does being a raw foodie hurt your social life?

[RawDate]

I've been a raw foodie for years now and while I love the diet and the way I feel, it's tough on my social life. Dating non-vegans can be really tricky - where do you go for dinner? I think most people slip back to a non-raw, meat eating diet for social reasons; it's just easier and more convenient to be social when you're not on a restrictive diet.

With all this in mind, I started a completely free dating site for raw foodie singles like me. No ads, no spam. Just a great way to connect with like-minded people and meet some new raw friends (maybe some raw love!!). Check out http://RawDate.com and let me know what you think .. I can add features to suit your needs .. I just want to build a great community for raw singles looking for love :-)

Peace, Jesse

[freshlight]

Hey Jesse, welcome to the forum :)
Great site, BTW. Well done!
I don't have any problems with being social...you can be social without eating--> you can go out dancing after you had your dinner, for example ;) It's great if you can manage to separate the food from your social life as much as possible then it's lots of fun! I haven't been dating anyone since couple of years because I didn't manage to find any time for that.
Good luck with your site. I'll forward it to the other rawies as soon as I meet someone who is looking for a date ;)
Take care, Eva

[Ilse W.]

What social life?:(

[Lady Green Jeans]

The site looks great. Hope there will be some more mature folks that get signed up, too. You should definately be successful with your site.

[jurence]

It has hurt my eating social life. The oreos especially don't like me.

But in all seriousness, yes. "Oh, we can't go there, Alex can't eat anything" etc. etc.

[freespirit]

It defintely affects my social life to some degree. For example-- last night was at a New Years Eve party. My best friends fiancee knows how i eat and wanted to get me to eat any type of meat. I had shrimp, a hot dog, a hamburger, and oysters all shoved in my face. i also had a bottle of rum put in front of me and i was forced to drink it. I did a fake swig of it, just becasue it is much easier to pretend to drink in front of drunk people then argue with them.

I still had a good time bc my bf is very understanding, loves my lifestyle and admires me for it. She goes to restaurants with me and prepares food with me too.

arent all people who are forward thinkers ridiculed and challenged until their ideals become common knowledge?

[MelissaO]

For me it depends on the people I am socializing with. Some like to only eat only junk food like pizza or hot dogs from a take out place. In those cases I can not work with the menu items so I will eat before hand and still go out with them to chat but not partake in their food.

Some places have things on the menu that work. There is a pizza place I once went to that served side salad (their idea of that was iceburg lettuce and a few slices of carrot) I asked them to give me a double order but to please add some red peppers, tomato, celery(they had wings and celery on their menu yeah for celery!) and a bit of fresh basil to it (you could go with mushrooms but I am allergic so that one was not an option for me). I ate that with an Italian dressing since they had no fresh lemon. They charged me for 2 side salads along with veggies being like an extra topping to a pizza so it all worked out fine.



Mexican places I have ordered Salsa, avocado, asked them to please give me iceburg leaves whole and made a wrap out of that.

You may get strange looks from the waiters but who really cares about that - it is your health so why not ask for what you want to eat. There are always options.

Good luck with your journey and have fun!

[Eva]

Naw, almost every place has SOMETHING raw. And if not, just order something before and have a hot tea or water and enjoy time with friends.

Went to Grezzo (raw restaurant in Boston) last night with non-raw person. Tonight, going to Pure Food & Wine (raw restaurant in NYC) with 3 non-raw people. They're cool with it... something interesting/different, and they like to share my enjoyment. I'm glad I surround myself with supportive people -- but I respond by also supporting that they are not necessarily interested in eating the way I do outside of our little jaunts to raw restaurants on occasion and if I make a fun dessert. No worries. I only have one life to live -- and they can live their own how they see fit!

It's pretty important to be flexible (ie have just fruit or just have a salad and bring dressing along) and open minded and to have a sense of humor about these things! No need to make a big thing of it, either. It's just food!

:)

[Revvell]

Actually no, it's enhanced it AND made me more creative and sharing.

Revvell (http://www.cafepress.com/revvellations)

[twinyoga]

From experience (and even anticipating this evening) is that I'm fine at restaurants and when eating with friends. But not with family! Family meals are terrible.

My families are very happy with SAD meals and believe it's the only way to each and it's just something I try to avoid!

[jurence]

The family I have taken tot he raw cafe here have had the attitude of "Well, that was a nice experience to do once in your life" afterwards lol

[Vaclare79]

YES, it has affected my social life A LOT lately especially.. I have actually had a good experience having a friend who went and got a couple of veg trays for me once though when they knew I was coming over.. I wanted to go out to eat with others when I've had invites lately, but went home instead to eat.. It's been a challenge for me but lately have had to change the way I think of it so it wouldn't bother me too bad.

