Me+raw=Epic fail.

Comments

• Mydori

  My first smoothie of my first day was kind of plechy ( my only issue so far) I had to balence it out with a brownie :S You can do it though! It already sounds like you have your head in the right place. Go you!!!
• Branwyn32 Raw Newbie

  I had an ice cream sammich tonight. I totally feel your pain. :S If I actually had any money to go out and buy food, I would’ve bought what I needed and made raw vegan ice cream though!

  Thanks for the encouraging words, and I hope your smoothie is better tomorrow. Go you too! :)
• Quiora

  I’ve been having a hard time transitioning too and I’ve decided to do a juice fast for a few days. I think maybe it will help lessen my cooked food cravings. Today I had two donuts (organic and vegan, but still unhealthy and cooked.) Then after that, I was like, I can’t do this to myself anymore! And I went and bought tons of produce for my juice fast. I’d love to do a complete fast (just water) but I’m hypoglycemic and can’t. I just hope once I’m done with the juice fast, it will be easier to stay on track.
• TheRawDance

  First off, my dear and all the rest of you feeling discouraged: THERE ARE NO FAILURES. Holding that attitude is only holding negative energy on yourself and eating and can develop into eating disordered thinking and behaviors. Holding high expectations for ourselves is another form of perfectionism… and perfect is non exsistent so why even bother. Why not just be.

  If something doesn’t feel like it’s working for you, learn from it. Don’t beat yourself up over it! that just encourages the GUILT AND SHAME GAME to take over and play you till it wins.

  Whatever went in will eventually cleanse its way out and continuing your raw foods will help in the process. Things will be okay. Breathe and center yourself.

  In closing, one did not just wake up raw one day. If not raised raw, people transition to raw and most people have a lifelong history of no raw so one can’t expect the transitiong to be smooth sailing. There will be mental factors, physical and physiological… detox, cravings, mood shifts, energy shifts, overall transformations…

  Keep doing whatever works for you dear and try to accept any and all changes as learning experiences – markers in your journey.
• MsDerious

  Don’t be hard on yourself. You are making a big change… for some people it’s like switching on a lamp…. others of us find it about as easy as lighting a wet candle in a storm with only a flint!

  Also, change one thing Branwyn…. try not to think about the weight loss thing until you have got used to raw veganism. Unless you are very overweight to the point that it’s bad for your health, this cosmetic change is probably not as important as learning how to eat in this new way. Of course, don’t get into the habit of getting all your protean from high fat sources like nuts… but at present, try not to worry about eating a few more than you will when you are used to the diet.

  I personally, don’t think a fast is a good idea. I don’t think it’s a good idea to make you mind and body link your new diet with starvation. That’s just my thoughts, others think very differently.

  Decide what is most important, and work on that. Expecting your whole diet to change instantly is setting the bar very high. Small goals, like ‘I won’t eat any dairy today, and I’ll have at least two raw meals’ let’s you have a success everyday…. if your goal is ‘Never eat cooked food again, and be a vegan forever’ then one slip up and you have ‘failed’... failure is disheartening.

  Make yourself a goal now… something you know you can do. Perhaps ‘Make sure you always have healthy raw snacks with you’. Keep it up for a week and make it a little bigger next week.

  I can’t remember where I saw it, I think it was someone’s sig file (!) but I once saw this and try to remember it when things don’t go well. “Just because you make a mistake, doesn’t mean you are a mistake” I’ve very rarely made a screw up I’ve not in someway learnt from. What have you learned from the chicken incident?

  EDIT: Gosh darn it! The Raw Dance has snuck in before me while I was posting and said everything I wanted to with more eligence…. that’s just not fair ;)
• TheRawDance

  Ms: GREAT ADVICE

  Your input is just as important as mine. I am so glad you brought up fasting. I did not want to jump in there but honestly I did. I dont support fasting as I do not feel it’s okay to mentally and physically set the body into starvation. I feel it’s a form of imbalance. Others feel they are trying to find balance with it …I am glad you added your thoughts on fasting. I feel that balance is the key to life and balance must be included in our diets – especially those on raw… a variety of vitmains, minerals and other nutrients, adequate protein and healthy forms of dietary fat. SAD dieticians and nutritionists will say one needs animal flesh, dairy and processed carbs to obtain balance. I disagree. People following raw dietary lifestyles have found ways to get adequate nutrients without the chemcials/additives/etc in processed foods and without the use of animal products… Superfoods, seaweeds and algaes, seeds, nuts, fruits, vegetables, etc. like our ancestors, gatherers. You know.

