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I only bring it up if necessary…like if someone is trying to shove cookies in my face, “try one! try one!” then I make a point to tell them.
Otherwise, I just keep quiet about it these days, unless asked. I found out that some people act really weird when finding out that I am raw vegan.
Today at work was cool though, because two people approached and asked me about my lifestyle directly, and I got the chance to open up about it. .
I didn’t tell my friends yet and I’ve been raw since last november, transitioning 6 months before that!! If it ever comes up in a convo with anyone, I just say I’m vegan. When they ask what on earth do I eat, I mention all the raw stuff and they don’t even notice that its raw, lol.
I’ve been thinking alot about telling my friends but I’m too nervous about their reaction to my diet. They think I’m limited enough already being vegan. I’m just waiting for the right time and moment to tell them…
...Sorry for being a coward guys, but I don’t want being raw to seem like a big deal if I tell people that I’m specifically RAW vegan. The only people who know I’m raw are my extended family for now (we live near each other). You know, I even made my grandpa cry because he’s like oh that poor girl. All she eats is leafs. No meat, no rice, no bread. Can you believe it!!!!! He thinks I’m starving myself or something!! Its actually kind of funny though, lol. If only he knew how much I REALLY eat compared to the rest of the family lol! I’m so mean.
at first i was a little nervous about telling people about my new choices. I even delayed telling my mom for about 6 weeks because when I had mentioned months before that about being interested in raw food, she freaked out. Luckily, everyone has been way more supportive than I ever imagined. Yes, my mom thnks i’m nuts, but she’s not upset or trying to change my mind. I’ve even had some good heart-to-hearts with my dad, who used to be perhaps more in to health food than I am now! He revealed to me that he even used to sprout all different things! Wow! Although he now eats a SAD-ish diet, I have inspired him to get out his old juicer and start buying more organic foods.
I guess I have learned that the people who really care about you will be happy no matter what you are doing, as long as you are obviously happy and healthy. The other people might not be happy with that, but that is their problem, not yours!!
That all being said, I totally understand being self-conscious about everything. it’s hard sometimes.
I never bring it up… When I went vegetarian, I learned quickly how “stupid” I must be… The “idiot” glares and rediculous questions like, “What are you trying to prove?” That was from parents, mother in particular and adult children… My closest girlfriend is the only person who knows I’m a raw foodist but she doesn’t understand… It is funny to me when they tell me how good I look, but don’t get it!!! My big thing is “Health” and I have never been better and now I have the blood work to prove it… So happy to keep my secret and would also be happy to share it, if truly asked by someone who really wants to know… A girl has to do, what a girl has to do!!! Enjoy your good health and don’t worry about what others say or think, is my montra!!!
yeah, I got great enough responses when I said I was vegetarian..I can’t imagine RAW vegan! One kid was like, if you don’t eat meat how are you so tall? I just laugh. It’s hilarious(and sad) the things people believe. I don’t really care what people think about my diet. I just think it’s funny the way people react to my announcements.
I carry a stainless steel thermos or two to work with me holding either green smoothies, MC Lemonade, or an occasional hemp fruit smoothie. I have been doing well eating like this and it is convenient for my lifestyle. When you do this, people tend to ask what’s in the thermos. I initially told people who asked about raw food.. I never recieved a sigle posiyive response, even from the few vegetarians I encountered. They all looked at me like I’m on crack and would say things liky “Why would you do that to yourself?” Now I just tell people it’s a health shake I got at an athletic club – end of conversation. I eat out twice a month with some friends from work. I am not 100% raw, but I am pretty close. These friends have no idea because I eat a normal meal with them, usually a salad but sometimes a bowl of soup. I do eat meat occasionally, but not resturaunt meat. My friends do remark on my weight loss.
