It looks like you're new to The Community. If you'd like to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookI just decided about two weeks ago that I was going to eat raw. I was having problems with my skin (hives, eczema, athlete’s foot…) and my hay fever was driving me nuts, not to mention feeling bloated and overall yuck. I was hoping to boost my energy, shed the yuck feeling, and fix my allergy/skin issues. I have been vegan about 10 years and always a veggie lover, admittedly I don’t always eat as well as I should as working odd hours lets me sometimes resort to “box foods”. I never made any commitment to staying on raw food I just said I would do it as long as I wanted to… I have some practice with preparing fancy raw stuff but not much day to day. It has been pretty intense so far, I lost like 7 lbs in the first 9 days (which is pretty significant when you are 127lbs), had the D (you know what I mean), got constipated, gained 4 back (still weird bowel stuff going on)... Obsessed over every meal I’ve eaten, immersed myself in raw cookbooks, paniced about protein, and so on. My eczema and athlete’s foot went away after two days, my hay fever SEEMS to be getting better although it will take more time to be sure. Still the occasional hive. This whole time I’ve noticed I’ve been a little emotional, tearing up during sentimental commercials, 2 days ago I started feeling really depressed. I was thinking about how well the raw food was making me feel (energy and skin problems leaving) and how I should stay with it… The whole time, even though I never committed per se, I think in the back of my head I was planning on it being a permanent change. I started thinking about all the foods I was going to miss, like hot soup and rich spaghetti sauce and bread and vegan donuts… Not so much that I wanted them right then, as I haven’t been having any problems with cravings, just that I would feel sad that I never was going to have them again. I realize I have a crazy emotional attachment to food. I caved and decided to eat some popcorn, almost like to symbolicly break my raw food streak/commitment. I got acid reflux and felt guilty. I don’t know what to do. I went straight back to raw after that but my feelings of depression about my comfort foods has not gone away. I know I should just chill out and take it one day at a time and stop thinking so much about it but I’m having a hard time. Anyone relate? Any advise? Sorry this is long but I felt like I needed to let that go. Thanks for reading.
Comments
Everyone is different but I will try to share. I just went through full fledged SAD to raw between late February and mid April of this year.
I don’t have the same emotional food addiction as you, since I just liked to eat just to get full before going raw for the most part (only had a few comfort foods). But still, I had to deal with that withdrawal as well. I live in Philadelphia, a HUGE food town. Smells are always in there air here where I live and work. At first the smells were like a cruel taunt. But slowly, as I was always full from raw food, I began to just enjoy the smells for the smells that they were. It was like eating but not. As long as I was full, it become no problem to enjoy a smell for what it was. I think the problems arise when you are hungry and filling up on raw was important.
Also, it is important to have foods you can run to if you have nothing to eat. Larabars are popular enough that there may be a place that sells them around you at least a lot of the time. They give a new raw person the type of satisfaction that no fruit could. You probably already know this having been raw already.
As for the emotional issues, I would say to read a lot about what is wrong with normal food. I used to want to go to Qdoba SO badly when I had just become raw, but then the articles that I read on dherbs.com would come to my mind. These articles aren’t so much about fear-mongering but about the poison everyone eats. It was important that what I read was written semi-positively so that it wouldn’t just be living in fear. Pretty soon the association began to appear – “old” food = bad. This is while I was still eating fish. I went for about a week with no fish, and when I tried it again, I got sick. That reinforced this idea of old food = bad and I was so “proud” of my body for rejecting the food, I knew that I’d never put it through something that it didn’t like again. I’d say you just had your experience with the popcorn so I’d suggest just keeping that experience in your thoughts if you can. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the salmon making me sick.
I think the most important this was giving my own comfort food. I am in love with the No Crust Key Lime Pie recipe on here. It is my pizza…my nachos. I actually have to show restraint to not eat that stuff, no matter how full I am. Without these raw favorites it would be a lot harder and less enjoyable. Have you found any raw favorites yet?
It seems your issues are somewhat deeper but I just figured I’d share what happened with me. Sorry if the post is disorganized I was in a rush.
sarabeth—first i have to say that your dog is pretty cute.
next, i think you have to be careful about saying “never again” with certain foods. you need to just say what is right for you right now. i think you can eat cooked now and again in your life if you really want it. this last weekend there was an appeteizer of cooked plaintain at the table. well how often do I get to eat that? so I had a bite. just to try it. no big deal, i am back to raw. so give yourself permission to take it a day, week, whatever at a time so you do not feel deprived. i agree with thecavsman about finding new comfort foods and flavors. i am very comforted by bananas at this point. and raisins. i have to work on those but they work if i am in a pinch.
Hi Sarabeth, cool tats!