  Editing my answer to make my point more articulate*

  I am not a fan of fasting. I’ve got pretty strong opinions on this one. I do not feel it’s healthy to starve the body. I don’t support fasting for weight loss as it’s not an adequate way to lose weight and not something someone can do the rest of their life to keep the weight off. You will eventually have to eat. I don’t support fasting either for anorexic or eating disorder related reasons, children or those who are weak, ill, deficient or have blood sugar imbalances. I don’t support complete water fasts either. I feel it’s extremely unhealthy to deprive your body of nutrition during a fast. Fasting is a choice. I often question one’s want/need to fast. I am more understanding for those who fast for religious/spiritual reasons or those looking to detox/ colon cleanse. However, I still feel nutrients are needed during the fast. The body is not meant to run on starvation. Prolonged fasts will set the body into catabolism… hungry for glucose, searching for glycogen, first going to liver stores. muscle stores and into ketosis where it will go to fat and continue to feed off of itself. Then there are the issues of acidosis, slowed metabolism, coming off a fast… psychological factors, etc etc etc Anyhow, during weight loss fasts – the body will mostly lose water weight and electrolytes – which are very dangerous to imbalance. Most people gain the weight right back after the fast, if so even more. All in all I don’t like the idea of fasting and if one is to fast I feel it’s best they are atleast getting juices, especially green ones, herbs, algaes, etc – as well as drinking high quality water like oxygen water and consuming fresh coconut water for electrolytes… I think people who do best with fasts are those who are more so robust in nature and mentally stable enough to handle the challenge and demands of a fast.

  Sorry, off topic. I know a lot of people are into fasting here. We’ve all got our own opinions on this one and I don’t think anyone is right or wrong since it’s all based on personal opinion. We chose what we wish to believe, what we feel suits our fancies.

  Love the flirt and light comment/analogy.

  Bless your soul for your words of wisdom. I really enjoyed reading your caring response.
• lzhpt Raw Newbie

  We all struggle at different times. I think Gabriel Cousens says it takes 2 years to be able to stay raw. I’ve been 2.5 years and i still struggle with some things and like you, Branwyn, that darn cooked food seems to lead to more with that attitude of, “Well. i really blew it. I might as well eat whatever cooked food i want today and begin raw again tomorrow.” It doesn’t work, though because then you start rationalizing that you didn’t gain any weight from what you ate so why the big deal? But then it comes…the under eye swelling the moods changes , the snipping at people and feeling unhappy. Cooked food is sooooo addictive! Raw food is such happy food and there will be a day when you are able to say, “No more cooked. Never.” I value me.
• Mon46

  TheRawDance, thank you for posting those very cogent comments on fasting. Very good info especially as many people on the site do fast. Personally, I’ve never done well with it on a psychological level, particularly as I too have a history of eating disorders (back in my late teens/early ‘20s) and will probably always have some issues around food. Fasting always felt punitive, not freeing for me, though I do get those folks who fast for religious reasons. Obviously, to each his/her own, but again thanks for providing all that good info.
• TheRawDance

  Mon46, you are very welcome. I know fasting is like GOD to a lot of raw foodists – and others following more natural based dietary lifestyles. It never worked for me either. Like you said, to each their own. I’m sure my opinions on fasting will ruffles some feathers of those who fast and swear by it – but I think it’s good to get different opinions rather than only opinions of those for it. You know? Fasting never worked for me. It just tied into my eating disorders and caused my mind to become even more obsessive during the fast rather than freeing. Therefore, I will admit that a major reason fasting DID NOT work for me is because I have a history of nutritional defeciency and mental health imbalance… Anyhow, I get regular bloodwork done and won’t even fast for that (overnight) – as it throws me into a bad loop and generally a black out (passing out). Even during anorexic behavioral espisodes – I still eat even if just a little. So maybe my opinions stem from personal experience with fasting, medical and scientific knowledge of the physical and physiological effects fasting can have, experience with eating disorders and nutritional education, etc.

