When people find out I am a raw vegan, they flip out, and bombard me with questions. “That means you can’t eat…” “You can’t eat …???!?!?” “Are you healthy? How do you get protein?” “Have you lost weight?” I know that they are just curious about my diet, but it’s so obnoxious! I want to be proud of all of the work I put in preparing food, finding the right food, and giving up eating out, but I now don’t tell people anymore. I don’t have the energy to deal with ignorant people who can’t understand no meat, no animal products, and nothing cooked. I was curious if others have experienced some of the same problems.

hee hee! I think everyone goes thru this! I find it's best just to treat it with good humour.. me and my sisters (they're not raw) think of it like a game, and we call it 'ASK LISA' - whenever anyone starts with 'The Questions' we all burst out laughing cos it's such a standing joke! all the questions are always the same, so much so that my sisters now answer on my behalf - they're getting really good at it!

I find if you just explain the diet with patience and tolerance (and definately humour helps!), then people just accept it as cool, rather than if, say, you acted as if what they were doing was wrong and you were gonna try and convert them or something.

but, yeah, not telling people is also a good way round it. After all, there's no need to have to explain yourself, is there?

cheers xXx

I understand what you are going through. I don't usually tell people either. When I go out to eat with people, I uaully get a big house salad with nothing but veggies and put oil and vinegar on it. They just think I am "dieting" but this helps tide me over. It probably isn't the best quality salad, but what are you gonna do in today's world?

-One of the first precepts of the 4 agreements: Don't take anything personally. 99.9% of the screaming some one is doing at you....has NOTHING to do with you! Don't be fooled by emotional children masquerading as adults!

-When people cross-examine you...they are really looking to guage your attitude and sense of well-being. Thus, you should simply take pleasure in doing the right thing. Refuse to answer hostile, degrading, or over-critical questions. Take people that are truly interested one-on-one.

-Remember: If you are doing the right thing - you don't have to say a word. Who you are will say everything with very few words.

-David Mason

Well said, David...Sometimes not saying anything can really be meditative. Just like telling someone about a spiritual experience or trying to describe a delicious moment between you and your lover...telling someone can sometimes degrade the experience. You can never really describe perfectly the way it felt.
I only speak of it when I get called to...and usually then, the person is open to new information.

Peace...

Yes, this seems to be a universal thing. There is a co-worker of mine who can't get her head around the fact that I am raw and what that means, and asks me if I want sushi about every three days (it's like she has a memory loss problem). She has also asked me (repeatedly) if I want egg salad, tuna salad, chocolate almonds and pretty much chocolate anything. In her mind being raw means eating cold things. She is sweet about it, but when I say no thanks she says "Oh right, you CAN'T" and stresses the can't part. My answer is simple "I can, but I just choose not to." I've found that works pretty much in every situation. Oh, and when someone nods knowingly and says "you're crazy," I just smile and say "if this is how I am crazy I am doing pretty well."

Enough. Now go eat some cold food you bunch of crazies.

Raw Daddy -- livin' raw and lovin' it

Ha Ha! That's classic.

I "retired from the rat race" in August and came to the Philippines in April to start a new life, free from all the economic slavery, mass media and peer pressure in the USA. Little did I know that the Philippines is WORSE THAN THE USA!!! There are 100% more ignorant people here than in the USA!

I must be the only vegan on the island of Leyte! I thought there would be more and fresher veggies here, but they are small, dirty, old and more expensive! I can't eat in a restaurant or with a friend here because I'm violating cultural and religious norms if I don't share my food, money and ideas with the locals--who all have their own way of thinking, eating, etc.

I may have to leave the country and go someplace where the people are at least vegetarian!!! . . . India? . . . Thailand?

omg yes, i hear that all the time, "you cant" and i say the same as you, "I can, I choose not too." sheesh, what i hate and do not understand is why my co-workers will walk by and have a mouth full of bacon and say something stupid like "pig in a blender"...I dont understand how people can act like 4 yr olds all the time, I get pissed sometimes, and then when people ask me "how can you be so serious about it , animals were made for us" I die inside when they say this, its sad to me that people are so ignorant and it is scary to think that there is no compassion for a living creature who feels. They think I am crazy too and I think I am on of the most sane people I know lol....its hard tring to explain or protect your believe. It is so hard to live in a world who is so negative and so selfish, I am so glad that my son is Vegan and my daughter is veg/vegan mostly and im not pushing her...she is moving up the ladder.
wearing her homemade Vegan bag to school and doing reports on animal rights!
arguing her opionion with her meat eating culunary teacher at school! YES!
i LOVE being Vegan and Raw....on my way to being 100% RAW.
Holley

