Ok--HELP! HEEEELP MEEEEEE!!!!

[RawSweetie]

Hi guys,
Sorry if that was a bit dramatic. I need someone to say something to me quick--because I have been eating cooked crap all day today, after just reaching approx 5 weeks raw (except for some yerba mate) and feeling great and healing some BIG things physically and starting to receive compliments and dropping a jeans size. Excuse me, but what in the H*LL am I doing?!

I think it's this:

Imminent move in 4 weeks to another region of the U.S. with no job or housing confirmed yet, some emotional goodbyes here, my period is due in 2 days, and I've just this week started a 60-hr work week-which is only temporary for this month but which found me without enough raw food and no time to get to the store--for the first time since I started raw last month. Also, 25 hours of my new schedule involve serving a "gourmet" SAD breakfast at the inn where I work in a normally NON-foodie capacity. They were in a pinch and asked if I could help out til end of season. So, I'm looking at and handling SAD food 7 mornings a week now, and having to interact with guests oooh-ing and aaah-ing constantly...which feels surreal, let me tell you. AND this is also a healthy dose of good ol' sabotage, since somewhere, deep down inside, I probably don't reeallly think I deserve the kind of transformation I know would happen on raw.

So, I've had a big plate of crappy pasta, 4 SAD chocolate brownies, and 2 cups of coffee in the past 24 hours. Not TOO terrible, but not raw.

I'm not going to beat myself up here, but I also don't want to isolate with my self-sabotage either. There's alot going on, but you know, there's always gonna be "alot going on" and I want to deal with it raw...:(

Ok, that's all. Thank you for listening.

[shashibala]

I know how you feel! These times of transition are so trying! But, try to keep in mind that the more you eat raw, the better you can deal with stress. If I eat even a tiny bit of cooked food it makes me more delicate physically and emotionally. Now is a time to let yourself eat whatever you want and need to stay raw. Take raw snacks everywhere with you. Don't get too hungry. Drink smoothies. I carry a boat load of food with me. I have to feed preschool kids lunch made by a cook everyday. That is grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, tomato soup, and all many other comfort foods.I bring plenty of food so as not to be tempted. I will also get so groggy if I eat those foods, that now I don't want them.
Don't be hard on yourself, but don't let your progress on raw slip away from you!! You can do it!!

[kristinseto]

RawSweetie,
I would like to challenge you to get back on track by staring the Oct 30 day challenge. I am headed over there myself to join as I have eaten some SAD food yesterday and today I feel HORRIBLE!! Why oh why do we do this to ourselves.
I, like you have a couple of road blocks. Two kids :). Okay, one is a baby so that is no issue. But I do still give my son some cooked food and it is hard sometimes. Tomorrow we are going to the Children's Museam with some friends and we always pack a lunch, so it is hard to give my 2 year old raw when the others have PB&J and animal cookies, ya know...
He does love alot of raw food so I am lucky there.
Anyhow, I wish you a quick route back to raw, along with me :)
God Bless!

[gritsnla]

I'm in the same boat. A SAD food fest! Good grief! I just cannot get myself to commit. And I know how good I was feeling when I was raw a couple of months ago. Heading to the Challenge right now!!

Let's keep our heads up to see where we want to go... and that's down the RAW path to feeling and looking better!

[gs4life]

rawsweetie--i know how you feel! i've been down that cooked food road far too many times...just last friday i went out to lunch for what i deemed a "necessary social situation" and i am still recovering physically. i know, and you know, cooked food just isn't worth it. no matter how good it may smell, no matter what happy times we associate it with...it's just never worth it. remind yourself that! because you deserve to feel wonderful. raw food will make you feel wonderful!

someone's signature on this forum is: "cooked food never tastes as good as raw feels" and that is so true! remember how raw makes you feel....keep in mind all that eating raw has done for you and what it can do for you! and remember that raw food high! feeling great is worth it!

don't worry about your slip ups...today is a new day :) you CAN change your life...one raw bite at a time ;)

and good luck with your move--i hope all goes smoothly

[jacsam]

Throw it all behind you and start again....not tomarrow or this afternoon but this VERY minute. Oh, and be sure to take a green smoothie with you to work or at least some raw snacks.

