I've been vegetarian for many, many years, and over time, have become mostly raw and mostly vegan. Each time I give that extra push, and completely go for the 100% mark, I slip back into bad habits and seem to be worse off with my diet than if I had just accepted and been happy with my progress at keeping a mostly raw, mostly vegan diet.

So here I am again, dealing with health issues, and becoming tempted to once again attempt to go 100% raw vegan. It's not easy for me. I wonder who else out there, reading these posts and hanging around on this site is in a similar place....

A few years ago, there was a thread with a similar sentiment such as this, and someone wrote something that has stayed with me for all this time. They said "slow and steady wins the race." I have never forgotten that, and it has been really helpful for me. Personally, in my own experience, I feel that I do better weaning slowly off the tiny bit of good quality dairy, than forcing myself to give all of it up all at once. I backslide.

Maybe it would be good for me to view my slow and steady progress in terms of years and not weeks or months. I have seen progress for myself. I used to go for complicated raw recipes to stay raw, whereas now I enjoy whole foods in their simpler, more natural state, I feel better eating like this.

So, I guess my question is- Is anyone else out there in a similar place? And also, for those of you great beings who have accomplished the 100% raw vegan diet, do you have any other words of wisdom to share?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2011 04:15AM by marsh.

I first learned about a raw vegan diet in 1973. For the next 13 years, I tried so hard to be raw vegan; but I was a total raw vegan failure! By now however, I feel fortunate to have been 100% raw vegan for many years, over 99% raw for 25 years, and also 100% vegan for 25 years (this October).

Everything started to come together for me in 1986. That's the year my husband and I committed to be vegan - my first boundary that I absolutely would not cross. It then became much easier for me to stay raw.

Still though, I would binge on cooked food several times during the first 4 years. In 1990, I added nuts and seeds to my diet of fruits and greens, and the severity of cravings for cooked foods decreased considerably.

I set a second boundary of staying away from grains/starchy foods. I would keep frozen peas and fresh cauliflower in my refrigerator to cook and eat with salad when I craved grains. Eventually, the cooked veggies were replaced with a small quantity of raw wheat germ or sprouted kamut, which I still occasionally add to salad.

Competition helped. A friend told me he had been all raw for 2 years. I thought, if he can do it, so can I. And I did. Getting older helped. The consequences of eating cooked food - even a small quantity - became more noticeable, both internally and externally.

Now, at this point, and for the past several years, I just don't want cooked food at all.

From my experience, I can give you these tips:

-Stay vegan, don't stray from that principle, and learn to do it for the ANIMALS, not just your own health. American Dietetic Association recently studied vegans to see who remained vegan after several years. Mostly, it was the people who were vegan because of environmental or animal cruelty concerns, rather than those who were vegan for their health. We humans can learn empathy, if we want to.

-Learn to use an online nutrient calculator like nutritiondata.com. Sufficient nutrients helped me defy cravings and also gave me confidence that what I was doing was OK.

-Eat regularly from all three of the main raw vegan food groups: fruits, nuts/seeds, and veggies. Chia seeds are good to include in the diet for the omega-3 and calcium.

-Include sea vegetables for the iodine.

-While cravings for cooked food still persist, you might consider allowing yourself to occasionally compromise with them. For example, if you crave a grain, eat some cooked veggies. Or eat more nuts/seeds than you usually would. Or whatever version of compromise you come up with. If you don't ever compromise, you may be trying to go too far too fast and end up totally blowing it. Maybe some people can go cold turkey 100% raw. I wasn't able to, and I found that attempting it ended up hurting more than it helped. Compromise is a helpful temporary crutch that you will gradually be able to give up with less effort.

-Don't blame yourself for temporary setbacks. Work on a new plan for compromise that can be implemented the next time you are challenged.

-Exercise. Cardio is very good. Yoga helps for developing self-control.

-If you like to fast occasionally, plan your fast in advance, and don't try to use fasting to make up for slip-ups. If you do, you will be teaching yourself it's OK to slip up.

-If raw is your goal, I don't think it's necessary for you to try to adjust to a specific macronutrient ratio until after you feel comfortable staying raw. It's OK to try to be somewhat moderate with certain foods, but if you make any particular ratio your primary goal, you may achieve the goal of the ratio without achieving the goal of being raw. That's just fine of course, if you feel good with it. My point is that it's difficult to try to accomplish both goals at the same time.

-If, during the process of transition, you find yourself very comfortable during any particular phase, there may be no reason to push yourself any further. I had health issues that motivated me. Many people can feel just fine and be very healthy on a vegan diet that isn't all raw.

I hope some of that is helpful. I know there are other people here who are all raw, and they probably have other experiences and tips to share.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2011 08:31AM by suncloud.

