I can't resist a cream puff my coworker bring to the office even I know it's not good for me but I ate it. And last time I was in the restaurant I couldn't say no to the ice cream. Is it ok once a while eat some bad but taste good food? For me, giving up meat is not difficult but desserts are hard for me to give up.

-It's all about what YOU really want. If you want to eat a mixed diet.....then do so and feel good about it. If you want to eat mostly raw.....choose your goals and keep them. Just don't compromise what YOUR goals and dreams....and what you feel very strongly about. If you don't nurture those dreams of yours......heh..heh....you'll eat whatever is put on the table......and you may not like it afterwards!

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I concur. Though I'm not 100% raw yet, I find that there's a freedom in not feeling pressured to be anything. I recently did a 4 day green cleanse and i felt good because it was a choice I made not by force but because i wanted to do it. And I've also found that the more raw recipes I make, the more my friends get interested in giving it a try.

~Natasha

Blech! Cream puffs & icecream sound too sweet and just blah. Not tempting...at all.

Now.... raw dates & tahini, temptation!! Raw coconut butter with bananas, tempting. I don't struggle with cooked foods. I'm tempted by raw rich foods.. mmmmm.

I am not the type of person who can have a weak moment and then so easily get back on track. I have to tell myself if it is cooked it is not food, period. I cannot make room for an occasional indulgence.

i used to be soo strict with myself and had such strong willpower and it all kind of built up inside until one day i decided i wanted to eat cooked food again so i did for a WHOLE WEEKEND. by the end of the weekend i was sooo sick that i went back to raw food and cooked food just hasn't been appealing to me since then. now i just tell myself, if i really want it, i CAN have it! i am not under a set of "rules" or anything. i have just learned which foods make me look/feel amazing and which ones don't. if that's what you want to do, then do it. but eventually your body learns the difference between the foods and you get turned off to certain things. at least in my experience..

Depends what kind of cooked food - cooked coarse grains or vegetables, yes, probably no big deal. Anything sugary or processed - I would recommend reading the book Sugar Blues if you want an eye-opening read. I personally will never eat sugar again.

Many of us do that at first, slip every now and then and eat our favorite junk. Sweets are my achilles heal also. When you do eat it, don't feel guilty - just enjoy it and pay attention to how it makes you feel. Really notice any changes in your body or emotions.

But in the long run, hopefully, as you eat more raw foods you can give up sugary sweets. As Matt Monarch says "It is what you leave out of your diet completely without cheating that heals you".

I agree with Sunshine... I have not slipped up on an cooked processed foods at all.. no cravings for chocey or chips after 18 months... but I do indulge in baked potatoes, yams, steamed veggies and feel no guilt at all. Now, if I was indulging in pizza and donuts, well, I wouldn't feel great about myself that's for sure. Over the summer I induldged in a small bite of a wheat bread... after 18 months of no wheat I had the worst reaction; I spent the rest of the night in bed. So, I will not be doing that again any time soon.

Good luck on your journey but remember not all cooked foods are evil. Just make good choices!

This journey towards becoming 100% raw is most fascinating. I've found being new to the lifestyle and jumping in with no tolerance is just a binging disaster waiting to happen. All my 40 something years I've been a huge meat, chicken, and fish eater and not that big on sweets. Want to guess what I've been craving during this period? Yep, sweets. So much so that I indulged in ice cream (Yes Rawrrr! - I said ice cream!!!) the other night and felt horrible afterwards. Not so much that I'd fallen from the raw path but I physically felt bad. The false sugar high followed by the huge dip in energy was about 100 times what I was used to feeling a month or so ago. That really had an pronounced affect on me that I won't soon forget.

As many before me have stated, eat some cooked food of your choice if that's what you desire and it doesn't disagree with your system. Follow your own path & goals and you'll be fine.

Best of luck,

David

ferdiewen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I can't resist a cream puff my coworker bring to
> the office even I know it's not good for me but I


excellent array of responses.


ferdiewen,

manage it the best you can and feel good about yourself.
you're going to feel some attraction to those things.
eat them and enjoy them, or try some alternatives.
after a while they will make you feel not so good anyway.

it can be a challenge depending on where you are, like in a restaurant,
you're a captive audience, I'm not sure about a cream puff alternative,
but as far as ice cream,

try frozen bananas with some raw almond butter on them
or blended dates poured over bananas
or various other things like that.

of course you won't feel as tempted if you don't let yourself get hungry too.

I'm trying to transform my (vegetarian) diet into a raw vegan diet as well, and it can indeed be hard to resist cooked food and (sweet) snacks. I sometimes have intense cravings, stronger than what I used to have when i still ate cooked without thinking about it. if I do give in to them, I sometimes feel bad afterwards (depending on the type of food and the amount), but I try not to 'punish' myself. every new day is a new opportunity for living and eating as healthy as possible.
I think it's important not to put huge restrictions on yourself; if you really really crave something 'cooked', then have and deal with it (and with the consequences). I think it's impossible to transition towards raw veganism without having periods of intense cravings and the occasional weak moment...at least for me it is.

I must say I find myself a bit annoyed sometimes by the 'attitude' of some of the people who post here. apparently some members of this forum are leading a 100% raw vegan lifestyle without 'bumps in the road' left; great for them, but there are a lot of people here, including me, who aren't there yet! instead of demonstrating how raw you are, just help people who aren't there yet with their problems and questions. thank you!