Anyone discouraged? Reread Alissa's book!!!

[islesgirl]

That's what I did after having eaten tons of junk since the holidays. I can't believe I didn't get the same boost from the book the first time I read it! It is the same information but somehow it hit me with a double whammy impact the second time around. I even found that Rachel (page 234) had the same experience with pain in the bottom of her feet exactly like me and RAW solved that problem for her. I can identify with so many of the people in Alissa's book and it has got me so pumped to do this right this time. I will be giving up coffee for good on the 24th of January (a particularly meaningful day for me) and I washed all my greens today to get ready for a new start tomorrow. In the meantime I am cutting my coffee back each day until then. I want to avoid the huge withdrawl headache I would ordinarily get if I quit cold turkey and for which I'd have to take Tylenol 1. I so enjoy reading as many posts here as I can. The best to all of you who struggle like me.
Sue.:D

[RawSweetie]

Hi islegirl~
Best of luck to you! In the spirit of solidarity, I want you to know that I dumped out my beloved, from-the-coffeeshop, specially-ground-for-me coffee tonight...about 3 hours ago. I only drink a cup a day on average, so I'm going to deal with cold-turkey withdrawal...it was hard to do that. I'm in New England, it's cold, and I love my morning cup. So much. I've struggled with this alot. But I WANT the benefits of living without caffeine. I know how harsh it is to my body, and I'm sure my stubborn eczema, which IS healing on 75-80% raw foods, would heal more completely, probably more quickly w/o toxic caffeine in my system. I want my recurring acne (at 44!) to clear up, I want my adrenal glands to heal. I cannot be on the platform and the train, as they say. I want optimal health, and caffeine is just not part of that....

No caffeine, one day at a time.

[islesgirl]

Hello to you too RawSweetie. You describe your love for coffee so beautifully. You love it the way I do. But I should have given it up a long time ago. It makes me more hungry (as it is a stimulant), it is like a "kick in the pants" and after a while that "kick" really begins to hurt! So why on earth would I love it?! Duh? And it makes me nervous and I can see it when my lips quiver as I put on lipstick and it shows in the tense look on my face. I have a lot of trouble getting to sleep at night too - even though I have never really had more than 2 cups a day and early in the day, at that. I am sure it makes me depressed and it is hard on my bladder. But I am not quitting completely until the 24th. Good for you for throwing out the coffee today. I just love New England. How blessed you are to live there. I am a Maritimer at heart. I'd give anything to live by the sea. I love Maine so much. We used to go to a place called Hermit Island for our summer vacation. Perhaps you can learn how to make some RAW cacao drinks? I am going to try to find something yummy to make. I know I have seen some drinks on this forum. I have read too that when we have lots of Green Smoothies our cravings go away. That is what I am having tomorrow. :)

[apower2me408]

I was totally out of control the last two nights with junk food. I need to get out Alissa's book and actually finish it! Ii'm still in the middle of the testimonials. Thanks for the reminder!

[ciarac]

I have been and really, still am as much as a coffee lover as you guys so I hear you. I too decided it just had to go as with that just one cup a day, I felt that it was knocking off 50% of the benefits that I could have gotten from raw. I haven't had coffee for 5 days in a row now, which is a huge deal for me. But I do tell myself that I CAN have an odd cup if I really feel I need it, but to do everything in my power to not need it.
So, this morning, before I ate anything or drank anything else, I had a green smoothie, and it IS true what they say; it works! The clean, fresh feeling that the smoothie gave me made me not want to dirty my system with coffee. I had a cup of tea, which I feel is so much more gentle on the stomach. Being Irish, tea is part of tradition so I'm quite happy to have it in place of coffee. I drink a spiced tea which will soon be substituted by a spiced infusion of something, and hurrah, I'll be caffeine free!

Oh! And if you have any further trouble giving up coffee, this will scare you out of it: http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/articles/coffee.html

[EZ rider]

I like to have a cup of warm, clean water. There is nothing like the refreshing taste of clean, pure water to refresh and during the winter warming the water to about 120 degrees gives me a nice warm feeling as well. During the summer I like the water to be cold and I like room temperature water all year long. Clean water tastes so good.

[islesgirl]

ciarac: It is wonderful that you have been able to skip the coffee for the past 5 days. I just read in that link you gave me that it takes a total of 60 days to rid ourselves of the caffeine in our system. I had one this morning and since I ate junk yesterday I am feeling just awful again. But your encouragement is giving me a push in the right direction. Tomorrow I will let you know if I mustered up the strength to resist and have a green smoothie instead. Thanks.
Sue

[islesgirl]

EZ rider: I am sorry but I really don't care for warm water as a drink at anytime. But I like cold water, of course. I do often have a glass of cold water with the juice of 1/2 a squeezed lemon in it, in the morning, I mean. I want to do this tomorrow. Feel so crummy today. Got to get a grip here. Thanks for responding - I need all the help I can get - but not from coffee and not from sugar! - just from all of you guys.
Sue.

[RawSweetie]

I'm dropping back in to say that I've had a cup of black tea today. :rolleyes:

I did enjoy it...

