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Motivation?

How do you keep yourself motivated on your raw path and not give in to junk food and binge? I find myself following high raw and then just blowing out on a chocolate and pizza binge, knowing all along how bad it is for me and how bad I'll feel afterwards, but I still do it! How do you move away from these bad habits?

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  • New to raw myself, I lived a vegan lifestyle for a while, and if you go at your own pace allowing yourself to adapt, you stop craving things. I haven't had a traditional pizza in a year due to the cheese and couldn't imagine myself wanting any. Don't think of it as deprivation, because that will only hurt your transition in the end.

  • Liss it takes some time to get over these. I found that it has taken me about a year to not have them. I used to be raw all week then, like you have pizza, choc or a curry takeaway. I think as you move along in your journey you become more able to think about how rubbish those foods make you feel before eating them and this really help to aviod them. I am now able to sit with my family whilst they tuck into chinses take out and not want to eat it.

    Another thing that has really helped me is to make sure I have stuff I love to eat in the house. I always have carrot and onion bread in the cupboard as I can just grab it and make myself a sandwich quick. I have just started making granola and this is fabbie, taste amazing and is really filling. Better than any ceral.

    The other thing is to not beat yourself up about it. It is really hard to do, I know. I used to say that I could have one day a week where I could eat what I wanted, pizza, chips etc. Then when that day came because

    I was 'allowed' it I didn'treally want it. It's in our mind's when we are telling ourself you cannot have it,makes it all the more tempting.

    Keep going and enjoy your journey.

    Blissing

    K x x

  • I've only been raw just under a full week... but what has kept me motivated is knowing how crappy I feel when I eat processed/cooked foods. I don't know if your digestive system is at all as touchy as mine is, but I can't eat anything "normal" without feeling awful, really. A simple piece of toast gives me an entire day's worth of gas and stomach cramping...

    so everytime I get cravings, I just remind myself how bad I'd feel physically if I gave into it.

    That's the main thing keeping me going. I gotta admit I've been thinking lots about peanut butter, tofu alfredo, etc. but when I think about how it makes me feel... I kind of just don't care about the taste of it anymore.

  • SuasoriaSuasoria Raw Newbie

    I just mentioned this to someone else with the same question, but I consider animal suffering to be more of a motivator than satisfying my own wants. I'm honestly not tempted by foods that represent animal exploitation...so personally I find it helpful to think outside of my self/ego.

    Dairy products like a pizza with cheese just makes me think of grieving, wailing mother cows watching their babies being forcibly taken from them. Who could honestly find that enjoyable?

  • KittyKitty Raw Newbie

    Suasoria...agreed 100%. When I first was getting into vegetariain/vegan I read ALOT of well known health books that had horrible chapters discussing animal cruelty. It shook me up so much. How can they do those things to poor innocent animals?? However, It has taken me about 6 months to really feel the motivation deep down and give up animal products 100%. It hits me harder as time goes on it seems. Its just one of those facts and truths that never leaves you. The meat/dairy industry is run purely on greed. Just last night we were watching a popular diner show on food network. The 3 diners featured were popular for their ribs/pork etc. SO disgusting! These people go through like 1500 lbs of meat a WEEK!! Its so sad.

  • Everyone in my family dies of cancer & I just recently lost a very dear friend of mine to colon/liver cancer. She wasn't suppose to live for more than 6 weeks and she made it nearly 5 years! I believe in the healing power of foods and just knowing I am helping myself prevent cancer is the only motivation I need at the moment. Of course I do love feel amazing and alive, losing weight, having mental clairity, and feeling my best.

  • eechoeecho Raw Newbie

    1 - reading books, blogs, podcasts, forums in order to reaffirm beliefs

    2 - talking about it with other people, i.e. confession, in order to break cycles and get gain support and prayers of others

    3 - prayer, meditation, focusing on goals

  • I went through 4 transitions in three years.

    1. Vegetarian (craved cheese like CRAZY)

    2. Vegan (used non dairy substitutions for dairy cravings)

    3. Gluten Free Vegan (no longer desire anything that makes me feel awful-because it's not worth it)

    4. 75% Raw Vegan (I still eat cooked beans, peas, gluten free corn bread, rice pastas and noodles, etc)

    I literally don't crave anything, but I believe it's mental. Since becoming vegan I learned that I had soooo many food allergies. Gluten was the biggest one and in hindsight it was what caused me to feel sick for "no reason".

