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To All in TRANSITION...

I keep seeing forum topics for 100% raw, but where are all the people who struggle or choose not to be 100% raw? I would like to hear from people who choose to eat less than 100% raw (even though 100% may be your long term goal).

I was mostly raw last summer, up until about December maybe. Then I was back to eating mostly cooked since the fruits I love were unavailable and I was craving heavier foods and didn’t want a lot of nuts.

Now I am back to trying to be mostly raw again. But it is harder this time. I know I feel better when I eat that way, but I struggle with it. I find my nose becomes pretty stuffy now when I eat too much wheat and I hate it. I did not have any mucus problems when I ate mostly raw.

Now when I say mostly raw, I mean breakfast, lunch and snacks where raw. I did eat a small cooked dinner. I just needed something heavier at night and I didn’t want nuts. I craved that “full” feeling. But when I do eat cooked, I usually eat vegan.

I became a vegetarian 3 years ago, still eating occasional seafood items and still eating cheese. Then I replaced the cheese with soy cheese and slowly quit the seafood. I have been slowly transitioning to vegan. I wonder if I will need to be vegan for a while before I naturally transition to raw?

Is there anyone else out there who is struggling the way I am? I get discouraged reading the forums from people who are eating raw all day long without an apparent struggle and loving it. Not that I don’t love raw food, but I am not craving it all day. I love to eat and I don’t want to feel like I am punishing myself by not eating what I want… The other issue is time. For example, I want to eat raw lasagne but all those preparation steps are daunting. I’d rather purchase it from someone…

I just want to know if there are more yo-yo’s out there like myself! And can I hear from you?! What are YOUR struggles?? What are YOUR goals?? How did YOU come to eat raw foods??

Comments

  • nycgrrlnycgrrl Raw Newbie

    Transition is good—listen to your body. There are many people who never intend to be 100% raw, and if that’s what you feel is right for you, then that’s great!! If your body feels good eating the way it is, then stick with it. One day you might want to go incorporate more raw into your diet, or maybe not. As long as you stick with healthy vegan choices, I think you’re doing better than 99% of the population :)

    My struggles, to answer your questions, are: quinoa, beans, brown rice—love them. Tea in the morning (quit coffee 2 months ago—yay me!!).

    My goals? To make the best choices I can at any given time. Sometimes, when I am travelling, that has meant eating a bit of cooked raw vegan, like the broccoli rabe I had last week. And that’s okay. I would like to be 99% raw, that is my goal. If occasionally I have a beer, or a cup of tea, I think that’s okay with me. But I am doing a 30 day challenge over at http://doingtherawthing.blogspot.com to find out if for me 100% raw makes a huge difference.

    Never feel that you’re not doing well. If you’re struggling, take it slowly. Don’t beat yourself up. Just listen to your body, make the best choices you can make at any given time. Your body will tell you what it needs, reallly. For a while there, I was so annoyed I wasn’t 100%, I felt like a “failure”. But it’s not (neccesarily) 100% that your body needs right this minute, particularly if your head isn’t there yet. ALL of you has to be ready, not just your body. And you know what, if you never are 100%, but rather 80% or whatever, that’s AWESOME!!!

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    Someone said something about only going as fast as the slowest part of yourself. That makes sense to me. I have the opposite problem from you as far as wheat goes – I do really well eating wheat, but I don’t always have the time to make my own sprouted wheat breads, crackers, etc. – That’s when I eat Manna bread (which I used to think was raw but now people say it isn’t). I struggle when I don’t have enough raw choices to give me all the nutrition I need – usually because of a lack of time, money, planning, appliances (like when traveling), etc. I have been eating mostly raw for 3 years, though, with the only non-raw items being meat (sometimes; not every day), goat milk products that were raw but obviously not vegan, and a few things from the dead food list – things like nuts that aren’t truly raw, nama shoyu, etc. and I have gone back to eating more cooked food a couple of times & felt how much worse it was FOR ME. So I have more motivation now to stay raw now, because I know how good I feel. I felt REALLY GOOD before, when I was eating all those other things, and right now, I feel REALLY GOOD eating raw plant foods, but I feel better eating Manna bread occasionally than if I don’t eat any wheat. I’m just trying harder to get sprouted wheat things made & eaten now. And even though I love raw foods, and I feel great eating them, I still struggle occasionally when I am really hungry, really tired, etc. and don’t have something raw that is easy/quick. I have learned that it is important for me to plan ahead by having plenty of fresh fruit, salad fixin’s, sprouted grain something, and a dessert or seed cheese made for something “heavier” when I want it. With those things available, I do well in getting a variety of flavors & nutrition, and I have options for “lighter” & “heavier” foods. Feeling like a failure will never make a person happier, healthier, etc. Improvement, joy, etc. only come through continual learning, growth & knowing I am doing the best I can where I am.

