Thinking of taking the day off...maybe or maybe not?

[Lay-Lay]

I keep getting this thought popping up in my head about taking one day off if raw. I am having my parents over for their anniversary and plan to cook them all of their favorite foods, which are a far cry from raw. Any input folks? Experiences? I am nearly 4 months 100% raw. I am thinking I need to clean up my dirty thinking.

[dreamrawalwz]

I would say NOOO! One your body is cleaned up and having cooked foods you can get VERY sick even if you didn't before you went raw. It'll be a shock to your system. Two you'll just have to detox it again! Three, stay raw for YOU. Don't take a break for social situations for others....respect yourself as well as your body. Finally fourth, what if you can't get back to raw? You'll have every intention to return to raw, but waht if the cravings take over and it takes WEEKS to get back to raw!? Just a thought. It is your decision however. Let us know what you figure out!

[Lay-Lay]

thanks, I really need the extra support right now. I have had cravings all along, but TODAY they have been AWFUL. Really odd out of the blue strong cravings for cooked food and I have been thinking of excuses why I could eat just a little. I almost sat down and caved today on some organic chips my hubby has lying around, but I didn't. I appreciate you support dreamrawalwz. I am sure I am going through some kind of detox with this strong cravings.

[misslinda]

ILRF, 4 months is a long time.......what are you hoping to accomplish if you eat the cooked foods? :confused:



on standby

[Lay-Lay]

LOL, satisfied tummy, totally the wrong answer, haha.

[monkeyboy]

Ah,

Go ahead and have a double from Wendy's.

Peace,

M.B.

[Lay-Lay]

Ah,

Go ahead and have a double from Wendy's.

Peace,

M.B.

Thanks! That is exactly the responce I was expecting, lol!

[misslinda]

* rolling eyes at MB above * Pffffffffft

Whatever you do ILRF, dont' listen to the "MONKEY" on your shoulder. ;)

[monkeyboy]

Yo,

Iloverawfoods...background please.



Peace,

M.B.

[Lay-Lay]

actually that made me think....I might as well go for Wendy's if I do go cooked, LOL! Why not glue my head to the porcelian bowl while I'm at it, lol!

[monkeyboy]

Yo,


I know a good plumber.



Peace,

M.B.

[Lay-Lay]

Yo,

Iloverawfoods...background please.



Peace,

M.B.

Don't know if this is whatcha lookin for...Raw foodist since 2003. Went 100% in the beginning, but then lowered my intake when I got to feeling ohhhh sooo good (and I found the lower fruit way very difficult, which is the way I was introduced too raw), after some time I got to feeling oh soooo bad and here I am on raw 100% again. Im 24, lovin' raw, lovin' life.

[misslinda]

Yo,


I know a good plumber.



Peace,

M.B.



OMG, Frickin LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOvelty.................ILRF, don't even think about compromising yourself..............think about what greatness you have accomplished for you body????????? I mean, sure the food will "taste" good but there is a good change b/c you have been raw this wholet ime, ou will be able to taste the chemicals from them...............detox sympotoms are X amount of times more intense!!!! NOoooooooooooooooooooooooo, please reconsider

[berrymarymac]

Hmm, I had a day off today (and yesterday) because I just wanted one last meal lol. But I'm going to have like every week or every two weeks have like one day or meal off! But since you've been raw so long...I don't know! I would say try to make the meal as raw as possible, then eat some little bites of cooked!

But then you could feel sick, etc etc. It's up to you!

[Lay-Lay]

I just needed a little kick in the butt. Thanks so much Miss Linda. Its hard to kick the stinkin thinkin once you start it.

Thanks Mrandal.

[Naiad]

I say see how you feel when the day comes.

A week or so ago, I hadn't eaten for a day or two (not a planned fast) and when my mother and I were at Whole Foods, all I wanted was their Santa Fe sandwich. Big slabs of bread, I think some sort of creamy dressing... on top of that, I got one of the divine Tollbooth cookies at Lifethyme (if anyone knows what I'm talking about, you know they are incredible.)

Well, I felt not that horrible after, mostly just upset that I gave in, but, whatever. I didn't bloat it up into some mental game with myself. I accepted it, felt like I dispersed whatever cooked cravings Id been having and went right back to eating raw.