    If you can go gluten free you can live on any type of diet. I didn't jump straight into raw vegan diet (like I did all the rest) until I knew more about it. I tried it out 100% for one week and did tons of research and found good cookbooks that would help me stay on track. That's how I stuck with it.

    My Hubby bought me Hageland's Belgium Dark Chocolate from Walmart and I didn't feel guit eating 2 pieces of it with a handful or two of raw pecans because I rarely have anything like it.

    I don't desire any baked goods because I can make my own that are just as delicious and actually nutritious.

    I agree with David Wolfe when he says substitute what you want to replace (or eliminate) in your diet until the "craving" is gone.

    I still eat a 50% or more cooked dinner almost every night,b ut it's always low sodium (except for seasame tofu or a stir fry) and low in fat and low in this and that- I don't even calorie count or care because all my food is healthy.

    continue to think about what you're putting into your body and only making healthy choices and you'll be able to eat without guilt forever.

    I do recommend a spring cleaning of your pantry and refrig and not buying any junk food or what you think is bad for your health.

    YOU CAN DO IT!!! It's only has hard as you make it.

  • sv3sv3 Raw Newbie

    I'd agree that it's my ethical beliefs which have kept me motivated in staying on the right path.

    I actually got into raw for health reasons and wasn't a veggie or vegan to start with. This meant I had nothing to stop me eating crappy food like chocolate/pizza/burgers/etc.

    I quickly went off meat though and turned veggie but also stopped eating eggs and drinking milk, etc.

    Then about a year later, I could feel myself wanting to turn vegan. I watched Earthlings and it gave me the push I needed. I didn't do it straight away though as needed to do it at my own pace. This really helped me (and my friends/family) adjust slowly and not swing back and forth between vegan/non vegan food. I just worked at it slowly and am so happy now with where I'm at.

    I'm not 100% raw but because I won't eat animal products, it does help keep me on the straight and narrow.

    I browse raw/vegans sites a lot, read books and enjoy chatting to my friends about my choices. These all help motivate me too.

  • sarawsaraw Raw Newbie

    Slow and steady. :-) Record how you feel after eating the pizza and candy. Record how you feel after eating only fresh foods. I have countless entries of feeling like garbage after binging on chips or brownies. My biggest weakness is a toasted cheese sandwich. The other day I wanted a sandwich so, so bad. I called my husband up and told him i wanted a sandwich, and he talked me out of it. He reminds me of the energy I have when I eat properly. How much better my skin looks, and how it helps with my mood. :-) He doesn't even eat raw food, but damn, he has been my biggest supporter this time around. He has seen me go raw, then off, and then back on. He has seen the change for the better.

    Just remember, that when you are ready to do this, you will do it. Each time you make changes for the better, remind yourself that any healthful change is beneficial! If you eat something that wasn't ideal, don't be angry with yourself. Feeling down about it will only create an ideal situation for further binging!

  • I usually change motivations every so often, as after awhile new ones give me better results. Right now, every time I want to eat SAD food I tell myself I'm eating Reynauds (a problem I have in cold weather where my fingers go white and numb). So far this season I've only suffered one episode and I've convinced myself that this will be the year that it gets cured (usually by this time in the season I've had at least 10 attacks). Use whatever works for you. Consider each RAW day (or meal or hour!) a victory and build from there. I've been trying to be RAW for 2 1/2 years now and you have to realize it takes time to adjust to this radical lifestyle change.

  • Wow, thanks for all the amazing replies, advice and encouragement! :)

    I'm vegetarian and was vegan for around 5 months at one point but I went back to vegetarian because I felt completely weak all the time. I know this was all due to being a junk food vegan and not being educated enough about the things my body needed. I do plan to go back to vegan at some point.

    I'm still struggling with the raw food path, probably because I've been looking at it as all or nothing, which is silly because I know the only way I personally can do this is transitioning gradually. Anyway, still trying to get control of my cravings! :)

  • SuasoriaSuasoria Raw Newbie

    Sv3, what a great story. Earthlings is such a great motivational tool!

  • sv3sv3 Raw Newbie

    Thanks Suasoria, it played a huge part in helping me turn vegan. It was the worst thing I've ever seen and it will stay with me forever. Whenever I struggle - I just think back to that and know I can never go back.

  • miranimalmiranimal Raw Newbie

    Because of some of the above comments, I started watching Earthlings. I made it about 15-20 minutes into it before my boyfriend came home from work and found me bawling. We both decided at that moment to be more conscious of what we are bringing into our home. He has always been hooked on cheese and is now committed to not having it in the house and having more awareness when choosing foods.

