New here & asking for support.......

[MsFiction1]

Hello All,

Am new to this forum. Would love to get into raw foods. I do know what healthy eating is but alas I have been addicted to sweets and junk food for years although I also eat healthy foods, have done veggie juice fasts and take lots of supplements.

My biggest challenge is that I currently live with my folks due to health challenges and am on the mend. I work out of the home while I am gaining strength. My goal is to get strong and get out into the working world, get back on my feet and get my own home again. I am sure eating healthy will accelerate my healing and so am wanting to change my ways.

The big challenge is that my Mother constantly cooks the American diet, bakes cookies etc. It is not her fault that I eat unhealthy but the environment is not supporting me and the junk food /sugar addiction kicks in.
They help me in many ways but not by changing the kitchen senario.

Any tips or ideas as to how I can best deal with this would be awesome. I do not like to cook and do not feel very energetic most days so I often times go for what they have in the fridge or cabinets instead of my own healthier stuff. Any coaching as to how I can motivate myself to stay focused would be appreciated! I would love to have a breakthrough new year!

Thanks so much! I appreciate having this great forum!

Karen

[Joopie]

Hey, Karen! Welcome!

Would it help to let your parents know what you are doing and ask for their support and help? They might even get in on it with you, you never know. If they aren't into it, you doing it yourself would be a great example for them. I would just say to take it one day at a time. It is hard to be raw at first around people that aren't- I wouldn't even take it one day at a time, I would take it one meal at a time, and make sure that you eat frequently and have enough good stuff in the house. Another good way to kick cooked food cravings is to go on a juice fast.

Hope you feel better!

Julie

[MsFiction1]

Hi Juie,
Thanks for the quick assistance! As I said my parents are not willing to support me in any way in the kitchen and do support me in many other ways. Your right, it would be great if I were a good example of heathy eating all the time.
I have done juice fasting as I also said in my post. I did 3 fasts, one for 10 days ,one for 5 days and one for 7. I must say juice fasting is relatively easy because the digestion shuts down and the sugar cravings subside. Not putting any food into my system but juice is easy compared to when I eat and have to make constant food choices. I can see why the anorexics take that route. It is easier!

What is hard is when I go off the fast, the craving is then more intense and I have an even harder time not binging. I do take supplements that help alot but not enough when coming off the fast. Any ideas on how to get that ridiculous feeling of overwhelming hunger even when I have eatten, under control would be appreciated. Doing another fast and then being able to continue eating healthy would be wonderful!

Karen

[Joopie]

I wonder if dehydrating would work because it has the heavier consistency of cooked food, that might take the edge off. Or making more raw desserts? There are a lot of really good ones that are great for satisfying cravings. You might have to do that until you are raw for a while. A banana with almond butter and honey on it is really rich and good- I usually put sunflower seeds on mine too. Sometimes I'll have three of those in a row if I need something sweet. (Or something to fill me up while the craving passes.) If you have a feeling of overwhelming hunger you are going to have to eat more and eat before you get that hungry. That really helps from getting so hungry that you just want to grab something that's prepackaged. Snacking on nuts and dates during the day might help keep you a little more full, too. Avocados and bananas are great.

I don't know what else to tell ya, I hope this maybe helps.

Julie

[MsFiction1]

Hi Julie,

I appreciate your help! I think the banana idea is great! I was trying to avoid eating high sugar foods, bananas, dates etc too but IT IS better than eating whole wheat chocolate chip cookies! I have had extreme hypoglycemia for most of my life and used to have severe panic like attacks. Through much perseverance I have been able to get the blood sugar cravings down so that I have done the veggie fasting. A miracle in of itself! LOL So the main problem is an up and down yo yo effect, as far as the cravings go.

My goal is to get off of any and all sweets and anything made with gluten since I have a terrible time with a clogged colon, slow peristalsis, auto-intoxication. I was disappointed to find juicefasting did not clean out the colon. I did use magnesium oxide in a formula called Oxy-Powder which helped considerably. I am going to try Arise and Shine products next. The psyllium husks and bentonite clay was too drying or strong to use before but hoping I can succeed with that colon cleansing regimine this time around.