I know some people can't do that and envision cooked food hovering over a precipice filled with Doritos and donuts, but, if you think you can eat it and move on, I'd say... why not?

JMHI :)

[Lay-Lay]

plumber....haha! Too much, LOL!

[tinystrawberry]

Think about your next weigh in day and how GREAT you'll feel when you see that you've lost weight eating RAW. "Iloverawfoods'', and you should keeep loving them. There is no benefit to cooked food, it is a toxin and addictive. After four months of eating pure, nutrient rich, delicious uncooked food, and then eating "just one meal" of cooked food, you are going to feel like crap! mentally and physically. Think of all the good things raw has done for you!!!

.....thats just my two cents :) wish you luck on your decision

[mud]

Why stop raw for one day? Why bother? What's the point?

i haven't been raw long AT ALL, but almost everything in me is saying, "Bad idea!"

>Shrugs<

[Lay-Lay]

Thanks...you raised the perfect point...I know that one bite sends me over the edge and back on cooked food spiral. Thats why it took me soooo long to get back to 100%. These little reminder sure are what I needed it.

[monkeyboy]

ILRF,


Forget the scale.


Eat raw and feel great.


Raw foods are way cool.

Misslinda and I will show you the way.




Peace...grasshopper,

M.B.

[Lay-Lay]

yep, mud, very true

[Lay-Lay]

ILRF,


Forget the scale.


Eat raw and feel great.


Raw foods are way cool.

Misslinda and I will show you the way.

Peace...grasshopper,

M.B.

true that! ;)

[rawpriestess]

I did this more than once, and each time, I was eating cooked for months, just one more thing I wanted to eat before I went back to raw, just one of these, and these and these, Oh, yes, and one of these, and one of theses, and one more one more one more, etc, it went on for 4 years the first time I did this, then about 6 months the next time, then, well, you get the picture.

[Lay-Lay]

Yeah RP, me too. No cooked for me. There is always one thing that help me keep my focus. So here it is. It is worth repeating and seeing it.

Hi, my name is lay-lay and I am a cooked food addict.

[Rawkinlocs]

My inlaws came to town last month. I thought, "Oh, I'll just eat some cooked food while they're here and then get right back on track after they leave!"

WRONG!!!!!

Can we say one day...one bite... most likely always leads to more!

Take it from someone who is struggling to get back...it's not worth it unless you are prepared to take a little while getting that out of your system and getting back to raw!

[Lay-Lay]

Thanks Rawkinlocs for sharing your struggle. I am soo glad I talked it out here. Thanks for the support!

[Sharon in Colorado]

Lay-Lay speaking from experience, it usually takes one taste, or one 'safe' cooked vegetarian meal for the backsliding to start.

Usually the 3-4 month mark is where I've had a 'taste' of something. With me it's always been a taste or a bite, not a meal, but it gradually ends up with some kind of meal sooner or later.

So I would encourage you to stick to your guns and not go down that road.

Please seriously think about it.

[Lay-Lay]

Thanks Sharon! I am going to stay on track. I am going to plan my meal to go along with theirs. OR I might just op to take 'em out.

[misslinda]

ILRF,


Forget the scale.


Eat raw and feel great.


Raw foods are way cool.

Misslinda and I will show you the way.




Peace...grasshopper,

M.B.


* burps * ahhhh that Double at Wendy's was excellent MB! Thanks for treating me.......was your Taco Bell everything you dreamed of ;)


BUT on a serious note ILRF, some raw food gurus have discussed the seriousness of being raw for awhile and then caving into cooked---it's traumatic and a shock to the body. Be gentle and give your body the BEST---RAW that is :)

[Coriander74]

Girl you can get through those cravings. I am right there with ya.

Just think how totally sick you'll get if you infuse your clean body with crap.

And just remind yourself that you're only 9 days from your next weigh-in :)

[ChilePalm]

Lay-Lay, I'm just on my second day raw, and will it really hurt you in the longrun? Well you won't know until you do it... will it end up just being one day, or will you end up like RP said, and many of us have done, and that one meal stretches into days, weeks, even months? I guess each time any of us has that confrontation, we have to force ourselves to Think, Think, Think... of the possible consequences, and are a few bites really worth it? Or not....

