Mini Survey: If you've slipped with the Raw Food Lifestyle, what have you learned?

[RawHeaven]

I've noticed a number of slips with my fellow rawbies, including myself lately as relates to eating or drinking something that is not Raw and managing the consequences.

I'm just wondering if you have ventured down this road recently or perhaps have a memory, could you answer the questions listed below? Feel free to add comments that are relevant to you that you think would benefit others.

It's always a great thing to focus on the positives, but I've begun to realize transgressions away from raw foods is also a positive because it reflects that we're all human on this journey and there's always more to learn. I'm also curious to see if there are any consistencies, if any, with physical or emotional reactions after eating similar cooked foods or non-raw drinks. It is not to condone eating cooked foods.

Thank you for participating and for sharing your wisdom. :)

Peace, health & happiness. ~}i{~

Crystal

[RawHeaven]

1. Have you recently had a non-raw, non-vegan or SAD, cooked vegan food or drink?


2. If so, what were the circumstances. Were you socializing, experiencing a craving, traveling, etc.?


3. How did you feel after consuming this food or drink?


4. What physical reactions did you experience, if any?


5. What emotional reactions did you experience, if any?


6. How long did it take you to feel well again if you weren't feeling good in your body? (hours, days, etc)


7. Did you begin to eat raw foods again or did the cooked food cycle continue?


8. If so, what raw foods did you choose after you ate the cooked food?


9. How did you feel about yourself overall? Did you experience regret, judgement, were you to able accept yourself and your choices?


10. What have you learned from this experience?


Please feel free to add additional comments:

[RawHeaven]

1. Have you recently had a non-raw, non-vegan or SAD, cooked vegan food or drink?
Yes.

A vegan wrap with seitan w/cooked potatoes

A vegan raspberry pie with non-raw ingredients

Roasted cashews

Vitamin water (sugar)


2. If so, what were the circumstances. Were you socializing, experiencing a craving, traveling, etc.?
I was eating out with friends in a vegan restaurant when I ordered the seitan wrap. The next day I purchased the cashews and pie on an excursion into another city. I didn't have any raw foods on me and decided it was "okay" to have them.


3. How did you feel after consuming this food or drink?
I experienced a headache one hour after eating the seitan wrap. After eating the raspbery pie, vitamin water and roasted cashews, I immediately experienced stomach issues and spaced out.

4. What physical reactions did you experience, if any?
I caught a cold, bronchitis, my skin broke out (acne), I became bloated and experienced digestion problems for 2 weeks after eating these foods.

I experienced both a cold and an allergic reaction to the wheat products (which usually impact my lungs & skin).


5. What emotional reactions did you experience, if any?
I was grumpy, irritable and moody after eating these foods.


6. How long did it take you to feel well again if you weren't feeling good in your body? (hours, days, etc)
Approximately a week after my lungs healed.


7. Did you begin to eat raw foods again or did the cooked food cycle continue?
I ate non-raw foods 2 days in a row.


8. If so, what raw foods did you choose after you ate the cooked food?
I began to drink green juices daily, green smoothies and sprouting quinoa, mung beans and alfalfa. Plenty of oranges and lemons to combat the cold.


9. How did you feel about yourself overall? Did you experience regret, judgement, were you to able accept yourself and your choices?
I felt terrible and was initially very judgemental towards myself. I felt I succumbed to eating raw foods because I was in a social situation and also dealing with cravings. After I healed myself from the cold/bronchitis, I realized I simply wanted to eat the vegan seitan wrap (+ other foods) and my friends didn't have a thing to do with it. I was putting that pressure on myself. They are very supportive of my choices overall. It was the guilt talking and taking over.


