I just survived my first SAD barbeque....

[laurabfig]

I wasn't too tempted by the hot dogs and hamburgers. Grilled veggies would have been much harder to pass up. I just made a big salad and heaped guacamole on top of it, which was delicious. But sweets were (are still) my true addiction...I made it through without eating a bite of pie, cake or chocolate chip cookies (my #1 favorite thing in the SAD!).

It is interesting how eating raw has brought up so many things for me. I was almost in tears telling my husband later (he is out of town and wasn't at the BBQ with me) how much I am realizing that I am addicted to cooked food, and especially sweets. I'm asking myself WHY??? Why do I want to eat things that I KNOW are terrible for me, make me feel like S**T and are not healthy? Why is it so hard for me to resist these things? So many reasons...years of being raised on processed junk (little debbies were ALWAYS around in the kitchen at my house); the cultural expectations around food; cooked food being the cultural norm.

I never realized that eating this way, which I know is the best way, would truly make me look deeper at my reasons for eating and the choices I make. It is a good process, but hard...

Anyway, I'm thankful for the support of this board. I need to find some raw friends here in Berkeley...(we just moved from miami where i knew tons of raw people)

[RawCutter]

good for you for hanging tough

[Stina]

Yeah, congratulations, that's a big baby step forward. After being high Raw for a long time, which really meant I wanted to be wholly Raw and still gourged myself on SAD, truth be known, and now I am totally Raw. Tonight I was seriously debating hitting the deli at the supermarket, you know, just to be normal and to reward myself....but I passed a guy I had a crush on who's dating someone else, and I was like, dang, I look good! Hey, if it's being shallow that gets me over the hump to the Raw road, then so be it! At least I know it.......

[Morn]

Congratulations on your victory today. That is how you do it. One small victory at a time. I know what you mean about having a sweet tooth. But now that I know there are raw sweet tooth alternatives I don't feel like I am missing out. In the beginning I had to make a lot of raw desserts. The longer I have been on the raw path I don't need as many. Just very occasionally. I suggest next time you go to one of these events - go armed with your own raw dessert in hand.

[D'vorah]

and I was like, dang, I look good! Hey, if it's being shallow that gets me over the hump to the Raw road, then so be it! At least I know it.......


See, now, if I could skip ahead to that point in the journey, I think I could make it, but it's the day to day stuff at the early stage of the journey that keeps me falling.

I LOVE your attitude. Maybe I can just visualize BEING at that stage "as if." It's great!

Deborah

[spicyfull]

Way to Gooooooooo...