raw wannabe

[DoxyDame]

See the title? Yeah that's me to a 'T'. I've been wanting to be RAW for a couple years. What's holding me back? ... Myself obviously.. I crave sugar & salt and give in to my wants too easily. I REALLY want to make this work. I have enough problems in my body to create a long list of reasons to stick to the raw food lifestyle. So I guess I would call this... attempt #9 or 10.

I joined up a few other sites over the years having to do with the master cleanse and raw food but didn't really stick around. I kinda like this forum so I guess I will see if I can make it my home?

I have a hard time doing things if they're not in front of me. Hate grocery shopping... actually I hate food :P But what else can I say? I'm a pessimistic optimist. I believe in RAW food. I just need to be RAW food.

So how many people don't stick around? I never really wanted to be #29485 of 30000 that have 1 post, in the newbie forum.

♥DD

[Maintime]

Welcome! The level of comitment is entirely up to you. Some are 75% raw, some are 100%.

I will tell you this though, after doing raw for a good period of time (2 weeks to a month) those sugar and salt cravings just disappear.

Just remember, Rome wasn't built in a day. Every time I talk to a SAD friend and they go into convulsions about not eating "what they want" I try to remind them that there is always a healthier alternative to everything. You like sugary stuff? try to find sugary stuff that's natural... or made with natural organic sweetners (Agave, stevia etc). One step on the path to health begets another step, and so on.

Good luck on your journey!

[DoxyDame]

Oh, I love sugary fruits too don't get me wrong. But I guess I should say sugary fat :P. I could probably live off fruit alone if I had it readily available to me though. In fact I love vegetables almost as much and am thinking of doing a Green Smoothie fast. I love all the ones I've made in the past. Can't think of one I didn't like..

What does SAD mean? I've seen that posted everywhere and I can't figure it out.

[sport]

SAD means Standard American Diet

[sport]

Welcome. You seem to be motivated enough to do this but Rome was not built in a day. You will get there in time. The cleaner you get the cleaner you will want to be.

[DoxyDame]

yay for clean!

[revdrcyn]

Welcome DoxyDame!

When I first went all the way raw, I was making (and eating) a lot of chocolate brownies because of my sweet tooth. After a while, those cravings went away.

I had others as well, and one of my strategies for handling those was to peruse the index of Alissa's book and identify recipes that would satisfy whatever craving I had at the time.

Early on, I probably was gorging, come to think of it, but it soon tapered off into a balanced way of eating. So, be PATIENT with yourself!

All the best!

[DoxyDame]

yes i have been putting my cravings on hold by eating tons of strawberries :P which i LOVE. i don't have alissa's book. the only raw book i have is raw for dummies hehe. but i will expand my collection as soon as i am able!

[Shels]

Welcome. :)
There are tons of resources here to help you along the way. Best of luck.

[AllergyGirl]

yes i have been putting my cravings on hold by eating tons of strawberries :P which i LOVE. i don't have alissa's book. the only raw book i have is raw for dummies hehe. but i will expand my collection as soon as i am able!

The library can be a good resource for raw books - at first I was buying them left and right, but now I check them out there first, then occasionally buy one I feel like I must have.

[JCB44]

welcome to the site. There is lots of help, advice, and freinds here good luck with raw, I am a believer that it works. I too have to overcome my mind problems.

[spicyfull]

I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW...........Welcome to MY World.

[feelingrateful]

Hey! I'm a newbie too :) I've been vegan since Jan, so that's about seven months and this week I've been trying to go raw... so that's 7 days haha. At first the cravings of salt and sugar were inevitable and demanding but I didn't give in and now on my 7th day it seems they have almost completely subsided. I'm giving it a month for them to go away completely. Good luck, you can do it!!!!!

[tammay]

DD, like you, I've also tried multiple times and failed and have just gotten back on raw for the past 4 days. One thing that I'm finding really helps my sugar cravings is green smoothies. I know a lot of people here make huge smoothies with lots of fruit and greens but I'm too chicken for that yet :D. Mine are very basic - 1 cup chopped fruit, 1 cup spinach leaves, and some raw sweetener like honey or agave if I need to sweetened, and water, of course. I have 3 a day - one first thing in the morning, one mid-afternoon, and one mid-evening. They are very satisfying and they really help curb my cravings for junk food.

Tam

[Icequeen]

I'll just echo that the intense cravings (for me anyway) dissipated after the first week.

I should also preface that I started this raw journey from a pretty standard SAD organic diet. I ate all organic, no processed foods, but still ate dairy, meat, poultry, etc.

The first week I craved EVERYTHING and nothing satisfied my hunger. It was also a very emotional week for me. After that, things just changed... like a switched was flipped and everything became so much easier and the cravings were GONE.

What I find odd is I crave NOTHING now. Like I just don't even get a craving for a particular type of food. I actually have to *think* about what to eat because there is nothing pushing me towards one thing or the other.

[DoxyDame]

I am really glad to hear I'm not the only one who has failed in the past. I haven't been eating much since I started RAW because my funds are really limited. I have been making really simple smoothies with spinach and fruit too! I can't really stand spinach as a stand-alone lettuce in a salad (but maybe that will come in time) but I love it in smoothies!

I've been doing some research on dehydrators and hopefully can invest in one soon. I really want to tackle making some "breads" for sandwiches. And crackers, etc...

Found some REALLY awesome recipes online too!

I recently stumbled on 'Raw on $10 a day (or less) (http://rawon10.blogspot.com/)' blog. Truely wonderful stuff in there!

The only thing I am afraid of is getting too complicated with recipes from the get go. I told myself I would just eat smoothies and salads for 30 days. But after day 1 I got super bored. haha. I did make my own salad dressing though! Which was interesting.

Okay well off to do more research!

♥DD