Hello,

I am writing an ebook designed to help people start on raw food and getting fit and would be really grateful if you could share with me your biggest problem/s going 100% raw and exercising regularly or what you biggest problems were, so I know what advice is most needed!

Thankyou for you time,

Sofia

perfectionism. that and going too far, i started making my own bowls out of empty coconut shells, i wanted everything i had and used to be natural.
better just to go with the flow, to focus on everything that you Are doing rather than what you haven't managed to do yet.

Cost is the biggest problem. 100 calories of romaine is $1.50, 100 calories of strawberries is $1.50, 100 calories of tomato is $1.50 and on and on. And this is conventional, for organic double or triple it. I am not one of those 50 banana types so it's expensive for me.

1. Isolation from other people on the same journey - no one to discuss things with. My meat eating family aren't a problem as they are very supportive and I am not tempted but I should think this might be a big problem for some. I do have to cook completely different meals for other members of the family which i don't enjoy too much sometimes.

2. Like Coco says trying to do it all at once.

3. Finding it hard to be inventive and eating the same kind of salads everyday.

4. Worry about not getting all the required nutrients.

Getting enough exercise isn't a problem for me as I am a runner but I am concerned with sustaining energy over long distances and that type of thing - ditching the conventonal gels and sports drinks.

good luck with book - great idea

Philippa

Accepting that getting off cooked food is like getting free of an addiction. I thought it would be a bowl of fruit to go raw but I didn't realize that the cooked food addiction is hard to break free from just like cigs, booze, coffee, and drugs.

My two biggest were cravings and (still is) cost.

My biggest problem is the lack of knowledge of how to do delicious raw foods. I have a recipe book and have tried the smoothies but it turns out that I need to have a dehydrator, food processor and a juicer at least to be able to prepare a decent raw food meal.

Main problem is overload of information: eat this way or dont eat this or ..eat this twice a day.

When actually it takes months, year, decades..or infact.. NEVER to fall into a comfortable pattern of eating.

After trying the "just eat raw" and 8-1-1 ..low fat..high fat.. I chucked the lot out and ate what I was drawn to! that worked best for me!

cpak Wrote:
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> it turns out that
> I need to have a dehydrator, food processor and a
> juicer at least to be able to prepare a decent raw
> food meal.

i respectfully disagree. theres a lot of propaganda that you need all this really expensive equipment (expensive superfoods, complex this, difficult that) to go raw... i think it would really be helpful for people to get concrete examples of how people who are raw eat without all this stuff. these are nice-to-haves, but by no means necessary. a $40 blender did me great for a long time, but i really didn't even need that. one of the most helpful comments i read when i was researching all about the raw diet online was someone who said "if it takes more than 5 ingredients, costs more than 5 dollars, or takes longer than 5 minutes to make, i don't eat it." that really inspired me that a simple way to raw was possible. and i also really GOT IT that that was a more healthful way to eat than raw gourmet. never lose sight that the purpose of eating raw is to eat more unadulterated fruits and vegetables!!! if this other stuff helps you do that, go for it. but don't get lost in the maze and lose sight of the purpose.

My opinion of the biggest problem is that people do not give themselves a generous time frame of at least 6-12 months to change a lifetime of perhaps poor habits (mentally, physically, emotionally, and practically). MY biggest 'problem' was in making sure I was 100% happy so that others would support me. They won't do so otherwise.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

rawdanceruk Wrote:
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> After trying the "just eat raw" and 8-1-1 ..low
> fat..high fat.. I chucked the lot out and ate what
> I was drawn to! that worked best for me!

I agree with this. Its hard for a newbie to trust their body's signals and eat instinctively.

I can only reiterate a few things already mentioned here.

1. Overload of information. It can get overwhelming and cause you to be extreme if you let it. I finally just said, "Enough. I know enough to get started and know my body well enough to listen to it."

2. It would be encouraging to have at least one other person around you that shares in the same lifestyle.

3. Patience to find what works best for you. I wanted to jump in 100% raw. And, to be honest, I could have if circumstances were right and nothing else was going on in my life. But, that's not realistic. Life happens. Like anything else, if you're waiting for life to be perfect before you do something, you'll never do anything. Get started where you are. Improvement is a process, not instantaneous.

4. The cost. Even without buying all the processed, pre-packaged and foods that you cook, the price seems more expensive. I'm still trying to figure it out for me personally, including the money I spent eating out, but it's still expensive. (I live in downtown, Big City, though.)

my biggest challenge is cooking for my daughter. if i could empty my house of all food that i think is not optimal, it would be a lot easier on me. but i recognize that it is my choice to allow her to remain on the cooked vegetarian diet that she prefers right now. being a mom is not the same as being an individual! its symbiotic, and i have to consider what is best for us as a team. that has meant that i am put in temptation's way A LOT. but as a result i have had to get creative and come up with a lot of strategies to prevent myself from eating things that are not in line with my personal goals.

being very cognizant of this being MY CHOICE and not making myself into the victim of the situation, and also being extremely gentle with myself when i do slip up, have helped me the most.

