That feeling has been creeping more and more into my life since I started to experiment the raw diet two years ago.( maybe only a coincidence?)

I would not say I'm depressed or down, no. It is just that nothing seems appealing anymore...Is it emotional detox? lack of vitamins? Lack of stimulants? (I never was a coffee addict, only a sugar addict)

Nothing's worth trying. I always have been a person full of interests and new ideas at home and at work so the change is really noticeable to me.

I eat 100% for many weeks at a time then I may have a few baked potatoes, or some bread and butter, etc. A few days cooked then I return to 100% raw. It has been my life for the last eight months or so...

My goal is to maintain a completely raw diet for at least 6 months. Right now I feel reasonably healthy and energetic although not specially joyfull or high. No chronic problems, good level of energy, everything fine except for that dullness and drabness everywhere. I would have expected feeling on the top of the world, blissfull and all...
Someone's having the same experience? Thanks for sharing.

Blessings and love to all of you
Cynthia

Cynthia,

It may be that as you eat more raw foods, that the shield between you and what's inside is starting to melt away. And as you get more in touch with your inner self, this allows a place for you to heal whatever is in there and release it. And as you let go or more stuff that is no longer serving, the zest for life returns. Right now, you may just be in a period of quiet, which is natural in the ebb and flow of our life cycles.

Hi Cynthia,

I think that happened to me too, but it happened to me after only one month of 100% raw. I'm also not a coffee addict to begin with and I think lack of stimulants accounts for this feeling of unmotivated. As a result, I quitted eating 100% raw after just a month of 100% raw but now I feel that I failed because I jumped into 100% too quickly. So what I'm going to do now is to change my diet really slowly. I'll try to reduce the amount of stimulants in my diet first (e.g. spices) and maybe/hopefully my body can slowly cope with 100% raw that way.

Just my opinions. =)

All the Best,
Wong



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/2007 12:28AM by blue_sky.

the lack of zest for life. yes, that are the words I was looking for to express what I am going through.
One thing i realize for sure : after six weks raw ( 3 weeks ago - I ate few days cooked since!!!) the inner intuition was perceptible and clear as the coming of an old friend hidding inside me. How is it that I was not able to continue longer 100% raw - too bad. Till now my longer time raw is 6 weeks only.

Wong : do you think a change in diet will ease the process? I hope so for you. As for myself, I feel a lot more confortable being 100% raw although I fall off sometimes.

Bread is an extremely unhealthy food, and can UN-do a lot of the progress you’re making with your diet, even if you only indulge rarely.

A woman on my discussion list recounted a very revealing experience with bread. She and her husband were raw and had raised their baby raw until the child was 18 months old when they decided to do some experimenting with bread-eating (they were using the supposedly raw Essene breads). The child saw them eating it and wanted some too, so they gave her some. The woman said that within 45 minutes, their normally happy and perfectly-disposed child was throwing her first temper tantrum, for no reason at all.

During those periods when you’re eating all raw, your body’s digestive efficiency increases. That means when you eat, your body is better able to absorb and utilize the nutrients in food. It also means that if you eat junk like bread, the harmful substances in it stand a better chance of getting into your bloodstream. During the decades that you were eating those foods regularly, your body built barriers (in the form of scarred, hardened, thickened digestive membranes) to prevent absorption of all the harmful poisons in cooked foods. Eating raw gave your body the chance to discard that protection but it also increased your vital resistance, which means dietary mistakes will be felt more strongly. The body can use many different mechanisms to reject poisons. Some people will get headaches or joint pain, others will feel a return of old chronic symptoms, and still others will experience mood swings or depression. Depression is simply the body’s inability to create energy. If your body is unable to produce energy at any given time, it will enlist the help of your mind to push away projects and interests that you would otherwise pursue. When this happens to you, all you have to do is think back to how you’ve been eating recently and you will most likely have your answer.

Eating raw isn’t a religion or philosophy, it’s a law of nature. Nature doesn’t punish or reward, she just doles out the consequences. To the extent that the foods you eat are raw and biologically appropriate, you will enjoy good health. That part of your diet that isn't healthful will naturally cause you problems. I was predisposed to mood swings before I went raw and now that I’ve been 100% for 7 years, I notice very subtle versions of those same feelings when I commit seemingly innocuous infractions. Even though I'm all raw, just eating too much in one day or eating too much fat can make me suffer. The longer you stay raw, the more important it becomes to be very mindful of your food choices. Health is a moving target -- dietary improvements have to keep pace with health improvements until an ideal diet is reached and can be sustained.

Bread and butter may seem innocent but there are other cooked foods that would be far easier on your body and that would help you through those periods when you feel you need bread. Baked or steamed potatoes or other cooked veggies would be in that category. Fatty raw foods like nuts, avocados, coconuts and durian might be helpful too, and would not be nearly as unhealthy as bread. If you're already eating lots of fat, cutting back might help with energy generation but you'll have to be cautious if you have a tendency to binge on cooked foods if you try to cut back.

