living with SADs

[Talley]

does anyone have any tips on living with a family that is not following a raw food diet? I am trying to change to an all raw food diet, eating high raw at the moment but find at times that it is very hard when I am making SAD food for the rest of the family. Since I am new too this I thought maybe there is someone else who has done this and could offer some tips on not sneaking a bit of this or that or feeling deprived. It seems most books that I have looked at so far deal with either whole families that are raw or people who live alone and don't really have any advice for me. I usually do very well but some days.... and I worry with the holidays coming up. I would appreciate your ideas.

thank you,
Talley

[Dj 247]

I have a meat and potato kind of husband, and I have small children that I take care of daily so you can imagine my temptations. One thing that helps is if your family is supportive. My husband is supportive of my choice, but made it clear that it is not HIS choice. Here are some of tips I use...I never feed my family my trigger foods (foods I just can't resist or stop eating when I do eat them) I never even let my trigger foods in the house. I don't set food on the table except for the dinner salad or raw veggies and dip. I dish out the food, but if you could get by not doing this yourself it would be a lot easier not to take a bite. Also when cleaning the table and dealing with left over food if you can get someone to help with that it always helps. I have to do this myself so I do it very quickly and have a lot of covered bowls at the ready. Sometimes I do this before I sit down to eat. I think the most important thing I do is make sure that I am feeding them the BEST cooked food that I can. I believe that some cooked food is better than others ( I know that most people here feel that all cooked food is bad) But I feel there are nutritonal degress of cooked food as well as with raw food, and it does make a difference! This helps me feel better about making them cooked food. I hope you find a tip that helps. Just know that you are setting such a good example with your diet and feeding them the best way you can.

[Zaphirah]

I cook for my dh and 4 dc. It was difficult at first, but now i don'e recognize their food as my food, ya know? They have their own food and I have my own. I try to prepare what I will eat earlier in the day and prepare theirs at dinner time. that way my food is READY and I won't be tempted to eat their food once it's done.

I ask them to take just one bite of my food each time, to see if it is something they might be interested in the next time i make it.

[slickerk]

ooh, the tips are much appreciated on my end as well. I too live with a houseful of the "other kind"! I made it clear to everyone in the house that I was trying to go 100% starting Dec 1st and last night my son brought me down a chocolate donut to my office. He is soo sweet, it was the last one and he just wanted to make sure that I didn't want it.
I have been slowly changing the foods of everyone else in the house as well to healthier versions (organic and vegan options). This helps when you fail to stick to your guns!

[sugarsnap]

My DH was very SAD but now has moved more towards veganism which helps.
But I have spent many a time watching him grill that juicy steak. :eek:
Do the best you can. Usually whatever vegan meal I make for my DH I can use the same veggies for me. My youngest DC is well a 7 year old who likes taco's and hamburges and hot dogs. So I do the best I can with him. I have tried several raw dishes on him but he is very picky and would have nothing to do with them. What he doesn't know is his chocolate milk each morning is soy....his chili has purered veggies in it etc.

Tips: Always have some of "your" food handy to nibble while cooking the SAD food.
Try and stay focused. One of our raw buddies posted a week or so ago something her DH told her and I thought it was wonderful. I have changed some of the words to be more generic.

"you think eating SAD is your freedem when in reality it is your bondage. Your freedom is eating a raw food lifestyle.....Recognize there is freedom in eating raw and if you want to maintain optimum health, them maintain the raw lifestyle"
Hope this helps and remember we are human.

[Barbie2]

I must be really tired... I thought you meant the condition which can happen to people during the Winter. I need to go to bed.:p

[RawHeaven]

I must be really tired... I thought you meant the condition which can happen to people during the Winter. I need to go to bed.:p

I thought the same thing as I'm struggling with sads depression right now and lack of sun. I need a lot of sun, one of the reasons I live and stay in Cali. If I were in a colder winter climate, my depression would probably be much worse.



does anyone have any tips on living with a family that is not following a raw food diet?

I don't have a SAD family I'm preparing food for. But I do have a very SAD housemate who microwaves daily, fries food, etc. She knows I'm raw and is simply curious about it but really hasn't expressed a true interest yet. I've tried to share dishes with her etc. But I digress...there is always SAD food around me and some of my trigger foods. The more I eat raw, the less I care about these foods because I know how great I feel now and I know how awful I feel when I do fall of the wagon so to speak. I don't have any concrete advice to offer about double duty raw/sad food prep, but just wanted to say you will become more resilient as the days pass.

Best wishes!

