What exactly is "high raw"?

[KPainter]

I keep reading that phrase. What exactly is the definition of high raw?

[kaleidoscopeeyes]

It just means eating a high percentage of raw. "High" raw is usually considered to be anywhere from 80 to 100%, at least in my experience.

[Coolexplosion]

And typically people that are 100% raw won't call themselves high raw, they'll actually say that they're completely raw.

[SheLovesToEat]

I keep reading that phrase. What exactly is the definition of high raw?

i consider myself high raw. i was 100% but i felt i was missing out on some things i liked. i have a raw plant food diet but i will use spices and condiments when i want to.
i like coffee and the occasional beer. i happen to feel that i am getting the benifits of a plant based diet with a twist here and there on things i like.

i realize this board is about being 100% raw but some of us do it our way.
it happens to work well for me.
i admire people that can be 100% and be satisfied with it.... but for me... high raw is fine.

[Raw Joy]

I consider myself high raw, although there is a rare occasional day where I eat more than one meal cooked.

My problem always was if I thought I couldn't have it, it just made me eat five of them. I found that if I allow myself to eat anything I want, I almost always choose raw. But if I do eat a baked sweet potato or veggie sandwich, I don't worry about it.

I think one of my big breakthroughs in the past few months is now that raw is such a habit, I just naturally go for it without analyzing it.

[KPainter]

My problem always was if I thought I couldn't have it, it just made me eat five of them.

I'm glad to hear you say that because that's one of my issues too. I firmly believe there shouldn't be a list of foods that are "bad". That will only make me think about them more. Plus, I'm Italian. Going the rest of my life without pasta or polenta or pizza would be impossible. I don't want to do that! I want to strive for a better balance in my life, not more restriction.

[oai]

although i'm more of a mono-eater now (after 5+ yrs. of raw eating), i did find it extremely helpful to make the raw versions of the foods i like that were unhealthy to me. :D

lots of versions of raw spaghetti & pizza. :)

[MelanieM]

My problem always was if I thought I couldn't have it, it just made me eat five of them. I found that if I allow myself to eat anything I want, I almost always choose raw.

This is why I decided to set a goal of high raw for myself. I always like to think of what I can add, rather than what I must take away. Taking away is resistance, and resistance just seems to lead to more of what I'm resisting. (Also, starting this journey while pregnant, I want to be sure to listen to my intuition (and baby) rather than a set of rules.)

That said, what I'm finding is that even 10 days in, it feels so much better to eat raw, fresh foods that these are my new cravings! And I'm shocked at how quickly my tastebuds are changing... Things I thought were delicious a couple of weeks ago are now 'eh'. That makes it pretty easy to choose raw most of the time!

[katacykls]

In that case, I too consider myself "High Raw". Essentially I want to make the best eating choices for myself and being that I'm wheat and dairy intolerant eating more earthly prepared foods is a satisfying route to take.
Viva la Raw.

[SekhemNefer]

This is why I decided to set a goal of high raw for myself. I always like to think of what I can add, rather than what I must take away. Taking away is resistance, and resistance just seems to lead to more of what I'm resisting. (Also, starting this journey while pregnant, I want to be sure to listen to my intuition (and baby) rather than a set of rules.)

That said, what I'm finding is that even 10 days in, it feels so much better to eat raw, fresh foods that these are my new cravings! And I'm shocked at how quickly my tastebuds are changing... Things I thought were delicious a couple of weeks ago are now 'eh'. That makes it pretty easy to choose raw most of the time!

I vowed to be 100% raw, but I don't think I can. My problem is that I can be 100% for about 10 days straight until I have cravings that won't go away by drinking green smoothies, or eating more raw. So I cave in to some cooked foods for a day...really a meal. But I am at a weird place, I can eat that cooked food but won't be emotionally happy or satisfied as I thought I would, but my cravings go away and then I want to go 100% raw again, and I do.

I think until I get totally fed up with cooked foods, I might be like this for a while...when my body no longer have cravings for certain things.

Slowly, I dislike hamburgers, my favorite food: Mexican (which I was crazy about), and french fries (which I used to have to have almost daily before raw). And I no longer like Subway, Quiznos, Papa Johns anymore.

[cherry.chops]

I have just come back from a holiday in Virginia, where i had to eat cooked food, due to there being no choice in the food (was hard enough to get vegan food when out)

The fantastic thing is that whe whole time i was craving nothing but RAW food!

[SekhemNefer]

For me it is more like I just want a taste to get the cravings to go away. Since what I can't have I will obsess over it.

For instance, I was craving chocolate cake really bad. I bought a half a cake. When I got home and had about 3 forks spoonsful, I was like "Ick...nasty!" It didn't taste all that good. But it got rid of my desire to have cake which was driving me nuts for days until I did taste some of it.

And like you said, I craved and desired to eat raw after that.

[Raw Joy]

Mine isn't so much cravings as it is convenience. Sometimes I just don't feel like fixing two suppers, or if I'm out at a restaurant, dealing with explaining how I can't have black beans on my Mexican salad.

I still have cravings, but it seems I don't crave them as much anymore.

[SheLovesToEat]

For me it is more like I just want a taste to get the cravings to go away. Since what I can't have I will obsess over it.

For instance, I was craving chocolate cake really bad. I bought a half a cake. When I got home and had about 3 forks spoonsful, I was like "Ick...nasty!" It didn't taste all that good. But it got rid of my desire to have cake which was driving me nuts for days until I did taste some of it.

And like you said, I craved and desired to eat raw after that.


OH YEAH! once you have been eating raw and you try to go back to
some SAD cake.... it tastes SOOO BAD becuse of the sugar i guess... you dont want it and it throws you back to raw.
LOL i am smiling now because the same thing happend to me last month.
not buying a cake...but having a few fork fulls at a party.
YUCK!