I live in a college town so people here are more educated than the other parts of the state. My state is in the South and we are considered a bible belt and the culture follows the name. Anything alternative is often considered ill-advised or suspicious, unless it involves the 7 deadly sins. Then everybody is on board unless their relatives, neighbors or church members will find out. There is a small part of the city that is inhabitated with people that have a different take on things. They are open-minded,into Eastern philosophies and spirituality, healthy environments and food, simplistic lifestyles, arts, etc. I am lucky enough to live there. In that neighborhood, people find raw food interesting and ask positive questions if at all. I have met 30+ people at my market doing raw food to some extent, with maybe 6 or so dedicated to high raw or all-raw.
that’s interesting. so no one is public?
when i was sort of uncomfortable with this lifestyle i would find it really awkward to bring up, especially since i’d have to do it when saying “i’m sorry i can’t eat that…” but i had this epiphany the other day that i’m NORMAL! this is really a totally normal thing to do. why am i embarrassed? it just gives other people reason to marginalize my choice. so i started to offhandedly bring it up.
so far i’ve gotten into some great convos with people. obviously, i don’t tell everyone. it just takes the pressure off of EATING when you know you don’t have to do the explaining THEN. =)
i think we might be doing ourselves (and the movement) a disservice by being quiet. how is anyone going to know we exist and are cool people?
It was because of someone else who was raw that I became raw. I had never heard of it, knew nothing about it. But I saw what it did for him and decided it was worth a try. This is how I’ve come to just about every lifestyle choice I’ve made – by learning from someone else. By talking about it – yeah, you may get 50 weird looks or questions, but I now have friends who are interested and experimenting in it and enjoying it. If I had never said anything they may not have been able to experience it for themselves.
before I told my boyfriend, I had geared myself up for a really negative, or at least highly skeptical reaction. I was even ready to make compromises like agreeing to eat cooked meals with him every so often so we could continue to cook together and go out to restaurants—at least for a while. but to my utter surprise, he was completely accepting and supportive and even said he would try to eat more raw, too! every so often, he’ll still ask me where I’m getting this or that nutrient, or how I know I’m getting enough protein (haha..), but overall the reaction was way better than I expected. and that’s a major confidence boost as far as working up the courage to tell other people.
Pianissima, you are 110% right about how important it is that we put out there what we do and who we are…and while I know this to be true, I’m still figuring out how exactly to tell people. I like your suggestion of talking about it before the dreaded eating scenario plays out. How do you—and everyone else—word the declaration that you eat raw? I’d love to hear about that—I know I’ve gotten hung up on semantics in talking to my friends about it, especially with regards to not wanting to appear judgmental about their choices—i.e. my truth involves the fact that we do not require animals/animal products to live healthfully, therefore consuming them is a choice to kill unnecessarily—but to say this to someone who is sitting opposite me eating a steak sandwich or about to is a complicated thing. I don’t want them to feel judged negatively by me any more than I want to feel judged negatively by them for my choices—there’s no room for positive change within that polarizing.
I’m not ashamed of it or anything, it just hasn’t really come up very much yet. I don’t eat around other people very often, and since I’m not quite 100%, no one has really noticed.
Yeah, I’m not ashamed either but I don’t want to get glares from my friends or have them talk behind my back. In general, I’m not really good at dealing with tension from others and you know, those negative vibes.
By the way, I think that the number one concern I get from people when I tell them I’m vegan (never mind raw), is about where I get my protien from. “Tofu and soy milk?” they ask, lol. I should say from green leafies and sprouts and nuts and seeds right? I also get comments about how my skin is so clear and glowing. What about you guys? Is this off topic? Sorry. I tend to blab on.
Anyway, once I feel I have more knowledge about nutrition (I don’t feel ready yet) then I think it will be time to share the benefits of raw foods with everyone.
I share very little information about this. I did at the beginning and then suddenly was bombarded with questions that I couldn’t (or didn’t want to) answer. After that, anything I ate came under scrutiny. Everyone felt that they should critique my lunch bag and point out if something wasn’t raw. Needless to say, this gets tired quickly.
There was the odd person who I reluctantly shared some detailed information with. Thus armed, they then went out into the world, made one green smoothie and didn’t understand why the metamorphosis hadn’t happened by the next day. This was followed by an accusatory glare at me because clearly this was somehow a failing on my part.
