A question for Listening to your body-ers...

[Queen Bean]

OK. After planning my raw menu this time around, after a few days I did feel terrible and weak... So that is not really working for me as well as I thought it was.

I'd really prefer not to have to write things down. It definitely feels too rigid to me.

So I'm back to trying to listen to my body.

So basically...I eat WHEN I'm hungry...

Then when I have to work out WHAT to eat...I ask myself this question - 'What is the healthiest raw food I can eat right now?' (Obviously this means food/drink.)

Then to determine the AMOUNT of raw food to eat I use my intuition.

I've tried to 'listen to my body' in the past and it hasn't worked for me. Do any of you actually ask a question in your mind to determine the best thing to eat?

[a1icia]

I always look at the food I have on hand and then go with what feels like and sounds the best in that moment. If I can picture myself eating it and it makes me feel good, I know it's a good choice. It works 99% of the time.

[carlye]

I once listened to a recording of a lecture from Prof Rozalind Graham (Doug Graham's wife) and she said you can only 'listen to your body' when it is well and rid of all the toxic build up from a SAD diet. Only then can it tell you if it wants watermelons or spinach or some other healthy raw food.

I used to listen to my body tell me to go to drive thrus, and I did, regularly, but I never found what i really wanted there.

After saying that, even though I have only just celebrated 2 weeks raw I am finding it quite easy to listen to my body about when i should eat and if I am hungry or just hungry cos the clock says so. If i do find myself mindlessly snacking on calorie dense foods like almonds etc, I can usually stop pretty easily, cos I know I'm eating out of habit and not a true hunger.

[klomasius]

OK, I'm just thinking about it now...

I don't ask myself a question, it's usually driven by the 'other side' i.e. my body.

In some instances I might realise I'm hungry, and at the same time my body will go, 'ok, it's time to eat' and I might subconsciously start thinking about the types of food I might want, then my body chimes in and says something like 'hmm... you want oranges' then I eat those until my body says 'ok, that's enough'.

Another time I might not be aware I'm hungry for anything at all then my body says 'you need this' and I go and eat it and I find that I'm hungry and craving that certain food, so I eat heaps of it!

My body conversation might lead me to eat a number of types of food in progression, or in a salad or something. Or it might say eat one thing, and eat till I tell you to stop.

This probably isn't very helpful is it? I can't really remember how I evolved to this way of being guided by my body, but I know I did evolve to it over time. It wasn't conscious.

Aslo, some things can cloud the conversation, i.e. AFTER I've been sick (which happens rarely but happened recently, I think I had the swine flu, I kid you not! When I WAS sick it guided me through) eating raw crap food too much etc. The conversation just seems to go silent, then the healthier I eat, the clearer and louder the voice gets again.

But I wonder sometimes if in some instances when the voice has been silent for a while that it's not because I simpy have everything I need. I've had the body voice be silent and I've been eating great and feeling fantastic.

And YES, when you first start, your body will be 'telling' you to eat junk like fatty fried foods, or pasta, or meat, eggs etc (if you weren't vegan), but this is a DISTINCTLY different voice I'm describing, it's reasonable and authoritative rather than desperate and pleading (as with the crap fod voice).

Hope this is SOME help. :)

[klomasius]

p.s. I think I'd DIE if I had to plan my menu!

I'm so lazy, I just get mentally exhausted at the thought of planning my food.

I just like to enjoy it!

QB, you will find your voice, it just takes time, don't beat yourself up. EVOLVE toward where you want to be rather than forcing it. In other words, just relax. :)

[Queen Bean]

thanks klom (hee hee) and others.

the problem is, i still eat cooked food...(in some social situations)...and don't feel able to give it up (more from the social perspective than the actual food).

maybe that is what is blocking the voice... :confused:

[Thick]

For me, I usually don't get messages to eat a certain food--but a category. Sweet, savory, spicy, juicy, clean, earthy etc..and green smoothies are in their own category=) Sometimes I'll eat bags of carrots, then not have them for months. Same with most things--except avocadoes--I tend to want them one day, and then not the next.

Instead of planning, I keep something of all these categories in my kitchen ready to make.

I sometimes do actually ask a question in my mind like you said--especially when I am craving something unraw. I analyze exactly what about that food it is that I am wanting and give it to myself raw.

This is the hard part, knowing how to make something that you are craving. Having the experience with many raw food dishes and being able to make them, having a group of recipes that you know you like and that can satisfy you--that is crucial..because before you know what raw foods you love-- its hard to move beyond your experience.

[klomasius]

thanks klom (hee hee) and others.

the problem is, i still eat cooked food...(in some social situations)...and don't feel able to give it up (more from the social perspective than the actual food).

maybe that is what is blocking the voice... :confused:

Oh I see, yes I think so.

I don't recall having this voice when I was low to high raw. I should have mentioned that before!

Also, how long have you been doing high raw for if you are? This might also have an impact. And how often and what do you eat cooked?

I understand the eating cooked for social reasons, I used to do the same thing. I'm a big fan of going toward raw at the pace YOU are comfortable with.

