Ok, here are some of my best tips!! :-)
1. Stay full!!! Don’t get ever too hungry. Especially in the beginning of your raw journey!
2. Don’t ever get too tired or too stressed!! Being tired and stressed makes it VERY difficult to maintain your positive, healthy new lifestyle.
3. Whatever you do, don’t indulge this cooked food fantasies!!! As soon as a craving pops into your head, immediatley STOP it and start thinking about something else!! The longer you think about that food and start imaging how good it will taste, smell, feel in your mouth, feel in your tummy, make you feel afterward, etc… the harder it will be to not give into it!!!
All that indulgent fantasizing will get your digestive juices flowing in your mouth and in your stomach and that alone will make it EXTREMELY hard to not give in. PLUS when we fantasize about our old favorite cooked comfort foods we are just strengthening the neural networks in our brain that associate that food with comfort and happiness and enjoyment when we really need to be working hard on making new, positive mental associations with raw comfort foods!! -)
4. Find at least five (preferably ten) raw recipes or foods that you REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LOVE and crave and immediately fix or eat one of those when you are having a bad craving. ALWAYS have the ingredients on hand for these recipes!!! THIS STEP IS CRUCIAL!!
5. ALWAYS HAVE MORE FOOD WITH YOU ON ANY EATING OR SOCIAL OCCASION THAN YOU THINK YOU COULD EVERY POSSIBLY, HUMANLY NEED! :-) THIS IS ALSO CRUCIAL!! You must stay satisfied!
6. Going raw is about beautiful bounty and abundance!!! Not denial!!! It is very important to make this connection now!
I hope these help!!!
Blessings,
Audrey
Comments
Great tips! #2 is SO important. It’s all about getting enough sleep and mental rest. That helps SO much. Here are my newbie tips: Look at pictures online of raw foods – that way it’s easy to be excited about fabulous uncooked foods! Also – watch youtube or other videos about the power of raw foods (I do this every night – I’m on week 4 100% raw) Blog regularly – support groups are essential. I have a support group of raw foodists that meet in person as well, once a week.
These are fantastic tips. I like the one about carrying more food than you could ever need. I think this is important for me. I need to have something to eat during those ‘emergency’ situations – have to work late, stop by somewhere on the way home, etc.. If I don’t have anything available but I’m hungry, I have difficulties.
Thanks very much for the tips.
GREAT TIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I must say, I have yet to master tip number 2. That’s where all my slip-ups come from! But yes, I always carry food with me, apples and what not. And I very often carry salad dressings with me in case I end up at a restaurant!
Sweet! Thank you for sharing your experience, chilove! :o)
Thanks, Chilove. What a great post. It was really cool of you to just put that out there. I was about 90% raw but then went on vacation in a different country (lots of eating out everyday for 2 weeks, not raw) and now I am getting back to my normal routine and finding transitioning back to high raw to be difficult. #1 fit me really well… and #2….. ok, I found very fitting and good advice in your entire post. So, thank you very much for writing it! And it is a great topic. I hope lots of people add to it! I fit in the category of “transitioners” and it is a process…. probably a long one…. so these helpful hints are golden!
I can add my two cents: greens! As much as possible to help with cravings.
You’re very welcome!!! I’m so glad that you all found them helpful.
Blessings!
Audrey
Thank you, Audrey! As a real newbie (2 days!) I will print them out as reminders for the days ahead.
Keep a journal. I found this to be very helpful and beneficial to learning about myself at the same time. I kept a little notepad in my back pocket and I’d write down every cooked food I craved during the day and what it was I ate raw to prevent that craving. I also noted down everything raw that I ate. By doing so I was mesmerized that I went a week without eating any citrus and on the 8th day I consumed 8 oranges and 10 tangelos. I’m not a fan of citrus fruits but on that day my body could not get enough – perhaps lacking vitamin C or some other vital nutrient? It was so intriguing to see that trend on paper.
By doing this is keeps you constantly busy and helps provoke your mind to remaining on the correct path. Give it a try – you’ll be amazed. :)
Thanks for the tips. Oh, I so know that about #3. I have experienced it plenty lol. I am a major beginner too, not quite there yet but well on my way…I will definitely be using these. Thanks :)