here's an idea - why not add???

[miniaturelion]

i don't understand why it is so prevelent among raw foodists to get into this idea of taking things out of their diet? letting things go, giving things up? why is everyone obsessed with becoming more & more simple? why does less equal more? why is one raw food more beneficial than another? and why is fewer things more "clean"? seems like all raw food would be equally "clean" - just different nutrients. why is the focus on what we can cut out of our diets - instead of what we can add? i started trying to add things, more greens, more fruits, more good fats. i wake up saying to myself:
"what can i add to my diet today"?

[dreamrawalwz]

For me it's a lot of food intolerances or allergies that require me to eliminate things. For some they feel best on low fat (like me) so they take out avocados, nuts, oils, ect. Each does what they feel is optimal for their body and how it feels the best. I personally feel best on all simple fruit. I'm working my way to mono eating one day.

[misslinda]

I can't speak for all but less is a natural progression of being raw, my body has worked thru the various changes and still progressing.

i should clarify less in terms of simple not soley to quantity.

[monkeyboy]

Yo Mini,

The Monkeyboy speaks,


I eat simple food.
I respect Alissa's ways but I'm a mono eater.
Romaine, nuts, sprouts, fruit, stuff.


I"ve never bought Alissa's book or DVD.

She is a true inspiration and a woman I respect beyond raw food.

I am a founding member of this site.

I eat simple and pure.

Stay raw.

Peace my new friend,




M.B.

[misslinda]

I"ve never bought Alissa's book or DVD.






M.B.


:rolleyes: did we forget to mention under thread "what mean really want..." that men are cheap too! :D


:D carry on with real answers by real people.

[miniaturelion]

i guess what i am getting at is all in the lingo -
if you feel better on fruit - why not state
"i am adding more & more fruit".
or "i am adding more & more bananas, it's
all i eat now".
i understand the idea that different foods agree best
with different individuals. but i'm always hearing
"i'm trying to give up this__(or that__)". or
"i cut fruit (or fat) out".
i personally do best on lots of greens - so i decided to add
so many greens to my diet - that there isn't any room
for anything else! (lol)
but, i had to do it with the idea that i was going to add
& add greens - the more greens i added the better i felt.
now i am so full of greens & energy! & i feel happy
cause i didn't have to "give up" anything.
i was struggling with raw till i thought long & hard
about what i needed - & when you ask & listen your body
will tell you... & my body screamed greens (just like some
one else's body may scream fruit) so, i woke up
thinking "how can i add more greens?".... this got me going...
everyday "how can i add... how can i add to my health"
then raw took on a different role in my life - cause before
i would have approached it "i need to stop eating so much fruit",
"i've got to cut out these raw desserts", "i've got to watch my fat intake"
maybe all these statements were true for me - but, i was getting
nowhere - till i started adding the thing that i needed & eventually
it pushed everything else out.
see what i'm saying? i guess i didn't clarily it well enough.

[Revvell]

miniaturelion ~

I understood your post from the get-go and totally agree. IF one adds more of what one wants, there's no room for the other stuff. I have added more fruits, more greens, more joy, more love.... hmmm. *looks around* No room for what it is I don't want. Not dropped or eliminated anything. Just added more. Coming from abundance of all good.

Revvell

[miniaturelion]

i just re-read my original post & i guess i was off on 2 different
topics - one being what i previously posted - adding
more of what makes you feel good (instead of eliminating what
doesn't).
and the other topic being what is "good" & "clean"
for you (as long as it's raw) is good & clean.
meaning - sometimes you thrive on more of another type of
diet (fruit, fat, greens ...or all of the above).
i guess this is all obvious... i was just
excited to feel like i was adding nutrition - cause i feel like
thats a healthy mind set for me - in the past i felt deprived
& confused approaching it from the other way.

[misslinda]

chuckles......

There's some truth for every side and after 2 years of being here, I learned that everyone has a special way of saying things. They don't all mean "taking out" or "deprivng themselves" sometimes they say one thing and mean another. For example, those that say "I need to cut out the raw desserts....." at times really mean, I need to gain control of the inner core issue that feeds off these goodies. Blah blah blah :D

However, I see what you are saying with the positive rather than the negative........this comes up every so often. :D


Raw Drama,,,,,,can't live without it!

[miniaturelion]

yes, i bet this topic does come up often - it's such a simple
concept. yet, people are so full of worries, doubts... & negativity -
i know cause i'm a people too! (lol)

revvell, i know i have read many of your posts (over the years)
where you pretty much took this exact stance.
yet, it took me (what seems like) a long time to get it!
i often think of your old quote "to reveal is to heal" -
when i am in an emotional rough spot.
thanks

[DavidZaneMason]

My experience / opinion:

-It is a wonderful day when I wake up and I no longer WANT something that I think (or my body tells me) is too heavy or no longer good for me.

-It is a great day when I find I no longer need some external thing to tell me I'm doing ok! :) After that....it is a CHOICE to eat those things.....not a compulsion.

-David Mason

[sport]

I read the original post and had a plan to reply about different foods requiring different digestive enzymes and them clashing and negating each other and so it being best to keep it simple but now I am just confused.

[Ariannah]

Thinking in those terms "what can I add?" is great, and in many cases is the way to go. It's good to think in terms of being satisfied.

