You Know What Annoys Me Most

[janetc]

about "cheating" with cooked food?

It's SO hard to get back on raw again. I had a piece of bread on Saturday and I haven't stopped since. It annoys me that I am not strong enough to STOP eating cooked foods!

Some of you have been so successful and I admire you so much. How long did it take to make the complete switch?

I do so well on raw. After one week of raw, I lost 5 pounds. I didn't need as much sleep. My sense of smell has really sharpened.

Then why cooked? WHY WHY???? Why cooked??? Is it psychological? Is it physical? Is it mental?

[RawHeaven]

Some say eating cooked food is an addiction. Look at it this for yourself, but don't beat yourself up. It's a journey. Simply begin eating raw again. With each step you take, it gets easier. What you focus on expands, focus on eating raw foods and not how terrible you are because you're eating bread. You're lovely and raw is still there for you.

[asecretchord]

Cooked food is addicting!! Especially cooked processed foods. I'm certain they add things to junk food to make them addicting. I know the feeling. I had a bad binge over the weekend and couldn't stop. It stinks!!

[ruffsongraw]

i agree with the long thread from last week about it being a process of freeing oneself from cooked foods.

i DO think it is an addiction b/c we continue to eat it when we know the fact that it is bad for us.
and i DO think, even at least, it is a super hard thing to change when we have been eating that way our whole lives. it is a lifestyle change and difficult when we are bombarded with commercials, ads, bill boards, smells even when we drive past an old favorite, plus socially it is like we are weirdos.

i think one has to learn to replace former "comfort foods" with new healthy ones. i have learned to look to avocadoes for that full, happy feeling that breads used to give me. also REALLY tune into how it makes you feel after you indulge (usually like crap). it may take a few times but eventually you will choose NOT te feel bad. it takes time. i aint there yet!
i cheat with fried veggie rice and also occassionally grilled salmon (gasp!). those are my downfalls and i dont feel very diff after i eat them b/c i eat SMALL amoutns and eat a huge salad before and after to try to counteract it...

it is a process. dont be hard on yourself. just pay attention to energy levels, feeling bloated, difficulty or icky bowel movements afterwards...just be conscious of those things to help you make better choices next time.

altho this goes against what many on the list believe, i DO believe that if you are HIGH raw, an occassional "cheat" isnt a big deal. but for many it is flirting with disaster. it varies from person to person if they can stop there.

also--dont keep bread in the house at all if it is a big temptation for you. the occcassional bread i buy for my son (he is about 50% raw) isnt the kind that would tempt me. if it was fresh bakery bread, maybe...

goodluck!!

jen

[janetc]

I don't want to beat myself up. I want to focus on how good I feel raw.

I also have to try to remember that, paraphrasing Lyndon Johnson, "if you had "cooked" chains on your legs all your life, you can't expect to run immediately after breaking the chains."

I've done this horrible eating (yes, the way I eat IS horrible) for 47 years. I've got to remember that I've only tried to eat right this year. So that makes me feel somewhat better.

[asecretchord]

I don't want to beat myself up. I want to focus on how good I feel raw.


Exactly. If I were to keep a tally on all the times I "cheated", I'd run out of paper very quickly. Don't focus on that. Just do the best that you can. I'm in the same boat.

[Colorawdo girl]

Try giving yourself permission to eat cooked foods. Let go of rules you may have seen or heard. In letting go, there lies your greatest freedom.

If you are committed to living a raw life, try this and you might be pleasantly amazed at what happens next!!!! Rawk on

[rawmiss]

This thread reminds me of blog I read a few days ago:

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-gained-30-lbs-from-one-cracker.html

"I gained 30 lbs from one cracker"


Let me tell you a story, a tale of a woman who gained 30 lbs by eating one cracker.

At age 50, Claire's health was a disaster. Her initial lipoprotein patterns were a mess, including HDL 36 mg/dl, triglycerides 297 mg/dl, blood sugar 122 mg/dl (pre-diabetic range), blood pressure 155/99. Small LDL comprised over 90% of all LDL particles.

At 5 feet 3 inches, she weighed 210 lbs--90 lbs over her ideal weight. Her face was flushed and red, her eyes swollen and weighted down with bags, her eyes dull. While interested in hearing about how to improve her health, I would hardly call her enthusiastic.

We talked about how removing wheat products entirely from her diet could result in weight loss--enormous weight loss--yet with reduced appetite, increased energy, less daytime sleepiness and fogginess, improved sleep quality. Removing wheat would also allow substantial correction of her lipoprotein patterns with minimal medication.