[Veganforlife]

That's it. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again. You CAN do this. You've taken the first step. Realizing how crappy you feel.
Hang in there. Even w/the move and job and all, if you're eating healthy, those will go way smoother.

[annavon]

4 Chocolate Brownies??? ;) I have a confession to make, after a stressfull day I got one of those giant chocolate chunk cookies at Starbucks (or should I say Theirbucks) . I have total sympathy for you. Today I am back on track. Moving is stressful. Where are you moving to? Perhaps you can find a raw food group in the area you are moving to and do some networking there. I find that connecting with a group when you move is helpful.

[RawSweetie]

Thank you so much to ALL of you for your support! Wow, I really am so stressed out...a coworker asked me how I was tonight at work and I started crying. It was obvious that I had been holding in some stuff and suppressing it with SAD food. I had eaten more crap today and was trying to figure out what to say to you guys about where my head was. After talking with my friend for 15 minutes about how I REALLY feel, I don't want any more SAD food. I just needed to talk! And cry a little. She's a warm, loving person and it was a comforting conversation, and I feel so much better now...this was a couple of days of emotional eating at its finest.

I'm moving from Maine to South Carolina for 6 mos. then back to Maine. This is something I've known I would do, yet it's a real mental, emotional, spiritual push right now. Lots and lots of transitioning going on. :rolleyes:

Anyway, HUGS to all of you, and I wish us all the joy of raw and the certainty that we deserve it and are worth it.

[RawSweetie]

I'm sitting here reading the discussion threads on RFT, and one of our town librarians stopped in to my workplace to let me know they just got in a new raw food cookbook! Now THAT was nice--she went out of her way...and what a sign! :D :D

[RawSweetie]

4 Chocolate Brownies??? ;) I have a confession to make, after a stressfull day I got one of those giant chocolate chunk cookies at Starbucks (or should I say Theirbucks) . I have total sympathy for you. Today I am back on track. Moving is stressful. Where are you moving to? Perhaps you can find a raw food group in the area you are moving to and do some networking there. I find that connecting with a group when you move is helpful.

Ha, "Theirbucks." I like that!

I'm glad that you decided to "confess." :p For your "sin," I want you to say "Green Smoothie" ten times fast, ok? :D

[Eva]

RawSweetie! I think many of us understand. I was there too. Darn I feel good these days! The longer I am raw, the better it gets. I feel comfortable in my skin. Thank goodness!

Just smile, treat it as a lesson, decide you deserve the best... and give that to yourself.

Are you on the Maine sea coast? When I lived on Martha's Vineyard, I sometimes envied those that would make the trail for half the year then go down south! Are you going to the SC sea coast too? There is so much healing in the sea. I hope that is the case and would guess it is. Please take some time from your busy schedule to enjoy the fresh air and life wherever you are! :)

[Desert Raw]

Green Smoothies. My 32oz bottle lasts 4 to 5 hours, just sipping on it as I feel a bit hungry. If you have a fridge available, I find Kombucha will get me a good 2 or 3 hours down the road still feeling satisfied and not hyper/twitched out like sugar/caffeine. Falling into the SAD trap is kinda like dozing off at the wheel while driving.....do not over correct (beat yourself up...the food is already doing a fine job of that) then pull over and WAKE UP and get focused. You can damage yourself just as much or more with negative emotions/stress as eating the SAD food.

Good luck!

[Tea]

I like the attitude of the raw runner that Revvell interviewed. He said something to this effect: Don't cut anything out of your diet but add so much more healthy raw foods to your daily meals, that you are just not hungry for the other stuff.
I like that attitude so much. You don't feel like you're cutting anything out of your diet but rather just adding healthy stuff in.
If I had a gigantic salad for dinner then I'm not going to be hungry for the other stuff but I still feel I can have it if I want to. And if I do have it I don't beat myself up because I never cut it out to begin with.

[Raw Angel Mom]

SO WHAT, LOL......

