binging on dates and sweets... HELP!

[britaniefaith]

I need help... I'm worried I am going to make myself sick. I just started on the raw food diet a few days ago and I've been having a major problem controling myself with sweets like dried papaya, mango slices and dates, cocoa nibs, etc. I woke up early this morning and totall binged on like 6 dates and some larabars and now I have a major stomach ache and I'm SO bloated.

How do I break the cravings and how do I learn to just have portions of sweets and not eat a whole batch? I feel like a failure right now and all I want to do is just vomit... I feel sick.

I'm probably going to gain so much weight now. :-(

[Veganforlife]

Green smoothies. For real. Since I've been drinking them, my cravings for sweets has but all diminished. Try them. They work!
Oh please don't beat yourself up! What you are going through is perfectly normal. You've been "conditioned" to want those sweets and it will take a while for your taste buds to adjust and your body to tell you what it wants. When I first went raw, I could not get enough chocolate. Now, maybe once every two weeks (if that) do I eat it. Raw chocolate, that is. But I have a sweet smoothie every morning, chock full of my greens - Alissa's Green Food Powder and Spirulina added to it.

[Stina]

Hi:) I've had issues with binging too and I give you my word that if you stick with eating Raw, the appetite will start to mend itself, believe it or not. Meditation greatly helps me over the emotional hump and strengthens my resolve to be Raw. And greens are the key. Jump at every opportunity to consume green. Start with green smoothies since they're sweet. Eat a salad and then munch your sweets. The greens will fill up y our belly first. If you got a juicer, juice greens, a whole lemon peel and all, a couple of apples and a little ginger. Just keep up a high in-take of greens. Your life and happiness depend on it. Don't let this phase discourage you; that's what it is, is a phase. Lots of us go through it. Keep checking in with us and let us know how you're doing.

[britaniefaith]

Hi:) I've had issues with binging too and I give you my word that if you stick with eating Raw, the appetite will start to mend itself, believe it or not. Meditation greatly helps me over the emotional hump and strengthens my resolve to be Raw. And greens are the key. Jump at every opportunity to consume green. Start with green smoothies since they're sweet. Eat a salad and then munch your sweets. The greens will fill up y our belly first. If you got a juicer, juice greens, a whole lemon peel and all, a couple of apples and a little ginger. Just keep up a high in-take of greens. Your life and happiness depend on it. Don't let this phase discourage you; that's what it is, is a phase. Lots of us go through it. Keep checking in with us and let us know how you're doing.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I just ordered a vitamix a few days ago so I am waiting for that to come and once it does I am going to make ALOT of green smoothies and hopefully that will curb my sweet appetite a bit. I'm trying not to beat myself up about my "binge" because I know that it's hard to go completely raw and I should give myself a pat on the back for sticking to a raw plan, but it's hard when I'm trying to be so good and then I just go crazy on the sweets... those dang dates are so addicting!!! like candy. haha

[145ish]

I'm not a big sweets eater so I can't even imagine eating more than 2 or 3 dates max. I have found that cabbage and cucumber go well with cantaloupe in shakes/smoothies. The cantalope hides the cabbage taste really well. Some day I aspire to having a Vita-Mix!:rolleyes:

[rawnpawgirl]

Ideally, melon should always be eaten alone, but whatever works with each individuals body is different. I have always read though, in numerous sources, that melon is a LONER fruit.

britaniefaith- hang in there! I know exactly what you are talking about, girlfriend!! I have binged and looked about 6 months pregnant afterwards! Not fun and you feel like such a loser! but everyone else is right, it is all part of the journey and learning process.

[muse]

I can eat six dates easily. I don't feel I'm 'bingeing'. And I'm talking about big medjool dates. I can also eat a lot of nuts and feel fine. If I restrict, I set myself up for going to SAD favorites.

I totally agree about eating melon alone. Having had the experience of watermelon sitting in my stomach on top of other foods and know what mayhem that caused, I never eat melon with anything else! It's the fastest digesting food I know of and needs nothing in the way to move through the body!

[Damzlfly]

I just ate 6 dates YUMMY. Its funny, I clearly thought I needed to lose more weight, but since I've been on raw, I have actually gone up to 116 and am staying there...so I guess that's where my bod wants to be ...grr.

I have just started to really exercise again (2 hr walk along the river last nigh, an hour long bike ride to my local watering hole...ya ya I know..the day before)

Hopefully that will kick start some loss action, but if not, I still fit into **most** of my clothes, but I would like to drop at least 5..but no stress, eat the darn dates :)

[britaniefaith]

I just ate 6 dates YUMMY. Its funny, I clearly thought I needed to lose more weight, but since I've been on raw, I have actually gone up to 116 and am staying there...so I guess that's where my bod wants to be ...grr.

I have just started to really exercise again (2 hr walk along the river last nigh, an hour long bike ride to my local watering hole...ya ya I know..the day before)

Hopefully that will kick start some loss action, but if not, I still fit into **most** of my clothes, but I would like to drop at least 5..but no stress, eat the darn dates :)

Have you lost any weight since being Raw? and why on earth would you want to lose more weight!? I cant imagine being 116 lbs! I'm 130 lbs right now (i'm 5'5") I was down at 120-124 lbs at the most but in the last few months, my thyroid has been so screwed up that I gained weight by not even doing much at all different with my diet... I'm hoping that since going Raw I might be able to get back down to my original weight because I'm not really happy with my current weight... however, if I dont lose any then I will just accept that this is the weight my body wants to be at and just deal with it! lol

[RawNubian]

I LOVE dates. I only buy 10 at a time on purpose to avoid OD'ing. I definately co-sign on the Green Smoothie suggestion. They really help with the sweets cravings. Maybe you should buy only a certain amount of dates for a one week period so that you can't go overboard with them?