At first, she seemed confused by this advice. After all, it ran directly opposite to what she'd been told by her family doctor, not to mention the advice from TV, food ads, and food packages.

To my surprise, Claire did it. She didn't return to the office for another 5 months. But she came in, a big beaming smile on her face.

Even at 167 lbs--still overweight--Claire looked great. She glowed. She'd already dropped nearly 2 1/2 inches from her waist. She felt lighter on her feet, discovered energy she thought she'd lost 10 years earlier. Her blood results matched, with dramatic shifts in each and every pattern.

I quizzed Claire on her diet, and she had indeed made substantial changes. In addition to eliminating all foods made of wheat flour, she also eliminated foods made with cornstarch, rice flour, snacks, and other sweets. She ate her fill of vegetables, fruits, raw nuts, lean meats, and healthy oils. She was less hungry while eating less. Even her husband, skeptical at first, joined Claire after the first two months and her initial 20 lbs of weight loss. He, too, was well on his way to dropping to ideal weight.

But a dinner party invitation came. In the few that Claire and her husband had gone to over the few months, she had religiously stuck to her program, choosing cheese, pickles, olives, vegetables that she dipped, but avoided the pretzels, breads, Doritos, potato chips, and others.

This time, a tray of whole wheat crackers was laid on the buffet table, covered with some sort of sweetened cheese. She had just one. She savored the taste that she'd missed. "Maybe one more. I'll be extra good this weekend,'" she told herself.

Now Claire was hungry. The bruschetta covered with tomatoes and mozzarella looked awfully good. "It's got some good things on it, too!" she thought. She had three.

The floodgates opened. I saw Claire three months later, weighing just shy of 200 lbs. "I almost cancelled this appointment," she whispered quietly, tears at the corner of her eyes. "I don't know what happened. I just lost control. After losing all that weight and feeling so good, I blew it!"

I've seen it before: Fabulous success eliminating the foods that created the situation--the insatiable appetite, the endless cycle of hunger, brief satiety, the rolling, rumbling hunger--followed by temptation, then disaster. The weight lost comes right back.

It's experiences like Claire's that have absolutely, positively convinced me: Wheat products are addictive. It's not true for everybody, but it's true for many people, certainly most people who have weight struggles. It triggers some sort of appetite button, a signal to eat more . . . and more, and more. Keep it up long enough, and you have drops in HDL, increases in triglycerides, upward jumps in blood sugar and blood pressure, diabetes, etc. It doesn't matter if it's whole grain, 7-grain, or 12-grain. Yes, the whole grains contain more fiber and more B vitamins. But they all share one characteristic: They trigger a desire for more.

So that's the story of how one whole wheat cracker caused one woman to gain 30 lbs.

[EZ rider]

I'll bet 99% of raw foodists have "slipped" and that definitely includes me. The trick is to learn what you can from the experience and get back on raw as soon as you are back in control again. My slips have taught me that its a lot easier to not have the first bite of cooked food then it is to fight the battle back to raw again.

[T-Bird]

plus socially it is like we are weirdos.

And that - unlike the cravings - doesn't go away...:mad:

[commoncents]

I think you just have to get to the point where you are tired of the way cooked food makes you look and feel.

I have a thread up entitled "Alissa was right." It took me one year of eating 100% Raw for two months at a time, then literally having a spoonful of cooked foods and then I would slide into Sadville. It would take me months to get back to Raw.

After doing this a year and not really getting the full benefits that come with 100% Raw and tired of the weight gain, I made a committment to 100% Raw. It has only been three weeks and it has been wonderful!!!!

For myself, I truly have to treat cooked food as an addiction and stay clear of it at all costs. I've learned this through trial and error and after this latest round of high Raw and seeing how fast the weight is droppng and how great I feel, it is going to be much harder to "cheat" in the future.

You might try Victoria Boutenko's book 12-steps to Raw. It really helped me to understand the addictive nature of cooked foods and finally leave it alone, for good (I hope).

Good Luck.

[commoncents]

This thread reminds me of blog I read a few days ago:

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-gained-30-lbs-from-one-cracker.html

"I gained 30 lbs from one cracker"






Thank you for this potent example, rawmiss, that one much always be vigilant on this path.

[D'vorah]

Try giving yourself permission to eat cooked foods. Let go of rules you may have seen or heard. In letting go, there lies your greatest freedom.

If you are committed to living a raw life, try this and you might be pleasantly amazed at what happens next!!!! Rawk on


First of all, let me start by saying I appreciate your posts on this board. I appeciate your passion and the balance you offer here.