However, it also reminds me of one annoying parenting course I took when my oldest was young, and one of the segments was on how to set boundaries in your home without using the word "no". Now, while many parents can certainly do better using the word "no" quite a bit less frequently, it got to be annoying that there were all these forbidden words, or forbidden ways of saying things ("now now, that's too negative") when "no" would have said it succinctly. (disclaimer, I did learn a lot from the course though and was able to express many things positively to my children, but to never say "no"... pulheeze)

As for the point in the original post about why fewer things seems to be "more clean"... My body feels better on simpler things, fewer ingredients, and sometimes, less IS abundance. Sometimes eating a big fancy meal with a thousand ingredients in it taxes down the body, and makes me feel like I've just eaten a grand *cooked* meal. So waking up and saying, "I feel like having a little less today" can also be a good thing.

So, to go with the terminology requested in this thread I'm adding more fruits, more green smoothies, more simple foods. Not because it's somehow "more pure", but because it feels so darned good.

[lissomllama]

Personally, eating simple raw is important to me. I don't cut out healthy raw fruits and veggies and truly raw nuts unless I dislike them. I still eat some gourmet raw but I feel that the progression to simple raw (eating most things in their most natural form) is the most beautiful way to eat because it is so easy and more natural in my opinion. I want to eat and live as close to how people did thousands of years ago. I feel a connection to my ancestors this way and I like the simple things sometimes. That being said, simple isn't always for everyone but most raw foodists who are 100% and have been for years, eventually progress to simple because it ends up feeling right to them. It is a process and it may take years sometimes. You might feel different about this someday. I also think that some gourmet raw foods can lead to problems unless balance is used. Too many dehydrated foods and not enough water causes issues, bad food combining can cause issues in some people, some "raw" foods are actually processed and not truly raw and many gourmet recipes use these items. I don't mean to be a downer but sometimes sacrifices do need to be made if you feel that way. We in the raw community have tried to make it more like cooked to fit in better and enjoy the raw versions of cooked foods we think are so good tasting, but in the end, it is completely opposite and that's just the way it is. I love gourmet raw foods but I feel drawn to something else.

As for eliminating foods, some things simply aren't good for certain people or the human body, no matter if it is raw or cooked. Personally, I don't eat cacao that often at all because it is a stimulant and I don't like caffeine. I don't feel deprived at all. I just enjoy all the other things I love. I also don't eat cashews because I don't believe that they are truly raw. I won't eat potatoes or artichokes because they don't taste good to me raw. I could go on, but in the long run, I say do what makes you feel right. I don't feel deprived at all. I feel my best. I also add new raw fruits and veggies all the time when I discover them, so it isn't all eliminating.

[lissomllama]

I'd also like to add that there is no obsession with me. 'Obsession' sounds a little unhealthy to me. I LOVE truly raw vegan and I LOVE simple raw. No obsession there, just what feels right to me and it only seems like obsession because so many others may be against it. To cooked eaters, we are all obsessed. As a raw foodist, I try to see that all forms of the raw food lifestyle are not 'extreme' or 'obsessive'. Just something not widely understood or desired.

[Lay-Lay]

I just eat raw and simple. That works for me. If I only want a slice of a watermelon that is find with me or it I want to eat the whole thing...well I say more power to me!
I have also started to notice that more simple foods agree with me. Fat that at one time I couldn't make it through the day without, now most days my body doesn't want it. Does that mean I eat less? No, that doesn't. Some days I eat alot because my body needs it and other days I eat alot less. On those lighter days I am not cutting anything from my diet on purpose, it just that I am not craving and/or needing that much. I can't speak for anyone but myself.

[Revvell]

revvell, i know i have read many of your posts (over the years)where you pretty much took this exact stance.
yet, it took me (what seems like) a long time to get it!
i often think of your old quote "to reveal is to heal" -
when i am in an emotional rough spot.
thanks

Wow! Guess you have been around awhile. lol That was one of the biggest lessons I've learned during the past 20 something years. Another is ~ Don't take things personally.... it's not all about you. (Don't take THAT personally ~ just rambling here). :)

Revvell

[Revvell]

Confusion leads to clarity ~ then back to confusion and the beat goes on.... :D


I read the original post and had a plan to reply about different foods requiring different digestive enzymes and them clashing and negating each other and so it being best to keep it simple but now I am just confused.

[Revvell]

Without reading your whole post (because it's hard on my eyes), I think we may be saying the same thing. I don't even consider what I'm "cutting out" as I don't see it that way. I see what I want and that's what I purchase and eat. That's where my focus is ~ what I want in my food program.

I liken this to as one grows older, one leaves things behind without even thinking about it. For instance ~ at one time I played with dolls. As I grew older, other things took precedence. I didn't think about NOT playing with dolls, I thought about what am I going to do today? Who am I going to see? Where am I going to go?, etc. The dolls were not even a consideration. Just as when I go shopping I don't think: Well, I don't like those, I'm not going to eat/purchase them; I make a list of what I want and that's what I go for. Occasionally I'll see something I've not considered such as lychees. Oh! I'll get some of those as well ~ I'll add them.

It's an easy way to change from where one is to where one wants to go. Hmmm. I need something heavy. I think I'll add some nuts and/or avos. I'm feeling like a juicy fruit ~ peaches are in season. I'll add those.

Revvell


Personally, eating simple raw is important to me. I don't cut out healthy raw fruits and veggies and truly raw nuts unless I dislike them.