G'day all!

Glad to make your acquaintance!


I have been a vegan for many years, and a raw fooder for a few. But I have an issue...

I cannot stay away from junk food - chocolate mostly. But I also enjoy some chips and other things. My mom raised me on junk food many moons ago, but the sweet tooth never left.

I have tried to combat it best way I know how, but I still have the urge to eat snickers, hersheys, tastycakes whatever. Especially at night. I work the "graveyard shift" performing a menial task for hours and that is where it catches up with me.

During the day hours I can do well, drinking green smoothies/juicers & salads and the like. But at my job it has become somewhat of a ritual; I can go through several candy bars or cupcakes during that time & think nothing of it.

I did a juice fast recently for a week to try to "reset" my cravings, but after the fast was over, I found myself going right back to the old ways. I know full well the damage this type of lifestyle h0lds in store for me...so I am begging....

PLEASE HELP me before I do irreversible damage to my body...

I sympathize!
This is one of the hardest issues I face too.
It seems the taste buds want to rule the show most of the time
I dont know what I could tell you other than to do all you can to master your mind to be able to stay away from the junk.I find it all boils down to the mind.
Master that and your body will follow.
It sounds like you do great all day,and for that you deserve a round of applause.
Millions of people dont give a hoot what they are putting in their body.

Vinny

Well thank you for the reply, Vinny!

A few years ago I actually kicked the sweets habit for over a year and a half. I was heavily into bodybuilding at the time, but was also a "carnivore" at that time.

Maybe my cravings weren't as heavy at that time, I can't remember. All I know if that now, the harder I try to fight this gorilla, the more it fights back. And even the junkiest junk food too, lol;

Lara bars, Luna bars, Cliff bars...I can take em or leave em...but I REALLY crave the sweet chocolate of Hersheys, or Tastycakes - you know, all the really really bad stuff.

I have a problem, that's for sure. And that's why I'm here. Surely some other raw fooders come from this background and maybe they can give me ideas on how to let go of it.

Why not make your own raw chocolate? I'm sure you've been raw long enough to know that it's a superfood. Sure, agave isn't great for us, but you can use little and substitute with either stevia or xylitol. Make up a big batch of them and keep them in the freezer.

Here's a couple of recipes:

Raw Chocolate

Makes 6 to 8 (2" x 2" squares)

1/2 cup cacao nibs
1/2 cup cacao powder
3/4 cup raw cashews
1 Tbs coconut butter
1/4 cup raw agave syrup (I use only 1 Tbs, then stevia to taste with a little water to replace liquid)
1 tsp vanilla

1. Put everything in a food processor and blend until thick
2. Press into pan and store in freezer.

Almond (En)Joys:

I don't have exact measurements for you, but really simple:

Coconut Butter
Agave syrup (You can use little and sub with stevia, but you need a little liquid to make a paste)
Shredded coconut
Pinch sea salt
Vanilla bean powder or vanilla extract or vanilla bean, to taste
Cacao powder
Soaked almonds

Mix coconut butter, agave, sea salt, vanilla and cacao into a paste. Add shredded coconut (to your liking), take tsp full into your hand and form into a ball, press a soaked almond on top and let set in fridge until firm. OH MY they are so good! Tastes just like an almond joy, but you made them- know what's in them!

I hope this helps.

Aloha nui loa

There are many raw snack bars which are tasty and curb your cravings.

You have the vega wholefood energy bars which are great and full of nutrition. A new one ive came across recently by the brand nakd is a cashew cookie bar which is raw and just consists of dates and cashews. Really tasty.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

Mooshymama:

Yum, these sound delicious. Thanks for sharing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2011 12:56PM by Dobhareach.

I agree with the making raw chocolate idea - I make it sometimes and it tastes better than commercial chocolate bars...
Also you can google EFT (emotional freedom technique) and find the instructions online and use the procedure for your chocolate cravings - in my experience it really works.
Also are you getting calories from your diet that you have so many cravings?

How about vegamite sandwiches? But seriously, if you have/get a dehydrator you can make all sorts of crunchy, non-sweet snacks (in addition to sweet ones, of course). For instance, nori power wraps...I am getting a dehydrator just for that!
(By the way, what are tastycakes? Must be an Aussie thang...)

banana who, would you give the recipe for the nori power wraps?

sound good

cynthia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> banana who, would you give the recipe for the nori
> power wraps?
>
> sound good


Sure thing!