I’m just starting the raw thing myself, but coming from an omni diet. I’ve “fell off” a couple times, but just get right back on. No biggie. Eating raw isn’t a “test” – there’s no pass or fail. It’s just eating. I say just aim to eat raw every meal and if sometimes something non-raw sneaks in there, just learn from the experience – Why did you decide to eat it? What did you feel like (physically) afterwards? Did it taste as good as you thought it would?
I also had the EXACT same feeling about certain foods – not “then and now” cravings, but thoughts about never being able to have xxxxxxx again. So far I’m overcoming that by doing a 30-day raw trial. If it’s just for 30 days, I can eat those other things again if I want. They key is “if I want”. From what I know about other people who have done 30 days, by the time the 30 days are up, you so used to eating raw (or veggie for omnis, or vegan for veggies) that you don’t even want the other stuff anymore. But by knowing you “can” have it after the 30 days is up, your brain stops thinking about it.
Greg
Hi Sarabeth, cool tats!
I’m just starting the raw thing myself, but coming from an omni diet. I’ve “fell off” a couple times, but just get right back on. No biggie. Eating raw isn’t a “test” – there’s no pass or fail. It’s just eating. I say just aim to eat raw every meal and if sometimes something non-raw sneaks in there, just learn from the experience – Why did you decide to eat it? What did you feel like (physically) afterwards? Did it taste as good as you thought it would?
I also had the EXACT same feeling about certain foods – not “then and now” cravings, but thoughts about never being able to have xxxxxxx again. So far I’m overcoming that by doing a 30-day raw trial. If it’s just for 30 days, I can eat those other things again if I want. They key is “if I want”. From what I know about other people who have done 30 days, by the time the 30 days are up, you so used to eating raw (or veggie for omnis, or vegan for veggies) that you don’t even want the other stuff anymore. But by knowing you “can” have it after the 30 days is up, your brain stops thinking about it.
Greg
oh my gosh when you described the in back of your head “commitment to raw” thing, and the obsession with cookbooks, nutritional info, and all the foods you’ll miss. you took the words right out of my mouth. that is EXACTLY what i went through.
what i did: i went back to having cooked vegan food (steamed veggies with tomato sauce mostly) at night for 6 months (not planned, just how long it took). did all raw during the day. it was a bumpy road. but i swear to you one morning i woke up and went “today is the day” and i’ve been 100% since. it was like i needed the freedom to really make that choice for myself… and to be ready to give up the attachments.
you’ll find your path. =)
Holy cow! I needed to read this – I have been eating high-raw for almost 3 years. I never had the intention to be 100% raw; I just started to eat what my body wanted & that led to a lot of raw food very quickly. I never went longer than about 3 or 4 months without meat, though, and never longer than about 6 months without raw goat cheese, and I was using lots of the “not really raw” stuff, like nama shoyu & nuts that had been heated. So now, I don’t feel like I need meat any more, and that my body just wants really raw plant foods, and I have been having a really hard time giving these other things up! I have been going through a lot of the emotional attachment thing you described. Not that I wanted meat right then, just that I would miss it… I had the same thing happen when I went past the miso at the health food store – I thought of it like a friend I would miss, even though I haven’t eaten miso in over a year and I never ate it much anyway! I had to let myself feel sad, recognizing that this is a huge change, and that it’s normal & healthy to miss things that have been positive or helpful in your life. The reason I was so sad about meat, is that it used to be what my body needed. Same thing with the miso – it used to be a “friend” to my body, and now it isn’t. So I guess I am sort of mourning the changing or letting go of a relationship that isn’t working/positive any more, just as I have mourned breakups with ex-boyfriends even though I knew and felt that the breakup was now the best thing. I guess I wished that this thing that was familiar could still be as good as what I once thought or hoped it would always be. So, yeah, it’s just food, but it’s just romance, or it’s just whatever else that you feel emotionally attached to because it used to give you what you needed. What has been helping me is to focus on doing things I really enjoy or that make my life better :)
i was planning on posting something very similar to what you posted. about the attachments I can’t seem to get over. I totally know what you mean. When I think that I can never have a piece of pizza or rich, gooey, warm, chocolate cake..I FLIP. and I go straight to it and eat it for about 5 days straight! things get a little unhealthy for me in my head sometimes, i guess. i dont really know what to do. will plan on making this msg board my family and will have ya’ll help me through it. cause all in all, i know that 100% raw is really what i want. i was 100% for a month and a half and it was the best I had ever felt in my life!
