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Need some SERIOUS HELP getting BACK ON TRACK..

Hey everyone. So this has been SUCH a crazy month with school and life in general. I have just been under SO MUCH stress. I’ve been working a lot, been pulling a lot of late-night/early-AM study sessions and haven’t really had time to devote to taking care of myself. I have been doing a LOT of stress eating… it’s like every time the organic chemistry book comes out, so does the junk food!! I try so hard to stay raw.. and I do well for a few days… then I just cave under the pressure. Tonight I ate pizza with actual CHEESE (ew), apple pie and Cinnamon Toast Crunch from the box….about the entire box. So gross. This is food I would NEVER EVER normally touch…. I don’t know what has been with me. It really frustrates me. I have been gaining (a LOT of) weight, my skin is horrendous, all of my G.I. issues have returned… and my disordered eating has come back with a vengence (think compulsive eating and bulimia). My question to all of you: how do you recommend getting back on track? I felt so much better when I was eating mostly raw. I just don’t know how to get back to that place and stick with it. Should I try some sort of cleanse or juice fast? I feel like I have to really DO SOMETHING to start fresh. I also need to start being more active…just making time. I feel sooooo much better when I excercise regularly and eat well. I think it has just been so easy to make excuses for myself lately.. what with deadlines and a crazy schedule (and the 2-4 hours I spend in the car a day ughhh). PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help. I have been hesitating to post something, but I feel I have nowhere else to turn. I really need some advice. Thank you all so very much.

Comments

  • Hey there…how much time are you prepared to put into looking after yourself??? I know that was my biggest weakness… and once i settled in my heart and my head how much time i needed to sow into myself and as i started to work that out each day it became VERY EASY to stay on the straight and narrow rather that see-saw all the time…

    The other technique i use is what i call ‘renewing my mind’ or re-training my thought life… so many thoughts go thru our heads each day.. something like 65000 images go thru our minds each day!!! I have got a few DVD’s (about Raw Recipes/or Health Nutrition Information) i put on in the background as im working/pottering around at home each day so that i am constantly associating with my NEW CHOICES rather than hanging around my old “stinking thinking”... does that make sense??? I think im trying to explain too many concepts at once perhaps…

    But anyway… these 2 areas I have been working on the last 3 months to RE-TRAIN myself so that i dont “fall off the wagon”..

    You can do this!!! You must choose Your Health every 2 hours in a day… if you dont you will choose Sickness instead…

    Hope that helps… Invest some time into your Health :) :) YOu will be much happier :)

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    Hi ejowett, sorry to hear that you’ve been having such a hard time. When you go raw you have to quit eating food for comfort/emotional reasons, which isn’t easy at the best of times, let alone when you’re ultra stressed. Give yourself a break, you’ll get back on it sooner or later, you’re doing the best you can, even if that means eating pizza.

    I think that just by taking it really slowly could be good. Just adding one or two green smoothies to what you are eating , whatever it is, will help your body to get back into craving fresh foods over cooked. The Boutenko’s did an experiment where they gave dozens of people who were SAD a green smoothie a day for 2 weeks, all of them reported health benefits and most of them found themselves eating more raw foods just coz their bodies were suddenly craving them.

    It’s easy to get a green smoothie down as well, and it doesn’t take long. Then you can slowly add raw to every meal, and increase the amount of raw in every meal until, at your own pace, you are where you want to be with it.

    I hope you feel better and more in control of it soon. We are all here to support and help you.

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    ejowett—not sleeping is my leading cause of poor food choices… even raw ones.

    all the things you mentioned would be great and it seems like you know exactly what it is going to take to get you back on track. for exercise, you don’t have to do an hour a day either, or make an effort to “go to” exercise. some simple yoga on your floor for 30 minutes a day will do wonders to get that oxygen back into your system.

    starting your morning with a green juice, or a a big glass of water will help…

    fasting is usually harder when you are sick since it unleashes so much of the toxic build-up, i wouldn’t recommend doing it if you have skin problems at the moment… unless you want to get colonics…

    while you are in the car, maybe you could listen to some soothing music (i like sean johnson and the wild lotus band) and do breathing exercises.