BUT (you knew one was coming, didn't you?), this concept will never work for me. Permission for one spills over into permission for one day, which spills over into permission for one weekend, and pretty soon, there's hardly any raw in my diet.

Like the original poster, I really do struggle.

Deborah

[RawHeaven]

Colorawdo girl you are a brilliant individual and I truly value your insight & spirit, but I do understand where Deborah is going. I appreciate how you're approaching raw and agree with you on many spiritual fundamental levels. But that's besides the point, what we may be losing sight of is where we're posting this information. This is a forum that was started by Alissa Cohen who I'm not speaking for, but after reading her book Living on Live Food I know she is a believer in sticking with a 100% raw foods diet and believes any consumption of cooked food leads to awakening cravings. I don't think it's a matter of what we believe, but honoring why the site was created and who it was created by. The monthly challenge that is on this forum pushes this belief. So in a way, I think it's kind of disrespectful to share conflicting viewpoints and it can be confusing to people who've read her book and are trying to follow the 30 day challenge to say it's okay to eat cooked food. Just my opinion.

[rkk]

And that - unlike the cravings - doesn't go away...:mad:

Hi T-Bird,

I've only been on this site a short while, but I notice that you seem to have a good deal of frustration in your posts. You remind me very much of myself above 5 years ago when I was trying to making the transition from vegetarian (occasionally pescetarian) to vegan. At that time, I felt very deprived and unhappy and resentful that other people could eat their favorite foods while I was stuck in my cravings.

After several months of attempting vegan (back in 2004), I finally stopped fighting and went back to pescetarian way of eating. (I went vegan for a short time back in 2005 and 2006 when I attempted raw veganism the for some months, but went back to my old ways once again afterwards.) It wasn't until about 1.5 year ago when I became consistently vegan again and have stuck to this way ever since. However, things are totally different for me this time, as I have not the slightest feelings of deprivation and am very happy. In fact, 1.5 year ago when I went vegan I decided that I wouldn't call myself vegan or commit to the way of eating (as that would only cause feelings of fear and deprivation). I just decided to enjoy eating vegan meals again and just take things as they came. It took several months of vegan eating before I realized... "Hey I'm a vegan now!... a happy vegan this time!"

If going raw is a huge struggle for you, it might be okay to step back into a cooked vegan diet where 50% of your foods are raw. You can have fun coming up with one new raw recipe each week. This journey needs to be something that you enjoy, not something that you have to continue to fight your way though. It won't last that way, as you may likely just set yourself up for a binge. That's what happened to me back in 2006. I 'white-knuckled' myself through raw foods for nearly 6 months (as I had jumped into raw veganism from a pescetarian diet). During that time I lost 38 pounds, but then I fell 'off' raw back in late 2006 and went back to my old habits, eating even worse since I was binging - and within a year later I had gained 55 pounds. It was one of the lowest periods of my life.

Since being off raw, I took steps and became a happy vegan (no deprivation), and now I'm going back to raw. I haven't been able to maintain 100% raw consistently for long periods of time yet as it still evokes feelings of deprivation of not eating favorite foods - so for now I am trying out new raw foods that I love, and would eat even if I wasn't a raw foodist. Some days I still do 100% raw, but as a choice, as I am not 'white-knucking' anything, as I know I can eat a little bit of cooked vegan food the next day if need be. It has been a lot of fun. I know that at some point in the future, I will finally need to make the jump to 100% raw and close the addiction to cooked foods, but for now I am just enjoying the journey. I have done 100% raw for months at a time before, so I know firsthand how amazing raw food can be, but this has also been a journey of changing my mindset not just my body.

I feel like people are ready to jump into 100% raw if they approach things with a mindset of abundance, not deprivation. I am not trying to discourage people from being 100% raw, but to be successful long-term there needs to be an attitude of abundance, not deprivation. I'm not suggesting that people going through a day or two of struggle on 100% raw should give up - of course not. Sometimes you might have cravings, but if you stay strong through them, you'll be so proud of yourself the next day for staying strong. However, when the battle seems to continue on and on everyday, and you are feeling more and more angry and resentful and taking that out on others - maybe that is a good sign that a person needs to step back and re-evaluate. The journey much easier when a person is receptive, rather than fighting against it... so those that are getting angry and resentful may need to step back to find their happy place again. If a person goes off raw, he or she may gain some weight or not feel so good for awhile... but that may just convince someone how good raw was, and he/she may come back much more receptively the next time around.