[www.youtube.com]

Sorry that I don't have the exact recipe but if you watch you get an idea of it. I don't know about you but I love nori and I had these sorts of wraps last summer that are sold for about $2 a piece for a vert skinny cigar wrapped in plastic! So you should be able to save quite a bit of money by making your own. I bought my raw nori sheets via therawfoodworld site when they were selling them at cost and what's so interesting is that the nori sheets come preforated so you can "roll your own" and cut it without a sharp knife!

Mooshymama - the recipes do sound good, I will definitely try those out!

powerlifer - I have tried quite a few raw food bars & some come close for me, but just don't taste as good. Also, some of those are so cost prohibitive that I wouldn't even consider them - I've seen some for $4.00/bar, that is ridiculous.

banana who - tastycakes?!?!?! You never heard of them?!?!? Not an aussie thing at all....This is an American snack cake that has been on the market since the early 1900's.

merry - I've looked at EFT & other "mind over matter" therapies in the past. Not my thing, I cannot turn my brain off enough to make any of that suggestive stuff work.

sounds yummy!!!

rawmate,

It's strange, because the things you are craving are made with absolute crap ingredients; the chocolate barely passes FDA muster for chocolate, and their muster isn't elite to begin with, dontcha know I agree that making your own raw chocolate treats with raw ingredients should help quell cravings.

I am wondering if you eat enough really sweet fruit to satisfy you body, by the way. The things you are craving have lots of simple carbs, and your body could simply be craving sugar, especially if you're on a nocturnal schedule--this really throws the metabolism off.

Tamukha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> rawmate,
>
> It's strange, because the things you are craving
> are made with absolute crap ingredients; the
> chocolate barely passes FDA muster for chocolate,
> and their muster isn't elite to begin with,
> dontcha know I agree that making your own raw
> chocolate treats with raw ingredients should help
> quell cravings.
>
> I am wondering if you eat enough really sweet
> fruit to satisfy you body, by the way. The things
> you are craving have lots of simple carbs, and
> your body could simply be craving sugar,
> especially if you're on a nocturnal schedule--this
> really throws the metabolism off.


What is strange exactly? I don't understand - cravings are cravings. I guess I crave the sugar & chocolate, plain and simple. I can eat fruit, but like most junk food junkies, I would rather have cake over an apple or banana.

The juice fast I did recently was basically pure fruit juices, really sweet stuff & I craved the junk all through that time. I know a big part of it is probably psychological too.

I just "can't" get past it, even though it is destroying me. BTW, I am not overweight either, so I burn most of these empty calories off. I shoot for 4 meals a day, but sleeping a split schedule makes it tough sometimes to get all the meals in.

Smoothies help, but still...

maybe make your own nori rolls

here is my favorite which i've made a lot in the past
and they are verrrry high in minerals which will make u feel
GREAAAAT!!

plus they are filling too

parsley ( semi chopped)
tomato
carrots
cabbage
avocado
spices ( whatever u want,, could be garlic or ginger or anything)

put in a bowl and mix

put on a nori ( seaweed paper)
then roll it up
u can use some olive oil too if u want

u can cut it in half diagonally ( it looks pretty that way)

and u can decorate the top with another parsley LOL:0 or cilantro piece
or even a sprout of any kind

oh yeah, u can add alfalfa too if u want

and just wrap it up in plastic wrap ( wash and reuse for next time)

and u can make them ahead of time

and take it to your workplace

u could also get raw coconut nectar ( in some health food stores)

it has a REALLY great taste and MUCH lower glycemic index than agave even

and it is raw

and you can pour it over some raw nuts

and put it in a little tupperware thing

and take that to work too

so then if u have the high mineral stuff and then the fats and then something sweet... that should go a looooong way in helping with your cravings

it might be hard to just do the smoothies and salads

the nori is more substantial

than a salad

cuz its all tightly wrapped up so it FEELS more substantial
and maybe you just get tired of salads

so this is a little bit different ( at least in form)

its a good idea to PREPARE PREPARE PREPARE

your own foods for work

so u won't be tempted by just what is there

just do it for ONE day

then do it the next day

then before u know it.. like riding a bike, you'll be on top of the

W
O
R u
L
D

HOOOOORAAAAAYYYY!!!!!