Thank you all so much for your perspectives. It really helps a lot. I’m going on vacation next month to southern ca, and while it certainly wouldn’t be hard to stay raw down there with all the delicious fresh produce (stone fruit, avocados, oh my!) we will be staying with my bf’s family a few days and I feel like I am not ready for the ackward conversation about my diet… as it is they have to deal with us being vegan. I definitely am not going to eat whatever they make (it’s a big mexican family, so some combination of rice an beans every night) because I think rich beans and rice may kill my stomache but I way have a little rice or something here and there if I feel like it. Luckily produce is ample and I LOVE salad.
Yesterday was our aniversary and I was craving spaghetti sauce (the red stuff I used to make) so I comprimised, he had corn pasta (GF) and I had raw zucchini noodles with my home made sauce on top. It was cooked sauce but I think I really did my body a favor by not having the starchy noodles. I think I still have some easing in to do and what pianissima said about the lightly cooked dinners may be just what I need to do to be gentle with myself and not let stress over rule the benifits of my lifestyle change.
I think the hardest thing for me is that food is really my life. I am a vegan baker by profession (let me tell you the guilt I’ve been having about handing people sugar, wheat, and oil, topped with more sugar), my number one hobby is cooking, I love preparing food for people. Since I’ve been raw I’ve been cooking solo. My bf has been cooking for himself (which means he isn’t eating as well since he’s a very impatient cook (hot dogs with a tortilla and vegan cheese, eww). I miss preparing food for him. I miss making the foods I love, like my spaghetti sauce, vegan chilli, mac and cheese, ultimate nachos. All the vegan specialties that have taken me ten years to perfect and I take so much enjoyment and pride in.
So yeah, I’m a nut job. I am going to transition. I think I can’t do it the way I normally make changes in my life, cold turkey. It is going to happen though. Again, thanks so much for your thoughts and understanding. Your advise along my journey really helps.
I went off the wagon bad for a few weeks. I was eating cooked foods, processed foods, even some dairy. I was just compulsively eating – and then going through the guilt cycles right after I ate.Then I just realized how gross I felt. My skin even felt gross – and I normally have great skin. So, I am cleansing right now to get those nasty toxins out of my body I just put in, and ready to start fresh and clean again.
I to use to cook a lot – no for a living or anything, but I cooked for a lot of people. I really enjoyed it. My friends would always have me come over to cook for them, and I would cook for parties and such, and it is kind of sad to let go of some of that. But it is just a transition, and I know that it will get easier. I enjoy coming up with new raw recipes, but no one calls me up to cook for them, or their parties anymore. No one wants to come to my house for dinner. I really miss that. I keep telling them that they ‘ll like it, but….
AlyssaDyane – Wow – they won’t even try your food? I would say make something to give them, but if they refuse to try it, I guess you may not want to push the issue…
I agree with everyone else. Don’t push yourself into that whole -”never again” menality. You will drive yourself crazy.
I have been into raw for 6 years and I was only 100% for a few months once. I honestly feel better if I am not 100% – maybe it will always be like that maybe it won’t but I am not going to beat myself up about it. I find that there alot of learning to do about what are the best foods for yourself etc so there is a little more to than “just switch over” right away. It took me 15 years to go vegan so it might take me just as long to be all raw – but that isn’t my goal.
This weekend I went out for vegan french toast and veggie rasta food – yum yum! Although, I must admit as I normally let out groans of pleasure when eating that vegan french toast – I noticed how sort of hard and rubbery is was (and by french toast standards it is awesome). It was still tasty but you start looking at food different when you are raw – it almost seems inanimate when it is cooked.
And the worst was yesterday I hate half a bag of organic corn chips with roasted peanut butter. It was the salt and later I was in a grouchy icky mood because of it.
I am definately noticing how my mood changes if I have certain foods – for me, I think it is soy that triggers it. Which sucks because I have to be careful with all the yummmy vegan soy things I crave.
maybe you can add some raw stuff to your vegan dessert menu now. Honestly if you make them right people don’t know the difference if it is raw or not!
Although, it takes some getting used it – maybe you can try making your bf raw version of the cooked things he liked to eat. Some of them can be quite tasty.
I am normally a “cold turkey” person myself too – but this is really different because there is so much involved in going raw – detox, food craving, social aspects.. It is a bit more difficult than most would imagine. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done! I hope you can do it!
Oh AlyssaDyane I am so with you on feeling sad about cooking. I am dealing with feelings about giving up cooking and eating cooked Indian food and so on…
I fell of the raw wagon for two weeks recently but you know, it just made me feel happier about going back to raw eating. My skin broke out badly (I’m talkin’ BADDDDD), I put on 5lbs, my stomach got bloated and I stopped being ‘regular’. Plus, I no longer had as much taste satisfaction when I ate cooked food as I do when I eat living food.
Just do what feels right and listen to your body. I know that one thing that helps me on my journey is this site. I love that everyone here is so non-judgemental and accepting. It really is nice…
Be gentle with yourself and hang in there:))))))