So, for now, I stay in the closet. ;)
samilicious. totally get the caution. yeah, i guess until you are sure that “this is me for real” on raw, it’s hard to be confident that you’d want to start telling people.
audrey—here’s how it played out today: -my employer (in a conversation where i asked her how her knee was doing): “it’s so hard to eat healthfully” -ME: “yeah it can be. although, when i became a raw foodist last year i turned my mother onto juicing. she does it every morning and she’s been really impressed by the results.”
so i’m working on not bringing it up as a topic in itself.
i have a lot of friends who are “minorities” (as in they are gay, or muslim, or communist or whatever)... i’ve sort of taken their cue. they just bring it up when it explains something about what they are doing or where their perspective is coming from: “oh, i just came from the mosque, so i’m just going to change out of this long-sleeved shirt.”
not: “i am muslim because blah blah (with the underlying message being “you should be too”)”
Pianissima, you are so right and dealing with new people is so different than family and old friends… As you may or may not know I am 61 yrs old and divorced but dating… I met a great guy last fall, that seemed to have “real” potential but when he learned I was vegetarian (at that time) he couldn’t deal with it… We already had plans for dinner two days later, but when he returned home, he called and said… “Cooking and sharing” the SAME foods was extremely important to him so he would not be able to continue seeing me… So since then I make sure my “date” knows as soon as we start talking that I am a raw vegan foodie… So far no problems, just the same question… “As long as you don’t mind what I eat, we will get along fine”... And the gentleman I am talking to now says he is interested and maybe will also become vegan in the future… Who knows, maybe a new “raw foodist” in the making!!! GRIN
definitely, family and old friends are another matter! sorry about that guy. =(
i am fairly open about it. when i first started transitioning to raw and vegan (at the same time), i was doing it for health reasons that i am also fairly open about. i have fibromyalgia and i went on an elimination diet to try to reduce my pain levels. as i settled into the diet and became more raw people were already aware of my restrictions (i can’t tolerate gluten or dairy), and i hated meat, so it was fairly natural. now i have a few people at work who wait patiently to try my food and i always bring little samples of what went into the dehydrator on the weekend. since i’m also really into yoga, i’m known around the office as a general hippie weirdo, but in a good way, and i’m totally ok with it. my boyfriend is just happy i feel better and i try my best to find the time to make something for him to eat for dinner too. while i’m making myself a raw soup or other dinner i put a chicken breast in the oven with some veggies for his dinner.
i’m living with my parents for a few months because my house isn’t ready, and they have adjusted. my blendtec has found a permanent spot on their counter and they like to taste my food. once people see how amazing the food tastes and how much nutrition you can get in a meal it’s easier to spread the word!
I think it’s interesting that so many people are not open about it because I’m pretty open and experience no problems. I don’t know if it is because my peers are teenagers or if that makes a difference but most of them think its pretty cool… crazy they say but not really in a bad way. I actually just told two people tonight and of course they thought I was crazy but the one girl is growing sunflower seeds and offered to give me some when they were ready. Most my friends at school know but its just normal that I bring my salad or smoothie to lunch when they get there pizza. lol I really haven’t experienced any negativity from telling people. My grandparents are even really normal about it.
this is interesting topic because i have been thinking about this a lot. whether to come “out” with certain people (non-vegetarians mostly!). since i have had more energy, i finally feel like doing stuff! which is a good thing.
I have told the people at work because i eat lunch with them everyday. actually, someone else was going on a “cleanse” the same day I started to eat raw so I said “oh, me to!” and people are generally very veggie-friendly and curious. plus they know i have been sick and want to get better.
i have told some friends that i am “trying to eat more raw” or “detoxing” but for the most part I have avoided getting together over food. I told the same thing to my family. the problem is that they keep wanting to meet up at a thai restaurant or something that would have been fine for me before. I guess i have to fess up at some point.
I think i was afraid to say anything because i wasn’t really sure this was part of my identity. But I had to come clean with my naturopath today and I told her “If I craved cooked foods, I’d eat them, but I don’t” and then i said I considered greens to be an important medicine for me.