omg yes, i hear that all the time, "you cant" and i say the same as you, "I can, I choose not too." sheesh, what i hate and do not understand is why my co-workers will walk by and have a mouth full of bacon and say something stupid like "pig in a blender"...I dont understand how people can act like 4 yr olds all the time, I get pissed sometimes, and then when people ask me "how can you be so serious about it , animals were made for us" I die inside when they say this, its sad to me that people are so ignorant and it is scary to think that there is no compassion for a living creature who feels. They think I am crazy too and I think I am on of the most sane people I know lol....its hard tring to explain or protect your believe. It is so hard to live in a world who is so negative and so selfish, I am so glad that my son is Vegan and my daughter is veg/vegan mostly and im not pushing her...she is moving up the ladder.
wearing her homemade Vegan bag to school and doing reports on animal rights!
arguing her opionion with her meat eating culunary teacher at school! YES!
i LOVE being Vegan and Raw....on my way to being 100% RAW.

cuss them out
get it out of your system
just push a button on your neck that says "mute"
when you go about it

my sage advice

I sympathize with every one and their experiences. I sometimes feel traumatized by people and their reactions. Some people act as though my eating healthily is a personal insult to them.
I try to avoid social situations that revolve around food, especially when I'm feeling weak. Otherwise, it's like being a recovering alcoholic around active ones.
I applaud everyone who eats raw, despite opposition.
Chickory

Oh Dear,

Welcome to my world! I don't wish this kind of frustration on anyone but, when I went vegan over twenty years ago,I got the same line of questioning. Guess what? I'm still getting it twenty years later. It gets easier with time. My one suggestion to you is to actually become an quick reader and start reading anything and everything you can get your hands on about vegan and/or raw food nutrition. This will allow you to feel more comfortable answering the stupid questions. Suffice is to say that the stupid questions, which sound stupid, are merely inquisitive questions from potential raw foodists. You may not see that right now but this was my mindset after five years a a vegan. They are really asking because they have heard about your diet and genuinely want to know. Yes, you will get the same questions over and over again and it is frustrating but you must realize, like it or not, that you are an ambassador for raw foodists and how you present yourself and the information you share will leave folks with a feeling of respect and admiration or disgust. This is because they will bring you up to a family member or friend and will always remember if you looked to be at deaths door or if there was a life force radiating from you like they've never seen before.

Anyway, it does get easier. If you get someone that sounds or appears to be picking a fight then simply walk away. We do bump into the naysayers as well. In fact, I have a bunch of vegan friends that think I'm absolutely bonkers and believe they know "everything" there is to know about raw foods because a well known activist, of Vegan Outreach, has written a few bits of info on raw foods. Even he is a bit confused because he doesn't know "everything" about raw foods but, because of his limited education (yes, he's a nutritionist), then he feels the information he's read in books is correct ok to post. I got so angry when I read a recent article that this fellow had written in VegNews that I was immediately compelled to write him, and VegNews, to set the record straight with documented resources.

So, keep your chin up. This is an uphill journey, not a destination.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

Heh! If I run into somebody who gives me agro over my diet, I them "I'm only doing it to be anti-social". Most of time a get little ribbing then people notice my food looks better than theirs and is undeniably healthier. Next they are asking if they can have a little of my food. ;-)

Hi VeganRon,

We had a somewhat similar experience moving to Belize. The staples here are rice+beans and some chicken. However, we don't feel pressured at all and managed to find our way. We bought some land and are now planning an incredible fruit orchard...
If you seriously consider relocating just tell me...

Sodoffsocks,

"I'm only doing it to be anti-social".
That's a brilliant answer! I'm going to try it too!
It is the principle that works so well on children: just tell the opposite you actually mean or intend and obtain the wanted result.

VeganRon,

Try the island of Okinawa off the coast of Japan - there's a whole book called "The Okinawa Program" by a couple of Harvard researchers about how Okinawa is the healthiest place on Earth, with the highest rate of people living vibrantly past the age of 100. Their lifestyle encompasses not only food but also simple outdoor exercise, friendly, open-minded connections between people, and spirituality.

I've never been there though so I can't speak from personal experience.

The place I HAVE been to and would move to in a heartbeat is Hawaii - there are very few mainland Americans there, btw - I was surprised because in the movies and tv it's all white ppl you see in Hawaii, and that's not how it is in real life at all.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2006 06:09PM by sunshine79.

I have no problem standing up for what I believe in. I took my brother and sister to a Raw Restaurant for fruit and salad, that was organic and very expensive. They didn't think it was a good idea, but I think they enjoyed it. It looks as if you have been on this long enough to know what is good for your body and what works best. I've been RAW for about 4 month's and very strict. I'm into my working out and have had a problem finding the protein I need for building muscle and strength. I take Hemp, Maca, and goji berries along with fruits and vegetables salads, which I love more and more each day. I feel good and look good, except I feel more weak at the gym and I look like my muscle mass has shrunk, which it has, and I can't lift as much weight. Do you have any advice for me?