I think in place of the voice, which will come with time as you get into raw more, you might want to concentrate on foods such as fruits and greens. Greens are a great source of minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients and fruits are a great source of calories.

My personal opinion is that you can't go wrong if you just eat a variety with these foods as the basis (along with fats, generally moderate amounts of nuts, seeds and other nice to haves).

When people give advice, it's best to keep in mind that many are at vastly different ways down/on the path and are coming from where they are rather than where you are, so take mine and everyone else's advice within the context of where YOU feel you are. :D Take care.

[Eva]

I ask myself
(without making a production of it or feeling like it's a math equation!) BEFORE
(as in, at home, in the grocer, at the market... just, at some point they're asked)
eating, 3 questions:

1/ Am I truly hungry? (If not, I find something else to do, like clean, work, walk, bubble bath... etc.)

2/ Is it raw? (I don't really keep anything else around except eggs for my dog...)

3/ Does it sound really appetising?

I'll tell you re: #3... avocados sometimes are the WORLD to me, and sometimes they gross me out, based on what my body needs and the level of fat I've been eating. Same goes with almost all foods. It either sounds sooooo mmmmm good, or I really have no interest. THIS is my body talking. And the longer I'm raw, the louder it tells me what my BODY really needs.

Now, sometimes I screw up and have too much fatty stuff that my body really wasn't wanting. I'm through with non-raw for the most part, so that's out. Sometimes, I really just want to eat something even though I'm not hungry.

:::shrugs::: I'm not PERFECT! But this is what works for me, most of the time.

[Veganforlife]

I don't have to ask. It just tells me. And I go through phrases. Sometimes can't get enough cilantro. Other times citrus. Other times greens.

But one thing is consistent. It ALWAYS require I drink water.

[PammieTaj]

I think the best book I've ever read on the listen to your body topic is by Geneen Roth - "Feeding the Hungry Heart" and "Breaking Free From Compulsive Eating". The question becomes whether you are a lifelong dieter (like I am) and to a degree, a bit wary of what your body (and everyone else) has to say about food. Because I think that's different from being the person who is making the transition from SAD to vegetarian, to vegan to raw.

From either perspective (I think) there's a period of time in which one has to retrain. The body needs to be retrained (and detoxed). The mind needs to be retrained as to what it thinks is food. Isn't that why the thirty day challenge is suggested? To retrain the body and mind into what it thinks of as food?

The most success I ever had with raw involved my preparing my food every morning for the whole day and always being prepared with something good to eat. While I was making myself a yummy salad and cutting up some fruit for the day, I'd blend up a green smoothie and I'd be done for the day. Maybe a little more planning than some would like to do, but it worked for me.

[margoss]

I've been at this a few months but I do consider myself 100% raw. When I did this, I felt guilty if I had a slice of pizza. I'm raw 5 0f 7 days. If think if you're putting this in your mind then when you aren't you feel guilty. Don't put the wt on you. As the time progresses, I've learned I want to cooked food less but if I want a smidgin..I'll take it, no guilt. I know my digestive tract well. If I do not have a bm in the am...I recall what I ate the day b4 & can pick out what makes me not go. same if I go a lot.
My fridge is full of great stuff. some I eat daily or may be a few days. I'm learning to observe how I feel when I look at something. Ex: I have cherries..loves cherries, rarely buy them. Haven't had any in 3 days.
Make a green smoothie in the am & drink it throughout the day. This helps me get more things in especially if I feel I'm eating too much fruit.

[zinny]

Then when I have to work out WHAT to eat...I ask myself this question - 'What is the healthiest raw food I can eat right now?' (Obviously this means food/drink.)


If you are having trouble 'hearing' what your body needs, I would suggest not asking yourself intellectually but physically what it wants. The ideal would be to be surrounded by a lot of ripe, room temp (so you can smell them) foods. Pick up the foods, feeling them, smelling them, see which 'pop' out at you visually as being most appealing. Your senses will draw you to the foods that are best for you at that time, and if you now ask your question 'what is the healthiest food I can eat right now?', your body can more readily tell you the answer.

[Seedy]

I always look at the food I have on hand and then go with what feels like and sounds the best in that moment. If I can picture myself eating it and it makes me feel good, I know it's a good choice. It works 99% of the time.

I second this approach. I got tired of alway thinking about food, food, food, so I simplified my life. I keep a stock a basics: dates, raisins, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, sundried tomatoes, nutritional yeast, garlic, miso, sprouting seeds, EVOO, etc. and buy fresh fruits, veggies and greens according to what's on sale and what's in season. I have a fruit plate or green smoothie for breakfast, a veggie wrap or leftover soup for lunch, and a salad, raw pasta, or soup for dinner. Once a week (Saturday) I'll make a fruit crisp or pie for dessert, some raw pate or taco nut meat, marinate some mushrooms, and dehydrate some flax crackers or corn chips I eat basically the same things every week, but they're never actually the same, as the ingredients vary every time.
Basic healthy food in moderation. Simple but delicious. East to prepare and easy to pack in a cooler. No thought. No guilt. No more than 15 minutes per meal.
Seedy