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what happens when you don't WANT raw?

how do you handle it when your body feels nauseated by the idea of raw food? is it best just to not eat/fast until you want salads and fruits again, or should you eat now what actually sounds good (curry with rice, veggie sandwich, etc.)? or alternately, should you force down the “good” foods?

my story: starting last thursday, i tried to lower my fruit intake by a lot to see if that would help my insomnia. in turn, my fat intake jumped to about 40 percent. it did help me sleep, but i feel exhausted during the day, too! and on saturday was an extravagant cafe gratitude outing, so that day was probably more like 80 percent fat. so i want to get back to my modified version of 80-10-10 as now i know that’s how i feel best, but i just don’t have the stomach! i can barely choke down a smoothie in the morning, fruit just looks gross, and the thought of the salad i brought for lunch makes me want to puke. but yesterday i wanted and ate a cooked veggie sandwich from the cafe next door, and today i wanted and ate vegetable curry with rice and naan from the indian place down the street. now, i know these things are not what my brain wants me to be eating, but nothing else sounds appetizing in the least.

what’s wrong with me? please help. thanks for any advice you can give me to help me get back on track. s

Comments

  • RawKidChefRawKidChef Raw Newbie

    I find eating lots of brothy soups really helps those cravings, even if it’s chicken broth or vegetable broth etc. A bowl of tomato broth with a few vegetables and salt really helps. I still eat broth, provided there are no solids other than vegetables. You can get soup and ask for just broth or make your own. If you drink tomato broth all day you will be satisfied, just be sure it’s good, real broth. Any noodles or rice, meat, etc just bypass. Don’t eat soups with milk or cream though, these are just like drinking milk which is not good. Oh, the Indian food, I know it’s really hard. Indian food has to be my favorite food of all time.

    Even lentil broths that have lentils blended or cooked till dissolved lentil soup is really helpful in transitioning. Drink lots of juices and eat lots of broth with good salt) and you will start accepting more fruit little by little. Oranges and pineapples are the best in your situation when you start letting them in your diet again. Good luck!

  • thanks rawkidchef. i guess soup is good for an upset-ish stomach whether you’re raw OR cooked! i’m not in transition, really, anymore, though. i was about 80-90% raw for a couple months when i altered my diet with less fruit, and then suddenly the things i’d been eating were unappetizing. i’ll make some soup tonight and see if that helps me feel better tomorrow! s

  • Hi samesofam,

    I know EXACTLY what you’re going through!!

    Three weeks ago I had the same thing going on with me! I have to admit, I thought about quitting the whole “raw food thing”, nothing sounded good to me, all I wanted was cooked and old comfort foods…

    As a note on the side, I have to say it all happened because I was very exhausted and tired. We were moving from Nevada to Oklahoma, 25 hours of driving over three days and as I grew up in Germany I really wasn’t used to driving that long. Anyway, I felt terrible and to make it worse the last thing I wanted was raw!

    I knew it was silly, I knew it still needed raw, but I couldn’t see the point at that moment. But I still wanted to stay raw and kept my eyes open. I just wanted to see a REASON again.

    So I found a book that made me understand sooo much! After reading I can only say I totally understand why one of the comments on the book was that it is a “raw vegan’s bible”. It’s called “12 Steps to Raw Foods” from Victoria Boutenko. I can only recommend for you to go out and buy the book NOW! (I got it at the local “Whole Foods Market”.)

    First off pretty much right at the beginning of the book the author tells you about how her family (all the members are 100% raw) came to a point like you and I. Nothing sounded good, but they kept believing that 100% raw is the only way to go. So they found out that they’re missing greens in their life! Well, I thought, I heard about green smoothies before, but hey, I like salads, so why would I want to drink them? But after I read all she had to say about it (it’s such a great book!) I thought, alright, I’ll try it! I mixed my fruit and greens 60:40 and it tasted GOOD! I never would have thought that. The author was absolutely right. Also, she was absolutely right in her prediction that you’ll get addicted to them and your body will demand more and more! This was my first smoothie: 1 cup strawberries 2 bananas 6 leaves of romaine lettuce 2 cups of water Since then I’ve tried many different variations, different fruit, different greens (kale, collard, spinach, etc.). Often even mixed 50:50 or 40:60. I just love them!

    From then on I felt fine again! My body was happy with me again because I gave it what it needed!

    You see, that’s why your body is revolting right now! It’s not getting what it needs! So you think you should go back to your old eating habits, but that’s not what it wants! Give it more greens, buy Victoria’s book to help you on your way (it’s amazing, I can’t rave enough about it! :-) ) and you’ll be set!!

    Hope I could be of help. :-)

  • RawKidChefRawKidChef Raw Newbie

    Hey there, I realized you were out of transition, but soup, like you said, is great whether your raw or not! It’s very soothing and will help any cravings for bread or meat.