    Thanks for mentioning the film!

  • I must go and find a copy of Earthlings, now. I'm glad someone started this thread on motivation. It reinforces my reasons, and helps me to remember what I need to do to help keep my family on the right path :)

    Grace

  • the59soundthe59sound Raw Newbie

    if I crave something, I tell myself "I love myself enough to consume only fresh, whole, ripe, raw, and (sometimes) organic fruits and vegetables. These two foods love me and I love them back. " Works every time.

  • There is so much wonderful advice and info on this thread now! :)

    I'm still struggling with my SAD cravings but have noticed a pull more towards being completely vegan again this past week so maybe that is the path I am on. When I first went vegan it was after months of eating less and less meat and learning more and more about what I was eating and also about my own body. I just gradually went off meat and it seemed such a natural progression. As I think I said earlier in the thread, I reverted to vegetarian after five months due to feeling very weak. All down to lack of nutritional education I think.

    Anyway, I think at the moment, as far as raw foods goes, I need to pick something I love instead of trying to force all kinds of raw into myself, because I end up feeling like it's a chore. All part of my personal transition I guess... but I adore green smoothies and even tend to prefer more greens in them, so I figure I should focus on upping my intake of those for now and the rest will start to follow right??

    Just an afterthought regarding not eating meat. I get people teasing me, sometimes in a 'friendly' way and sometimes not so much. They seem to think I miss meat when in reality, the thought of eating meat makes me feel sick! I'm not a preachy veggie but if provoked I'll tell them about their meal. Funny how many change the subject then! ;)

  • liss, I TOTALLY know where you're coming from on the teasing issue. I've never been a big fan of meat, so going vegan was no big deal. But everyone in my life, from the time I can remember thinking about what I was eating, have always assumed that I'm trying to "deprive" myself. What reasons they are thinking, I haven't a clue, but it is fun to put them in their place when they see that I am not just "blindly" jumping into an "extreme" diet of sorts, and tell them just what it is they're doing to their bodies and their environment.

    Grace

  • The transition to raw shouldn't be like some kind of self-torture Weight Watchers crap. Maybe a few days of self-discipline is what it takes, but beyond that the benefits will become your motivation, believe me! In fact, motivation becomes unnecessary! You'll just want to continue.

  • vabeachcgvabeachcg Raw Newbie

    ianpenk--- ditto, you said it. ;)

  • 70 BANANAS A DAY??!!?!?!?!! Oh how I envy you! No way could I afford that.

  • vabeachcgvabeachcg Raw Newbie

    wow...thats excessive...moderation just got thrown out of the window? then again you are a runner...so maybe you need all of that... :)

  • Last time I ate a lot of sweet fruits I got fat and cellulite. So gross! So, yes you can overeat sweet fruit, especially if you're not an elite athlete...

    And my motivation is to not get sick again, and to not let Addison's Disease be stronger than me

  • KittyKitty Raw Newbie

    Stella i am so interested to hear your experience with eating alot of fruit. I love fruit but also noticed I gained weight after eating so much. I tried to find experiences like mine on here but couldn't. I want to lose 5 lbs but I think the sweet fruit is making me hit a plateau.

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    All you ate was sweet fruits and greens and you got fat and cellulite? Are you sure you didn't lose muscle or fat and your cellulite you had before was now showing?

  • Yup I did a Green Smoothie fast thinking it was "healthy", wasn't trying to gain or lose weight. I felt great for the first couple days cuz i was on a big ol' sugar high, but then I started to feel sluggish and noticed I was getting love handles and bat wings. I was shocked when I stepped on the scale, then I noticed I had also gained a bunch of cellulite on my butt/upper thighs. So gross! It definitely wasn't muscle loss cuz I was exercising too.

    I'm sure some of the fruitarians will disagree or the 811ers will say I did something 'wrong' but the only thing I did different was green smoothies. I think I'm one of those people who don't process carbs correctly, no matter what form they're in. Believe me I wish it was otherwise cuz I LOVE fruit and green smoothies and wish I could live on them. My body just sucks

    I've read on other forums that the same thing has happened to others, so we're not alone on this one Kitty! That term everyone's different definitely comes into play when talking about carb metabolism...

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    what were in your green smoothies?

  • fruit and greens, ya know the usual green smoothie things

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    No, really......like a slice cored unpeeled apple, water, and spinach? or orange juice, kale, adn blueberries? I'm just curious!! Not trying to argue.

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