Starting the challenge again...(merged with "Detoxing")

[dreamrawalwz]

I'm back, finally, I hope. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of feeling tired and crappy. I'm tired of giving in to my addiction to cooked food. I feel so defeated and overwhelmed...like I can't go back to raw :( I NEED to desperately though. Some may ask "why don't you just DO it?" I was just thinking about that. I realized the time I started really dealing with emotional issues that are surfacing I started eating cooked. Then those emotions about eating cooked were piled on top and started doing eating disordered behavior and other things. I honestly don't know what to do or how. Does that sound stupid? I'm too afraid to face my emotions and issues so I'm numbing out with food.

I know tomorrow will be EXTREMELY difficult to get past these cravings. ANY SUGGESTIONS to what may help? I already feel anxious. Last week I had a panic attack because I had such strong cravings for cooked. I couldn't hold out. I already feel anxious for planning not to have cooked tomorrow...yikes.

Enough whining! I need to just DO IT as Nike says lol. Wish me luck. I need all the support I can get!

[raw-siobhan]

You know, unfortunately there is really no one piece of advice that I can give you because you have been around RAW longer than I have, but like many others on this site will tell you YOU ARE LOVED. You are appreciated. You are an amazing person and no matter how many times you "fail", you must always come back to it so long as your heart is in it. I go back and forth all of the time with RAW and I feel like an idiot for not just sticking with it. But it is so much more complicated than "just doing it" for some of us. For some of us the struggle is tremendous, but if we feel strongly about something we will always come back to it because we have a responsibility to ourselves to do right by ourselves, right? Cut yourself some slack. You are wonderful and I appreciate you deeply. :)

[PixieLed]

You can do it! I think I read this quote somewhere on this board and it really stuck with me, in fact I wrote it out on a piece of paper and stuck it in front of my desk:

There's nothing to it, but to do it.

I know it's hard, but if you "just do it", you will be great and the benefits of raw and dealing with your issues will be so much more worth it than satisfying any cravings! *hug hug* We love you!

[star1919]

Hey Dreamrawalwz... wishing you a good raw day tomorrow. I encourage you to focus on your successes. If 100% raw goes well for you... great! If you find yourself at a level of high raw some days... that is still a success!

Simply put, if you have positive feelings for the raw foods you are eating... you can build on it. Feeling good about what you're doing... will help support your raw path. It is okay to grow into things.

The best to you with this...

[GreenPrince]

[QUOTE=dreamrawalwz]I'm too afraid to face my emotions and issues so I'm numbing out with food.
QUOTE]

dreamrawalwz,

That's your real point. I'm glad that you are clear of this. :)
I think, you have to get free of some emotional blockages in your path.

I have an idea. Read the book "The Journey" by Brandon Bays and find a friend you can do "The Journey Therapy" with.
By means of this approach you can do it for free. Of hundreds of therapies I know about, I think this is one of the best short therapies.
Another line of action is to find a Jorney therapist under education. They also do it for free as far as I know. Just an idea.

If you do it, afterwards remember this my inverted struggling:

I struggle to go 90% raw and suddenly fell of the (90%) wagon - BACK to 100% for weeks!

This is of course a sort of psychological trick during my transition time. I have defined 100% raw as a failure.
Some emotional stuff inside me then try to accomplish a "failure" by force me back to 100% raw!
When I discover my 100% raw status after weeks, I eat something vegan cooked.

I mean, when you are free from the blockage of the main emotional stuff, you will have this free,
happy process to move to 100% raw without resistance, struggling and weird cravings.

Oh, something more for you:
Walk every day for half an hour. This will help you balance your emotional swungs.

In the course "Get the Edge" the coach Anthony Robbins says: "Emotion comes from motion."
Motion creates and evens up emotions.

Good luck to you!

[girlsmiley]

dreamrawalwz - like your ID says, "dream raw always" ... in time it will become a permanent reality.

Have you watched The Secret? Write some positive affirmations about who and what you want to be and say them at least every morning upon waking and every night before you go to sleep. Eventually you will have them memorized and when you feel a craving or urge coming on then your affirmations will pop into your head.

