Yesterday was day 18 eating 100% raw vegan (plain SAD before that). On day 4, 7, and 11, I dined at a raw vegan restaurant. The gourmet cuisine, which simulated cooked food, was very satisfying and helpful during the early transitioning process. After my last visit I got more serious, and went a whole week eating nothing but fruit during the day; greens, veggies, and some avocado at night. I felt even better on this very clean diet, but yesterday I decided to visit the restaurant again, mainly for diversion (and some mild craving). I enjoyed the meal and I stuffed myself, but an hour later I started craving cooked food! For the first time in weeks, I felt a strong urge to gorge myself on goldfish, or a rice/grain/bean concoction (we were at the market by that point). It was late, so I decided to hold off and just go to bed. In the morning I felt just awful: bloated, nauseous, with a bad taste in my mouth. I ate some melon and soon afterward went to the bathroom, and then I felt much better.

I definitely won't go back to that restaurant, perhaps any restaurant, ever again. It doesn't make sense to pay extra money, tip, gas and parking, just to end up feeling sick over it. I suppose there are many potential factors that led to my bad reaction: high salt, high fat, low moisture, improper combining, overeating, strong spices, etc. I'm wondering if it might have been better to just binge on clean, low-fat cooked food, such as brown rice with lightly steamed veggies, and a bit of salt and pepper for seasoning? I suspect eventually I will get sick of raw fruit and greens again, and I want to figure out what I can eat that will satisfy my cravings, make me feel good, and not put me too far off track. So far this is the longest I've ever been able to stay raw OR vegan. I've tried many times over the past few years, and I don't think I've made it past 12 days before.

So far I feel great and I'm quite happy with the results. I've lost weight, I'm less congested, itchy/flaky scalp is clearing up. I just feel better overall, and I think if I manage to keep a clean, low-fat diet, (i.e. without binging on raw gourmet), I'll feel even better as time goes on, even if I have to supplement with cooked food now and again (as dictated by cravings). I wish I could be 100% raw vegan, and perhaps someday I will, but in the meantime I want to have a backup plan for breaking from my diet. If I get the urge I will probably start incorporating some clean, low-fat, home-cooked vegan food. And if that doesn't satisfy, I might add eggs. But what I really don't want to do is find myself discouraged with the results, overwhelmed with cravings, end up saying "F' it!" and go straight back to SAD, like I've done so many times before.

I have a good feeling that a healthy, environmentally friendly diet will stick this time.

When you fall off the horse (if that's a proper metaphor for a 100 percent raw vegan diet), you either get back on and try again or choose a different horse (some variation of the 100 percent raw vegan diet). Don't add eggs. Doing anything cooked is better than adding animal products, raw or otherwise! My opinion.

I guess if I've learned one thing on this forum (Tamuka, Cherie, Suncloud, Prana, and others thank you) is that personal exploration is part of the process. And one person's answer may not be another's). That said, I'm going to comment with what you probably expect, if you are making a transition, why are you eating raw gourmet? This is a time to allow your body to detoxify and your taste buds to adjust. You will never know what you can achieve until you go through it. You need a minimum of 3 weeks without a water fast (not recommending you to water fast, just saying water fasting makes the transition shorter) to give your taste buds the chance to change. The next move is yours! Best. p.s. read Laura Jane's post. I have found it to be one of the most powerful I have ever read. Best (again). P [therawtarian.com]

Paul



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2010 06:06PM by pborst.

Congratulations on day 18!

For me, what really helped was to draw the line at vegan.

Avocado is good. We love avocado, and we're just beginning to harvest our fall Sharwils. But no food can cover all the bases for any particular requirement. Even going low fat, a person can benefit from including a variety of raw fat sources.

You did really well last night I think. Could have been a lot worse, and now you already feel OK again!

I think having a backup plan is a really good idea. I did the same thing, and it helped a lot. My backup plan was cooked vegetables. Whenever I'd feel an uncontrollable urge to eat some pasta or rice or tofu (which is really deadly for me), I'd steam up some veggies and put them on a big salad. Then I'd have a big huge orange. I kept frozen peas in the fridge, just in case. My favorites were steamed peas, green beans, and cauliflower.

Also, for backup, there's a lot of leeway you can venture into and still stay raw. For me, raw is always the best option in terms of how I feel the next day.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2010 06:15PM by suncloud.

Thanks Paul. I haven't fallen off the horse yet, but at the moment I don't have much confidence in the sustainability of a 100% raw vegan diet for myself. I was eating raw gourmet because it satisfied my cravings for cooked food. It was also a fun thing to do with my girlfriend as a night out. Since my last experience was a bad one, I won't be doing it again.