Of course there is much to be considered and there are other possibilites as well, some of which have been mentioned by others on this thread.

Best wishes,
Nora
www.RawSchool.com

Cynthia--
When I started the raw food diet I experienced some of the same problems and tried different things to see what would help. Each of us is so different in our needs that I hesitate to even give advice, but I did find that juice fasting on fresh vegetable and fruit juices was a life-saver during that difficult period. It enlivened me mentally and physically to such a degree that I really enjoyed it and it was quite effortless after the first 2-4 days.

Hey, I'm having an 'ah-ha' experience right now as I write this, because I tried fasting on water (also some water & lemon juice) for 6 days and just quit tonight because it was just too much for me to do right now, and I'm remembering how wonderful it is to juice fast. I think it's time for me to take my own advice switch to a juice fast. (Thanks for the inspiration!)

Hope this helps! I know it's tough because I've been there, but it does pass. I'm still raw years later (I'm 58) and most of the time my zest for life and energy are pretty high. So hang in there and know that it'll get better.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

-Although diet cannot CAUSE a sense of purpose....one may come to a healthy diet as a tool toward a purpose that one has already identified. And then one incorporates a healthy diet as easily as one incorporates a steering wheel in a car.......because it is necessary to reach YOUR destination.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Kwan, please remind me, when you jouice fast, what sort of juices do you have?

Gosia


RawGosia channel
RawGosia streams

kwan, I'm going to join you in your juice fast to see if I can rid myself of cravings. This past weekend was really hard... I went out to dinner with friends (to celebrate a birthday) and everyone around me was having deliciously smelling cooked food like eggplant lasagna with rich creamy sauce, stuffed baked potatoes, etc.
I miss hot food so much that I almost gave in.

I hope to eventually not miss anything cooked anymore. Is that possible?
Because it would be heartbreaking having to avoid going out with my friends just so I'm never tempted again.

cynthia, could it be that your feeling unmotivated has to do with a sense of failure? You said the longest you've been raw was 6 weeks straight. Maybe you feel like you are failing and not accomplishing what you set out to do. I know I feel really good about myself and about life when I'm able to achieve something that is difficult for me, something I didn't think I was capable of. Right now I'm feeling a little down too, but that's mostly because I feel like I'm going to fail at the 100% raw food thing. And I don't want to.

Bryan said, "It may be that as you eat more raw foods, that the shield between you and what's inside is starting to melt away."

Oh man, that is so what has been happening to me.

About ten days ago, I was driving home, on a big highway during rush hour nonetheless, and I felt stuff that I would really rather not feel... stuff that is real in my life that I need to deal with. I have had some personal setbacks involving betrayal that have shaken me to the core. Stuff that someone did that really blew my mind... and have completely shaken me to the core. At the time I had to just deal with pragmatics: moving, extricating myself from financial entanglements, etc.

I just really felt all that. I felt totally shaken to the core. And I thought if I had some cooked food I could slow it down, feel it less.

Aaaah. Awareness. It's a double-edged sword.

Bryan is right-on as usual.

Thanks, folks.

Lee

I'm very touched this morning by all your kindness. Thanks so much for all you advices.
Somehow, it had escaped me that a inner feeling of void might probably be a lack of (mental) energy. As a way for the self to protect oneself. It is interesting and bring me to think differently. In the past, I made the link pretty much between anger, fiery moods, and digestive regularity. The picture is getting more whole now.
And yes, I know I use this healthy diet as a tool. But somehow, the tool is overpowering me right now as I realize I can't give it up anymore. Cooked food makes me quite uncomfortable, with a sickly feeling all the time I came back to my old favorite cravings.

rainforest,
a sense of failure? well, maybe. Athough when one fells drab and void, all we've already accomplished in life seems worthless, I like Bryan's words and Kwan's . I believe too that as the body is healing, the mind is healing too, trowing and melting away all that is not itself. Zest for life IS life afterall.
dear everyone, I feel lucky to be able to count on your experiences. It's uplifting to be told I've been there, one knows then that life won't be awfull forever

Cynthia,

I think what you are experiencing is a combination of low-level fatigue and transitioning to a different type of zest/awareness.

When I first went raw, I went through weeks of exhaustion. I was seeing a naturopath at the time who explained that happened as the artificial stimulants (salt, cooked foods, etc.) were gone. It took some time of letting my body catch up on rest until I felt energetic again. It sounds like you may be going through a mini-version of that, in which you are not quite tired but don't have the energy to be involved in life. The trick is to be patient with your body, allow it the rest it needs.

It's also possible that what you were calling zest for life was a hyped up state, caused or at least influenced by the artificial stimulants in the food. This may be replaced in time with a state of alertness that is simultaneously restful and silent, spacious. In which you meet the world with welcoming fully awake delight rather than the push that you were calling zest.

