Q's about eating raw and cooked mix

[groomindogs]

For now I have to accept that I will not be 100% raw. Trying to do this will pave a road of slip ups, like eating carbs on atkins....So....

I do feel amazing when I stay high raw. What I mean by high raw is that I use about 1 Tablespoon of roasted carob powder a day in my GS. I will occasionaly have coffee in the morning with 1 Tablespoon of vanilla coffee syrup and 1/2 cup of skim milk. Sometimes I have 2 cups of the coffee 1 in the morning 1 late afternoon, maybe 6 times a week I drink the coffee. The rest of my diet is fresh fruit, raw veggies, and I make a caesar salad dressing out of raw ingredients. (tahini,olive oil, juice of a lemon, dulse flakes, celery stalk, celtic salt, pepper, garlic).

When I first began this, I ate a ton of nuts, as I have posted before I need to lose at least 30#, maybe 40#, 30 would be good. I have had to back off on the nuts and oils. For 6 weeks I was 95% raw and lost nothing. I had even given up the coffee, I just continued to use the carob powder if I remember right. I dont think I can eat a bunch of nuts and lose weight.

My question is this...Can I eat a high raw diet , have a little coffee w/syrup and milk, and maybe have some hot veggie type soups and still possibly lose some weight. I really dont need to eat meat I can live without it, I do enjoy a little cheese every now and then, I do also like fresh baked bread (no storebought). I would like to stick more toward a vegetarian diet but trying to do 100% raw is just too overwhelming to start, its something I may gradually move into. What would be the heathiest path to eating some cooked food.

I am so tired of being a yoyo dieting whale:( I just want to eat well, not count points, carbs, balance anything, and still be able to drop this weight after 20 years.

I did listen to the radio show about being 100% raw and weight loss, but like I said it will just drive me mad trying to be 'perfect'.

Any advice?

Oh and what is the flax cracker recipe please! I have searched the posts several times and cant seem to find the post that had it.

Thanks for reading.

[juliebove]

Since this is a raw vegan board, I can't answer the question.

[4forme]

Unfortunately, because this is a all raw board, we cannot discuss other plans andcooked food here. However, if you would like to discuss things further, please feel free to email me. I have similar difficulties and may be of help.

[Rawkinlocs]

This is very tricky to answer because the board is to support those who are striving towards being all-raw although we DO realize that not everyone is or will be. The thing isn't telling you that you can't have those items...but it's moreso that here on the forum, we really do not want to tell you, "Hey, it's OKAY to have those things...GO for it!!" I mean, some members may try to pull that off but that's not the point of this forum. Everyone has to make their own decisions...but we also have to respect the forum and what it is here for. You may or may not lose weight with those non-raw items...it just really depends.

What we can tell you is that, you have to do what works for you. Alissa does advise going 100% and it's really not as bad as you think as far as trying to be "perfect" or making yourself 'crazy' in the process. Coffee is a tough one to give up and many, once they do, realize just how toxic the stuff is when they begin to detox the caffeine out of their systems.

Of course we won't tell you to add skim milk to it nor tell you it's "okay" to have the cheese because, as Juliebove pointed out, this is a raw vegan/vegetarian board and we don't advocate that here. If you simply must have your coffee, try making some nut milk to add to it.

Have you tried being 100% raw yet? I guess all in all, you will be experimenting and finding what works for you. Do you have Alissa's book? If not, I'd highly suggest getting it.

As for flax crackers, there are tons of flax cracker recipes...not sure which one you are referring to but we do have many cracker recipes posted in our recipe section of the forum.

But no, we cannot tell you what cooked foods you "should" eat as this is a raw food support forum. Just keep in mind that this forum is supposed to reflect the way Alissa teaches raw food in her book...please view the forum rules in the Mission Statement area to see that this is something that we cannot advocate here.

[groomindogs]

I was concerned about posting this question due to the fact that I know this is a raw board but I was hoping that someone else might be or have experienced not being able to go extreme right out of the gate and have some good advice. I am trying and that is all I can do. I have eaten a SAD diet for 38 years. I may or may not completely transition to 100% raw, I just dont know. But for now, if I try to be 100%, and I drink that cup of coffee or take a bite of something cooked or even meat, I dont want to feel bad about myself like every other 'diet' I have been on and failed for the last 25 years. I dont want to call this a 'diet' I am sick to death of 'diets'. I just want to know if eating a few cooked veggies, a little bread once in a while, and some coffee with milk might be a decent way into transitioning and has anyone else experience this. I dont want to be run off with torches and pitchforks for putting some fire under food.

[Rawkinlocs]

I was concerned about posting this question due to the fact that I know this is a raw board but I was hoping that someone else might be or have experienced not being able to go extreme right out of the gate and have some good advice. I am trying and that is all I can do. I have eaten a SAD diet for 38 years. I may or may not completely transition to 100% raw, I just dont know. But for now, if I try to be 100%, and I drink that cup of coffee or take a bite of something cooked or even meat, I dont want to feel bad about myself like every other 'diet' I have been on and failed for the last 25 years. I dont want to call this a 'diet' I am sick to death of 'diets'. I just want to know if eating a few cooked veggies, a little bread once in a while, and some coffee with milk might be a decent way into transitioning and has anyone else experience this. I dont want to be run off with torches and pitchforks for putting some fire under food.

