Raw with a non raw family?

[solar powered]

So how do some of you manage that? Im discovering its been very very hard to stay raw when i have to cook for the family. darn it, i cant help it if i still love spaghetti. Not sure of the best way to deal with it yet. Wondering how some of you do. thanks

[JinxieKat]

I too am trying to do raw with a cooked husband, fortunately not a family! I've found that I do best if I don't cook things that are very tempting to me, though over time it does get easier. You don't have to avoid pasta dishes forever! I also found that the crock pot is my friend and cooking in bulk and freezing does wonders as well. If I'm feeling that cooking will just be too much I whip out a container and tell him he just has to defrost it and I remove myself from the kitchen *grin* It works like a charm!

Jinx

[ShelShel]

I too have a non-raw fam. :) But it's ok because 1) They support me. Definitely talk to all of them and let them know about this change in your life. That you don't expect them to change the way they eat, but to encourage you by not suggesting cooked food. ;) Example...when we go out to eat, my husband will ask...where can you eat? Lets go there. That makes it much easier for me. I choose places that have great salads and fresh fruit and my fam gets cooked.
2) Because I never start cooking a meal until I have something in my stomache. ;) Talk about rough. Cooking on an empty tummy is the worst! If your not hungry...it can smell good, but you don't have to taste it.
3) This is the biggest one...if you ever do break and eat cooked food, it's not the great experience that you hoped for...you feel horrible for a few days...and it's much like a hang over in that you don't want to experience it again for a long time. :D
Hope some of these things help you. Also, take it slow...if you are just transitioning...it can be hard when others around you eat badly...or should I say SADly! :p Do your best..at your own pace and feel good about everything healthy you put in your mouth that you wouldn't have done before. Gain strength and move forward.

[sosiesmom]

I am in the same boat. SAD husband and a toddler who is 1/2 and 1/2. I find that if I cook SAD meals without having eaten, it's all over. My biggest problem is avoiding SAD dinners. So, I make sure to eat something around 4 (i usually have the rest of my lunch then - salad and crackers usually - and I add fat at this time - like a whole avocado or a bunch of nuts) and drink a ton of water. When I start making dinner around 5ish, I'm just not hungry and feel sooo full from all the water that I can't even look at food. Then when my family eats at 7, I have a small dinner and a raw dessert or just some dates and, although I know this isn't raw, I also have hot green tea with agave. Relaxing and yummy.

Good luck! You are not alone.

[ElainaThiemann]

I'm also in the same boat. I have a 5 and 8 year old. The first couple of weeks are the hardest. I made sure that I ate my greens at lunch. At dinner I would make guacamole and corn chips or raw pizza. That way I was eating something I looked forward to. I've also been trying to incorporate more raw foods into what they eat. I've added spiralized zucchini to their spaghetti and mixed the sauce with my raw sauce. I told my husband that if he wants me to "cook" for him, he can eat what I'm making otherwise he if he wants SAD foods, he needs to make them himself.

The other huge thing for me is that I realized this is a lifestyle and not a diet. For me, the difference is that if I want to taste a bite of their food once in a while, it is a choice and not a cheat.

Elaina
http://elaina-goes=raw.blogspot.com

[fiddler]

My wife is on the average american diet but it has never been a problem for me, personally.

To borrow from Tony Robbins, if you can link enough PAIN to eating cooked and enough PLEASURE to eating RAW, it won't matter that your family is on the SAD. By being around cooked food at home you'll develop mental calluses (toughness) to prepare you for other encounters outside the home.

Lots of tips here on this forum for how to work with SAD family members. Just do some Searches to discover what folks do.

Good luck.
Gil

[Vandy]

Gil I totally agree with you...always a fan of your posts ;)

My family had no idea what raw was and they thought I was crazy until I showed them with my actions, positive attitude, happiness, etc. (not just words) how amazing and fun eating raw could be...

NOOOOOOWWWW~ I hear that when my parents go out to eat with my extended family or travel, they order salads and bring their own dressings. My mom even travels with fruit! Not to mention my sister is almost 100% except for one or two cooked meals a week. Don't kid yourself though...BOY DOES IT TAKE TIIIIMMMEEE and I am still working on them!

[Mama2three]

Yes! I'm about 80% raw I guess. I still eat dinner with my family--I figure, I have to cook it, I might as well eat it too. I do make sure that whatever I cook for dinner is at least healthy.

My husband and kids want nothing to do with raw food. My husband is very meat and potatoes and he really doesn't like veggies at all. My kids are really picky eaters, and while they taste my smoothies and stuff once in a while, they would die without their pb&j sandwiches, cheerios and chicken nuggets.

[rawfigure]

My husband is mostly SAD (he is slowly transitioning but he does not know it yet..lol) and I am RAW. I do not have a problem with it, from time to time I would taste his cooked food to see what I was missing and over time I stopped that as I found his cooked un palitable for the most part.

Keep a big bowl of fruit close to the table and one in your cooking area. When cooking have some chopped veggies on a plate to munch on. (only problem with this is I then do not want to sit for a meal as I am stuffed !)

Always have a raw meal & a raw treat in the freezer to grab when you get stressed for time cooking for the family. I always have something in there until DH finds it and then he chows on it. He love my ice cream, someday he will be mostly Raw, I can see it happening !!

[chp2160]

Hey there. I am also trying to do this with a significant other that wants me to eat exactly what she eats for dinner. I went off raw a while ago. I am having issues with moving and I am super stressed so I decided to pick it up again when we get settled. I suppose I will just have to do mostly raw and eat dead food for dinner. It's still better than nothing and some day I may just get her to eat raw too. That would be nice. :D

[rawpriestess]

I have a truly supportive partner. he moved all the cooking appliances out to the garage, and into the attic.

if he wants something cooked, he makes it himself, and eats it outside, so the only food in the house is my raw stuff, he also grows our gardens for us, and wild forages every day for us.

during the summer he is about 99% raw, during the winter about 80% raw, he does eat meat about once a week in the winter, so he's almost all raw too.

the easiest way to do it with non raw people, is to let them know that
1. they don't have to eat raw with you
2. you are NOT saying they are wrong for eating cooked
3. you are NOT trying to make them eat your raw food
4. you are doing this for your health, NOT just for your weight
5. this is NOT a diet, it is a lifestyle
6. this is really important to you
7. you have a cooked food addiction, just like heroin, or cigarettes, or alcohol, or cocaine
8. you are asking them to help you stay away from your addictive food
9. you need their help
10. you appreciate them for helping you.

I truly believe that when your family hears these things and actually understands them, that they will be more able to support you,

telling them exactly what you need from them, helps them to help you.

you can also tell them, that it doesn't work for you to cook for them any more, you can tell them that you need for them to make their cooked food elsewhere or to eat it elsewhere if that is what it takes to keep you raw.

If you don't mind their food, then that is fine, but this is at first, let them know what food bothers you, and dont have it in the house, let them know that they can go out to dinner or stop for fast food without you, or whatever works for you.

also, make sure to have plenty of your raw food on hand to eat whenever you get the desire to eat, have plenty of fresh fruit and veggies already cut up in the fridge.

my hubby buys me pineapple already cut, as I love it, and greesn already cleaned and washed and trimmed, he makes sure I have all my favorites on hand, and if I am getting low, he helps me make up a batch,as we keep alot of raw goodies in the freezer.

So, you can do this, it isn't easy, but you can do this.

Just know that everytime, you DON"T eat cooked, gets you closer to removing those cravings for good.