Once you've tried raw for long enough, you will naturally be drawn back to this way in the future, as our bodies intuitively know that this is what it wants, just our minds take some time to accept it.

[T-Bird]

Thanks rkk,

Yesterday was tough - in more ways than one - and was highlighted by a feeling of isolation at the dinner table. Also - still waiting for the raw benefits, so that is tough. But overall, notwithstanding occasional longing, I am well on my way.

In Colorawdo girl style, I have given myself permission to join in cooked food whenever I deem myself to be "healthy" enough to play around. Since I'm not getting the goodies yet and not feeling great - I have to keep thinking "not yet!"

I have been happily Vegan for about 10 years previous, and have aimed at 50% raw for 5 years or so, so to me, the time is now.

Most days it is effortless, but some are tougher and that is certainly true this past weekend and today.

[janetc]

I think that Jingee said this on her website, that when she had a craving for cooked foods, Storm would be able to make her craving with a tasty raw food substitute.

So I love pizza, lasagne, etc. And I have seen raw recipes.

I think that is what I need to do. AND, I need to get Alissa's book (that is my next paycheck!)

[RawHeaven]

I think that Jingee said this on her website, that when she had a craving for cooked foods, Storm would be able to make her craving with a tasty raw food substitute.

So I love pizza, lasagne, etc. And I have seen raw recipes.

I think that is what I need to do. AND, I need to get Alissa's book (that is my next paycheck!)

She did say this, I remember reading it too. I love Jinjee & Storm.

She has a quote that has always resonated with me deeply and puts a lot in perspective:

"What we believe is very important. I can be eating the healthiest diet in the world, but if I still worry that I’m eating poorly, it won’t do me as much good. Or I can be eating what I believe is the best diet, and even if it isn’t, it will do me good, and it will lead me to a better way of life. The thing is to do what we really believe in. The other thing is to not focus only on diet. The focus is on good health, or on being a balanced person. Then everything falls in place."
-Jinjee

[Colorawdo girl]

Thank you DVorah and rawheaven, I do not endorse eating cooked food. Merely, for those who have emotional eating and other challenges that cause them to go up and down and back and forth, to know that they need not suffer so when dropping into cooked food as many do.

Thank you again for addressing this so as to have others understand.

I do honor Alissa and her efforts.I mean no disrespect for sure. I am grateful. In a forum where there are so many people and circumstances, others that are not in this place YET and need support and encouragement, really struggle when reading all they are supposed to do by the rules.

I honor all and support all as much as I can. So I address these who are not doing the percent right or all.

Thanks again...lv,Bette

[PonyGirlMom]

I am a new member who recently began eating 70% raw. I may go to a higher percentage of raw foods in the future.

I suspect that one difficulty people are facing is giving up many things at once. Due to medical problems and food allergies, I have given up many of the "favorites" that group members talk about over the years. However, I did not have to give them all up overnight. Some were easy to give up, and some were harder. I think it would have been very hard to give them all up at once.

I'll bet there are people who would have an easier time in the long run giving up just one type of food at a time.

[ruffsongraw]

i think it just depends on the person. i cant let myself "dabble" in cooked food or be inconsistent with what i can or cant have. i started raw due to health issues, not weight. so it has been all or none from day one for me. thta is how i chose to approach it.

have i cheated? yes. but i make a conscious choice to eat ONE bad thing, like fried rice w/steamed veggies, and i eat a salad before & after and then i dont do it again for another couple of weeks. it hasnt made me feel awful afterwards other than too full b/c i ate a lot... but if i wander down that road of "dabbling", i might not make it back.

for me it has to be about rules & consistency & yes, discipline. so i think the message of freedom can only apply to some ppl and they know if it will work for them or not.

my goal is as close to 100% as *I* can mange with planned cheat meals every couple weeks & if my desire for those decreases, then yay . for now, it makes me happy and keeps me frm CRAVING bad stuff. i wouldnt DARE eat pizza or any pasta or french fries for genuine fears for my health. so "freedom" is simply not an option for me. but my husband eats way naughtier cheat things than i do when he deciodes he will cheat for a meal. he can get away with it and altho he feels like shit afterwards, he isnt jeopardizing his health like i would be.

the journey in raw is diff for each of us, in what works and what doesnt. if easing into it works for some, then yay. if dabbling when the mood strikes i ok, then also yay. i ttraded going off all meds and drugs for eating raw as much as i possibly can. would be a huge shame to indulge myself, eat really bad SAD food and end up bad off again. we all do the best we can based on our needs & reasons for raw in the first place.

jen