I don't desire to go 100% raw, but I am a raw foodist. So I guess if I have a "problem" it's that I don't want to be 100% right now. But *I* don't consider that a problem.

[utopiankitchen.wordpress.com]

One problem that's more difficult than all the "negative" attention you can get on a raw food diet, is the positive. In the very beginning, for me, I knew I had to stay 100% until I developed enough new habits to battle the old--and the worst was people who meant well. The holidays were a nightmare.

Christmas. "Oh, aunt so and so made cookies! These are the first cookies she baked without eggs, ever, and she made them ESPECIALLY for you!" I avoided the cookies, and thanked the lady who made them.

Valentine's Day. "Oh, my mom got you some chocolate--she said she doesn't know if you can have it, but here you go." Thanked the person who got me chocolate, gave it to my roommate.

Valentine's Day, the boyfriend. "Oh, you might have to eat something cooked--but I booked a surprise dinner for us at the restaurant where we had our very first date!" I ate a HUGE green salad first, then shared some hummus (no bread!) and roasted eggplant salad with him.

I appreciate being in everyone's thoughts very much, but as much as I am in their thoughts, they really don't even think to read ingredients printed on a package. Now I'm at a point where if someone made me something very "healthy cooked," I could have a little bit because I'm comfortable with where I stand, and it always makes everyone happy when you eat something they prepared with love--but it's still a huge conflict for me. I'm trying so hard to do what I know is right for me, and I don't want to stick my nose up at anyone else.

I have the same problem as Phantom.My mother in law made me a pasta without meat and I had to eat because I didn't know what to do.I got so sick,that I had to tell her that I don't eat anything cooked anymore.I think she got a little sad.

My boss did try to give me some "vegetarian" food and everybody did try to make me eat the "vegetarian food that they got.I didn't eat anything and now some people think that I am in a "sick" diet and trying to loose weight.

People don't undstand that you don't need to eat meat to have your protein,you don't need to drink coffee to have "morning energy" (whatever that means,I don't know and I don't understand that).

My biggest problem going raw is the cravings for cooked food. Just giving some recipes to get started is a great help. I got this book and it had about 10 recipes to get started and it has helped a lot. Also talk about what to excpect. I wasn't sure what to expect since I am new to this type of lifestyle. I a finally to a place where I can refuse cooked food and not feel bad about it. It has been roughly a month.

phantom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I appreciate being in everyone's thoughts very
> much, but as much as I am in their thoughts, they
> really don't even think to read ingredients
> printed on a package. Now I'm at a point where if
> someone made me something very "healthy cooked," I
> could have a little bit because I'm comfortable
> with where I stand, and it always makes everyone
> happy when you eat something they prepared with
> love--but it's still a huge conflict for me. I'm
> trying so hard to do what I know is right for me,
> and I don't want to stick my nose up at anyone
> else.

I have only "slipped" twice and the second one was done with my eyes wide open and with intention. I kept the meal to minimal size and made the best choices I could. After the meal I got back to where I want to be (all raw) but I enjoyed the occasion with out of town relatives.

wanting to eat tomatoes and watermelons all year round

info overload (conflicting opinions)

worry about getting "enough"

dating

when u go to a restaurant with business

Tomatoes are my candy. I eat them all year round and I don't care if that's not a good idea! Although, I don't know what the problem with that would be. Watermelon either. ??? Is it because they aren't available in your area all year round, ILoveJen?

yea it's because they are expensive, and I hear that eating fruits out of season is no good and eating fruits in season are way better.

they are available, but just not as tasty and way more expensive.

All the conflicting statements from the so called rawfood gurus

finding a balance (still looking), especially in regards to money and organics and fancy recipes. How pedantic do you become? Does a teaspoon of soy sauce really matter of you don't have any namo shoyu? What does really matter anyway?! Am I taking this whole thing too far?
Coming home when I first went raw, tired, what to make my husband, raw, that he would like? Lack of cooking repotoitre. I have a heap of cooked recipes up my sleeve that come naturally and fast. I look in the fridge at a cabbage and green leaves and I think what on earth can I do with that?
I love fruit, but find it difficult to make salads I enjoy and that are easy.
What do I feed my 2 year old daughter who seems to be a carnivore and will NOT eat any vegetable other than potato (cooked) and tomato?

