I've been gradually dabbling with raw food and have gotten up to about 85% in the past few weeks. Today, enjoying the festive environment of a world cup BBQ, I had a hot dog. I thought i would be disgusted after all the pure, clean food i've been eating lately, but i actually REALLY enjoyed it! So salty and fatty, yum. I usually try to trust my body when it comes to making food choices--do you think this could mean my body craves something it's not getting? I enjoyed some grilled chicken too. Possibly because I'm still in transition and associate bbqs with comfort and good times. But it's discouraging, because I was getting so convinced about the joys of eating raw. Am afraid of losing momentum-don't want to be sidetracked by something as gross as hot dogs. Any comments/insight appreciated.

Salt and fat are hard to kick, even when you are raw. In addition to salt, there are other spices in the hot dog, not to mention the mustard, ketchup, and relish used as condiments, or worse chili beans and melted cheese

In any case, all this means is that your taste buds still love the added salt and sugar and spices in the hotdog, plus the fat.

I would recommend taking time to feel how it feel to eat the hot dog, what happens to your energy and your outlook on things. Perhaps this can be a reason to abstain from eating hot dogs in the future.

Been there..still there. Just not with hot dogs. Pizza is usually the food for me where the smell is so powerful I want a slice..and then some. Knowing how disgusting and unhealthy something is just isn't enough.

It is scary. I've had days where I felt amazing, clean, light on raw.. then just *had* to have something cooked and I enjoy it. I think it's like a drug. Having that cooked thing once in a while is similar to the logic druggies use to smoke pot once a week or pop some pills. My ex was a druggie.. even though I didn't touch the stuff I could see some similarities.

Once after 2 months 100% raw.. I got back into eating cooked. Went downhill for months after that and then gained a bunch of weight since my body didn't know what else to do with the junk I was feeding it. Scary.


I have issues with salt cravings.. I found that a daily glass of celery juice..via blender or juicer.. helps prevent it. Celery is full of natural sodium and other stuff.

Let us know how your bowels are today. :p

We couldn't possibly know if you are "missing" out on something in your diet without more information, and even then, we would be making educated guesses or speculating based on what you say. That said, if you look up the "nutrition" in a hot dog and chicken and compare to fruits and vegetables, you will find that if your body knew what was best for you, it would crave fruits and vegetables; you can't always trust your mind, body, etc., esp. after living a life wherein you enjoyed the SAD diet and have addictions.

On the other hand, I'd say your body's probably used to more protein and fat foods, so why don't you try lots of nut butters and/or avacadoes (if you aren't already)
and try to notice how much happier your body and mind feel afterwards, compared to after the hot dog and chicken.

I would say it will just take time to get past the programming of the taste buds.
The hot dog TASTED good,but as soon as it got past the buds,your cells were saying "oh no! We dont want or need this to deal with"

I hang onto the idea that it is conceivable to someday associate a big glass of fresh veggie juice as being a comfort food.

Vinny



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2010 04:44PM by eaglefly.

I have some food items I know I can do without. While I eat them I THINK that I really wanted it. But it ends up that I never tastes as good as I thought it would. Also most of the time I feel so awful afterwards. I think when you are younger you don't notice the digestive problems, or sluggishness. But as you age, or start to develop health problems you might notice them more often.

ugh, I do that with home made mac & Cheese every few months, I start craving it like mad, I make it, eat it, its wonderful, then I feel kinda sick later... well I guess its not quite the same then, as I do actually enjoy the taste, allot,lol...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Curator,

I've had a wicked craving for homemade mac and cheese the last few days--how weird! It's impossible to give in to the craving when you don't have the ingredients to make it in the house, and it's too big a drag to go to the grocery store to get them. Plus, if you just chow down on a fresh juicy watermelon or bowl of berries, the craving typically disappears.

msnow,

As for the hot dog: next time you are at a bbq, focus on the most healthy stuff there and eat a lot of it. If you still want a hot dog, eat it and don't feel bad. You are trying to do raw to help yourself, not to practice oppressing yourself. Pay close attention to how you physically feel post-hot dog as compared to post-salad or raw fruit. It is unlikely that you'll prefer how you physically feel after the hot dog, and this will gradually help you to not crave stuff like that at bbqs of the future. Good luck : )

Thanks to everybody for the useful comments! I was surprised at how many replies came in in just one day.

And this is what I have to report: last night I could barely sleep because I felt so physically bad, after the BBQ excesses (hot dog, the chicken, a couple beers, a slice of pie). My head felt bad, my intestines felt blocked, my outlook and energy, not good. So next time I will think twice about going for that hotdog, and if I decide to go for it, I'll do it guilt-free, but well aware of the price I will pay.

thks again all. Michelle

What about a soydog with a sprouted bun? I know that some ballparks don't have that kind of thing, but there are places that do. I think the surprising thing isn't the cooked food you ate but the fact that it was a "real" hotdog. Do you know what they put in those? LOL- I won't pile on but trust me--it ain't pretty!

Craving doesnt go away for me tamukha, and there are always the ingredients (except the fontina I like to use half of instead of JUST cheddar) because I live with somebody on a worse than usual SAD diet...

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

You just got hungry. Thats normal. Fill up your fav sweet fruits so your glycogen stores dont run deficient and then raw vegan living is much more easy and sweet.

Can you imagine the testicles, scrotums, ligaments etc that went into that hotdog?

Or the adrenaline of the animal being lined up to be slaughtered by some redneck that thinks 'this is the only job I can get..Im worthless.'

We are what we eat.
Choose organic, juicy and sweet.

When I go on a trip I often end up with a lead belly from eating things that aren't usually on the menu. I don't have enough strength (or bags!) to carry all the things the 3 of us need for travel plus food, it's impossible. I've learned from this that even a short trip without snacks will result in us having to eat what's available and that is hardly even anything good. I try to keep a bit of something on hand all the time, just enough to stave off hunger until I can get us home to eat. It doesn't always work but it sure lessens the temptation.
When I am hungry I will eat anything, I have a super fast metabolism and am very active. If there's healthy food I'll reach for that first but there's just no way to go without for very long (unless I'm already in the mind/body set for fasting) and you can't do that to kids either.

Carry food with you. If you have something nasty try to eat really well the next day, or do a juice fast! Best of luck.

durianrider,

Ah, yes, we could always appeal to disgust: I well remember the horrors of charcuterie class in cooking school--hot dogs prove the adage,

"What the eye can't see, the chef gets away with"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2010 12:34AM by Tamukha.