10. What have you learned from this experience?
I've learned that even if you slip and eat a cooked food or cycle into the cooked food world, you can venture back to raw foods. And ironically, my goals are much stronger and I'm motivated once again to keep cleansing & healing. I know again how it feels to be unwell in the body. After being raw for 2 years, not being sick and feeling pretty good to elated most of the time, it was very apparent to me that it is better for my body and for my emotional well being to be Raw. I am inspired to remain Raw. :)

[Zaphirah]

1. Have you recently had a non-raw, non-vegan or SAD, cooked vegan food or drink?

Yes-I slowly devolved back to (vegan) SAD starting just before christmas and ending a week ago and a half ago.


2. If so, what were the circumstances. Were you socializing, experiencing a craving, traveling, etc.?

I was stressed and just really wanted to feel "included" in the festivities-and I am forever trying to manage eating grains in my raw diet. I love brown rice or millet. They are comfort foods for me BUT after this last time I learned that they are the 1st step on a slippery slope.


3. How did you feel after consuming this food or drink?

The 1st time I felt a subtle euphoria.Like I had conquered my ED because I was able to eat 1 very small bowl of grains and lived to tell about it-but then over the months it turned to a feelings of guilt and defeat and almost a light depression once I realized how "deep" I had fallen down the rabbit hole AGAIN.


4. What physical reactions did you experience, if any?

weight gain: 20+ lbs in less than 2 months. Small skin ulcers reappeared, lethargy, and constant daydreaming about my next "score". I knew this was going to HAVE to end, so it seemed like I was on a mission to say goodbye to all my old "friends". Needed caffiene to wake up and several glasses of wine to settle down at night. All the chemicals in my body were wreaking havoc on my sleep cycle and my energy levels.


5. What emotional reactions did you experience, if any?

defeat, guilt, despair, confusion, sadness and frustration. Mood swings. I felt "duped" again by SAD/my ED. I also felt a mild form of disgust that I KNOW better but couldn't seem to find the energy to DO better and that I allowed myself to get out of control for the umpteenth time and after working SO hard, I let 20 lbs of toxicity seep back on. Almost every minute was a struggle trying to decide what direction to go in...should I eat that white choco scone, since I will probably NEVER have on again...or should I go back to raw...but then have that nagging craving still there?



6. How long did it take you to feel well again if you weren't feeling good in your body? (hours, days, etc)

I had to go cold turkey and ate 100% raw for 1 day, then went straight to a juice feast. It's been over a week and I feel great. I still miss my old friends "Beer and Chips" but I know in time, that will pass.


7. Did you begin to eat raw foods again or did the cooked food cycle continue?

My cycle was 2 months long. It started with trying to add in 1 small portion of grains a day. Then came alcohol-LOTS of it. Not getting drunk, but small amts EVERY day. Then it evolved in eating tofu and grains (even tho tofu makes me ILL) and BBQ chips. I started craving chinese food and pizza and the whole nine. I lost my grip on it and when that happens (as it ALWAYS does) I know it's time to admit that I don't have a grip on my ED and get back to raw.


8. If so, what raw foods did you choose after you ate the cooked food?

Sunday I had a veggie sub with cheese and mayo and 3 beers. Monday I had a GS, salad, and nori. Tuesday I was juice feasting.


9. How did you feel about yourself overall? Did you experience regret, judgment, were you to able accept yourself and your choices?

I have regrets. I do get frustrated in a sense that raw is not a CHOICE for me-it's a MUST. I do not like the sense that I HAVE to do something. I am powerless over cooked food, in a sense. I am very much like a drug addict who can't party just once-that will lead to a TOTAL relapse. I am a little upset about the pounds that I allowed back and at the time was nonchalant about. I had given all of my bigger clothes away, so I am down to 2 pairs of pants that I can squeeze into right now. On the other hand I am so THANKFUL that raw is my way out. Without raw I'd STILL be binging and probably weight close to 200 lbs.


10. What have you learned from this experience?

I learned what I already knew. Raw keeps me healthy, alive, and sane.

[cherry.chops]

1. Have you recently had a non-raw, non-vegan or SAD, cooked vegan food or drink?

A) Pasta with sauce, popcorn

2. If so, what were the circumstances. Were you socializing, experiencing a craving, traveling, etc.?

A) it was a weekend, i tend to slip then. Im still transitioning, so i dont stop myself from giving in as much as i should


3. How did you feel after consuming this food or drink?

A) sick, heavy, uncomfortable, bloated. In the morning i had a headache and a hard stomach.


