struggling

[smarison]

Ok I am feeling like this is starting to be for me what every diet I have been on is. I love it in the begining, do well then go back to my old ways. I think I am PMSing at the moment but I not only had ice cream today, I had shrimp and crab ravioli, now I feel stuffed and yuck. I hate feeling like I have no control. I feel so good when I eat raw, although I get discouraged about not loosing weight, but gee I sure do cheat alot. I feel god and want to do this for that reason but of course really want to loose weight. I ordered that green smoothie book and am hoping to have some inlightenment from that. I am also going away next week for a week and am nervous if I am cheating at home what is in store for me there. Sorry for rambeling just need some support or maybe a kick in the butt. Thanks

[Veganforlife]

Oh man! Well, I won't give you a kick in the butt as I'm not a violent person, but I'll give 'ya a talkin' to!:eek:
You have to decide for youself if this is what you truly want. How long is the longest you've been raw? How did you feel? You know the longer you are raw the better and better you will continue to feel. Look at how yucky you are feeling right now. That's what all SAD/CRAP foods do to one's body. You are eating empty foods. And shrimp and crab to boot? You're eating bodies of living creatures. What right do we have to eat other living creatures? Think of the poisons you're ingesting too eating seafood. I haven't trusted eating seafood for years first for the moral issue and secondly the waters aren't safe.
Don't set yourself up for failure next week before you even get there. Do a challenge to yourself. Challenge yourself that you can eat raw ESPECIALLY away from home. Be the one in your family or circle of friends that will emit the glow and health and others will follow.
I wish you luck with this. You CAN do it if you truly want to.

[darkchild]

I know how you feel. Before I started living the raw food lifestyle, I tried at least 50 different "diets" over the last 20 years. When I started to eat this way the firat time I was so thrilled that I could eat whatever I wanted as long as it was raw. I lost 30 pounds in 6 weeks amd basically started to reverse several health issues before they really got to the point of medication, like high blood pressure and diabetes. After 6 weeks, I just flipped out and ate everything in sight. Cooked, raw, it didn't matter. I have had an eating disorder to deal with and I think it really scared me that I might be "o.k." if I ate raw food. I know that sounds weird, but it's true. This was in March of '06. I gained back all of the weight and then some and all of my health issues. I started over in March of this year and have committed myself to living this lifestyle. I have dropped almost 40 pounds now and my health is good.
I think we all have setbacks and issues to deal with, but if you can stick to this for a little while, the benefits will be so encouraging, you may be able to overcome the games that all of our minds like to play with us ;). I hope you give this a serious chance because you are worth it. We all are.

[smarison]

Thank you both. Its crazy cause I do feel wonderful when I eat that way. OK challenge to stay raw while away. I notice my biggest downfall ias when preparing meals for my children, I smell it, it is in front of me, then I want to eat it. Maybe I'll ask my husband to prepare when he is available.

[Veganforlife]

There you go! Or better yet, drink a green smoothie BEFORE you prepare any food. You'll be full and won't want to eat SAD/CRAP foods. Or trying have an all raw night one night a week to help incorporate raw foods into your hubby and children's diets. Have them all help prepare the meal. It's a mind thing too like darkchild said. We weren't born eating big macs and the horrid foods we eat. Our bodies navigate toward the fresh, living, good foods. Just keep thinking how well you feel and how healing raw food is.

[Beckla]

Ok. Listen.

I've been here 6 months. I had frozen yogurt tonight.

It's a moment-by-moment thing. The thing that led me (years ago) into eating disorders was having CONTROL over something in my life. Food was that thing for me.

What I've learned is that eating raw (as is any "diet") is addictive. Fun at first. Then challenging. You ask why. And then you see results. And wonder why the heck you didn't know about it sooner. Then it's challenging again, because you plataeu. And then ... somehow... you realize results aren't always immediate or apparent... and ...

Stick with this. It's worth it.

Becca

[darkchild]

Thank you both. Its crazy cause I do feel wonderful when I eat that way. OK challenge to stay raw while away. I notice my biggest downfall ias when preparing meals for my children, I smell it, it is in front of me, then I want to eat it. Maybe I'll ask my husband to prepare when he is available.

I also have had to cook meals for others during this time. It really helps to have raw foods that you enjoy available to you before or while you are cooking. I notice that I don't have a problem with wanting to eat cooked food if I have some favorite raw foods to grab while preparing a meal for someone else.

[the_lab_rat]

I think it really scared me that I might be "o.k." if I ate raw food.

Wow, I totally could've written that. It's such a weird feeling... I couldn't quite put it into words before, but that's exactly it!

Anyway, smarison, I'm pretty much going through the same thing right now--I feel like this is turning into just another diet out of the dozens I've tried. I think it's important to focus on how you feel. It's great that you can recognize how much better raw makes you feel! That'll give you some extra motivation next time you're staring down that crab ravioli :D Hopefully on your vacation you won't have to prepare any food for others and can just concentrate on your own meals. Like others have already said, having raw food on hand or eating before cooking is really helpful. Or on vacation, if you're going out to eat, have something like a smoothie before (I bring blenders with me on vacation, strange as that may sound to most!) Sometimes it's actually easier to stay raw on vacation than at home, especially if you're at a hotel--no cupboards full of junk food to tempt you! And plenty of distractions to keep your mind off food. Anyway, good luck on your challenge, stick with it and imagine how great you'll feel after a whole week of raw food!