Being "normal"

[Irish_Vegan_Girl]

*"Normal" = eating animal products like "everyone else"/accepting what "they"(society) tell us, basically neglecting our minds and bodies.


Even when I was vegan and hadn't heard about the raw food lifestyle, there would be times when we'd be in say, pizza hut, and my friends would be eating pizza and chicken dippers and I would just think(to myself) "Maybe it really would be better to just do what they're doing, easier too" but then another little voice would say "Easy isn't what I'm vegan for, I'm vegan because of my beliefs and I should stand by them, regardless of who else is doing what". And obviously I would stick to it. I have never broken it.

But, if I thought about it, it would sometimes frustrate me, that "everyone else" is ruining their health but they don't even care! They're still living their lives, still having fun - and some of them don't even know what they're doing" but then I'd realize that I am still having fun too and just because I have to make a few changes - I mean, I can show people that I can still enjoy a "chocolate" bar and vegan pizza. It's just there's not a lot of places where i can source those around here. But anyway, although my friends think I am crazy, I know I am doing what is right for me, it just bugs me that "Normal" is, I don't know how to put it, wrong?

And then it's like, why are kids targeted by these big fast food corporations to think a trip to mcd's = fun. I hope things get better, and people actually begin to concentrate on better health rather than $$ for once.

Does anyone else here feel that way?

[Veronica01]

YES! I totally feel that way. My family knows that I am smart, careful, responsible person. But I do read a lot and tend to get other ideas in my head on what I'd like to do with my life or where I want to live etc. So naturally when i went back to eating raw after doing it 5 years ago they just think i've joined some sort of fad group and say "you shouldn't believe everything you read you know". Then I think you shouldn't believe anything you see on TV. ANY Of it. I watch people all around me at home, at work, at restaurants on tv, eat everything they want. Some pay for it with weight gain, some don't and people think that is the only consequence. The only cost is weight gain and not being a size 2... Right. If only for a day people could be turned inside out and be judged for how healthy their bodies were INSIDE wow, would that be amazing. Even the pencil thin so called healthy people living off bread and crackers, even the the lacto-ovo vegetarians living off eggs and yogurt and everyone else eating the SAD would see that it does make a big difference. Being bloated and crampy and gassy and using massive amounts of cologne and deoderant is not normal or healthy. I just can't wait to see how great I will look and feel after doing this every day for years to come. I love knowing I'm in control of how i feel physically and how i feel emotionally about myself and that I will never stress about prescriptions or botox or liposuction. It's almost normal these days for every person to participate in that. I hope one day there will be raw food communities. Not just in the country, but even cities where people go above "living green" for just the environment, they live it for themselves and their family's health too.

[Irish_Vegan_Girl]

Veronica, That would be a great idea- I have some thin "healthy" friends who are like, oh well, it doesn't matter, I'm fine haha

No, no you're not....

There's also times when people will say to me I'm being good today, I was really healthy, for lunch I had a bowl of soup[canned] and brown bread[the bakery kind, with buttermilk] and only one digestive! and I'm like yeah, ha, well done:). But something inside me wants to say no you're not being healthy, but they'll just think i'm being rude and a whack-job.

Well done on doing what you know is right for you, there's times it does get kinda' hard when you're in a group or your diets being "analyzed" by SAD eaters, no matter what anyone says.

[Veronica01]

Oh yeah, people tell me they're healthy if they had fruit and yogurt, or added some hemp seeds to their yogurt or even had ONE orange after eating a pile of salmon and rice and bread.

I just find that i am always hungry eating cooked food and i will eat everything on the plate because i can. I am very lucky that my body burned off a lot of it but it's so dangerous eating mindlessly and eating fast because food is hot and tastes bad cold. I'm glad my food doesn't taste bad cold anymore!

I sent some of the pics from our photos only thread to my mom and husband who are long haul truck drivers and they eat on the road and they were like ok... so i see lots of veggies but do you eat ALL of it cold? Isn't that gross? Can't you heat it up? I tried to explain no one likes eating straight from the fridge and it's usually cool or room temperature and a lot more filling and healthy. They agreed when they come up to visit next I can make them some raw food. My step dad said, well I'll try it as long as you let me have a beer with it... ok The only thing im worried about is giving them indigestion and having them blame the food for their bodies not being able to absorb it! My mom has gained a ton of weight since being with him because they eat together and he eats everything he wants and doesn't gain too much. But she doesn't care much because he says he always liked bigger girls... (???) She's unhappy none of her clothes fit anymore and skeptical when i tell her how much weight i've lost this month alone.

[Irish_Vegan_Girl]

I hear ya, I wish there was a way to let people know there diets are rank and really harmful while not sounding all high and mighty :cool:

That's always the case with boyfriends, they eat, you gain:eek:;) No really though, if you are around people who eat a lot of bad food it's likely you will too. That's probably the case with you're Mom, although she'd be happier eating healthier, it's a bit of a big deal because the hubby doesn't and she probably doesn't feel too bothered. I hope they try some of your food and enjoy it:) Aw shame, beer with raw food..lol.

I know, I hate how danone market their actimel yougurts as "aiding digestion"........ good marketing, is all I can say.

[circle]

normal is boring.

[Katie P]

I like Veronica01's comment that you can't wait to see how great you will look & feel after doing this for years. I completely agree. People always ask me "how long do you plan on doing this?" as if it's some sort of fad diet!!!!! What's up with that?!!!! It gives me more motivation to stay with this & I can't wait for the day too when I am lean & trim & am glowing with health! It's bad to think this way, but I almost want to prove it to people! But I know that isn't a way to think. We all have chosen on here to really take a huge step in taking control of our health!
Best of luck everyone!