After 7 days of mono-eating, I was pretty used to it. Hopefully I will have no problem getting used to it again. I guess I could give it 3 weeks before I consider adding cooked food. How long do you think it would take to adjust with a water fast?

Thank you suncloud! I'm glad I recovered so quickly! I feel pretty strong at the moment, but I recognize that there might be real necessitiy behind some of my cravings. So I'm trying to figure out what foods I might want to incorporate if the cravings don't subside. Steamed veggies seems like a good idea, but I'm having consistent cravings for cooked grains as well... I'll just wait and see how I feel in a few days.

Jonathan Barlow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'll just
> wait and see how I feel in a few days.

That's smart! Seems like delay is sometimes the best strategy.

I will always say dont forget the power of the mind, i used to stress when trying to stay on a healthy diet and if i strayed id have tirades of bad symptoms not only physical symptoms but mental also such as feelings of guilt for letting myself down.

Just try not be to hard on yourself either way mate

Jonathan Barlow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks Paul. I haven't fallen off the horse yet,
> but at the moment I don't have much confidence in
> the sustainability of a 100% raw vegan diet for
> myself. I was eating raw gourmet because it
> satisfied my cravings for cooked food. It was also
> a fun thing to do with my girlfriend as a night
> out. Since my last experience was a bad one, I
> won't be doing it again.

I guess to some extent it's a matter of perspective. I would say if your transition is from SAD to raw gourmet, it's not so much falling off the horse as never getting on in the first place. Probably it's a bad metaphor. Raw gourmet is inifitely better than SAD, esp if you get the good stuff (raw fruits and vegetables in between the raw gourmet days). You just won't realize the same benefit (or hardship) from going cold turkey. Everybody's different. Best.

Paul
>
> After 7 days of mono-eating, I was pretty used to
> it. Hopefully I will have no problem getting used
> to it again. I guess I could give it 3 weeks
> before I consider adding cooked food. How long do
> you think it would take to adjust with a water
> fast?

btw, water fasting is entirely a different topic. If you want to learn more, here are some resources. [www.amazon.com].

in my own case a 4-5 day water fast did what 2-3 weeks on restricted feeding would have required. I had a diet pespi addiction to nutrasweet. I haven't had once sense. Best to you.

Paul

btw, another resource, the "pleasure trap" [www.amazon.com] discusses this further, but not much. Check your local library for both books to save money and time. For web searches check under "neurodapation", basically a big word for resetting your taste buds. Good luck, Jonathan. I'm pulling for you!

Thanks for the help everyone!

I'm starting to feel like the last of that gourmet meal is leaving my system, and any cravings I might have had seem to have susbsided. This morning I was encouraged to see that I'm still losing weight, which is one of my main goals and a guide of progress.

On a side note, I never feel stressed about not being able to eat something, and I never feel guilty about eating something I'm not "supposed to". The reason being that I'm never 100% sure that one such diet is the absolute and only correct way to eat. If it's not satisfying me, I just make a concious decision to abandon it, and try again with a different approach when I'm ready to do so. I don't think a diet that makes me feel stressed or unhappy is a good one, so I don't feel bad about breaking from it and trying something else.

So far I'm happy with the raw vegan diet, and I feel I've learned some important lessons about the potential hazards of gourmet dining, the importance of breakfast, and so on. I'm also sure there is much more to learn, and I'm excited to see where I go from here.

I think you have a good attitude Jonathan.

Once a person does become sure about their diet - or at least about what doesn't work for them - it can sometimes become more difficult to stifle those bad feelings when going off. I think a feeling of depression can result that's even something other than guilt feelings, it's the actual toxins from the not-so-good diet circulating through the brain. But then it just takes some patience in waiting for the toxins to be released. The result can be a firmer commitment to stay on a healthy path.

I'm glad the grain cravings have subsided. If a grain craving ever becomes more than you're comfortable with, you might consider adding some raw wheat germ to a salad - maybe a quarter cup or so. Sprouted raw wheat, kamut, or some other grain is probably superior to raw wheat germ, but raw wheat germ is something that can be kept in the fridge and is handy on-the-spot. It's very tasty in a salad and creates a more substantial texture for the salad. I used to do this fairly often, and it never produced the side-effects that cooked grain does for me. Actually, I used the raw wheat germ even when I didn't crave grains, because I thought I needed it. Now I kind of don't think so, but I'm still open to the next learning experience around the corner!

Thanks suncloud! That's a good idea. I used to relish this sprouted grain mix:

[www.sproutpeople.com]

Maybe I'll order some to have on hand, and then I'll have the option to go to it before cooked grains. That would be good!

I'll give the raw wheat germ a taste as well. Should I look for that online?