[Tuliza]

I have been 100% raw for nine months now and I have to cook SAD meals for my husband every day. When I was new to raw, It was difficult. Smelling the aroma of cooked food would send me into temptation. I learned to keep lots of raw finger foods available so I could munch on them during a craving. I even sat down to a SAD Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends and did not feel deprived. I made a large dinner salad with my own dressing for all of us to share and I was satisfied. For dessert, they ate apple pie and I ate an organic apple. I often try to match a raw food recipe with a SAD recipe. It's creative, fun and I feel like we are sharing the same type of meal. I find it harder to eat in a restaurant because the vegetable options are minimal and are not organic. Be kind to yourself, cravings are a part of the detox process. Welcome them because it means you are cleaning out of you body, the very thing you crave:) .

[IamLoved]

Hello,

I have a SAD husband and 6 children ages 3 mos to 10 years. My husband is very supportive of me doing this, but not really interested in doing it himself. He has come far though. He used to eat meat every night and never ate veggies (except potatoes and corn). Now I make vegetarian meals 3-4 times a week and he eats a lot more veggies. He also will drink green smoothies when I make them for him and likes fruit "ice cream" in the juicer.
My children would do all raw with me if not for Daddy. They usually want to eat what Daddy eats, with the exception of our second youngest who does not eat meat. I am trying to get everyone, including hubby, vegan. At least the children.

WARNING: This next part gets a little graphic regarding SAD food. You have been warned.

Anyways, my advice for you is to see the food for what it is. If it is meat, see it as a dead carcass. When you drive down the road and see cows out in the field (if you like in an area where you can see this sort of thing) think, that cow is turned into a hambuger, steak, ect. They grind up he dead flesh and serve it up. Yuck.

We took care of chickens one summer. What an eye opener. Never wanted to eat chicken again after that. Those creatures are dirty. And talk about dirty, pigs!!! Gross. I mean really, who wants to eat a pig?

Did you know that lobsters are scavengers? I live in Maine where lobsters are king. Well if there is a dead body at the bottom of the ocean those lobsters will eat it! Then some fisherman catches the lobster and you buy it and eat it???? Eeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww. Pigs will also eat people.

Sugar kills your immune system. Think of sugar as sweet poison, because that is what it does, it poisons your body. You wouldn't eat arsenic if it tasted good right? Flour is glue. It gets trapped in your intestines and makes you sick. Eggs I view as aborted chicken fetuses. Really disgusting. I am sorry guys if this is too graphic but it works for me. We as a society are so far removed from our food sources. If we really think about what we eat (or rather used to eat, or are trying not to eat) than it is not nearly so appetizing!

I wish you well. You can do it, I know you can! You are not alone. We are all here to help.

[Dj 247]

Hello,

I have a SAD husband and 6 children ages 3 mos to 10 years. My husband is very supportive of me doing this, but not really interested in doing it himself. He has come far though. He used to eat meat every night and never ate veggies (except potatoes and corn). Now I make vegetarian meals 3-4 times a week and he eats a lot more veggies. He also will drink green smoothies when I make them for him and likes fruit "ice cream" in the juicer.
My children would do all raw with me if not for Daddy. They usually want to eat what Daddy eats, with the exception of our second youngest who does not eat meat. I am trying to get everyone, including hubby, vegan. At least the children.

WARNING: This next part gets a little graphic regarding SAD food. You have been warned.

Anyways, my advice for you is to see the food for what it is. If it is meat, see it as a dead carcass. When you drive down the road and see cows out in the field (if you like in an area where you can see this sort of thing) think, that cow is turned into a hambuger, steak, ect. They grind up he dead flesh and serve it up. Yuck.

We took care of chickens one summer. What an eye opener. Never wanted to eat chicken again after that. Those creatures are dirty. And talk about dirty, pigs!!! Gross. I mean really, who wants to eat a pig?

Did you know that lobsters are scavengers? I live in Maine where lobsters are king. Well if there is a dead body at the bottom of the ocean those lobsters will eat it! Then some fisherman catches the lobster and you buy it and eat it???? Eeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww. Pigs will also eat people.

Sugar kills your immune system. Think of sugar as sweet poison, because that is what it does, it poisons your body. You wouldn't eat arsenic if it tasted good right? Flour is glue. It gets trapped in your intestines and makes you sick. Eggs I view as aborted chicken fetuses. Really disgusting. I am sorry guys if this is too graphic but it works for me. We as a society are so far removed from our food sources. If we really think about what we eat (or rather used to eat, or are trying not to eat) than it is not nearly so appetizing!

I wish you well. You can do it, I know you can! You are not alone. We are all here to help.

