here I am, I was successfull in eating raw foods from June to November last year and bombed out during the Holidays, Now I am back to where I was when I started in June. I want to become raw again but am struggleing, It seems I have no will power. I have the desire, the knowledge of what it was like and how I felt when I was eating raw foods but just how did I do it last year? and why can't I just start eating raw like I did last year? Its like some sort of force is holding me back from making that step. I still have to prepare foods for my family so I can't just empty my home of food and start from there. There would be a revolt and I am out numbered here. I find the living and raw foods place to have some real nice people here and you all have some wise advice. I feel like a fish out of water flopping around searching for the key to good health. I felt like I found it last year while eating the raw foods but for some reason I am resisting this. I have no reason to being resistant to eating right. I really don't know anybody who is even a vegitarian around here so I rely on sources on line and reading books. I have read many of ann wigmore books and some of the books written by Dr. Cousins. I found the book called the China Study and Enzyme health to be very helpfull in answering the questions on calcium and protien. I still struggle but am just beginning to understand but even some natural doctors don't support eating just raw foods. Most people I talk to are very non supportive in eating just plant based diet. Most people shake there heads and say you got to eat something cooked for your health. I am struggleing and need some support.

hi pampam

i find it more difficult to be raw or mostly raw during the winter. perhaps that is part of your challenge. you have done it once and can do it again. perhaps baby steps...start with breakfast and when you are comfortable with that take it to lunch and so on. i'm pulling for you.

Just increase raw slowly and you may find that it's not so bad after all and want more and more.

Every day I wake up and try to do what I know I am supposed to do. Some days I am completely successful. Some days I am partially successful. Some days... I fall down.

Fall down one hundred times, get up one hundred and one times.

Try to treat yourself the way you would want someone who loves you to treat you. Try to treat yourself the way you would treat someone you love.

Try to be kind to yourself.


Lee


[www.dhamma.org]

Fruitarian One has a good video on this--he says as long as you get back up and keep trying, you haven't failed at all. He has a lot of encouraging videos, I would encourage you to do a search on youtube.

Maybe you need smaller, more acheivable goals. You were able to do it all at once initally, maybe to give you a taste of what your final goals are. But it may take some time to make it a sustainable change, and that's okay.

Eating raw has a lot to do with will power but sometimes peer pressure and lack of support from others can do you in as well. Is your family supportive at all?
Since I stopped eating meat I dragged my boyfriend along with me through vegetarianism, veganism, and now into the raw food world. Sometimes I don't realize how incredibly supportive he has been. So I have been allowed to completely tear apart the contents of our refrigerator-whereas you can't. So there is a lot of temptation as well.
Just keep trying-and yes, be good to yourself.
Devri

I do have to be more kind to myself, Lee, thank-you for that wonderfull post.
When my family saw the positive results in my eating raw foods they became more and more supportive. They jokeingly call me an old hippy, lol I even purchased an older volvo stationwagon and that seemed to seal the deal for them that I was truely an old hippy. lol. When I was eating raw foods last year I had no problem cooking their foods and eating my raw foods with them. Sometimes some cooked foods made me want for it but overall I had little struggle with the transition to eating raw. But now I am really struggleing. I have some trays of fresh wheat grass to juice and I have loads of fresh fruit available. I hope to just fall into place with eating raw foods. I still have pounds of weight to lose and a desire for optiomal health that one only gets with eating raw foods. One thing I think I will do different is to not talk to to many people about my eating raw because the overall response to that was not so good. People seem to just sit back waiting for you to turn into a blob of jelly because they think one needs milk and meat in order to exisit.
In many ways I am so hard on myself.