One of mine is, "My body craves raw fruits and vegatables."

Also, I've just started reading "The Pleasure Trap" by Douglas J. Lisle, Ph.D. and Alan Goldhamer, D.C. ... "Mastering the Hidden Force that Undermines Health & Happiness" ...

You have been an inspiration to so many of us on this board ... we love you and are here to listen :)

[star1919]

Hey Green Prince... great suggestion with the book The Journey. I checked it out on Amazon. It looks wonderful! I ordered a couple of them for stocking stuffers. Thanks! :p

[dreamrawalwz]

Thank you for the support. I screwd up AGAIN, and horribly. Worse than I've EVER binged before and this was for two days. I've gained 12 pounds in 2 weeks! This is gross. I'm sure MOST of it is water weight. I told my mom about the anxiety attacks and my aunt. They're going to help me as best as they can! The first three days are the hardest!

[dreamrawalwz]

Hey, again I'm going to say "tomorrow is the day to start frest" and you know what, I WILL. I'm determined. I'm going to do this. I have to do this. I feel and look miserable. I've gained a lot of weight. I'm holding on to a lot of toxins and water weight.

Here is my plan:
Juice in the morning
Salad at night
Some veggies

ALL organic
NO salt/spices
Smooth move tea in the morning and evening to detox quicker
Detox teas
Skin brushing morning and evening
Stretching morning and evening
Walking 2 miles
Epson salt baths (i'm nervous about that b/c i don't sweat it out...I just swell up with the salts)
Off and on fasting
TRUELY listen to my body
Journaling in my 30 day challenge DAILY!

Any other things to help detox quicker? I feel desperate. I need to do this quickly. The first three days will be the hardest for me. I can already feel the anxiety building and it hasn't even begun lol. ::deep breath::

[tvillemom]

Dreamrawalwz...you are an inspiration to me! Hang in there, I KNOW....


:D :D I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!!! :D :D

We are all cheering for you! We just started the 30 Dec. Challenge, are you there, come join us, it's not too late! Lots of support.

Sometimes it helps me to pretend like one of my 100%RAW friends is here watching what I eat. All my old SAD favorites don't seem so tempting, if I think of Rawkinlocs watching me eat it!! ;) Take care of you!!
Wendi

[Sunshine9]

Hey Dream,

How's it goin'?
Did you start yet?

If you need an email or AIM buddy, just let me know. We're pretty close in age, so having support is always great!

Warmest,
Sunshine

[Irisha]

I'm reading up on a lot of nutritional books and one thing I found out is that cravings can be a sign of some underlying mineral or vitamin deficiency in your body. A lot of people overeat for this reason, cooked food doesn't provide enough vitamins and minerals and they try to compensate by eating more. It's a common story all around. Perhaps you can indicate the specific cravings you have and we can figure out what it is youre lacking in? A lot of deficiencies are accompanied by depression, fatigue, nervousness and negativism so one can't actually point to any specific thing in such a case as it's common to many a problem. Dont' beat yourself up too hard and persevere in eating as much raw as possible and as varied as possible. Eventually any deficiency can be fixed by eating more raw fruit and veggies. Also listen to your cravings when it comes to raw foods, they are good indicators of what your body might be needing at the time. I've read somewhere that craving chocolate might indicate magnesium deficiency, so I bought Calcium/Magnesium supplement and it's helped a lot. Raw cacao beans also help a lot:))

[Indi]

You know you can do it!
If it helps, when i am in a similar space to you, I just go raw.

I don't think about it, I just do it!

If i think about it then i find all sorts of ways and reasons not to do it!

Like you listed above, I keep to a simple plan.

High green juice or green smoothie for breakfast as this makes me feel good and then i am less tempted to slip up, followed by exercise (i like to use the trampoline to stimulate lymphatic system)

Keep busy!!!!!

If i slip up i don't beat myself, I accept and move on, otherwise i am tempted to binge.

Sending you love, light and lots of encouragement ;)