[fallenangel]

You could make some of the more extravagant dishes in RAW and present it with the cooked on the table. even something like honeybees fajita wraps just warm out of the dehydrator and some of RPs brownies with frosting for desssert, who knows your family may even try some of these dishes and like them!!! And you have lost a lot of weight too on RAW so I am sure your family will be supportive of your lifestyle given that its producing such wonderful effects!! let us know how you get on!!
best of luck

[lissomllama]

I am thinking I need to clean up my dirty thinking.


I'm thinking you're right.

My advice is don't even take even ONE bite of cooked food again. Much less a whole meal of it. That will only make you feel sick. 4 months is a great accomplishment, don't mess it up now. Most people who are further along like you and have purified their systems with raw end up very sick when they try a little bit of cooked. So you'd just spend all day being ill and the food probably wouldn't even taste that good. You might overdo it because you could get the mentality of 'oh, this is my last cooked meal etc.' Bad news. Stay raw, stay healthy, forever. How about fixing your parents a lovely raw gormet meal instead as well? Just an idea.

ETA: Ah I see you've already come to your senses. Good for you.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Don't you just wish things were easier like in Biblical times when Lot's wife was warned not to look back? Well she didn't heed the warning, and immediately she was turned into a pillar of salt.

But we keep getting chances now, and I think that is what makes it so hard for us. We think, "oh we can always go back to raw...eventually" and sometimes that means a few days, or a few weeks or even months.

It would be so much easier not to have so many chances, I think. Maybe we just have way too much freedom of choice for our own good!

[swingbolder]

I'm going to go against the concensus here and say, well, one meal won't hurt TOO much.

But how well do you know yourself? Can you stop at one meal?

If so, then enjoy breaking bread with your family. It's one of the great joys in life.

If not, you could put yourself into a downward spiral of cooked food eating that could be VERY difficult to break out of.

Either way, it's a learning situation.

I was able, last month, to eat a wonderful meal of: fresh clam chowder cooked by my mother made with clams caught in the bay by my great uncle, with fresh herbs my great aunt grew in her garden, and bread baked by my mother. A meal made with total love. I was able to eat the meal and stop at that, but the CRAVINGS for more cooked food lasted for DAYS afterwards. Was it worth it to me? Yes. But I don't want to repeat that experience often.

So, it's a gamble.

[dreamrawalwz]

i'm proud that you went on here to talk it out instead of letting that addiction and craving monster fight in your head! I still say it's not worth it, even if you know you won't continue eating cooked foods...it won't taste good anyway!

[Graciebeliever]

Whew, I wouldn't leave Raw for even one day for all the:

Salt in the Himalayans
Olives in Italy
Cocoa nibs in South America
Sweet Corn in Kansas
Celtic Sea Salt in Ireland
Flowers out of RP's Garden
Goji Berries in Tibet
Chia seeds in Mexico
Tomatoes off my back porch
or the
Tea in China!!

Just My VERY humble opinion :D

[misslinda]

i'm proud that you went on here to talk it out instead of letting that addiction and craving monster fight in your head! I still say it's not worth it, even if you know you won't continue eating cooked foods...it won't taste good anyway!


Well said Dream !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Prevention !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll definatley learn from this experience :)

[Doe]

LayLay, This reminds me of somthing rawnora said on her site. She had been vegan for many years before going raw. When one goes raw the body starts cleaning the last toxins put in first and goes all the way back to birth or perhaps before depending on Mom's diet, meds, habits and such.

Nora could tell how far back she was detoxing from by what she craved. After a couple of years durring a certain detox she could taste meat. Then later durring another detox she could taste food she hadn't eaten since childhood at her grandma's house. I have even heard of people detoxing tobaco smoke from decades earlier.

So why not start recording just what it is you want and see if you can track your detoxing? You can read about Nora's experiences at www.rawschool.com (http://www.rawschool.com/)

Teri S

[Eveleaf]

I'm going to go against the concensus here and say, well, one meal won't hurt TOO much.

But how well do you know yourself? Can you stop at one meal?

If so, then enjoy breaking bread with your family. It's one of the great joys in life.

