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The Other 30%

Hi all,

I'm new here and haven't started officially eating raw. Right now, I'm really held back be the idea of NEVER eating _____ again (with _____ being both favorite junk foods and favorite healthy cooked foods). It also could be quite difficult to eat around family and so on.

I've heard a lot of people suggest making a gradual transition. This appeals to me. But what is the other 30% if you're eating 70% raw? Does it have to still be super healthy?

I guess my thinking is that I know that if I do make the transition, I'm going to feel a lot better. And that eventually, I'll eat some junk foods and feel like crap...so that you later can avoid the junk foods altogether. Has that been your experience?

Love,

Shannon

Comments

  • To answer your question, no you don

  • rawlizardrawlizard Raw Newbie

    Hi lilmisssunshine23, I think most people doing 70% get the other 30% from helathier cooked foods, such as quinoa, bean soups, vegetable soups, etc. rather than from pizza, spagetti, chocolate cake, white bread, etc. (you get the idea). This transition helps a lot since at the beginning you will be figuring out what things you like, and belive it or not you will develop your own menu. So while you are thinking, (and I bet more than once you will be hungry and not knowing what toe at) you may as well have these cooked options at hand, rahter than in a hunger attack going to the Mc place and some french fries.

    For many people, the early stages are the hardest, and in my modest opinion, I think that it is best to have a day in the week where you choose your devil and allow yourself to eat something out of the diet. I used to eat popcorn, a piece of chocolate, a slice of white bread with butter, a serving of ice cream, etc. but I only allowed it once, once a week.

    After a while, your cravings will diminish (believe it or not)! Isn't wonderful??

    I wish you the best, the virtues here are to be patient ,and patient, and then a little more patient with yourself. Think that the choice is yours to make, in every meal, or in front of any chocolate cake or brownies that you may come across.

    Cheers.

  • zinfandelzinfandel Raw Newbie

    i think it's best to avoid lots of salt and fat especially when eating cooked.

    if i were you i would do potatoes, rice, veggies, some beans if you feel is necessary.

    those should be your staple 30%. of course no one is perfect.

  • Thanks for the encouragement. I've been vegetarian my whole life, though for quite some time after college I was what my friend would call a "mac and cheesatarian". I only ate pasta, pizza, etc. Ugh.

    I started eating very healthily when I was living in Japan (and didn't like Japanese foods and vegetables were the thing most readily available). I never thought I'd start eating unhealthy foods, but when I was pregnant with my son about a year and a half ago, I got bad morning sickness. I would eat a salad and immediately throw it up. But if I ate something unhealthy--mac and cheese or coco pebbles--that would stay down (or at least not be so hard on my throat when they came up). It's been tough for me to get back on a lots of healthy foods plan since then.

    I've tried to go vegan a few times in the past, but always gave up, usually due to wanting cheese or cow's milk for cereal or something.

    I've been fascinated by the idea of the raw diet for quite some time, but always a bit hesitant because of the "never again" fear. Also...i guess that even though I know that eventually I would get to a point where I'd feel bad from eating bad foods...well, it's happened to me before. I *know* that I'd feel better eating something healthy, but I still go for the spaghetti.

    I'm currently in the process of moving from Hawaii to the mainland, with a month long trip to Japan in the middle. I'm thinking about eating more raw fruits and vegetables when I'm in Japan (since, seriously, salad is the only thing my MIL knows how to make for a vegetarian), then muddling through the Christmas excess with my family as best as I can, then making a stronger raw commitment for the new year. Maybe I'll ask for a dehydrator for Christmas. It seems like options are more open if you have that. It will also be less expensive to eat raw when I'm in NY. In Hawaii, the costs of raw food always seemed prohibitively expensive.

    I'm going to keep poking my nose around this site for more ideas.

    Love,

    Shannon

  • Maybe give yourself a goal such as "Raw for a month". One month isn't horrible if you continue to crave the whole time... but then there is the chance you'll feel awesome and keep on going. I'm having the same hesitations!

  • I have quite a few recipes posted on my blog www.itveganatgenesis.blogspot.com

    My articles for the my local paper also have recipes included

  • I'm a 70% and I stock my frig and pantry 30% tofu, gluten free pastas & noodles, TVP, Gluten free all purpose flour, soy flour, tubinado (florida crystals demerara), agave, spaghetti sauce, basmati rice, wild rice, split peas, garbanzo beans, red beans, kidney beans, edamame, lentils, great northern beans, pinto beans, black eye peas, and whatever else I would want, peanut butter, soy flour, garbanzo bean flour, flax seed meal, corn meal, potatoes, 100% cocoa powder, Braggs liquid aminos, nutritional yeast, soy/almond/rice milks, olive oil, ginger, garlic, vegetable oil, tamarind paste, apple cider vinegar, various teas, maple syrup, molasses, Quaker old fashioned oats, cereal for my daughter, and all the spices you can think of. (and everything else is raw)

