suggestions to cleanse away cravings that just popped up?

[Callie]

I have been doing really great in this lifestyle but not being insanely strict, just letting my body lead me and being relaxed about it. Well, i guess that may have lead to a few cravings because today i had intense fat cravings for something crunchy and sweet. I ended up eating some chocolate candy with crunchy stuff in it. Anyway- it's totally gross and never worth it..i didnt really want it anyway but it was like my whole body was freaking out. I've taking a lot of wheatgrass to get it out of my system but i was wondering if anyone had some suggestions to cleanse and avoid further cravings caused by this incident. Thanks

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Callie,

From what I read, the best way to cleanse (and the hardest) is to do a water fast (a day or 2 . . . anything beyond 3 days should be supervised according to the experts) and rest.

Probably the next fastest would be a juice fast and rest.

Then all raw and rest.

Hopefully others will have some ideas.

As for how to avoid further tempations . . . It's just a matter of time until the tempations become less and less. It took me 1 1/2 years to wean off of meat. I use to eat it twice a day. I finally cut back to once a day. Then a few times a week, but I still "had" to have some. Finally when I did quite, I was down to eating meat once a month and finally the cycle of eating meat just stopped and I didn't miss it. 3+ years later, I can't believe I actually use to eat meat. It grosses me out. Sooooo you may crave these crunchy stuff a few times a week. Just try to resist. If you can push it off for just one day, you're one step ahead. In time you'll crave it less and less. Usually if you can avoid it for an hour or two, usually the desire subsides. Try eating fruit, even if you don't think you want it, eat some fruit. Most of the time you'll find you don't want that cruchy thing after all.

It will get easier. I'm still learning this with grains. I conquered meat but the grains are killing me!!!!! But I know in time . . . . .

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[rawpriestess]

I've gone raw several times, and I find that my cravings go away after a few weeks of raw.

But, "IF" I am around cooked food, or need to prepare it, then I am in trouble.

But it doesn't happen instantly, it takes a couple of days, because when I am preparing the cooked food, or I am around it, I am fine, then about 2 days later, I cave in.

So, I think it happens after a period of time for me.

[Jamie]

Callie,
As far as preventing cravings,,, eating raw is process.. for most anyways,,,I have been on and off for several years.
To try and curb my temptations, I try to keep something that helps.. for me it is raw chocolate or what I call green balls,, I guess Halvah.(sesame/spirulina balls). If I feel the temptation I eat those. But other than that it is self control,, which I am highly lacking!!! :( I just keep trying over and over. I guess believing that this is a very healthy way of eating keeps me coming back.. and the wonderful health results I see/feel because of it.

Best of luck to you!!!
Jamie

[nemo]

make a game of drinking a gallon of water a day... and then thourghly chew your food (i like to chew each bite 200x) when you do eat...

you won't have time for cravings... ;)

nemo

[edenvegan]

I just wanted to say that when I crave something sweet and crunchy I make peanutbutter balls. I take peanutbutter, mix it with minced hazelnuts, and some sugar in the raw (turbinado.) Sweet and crunchy--tastes good to me!
I also crave fat, too. I've heard women are naturally likely to have a higher percentage of body fat than men. Maybe you could search the raw recipes message board for raw fat dishes????

[sweetgoddess]

I have heard a few raw authors say that when you are craving sweets like that, it is really calcium you are craving and that sesame milk will take those cravings away.

I always kept something in the fridge like carob cookies, fudge balls, the coconut caramel cookies etc for moments like that....now though I crave fruit when I want sweet.

Anyways, sounds like you had a great learning experience! ;)

Blessings~

[Carlene]

Callie, a couple of weeks ago I was craving pizza so bad I could have eaten cardboard. It was hard not to break raw, but when I started raw I set aside the one cheat I would allow myself. My favorite food, popcorn. Then I set a 3 day rule. To have my popcorn I would have to crave it for three days in a row, then and only then could I have as much as I wanted. The problem with the pizza craving is that it was pizza and not popcorn. Popcorn didn't call to me at all, so getting my cheat wasn't going to satisfy the craving. It took 5 days to pass, but it did.

I discovered a few things during that craving period. One, I realized that yeah a bite or two of pizza would be heaven, but by the 3rd piece I wouldn't even be enjoying it, I would be eating it to eat. Old bad habits. It wasn't worth it. Two, I found the source of this craving. I had been watching TV. It seems every other commercial is for some kind of tomatoe, cheesey, delight. I turned off the set and started reading in the evening instead. It was then that the cravings stopped. Another thing that really helped me was an end of day time initiated by one of the challenges going on here when I first joined. I have kept a 7:30 or 8:00 PM end of eating time for the day. I have been real strict with this finding that I actually look forward to it. Another day done well, and I don't have to worry about eating anymore, the day of eating is over. It also stops that evening desire to snack.

[WinterSun]

What works for my crunchy desire is dehydrated zuchinni marinated in water, raw vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and garlic. I snack on it ALL day long, I think I enjoy it better than when I ate potatoe chips. Last week I bought 15$ worth of zuchinni and it's almost gone!

[ReneeSC]

Thank you for the idea on zuccini! I was wondering what I was going to do with that today. I have 3 large ones.

I'm not an experienced marinator - But, I have the ingredients you suggested.

I've had this sort of.... love/hate/give me! relationship with potato chips since I was a late teenager. If I can find something to soothe that out of me, that would be wonderful.

[WinterSun]

I hope you love it as much as I do Renee. I just mix up my stuff in a freezer bag add zuchinni seal the bag and lay down in fridge over night or so. Every now and then I'll take the bag and roll it around (well kinda roll) in my hands to mix it up and get every piece touching some marinade.

[ReneeSC]

Winter, thank you! YUM...

[Jackie1995]

Carlene - that was a great post!

I noticed that the tv commercials are totally obnoxious re: food (greasy, salty, cheesy, junky food)! Mostly I watch cable, no commercials, but sometimes my wonderful spouse watches "regular" tv and there you have it! Between the food and the drug commercials, it's painful.

I've always been a reader, so falling back on that is easy and def. avoids the pitfalls of pizza commercials!

But your time limit on food, stopping at 8 pm - (slapping forhead) now why didn't I think of that? Great idea!

I love reading these threads, I absolutely learn a bunch of "something new's" every single time!

Thanks everyone for your posts!