If not, you could put yourself into a downward spiral of cooked food eating that could be VERY difficult to break out of.

Either way, it's a learning situation.

I was able, last month, to eat a wonderful meal of: fresh clam chowder cooked by my mother made with clams caught in the bay by my great uncle, with fresh herbs my great aunt grew in her garden, and bread baked by my mother. A meal made with total love. I was able to eat the meal and stop at that, but the CRAVINGS for more cooked food lasted for DAYS afterwards. Was it worth it to me? Yes. But I don't want to repeat that experience often.

So, it's a gamble.

I agree with swingbolder, but I have to say I'm more scared of NOT getting sick than of actually getting deathly ill from cooked food. I know me, and if I got really sick from a cooked meal, I'd say "Live and Learn! Guess I can't do that again!" and go on happily with my raw lifestyle. But if I *didn't* get sick, well then! Next thing you know little bits of cooked would be creeping back into my habits all over the place, because hey, I can't handle this! No sir, that is the worst thing that can happen!

Courage!
Eve

[Cinnamon]

I'm another one of those who takes one bite of cooked food and that will start that downward spiral. Getting back to 100% is very hard for me when I do this, it can take me months to really get back on track.

Having said that, everytime I tell myself that the next day I will get right back onto raw but allow the cooked to enter back anyway. It is a vicious cycle for me, just my opinion as I've experienced it over and over again!

Add to that how crappy I feel after eating cooked food, no matter how "healthy" it is. For me it is not worth it, but I am still having trouble sticking with this even though I know just how my body and mind will handle it!

Hang in there, you will know deep down inside what will work the best for you.

[Hannibalophir]

Really in the scheme of things what's a cooked meal or two if you can manage it.

You have to exercise your will to eat raw. Rather then have a binge why not exercise your will and consciously enjoy some cooked food.

I guess it's a personal matter though because if it will stimulate adictive patterns for you then maybe it's a bad choice.

I have been raw for five months now and have a similar situation happening in september.

If you do enjoy a cooked meal--go light the next day, drink lots of water and don't be concerned. Cooked food is not a sin.

Look at the world and the emmense suffering people are enduring.

After all this is just diet we are talking about.

Peace

[Sharon in Colorado]

Cooked food is not a sin.



I so agree with this, that it does make the whole deal with eating and food a challenge.

It is not a sin, yet because most of us have eaten cooked and processed food for so long and not for survival but for boredom, joy, stress, taste, etc., it has become somewhat of an addictive behavior.

So the question remains is - is an addictive bahavior that puts real priorities on the back burner a sin?

To some it might be.

[luckitri]

stinkin thinkin - that's me! Now that I am not dizzy and am feeling decent I picture a cooked food as a reward! I've gotta think up some new rewards!

[spicyfull]

You are doing so great.................

[Lay-Lay]

Thank you's and comments first:

Spicyfull: thanks I feel great too!

luckitri: RAW is the TREAT!

Sharon in Colorado: I would be salt for sure in this case, LOL!

Hannibalophir: That is where the question. Can I handle it? Nope. I was raw 100% over 3 years ago for 4 1/2 months and it has taken me this long to craw back. Thanks to Alissa and a little scare from my doctor I kicked myself back into high gear.

Cinnamon: Yeah one bite and ..well....two or 3 more won't hurt and then before I know it its been days and weeks and so on!

Eveleaf: Courage -thank you!

Doe: You know the more I thought about your post the more it clicked with me. Yes thats it. Detox! I have been craving Tuna and buttermilk dressing, and Lobster, things I haven't eaten in years. I probably haven't had my grandmothers buttermilk dressing since I was 15, I have had tuna maybe once since I was 15 and before then I ate it alllllll the time. I haven't had lobster probably since I was 15 or 16. Wow look at that age. I am now detoxing stuff from when I WAS 15 OR SO. Do you think that means I have detox the last 10 years. If that is the case that is AWESOME NEWS because that is the period I was was the most sick in my life. The scary thing is I had epstein barr at age 11 and 15 (which I have been very tired lately, sleeping later then usual). That should be an interesting detox.