  • hey sonnenhut, great advice. the thought that i hadn’t had as much greens as usual since i was getting so full on all the fat i was eating hadn’t even crossed my mind. even though a smoothie is the last thing i want right now, i guess i will start by trying to force down a few of those before i try eating again, and then maybe start with some soup. i work out 2-3 times a day and am not sure i could stop eating entirely. and no worries, rawkidchef: i was just confused! i’d heard a lot about the boutenko family, but i haven’t bought any raw food books – just researched online. thanks, you two! s

  • Looks like your going to die! lol. I wish I could give you advice but I get excited seeing fruits, extremely excited. There fresh scent, beautiful shapes/colors, natures wrapped presents, better than any holiday were you recieve any sort of presents!

    Get me an exotic fruit for my birthday that I have never tasted, and I will be forever grateful!!!

  • What is your “diet” excactly. What do you consume, and how do you consume it (ie blended, whole, and what times of the day). This can help people out and maybe point something out. Don’t force yourself to eat, your body usually doesn’t want to eat for a reason.

    If you work out 2-3 times a day and your body needs a rest, you need to rest. Cravings for bread and/or meat…. Meat is very caloricaly dense and bread is just carbs that is dehydrated which also means dense. Catching my drift? Retrain your body, get off of those unhealthy diets that make you resort to eating cooked and/or animals!

  • SuasoriaSuasoria Raw Newbie

    I like the spirit of what TreeOfLife says above – I’m just wondering, since food is so emotional, what else is going on – good, bad, or indifferent – that might “point something out.”

    Many people agree that as the seasons change, so do our food needs. Could that be part of it? Are you usually sensitive to changes in weather, daylight, etc.? I’m a big fan of eating what’s in season, and greens (as mentioned), hard squashes, and apples are probably getting good now.

    You say “I know that’s how I feel best,” but right now, that doesn’t seem to be the case, so in trying to “point something out,” whatever that is, I would try to be open-minded and give yourself permission to try new things…but I don’t count percentages or even care how much fat I may get in a day or a weekend. I just like good food.

  • MopokeMopoke Raw Newbie

    Suassoria it sounds as if you are craving carbs… – more the rice, naan and sandwich bread than the other stuff. Possibly having upped the intake of fats recently you are getting a full ‘comfy’ feeling that helps you sleep but your liver and gallbladder are saying “whoa! Too much to deal with!”... Next step your psyche demands you get the ‘full’ feeling the way you used to. I agree with Sonnehut about the green smoothies – they are a revelation, and huge low fat salads in the evening currently have me personally sleeping well and waking great.. but I also think listening to your inner voice is the best idea. I am high raw, and feel better the closer to raw I get, but I still believe bodies are made to cleanse and heal and deal with invasion by germs, bugs, and even cooked food sometimes… and it follows that a raw foodist is going to be better able to deal with cooked foods than a non raw foodist because their immune systems are stronger etc etc… that being said I ate curry and rice last night and had belly ache this morning. But occasional miso soup is delicous and nourishing. More: This started with the insomnia issue and it seems being raw often causes people to sleep less….. maybe the insomnia is a revved up metabolism but maybe it’s something else, some kind of processing going on that was actually part of a mental or psychic cleansing? In this scenario is the confusion about diet actually a distraction from something else? So all up I reckon listen to your body, test it to see if cooked is really what it’s asking for, accept that we all exist in cycles and levels and don’t punish yourself, meditate or add yoga or something to your evenings to chill out before sleeping (maybe you already do this?) to balance the buzzy adrenalin stuff of the exercise and to let yourself see that endorphins can come from gentle things as well. Life is good and I bet the sandwich was delicious :)

  • I am a big time soup lover. Since I went raw when I am hungry for Mexican I flavor my soup with Taco seasonings, when I want Indian, I use Curry powder. I get vegie stock at our health food store or blend tomatoe with a garlic clove and/or some onion. I use distilled water if I need more liquid, add chopped vegies and heat to the point that it is almost too warm to put my finger in it. Sometimes I want a little more flavor and sometimes a tad more salt so I use a little Bragg Sauce. Be sure to check the Taco seasonings for MSG etc. The health food stores usually have them without. Italian seasonings are good too.

  • hey all, sorry i didn’t see some of your replies till now. i’ve been doing more soups and have felt a bit better. treeoflife, i normally do close to an 80-10-10, with loads and loads of fruit and with giant salads for dinner. i do a green smoothie in the morning, fruit as i’m hungry throughout the day, and the salad at night. the fruit varies with what’s on sale at the grocery, and it’s not so much the fruit that i mind. the salads are what nauseate me! but i thought greens were supposed to make you feel better… i’ve been forcing down more green smoothies as well, but i still can’t make myself want greens. i don’t eat many nuts or overt fats, but i’d still rather have a big pile of bread. :(

    HOWEVER, i did find out today after some tests that i have a candida overgrowth. SO that may be my problem. i actually decided today to shift the focus in my life away from raw food and more toward how i feel until i truly feel well, i.e. candida gone. but i do thank everyone for their advice and wisdom! the community here is incredible. s

  • Hello samesofam, I’ve had a candida for years, nothing could ever cure it until I went raw and 80/10/10. In a month time it was over.

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