  • Thank you for posting about this. Sometimes I feel it is hard to find a place to define myself. I am definately in transition. I am not sure at this point if 100% raw is my goal. I tried the 80/10/10 but was not ready for that either. I have never had more than one day 100% raw, and those are sparingly mixed with other mostly “raw till dinner” days. I do struggle with this b/c I have issues with perfectionism. So in my mind, the 80/10/10 is the quintesential “perfect” diet I aspire to. Every time I deviate eating SAD food, high fat raw, etc., I feel I have somehow failed. Yet I will randomly eat total junk, like a polish sausage, just to remind myself I can. Part of this is I have my husband very set in his SAD ways (as far as eating) and it is almost a source of tension sometimes that we eat so differently. So I try to compromise a bit and wind up having kinda a foot in both worlds—a raw vegan soul trapped in the body of an omnivore! I realize I have choices to make and there are times I do opt to take the SAD food and splurge. That is why for now, the ‘raw till dinner’ helps me stay sane. I am trying to see going raw as an additive thing, not a negative thing. That is, I am adding more yummy raw foods to my SAD diet rather than thinking I am taking things away. Anyway, I find when I stop reading a lot about raw or stay away from the forums, I quickly start gravitating back to SAD, which is interesting to me. The other day, I went to a raw gormet resturant and was so grossed out by all the nut based foods. I would much rather have gone japanese and had a sashimi salad! Anyway, those are my struggles, trying to take it a day at a time, but I have set a goal from Sunday to this Thursday of eating 801010 with lots of juice too. So far so good, but I am craving SAD food too.

  • Bananna1333Bananna1333 Raw Newbie

    Wow can I ever relate! ....to all of you, very much!

    I think angie is right, it’s a lot to do with substituting…and having that on hand and making life easy and normalish.

    I have been raw for about ten days straight, and come close to that a few more times. I do half raw now easily. I am always vegetarian now. And am really close to vegan.

    I just watched all of Tonya Kay’s stuff on youtube….and I find I am constantly needing to find new raw reading material to stay motivated. But then, when I steer away from raw, I end up waking up one morning and thinking ‘OH MY GO*!!!!’ My face looks like a train wreck…well, ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration….but sometimes my reaction is not far off….and that steers me back to raw. I just can’t friggin drop it. It won’t go away.

    I too have the 811 bug. But I am letting most of it go, with the exception of watching my fat intake. I want to use spices. And onions. And salt. I see myself always drinking tea too.

    But it’s summer, and with all these delicious fruits around, I’m going to give it another go. Except I am eating some very healthy looking chocolate from the health food store that is made of cacao nibs and stuff you would normally find in a raw recipe I’m just sure they’re not raw. But no weird chemicals and liquers….and I don’t care, all of the dessert recipes are too time consuming, too hard to find ingredients for, you have to order online or they don’t even tast good. So untill that problem is solved, I am going the Dagoba bar route.

    That aside, I am going to try and be raw again. I hope kale chips taste as good as everyone says….lol.

  • thanks for posting this.

    I am fine until the evening when I turn into an insane person. I want to be raw 100% but when it gets late I can’t help but have something cooked it seems. I have managed to eliminate red meat, pork, turkey.. chicken is near gone except the occasional slip up and I still eat seafood of all kinds.

    I think for me I have gone from standard SAD - junk food, fast food, meat, cooked, everything, to trying to go raw very quickly.. I am starting to realize its ok and not to get too upset with myself when I have something cooked at night.

    I’m not perfect, I’m a work in progress and Ive already noticed a million benefits.

  • I’m so pleased to hear that others have the same struggles as me. I was very ‘gung ho’ at the beginning but have found that as my world has become busier, my motivation is slipping. For the past 2 months I have only been about 50% raw (if that, some days) and have been seeking out my comfort foods (bread, cookies, cheese). Also, money has been a bit tight lately and, let’s face it, eating raw isn’t always cheap. Now that summer is in full swing, things are getting better in that area – lots of fresh produce at really reasonable prices.

