your zucckini pasta and pour some warm water.Delicious!!! Also apple sauce.Just blend 3 or more apples on the vitamix.That is it!!!

I don't have dinner,and the best secret is to brush my teeth.
As soon as I eat my lunch I brush my teeth and I am set for the whole day.
Life gets easier that way.

i gave up on the whole breakfast lunch dinner snack thing about a year ago .. the whole formality of it all just didnt jive with my days or lifestyle .. its too constrictive for me ..too formal .. too regimented .. too outdated ...

im finding this is making my life easier ..i nibble when i want without any set structure really and find my body is responding far more superior then sticking with pre-conceived time rules

I don't see why eating a cooked vegan dinner should lead to eating more junky vegan cooked foods like corn flakes. If you require cooked foods to feel satisfied, then fill up on healthy cooked vegan foods like steamed vegetables and steamed starchy vegetables, as well as salads and fruits.

The problem is vegan starches.... rice or potatoes. If it was veggies only there would be no craving. I'm making adjustments and allowing myself some cooked veggies. I have a tendancy to try to be "perfect" and get frustrated when I'm not. I think I'm going to ease back into things... maybe 50/50 or whatever feels right.


Bryan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't see why eating a cooked vegan dinner
> should lead to eating more junky vegan cooked
> foods like corn flakes. If you require cooked
> foods to feel satisfied, then fill up on healthy
> cooked vegan foods like steamed vegetables and
> steamed starchy vegetables, as well as salads and
> fruits.


WendySmiling in Oklahoma
www.16weeks2health.blogspot.com
12/17/10.......240/155/125

or you could eat all raw one day; the next eat a steamed vegetable dinner, like bryan said - or lunch or breakfast or what have you, not necessarily vegetables haha, but whatever you feel. just kind of make some days without cooked and some with? So when you're eating a raw dinner one night you can say, "well i can just have this tomorrow."


Or try brushing your teeth right after you eat a cooked meal so you don't eat anything else, lol, that always stuns the appetite.

hope you get it all figured out!

I SO wanted to jump into 100% raw and not look back. know I shouldn't... but I kinda feel like a failure. I just want to be comfy where I'm satisfied w/o bending to eat crap.. and then go from there. If I keep flipping back and forth, it's got to me a mental issue would think. They say if you want it bad enough, you'll just do it...I don;t think that's always the case though, because I do want it bad.


WendySmiling in Oklahoma
www.16weeks2health.blogspot.com
12/17/10.......240/155/125

Quote

I SO wanted to jump into 100% raw and not look back.

I went all raw, all at once. I then went 10 1/2 months without many problems but then I slipped big time. Looking back I think I may have missed the lessons necessary to staying all raw as an on-going journey that lasts a lifetime. At 10 1/2 months I had to learn some lessons and once learned then I was able to continue on my raw journey. I think the lessons learned along the way enable the raw food eater to successfully stay on the path. So I recommend taking your time and proceeding at your own pace. The keys IMO are persistence and learning. Applying the old saying "its not what happens to a person that counts but what the person does with what happens that matters" combined with persistence is the way to achieve a raw life.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2008 06:07PM by EZ rider.

wendy sounds like you need to cut yourself some slack and not be so hard on yourself

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Heroic efforts are the bane of the raw existence. That is, taking large steps, and then having to undo those large steps. Like me, when I was on my high fat raw diet, going overnight to a low fat raw diet worked for a short time, but it felt way too controlling for me, and I had to back off. Did it really matter in the long run that it took another 2 years to work my way from 20% fat down to 10% fat? No, because I was always making progress and feeling better as time went on.

What David Zane Mason suggests, taking small steps that you can easily achieve -- this is the gentle way to transition to the raw diet.

Each time you push yourself a little further towards all raw, let yourself stay at that place for a while, to see if it feels good to you. If it does, stay there until you are ready to make the next step.

Its the goal orientation (and the need for instant gratification) that causes us to make the heroic efforts that backfire.

Remember, the longest journey starts with but a single step.

I'm transitioning too. What really helps is having dehydrated wraps/bread and raw burger/pates on hand. I fill a wrap with the burger/pate filling, greens and tomatoes, even avocado. I'll have one, two or sometimes even three (they are about the size of a small taco) and this usually does the trick. I think these are more satisfying because they are higher fat and protein. Sometimes if I really want cooked food for dinner, I try to eat vegetarian first, usually a tofu scramble satisfies and/or some veggie/greens broth.

wendysmiling,
I hear you loud and clear. I too want to be perfect but I'm just not. It'll be 2yrs this New Year's since I've been into raw foods. I wanted to be 100% which I'm not. It's so helpful to see Bryan say it took 2yrs to go from 20% to 10% fat.

I too want it bad, but #$^**&#, I dont feel able yet. Then I remember how I would eat things like cookies bombarded w/ frosting all day 2yrs ago. I dont know about you but I'm so far from perfect and yet so far from where I was. Maybe you should really consider Jgunn's comment about cutting yourself slack.

I keep revising plans for progress. Right now the "If you want it bad enough you'll just do it" isn't helping me. At some point it may become helpful. I've been pushing too hard so I'm going to allow for un-perfect dinners hopefully w/o beating myself up over it. That beating up over imperfections...that's not proved to be helpful after all. Who knew.

The above responses are all good.recipe [www.youtube.com]

raw food should be like vegetarianims; you don't eat it because you don't want to, not because you can't

so whenever you fully think that you don't want to eat food that's been cooked, or no longer have the desire to, then don't; it doesn't have to be a painful ride.

annex Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I know this might sound kind of silly, but one
> thing that really helped me with eating less at
> night was going to bed early. I found that I was
> just eating to keep myself awake. Also, I am
> pretty happy in the morning, but sadder in the
> evening = emotional eating!


not silly at all. I go to bed by 8:30 pm with the departure of daylight savings time. I rise between 3-4am. Lots of time to do other things like meditate, shop before everyone else etc. I'm not hungry usually until 11 am or noon. I'm definately a morning person too.

Wendy, perhaps this holds the key. Maybe it's not so much that dinner is the culprit,but that you're processing your emotions differently at night. Are you a morning or night person? Just curious.

As far as dinner, I usually have a salad or make a smoothie. When I do eat raw junk food I don't deny myself. It's usually a food with fat in it. I'll have a lara bar or something. Flax crackers with avocado. I'm still transitioning with regards to limiting fats, but this is definately an emotional eating issue for me.

With regard to cooked food. What seemed to help me transition away from cooked food unfortunately was getting really sick on my old cooked vegan standbys on the occasions when I caved into cravings or thought I wanted something after beng raw. In the miserable aftermath of eating those foods, I really didn't like how I felt emotionally or physically and so I've been high raw ever since. I'm not sure there's one easy cookie cutter answer to achieve 100% raw, but I do agree with the consensus to take baby steps. And I'll add to that get clear on your goals and intentions. Don't focus so much on the food, but on your intentions.

Peace,
RA



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2008 06:31PM by rawangel.