and you'll report back to this thread reporting how utterly

FANTASTIc U feel

and make your co workers feel downright

jealoouuuzzz of your supreme discipline and self care

u can do it

u know u wanna


c'mon

just do it

Okay, are you from Australia? You began your OP with g'day so...I guess it's actually spelled TASTYKAKES: [en.wikipedia.org]

If you are from that other continent, how did you discover these? In 45 years, I have never heard of them. They are from Philly so perhaps it's an East Coast thing. There are snack foods that are regional in America.

rawmate Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> merry - I've looked at EFT & other "mind over
> matter" therapies in the past. Not my thing, I
> cannot turn my brain off enough to make any of
> that suggestive stuff work.


Eft doesn't involve "turning off your brain" in fact- EFT should work BETTER if you are focusing hard on something (such as a junk food craving). The harder you're stuck on something, the better EFT works, since the whole point is to focus on the problem while doing the tapping-to clear the problem. It works. For everyone, if they do it right. If it didn't work for you, you didn't do it right.

I've been working with EFT for years, if you tell me exactly what you tapped on, what your setup was, etc maybe I can help you figure out why it didn't work.

banana who Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Okay, are you from Australia? You began your OP
> with g'day so...I guess it's actually spelled
> TASTYKAKES:
> [en.wikipedia.org]
>
> If you are from that other continent, how did you
> discover these? In 45 years, I have never heard of
> them. They are from Philly so perhaps it's an East
> Coast thing. There are snack foods that are
> regional in America.

I am a transplant.
Yes, they are from Philly...you found me out, lol. I am a delivery guy for Tastycake, so that makes this healthy eating thing all that much more difficult. Long hours on the road alone all night, free samples from this company and sister companies - it is a nightmare for someone like me who loves tasty treats.


Cora,

I will try out the EFT in a serious manner - we'll see how it goes. A friend of mine with severe anxiety tried to do it for panic attacks & it did nothing for him. I suppose it could have been the technique.

I read an article about using EFT for cravings and the thing seems to be to be very specific about what you are craving when you make the set up statement. Direct tapping you should be able to do alone quite easily - if you want to get at any emotional issues underlying the cravings than a practitioner may help.

If there are more physical causes underlying the cravings than you could post here what is your current diet and people may be able to suggest what you could be missing...

EFT has worked very well for me in the past - sometimes it works super fast and other times it takes some persistance and regular tapping. For anxiety it can take time if there are complex issues underneath it....did you friend use a practitioner? I did cure severe anxiety with EFT myself together with breath retraining as panic attacks and hyperventilation often come hand in hand.

I just now signed up for the EFT website/free? vid course. I will attack this in earnest & report my results with it.

No, my friend did not use a practitioner. I don't know how much time/effort he put into it either, but he was talking about it for awhile, so I assumed he gave it a reasonable tryout.

rawmate,

What's strange about your cravings is that there's nothing really natural in those sweets, and as a result, finding a raw foods sub to stand in is a tricky proposition. Artificial cravings are for chemicals that react with one's nuerons, like the evil HFCS that's in those Tasty Cakes. You work for the company. The cakes are available to you all the time. You are habituated to eating them and your dopamine receptors now need them. You have been assimilated. A google search indicates the Tasty Cake Co. is in trouble. Hmmmm . . . .

Tamukha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> rawmate,
>
> What's strange about your cravings is that there's
> nothing really natural in those sweets, and as a
> result, finding a raw foods sub to stand in is a
> tricky proposition. Artificial cravings are for
> chemicals that react with one's nuerons, like the
> evil HFCS that's in those Tasty Cakes. You work
> for the company. The cakes are available to you
> all the time. You are habituated to eating them
> and your dopamine receptors now need them. You
> have been assimilated. A google search indicates
> the Tasty Cake Co. is in trouble. Hmmmm . . . .


Hmmm...

I thought that dopamine receptors reacted primarily with drug abuse - although I suppose one can view sugar as a drug, or maybe compulsive eating and obesity in general is affected. Yeah, Tasty Cakes projected revenue fell a tad last year due to the bankruptcy/closing of several supermarket chains that sold them. If they went out of business that would be a blessing in disguise for me.

For me... dried fruit = candy.

When fresh fruit or other raw food doesn't satisfy and I "need" a sweet treat, that's my "go to" food (without the regret of having given in to SAD junk food).


My favorite raw vegan