[Coolexplosion]

A bit for sure but, not overwelmingly. The only thing is not to bring it up at every possible opportunity. Those are the kinds of people that everyone hates. Typically the offenders are vegetarians (not even vegans) that will brag at every possible opportunity about their food choices and attack any and all meat eaters. Nobody likes these people.

The key for me is not bringing up my food lifestyle unless I'm asked about it and it's worked wonders for me. If they're asking then obviously they want to know about it. I have a girlfriend and friends who are cool with it 'cause they know I'm never gonna change.

[domestic goddess]

No, because I really don't make a big deal out of it.
I eat what I eat, and its no big deal. I don't do alot of socializing around food, and if I do go out, like pp have said, you can get raw food/salads just about anywhere.

[freshlight]

with me it's exactly the other way round. people always seem to be very interested when they see my food......and usually want to eat it too :) I think it works like a mirror: if you feel fine with it, so do the others, which is great! Believe in yourself ;)

[Bananna]

I found that being vegetarian didn't really affect it...becoming vegan, has affected it much, much more...in fact, I am not finding much difference between vegan and raw vegan when it comes to restaurants. You have the salad option in both instances pretty much. ...unless it's an Asian food spot, and even then, some think scrambled egg is an ingredient in veggie rice....the nicer spots, my kids don't eat at.

It's so much a waste of time that I either bring my own snack, eat before or after, reduce us to going to very specific spots or eating in...with that later becoming the winning option.

So that's the logistical problem of it...

Then socially, it is finally becoming ever so slightly more common knowledge, like more and more people have atleast Heard of it before. So that's comforting. But I just find it painful to be excluded...not because I'm ostracized, but because I don't get to participate in all those conversations that revolve around food without being a freak or talking in the past tense....like

'this turkey is sooo good, oh ya, you don't eat meat', or 'you should try this recipe it's so fab, oh ya, you don't eat half the things in it' or 'have a bite of this, omg, it's so good, just one bite' or shunning statements like 'oh I could never give up this or this or this' or even captioned statements like 'oh very nice, I see, interesting, whatever works for you' ....I find myself just flat out being quieter than I normally would be.

[freshlight]

you just need some new, fresh, interesting friends, dear Bananna. I did never talk about food much in the past either and it would be very limiting if all my friends would want to talk about the food only . That would bore me so much that I would walk away on them, feeling relieved and without even looking back

There are SO MANY things we can do without eating all the time,-beautiful walks, swimming, going to the pictures, you name it.....there is no need at all to feel excluded, it's just our old thinking that bothers us sometimes, me thinks.

this was jmho :)
Relax and enjoy your beautiful lifestyle. Eva

[Revvell]

...

'this turkey is sooo good, oh ya, you don't eat meat',

These grapes are sooo sweet and juicy, oh ya, you don't eat fruit, more for me! :)




or 'you should try this recipe it's so fab, oh ya, you don't eat half the things in it' These strawberry crepes are WONDERFUL, oh ya, you don't eat raw ~ more for me! :)



or 'have a bite of this, omg, it's so good, just one bite' or, have a bite of this raw chili, omg, it's so good, just one bite



or shunning statements like 'oh I could never give up this or this or this'
I didn't think I could either until I found something better. Sort of like growing up. Didn't think at one time I'd ever give up my favorite doll but then, I found something better. Same way with food, for me. :D




or even captioned statements like 'oh very nice, I see, interesting, whatever works for you' It does! Isn't that GREAT???? :D

[Bananna]

You're funny Revvell...lol.

It's not that I want new friends, I love my friends, nor that we only talk about food, mostly not, but we Do talk Over food almost always, and so it's this constant Side thing we talk about.

Sometimes it doesn't bother me At All, other times it really does. I guess I sometimes wish I had some 'real in the flesh' raw friends, or even vegan ones. I find the vegetarians I know oddly to be the most offended by raw, lol...

And yes, I realize I could drive to Toronto and attend some raw classes or something and make some friends, but I'm more referring to friends of convenience too, cuz we all tend to just be friends with the people who are in our face the most, no?

[LotsaRaw]

I find the vocal extremists boorish. The lecturing carnivores, vegans, vegetarians...gggrrrr! Your food choices are yours alone. While inside I raise my eyebrows at a couple co-workers packaged processed crap, I do not insist on brining it to their attention each time they nuke it. As I drink my green smoothies and ACV water, no negative comments are made by them either. Confidence and security in your decisions is key. (and a smile!)