    My intention is to take stock this weekend, do a fresh grocery shop and get back to a significantly higher percentage of raw. I have lost my glow and my skin is horrible (probably all of the dairy). I also have my Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine book that I haven’t read yet. I’m thinking that this will help with the motivation.

    Wish me luck. :)

    BTW, Angie – you look amazing – glowing and happy. All of your hard work seems to be paying off.

  • chriscarltonchriscarlton Raw Newbie

    Here are two threads that touch on this subject…

    http://www.goneraw.com/forums/3/topics/6309

    http://www.goneraw.com/forums/3/topics/6443

    Lovebows, Chris

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    Karuna – Thank you! On the Rainbow Green book, it is VERY restrictive – much more than a regular raw food diet. If it appeals to you, then go ahead; I just wanted to give you a heads up, cuz it can be really overwhelming and difficult, especially if you’re already struggling with just trying to eat raw. :)

  • kminty3kminty3 Raw Newbie

    I relate to this post too. While it is easy for me to be raw during the day and weekdays especially.. on the weekends I tend to relax and want to cook/ eat what my husband has cooked. Also if he cooks a dinner during the week I almost always partake. What I decided to do was prioritize.. it’s hard to be “perfect” so I decide to have some things set in stone, others flexible. Vegan is non negotiable, I keep that no matter what. Low fat is my next priority as I am trying the 8-1-1 things.. my third priority is raw. That may sound like raw is unimportant and it’s not, I eat 60 percent raw or more every day.. but if I have some cooked rice or potato or cereal I figure that’s better, for me, than heavy nut based raw food. I also do not do coffee at all after a 15 year addiction to eat but will have yerba mate a couple of times a week. That’s where I am at and I try not to beat myself up if I eat cooked vegan dinners three nights in a row or something like that. I just go on to a couple nights of salads or raw soup and move on.. at least that’s the goal! stupid feelings of guilt are so tough

  • stylistchickstylistchick Raw Newbie

    sounds like a similar path to what i have taken. i was very close to 100% starting last summer for about 6 months. after christmas i added some gluten free cooked foods. for a couple of months i binged, maybe not by most peoples standards, but for me it was bad. i think i just got lazy, i got tired of planning prepping, and waiting 4 days for my dehydrated food to be done. and the cleaning involved in doing raw foods got to me too.

    now, i’ve got horrible, nearly crippling pain and i haven’t been unable to get a diagnosis. its similar to the pain i had last year that brought me to the raw food lifestyle, but it seems to have gotten worse.

    so i’ve gone from about 60-70% raw, to about 90% in the last couple of weeks. unfortuneately its illness that is bringing me back into the fold.

    i think we have to have some perspective, look at where we were before we began, and say wow! we’ve all had progress, i think even being 100% for a month would forever change a person.

    be gentle with yourself.

  • heathermarsbombheathermarsbomb Raw Newbie

    ” Lauren1982 writes, 8 hours ago: (13 posts)

    thanks for posting this.

    I am fine until the evening when I turn into an insane person. I want to be raw 100% but when it gets late I can

  • I’n not 100%; more like 90-95%. It doesn’t bother me a bit not to be 100% because I don’t view it as a holy grail. If I feel like having something cooked, I do—mostly this happens when I go out. I eat what I want without guilt. There is no raw food police to scold you; only the internal critic who probably needs to be told to shut up.

    This shouldn’t be about beating yourself up over percentages. It should be about enjoying fabulous food (number one in my book) and enjoying the health benefits from adding more raw food to your diet.

    Any steps someone takes to add more raw produce, seeds, and nuts to their diet is commendable. Getting hung up over percentages and talking about ‘backsliding’ and ‘falling off the wagon’ really sounds perjorative and self-wounding.

    Just my two cents.

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    my husband is mostly raw but not all raw, by choice. i can’t really speak entirely for him but he just doesn’t want to be limited. he doesn’t like to pack a lunch and gets tired of salads everyday at lunch. when we’re at home, we eat mostly the same stuff but sometimes he eats a meal of quinoa and sweet potatoes. I think it’s about finding what is right for your body. For me, I am trying to stay 100% raw through the summer. But I have goals that he does not have, like weight loss and energy levels. I think it’s worth taking a day or two to be 100% raw to just see how good you can feel. And to use a 100% diet to cleanse if you need to. But don’t worry, there are a lot of people in all places on this forum, I think we are mostly here to talk about what we DO have in common (such as raw) so the conversations tend to focus on that.

