Can I Be Real?

[babyraw]

I really want to be raw! I know it is the best thing for my body. I have no doubt about that fact. However, after trying multiple recipes, the only foods I have enjoyed eating are the green smoothies, desserts, the angel hair pasta with marinara sauce and the fruit leathers.

I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but the other recipes I've tried are just plain repulsive to me and sometimes I'm at the point of vomiting. The longest I've gone raw has been 2 months. Unfortunately I get bored eating the same meals over and over and end up falling off the bandwagon because I just want some variety. Someone please help me! I don't have a problem with willpower...just taste-power! :(

[Aleesha Sattva]

make a smaller-reduced version of recipes so you don't waste them. that way you can try stuff till you find what fits.

personally i love simple foods... so i don't make many 'complex' recipes as my tummy and palate aren't fond of them.

take your time and be kind to yourself.

[MarciaN]

Taste buds will change. I have found recipes I tried and wrote "Yuck!" by, months later I tried a dish at a tasting potluck, and I liked it, and asked for the recipe - and found out I've made it before, didn't like it, but now I do.

I've found the same for my family. Dishes they wouldn't eat, have later become OK, and then later, have been liked.

Keep at it!

[Rawkinlocs]

Definitely cut down on amounts as Aleesha suggested.

The other thing is, are you trying to follow recipes absolutely to the letter without making adjustments for your own tastes? For example, if you make something and it grosses you out because it's too bland...do you add more seasoning until it's to your liking? Or if something is sick because it is too garlicky, do you add less next time around?

The thing about recipes is, sometimes you can try something and hate it then fast forward later and you try it again and like or even love it! Also, sometimes it takes just playing with recipes and looking at the ingredients list to see where you may find fault with a recipe.

But don't forget about the ABUNDANCE of various fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds available to you as well.

Can you:

1. List a few of the recipes you tried that disgusted you and what specifically disgusted you about them (texture, flavor, too bland, etc.) and

2. Describe the types of foods you used to eat prior to raw

[Rawkinlocs]

LOL...okay, I see MarciaN and I were typing at the same time and had some of the same thoughts! ;)

[Thick]

It takes awhile to be comfortable enough in how the raw recipes work to adjust them to your liking.

There are recipes that I have made that have gone into the garbage. After a couple of months of trying, I now have about 20 things that I really like enough to make over and over again. Eventually you get more adept at imagining how the recipe will turn out and can tweak it to be more yummy--or skip it altogether. For example, I have learned that I do not like any chocolate desserts with dates or figs. Now I make chocolate desserts with honey or agave and nuts instead.

People have different tastes..so when you find someone who likes something you liked, pay attention to what else they liked.

Rawkinlocs' ideas, as usual are great ones. What did you eat and love when you were SAD? spicy, creamy, crunchy, salty, sour, sweet? What is it that you enjoyed about that food(other than the addictive chemicals and immune responses=) I think that every basic taste can be duplicated with raw.

There are recipes in Alissa's book that other people rave about (blueberry pie's ears are turning red) that I thought were yuck--but also most of my favorite recipes are hers. (By the way my still SAD kids LOVED the blueberry pie /shrug)

You've read people talking about how raw has a learning curve--well what you are learning is what you like=) But, as others have said, it can be an expensive lesson if you are making full recipes.

I know the disgust that comes from shopping, preparing and disliking a recipe. Just keep trying and until then--eat simply.=)

[Anastazia]

I can totally relate, & one other tip, increase the variety of fruits & veggies you ARE consuming to avoid boredom...I set myself a goal that every single time I go produce shopping, I'll try one new fruit & one new veggie...often I have to google to find out what it goes with, or a raw recipe to use it in!
Try starfruit & dragonfruit, asparagus in your salad or juice, there's soooo many out there to explore! Some go to the chinese or indian or other nationality supermarkets, my only hesitation in doing that is not knowing, if they're imported, what's been sprayed on it, some countries standards are very different, they're allowed things we've banned, even, yet they're still allowed to bring it here & sell it! (I'm in Canada...) Wish I knew for sure, there's so much more I want to try! But even in the regular grocery store, or the health food store, there's always new stuff to try!

~Anastazia~

[cherries]

You sound like you'd like mono-eating. Mono-eating is mostly just peeling fruit and eating it whenever you are hungry. It doesn't mean that every meal is that simple, you might develop a few favorite recipes or salads you like, but you wouldn't be doing recipes all the time.