[Colorawdo girl]

haha I was going to say NORMAL is a setting on a washing machine thats all.

What is normal today?
We live in such an abnormal world where all is so way off base.
So we do all we can for ourselves to offset this world of toxins and we are the abnormal ones....hahahah
Life is so funny isnt it.

Normal is a setting on a wash machine and we are all in the get clean cycle..hahahaha

[circle]

when i first went raw, i spent a lot of time trying to defend and explain myself to other people, and "educate" them and help them awaken.

in today's society, there is not a set path. everyone is at a different stage, and no one is correct. whether something is optimal for someone, optimal is merely a definition that requires an interpretation. in reality, nothing is real. it's totally not worth it.

i truly feel like the world would be a better place if everyone, especially all my loved ones, lived a symbiotic lifestyle. at the same time, there are some people who feel like the world would be a better place if everyone hated mexican people or something. they truly believe they are right. i really don't like it when people try to enforce their beliefs on me. in fact, when they do, i don't even listen to it whether it is the best thing for me or not. that is besides the point. i just want to rebel and run away and figure things out on my own.

sometimes people do that to me, too. "you would be so proud of me, all i had today was broccoli and ranch dressing." when someone says something like that to me, alls i say is, "...okay" or "cool." or something. when people say that kind of thing, it's like they are just trying to fill silence with useless discussion that is meaningless and searching for approval from their peers. maybe we are all guilty of this, or maybe none of this matters at all.

[SweetTangerine]

when people say that kind of thing, it's like they are just trying to fill silence with useless discussion that is meaningless and searching for approval from their peers. maybe we are all guilty of this, or maybe none of this matters at all.
I think people are afraid of silence and they just have to say something. Then they remember that you are that crazy vegan who never cooks anything so it usually revolves around that. A close second for me is "Are those really big holes in yer ears??"

[LotsaRaw]

Just live & let live.

We all just spend too much time critiquing each other.

Think back through your own lives - there was advice you received that you just weren't ready to hear...

:D

Life is good!

(normal is just a word for lab results - in addition to the washing setting!)

[xPIXIEx]

I just find that i am always hungry eating cooked food


Ugh, isn't that the truth. When I was trying to lose weight while eating cooked food, I was never satisfied. Always hungry. Raw food is so different. I don't eat near as much.


About the normal thing, I think my mom sometimes has pity for my children because of their diet. It gets frustrating to hear the comments, and see her faces when I say no about certain food. I think it would be easier to 'fit in' but it's so not worth it. (:

[circle]

food is a very emotional, and personal thing.

[RawSar]

People think that food is a big deal to us that's why we eat what we eat but really.. its the other way around... Its not a big deal to us, we eat what is healthy and what we know is good for us but for them they eat SAD food because they are emotionally attached to this type of food which makes food a big deal to them.

Does that make sense to everyone or just to me ?

[SweetTangerine]

People think that food is a big deal to us that's why we eat what we eat but really.. its the other way around... Its not a big deal to us, we eat what is healthy and what we know is good for us but for them they eat SAD food because they are emotionally attached to this type of food which makes food a big deal to them.

Does that make sense to everyone or just to me ?
Makes total sense. I never really thought of it that way.

[circle]

if food is not a big deal to us, then how come we are all up on message boards talking about it and getting wet over food.... i don't see my parents on message boards talking about food or discussing it so much like i do. most people just grab something out of a box out of convenience.

i think food is kind of a big deal to everyone, whether they want to admit it or not...

i don't know if it is fair to say if one person is smarter then another person just because their priorities are different.

[RawSar]

True enough.. I apologize if I have offended anyone.

Good point with the message board ;)
However we all use the board for different reasons I'm sure.

[Maddy]

Normal in the UK is to be over weight, plagued with colds, blown over by the idea of walking a mile, drinking alcohol to relieve stress, drinking to get drunk (way past teenage years) rather than a side issue in the night of socializing, unable to leave the house if the car is broken even when you live in a city with good public transport.

Indigestion and headache remedies are regularly advertised on the TV and people take then as a matter of course.

ermm well blow that - you can keep normal :D

[Colorawdo girl]

Just live & let live.

We all just spend too much time critiquing each other.


bravo bravo bravo. My motto is "leave the people alone to do what they do and I do what I do".



People think that food is a big deal to us that's why we eat what we eat but really.. its the other way around... Its not a big deal to us, we eat what is healthy and what we know is good for us but for them they eat SAD food because they are emotionally attached to this type of food which makes food a big deal to them.


That bears repeating. Its like asking a baby to give up their favorite Binky or stuffed animal for what appears to be a monster or at least something very scary they have never experienced before.
Much like babies, people might see the food again and again and maybe even taste some, until and if they are ready.

They are in their emotional stuff very attached to this and not ready. Honor your process. Honor theirs.

[Irish_Vegan_Girl]

However we all use the board for different reasons I'm sure.

Exactly, I come here mainly for the support we have and I love reading the blogs as I find them really good for learning etc.

I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with food but I can get that way, then I just have to remind myself that LIVING is more important, and food is just a part of that. That's why I like to nourish my body:)

[Irish_Vegan_Girl]

Normal in the UK is to be over weight, plagued with colds, blown over by the idea of walking a mile, drinking alcohol to relieve stress, drinking to get drunk (way past teenage years) rather than a side issue in the night of socializing, unable to leave the house if the car is broken even when you live in a city with good public transport.

Indigestion and headache remedies are regularly advertised on the TV and people take then as a matter of course.

ermm well blow that - you can keep normal :D

yep! and to complain about it too lol. :D

[circle]

i have a food fetish.

i LOVE food.