[Damzlfly]

Have you lost any weight since being Raw? and why on earth would you want to lose more weight!? I cant imagine being 116 lbs! I'm 130 lbs right now (i'm 5'5") I was down at 120-124 lbs at the most but in the last few months, my thyroid has been so screwed up that I gained weight by not even doing much at all different with my diet... I'm hoping that since going Raw I might be able to get back down to my original weight because I'm not really happy with my current weight... however, if I dont lose any then I will just accept that this is the weight my body wants to be at and just deal with it! lol

Oh I'm only 5'1 though! I actually have not lost anything since being raw, oddly enough. I'd like to hover around 110 which was where I was 6 months ago. And after I completed the MC, I was at 105, and when I was training for a marathon, I was around 106-107...so 116 I feel like a COW! BUT like I said, I still fit into my clothes so thats a bonus...and once I get back into my exercise routine (Bikram starting in July) I will be good to go.

[dustandbreath]

I swear I am the only guy on these pages, but that is a good thing, right? Anyway, funny, I just ate about 5 or 6 dates this morning and just ate 3 more. I discovered them waaaayyyyy in the back of the fridge (we need to go shopping today, and I was foraging what was left. Yup, they were sweet as can be. I thought they must've been injected with granulated sugar or something. Didn't know eating them alot was "bad." I figured, "hey, raw=good" and boy, were they good. I don't remember the last time I had a real date. To eat, I mean, the fruit. I am married. (Oh, and we DO date each other still). Anyway, will see what that does to my weight. I am 6'3.5" and am 215.8 as of today (I looove our digital WW scale), started out at 234.

I am just an eatin' fool. Enjoy it, but discover all the other good things our friends our encouraging you with on this thread.

Can you use your vitamix to blend greens, or does it need to go through a juicer first?

[YogaJo]

try not to be so hard on yourself. gentle encouragement is helpful when trying to make big changes such as eating habits. to me 6 dates is hardly half a snack, let alone a binge!:)

[Veganforlife]

I swear I am the only guy on these pages, but that is a good thing, right? Anyway, funny, I just ate about 5 or 6 dates this morning and just ate 3 more. I discovered them waaaayyyyy in the back of the fridge (we need to go shopping today, and I was foraging what was left. Yup, they were sweet as can be. I thought they must've been injected with granulated sugar or something. Didn't know eating them alot was "bad." I figured, "hey, raw=good" and boy, were they good. I don't remember the last time I had a real date. To eat, I mean, the fruit. I am married. (Oh, and we DO date each other still). Anyway, will see what that does to my weight. I am 6'3.5" and am 215.8 as of today (I looove our digital WW scale), started out at 234.

I am just an eatin' fool. Enjoy it, but discover all the other good things our friends our encouraging you with on this thread.

Can you use your vitamix to blend greens, or does it need to go through a juicer first?

Dates are awesome little treats. Try stuffing a nut in one, I like Brazil nuts in them - YUM-OH!!!

Yes the VM can be used to blend greens. If fruits and/or greens go through a juicer, ALL that's left is the juice. Blending blends ALL the properties and you get way more for your buck - so to speak. The only thing I juice are carrots and beets, then I'll add them to my green blended smoothies.

And you are not the only guy. There's Andypdx and Craig (remember? He's the guy that had the white shirt, washed it with other clothes and it turned it blue?) to name a couple - others come forth, make yourself known!!!

Be an eatin' fool - that's fine - as long as it's the RIGHT (raw) foods.

And I think that's admirable that you and your wife still date....awwww. Good for you!

[dustandbreath]

Dates are awesome little treats. Try stuffing a nut in one, I like Brazil nuts in them - YUM-OH!!!

Sounds DELISH!! Thanks. ANd for the other tips and enlightenment.

Ahh, I am not alone :p

[Veganforlife]

You are welcome. We all are never alone. Even when we feel like it. We have ourselves and we should be our own best friends...
stick with me grasshoppah - I will teach you!!!!
hee hee!!!!

[RawChicky]

I sometimes find myself eating TONS of something and end up looking VERY pregnant but I've found that bingeing is only interesting for so long. Pretty soon you'll probably get over it and find something else to do. Good luck and don't be hard on yourself!

[rawbeliever]

I third VFL's suggestion for green smoothies. They are amazing.

[Carol K]

Been through what you explained. I have only been raw since March. In the beginning, I had to have Larabars and dried fruit daily to get a sugar fix. Had also a pretty good coffee habit before going raw. However, after having green smoothies daily, I now do not even crave sweets or coffee anymore. It is absolutely great. Try them. I start with a small apple, a small, peeled lemon and some fresh ginger. I liquify that first (in my Vita Mix) with about 3 ice cubes. After it is liquified, I add the greens. If you don't liquify it, your drink can be the consistency of applesauce. You can add a piece of banana too. There are other threads about green smoothies, but I thought I'd add here for your help.