Hey, you have done an amazing accomplishment. Five weeks raw, this is phenomenal for your beautiful body. Now, take this experience as an opportunity to learn. Learn what made you do this and have a plan if similar cirsconstances occure. Now, i must warm you, you will have intense craving and the more you give in to cook food the more the craving will go up. If you want to do raw food again, simply recommit and forgive yourself for being human, this is only opportunity to learn. You know also if you make exeption, you will go nuts with more cook food, this is only lessons nothing more.

Take a little card and write down all the reasons that you choosed to do raw in the first place and read this card before making the decision to eat cook again.

Green smoothies will help to heal the craving and rebanlance your body. Always focus on your accomplishment never on what your mind may judge or make you feel bad.

Sending you positive thought!

[RawSweetie]

RawSweetie! I think many of us understand. I was there too. Darn I feel good these days! The longer I am raw, the better it gets. I feel comfortable in my skin. Thank goodness!

Just smile, treat it as a lesson, decide you deserve the best... and give that to yourself.

Are you on the Maine sea coast? When I lived on Martha's Vineyard, I sometimes envied those that would make the trail for half the year then go down south! Are you going to the SC sea coast too? There is so much healing in the sea. I hope that is the case and would guess it is. Please take some time from your busy schedule to enjoy the fresh air and life wherever you are! :)

Hi, Eva! Yes, that is exactly where I am! And I am going to the coast of South Carolina for 6 months...I chose these locations LARGELY for the coastal location and beauty. It has been so incredibly wonderful and healing to be at the water. I never want to take it for granted. I'm still in a place where every day I think, "Wow, I live here. How did this happen?" :)

Thanks, I am calmer now and I know a lot of us have gone through this...I want to just go forward and keep on keeping on with this, knowing that it isn't and won't be a perfect path. I WILL say that I'm now experiencing the low-level ickiness of having eaten the SAD stuff--nothing dramatic, just overall the way I USED to feel! It will pass. :rolleyes:

[RawSweetie]

Green Smoothies. My 32oz bottle lasts 4 to 5 hours, just sipping on it as I feel a bit hungry. If you have a fridge available, I find Kombucha will get me a good 2 or 3 hours down the road still feeling satisfied and not hyper/twitched out like sugar/caffeine. Falling into the SAD trap is kinda like dozing off at the wheel while driving.....do not over correct (beat yourself up...the food is already doing a fine job of that) then pull over and WAKE UP and get focused. You can damage yourself just as much or more with negative emotions/stress as eating the SAD food.

Good luck!

That is such a great point! Why beat myself up? The food is already doing that! LOL. Sad, but true. And as you say, I couldn't entertain lots of drama and angst over this, because I feel too sort of blecchh to go there. :p

[Green_Woman]

I like the attitude of the raw runner that Revvell interviewed. He said something to this effect: Don't cut anything out of your diet but add so much more healthy raw foods to your daily meals, that you are just not hungry for the other stuff.
I like that attitude so much. You don't feel like you're cutting anything out of your diet but rather just adding healthy stuff in.
If I had a gigantic salad for dinner then I'm not going to be hungry for the other stuff but I still feel I can have it if I want to. And if I do have it I don't beat myself up because I never cut it out to begin with.


I just felt like that was so brilliant I needed to REPOST it so you would see it... THIS IS SO TRUE!!!!!! AND so helpful to us new rawbies!!!

RAW is NOT about deprivation or frustration... it's about ABUNDANCE, AND FREEDOM!!!

[RawSweetie]

I like the attitude of the raw runner that Revvell interviewed. He said something to this effect: Don't cut anything out of your diet but add so much more healthy raw foods to your daily meals, that you are just not hungry for the other stuff.
I like that attitude so much. You don't feel like you're cutting anything out of your diet but rather just adding healthy stuff in.
If I had a gigantic salad for dinner then I'm not going to be hungry for the other stuff but I still feel I can have it if I want to. And if I do have it I don't beat myself up because I never cut it out to begin with.


I just felt like that was so brilliant I needed to REPOST it so you would see it... THIS IS SO TRUE!!!!!! AND so helpful to us new rawbies!!!

RAW is NOT about deprivation or frustration... it's about ABUNDANCE, AND FREEDOM!!!

Thank you! I think I need to keep hearing that--abundance, abundance, abundance! Freedom, freedom, freedom! :D