    AND have some raw desserts. they are decadent and so much more delicious than anything cooked.

  • thank you all… this advice really helps. pianissima: if i was willing to get colonics, would you recommend a juice fast? i was thinking a “jump-start” might help, but i can’t really afford to feel run-down or wiped-out right now…would fasting make me feel like this?

  • DeborahBeeDeborahBee Raw Newbie

    ejowett, a little late, but here is some information I received in an e newsletter from Karen Knowler:

    How to Leave the “Cooked Food Chaos” Behind You

    So you’ve done it…

    You’ve been raw for some time and then the cooked food crept in – intentionally or otherwise, it doesn’t really matter – and now it’s got its grip on you and you just can’t seem to shake it! (And it’s not getting any better…)

    What’s a girl/boy to do?

    Well, the first thing is to RELAX. Panic, fear and judgement achieve absolutely nothing – except, perhaps, bigger binges and guilt trips than before – and we all know where that leads right? But knowing that you can take control and turn it around quickly, easily and joyfully will give you all the confidence and inspiration you need to get back into the raw groove and put the cooked food chaos behind you – yes, even from this moment forward, today!

    Here’s how…

    Step 1: Relax. Breathe. Feel safe. Know that once you have committed, and I mean really committed, to get back on to raw food with every part of your being – body, mind, heart and soul – the biggest step has already been taken. Just be SURE that you’re ready and willing to make that shift and know WHY you want to be “raw more than anything” right now and then we’ll take care of the rest.

    Step 2: Clean up. By this I mean cupboards, fridge and your kitchen. You will need to get rid of all the things that aren’t in alignment with where you’re trying to go. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that keeping those biscuits at the back of the cupboard is going to stop you from eating them – it won’t!! You know that! Or holding on to “just those last few slices” of bread. No, no, no! It’s hardcore time! Support your decision externally by taking this important action. If you’re really serious about this then it all has to go, go, go. (And you’ll feel super-empowered afterwards I promise you!)

    Step 3: Empty out. We’re talking about your tummy, your heart and your mind here. Bingeing, stuffing, and basically eating in any way that doesn’t feel good to you creates a backlog in every part of you – energetically and physiologically. There is no room to think, breathe, digest properly – all of you just groans under the stress and weight of the situation. You need SPACE and you need it now! Before you can move on to fresh raw pastures, it’s VITAL that you dejunk your heart and mind and tummy too. And the quickest way to do this is…

    1) Write out onto paper or your computer exactly how you are feeling. Talk about how you feel in your body as a result of eating cooked foods, how you are feeling in your heart about that, how you are feeling about your life (it’s here that the reason usually lays as to why you ate cooked foods in the first place), and why you are feeling that NOW is the time to action and why you want it so much. Write and write and write until you genuinely feel that there is nothing left to say. Pour your heart and mind out onto paper, make peace with what is now in the past (i.e. all that you’ve put on paper – that is now history) and in doing so you will have created a very nice, calm and expansive space ready for the future. You’ll feel awesome : )

    2) The second and just as important step is to empty your stomach. This works for me EVERY time. You probably know how easy it is to eat cooked foods when you’re not hungry, but it’s not quite so easy to eat raw this way is it?... Well, what you need to do here is STOP EATING right now and allow yourself to become super-super hungry so that you are “burning clean” again. You will know when you are at this place because you will feel genuinely hungry, with a feeling of clean, powerful space inside you and eating raw again will feel like exactly what you want to do – anything other will feel “wrong” – and this is where your new chapter begins.