  • Thank you so much EVERYONE for your replies! It is good to know that I am not the only one who struggles! I know we come on this site because we all eat raw but it just seems everyone who speaks out repeatedly are 100% or close to it and for perfectionists (like myself) it causes one to wonder why they can’t stay on top of their game! It is good to get support from people who share my pain! I think nycgrrl said it best: My head is not ready yet.

    So I will embrace who I am, where I am. I am just going to incorporate more raw foods and eat whatever cooked vegan foods I crave for the day!

    I did do 100% raw for (I think) 5 days one time. It wasn’t too hard because I knew it wasn’t forever. I did feel better, but it is very time consuming and costly. It is also difficult to maintain b/c I have a husband and 2 kids to feed who are not raw. Also, I like to go out to eat sometimes, and there are no raw food restaurants where I live. Plus sometimes, I just feel deprived. I don’t think 100% raw is my goal. I think my goal will have to be vegan with some raw added in. At least for now anyway.

    Thanks again for replying to my thread. I honestly did not expect so many replies! I was afraid I was the only one! ;-)

  • kminty3kminty3 Raw Newbie

    Good for you wanna_B_raw.. I often feel the same way. I was not even a vegetarian before learning about raw so just being vegan is a big switch. I really enjoy being vegan though and am emphasizing raw in my diet.. when I eat rice/ kamut/ boiled potatoes/ I try not to stress of feel guilty.

  • I guess it’s a little motivating to hear that ppl struggle sometimes too, I’ve been trying SO hard to be 100% raw for about 6 months now and every time i make it about 2 or maybe 3 weeks and then drown myself in a sea of pizza and beer for weeks, but i guess I’m doing better now, I’ve been making transition recipes that yeah, are kinda high on the fat scale because of avocados and nuts, but it is for sure helping me crave less SAD and alcohol, and specially now that I’m in training to run a marathon it just feels right. I think my goal would be that instead of freaking out about me cheating and eating pizza I’ll maybe feel bad for eating too many avocados or something, that being in a 100% raw life. Good luck to everyone.

  • RisnwthHimRisnwthHim Raw Newbie

    If truth were told, there are probably very few who are ALWAYS 100% raw, not that that’s not a good thing—most of us are just not there. I take the same attitude as Raw Librarian—I refuse to beat myself up over my food choices. I try to always eat intentionally, whether the food I eat is raw or not. I eat mostly raw (somedays almost 100% – “almost” b/c I refuse to give up morning coffee, but at least it’s organic and I use raw brazil nut “cream” in it). I keep raw Lara Bars on hand to tide me over for those times when I’m suddenly “starving” and there’s nothing else raw in sight. I keep them in my purse and desk drawer at work. However, sometimes I go out to eat w/ my husband and choose to eat some cooked food. I usually have a BIG salad before the main dish and take 1/2 of the entree home. I’m visiting NY (my home state) for a couple weeks later this summer and I’m already PLANNING to go out for pizza b/c it’s one of those things I treat myself to when I go visit family in NY. I might consume some other amazing Italian dishes while I’m there, as well, b/c Italian food is one of the things NY does best (lightyears better than here in Cincinnati).

    My point, I guess, is that we should not be so hard on ourselves that we stoically deny ourselves these simple pleasures. I’ve already made preparations to eat raw in NY, too – ordering a food processor for my daughter whom I’ll be staying with. I’m dehydrating some burgers, crackers, etc to take w/ me to snack on while traveling and to have when I first arrive.

    My choice to eat pizza in NY and my choice to purchase a food processor for my daughter are both intentional choices. I know I’m not going to be 100% raw either at home or on vacation, but I’m comfortable w/ my choices and I don’t think less of myself because of them.

    This is a journey – and we are ALL transitioning, to one degree or another. Our raw community is here to help each of us to find what works for us. I can’t tell you how much I’ve benefited by all of you who share your tips and recipes on this site. I’ve copied so many of these recipes onto the SD card in my PocketPC—and they’re going to NY w/ me!

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    Wanna B, good for you for going vegan! The animals thank you!

    It has been a very long journey for me of figuring out food choices that work. By the time I got to raw I just didn’t want to mess around. But I was miserable for so long when i found out I couldn’t eat wheat or gluten. I mean I seriously was in mourning over it. Before I went raw, if I could have eaten pizza I would have if it would not have meant a trip to the ER. So I feel for you.

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