I'm new to raw foods - about a month now. Don't have any blood sugar/health problems, but CRAVE (organic/vegan) cookies and sweets. I know I could eat dates and other dried fruits, etc., but am having a hard time. Any suggestions please?

This might sound pretty drastic,but maybe do some aversion techniques.
Things like picturing the cookies on a plate full of worms and dead flies.
I have heard it works alot.
I experienced this first hand when I was a kid and went fishing.
I could not bring myself to eat the fish my mother served after seeing it caught, cleaned, and how gross it was.
Just an idea.
Brian

You can find raw food substitutes....and make slower changes....or go ahead and eat the 'transitional' foods and be OK with that. The important part is that YOU have chosen YOUR goals and are moving towards them...in some part...every day. Don't you think?

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

dried fruit saves my chocolate lovin' butt, seriously. a big fat sticky chewy medjool date on it's own or with a nut stuffed inside is an incredibly satisfying sweet treat. amazingly enough just one is all i want most of the time, more than a couple doesn't appeal.

one suggestion is to check out your nutrition level. Are you getting enough nutrition in what you are eating? Perhaps you are lacking something that is causing the craving.
When I went raw I was concentraiting on the coffee and other issues in eating and I totally forgot about the sugar and getting off the sugar addiction but for some reason I had no problems but I crave breads. Breads are my down fall.

This will prove controversial to some, but when I was transitioning I simply made a lot of raw desserts, chocolate pies and treats and ate them to my heart's content. It was better than grabbing for a "traditional" bad fat/white sugar treat. As time passed, I simply did not need to eat them anymore and I make a raw treat only occasionally now.

Rather than feeding my emotions with the (old school white sugar) sweets, I really do enjoy the flavor of raw sweets when I have one now. This is why I used to binge on the junky stuff...purely emotional and I wasn't even tasting the food you know? I think the more raw you become, you begin to drop the old associations to food that used to support your SAD/vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. For example, "fats are bad, sweets are bad" and all of that nonsense. I say phooey hooey to that - raw treats are fabulous and good for you. You get a lot of the good fats. Hey I lost tons of weight eating coconut oil - my metabolism went right through the roof. We need good fats too as you probably know. Anyway...I digress...back to the sweets...

Ramping your greens intake will help with any food cravings considerably also. Having green smoothies and green juices 2-3x per day pretty much wiped out all of my "sweet" cravings.

Simply remaining raw over time has helped me move to the next level. You have to just let yourself be where you are and do the best you can.

Here's what helped me get over the hump of the old sweets binge cycle:

** Throw 3-4 frozen bananas, a tablespoon or so of raw cacao powder in a blender and wala instant raw chocolate ice cream. Try sprinkling some goji berries to taste. I ate this every evening for awhile there and it's mmm mmm mmm good!

** A smidgin of coconut oil mixed with goji berries - fast, easy and delicious. pop in your mouth and enjoy...instantly wipes our cravings.

** Coconut oil, cacao butter, cacao powder - blend - put in the fridge or freezer & make yourself a raw chocolate bar (be creative and add some raisins or other delectables) i think you add agave nectar also, but i don't use this...probably enhances the flavor

Ani Phyo & Alissa Cohen both have a lot of easy to prepare raw treats you can make in their prep books

Try more greens consumption though...it does help. In my humble opinion.

ENJOY YOUR FOOD! :-D



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2008 06:41PM by rawangel.

What about having an abundance of sweet fruits around?

When you start out you are bound to experience cravings (unless you do it Alissa's way , I really recommend her Living on Live Food book, you would never feel deprived!)

Cravings can also be managed with lots of greens. And it helps to get enough calories. The body can crave anything when it does not get enough fuel!

Greenpower

Visit my website and my blog!

[www.natureshealingsecrets.com] (closed on Sundays)

Read the book "Sugar Blues" by William Dufty.... not only is it a fascinating book on the history of sugar, but by the end you will not want to ever touch sugar again. However, dates, raisins - natural things like that are of course fine. It's just refined SUGAR that causes problems.

sunshine79 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's
> just refined SUGAR that causes problems.


Sunshine, this is so true.

It's pure poison and it's a drug. That's where the addiction comes in. I'm no chemist but I do remember learning in college chemistry that refined sugar is only one Hydrogen atom away from cocaine or something like that. If you are addicted to white sugar, give yourself lots of love and room to get past it. It's not as easy as not eating it for some...the detox & withdrawals can be rough. That's where the raw treats come in handy during the transition...just my opinion. May not work for everyone.

This is controversial. I ate alot of raw, unfiltered, unheated honey. Now, I think that the honey is too sweet. One really decadent thing is to put honey and tahini together in a bowel and eat. You can also put honey with the almond grounds if you've made almond milk. Beware that both of these can pack on the pounds, though.

I had a very severe sugar/binge eating disorder for 16 years. I have been abstinent now for 32 days. I cut out all sugar, including fruit, and have been eating a ton of greens - Green juice, salads, zucchini, blended soups, good oils, and some cooked protein as well. I have no desire for sugar in any form. Even fruit tastes too sweet now. I know that most people on this forum support a mostly fruit diet. But this is what is working for me.

I do want to say one more thing. I do not think that my way is ultimately where I will end up. Perhaps my body just needs to remineralize. Perhaps fruit will then appeal to me in some form. The animal protein is appealing to me less and less. But, as a tool, avoiding fruit has helped me greatly.

greengoddess,

How much fruit do you eat a day. It could be you are not getting enough carbohydrates to fuel your body.