I am having difficulty with this as well, only they aren't harmless questions. A lot of people start arguing with me and tellign me how unhealthy it is; I am. It's getting really annoying.

My family ridiculed me since I was 18 for being a vegetarian..... it was the same story every holiday......."Ewwwww!!! What is that? Tofurky!!!" I used to get into heated debates simular to politicians slinging mudd at each other... it was ugly! Then one day, I decide that veins popping out of my neck while having an angry heated debate over why organic is best or why meat is terrible to eat, is not healthy for me. Confidence is the key. One day, when my son was in elementry school, he brought dried papaya to school. He LOVES dried papaya! Anyways, one day at lunch time, some little kid said, "EWWWWW!!!!! WHAT IS THAT???" My son confidently looked at the kid and said," PAPAYA!!!! OH MY GOD!! DON"T YOU KNOW WHAT PAPAYA LOOKS LIKE!!" He came home and told me the story and he was so confident that I learned from him to be the same way. People never give me crap about my "weird food" anymore. It's hard to confront a very confident person who believes passionately in what they are doing.

Great advice, Rawrrr!

The typical one I get is what do you do for protein. They just don't understand (and don't want to hear) that you can get protein from sources other than meat.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2006 05:35AM by butterfly_imagines.

Hi

Haven't read all the replies, so hope I'm not repeating anything already said.

Firstly, I was interested to read that someone else has found other peoples' perceptions of raw food is cold food. Recently I went to a child's birthday party where there were lots of sandwiches and sausages on sticks and things, and I was expected to eat these.

Secondly, always remember you don't have to justify your decisions. I do a few things off mainstream (eg. homeschooling our children, breastfeeding for the first few years rather than months, sleeping with the children etc). I try to answer people's questions, but I no longer fall into the trap of trying to convince them that my way is right, or even that I'm not making a big mistake.

It's annoying though. You are probably very careful not to criticise other people for the rubbish they stuff into their bodies, so why do they think they have the right to criticise you?

I remember when I first started buying organic my family thought I was nuts, a health freak. Now they order most of their food from organic local suppliers

Just do what you think is right.

Cheers,
J

here are some good answers to the question of

" can u eat this? can u eat that? can u eat this? can u eat chocolate almonds?
can u eat pigs in a blanket? can u eat tacos with ice cream? can u eat a reindeer with a caramel santa hat?"

so far, i've come up with this:

1) after a long thoughtful pause, just say " I'll have to consult my lawyer and get back to you on that." Just give them a really serious look and see how they react.

2) Read them their Miranda Rights : " You have the right to remain silent. Anything that you say can and will be used against you."

3) why are u asking me? will be paying, cooking or ordering my dinner?
If not, what's it to you?

la oh - so- civilique
veronique

i just LUUUUUVVVVVV people!!!!!

I suppose I'm rather fortunate given the fact that I'm in meat eating Dallas and deal with motorcycle media related stuff all day. Now that I think about it, I'm not exactly in a lifestyle that you would expect to find a raw fan.

Here's my brief overview:

Many years ago an insane doctor put me on Halcion for 2 years to treat TMJ when my jaw was knocked out of alilgnment due to a car wreck. Turns out I just needed a retainer like thing to wear at night - no drugs. Took me months to get off Halcion and get my memory back on track.

That prompted me to start reading everything from Fit For Life to Back to Eden to Louise L. Hay books. Fast forward to today....

People I deal with know I carry my own sweetner (Stevia Plus!). When I visit a friends' house that usually has sweet tea, if they know I'm coming they make it unsweetned so everyone can flavor their own.

In 2005 I began experiencing horrific stomach pains after eating chicken - didn't matter where it was purchased from, how it was prepared or even what state I was in. The pains would last for about 4 hours. Finally on my way home from Sturgis Bike Week last year and having an attack in Denver, I said to hell with it. I have been chicken free ever since.

I opted to go pork free at the same time -- I don't have pains from it but pigs are too intelligent so I can't eat them.

I do have fish on ocassion - never fried - always grilled or baked. Very little meat.

Do I get any grief from the corporate & biker types I deal with? Not at all. I think people are curious and/or intrigued - I look many years younger than my chronological age (I never disclose my age -- it's a all a state of mind anyway), my energy stays steady and higher than most throughout the day, I have less & better sleep.

A person riding a bike 60mph on a 90 degree day can loose 3 quarts of water in 1 hour. I keep my body as hydrated as possible and having at least an 80% raw diet helps immensely.

~raine~