This is probably not the response you were expecting ... but could it be a relationship thing? A lot of times - it's the energy of love that's really missing.

whatever it is, it is very overwhelming. Thanks for your sweet answers.
Cynthia

Cynthia,

Sometimes I don't know what is going on with me until it's over... You know, hindsight is clearer... that sort of thing. Let us know how you are doing and keep us up to date.

I hear ya about cooked food. I don't crave it and I know it isn't going to make things better. I hate hearing, "The only way out is through."

Hang in there.

Lee

Rawgosia--
Let's see... I guess my mainstay when I juice is almost always carrots, partly because I can always rely on organic being available, and fairly cheaply. Also they seem to promote health (for me anyway) and they're very versatile in that you can add a touch of lime or lemon or ginger or even cinnamon (yes, it tastes yummy!)-- just a touch, mind you! ;-) I'd love to make my own 'V8' combination, but I usually can't find all the ingredients organic.

Another thing I like to juice is grapefruit-- I love the way it foams, and it's very satisfying.

In the summer I like cucumber and/or celery. Doesn't taste that great, but it has a nice effect.

Apple juice is a good one, combined with just a bit of strawberry for flavor.

Pineapple makes a beautiful juice. I don't do a lot of it, because it's too hard to lug a bunch of pineapples around, but a few glasses here and there during a fast is really a treat.

Sometimes in the past I used to make these super-fortifying type vegetable combinations like carrot + beets + parsley + celery, etc., etc. back when I was still transitioning, detoxifying, fortifying myself and healing. I'm not into that concept as much now, because I operate on the conviction that less is more, and I'm more apt to let my body heal by not taking any nutrients in rather than trying to get a vast array of nutrients.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

I have had the same feelings off and on since transitioning to raw in the last year. What Bryan wrote about rings true for me. I pushed it away with smoking pot. I was wanting it more than I ever have. I knew that was what I was doing but I always have allowed myself to do things at a pace I am comfortable with. I knew I would face that demon sometime and now I have quit having pot at home. It hasn't been hard at all. I only have oppertunity to smoke with friends about once every couple of months and I did smoke some the other day and I didn't enjoy it. I am feeling clean and truly becoming "me" lately and feel that I am not "needing" pot any longer. I am letting that inner stuff come out and I am stronger and ready to deal with it now. I am not recommending pot, lol, just sharing my experience. I know you will figure things out. It is so helpful to read everyones adise here.

Thanks Kwan for sharing. Somehow, the vegie juices don't sound appealing to me. But I would love to try a fruit juice fast!

Gosia


RawGosia channel
RawGosia streams

lee says:

<<I hear ya about cooked food. I don't crave it and I know it isn't going to make things better. I hate hearing, "The only way out is through.">>


oh?
u hate hearing that?
okay.. then i'll just WRITE it. so u can see it

THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH

heh heh

yeah, i hate that phrase too
its so cruel
no mercy

but when i do go through
its like the stars are falling all over me

so worth it

Rawgosia--
I know what you mean. The vegie juices are boring and not so tasty, but I lose weight much easier with them, so that's something I factor in. Also when I add lemon or lime juice to carrot juice (my favorite combination), it tastes like lemon- or limeade! I actually love it! Also my energy is a bit steadier on vegetable juices.

I just bought 8 lbs. of carrots last night and I'm starting the carrot juice regimen today.

I do soooo much better on green smoothies than on juice. More vital, stable.

Cynthia,

add some alkalizing snacks and drink plenty of alkaline (basic) water,
that will enhance your energy levels...

regards, Mel

Alkaline Food / Green Food Chart With pH Scale

I'm just back from grocery shopping, with bags and bags of pineapples, pears, apples, bananas and plenty other nice fresh produces. While I was there, I bought all I could of raw food. Towards the end, however, I stared at a big potato chips bag... thinking how nice it would be to eat it with my kids ( I rarely buy any, even for them). It's halloween today.

Then, I thought maybe I should go back to my old life... being NORMAL again Simple, easy ....and painful!!! That last thought did the trick!! I'm not feeling well anymore with cooked food ! Why keep loving those ( cooked) who do not love me?

So the chips bag stayed where it was: on the shelve.

Now here I read that sentence from la_ veronique and lee : THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH
and:
"yeah, i hate that phrase too
its so cruel
no mercy

but when i do go through
its like the stars are falling all over me
so worth it"


It's so timely.

Cynthia


PS : Alkalarian, I went to the Green food chart and I was surprise that fruits are not considered alkaline. For the greens, it's ok although it's not possible to eat only that - not nourishing enough for me (just my experience so far)

i empathise cynthia. i also feel i have lost my enthusiasm/ passion. i experiment with a little cooked from time to time, but i don't feel good on that either. i guess i have adapted to raw.