And that's all well and fine...but the thing is, it's just like if this were an all vegan (cooked) board, and someone was wanting to eat a more vegetarian diet but with "some" animal products such as dairy or eggs...would it be appropriate to seek advice on how to gradually transition to vegan and what non-vegan things would be acceptable or advisable on that all vegan forum?

It's kinda the same thing here. We're all here striving towards a common goal...to eat MORE raw food and for many/most, to eat ALL raw food. Sure it's okay to transition gradually into it by simply incorporating more raw food into your cooked food diet, nothing wrong with it...but again, this particular forum is designed to support the way Alissa teaches it and she does not advise the slower transition to raw because she says that leaving that door open just leaves room for the cravings to constantly be there. So, that is all I'm saying...you can transition, you can have whatever cooked items you want...but here on the forum, we're here to support your RAW portion of your diet. You have to make the decision as to what cooked foods you will continue to allow but we cannot advise you to eat them because the whole premise behind the raw and living food diet (lifestyle, way of eating, not diet in the sense of the other diet plans) is that cooked food is not as optimal as raw and that we thrive better on raw foods. It's not about running you off with torches and pitchforks...please believe that. We're not here to condemn or judge your food choices but MY job as moderator is to make sure that this forum is run the way Alissa wants it and advocating or advising cooked food is just not part of the plan. Sorry.

[bodaflower]

I'm pretty much at the same point you are, I think it's first most important to balance our minds before we can truly enjoy our diets, and this can be achieved by beginning on a healthy, whole food diet with some cooked items, and really making sure to enjoy everything you are consuming whether it is raw or cooked. and then one day, maybe you will discover that you're very happy and balanced and can continue to move down the path of your journey and start consuming exclusively raw (if that's what you so desire! but happiness and love of what you're doing is first and foremost the most important aspect of it all)

Personally I think it's a little ridiculous that people are hesitant to comment on the cooked aspect. Eating cooked is part of the journey. How are you supposed to reach being raw if you don't have a lot of support for eating cooked as well?

:)

[Rawkinlocs]

Okaaay...so is this thread going to turn into a whole rebuttle-thing? I mean, a-GAIN...it's not about denying anyone their "journey" if they feel the need to transition in that manner...but no, we're not going to say, "Well, if you don't want to be all raw then eat _____" No, this is not the place for that. Again, we do have a rules/mission statement section and Alissa has laid it all out there how things go here. This is a raw food support board. We're here to support the raw portion of the member's diet, plain and simple.

[RawHeaven]

I'm pretty much at the same point you are, I think it's first most important to balance our minds before we can truly enjoy our diets, and this can be achieved by beginning on a healthy, whole food diet with some cooked items, and really making sure to enjoy everything you are consuming whether it is raw or cooked. and then one day, maybe you will discover that you're very happy and balanced and can continue to move down the path of your journey and start consuming exclusively raw (if that's what you so desire! but happiness and love of what you're doing is first and foremost the most important aspect of it all)

Personally I think it's a little ridiculous that people are hesitant to comment on the cooked aspect. Eating cooked is part of the journey. How are you supposed to reach being raw if you don't have a lot of support for eating cooked as well?

:)

...I agree.

[Rawkinlocs]

All of the following taken straight from the Rules of Raw Food Talk...

6. No discussions of animal products such as dairy, eggs or meat. We realize that for some, honey should be among that list but we are not opposed to honey so please do not start up discussions about why we accept honey if we’re vegan. There are discussions where the subject of honey was brought up and talked about so feel free to do a search for it to see the various sides of that. But aside from honey, no discussions in favor of consuming other animal products are to be discussed here.

9. No posts that advocate eating cooked food. Now, we're not talking those questionable things like Nama Shoyu, cashews, nutritional yeast and such but rather outright cooked food entrees and dishes such as fast food, steamed vegetables or cooked rice or candy bars

We may be adding more to the list as things come up. In the mean time, if these “rules” do not sit well with you and you do not agree with them, that’s ok. We wish you well and you are welcome to find a board that suits you needs. If you think this board would be nicer without the mods and without some rules, then you're seriously mistaken. We have been reading a few other boards lately that have just sprung up and they are all cheerily announcing that they will have no “rules”. YA, well, at 40 members, that’s great! When you have thousands of members, there has to be some rules!

We know you have all been to some of the other boards that are talking about every subject under the sun, some of them are vicious with the people who post there, some rip apart raw food teachers, authors and speakers, some talk about all of the different ways of eating a raw food diet including not doing an all raw food diet but eating cooked food as well and on and on. Well, that’s not us. If you’re new here, read the mission statement. It’s pretty cut and dry.

AND, even after having said all that, we are not even that strict with the ‘rules’ here until someone really goes overboard with them! We really even try to let some of the threads that get under out skin slide, but then if it continues to take the wrong turn we delete it and usually contact the person.