Also I am experiencing horrible back and neck pain. Almost like whip lash. I was in a bad car accident when I was 15 and had serious whip lash, concusion, and start having back and neck pain and migraines from that point on until raw. I had to see a chiropractor 2 to 3 times a week for years. THERE THAT 15 YEARS OLD THING IS AGAIN!

misslinda: It is a learning experience, but that is how we grow and progress.

Graciebeliever: Cute, LOL! Thanks!

dreamrawalwz: Thank you...I am not an impulsive person. You could call me a defined thinker. I think I would be good at chess IF I knew how to play, LOL.

swingbolder: no for me I think one meal would be the start of a chain of meals.

lissomllama: yes I think once bite would be too much. Fix them a raw meal? Well I will leave that question unanswered until the end of my post. It's part of the good news.

fallenangel: Thank you for the suggestions.

ChilePalm: It surely would.

Coriander74: Yes I can, thanks for the reminder about weigh day. That is always a monthly perk to raw.

Thank you so much everyone for your support! It does not go unnoticed!

Ok here is the good news: My parents canceled dinner (although I had already decided to stay raw). They are going on a cruise. YEAH FOR THEM!

So I guess I will just buy them a gift!

Much raw love all. Talking this out has just made my determination that much stronger to stay raw4life! :D

[ellenalesa]

:( Lay Lay, I was in Colorado due to my future MIL's death. We were out for a week. I made sure we got an efficiency and I went food shopping and got all the fixin's I needed...bought a blender...and i was good for about 5 days, then I had a little ice cream, then some Mexican (and had SERIOUS pain!) then some other things....and I am still struggling to get back to high raw.

It's weird because I seem to have lost my taste for a lot of things. We went to a steakhouse last nite and I usually LOVe what I get there, couldn't finish it, I was turned off by it...which is good!

I made a big vat of Alissa's watermelon soup and I am going to make the raisin date nut torte...and Sat. I have another raw class.

I've gained back weight, my skin is not as smooth as it was, and I feel sluggish. I WANT to go back, and yet it is a struggle.

And the fruit here is not as good as it was...I think the season may be ending, or else I just got a lousy papaya...it is very watery and bland tasting....disappointing.

It's so not worth it.

I am going to start a new post asking for fall/winter type fare....that's my fear...-in summer, it's easy when the yummy fruits are easily available...in winter, what do you eat?

Anyway, glad you didn't give in.

EllenAlesa

[Lay-Lay]

Thanks for sharing Ellen. Yes that will be a fun thread. I think there is an old one on that topic, but it would be fun to start a new one to discuss what everyone's plans are. I will be sharing mine on there.

[lissomllama]

Really in the scheme of things what's a cooked meal or two if you can manage it.

Rather then have a binge why not exercise your will and consciously enjoy some cooked food.

I guess it's a personal matter though because if it will stimulate adictive patterns for you then maybe it's a bad choice.

I have been raw for five months now and have a similar situation happening in september.

If you do enjoy a cooked meal--go light the next day, drink lots of water and don't be concerned. Cooked food is not a sin.

Look at the world and the emmense suffering people are enduring.

After all this is just diet we are talking about.

Peace

I really disagree. I don't attempt to change your opinion but rather, offer my own in response: This is NOT just a diet. This is a lifestyle and in fact, so many people fail because they see it as a diet. That is the main problem we are all trying to combat. We want people to see this for what it is, a profound and LONG TERM lifestyle change. Never a 'diet'.

And yes, many people are starving and suffering and in many cases it is because they think they need cooked food to sustain themselves. Most of the earth is bursting with fresh green plantlife that people could partake of but don't because they think they need meat and cooked food and medication. Now, granted, not all places have enough or any plantlife and it is often contaminated, but still, the focus should be on planting vegetation to live off of raw, not on finding ways to get cooked stuff that offers no life and actually worsens the starvation issue. The modern world has taught most people (even those in 3rd world, starving countries) that the earth cannot sustain us and that we cannot thrive without technology and while it sometimes makes things easier, it also harms us. Our earth is what sustains us and everything we have we have somehow had to make from nothing but the natural stuff of this earth, so we need to see the simplicity of it all and just eat raw instead of taking all this abundance for granted. Plantlife procreates for a reason: To always be around. Fruits regenerate and recycle so that we can always have them to live off of! If people went to africa and planted tousands of fruit bearing trees, bushes and helped raise awareness about what is already growing there, instead of brining in as much dead food as they could find, starvation wouldn't be an issue. Dead food does not regenerate or have a cycle, therefore it cannot give life.