Eat apples or pears. They have about the same sugar profile as agave nectar but they also contain vitamins, minerals, efas, aminos, protective phytochemicals, and dietary fiber.

dancerinthenight Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had a very severe sugar/binge eating disorder
> for 16 years. I have been abstinent now for 32
> days. I cut out all sugar, including fruit, and
> have been eating a ton of greens - Green juice,
> salads, zucchini, blended soups, good oils, and
> some cooked protein as well. I have no desire for
> sugar in any form. Even fruit tastes too sweet
> now. I know that most people on this forum support
> a mostly fruit diet. But this is what is working
> for me.

cool. are you close to florida? bet brian clement would like to test your blood too.

I was at Hippocrates for three weeks last august. Went in on sugar - Blood was terrible! Very high cholesterol, low wbc, high inflammation markers, bacteria, lack of oxygen, yucky clumpy cells. After three weeks on greens everything looked way better. But according to him, given my history, full recovery will take more than three weeks - Of course.

Hi dancerinthenight -- and anyone else who has been to Hippocrates in FL --

How much did the 3 weeks cost?

I sent them an email asking them and no one responded. Twice. The web site says to CALL. I don't want to call. I just want to know how much it costs. Every other detox sort of place plainly lists their fees.

:\

Would someone mind telling me or is that a secret?

Curious,

Lee


[www.dhamma.org]

dancerinthenight, what's wrong with low white blood count? I thought that was supposed to be a good thing, meaning your body isn't fighting anything off?

How did you feel after being there?

Lots of love to you,

Wendi
XOXOXO

I felt great after my stay at Hippocrates. Clear headed for the first time in years. Joyful. But weak. Detox takes time. The three weeks cost alomst 6K. I would go to Optimum Health over Hippocrates due to the drastic price difference. The education at Hippocrates is unparalleled however and the place is much more posh.

Thanks so much for sharing that. I'm not in a position to do either (Optimum or Hippocrates) right now but it's one of my ongoing fantasies to be able to go.



All the best,

Lee

[www.dhamma.org]

>but CRAVE (organic/vegan) cookies and sweets.

This is not a sugar craving. You can get plenty of sugar from grapes. It's a craving for cooked starch/fat/sugar.

Maybe you should indulge once in a while. Buy a box, save 2-3, give the rest to a friend.

Some things, the thought of going without for the rest of my life really pains me (beer, chocolate, tortilla chips) but other things I have done just fine without (french fries).

I agree with rawangel.

Have on hand wonderful raw sweet treats and just indulge. The raw goodies taste soooo much better than cooked stuff, they are so much more satisfying. And you can eat them to your heart's content without damage.

I tend to fall off the raw wagon (a lot!) and what helps me get back on is to make raw versions of the non-raw food I tend to eat. Some of it's pretty heavy - the nut pates, and my latest, a chocolate-maca shake in place of this poisonous Starbuck's frappacino I got addicted to. I really don't miss the cooked stuff. And after a while, my taste changes and I don't want the heavy, sweet, complicated food so much anymore. After a while I end up eating mostly plain fruits and veggies, sometimes a few carrots for dinner, stuff like that.

I think just eating the healthy raw versions lets the body stop being deranged and then it just wants very good things.

The trick is to prepare a good amount and variety to have on hand so when you really want a cookie, you have a delicious raw one right there!

COCONUT OIL!

Serously. google "coconut oil benefits", you fing loads of information... I believe that coconut helped me alot with my eating disorder, wich was also furious sugar cravings... The oil really helps to fight those cravings, it makes you feel fuller too... I recommand it alot, im sure it will help you!

In the beginning, I was an absolute lunatic with raw coconut oil. Like 8 tbsp. and wanting more. It made me feel awesome.

I opted out of that situation by sticking to young coconuts and not buying any more oil. Three months later, I can say, I love the smell of coconut oil and it is a wonderful body moisturizer, but I can't even eat a small spoonful! It's just too... something. Too much. My coconut affair is no longer quite as insane, either. I'm guessing that whatever I was craving in the oil, over time, I got from the coconuts themselves, and my body has had its fill.

If coconut oil ignites a furious craving inside your body--which I totally, totally understand how it can--and you think it's pushing you to the point of consuming WAY more fat than can be good for you, seek out the source. Learn to crack those coconuts like a pro. You will live long and prosper.

I should also add, that over time, cutting seriously down on my fats has stabilized my cravings/binges substantially. But I wouldn't be where I am now without the fats and the raw treats--they really do help. Just keep perspective: over time, it's not great to eat 2239048092304 raw cheesecakes every day. But if they keep worse things away and you continually work with your inner self, exercise, and the rest of your raw eating plan--everything will fall into place. I know I feel way better after raw snacks vs. fried food any day!

i agree with Phantom, im still in a fragile phase, where i can binge on bad stuff, so coconut oil is very helpfull for me at this point. But i feel as i dont need it as much as before... I crave for young coconuts ( i do a 45 min bus drive to go buy them...) and shredded coconut flakes... I still take my 3 daily spoons of oil, but maybe in a month or so, i will stop...

It is true that its way too much fat, and because of that, i have to reduce my other 'good fat' intakes (flax, nuts,avocado) or i'll blow up!!!

But it definitly helps ALOT, but its not for a long term period i think...It's a transition thing, or to solve the problems of eating disorders, like i had.