4. What physical reactions did you experience, if any?

A) as above


5. What emotional reactions did you experience, if any?

A) mental sluggishness, faliure, and i big craving for raw again


6. How long did it take you to feel well again if you weren't feeling good in your body? (hours, days, etc)

A) that evening and the next day.


7. Did you begin to eat raw foods again or did the cooked food cycle continue?

A) if its a sat, then il il keep going though sunday. But if its a sunday then il go back to 100% raw on mon


8. If so, what raw foods did you choose after you ate the cooked food?

A) fruit and some salad


9. How did you feel about yourself overall? Did you experience regret, judgement, were you to able accept yourself and your choices?

A) I accepted my choices as i had already made them, but i also regretted choosing cooked. I felt bad mentaly and physically. I looked forward to going back to raw.


10. What have you learned from this experience?

A) ive learned that i dont really learn from my mistakes because i keep doing them. But im gradually realising, and remembering what cooked feels like and how bad it makes me feel so i am stopping myself from slipping too often. Im pushing myself to be more raw, and i need to stop falling at the weekend. I just need to remember how awful i feel when i do slip..and then i hopefully stop wanting to eat crap.

[snoops]

This is such a good thread. Thanks you Raw Heaven. I am not 100% yet so I don't experience the same things but I can totally see Zaphirah's experience being me. I k now I am addicted to certain SAD foods and I am trying to see my way to giving them up.

I read your story in the ED thread Zaphirah and I am also so angry that I can't have just a little. I now realize that its like alcohol for some, I can't have any. I feel like I am moving slowly to accepting this and the next step is cutting them out one by one. Wow what an addiction.

[JCB44]

. Have you recently had a non-raw, non-vegan or SAD, cooked vegan food or drink?
A) yes a binge at a nation steak buffet.

2. If so, what were the circumstances. Were you socializing, experiencing a craving, traveling, etc.?
A) Socializing whith friends/co workers.


3. How did you feel after consuming this food or drink?
A) guilty, loss of control.

4. What physical reactions did you experience, if any?
A) sluggish, joint aches, feeling "Blah"

5. What emotional reactions did you experience, if any?
A) same as 3

6. How long did it take you to feel well again if you weren't feeling good in your body? (hours, days, etc)
A) 2-3 days

7. Did you begin to eat raw foods again or did the cooked food cycle continue?
A) 100% the next day


8. If so, what raw foods did you choose after you ate the cooked food?
A) salads and green smoothies.

9. How did you feel about yourself overall? Did you experience regret, judgement, were you to able accept yourself and your choices?
A) A lot of regret, but I have to live with the consequenses.

10. What have you learned from this experience?
A) That I don't have to fit in with people in their "normal" world. I know that raw is best for me and eating outside my world, just because some one else thinks raw or vegan or vegitarian is thought of as "wierd" or Hippyish, or tree hugging, is wrong. I know that physically, spiritully, mentaly,and emotionaly I feel beter when I live in our "RAW World"

[Veganforlife]

Read My Confession below...please

[RawSweetie]

Well...I've just come off of a few months of eating SAD, and crappy, non-vegan SAD, too. It was heartbreaking for me, on a daily basis, b/c I know too much now about what raw foods do for my life, and I was aware of how badly I was betraying myself...yow, it hurt...:(

At the same time, I tried to take things as gently as possible, and I was aware of specific challenges and stresses that I was facing during those months, and of the overall fact that my lifestyle was temporarily out of whack b/c of circumstances beyond my control. I was taking things one day at a time, in other words. I learned so many things...

I'm ever-more human as I go along in my life, dairy products are physiologically addictive for me, processed flour--same deal, I learned that the depression, malaise, brain-fog, and aches/pains that result from SAD foods makes it even harder to climb out of that rabbit hole...and I've gained more compassion overall for those of us who aren't "perfect" with raw.