Now I don't believe in 'sin', but I do believe in wrong and right and things that are either harmful or good and not much good or sense can ever come from cooked food. We can try to infuse it with good energy and intentions but that only goes so far. It is as simple as that. So yes, cooked food actually is a 'sin' if that is the word you prefer to use. Cooking your food is literally like a slap in the face to our earth and to all the wonderful things we have in their natural and totally edible state. Cooked food is useless and only causes disease, illness, pain, suffering, addiction, dysfunction and death. Live, raw food is everything that is full of life and vibrant and putting anything less in your body is very harmful and makes no sense. Not to mention how economically and ecologically damaging it is. We need to stop acting like we were meant to eat cooked food and realise that the opposite is true. Of course we have more technology to use these days and it isn't always bad to take part in that but no good can come from cooked food. quite the opposite.

Consciously choosing to eat cooked is VERY counterproductive. Especially since the whole point of raw and this message board is to consciously choose to eat RAW. I don't think it is ever a good idea to look at eating cooked food as a good idea, but rather to see it as what it is, an unnatural mistake that can be learned from

Please understand that I offer total support to anyone who is struggling and eating cooked food doesn't make you a bad person and if you choose it that is fine, but this isn't the place for it and it doesn't help those with strong OR weak resolve to say that cooked food is ok. It is not biologically appropriate but unlike many other things, we can say no to cooked food and we should. I don't advoate beating yourself up for slipping or even for choosing not to be raw, but to commit to raw is to say that you don't think cooked is ok, so I think a total choice must be made. I don't think we need to be hard on ourselves but I can't agree with advocating cooked even in its smallest form. I think we need to be loving and nurturing and teach all who we can about raw veganism to save our bodies, our minds, our planet and our consciousness. Cooked food and all the industries involved are harming our precious environment and bodies. We need to wake up and take a stand. This isn't as simple as a diet. Your food and water is your life. If you change that, you die, just like any other creature on this earth.

[Jewell]

You are doing so well.... I'm so proud of you.. especially seeing how far you have come. I was having a great stretch... until we went camping. I thought I would get right back on ... but weeks later I'm still struggling. I have a few good days were I'm 100%... but then my mind starts to crave.. then i run out of ideas for meals for myself, so in frustration I grab whatever is conveinent. Here I am struggling to get back on raw...I wish I NEVER gave in and went off in the first place.
You may not be like me, seeing that you have been so successful these past 4 months.. but why put those toxins back in your beautiful body? You may end up feeling sick and regretting it anyways.

If you have any suggestions for me to get back on raw I'm all ears. I'm desperate and can use a raw friend at the moment.
Give it a week and I'll be out of all my new meeting clothes!

[Lay-Lay]

Hey Sister (Jewell),

Well I have done the same thing many times as you. It makes it feel harder to come back. I know for myself setting small goals real helps. Usually if you can get through the first 3 days of eating raw 100% it gets easier. Maybe set the goal of making it 100% raw for 3 days and then set another goal. My shortterm goal right now is to make it raw until my weigh day and then I will set another goal. That keeps me motivated and going. Just like us with our service and meetings - we have to set goals in order to move forward and keep our focus. It is the same concept.

Much love sister!!!

[Jewell]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm finding it so hard these days... so I'm back to surfing the net, re-reading all my raw books, and coming back on raw food talk..to try to keep me motivated. I have so much detoxing and weight to lose its crazy... But like you said - One goal at a time. Right now all I'm obsessing about is that we are going to Mexico in Feb.. and I have atleast 50-60lbs to try to get off me just so I'll feel comfortable in a bathing suit. I need to focus on now.. not later.
I'm going to a raw retreat at the end of this month.. I'm so excited and I think that will help me considerably.
I'm excited to have a raw sister!!!! Thanks for your kind words... lots to think about. If you have any other advice you can email me at nlight26@msn.com Thanks so much