HOw do you deal with cravings?

[erialicia]

On my first day raw, and im having cravings for SAD food..how do you deal with this??

[Lady Green Jeans]

Drink some water and tell myself I will wait 5 minutes to see if it passes. It does. I make sure I ALWAYS have something to nibble on in case I get hungry, too. Trail mix or just a bag of nuts or raisins in my desk helps.

If it is a craving for a certain dish, most can be recreated in a raw version with very satisfying results. My favorite thing is Pad Thai and I use Alissa's recipe with a few additions and kick it up in heat for my tastes--knocks out the cravings every time.

The cravings become less and less and your palate changes, too. Hang tough.

[cherrypie]

GREEN SMOOTHIES it really works the more you drink of them the less you crave SAD stuff

[Dimond]

By having lots of yummy raw food around, either that I make or buy premade. Mainly a lot of gourmet raw.

[michigan roman]

lemon juice squeezed into ice water helps quell my appetite .

[curlygirl82]

I find that, if I have cravings, it usually just means I'm hungry -- and whatever I'm "craving" is just the first thing my mind comes up with to interpret that hunger. So I'll eat a piece of fruit or green salad or what have you, and it always, ALWAYS goes away.

Best of luck to you!

[Revvell]

On my first day raw, and im having cravings for SAD food..how do you deal with this??

Eat more raw.

My husband eat basically SAD. You don't know how many times I've caved to eating his stuff. I finally made the decision to eat raw, no matter what. How I did that? Followed Philip McCluskey's (http://rawkinradio.com/?s=Philip+Mc) advice (and Alissa's) ~ Eat what you want, when you want as long as it's raw.

Last night he was cooking up a SAD pizza. I smelled it, was tempted but, I'd just filled up and wasn't hungry.

Just keep doing that until your body is filled with so many nutrients and SAD just doesn't look/smell/taste like food anymore.

Revvell (http://LetsTalkRaw.com)

[oai]

Going for very LONG & SLOW walks away from food. :)

[rawshay]

The only thing I've found that curve my cravings is EATING more raw food. When I'm hungry I start craving SAD. So I just eat. Usually if I'm craving sweets I will eat some dates, raisins, or RAWvolution Food bar (one of the chocolate/coconut ones). If I'm craving something like meat or bread I usually try to eat some raw food that has fat & calories like nuts or any nut-based recipe in Alissa's book. The strawberry crepes in her book are the best ever and alway curb my cravings. I guess just basically always having plenty of raw food that you can get too quickly and eat quickly right when you need it will help alot. I just eat till I'm full and then my cravings are gone. My best to you with the cravings. I'm going through them now to as I'm only 8 days raw (in the past I went 3 weeks and all the stuff I mentioned above helped big time). My best to you!

[GlimR]

Yes, eat!! Just make sure it is raw...something you like and as much of it as it takes to satisfy your hunger. It will pass. They can feel so overwhelming. I talk myself thru them...ask myself how will I feel 20 minutes from now if I give in to eating the crap that got me into this condition in the first place. It just isn't worth it.

[p_q]

Eat raw. All that you want.
If its raw, its ok.

[tanishamarshall]

Greens smoothies and Green Juice help a lot but I think it's always best to have some really good raw food that kind of taste similar to what you are craving but that would take some thinking ahead. I personally found that having raw desserts around help a lot.

[Coolexplosion]

Keeping a bunch of good raw food around. As long as you keep the good stuff around you, and a lot of it, the cravings will subside. Eventually you won't notice the other stuff and, when you do, hopefully you'll remember how much crap is in it and that it is stuffed with chemicals, preservatives, and other bad stuff that sabotage your health.

It just takes time. Endure now, prosper later.

[Pistachios]

... im having cravings for SAD food..how do you deal with this??

Acknowledge, accept and embrace the craving and go on in spite of it.
By that I mean avoid engaging in a personal battle with the yearning. Tell yourself you'll let the craving continue for a specified time i.e. 1/2-1 hour and see what happens and if it continues you'll reevaluate available options. Believe it or not, it usually passes by then. Then whenever the craving returns, which is likely to happen especially in the beginning stages, you repeat the process all over again.

[GlimR]

Great advice P~

[jurence]

Best advice is to get over it. I craved a lot of stuff the first week. Now, I see brownies and fudge freshly made- doesn't phase me.

[ReneeH]

Thanks for this thread...I'm dealing with a craving right now, but I'm not giving in to it! That's why I'm here on the board...you guys help me to stay sane and not lose my mind or my determination to keep this a RAW 2009!!!

Thanks everyone!!!! :)

[RawHeaven]

I'm too lazy to look for the article, but I know Storm who has been raw for 30+ years wrote an *article about cravings. He mentioned how even he has them or they spiked again several years after he was raw. He talked about spirituality, food, emotions, body chemistry, healing etc. It was a circle of information linking back to cravings. If I can find it, I'll post it. It may even be on this site somewhere.

I echo the advice that has been given about keeping plenty of raw foods handy. I always had raw food with me or near me. When I used to crave cooked vegan it was usually crunchy foods or breads, so I made a lot of raw crackers and breads and cookies in the beginning. Try to see what you're actually craving and substitute a great raw food that you will stick with and is easy to prepare or carry. Don't try to force the craving to go away, that will just cause you to crave it more. Just eat raw.

*Edit: or it may even be a video - try Utube.

[deja19_98]

It helps to have the most enjoyable raw foods around you. Find the best raw foods and make sure you have a stash at work, home, car etc. When you have a craving you eat the raw food and sooner or later you will make an association with that raw food and your craving. Eventually you will no longer need the cooked food but instead crave the raw version :-)

Superfoods are great for craving because of their high nutritional value: Spirulina, Chlorella, wheatgrass, Goji berries, cacao (use caution with cacao), hemp seeds, etc.


lots of love,

deja

[gritsnla]

Lots of great info, especially keeping lots of good raw goodies everywhere. In the purse, the car, the work desk and all over your kitchen!