1. Believing everything i read ( cooked food is poison.This causes mucus. Raw food is the perfect diet of man, etc. )

2. Trusting the gurus honesty and integrity( not realising it's a business for them

3. Finally working out that just because a certain diet works wonders for someone is totally meaningless and is no proof that it is the ideal diet.

4. Trying to change over too quickly and worrying too much about everything i eat.

5. not knowing the importance of leafy greens until i read David Wolfes Sunfood
Diet
6. no internet available in 1972 so everything i read couldn't be questioned like things are now.

Out of all the above i would say number four was the worst problem for me. I started in 1972 and now 36 years later i haven't died or been poisoned despite still not being raw and still eating some poisonous, mcuous forming, stimulating, foods.
Knowing what i know now i would have done things very differently, and very very slowly, and rather than freaking out about having coffee, cooked food, junk food, i would have very slowly increased my percentage of raw and healthier foods and not have guilt or fear about eating foods i liked and slowly adopted a healthy diet.
Nowadays i am more interested in a healthy diet than a 100% raw diet.

- Not knowing anyone else raw
- detox....(my face breaking out) I did not feel like i was looking the part as much as i should have.
- Other than that i have to honestly say that i am honered to be given this wisdom of raw foodism. <is that a word?
I love that i am a raw foodist!!


.........living to tell a tale of a life it self........

detox - I get "colds" every month and I suffer for 1 week each time I get a cold. I don't take any medicine for this but it is horrible, I h=get severe headaches, sinus congestion, cough, etc

Food sensitivityis another one - I ate at a Thai restaurant (vegan dishes only - cooked though) and another time at Indian restaurant (again vegan cooked) and I got severe stomach pain and headache. I miss eating out occasionally...

But I am so happy and Thankful for the wisdom of Raw Food diet also, I am happy that I eat the Best Foods and I am doing a wonderful great thing for my body..

Regards
A Iyer

Dating has been the roughest part for me. A year ago I jumped in at 100% and it's been relatively easy for me -- I've experienced extreme physical trauma in the past which makes most "problems" in my life seem insignificant or I try to keep my thoughts positively directed. But the relationship front has been tough for me...

When I was a vegetarian & vegan I had no problem dating meat eaters or even junk food veggies. Now I'm much more sensitive to being with someone who is taking care of themselves. Being Raw has positively shifted the energy in my relationship space but it has also caused me to become a little more stressed or judgemental with my meat eating boyfriend who I still love, it just the decaying meat odor coming from his pores and other things gross me out now. I'm also getting increasingly sad at the state of slaughtering animals for food in our culture. Moreso than ever before, so if meat is in the house it impacts me on multiple levels - I feel a deep, deep sadness. It's a profound grief and depression energy really. I realize I will have to decide what to do and be completely honest with myself and him, but this has been the most difficult aspect of becoming a raw foodist I've experienced. That is being completely authentic in a relationship with a SAD eater. I don't want to bring pain or place my expectations on anyone. And for the most part I do not say word to him about what he's eating and he honors my choices as well. And perhaps this is enough I don't know yet. Determining what I need and want in my life is becoming a huge test of what being truthful with myself and my loved ones really means. And it's probably also surfacing my emotional fears from the detox that's still taking place in my body. Eating raw extends beyond food choices I'm beginning to understand, embrace and accept...it changes your life. Hang on for the ride!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2008 09:11PM by rawangel.

I'm not going to be popular with this, but I'm not against eating meat. I believe animals that are being killed for food should be treated humanely, but I'm not against eating meat.

As a Christian, I base this on the life of Jesus. He wasn't a vegetarian. It's recorded that He ate fish and lamb. He fed the multitude with loaves and fishes - which He wouldn't have done if He was a vegetarian. All food, including meat, was declared clean by Jesus in Acts 10:10-15.

What the Bible tells us is that we should not force our convictions on this issue onto other people. Romans 14:2-3 tells us, "One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him."

Whatever a person decides to eat is acceptable to God as long as we thank Him for providing (1 Thessalonians 5:18). 1 Corinthians 10:31 declares, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."


So, personally, I'm not against eating meat at all. I just choose not to. If fewer animals are killed because of my choice, that's a great perk!

I think it's wrong because we don't have to. It's wrong because it's cruelty to sentient creatures with personalities, faces, mothers, having brains that light up when they solve problems, having emotions, etc. It's wrong because it's about an order of magnitude less efficient than eating plants. It's wrong because it's the single biggest contributor to global warming according to the FAO which I believe.

Given all that we know now it seems very unchristian to me to eat meat.

Time for a second coming, with environmental concerns.