I'm trying to eat more raw foods, but I can't seem to get past the addictive processed foods I've been eating for 33 years of my life (all my life). I tried going raw summer 2008 and I lost about 10 lbs but then I got sucked back in by the 'black hole.' I want to go through my cabinets and throw out all the processed food in my house, but I know my husband wouldn't like that. He's supportive about what I want, but there's certain things he won't live without (like soda). I only drink water or organic juices so having soda in the house isn't a big deal for me. However, I LOVE cookies and I gobble them up if they're just sitting around. The fresh produce in the stores here (Illinois) sucks in the winter. It's usually already going bad by the time it gets to the store. It's easier for me to eat healthy in the summer because there are more options. Ugh! I'm so frustrated! This is probably what a drug addict or alcoholic feels like when they really want to get off the drugs or alcohol but can't because the chemical has such a hold on them. I really want to be free from sugar and processed foods, but it keeps reeling me in. I feel like a failure because my willpower isn't strong enough to stop me from eating that crap. I feel like the chemical dependence is too strong.
I guess my question to you is how did you overcome the addicting processed foods? How long did it take you to get over them? Do you ever trip up because you remember the way it made you feel and you end up eating something you shouldn't? What can I do to overcome my processed food addiction? A couple things I thought of were to throw out everything in my house like I mentioned before and to have my mom do my grocery shopping so that I don't buy things not on my list. Thanks for your help and advice.
Comments
Hi cargirl0699,
Great to read your honest account of your struggle. I think Parsley said so many good things in her reply.
I still struggle with eating non-raw things, not so much processed foods, but sometimes. I found a helpful thing to keep saying over and over to myself when shopping is "if it isn't raw, don't buy it". This is helpful, in that if I happen to get into some old crackers or whatever in the cupboard, I don't condemn myself, just figure this is the last of that thing I'll be eating, because I won't be buying any more. If you stick to that, and keep your husband's "must have" stuff in a seperare, sort of quaranteed spot, you won't be getting into that either, and eventually your food sources will be "clean". I say that because just gutting it out with "will power" doesn't work for me, and I think it doesn't for most people. I still have some beans and grain stuff that I will probably cook and eat over time, but I'm only buying quinoa and mung beans and lentils to sprout, so it won't last for very long. This has been a good transition strategy for me.
Maybe start by going through the cupboards with your supportive husband and elicit his help in getting the stuff he really wants to consume into one area of the kitchen that you will just avoid, as not yours. Hope this helps
best wishes- osoniye
Thanks to all of you for you comments and advice. I'm printing all of this out so I can read it when I get frustrated. Thank you so much for your support.
Reading these comments have been very inspiring to me. This is a direction I am heading into. I still struggle not because I want other things but because I don't know how to prepare interesting meals with raw foods. They tend to be boring My family is not protesting when i prepare somthing interesting and tasty BUT I am limited on recipes and how to put it all together. Any Helpful hints for me.....will be GREATLY appreciated! THANK YOU, Raw n Lovin It
Thought I would throw in my two cents even though I am new at this.
I live in a household with seven other people than myself. My husband loves his junk food and gatorade. We have four teenagers and two younger children. Throwing out all the cooked and dead food is absolutely not an option. But what I have done that seems to have really made my transitioning seem easier to deal with (I also LOVE home made cookies and crackers) is to clear off a shelf in the cabinet and filling it with things that I can eat. I put everything we had that I could eat on that shelf including the raison box. I also went online and bought a few cases of raw food bars or mostly raw food bars to give me an indulgence when I need one. I also claimed a drawer in the refridgerator for my stuff, fruit, salads, seeds, and have filled it with containers of things like raw almond butter/coconut balls, sundried tomatoes in olive oil (the oil is solid when cold but is liquid again in minutes) and other stuff like that. I have just found that really having some sort of ownership in the kitchen has helped. I still need to cook food for the others most of the time but it doesn't really bother me this time because my food is there too. Also it is fine with me if the others forage through "my stuff", good for them, just as long as they save me some!
In a so called perfect situation we all would go raw together and be one big happy family. But as for today it doesn't seem to be in their cards- not yet...