not really sure

[emjems21]

im a college student, without a car, so i depend on public transportation to get to and from the grocery store. unfortunately this severely limits the amount of food that i can get at a time (not to mention storage space at home). i grew up in a house that had a fully stocked fridge and pantry, had a closet full of toilet paper, several bottles of shampoo/conditioner - basically multiples of everything... so when i only have a few days quantity of food, i get a panicked "im going to starve" feeling and my mind gets clouded by the constant nagging to go to the grocery store. i usually go about twice a week, but i never feel like i got all the food that i wanted. on SAD it was much easier to buy many cans of food and order bulk crackers online, so thoughts of food were slightly less pervasive. still though, my mind does not quiet down ever about food...has anyone found that raw has INCREASED their concentration/obsession with food?


also being so new at raw i am not grounded strongly in the nutritional background/reasoning behind raw, so i do not feel comfortable telling other peopel im raw since i cant articulate a proper explanation. i dont necessarily care that i will be judged, i just dont want to be misunderstood. that being said, ive found myself pulling away from friends (for several other confounding reasons too) fearful that ill find myself in a situation where raw wont be available. i was buying larabars and dried fruit but these foods were too close to SAD foods for me and would often result in massive binges.

being without food sends me into a panic, but being around food, i binge. if its there, its very hard for me NOT to eat it, even if I am not hungry at all. i have a history of literally eating myself sick, eating entire loaves of bread and any other food i have on hand until my body forces itself to vomit.

clearly there are a lot of emotional struggles tied to food for me. i do feel raw helping me tremondously, but at the same time it is reinforcing many of the surface level food-emotion behaviors.

this post became much longer than i expected, and im not even sure what im looking for in responses...but thanks for reading if you've made it this far :)

[spicyfull]

Have you thought about talking with someone who can lead you in the direction of, why? and what the deeper meaning is?

[juliebove]

You can order some raw foods online, if you can afford them. Are there any stores near you that deliver? Can you get deliveries of organic produce from a local farm? There are at least three farms in this area that will deliver either to your door or to a nearby pickup spot.

I don't have a lot of storage space in my kitchen either and I am disabled so I hate having to lug in a lot of groceries. Luckily there is a health food store just around the corner from me. Would be within walking distance if I were more able bodied. It's also next door to my daughter's dance studio. She takes four classes a week, so I try to stop in there almost every time we're by there for something. This way I can buy a little at a time and I'm not having to make an extra trip somewhere.

When my friend's car was out of service and she had to take the bus, she made trips to the grocery store whenever she was out. She would not make an extra trip to the store unless she had to. There is one grocery store next to where she was working at the time and another across the street. So she would go to one of those stores for just as much as she could carry at one time. By buying a small amount each day, she always had enough food.

Is there a store within walking distance of where you live? If so, you might want to buy one of those little carts. I got one when I lived in NYC. I had to have one there because even though I do have a car, at times I could not park anywhere near the store. And some stores did not allow you to take the cart to your car. Also, I had to park across the street and down a ways from where I lived. So I needed the cart to haul the groceries to my door. That was a pain!

[RowanC]

Nobody can make the decision for you.

Good luck!

[Ginger]

Maybe you can ease into it a bit at first? Just buy more fresh fruits & veggies & greens and incorporate them into your daily routein. Try to have one salad everyday or fruits for breakfast & as snacks. Maybe do a vegetable juice and/or green smoothie daily too. Learn a new recipe every couple days or every trip to the grocery store. Go to your library & get a few books on raw, order them if they don't have any. Then after you get more comfortable in the next couple weeks or months maybe try a 30 day challenge!

[Ariannah]

I think the answer can only be found within yourself. WHY do you want to go raw, and figure it out for you. There are as many reasons for going raw as there are people going raw. You can always just say, to people who ask why, honestly, "I'm trying it out for now to see how I feel." And if, as time goes on, you continue, and people continue to ask, just say, "Oh I feel so good, I might as well keep on going."

As for the details, my family is the only family in our neighbourhood without a car. It's slightly different for me, as I am married and my husband sometimes picks up things on the way home from work, but it is still public transit.

For money issues, I'd keep the fancy recipes to a minimum and just keep it simple - eat your favorite fruits, veggies, nuts, greens, etc.

[LoveLife]

I'm not sure of your living situation..as to whether u live alone or not..I'm not sure y u feel like going to the store 2 x's a week is not enough..and that u will starve..that is not true..I know what u mean by growing up having a bunch of everything around..but u have to realize that your parents were older than u r now..and therefore more established and had most likely more money than u have right now..also a family to support..maybe u should plan more ahead of time..like a shopping list..so that u always have what u think u need..and maybe u should think in terms of what u will eat for the next 3-4 days instead of planning a week ahead..so that when u are almost out of food..then it will be the time to go shopping again..about not knowing enough about raw nutrition to answer questions..yes it is unfortunate that as someone doing something other than the norm we have to be so much more knowledgable than others ..so that we can answer their questions..but my suggestion is that since learning about it is all up to u..go to a book store and plan on spending a few hours there..and look at raw food books and health books in general (natural health that is)..and write down some notes..then u don't have to buy anything but u can still be knowledgable..I assume u have internet there are plenty of sites to look at too...about the binge eating..that is an actual eating disorder..so u might want to see about some therapy or help in some way...as for not hanging with your friends..they are your friends and tho maybe they all wont be supportive at first (tho they should be)..I've found if u don't constantly talk about what u eat..most people might ask a question or two but then forget about it and move on to moe interesting topics..I'm sure food is not all u talk to your friends about..u might need the support too...

Here are some good books and sites:
Becoming Vegan (tho not about raw..it is VERY informative about plant nutrition)
Alissa's book (of course:) )
Ani's Raw Food Kitchen (tho more about recipes..it does talk a lot about environmental issues)
Raw Food Real World (more about recipes).. www.oneluckyduck.com or www.myspace.com/sarma
Conscious Eating (excellent nutritional advice)

good luck..and hope some of this helps..RAWk on girl:D