[EZ rider]

I find that when I wait before eating for a hunger signal food tastes better in a ratio that is tied to how hungry I am.

[Eva]

I find that when I wait before eating for a hunger signal food tastes better in a ratio that is tied to how hungry I am.

Yes! Me too. When I wait until I am truly hungry to eat, oh my! The food is always the best food I've ever had. But when I munch because I feel like munching, the food is never THAT good.

[babyraw]

Can you:

1. List a few of the recipes you tried that disgusted you and what specifically disgusted you about them (texture, flavor, too bland, etc.) and

2. Describe the types of foods you used to eat prior to raw

The types of foods I ate mostly before going raw were Italian and Mexican. I was a huge pasta fan and anything with cheese on it. Well, I've tried the enchiladas but they were too sweet. The Alfredo Fettuccine was too garlicky so I cut down on the garlic and realized I just didn't like the flavor. I also tried to the BBQ "Chicken" Fingers...one taste of the overwhelming curry powder and those went in the trash. I know I've tried others, but I'm just drawing the blank at the moment.

I have learned to cut down on the portion sizes for the recipes because I did feel like I was throwing money down the drain.

[Seren]

One thing Ive found I can almost never go wrong with is salads, if you find a couple of salads that you really like just to get you going, and just have a selection of dressings so you dont feel like its too repetitive, then when you get used to eating raw then add more adventurous foods/ recipes to your diet. You will get there!

xxx

[babyraw]

I must say I was a bit afraid to admit out loud that I wasn't enjoying the food. So thank you all for making me feel comfortable in that at some point everyone has probably gone through this phase.

I think you all gave me some great suggestions. I will continue to stick to the mono-eating diet and maybe once a week try a new recipe and attempt to tweak it to my liking. As well as try to wait until I'm truly hunger, which I have been doing most of the time but not all the time. I know that will make a difference how the food taste and more so how my mind views the food at that time.

I will say though I'm addicted to cheese and the raw cheese isn't doing it for me. From time to time, you can easily catch me once a week, late at night eating a grill cheese sandwich or slice of cheese pizza! Any suggestions on how I can tweak the cheese recipes to taste more like cheese?

[Pilgrim]

I started by trying recipes, sometimes two new ones a day. I'd make small portions. Some of them really repulsed me!

But now my taste buds are beginning to change, and I'm going back to those recipes I hated. I'm adapting them to my taste buds. Some of them still disgust me--sometimes taste, sometimes texture. But I notice that a lot of things I hated before, I like now.

Keep trying! Don't give up!

[joyfulmama]

Babyraw,
I am only 5 days raw but I have tried it on and off for several years. I have finally gotten to the point that I don't want corner myself into the 100% raw corner. I am doing what is best for my body that is over 100 lbs overweight but do I think I will be 100% raw forever- I don't think so- high raw vegan diet? yup. That is what I feeding my family and they are thriving. Somedays they have 2 meals completely raw and a half of the cooked meal is raw somedays we have so much watermelon or other fruit in the house they eat all raw..
I love cheese to- but I was addicted to pizza! Of course there are lots of vegan cheese out there- but I wouldn't eat them as often as I ate regular cheese.
I am finding that for me I have to find the best recipes out there to replace some of my favorite cooked foods. I love my flax seed crackers so cooked crackers, chips gone.. don't need them. I have loved all of the raw desserts I have tried so I don't need those either. I have created a vinaigrette I just love so don't need my old ranch dressing either. Even if I am having a cooked meal I will always have these raw items- as I just love them now.
I love guacamole so we have that daily here! If I could find a raw bread that I like then I could have my veggie sandwiches too!
Serene Allison has a cookbook and dvd called Rejuvinate at aboverubies.com she makes what I call a dagwood salad on her dvd- it has everything! she tops it off with chopped avocado, olive tapenade, and ground sesame seeds that she says taste like parm cheese.. The salad looks soooo good! I throw a ton of stuff in my salads- but I haven't tried the sesame seed parm cheese yet- gonna get some this week. I have 1 large salad a day for lunch with sprouts, cukes, onions, zucchini, greens, guacamole and flax seed crackers.. yum! It takes about 30 minutes to eat it all but I enjoy every minute of it.
Keep trying new things. Don't be too hard on yourself.

[LeoBrayner]

Babyraw, I think people here are being too nice and you should not fool yourself. You have to know and take responsibility for what you're doing to yourself and to the ones around you and even the to the environment. Don't be seduced by society and the adds on TV. Don't victimize yourself.