[spiralgirl]

islesgirl,

Thanks for the motivation to read Alissa's book. I got it a few months ago and still haven't read it. I've read parts here and there and have tried some of her recipes.

I've been going through a touch time pychologically (sp?) thinking about SAD food I crave or seeing things on TV and just missing them. I'm almost at my 8 months point and I feel like I'm in a slump.

I know if I were to have something SAD right now it would disappoint me and I know i would be really sick as I've been 100% raw all this time. Hoping this feeling passes and I know I've got to just keep going.

Also I remember how I felt on SAD I was always sick with some problem or other: my bad was so sore every morning, my stomach always felt like lead, bad allergies, a foggy feeling, always craving more junk food, huffing and puffing up the stairs, finding it hard to bend over due to my big gut, just always in agony, lymph nodes aching all the time, jaw pain, the list goes on and on. It's just that you glamourize things in your mind and just think about the instant gratification without all the consequences.

[islesgirl]

Hi RawSweetie! It must be very cold in New England and this is a good reason for that yummy tea eh? I did not do well at all today. Am ashamed. But I will do better tomorrow. I had 2 coffees with cream and honey and I had no energy all day. But I am still going to give this up by or on January 24th. It is pretty cold here at the moment. I know that if I start the day tomorrow with a smoothie, then I will be ahead of the game and do much better for the rest of the day. My excuse always has been that "I had to have some caffeine to help me get through the busy day - especially when I have to go somewhere or have a hectic day at home. But I just can't go on like this. My whole body hurts now from all this poison from SAD. And I know that within one week on RAW the change to feeling much healthier is just amazing! So why am I so weak?! Grrrrr!

[islesgirl]

Hi spiralgirl. 8 months is fabulous! Did you keep a journal on this forum? Maybe going over it would help? I just recently discovered this forum in November. I started on December 1st/07 going completely RAW and the change in the way I felt was almost immediate and I had just finished reading Alissa's whole book - yet with the pressure of having company over the holidays, I caved. I don't do well under stress and I always seem to have lots of that! I know there are many on this board who have had way more experience with eating RAW foods and who have likely experienced many changes similar to yours. Perhaps they could direct you to something helpful? Maybe you are now lacking something in your diet? But I know that if you are young, it will be so much easier for you to stick with this - unlike me who didn't care for my health most of my life of 61 years. But I am young at heart (thanks to my wonderful children) and so want to get healthier for all our sakes. Many here have gone through some very serious problems and have found that food filled that huge void in their lives or helped them escape whatever pain they had to endure (until they felt full and they began the cycle all over again). This is what I have foolishly done for many years and it has caught up with me. I really hope that you will read Alissa's book - even if it is just the experiences. Reverting back to eating unhealthy food for that "instant gratification" (a party in your mouth!) will just make things so much worse. Right?
Sue.

[dalimeindacoconut]

It all started with 15 cups of coffee per day twenty years ago. It was always about the buzz for me. I loved that hyper feeling. As the years went on I knew I had to stop, cut down to a cup or two. When the time was right switched to Earl Grey Tea. Of course I would always use two or three tea bags in a huge cup and decided well, it's not coffee so I can drink as much as I want per day, wrong. As time went on I was able to switch to decaf coffee. When I felt like splurging I would have two or three cups per day. THANK GOD I AM FINALLY AM ADDICTED TO MINT TEA or hot water with lemon! It is the only hot thing I have. It is very cleansing, healing and a great replacement. It took me a very long time to transition to mint tea. Nothing like fresh mint leaves in a cup of hot water! It's a ritual which I now do at night in place of whatever or sometimes in the morning if get this: I feel like being bad LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For some of us it takes a very long time, but all that matters is that the change is permanent. For some cold turkey works for others transitioning works. Just add something else in your cupboard and try it for one day as a replacement. If it's a buzz you want try hot water/raw cacao/agave everyone raves about the buzz you get from raw cacao...personally I steer clear, but I'd love to hear how it works for you.

[dalimeindacoconut]

Lately I've been juicing first thing in the morning (well all day long for that matter), but for you try juicing an orange/apple/strawberries or if you want something salty try tomato/celery/pinch of raw salt. It's hard to change, but force yourself to juice once a week in the morning to start if you can't bear the thought of changing too much. Those juices are a fragrant boquet for the palette that will twist your tastebuds and make your head spin. Fresh fruit juice is a gift from heaven!

[islesgirl]

Actually I made a huge Green Smoothie today. It had in it -
2 frozen bananas
1 mango
1 orange
1 carrot
handfull each of kale, dandelion, collards, and swiss chard
1 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tbsp coconut oil
About 1 cup water

It was a bit thicker than I usually care for but I drank all 2 huge glasses of it. That is all I've had today except for the 1 medium coffee I had very early in the day. I will get back to you later about a raw coffee drink when I have more time. I like the coffee for the taste - don't care about the buzz - although I "need" it to wake me up. But the veggie/fruit smoothies will take care of that - I know that for sure. Boy 15 cups of coffee would have killed me on the spot! All I've ever had in one day was 3 cups - tops!