  I am always intrigued to learn about people’s experiences. What really gets me (strapped to my chair and ready to read) are breathatarians…I am more than willing to sit down and listen to these stories.
• Mon46

  Breathatrians, oh I just don’t get that at all. Maybe that’s MY limitation, just saying :). And I completely get why fasting doesn’t work for you. Like you, it also tied into and triggered my eating disorder, and to this day I’m not willing to try it for fear of reviving the old demon.
• Winona Raw Newbie

  Branwyn32 – I want to share my transition to raw with you, to help you to understand that your path to raw can take a long time but be VERY successful. The most important thing is to forgive yourself, be kind to yourself, and don’t hold you up to high expectations. In fact, make TEENY tiny goals. For example, you had a green smoothie that morning… goal for Sept 3rd has been met! You were successful! You can congratulate yourself on your achievement. And realize that most people on earth will never drink a green smoothie in their entire life. Perhaps your goal for today is to eat a piece of fruit that you haven’t included in your diet recently.

  Go grab a pear. or an orange. Take it outside, take a deep breathe. Feel the fresh air. Thank the earth for producing this lovely fruit! Then savor each and every bite of the sweet flesh.

  How was today’s goal? Savoring 1 piece of fruit today was easy, right? If you do that, you’ve met your goal! Try savoring a different fruit every day for a week. Raw is all about enjoying the flavors, and ADDING to your palatte, not taking things away.

  The way I transitioned to raw… January 2007 I ran across a website with GORGEOUS pictures of an avocado and grape salad. I said by golly, I simply MUST eat that! The next month, I tried to eat more fruit. The next month, I experimented with new salads. The next month, I made savory veggie platters and new slaws. And so on and so forth. All during that time, I still ate cooked vegan food. But i was so EXCITED about my new raw recipes. I never worried that i ate both raw and cooked food. Who cares! I was busy having way too much fun trying pomegranate, lime+avocado, raw corn, new fresh salads. Fast forward to March 2008 – I try eating mostly raw. Yes, 14 months after running across my first raw website – goneraw!!

  14 months after learning about raw, I was ready to eat mostly raw food. By that time, I had a whole arsenal of raw recipes, I had saved and bought a vitamix and dehydrator, I had raw snacks, chia cereals, almond milk, raw chocolate, cashews. I discovered what my favorite fruits and veggies were, what to take for lunch. I had read raw books, purchased raw recipe books, stocked my pantry. most of all, I was SO excited that nothing could hold me back! I was excited because I never let a negative thought cross my mind in the 14 months I was trying raw. Never. I ate cooked food, whatever. I ate raw food, okay. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I was savoring every juicy peach that crossed my path.
• TheRawDance

  Wiona, your fruit meditation suggestion is beautiful. I love this comment. It’s very inspiring. I do hope others get to read it from this thread. It will help those who are new to raw. There is so much beauty in this post, in the appreciation you show for food in it’s natural state and the lifeforce it provides you and the rest of us with. Blessings to you dear. The earth is very proud of you, it told me so!

  Mon: GOOD FOR YOU, that’s a very logical choice to make because we all know… any tiny crack in that door and the enemy will try to slip in. You’ve put BOARDS on those doors! Horray!

  Lulu: How very kind of you! Thank you so much, hugs.
• Branwyn32 Raw Newbie

  Thank you all so much for all your incredible encouragement! The light and positivity and acceptance you all radiate is awe-inspiring! I was a little afraid I’d be kicked out of the goneraw club for the chicken! :facepalm:

  I guess I am so anxious for all the amazing benefits of raw that I’ve read about, I just want to dive in 100% but I know that won’t work for me. I have been almost all raw today though! Green smoothie this morning…and then I really just wasn’t hungry all day, which was SHOCKING to me! I just felt full the whole day. That’s never happened to me before. I had to kinda nudge myself to have some dinner, which was a sprouted quinoa/spinach/apple/plum/avocado/almond/raisin salad. I had some regular ice cream for dessert, but other that was about it!

  I don’t know how I feel about fasting either…I’d be curious to try a juice fast for a few days. But too long or just water or something…I dunno, I would be afraid it would trigger ED behaviours for me too. I tried a Master Cleanse once, and I felt all self-loathing and sooooo hungry the whole first day, and ended up binging that night.

  Today though, I was so shocked…I’m kind of a compulsive grazer, but after my smoothie this morning…I had a few minor cravings, but nothing I couldn’t ignore…which never happens, I almost always fall prey to them. I just felt so FULL. I’m just like “Holy crap! Am I feeling a difference already? Could this finally, FINALLY be the thing that helps me, my health, my mentality, and my WEIGHT?!” I’m almost afraid it was a fluke. I guess we’ll see tomorrow, I’m trying to be positive.

  Rawdance, MON46, Winona, lulushka8, Izhpt, MsDerious, Quiora, Mydori, thank you all so much for contributing your blessed light and love and beautiful energy here!