I know what you mean about the meat thing. I just can't eat meat anymore for I don't see it as food. It's a living animal that was killed for food. I was behind a truck hauling a cow with a tag on it's ear probably on it's way to the slaughter house. I was happy in my heart that I did not have any part of it's death. My husband informed me that my leather jacket did not grow on a tree. Damn! I guess I just didn't see the big picture. I can live without leather in the future. No more boots, shoes, coats, or jackets made of leather for me. Now I am going to enjoy and be thankful to God and the cow for the jacket and boots I already own. It is hard making changes, but I guess it is much harder on the cow.

[Vivafree]

I am impressed - SAD food for me is too appealing - the smell especially. I am absolutely impressed - your perseverance is strong.
Congratulations! For me SAD party or SAD diner ends in my breaking RAW.

[Amberly]

I have lived with SAD people since I went raw in '05. I just make my own food. Yesterday my little sister expressed interest in going raw. Just do your own thing. They'll probably either eventually leave you alone or follow you.

[ReneeH]

WARNING: This next part gets a little graphic regarding SAD food. You have been warned.



I JUST *** LOVE *** YOU!!!! Thank you so much for speaking the TRUTH!!!! I needed to hear (read) that today!!!! I think the same way!!! I don't WANT that dead animal flesh!!! But, I'm still working on the non-RAW Sweets thing!!! This comment really helps!!!

[Frugal Raw]

I see animals for what they are - our co-residents and peers on this planet we all call home...so, why would I want to eat them?? I find doing so barbaric. I unfortunately was not raised a vegetarian, but I got there as quick as I could, and have found myself happily raw in the past four months!

I do still cook vegan for my hubby - he waivers on the cooked/raw issue. The only times it gets to me (1) is if I've had a bad day, and I think it will be comforting....but the times when (2) I do give in, I find that I am NOT satisfied, and that (3) I DO follow it up (more often than not) with a plate of raw foods. Now if I can just skip step #2 (religiously)...

[Talley]

Thank you all for the tips I hope that it will be a lot of help for dinner times which are usually my hardest times.

thank you,
Talley

[klomasius]

I live with three SAD eaters (though not true SAD, veggie and vegan SAD). At least there is no meat in the house, and very little milk and eggs etc.

For me the saddest thing is having all my raw equipment relegated to a small table in the corner of the kitchen/dining room, while the bench and the main area is where the cooking is done.

If I had more control over the kitchen (which I am slowly gaining now that I'm on holidays) the one main thing I would change is having more space and more prominent bench space for all the raw equipment and making the kitchen into a more raw friendly place. I dream of having my own kitchen to myself, covering the stove and having all raw equipment and food!

The understanding in my house is that if I make the food, it'll be raw. But there's usually no problem with that as everyone (my partner, my son and his dad, we all live together) are happy to eat raw when I prepare it.

* He/she who controls the kitchen controls the food I say, and one of the best ways to gain a little more control is to slowly (and without fuss or comment) inch your way into the cupboards, the fridge/freezer and onto the benches.

* Make delicious raw foods to temp and inspire the people you live with.

* Always have some yummy raw food in the fridge, cupboard, freezer, dehydrator ready for anyone to munch on.

* Encourage house mates and family to eat cooked food out more, rather than preparing it at home.

Change by stealth is great, and I just learn to live with the temptation of cooked food (i.e. I give into it semi regularly). But it's no big deal for me.

I still dream of that all raw kitchen, and envy those who have it!

[Talley]

Well I made it through yesterday 100% raw. At the dinner table as I sat there and looked and smelled the melted cheese (tacos)it was hard but I did it. Then they all had chocolate ice cream for bedtime snack- that smelled soo goood to me! I have read that you can make banana ice cream but I do not yet have a food processor and our blender died a couple of weeks ago so I will maybe try that later. Thanks for all the input it really did help me get through last night. I did make up a veggie tray for them to go with their tacos and my youngest 4 were very happy to nibble from that with dinner too ( the 10yro and under set). My dh and teenagers did not take any, oh well.
Thank you for all the support and great tips, they really helped me not to feel so "alone" last night and gave me some mental clarity to stay strong.

Talley

[IamLoved]

I JUST *** LOVE *** YOU!!!! Thank you so much for speaking the TRUTH!!!! I needed to hear (read) that today!!!! I think the same way!!! I don't WANT that dead animal flesh!!! But, I'm still working on the non-RAW Sweets thing!!! This comment really helps!!!

Thanks so much! Your too sweet. I am glad that my comment helped you!