So you say you're addicted to cheese, the kind that comes with fast "food". I wonder: Have you ever tasted real cheese? Oh, you think that thing that tops your fast "food" pizza is cheese? Well, that stuff, somewhere in the process, once was food (raw milk). Poor quality food, for the cow or cows that supplied the milk were feedlock cattle. To turn it into a thing they pasteurize it before the process of cheese making, "sodiumchloride" it, color it, mix it with some more "special stuff" (like MSG, preservatives), and finally wrap it in plastic (Cancer? Where?). Then it gets roasted again in your pizza restaurant's oven. Cools down. You order it. They heat it up to make you think it was recently made. YOU heat it up. Leftovers go to the fridge. You eat it in the middle of the night. That's some radioactive debris...

Now cheese made from organic milk of happy cows... It is white, raw and live - colonies of beneficial bacteria thive in it. You should try and then see how you like that pizza thing.

Don't get me wrong, I used to eat pizza too. But when I discovered the truth I just couldn't anymore. So whatever you're addicted to it is not cheese. Find out about your cravings and why you have them in the first place. Try real cheese or maybe organic butter or ghee. Try making raw pizza and compare it with the SAD type. Then maybe you'll find out, as you detox in the 80% - 100% raw diet, that pizza isn't all that. You'll find out that spending too much time in the kitchen is a waste when you could be doing so much more interesting things.

After you detox you won't be able to handle pizza anyway...


I must say I was a bit afraid to admit out loud that I wasn't enjoying the food. So thank you all for making me feel comfortable in that at some point everyone has probably gone through this phase.

I think you all gave me some great suggestions. I will continue to stick to the mono-eating diet and maybe once a week try a new recipe and attempt to tweak it to my liking. As well as try to wait until I'm truly hunger, which I have been doing most of the time but not all the time. I know that will make a difference how the food taste and more so how my mind views the food at that time.

I will say though I'm addicted to cheese and the raw cheese isn't doing it for me. From time to time, you can easily catch me once a week, late at night eating a grill cheese sandwich or slice of cheese pizza! Any suggestions on how I can tweak the cheese recipes to taste more like cheese?

[cherries]

But would you eat raw dairy if you thought it might carry the leukemia virus?
http://www.all-creatures.org/health/breastcancer-leu.html

The real reason that we are addicted to cheese and that raw cheese recipes don't cut it when it comes to replacing cheese, is that cheese is 30% casein. Casein is very addictive like caffeine and chocolate.

[MiahTay]

You could try the transition approach to your cheese eating. Tell yourself that you CAN have cheese but ONLY if you eat it with something raw like on a salad or spread into celery sticks. And keep trying to find a suitable substitute.

Blessings,
Heather

[ViolinCyndee]

But would you eat raw dairy if you thought it might carry the leukemia virus?
http://www.all-creatures.org/health/breastcancer-leu.html

The real reason that we are addicted to cheese and that raw cheese recipes don't cut it when it comes to replacing cheese, is that cheese is 30% casein. Casein is very addictive like caffeine and chocolate.


That's interesting!

Btw... I was an O-L vegetarian for many years before finally making the connection between milk and cheese to abused veal calves. I literally do not want dairy anymore, and could only see the suffering of the animals.

THe thing that really got me was watching a video of veal calves with their umbillical cords still attached, and who couldn't even really walk, being forced into an auction ring. :mad: :mad:

I just do not want to support that anymore and knowing that info makes me lose any desire to eat it.

[greenfeline]

I like alissa's cheese recipes a lot! Also, your tastebuds will change. Even stuff you might not like in the beginning might appeal to you later.

[Emma-Liza]

ViolinCyndee--I know what you mean! And it makes me truly understand why people spend so much effort to stop it--protests, boycotts, etc. I used to think they were spinning their wheels, maybe they were attention-hounds, or something, but now I get it, they feel frustrated and mostly powerless. What else can they do? Right now, for me, working on not encouraging suffering to feed my addiction is plenty! But in the future, I'll find something more, I'm sure!

[Lindazkewl]

What I do is search the 'net for raw food recipes. There's thousands upon thousands. I browse the recipes and keep things that sound good to me. Usually you can pretty much tell what you might like by the ingredients and how the recipe is prepared. :)

[roseyonnex]

I think you have to look at it as a "process" or a "journey," something that will take time with experimenting and figuring out what tastes good to you.

Start making a book of favorite recipes off the internet, from cook books, etc. That way you can always have fantastic meals at your fingertips.