    Step 3: Commit 100% to eating raw for the day right from the moment you wake up. (It’s best to start this process on a brand new day). Follow the “clean burn” philosophy (eat only when hungry and when you feel there’s a good clean space) and eat whatever raw foods you want (I’ve always treated myself to the very best raw foods no matter what the cost when I’ve want to get back on the wagon and celebrate that in style!), but just give the raw foods a chance to get a strong foothold in your body again. For this first day I usually eat only juicy fresh fruit until evening and then have a relatively small but very nutritious green-based salad for supper. You and I both know that as soon as the cooked foods go in you’re in trouble! Sad but true, however crazy that may sound to the outside world. Bottom line is, cooked foods ARE addictive, and they only need to have the tiniest sneak in between your lips to have their wicked way with us and it’s game over. (Tell me I’m wrong?!) The great news is that after only a day back on raw foods, all the good stuff comes flooding back and you will find yourself saying “Oh, NOW I remember why I went raw!” Yes, only one day to feel this way – not a huge price to pay is it?

    Step 4: Once you have had a day back on raw, the only way is up – so long as you make sure that you LOVE what you are eating, be sure to keep yourself well hydrated and really enjoy the en- lightening experience (so buy in the good stuff!). Very rare is it for someone to get to this stage (assuming the previous steps have been followed to the letter) and then fall off the wagon on day two. Getting it right on day one is the single most important physical step you can take. If you DO find that day two is “back to square one” then it’s time to take a serious look at what’s going on underneath. Chances are you haven’t fully been honest about what’s going on for you right now in your life, so you’ll need to revisit step 3. When you do this, when you are REALLY REALLY REALLY honest about what’s on your mind (or is giving you pain in your heart) so long as you commit to yourself to resolve it – with or without external help – then you will feel empowered, expansive and liberated and wonderfully back in the flow. Life will feel super sweet, because you committed to YOU. This is a great place to be. Congratulations!

    Step 5: Finally, reward time! Yes, you might think that getting back into the raw groove again is reward enough but I don’t think so! Know that you have the opportunity to make this fresh start the biggest, best and most exciting fresh start you EVER made. So buy yourself something special, symbolic even – something that really means something to you – and then ask yourself “What else can I do differently/ better in my life this time? What other upgrades would I LOVE to make to have my inner and outer world looking and feeling fantastic?” (Very important: Don’t play small here, the raw journey is about continually upping your game – the more raw you go, the quicker you outgrow your own personal bests, so stay alert!). When you know what you want – go after it, claim it for yourself and give yourself FULL PERMISSION to have it. Anything is possible when you are 100% on your own side. Truly.

    www.TheRawFoodCoach.com

  • I have been in your place and can understand where you’re coming from. * First thing first, in your specific case I would not reccommend fasting. An absolute no.. its a temporary fix that will not solve the compulsive binging and purging problem.

    This is what you need to do. Take your chem book with you outside. Spend as little time at home, and bring a packed snack with you.. prepare these things ahead of time. Whenever you have the first thought of binging, immediately go outside, bring your school books, bring a notebook, take on photography, take on painting.. SUBSTITUTION! Also, study with a friend.. surround yourself around more with people.. anything to keep your mind in a different mode.

    most importantly, when you’re at the grocery store, be honest with yourself.. don’t buy items that you simply will regret later and buy one cup of something instead of one pound, ..!

    ...the biggest thing i learned, was you have to be honest with yourself, really honest with yourself.

  • “to love and let go can be the same thing, they both do not seek to possess”

  • carrie6292carrie6292 Raw Newbie

    I had this same problem recently (after eating raw for a year)... i did the free 7 Day Diva Detox Diet. It really did help me to get back on track. It’s free, so other than food, it doesn’t cost anything. You should check it out. I think they’re site is rawdivas.com but i could be wrong. Good luck!

  • ejowett ~ I’m in the same boat (minus bing/purge) but I have a problem of “allowing” myself some cooked food and then beating myself up over it afterwards because I know I didn’t need that. I know I didn’t really want that. And I know that it’s not good for me. I was strong 100% raw for 3 months, and then it’s like I got bored or something. And as of recently, these winter months have been really hard for me to be 100% (i’m still high raw), but since all the fruit I thrived on in the summer is long gone, my options have become very limited unfortunately.

    cheerydeb – Thank you so much for that article!! It’s been totally inspiring! Thanks!!

  • DeborahBeeDeborahBee Raw Newbie

    From my own experience, I find that when I’m slipping and making poor food choices, making something that contains lots of flavours helps to curb the cravings.

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