Why do you want to be 100%? WHat is fueling you?

Suncloud- Thank you. That was very helpful. I appreciate you taking the time to write all that. I have learned not to push myself, it ends up setting me back further from my goal. Some good ideas you have said....

Corathegreen- I feel the best when I eat raw foods.

marsh,

Here is an article I wrote in 2004 that might be helpful: Success on the raw foods diet

I have found that unless you have a deep spiritual conviction to end something on a particular day,time,etc.. that it only works to slowly eliminate something from your life gradually.Let it slowly slip away without you really experiencing any struggle.
Vinny

Very insightful, Prana. I suspect there could be some of that going on for me. I also feel that it's just more of a longterm habitual way of relating to food. Kind of like riding a bike. I've developed momentum, and now I've gained quite alot of speed and so it's not so easy to let go of that last link to the cooked world.

My diet is better now than it ever has been. I guess as the momentum for these more positive habits increases, it will become more effortless to stick with it and let go of the last little percentage of cooked...

Yes what suncloud said about setting benchmarks I've found also.. ie work your way up to raw vegan one step at a time. Once your well established in one ie vegetarian, work up to veganism.. then onto raw.

But there are minor things to 'benchmark' ie give up soft drinks for good and drink only water and juice. Once thats done, move onto something else. Slowly build up confidence in your resistance to things you once binged on.

Agree with Vinny--I realized almost two decades ago when I became a [cooked]vegetarian that letting my appetite for a food ebb away was the signal that I was ready to do without it permanently, and that's how I have approached this regimen. Everybody's different, but most people who force themselves to make a sudden shift do not succeed long term because of latent resentment/longing/regret etc. Ultimately, you know how you deal with change, so you must decide how to travel on this journey

I personally am just not that ambitious. It can be so hard as all my friends and family are die hard white flour loving white sugar buying meateaters. I get made fun of for being vegetarian. I tried going out with a vegan guy once but it was a disaster! I f-ing like cheese, and yes it can be raw too!

I am ambitious but at the moment, am just aiming at assimilating to 75%

I just recently got out of a three month hospitalization involving a failed pregnancy. After being about 80% raw and organic for about three years, feeling my best ever and looking FABULOUS! clear skin, radiant energy, mind sharp and spirit blazing, I got hospitalized. Three months of hungry pregnant, practically stuck to a hospital bed, majorly depressed about it, I just ate everything they put in front of me. (vegetarian fare) Mindless, I gained forty pounds, possibly developed diabetes, (which I'm currently fighting) and basically lost my good health along with my very worked hard for practically perfect (for me) figure. All in three months.

Why the push to be 100% if it's just that many inches too high to reach?
I mean, I'm not saying I wouldn't mind being a hundred percent someday, (okay maybe 95% to leave room for an occasional cooked potato) but really, God Bless the radicals for their excellent examples, but I guess I really do prefer to tread a middle ground. I mean, do you really think being a hundred percent raw vegan is going to give you radiant health? That's what we all want right? There's lots of cooked food meat eaters who fit that bill well into their 80's. Or is it about trying to fit in or something?

Me personally, I think Carpe Diem and do whatever I want when I can, and also "to thine own self be true." (whatever it is that may be)

marsh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Corathegreen- I feel the best when I eat raw
> foods.

I suggest writing what you just said in big letters and posting it above your kitchen counter as a reminder.

rawalice,

So sorry this has happened to you, but you sound like a pretty fiercely positive person so I trust all good health will return to you--I do hope so, anyway!

Marsh,

I think the phrase "100 percent" has a psychological impact on vegans setting their goals. 100 percent sounds better than 80 percent because 100 percent sounds like "everything" and everything is better. There are too many people thriving on 100 percent raw vegan diets to say that it cant be done or shouldn't be done. But by the same token, there are also way way too many people who are thriving on something less to say that it must be done. That said, you need to explore your own road look at the facts as you see them and make your decision on the science, your ethics and your heart. I'm 80 percent raw vegan, comfortable with the decision and the science. [www.eatrightamerica.com] But that's my assessment. Nothing wrong with 100 percent raw vegan. As I said above, too many folks thriving on it. Some of us look at the same picture and read it differently. Where you land may partly depend on how you look at the picture. Just never be afraid to take a second look because how somebody else might be looking at it. Self-exploration and self-reflection are the most powerful tools we have at our disposal. Just use them to your advantage. And remember the song!! Perhaps Mama Cass said best. [www.youtube.com]

Best.

Paul



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2011 04:52PM by pborst.

Such good things everybody said. Love the song, Paul . Perfect.

thanks Tamukha
and yeah, a big hand for all the 100% raw vegans!