I am excited to have you and this group to learn from!
I may buy the DVD set but still on the fence about that as I have tons of books here and need to practice what I have and force myself to prepare meals!

Thanks again!
Karen

[heatkins]

Hi Karen,
I find that it is helpful to read other people's journal entries and see what they are going through. It helps to know that there are other people going through similar things. And you can get some good tips from them along the way.
My husband and daughter do not eat a raw diet. There are alot of temptations around my house. My weakness is Kettle Baked Potato chips. How lame is that? Most people think they taste like cardboard. I am on day 3 of the 30 day challenge.

Here are a few pieces of advice that I have found most useful when I have cravings for cooked food:
1. Procrastinate: Tell yourself that you can stop eating raw tomorrow if you feel like it. Once you pass the period of craving, then you will be fine. I think I got this advice from somone on rawfoodtalk, and btw, thanks!
2. Drink alot of water. Just earlier this morning, I was thinking that I was so hungry and that a piece of fruit was not going to make me feel differently. So, I drank a big glass of water. Then an orange sounded really great and I ate an orange. It was great and I am really not hungry now. So, water helps too. If I have a weak moment, I drink a glass of water. Sounds silly but it seems to work. I got this advice from Paul Nison's book, The Raw Life.

Also, I have found that some natural food stores carry pre-made raw crackers and cookies. I recently found some summer corn crackers (a local brand), pineapple flax cookies, and nori wrapped power wraps by the brand Gopal's. So, if dehydrating seems like alot of work, maybe you could get some pre-made raw food that will replace things like chocolate chip cookies.

Hope this helps.
From one newbie to another.

Heather

[tracyinfo]

Karen, when I first started even thinking about going raw, I made the commitment that no matter what, I would always have 2 servings of fresh fruit in the morning, 3 servings of fruit/vegetables with lunch and at least 2 servings of fresh vegetables at night. Within 6 weeks, I told myself I can do this 100% of the time. For the last 3 months, I have been doing great. The few times I did not eat raw, I did not feel guilty, I just said, "well my next meal will be raw". Hope this helps!

[MsFiction1]

Thank You All and especially Joopie, Heather and Tracy!

Great to have some tips and suggestions! I did not know there was any premade raw foods at the heatlh food stores.....I will definately look into that. I may also plunge in and purchase the DVD and book available by the moderator.
Again I can't thank you all enough for caring and answering my posts!
I will keep the suggestions in mind! Death to Donuts, Ding Dongs and my Mommy's homemade Classic American diet and junk foods! Onward with life giving bananas and such. LOL!

In Appreciation!
Karen

[Sweet lips]

Welcome,

MsFiction1 - there is so much help and support here as well as recipes. Another source is www.fromsadtoraw.com for recipes. Just use the discussion boards here or go into search to located info.

You are not alone

[MaxMarie]

Hello all! My first post here! Dear Miss Fiction! Your situation makes me feel so spoiled. I was whining about the difficulty about living alone and eating raw. But I have no one in the house to tempt me. So I will shut up!

There is a great site called Eat Raw. They're online. They have all sorts of ready made goodies. Cookies, energy bars. Yummy things.

If you're going to go raw and stick with it, you have to make tasty things. Things that cancel out those cravings. I'm like a mad scientist in the kitchen cutting and blending. When I was cooking things, I never used so many herbs and spices!

Also, you really have to load your kitchen. I mean fill the fridge with fresh edibles. Fill the pantry with fresh nuts and grains. The nuts you might keep in your room for weak moments.

My favorite "dessert" is also my favorite meal. I love avocado with chile, lime and a dab of unprocessed salt. The grey stuff. I won't use the white stuff any more!

Find a handful of things you can do. Even a little bit will help.

[MsFiction1]

Hello All, Sweetlips and MaxMarie too!

Thanks so much again. I wish I could fully convey my deepest gratitude for everyones support! I appreciate your assistance and suggestions so very much!
Please know I will use your info and site recommendations.

MaxMarie, I do use Celtic Salt ! Yes!


Sincerely,
Karen :p