Switching back and forth, cooked to raw..

[Allegra]

Lately I've been trying to eat raw, but find my self switching back and forth from raw, to cooked, to raw again. (For example, I went out to eat Sunday, and ordered a salad. They had put it under a heat lamp, so it was disgusting. I ended up eating some toast.) Every time I eat cooked food I feel sick to my stomach and dizzy for a while. Every time I switch back to raw it takes me about 3 days to not feel hungry.

Does any one else find this to be, or have problems staying raw?

What do you use for inspiration when your sitting in a room full of cooked food, and there is no where to get any thing raw for several hours, or even until the next day, to not eat cooked food?

Allegra

[Revvell]

Hi Allegra,

Well, it depends on the situation. One thing I've found is, get really good at a few simple things so, when you are going to be in that situation, you can grab some stuff on the way out.

You can eat before going out; you can have some stuff with you.

I organize a dinner once a month at a local chain for a group I'm with. It's all cooked. I often eat before hand, then bring something I REALLY like to eat while there. When I have time, I'll bring something to share also such as a raw pie (simple to make) or cake or, sometimes I make something that Bo and I can't eat alone such as Alissa's lasagne ~ and bring that.

You can keep a cooler in the car with soaked (and dried) nuts, seeds, LaraBars, crackers, etc. If you go someplace and they have tomatoes, cukes, etc., just pull out a cracker, put some tomato and cuke on it (or salsa/guacamole) and voila! You've got yourself an open faced sandwich.

Revvell

[Carolyn]

Hi Allegra,

I've been having the same problem. And I've noticed since I've been eating cooked, my stomach/digestive problems are coming back full force. So I KNOW better, and I'm still doing it. :( I brought a perfectly good salad to work today for lunch, and what did I do??? Went to the cafeteria and got a grilled cheese, fries and piece of apple pie. <sigh> My "comfort" food. I'm not too happy with myself now, and my stomach has already let me know that it's not happy either. :(

I just got over food poisoning the week before last ... you'd think that right there would have been the deciding factor. It's disgusting. :(

I know ... I need to stop kicking myself over this lapse and just move on ... back to raw and getting healthy. It's not an excuse, but I'm temporarily having to live with my parents, and it's really hard to stay raw like this. There's not much room for the stuff I need. Like I said, it's not an excuse, but it is making it more difficult than it should be. If my home repairs would ever get finished, I could be back home, in my own kitchen, where I don't have any processed stuff. (There's no place like home ... there's no place like home ...!) :)

But I understand completely where you're coming from, believe me. I'm just as frustrated about it as you are. I'm just going to try to do better this evening than I've done so far today, and then try to do even better than that tomorrow! I think I need to just look at each day's picture, rather than the big picture of how many days I may be able to do this in a row. Until I can get back in the swing of things, it's going to be a daily thing for me to beat.

[Pailani]

Having food with me is a necessity, but it can't be a salad. I need to know that I have something tasty and filling and satisfying with me to be able to resist temptation. A tupperware of raw chili is good. A sweet smoothie and little container of nuts is also good. Lara bars, too, but it takes two to stand in the face of the lure of cooked comfort food.

You need to find your favorite raw comfort foods that can be packed and be prepared with them on hand.

[tracyinfo]

Having food with me is a necessity, but it can't be a salad. I need to know that I have something tasty and filling and satisfying with me to be able to resist temptation. A tupperware of raw chili is good. A sweet smoothie and little container of nuts is also good. Lara bars, too, but it takes two to stand in the face of the lure of cooked comfort food.

You need to find your favorite raw comfort foods that can be packed and be prepared with them on hand.


I agree with Pailani, you need to find your favorite raw comfort foods, and bring them to your event. Also, Revell mentioned eating before you attend the event. That has helped me quite a bit. I also, carry a Playmate cooler to work, filled with a container of last night's dinner and lots and lots of fresh fruit.

This has helped me.

Blessings.

[Ginger]

I think swinging back & forth for awhile is totally normal. I did it for a couple years before I just recently had a breakthrough & now I no longer feel the need for cooked things. What really helps is how bad you feel and the symptoms you get from eating cooked again. The more raw you go, the more your body reacts to putting poisions back in when you do go back to cooked!

[rawpriestess]

Some people can make a decision, and that is it, this is when we totally change our beliefs. We just aren't tempted any further.

Other people can make a decision, and they swing back and forth and back and forth, aren't they committed? don't they care?, yes, they just are dealing with the cooked food addiction.

And it doesn't go away immediately.

I know coffee takes about 4 days to get out of my system, and yet, 7 years after I quit drinking coffee, I started up again, what was that about?

Well, somewhere in there, there was a "need" for the comfort that drinking coffee brought me, who knwo why or what, but it was there.

Now how could I have been prepared 7 years later? I hadn't touched coffee or wanted it for 7 years. But Victoria Boutenko talks about this in her lectures.

Just because you have made a commitment to be raw, and you've eaten raw for years, doesn't mean that you won't be tempted some weird time in the future, something we see, or something we hear may trigger an emotional response in us, and all of a sudden we want that familiar feeling of the past, maybe even 20 years past, but we want it.

So, although I've been slipping myself lately, so I'm not one to really make suggestions, I can tell you that it will work much better for you, if you ALWAYS, have some truly tasty foods with you, or in your car.

You still have a choice, to eat your food, or the cooked food that is available, sometimes knowing that you have choices, helps alot.

So, the kinds of things I keep in my car, a baggie of flax crackers, you can add almost any type of veggie and have a mini sandwich.

I keep almond butter in a small tupper ware container, just 2 T or so.

I keep some raw greek olives in a small baggie. (this is nice for a super salty treat, and again tastes great on crackers, but can be a good addition to a rather dull and boring salad at a restaurant if you can't find any fresh lemon to squeeze on.

I keep some hot peppers too, this is nice to add heat to a salad, or just to munch on, anything to me that has a really high amount of flavor, can help with my cravings, it's not so much I want volume, I can always eat an apple, or banana, but I usually want some really tasty intense flavor, when I'm struggling with food cravings.

so, there you have it, cruncy - crackers,
salty - olives
sweet & creamy - almond butter
hot & spicy - hot peppers

the only other flavors are bitter and sour, you can almost always find lemons anywhere, they serve tea, so there is your sour, and bitter can be found in many herbs, usually in better salads, although these flavors I don't find I really "need" or crave when I'm out.