I was just reading on a site about green smoothies that said the magnesium in most greens reduces the cravings one has for most cooked foods. If that is the case than perhaps I should be having more green smoothies and fill my body with as much greens as I possible can in order to flip that switch in my mind that I don't need the cooked foods. Perhaps that should be my experiment on myself. To find out just how much greens one needs to reduce the need or cravings for cooked foods.
Thanks all for the kind words. I need all I can get
Pam

Hey PamPam! My suggestion / opinion is NOT to overlay arbitrary goals over yourself that you are not actually PREPARED, MOTIVATED, WILLING, and ABLE to accomplish on a daily basis. No guru, raw food police...or even your own brain should be directing you away from your REAL focus...which is analyzing what you are doing right NOW...and 100% comfortable with....then setting VERY small goals to stretch from there. The PROCESS of putting one foot in front of the other is where you should be judging yourself. This is just my opinion / speculation.

-I agree with you. If YOU are 100% comfortable with your diet, there is no need to defend it or discuss it. You feed YOURSELF - and support others. Your diet, religion, politics and sex life are highly personal issues....and not open for criticism, debate, or discussion unless YOU engage in it. Shut the door on that crap quick!

-It sounds to me like you are doing a wonderful job. I'm proud of you!

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

David said, "Your diet, religion, politics and sex life are highly personal issues...."

We had a lecture today from the big boss at work about not having inappropriate websites, facebook or xanga or myspace pages... lol. Some people put their stuff out there for the world to see. We have people at work with completely inappropriate websites and yet they say things to me like, "You are just eating SALAD? SALAD? Leaves for lunch?!"

ha ha ha

Sorry, I know you are being serious David, et al, but this just made me chuckle. I guess if you have your private parts and drunken self on the internet, what someone else is eating seems like fair game.

Completely out the left field I live in: Someone at work told me she bought a "crust cutter" this weekend from Bed, Bath & Beyond that is made by... WONDER BREAD! (She was very pleased with herself.) The crust cutter is, apparently, sort of square-ish, like a slice of Wonder Bread and you can use it to cut all the crust off your sandwich bread. I guess the less bread you eat the better!

It freaks out my coworkers when I have fruit for lunch. Today it was 1.5 lbs strawberries, a big navel orange, and a Jonathan apple.

Hah Hah.

I loves my fruit!

Thank-you all again for the words of encouragement. Not just sure what I need to do but perhaps just talking here is helping me sort out my thinking and start taking steps for my health. In many ways I am self destructive and have been in that thought moad for many years. I am thinking I have to address this because I have used food as a destructive form in my life for many years. I am hopeing I am makeing some sort of sense here. Somehow I know I will get a handle on this because I was able to do so last year for five monthes. It is all a learning process.
It is very funney to see peoples expressions when several fruits are eaten however it is so acceptable for people to endulge in many servings of meat or bread. people follow the leader like a heard of sheep at times and when someone comes along playing a different tune it is only to be expected to have some friction.. People just don't know what to do when there is someone in the croud who is acting different than everyone else.
I do miss eating the raw foods. Perhaps one step at a time tomorrow will bring a whole day of eating raw for me.
Thanks for the words, they are encourageing

lots of good realizations, pam, it is all a big learning process. i think your green smoothie idea is a great one. i find that if i start my day out raw, i feel so good about myself that i want to keep the party going. so i always make sure that the first thing i have in the morning is raw... and the last thing at night too. that way i go to bed every night a raw foodist, and wake up every morning a raw foodist! even if that's all you can do right now (a smoothie in the morning, a piece of fruit before bed) its a powerful foundation upon which you can and will build. good luck to you! there is an invisible web of support out here for you -- we're all pulling for you and know, as you do, that you WILL get a handle on this.

A couple of thoughts: It is sometimes hard....with the new consciousness in eating....to observe and understand that the people doing the 'wrong' thing do not....and often CANNOT understand or accomodate what YOU are doing. Do NOT expect it. PREPAREDNESS is the watch-word. How can you expect people doing the WORST things to have the capability or motivation to understand, support, or feed YOU? Do your best to be compassionate, happy, successful - and to support THEM.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com