False Starts

[cherries]

I was reading my new book "Beautiful on Raw" by Tanya Zavasta, the first part is testmonials by famous and not so famous raw people. A cool thing that I noticed in their testamonials is that so many of them said that they struggled at the beginning just like everyone else!

Alissa Cohen: "At first, I would be raw for a month or two, but peer presure, cravings and the like would lead me back to cooked food."

Rosalind Gruben "It took me about three years to fully transition to raw"

Rhio: "I wish I could say that after discovering this wonderful information (raw food), I immediately converted to a raw lifestyle, but in those days there was absolutely no support for it. During my early years, I went back and forth between raw and cooked food"

Tanya Zavasta (who if I remember right, from her first book, said that she took three years to transition): Like everyone I made several false starts. Cooked food is as difficult to give up as alcholhol or nicotine, and sometimes people backslide. It requires determination to keep going. . . Be aware that you will probably fall off the raw wagon many times. You may become discouraged, but if you persist it will become easier, and then effortless. :)

[JennaBoBenna]

it's nice to know that it was hard for the pros! Some people make it sound so easy "I went raw overnight and never went back!" it's hard to relate to sometimes! not to mention it makes me a bit jealous ;)

[spicyfull]

Thanks for Sharing............

[ShelShel]

That's reassuring. I'm going on 2 years and 5 months...starting 100% again for the umpteenth time. :rolleyes: There days strong and counting.

But I think that's just it. Those who give it up after a few weeks or months aren't going to stick with raw. Those of us who struggle back and forth and are willing to keep at it are those who will eventually succeed long term.

Keep it up rawbies! Raw Rawks!:D

[GoingtoRAW]

For me each time I go off of raw I start to feel really terrible, really fast. Physcially, emotionally - really bad. Then when I go back to what I know is right for me, of course I start to feel better. What I have noticed though is that each time I return to raw it takes me a longer period of time to get back to feeling better physically and emotionally - I think because each time I go off I feel progressively worse physically and emotionally than the time before. The first time I went raw and fell off it was not so bad when I returned to raw and I started feeling better within a day or two. Now when I return to raw it may take up to 2 weeks for me to start feeling good again. Even though I know that, I still backslide. I will be happy when I can maintain the raw lifestyle long term because I know that it does work for me. I am encouraged by others who say they struggled too, yet persisted. :o

[oceanee]

From my experience the past 11 months this is so very true and reading stories here as well as in books has made all the difference in understanding that for many of us eating raw takes time.
Every time I fall off the raw wagon so to speak I learn a few more lessons . In the very beginning I went a few weeks, traveled & did great but came home when a bad cold erupted (detox) and caved slowly to old remedy foods. The next time I almost made it to a month but visited an old friend with which we had shared many food related experiences together in our history. I was too exhausted and stressed to stand firm. Then I went 45 days..along came stress .... working 12 hour days got the best of me. What I learned is it actually got the worst of me and if I only had stayed eating fruit for my non existent lunch break I would have not lapsed into depression with less energy to handle my intense work load.
Since then I have accomplished a 2 1/2 week MC went raw for several weeks...fell again and back as of July 1st. I want a 6 month challenge:D as I am determined to not deviate for the rest of 2008.( and forever after)...
Along with knowing I must journal, stay w/i a support group, plan meals, limit social food engagements I am most steadfast that this is my only healthful path. I want to be fit,be rid of the cooked food addiction and depression that follows such food intake, cancer free, mentally alert and live for life not for food.I want to free of food obsessive thoughts!
This choice does not go along without learning new behaviors and ditching some old , had for decades habits. Some days it is a breeze, other days emotional eruptions surface BUT it is the ONLY choice for me. So , oh yeah ...false starts should perhaps be called learning curve false starts....
Thank goodness we are not alone:) .
Oceanee

[oai]

i don't think all is loss for those of us who start again and again... ;) one example for me is that i LOVED white bread. after x time off going RAW :rolleyes:, i got really SICK every time i would have white bread to the point now i rarely touch it. i may still touch it sometimes, hehe, but i rarely do now, because my sickness gets worse and worse every time i stop eating it for a long while, and boy, when i eat again, it don't feel the same! :eek:

[Zella Juice]

yep..me too. My body is forcing me to stay raw or suffer the consequences. After I started juicing...my body started rejecting certain foods...giving me a headache or making me feel sick. The more raw foods I ate the more cooked foods would make me feel terrible. Sometimes I think about how much I want something cooked then think about the headache. I can't afford to get a headache..they are so bad I have to go home from work.

[GoingtoRAW]

I have just gone back on about 80% raw for the umpteenth time, (working up to 100%), and I feel sooooooo much better people!:D It has been almost two weeks and I am gaining back my energy, the depression is lifting, my knees don't hurt anymore when I get out of bed and they have almost stopped hurting when I walk up and down stairs. I am sleeping like a little baby again and my thinking is getting clearer. I can't believe that as well as I am starting to feel AGAIN, that I would ever want to go back to eating the way I was! I wish I WOULD stop going back and forth with this. I am starting to love the way I feel again!:p