    I make baked beans, saute kale with onions and garlic, chickpea curry, lentil dhal, hummus, falafel, cornbread and collard green, vegan mac and cheese, tofu bacon, tofu scambles, tofu chick nuggets, TVP "better than burgers", TVP balls with spaghetti and sauce, eggplant curry, potato curry, baked potato, stuffed bell pepper, TVP meatless loaf, Lots of indian foods like spinach curry (palak "tofu" paneer), vegetable koftas, and vegetable korma, mushroom masala, then there is split pea soup, skillet fried tofu with a dipping sauce, tofu ice cream, banana nut bread (haven't made it in forever because the raw alternative is just as delicious but will if i want it)...I'm vegan and found it easy to stay vegan after purchasing some good cookbooks. I don't want junk food and I am gluten and lactose intolerant so I don't eat much bread or baked goods unless I make it myself.

    I don't buy junk and don't desire junk but if I wanted something even fish I would eat it (but I know i never will)

    Personally I believe limiting and eating foods in moderation are the best for us but it's even better for you health if you completely eliminate what's not good for you from your diet.

  • Wait I guess junk food would be Thai fried banana I do eat that every few months and banana bread and an occassional french fry but it's so far apart that I can't count hwo many times I've eaten it

  • SuasoriaSuasoria Raw Newbie

    I'm more interested in your psychological attractions to certain foods, and your perception of eating a healthy vegan or raw diet as deprivation. So that's what I'd be meditating on, as it were.

    Honestly I eat whatever I want, pretty much whenever I want, and don't feel deprived at all. The foods that I want to eat happen to be healthy, vegan, and often raw. I don't count percents or fats or anything, although lately I'd say my diet is about 5% wine!

  • ^ hear, hear!

  • sv3sv3 Raw Newbie

    lilmisssunshine23, if I were you, I would start by not restricting yourself but aiming to eat mainly raw/vegan (if that's what you want). Tell yourself that if you REALLY want a ____, then you can have it.

    I did this when I started raw and although I stopped buying/cooking meat, I would occasionally eat it if I went out or to a friend's house. I admit I was scared to go vegetarian because I had a strange fear about never being able to eat a cheese burger or my parents sunday roast again. I started calling myself a 'flexitarian', so the option was still there, but pretty quickly realised I didn't really want to eat that cheese burger and when I did eat meat, I felt really bad about it. It wasn't long after that I felt like I wanted to go vegan but again, I was scared to do it because I had fear about having to reject certain food and being 'the awkward one'. I decided to gradually work towards it and allow myself/friends/family time to adjust.

    I always knew I had a goal, but it wasn't an overnight thing. The moment you feel deprived, you'll be unhappy and it will only hinder your progress. You'll gradually start loving fresh, whole food and not finding junk so appealing.

    I'm not 100% raw and not sure I ever will be but being vegan really helps and I'm the happiest I've ever been. The cooked food I eat is mainly veggies/beans/lentils/brown rice etc.

    Good luck to you!

  • swayzeswayze Raw Newbie

    Here is a link to Tonya Kay's No-Willpower approach to going raw. I think it's probably the best and easiest way to transition.

    Enjoy,

    Swayze

     

  • Thanks for all these responses and for the link to the video.

    I really needed to hear all this right now.

    I've been a vegetarian my whole life (the only one in my family. I just wouldn't eat meat as a kid) and it's really just junk foods that I have a hard time letting go of. I'm currently staying at my in-laws for a month and my MIL just gave me some lecture about my weight. She doesn't speak English, so I don't know exactly what she was saying, but I was still like STFU. It especially made me feel bad because I've been eating pretty healthy for the week that I've been here. I would eat even healthier, but my options here in Japan are quite limited.

    Thanks for all your responses.

    Love,

    Shannon

  • I was a vegetarian, then went back to eating meat. I would be completely veg again but husband refuses to go veg. So I buy organic and cook the healthiest I can. I used to take flavored creamer in my coffee, I switched to stevia, and now I drink much less coffee and more tea. The other day I ran out of stevia, so I used creamer funny thing it tasted like the smells in a gas station bathroom. So I realized that your tastebuds will change as your diet changes. Also a more gradual change means you are more likely to stick with it. I found out yesturday I have been a member here for 1 year and 33 weeks, I had no idea what a raw diet was when I joined, now I am experimenting with raw recipies.

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    if you eat a lot of raw and unprocessed foods, your body most likely will feel ill if you eat too much of a junk food, even if it's once in awhile. your body just recognizes that it's not good and lets you know! that being said you don't have to completely restrict yourself. for awhile i was doing one cooked thing a month. as long as i just had a small portion it didn't affect me that much.

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