I learned (again) that I want this for myself SO MUCH. However, I'm not beating myself up right now for not going 100% overnight. I'm doing mostly raw now, and the rest are whole foods. My diet is wholly vegan, which is a joy in itself.

Honestly, I can admit that my commitment to raw foods was not as strong as I told myself it was, b/c as soon as things got challenging in life, I wanted to numb out w/food more than I wanted to stay on my raw path. When I felt the pinch financially, and when I was stressed about life, I threw myself under the bus...I need to own that. Right now, I spend a fair amount of time mulling over the reality that, for me, these food addictions are as serious as addictions to alcohol and drugs, in their potential to adversely affect my life.

I've learned, finally, that I just can't concern myself with issues of "fitting in" socially. The price is too high, period. No more waffling/whining about this issue. (Ahhh, freedom...)

Hope this wasn't too rambling. I've just started posting again, so I'm sort of in Chatty Cathy mode.:p

[boocake]

1. Have you recently had a non-raw, non-vegan or SAD, cooked vegan food or drink?
-->this past weekend i ate a cupcake, sushi, and bowl of vegetable soup that was made with a beef stock.


2. If so, what were the circumstances. Were you socializing, experiencing a craving, traveling, etc.?
-->it was my brother/father/bf's and my birthday weekend and we were celebrating...a lot...

3. How did you feel after consuming this food or drink?
-->disappointed with myself for sure!!

4. What physical reactions did you experience, if any?
-->i felt very heavy after the weekend, low energy, sluggish. i forced myself to work out when usually i'm always up for a jog or walk. it was horrible!! i felt OLD!!


5. What emotional reactions did you experience, if any?
--> guilt, depression, disappointment. i was so upset with myself and for justifying it with the whole 'birthday' idea...


6. How long did it take you to feel well again if you weren't feeling good in your body? (hours, days, etc)
-->i am still not feeling well.. i've been gorging on raw since! tonight i plan to start a brief juice fast.


7. Did you begin to eat raw foods again or did the cooked food cycle continue?
-->i started up on RAW immediately after the birthday weekend.

8. If so, what raw foods did you choose after you ate the cooked food?
-->a LOT of greens....everything and anything green. my breakfast this morning was grapefruit and cilantro juice....LOTS of it!

9. How did you feel about yourself overall? Did you experience regret, judgement, were you to able accept yourself and your choices?
-->major disapponitment initially...but i took that disapponitment and am using it as a lesson, and will not punish myself further for making the choice to eat non-raw.

10. What have you learned from this experience?
-->i learned that it will defintely take time to adjust to the raw lifestyle, but as my body continues to transofrm, my thoughts about food will too...and i am continuously thankful to have found raw!

[Colorawdo girl]

Well,I have eaten many non raw foods since becoming raw year and a half ago.
It wasnt a slip or a mistake.It was all in the course of my process to rawness. I did make myself wrong sometimes yet when I really got what it is all about,I was fine.It is ok whatever I do with food.I can eat as raw as I want and i can eat cooked if I want.When I set myself free,I only wanted raw most of the time.
I feel a bit lousy on cooked for sure and less vibrant.Usually bring myself right back with a big green juice.
I have learned my journey with raw is what is is and however it is,is just fine.

[RawHeaven]

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and thoughts. I truly appreciate it. I have learned from you.

I was inspired to write the survey just to tap into an area that sometimes falls through the cracks. Where we put undue pressure on ourselves when we're in fact, doing a really courageous and noble thing by both being in our bodies, raising the bar on our health goals and rising above the status quo that can knock us for a loop sometimes.

When I first became raw I was continuously inspired, carried and motivated by what I would describe as a fiery internal volcano. Now the flame is simply smoldering and I'm learning to navigate. It's still the same energy, just different.

I wish you the best as you carry on. Raw is wonderful. :D

Blessings!
Crystal