I am 3 months raw and have just come off a weekend camping with 8 cooked people. I enjoyed the weekend, but I must say it was a tad challenging to watch them eating every tasty indulgence they thought to bring with them. After the weekend was over, I had my husband take me to a raw restaurant where I had a lovely raw gourmet meal. Man, that felt good!

We are talking about camping again with these people and I think it will get easier as we all adjust to each other's diets. But I wonder...have many raw folks out there gravitated toward socializing with other raw fooders? It just feels so nice to socialize around food and it was a bit of a challenge for me on this trip...

I haven't met ANY other raw fooders since I've been raw. People here in LA know what it is when I say it--such a great thing compared to when I tell people on the east coast simply that I am vegetarian and they have to ask all kinds of questions.

I have noticed that I'm having some trouble getting closer to the boyfriend. I'd known him for years, and used to date him, always wishing to be with him again. We started dating about a month after I went raw. At first everything is great--I was very happy to have him back. But sometimes when we're out, I look at him blindly ordering meat and I can't bear it. I bite my tongue, but this can't last (eek, forever!) as long as he eats animals.

As far as raw? I certainly believe in it, and talk about it to my friends. They're all pretty down. But I've been told outright by (boyfriend, agian) that he kind of feels bad about hte way he eats when I talk about how "great" my diet is. Preachy is ONE THING I do NOT want to be.

And camping is so much easier raw!

Shaine,

I know what you mean about not wanting to be preachy. I know I shouldn't judge others - that everyone has their own path and is free to take it. But I sometimes wonder if others' discomfort with rawness has to do with guilt over their own food choices. Not sure. I know I myself have many issues around food, so maybe I am just jealous of these people who seem to be able to eat anything and get away with it! Maybe they don't have as much an issue as I do! Anyhoo, I have to keep reminding myself of how awful I felt cooked and how great I feel raw. There is no comparison and no benefit to eating something tasty for 5 minutes only to feel horrid for 5 hours or more.

My husband is also a cooked carnivore but he seems to be eating more raw since I've gone raw. Certainly not a lot - not even 50%, but he seems more conscious of the benefits. BUT, he will not openly admit to the changes in me since going raw - he thinks I'm attributing all positive things to being raw because I'm so into it right now. Time will tell how it all works out...

Shaine - my fingers are crossed - maybe he'll jump right into raw one day, maybe he's been thinking about it but he's afraid his cravings will do him in.

My friends are used to me eating strangely so now that I'm raw (again) we just don't socialize much around meals. We do eat out at two or three places I like, very casual, where we can order raw or cooked. I'm glad I don't feel compelled to entertain them at my house, because most of my meals are very simple and idiosynchratic, not crowd-pleasers.
Still, when I'm over my health problems, I'd like to meet rawfoodists to socialize with, as I think I'd feel most comfortable with people who are actively making changes as opposed to just talking and sympathizing about them.

don`t know yet... i`m confined to my house and my family so it`s easy when school/work begins in 3 weeks i`ll have more of a challenge. but i`m pretty sure the reaction will be "dewey is on this kick...crazy hippie chick that she is...it`ll go good
patty

my friends are very supportive in my choice to be raw. right now i am only about 75%, but i have noticed the many benefits( like skin changes, and energy boosts, and a new found love of exercise, mental clarity, etc). i am having a hard time eliminating my cheese fetish but know that when the time is right i will be done with the dairy. in the beginning i was overly tough on myself when i faltered but realized that only made it worse. there have benn a few though that think it's impossible to live this way but i just tell them to look it up and read the stories and info that's out there.

What I have noticed so far (almost 2 months raw) is that I am hanging out with people less. Our social interactions always involve food. That is one thing I'm missing. My interactions are now focused on hiking, bike riding, sunbathing, sunset watching, and the occasional live performance/art opening. It has limited my social life for sure. I'll have to see how my relationships mold to the new lifestyle.

I don't mind being around cooked food and get kind of irritated when my friends pretend it's complicated to find a place where we can eat together.....I mean, salad isn't that huge a requirement! I can even deal with iceberg lettuce, if it comes down to it ! I've noticed that most people in my life tend to emphasize my choice as something different and an obstacle or complication. I usually have to confront this and clear things up. Sometimes people confess to me that they feel like they SHOULD eating the way I do and that they feel guilty for their food choices when we get together. that's kid of a bummer, but also their issue to deal with....other than that, my friendships are unaltered by my raw lifestyle.

My lifestyle right now (full time grad student...homeschooling mom) doesn't really allow for a lot of friends, although I know a lot of people, there are only a few people close to me due to time restraints. I have a walking buddy who just told me today that she wishes she could do what I am doing...but then our time together is never spent around food. My family is who I mostly eat with or around and they are very supportive. My husband will take me to a raw food restaurant for take out and I just take it along to wherever he and the kids want to eat. I don't mind that. I cook him what he wants and he's in love with my raw desserts. His eating meat or other cooked foods doesn't bother me as long as I can feel full and satisfied on my raw foods. Then I don't feel deprived. I could never imagine not being with my husband whom I am passionately in love with...even though he eats meat. He is a wonderful man. I don't anticipate him ever going 100% raw, although he is making better dietary choices and welcoming more fruits and veggies into his diet since my going raw...baby steps are still progress. His diet has to be his idea or it will never stick. So I just keep doing my thing and letting the results speak for themselves.

islandgirl Wrote:
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I could never imagine not being with my
> husband whom I am passionately in love with...even
> though he eats meat. He is a wonderful man. I
> don't anticipate him ever going 100% raw, although
> he is making better dietary choices and welcoming
> more fruits and veggies into his diet since my
> going raw...baby steps are still progress. His
> diet has to be his idea or it will never stick. So
> I just keep doing my thing and letting the results
> speak for themselves.

i`m with you 100% on this one
patty