Mourning food.

[k8sl8]

I think I'm mourning the loss of my cooked food "life". I have been raw since beginning of May; like how I look and feel; enjoy the ease of eating this way, but lately I've been very sad when exposed to SAD food, as in restaurants, State Fair, buffets, etc. I don't want to EAT that way, I'm not even particularly tempted - even to theater popcorn (a former addition), I'm just sort of sad that I can't. I don't know if this makes any sense or not.

My spouse is a fairly "healthy" SAD eater, and enjoys eating out so we do that quite often. I need to get over this. Soon.

[sport]

I'm just sort of sad that I can't.

But you can. There are no Raw Police. I think that telling yourself that you can not just makes it harder. Tell yourself that you can do it TOMORROW.

[RawKnitster]

Your problem reminds me that I went through the same thing about 2 months after going raw. I blogged about it here (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/blog.php?b=11032). Mourning is exactly the right word to describe this feeling. So let the mourning begin. It will pass and be gone forever.

My take on this is the opposite of Sport's. Doesn't mean either of us is right on wrong. It only means we are all different and have to find what works for us as individuals. Telling myself I could tomorrow would mean that I would tomorrow. Having struggled on and off raw and bad SAD foods for years, I can say without a doubt that one bite of cooked food is enough to send me on a SAD binge. What finally worked for me once and for all is a phrase from Alissa Cohen. "Don't indulge the thought."

[k8sl8]

But you can. There are no Raw Police. I think that telling yourself that you can not just makes it harder. Tell yourself that you can do it TOMORROW.

I used the word 'can't' but that isn't keeping me from sad food... It's not that I can't - it's that I choose NOT TO; but the end result is the same... there is a whole world of which I'm no longer a part.

I have chosen to indulge a couple of times for something I deemed "worth it"... I really had no setback or anything, it just wasn't... worth it, that is.

[sport]

I used the word 'can't' but that isn't keeping me from sad food... It's not that I can't - it's that I choose NOT TO; but the end result is the same... there is a whole world of which I'm no longer a part.

I have chosen to indulge a couple of times for something I deemed "worth it"... I really had no setback or anything, it just wasn't... worth it, that is.

Good for you. I agree that it is not worth it. Eating cooked food is like sitting at the top of a slide. Once you have taken that first step it is very hard to stop yourself from slipping down that slope. It is so much easier to not get on the slide in the first place.

[DawnD]

I went thru this same mourning process last year. I was in a whole new situation carving out this path one meal at a time. I didn't know how to handle those social situations. It was a little scary. I also didn't know about RFT.
I am getting better about restaurant situations. Just got back from my daughter's wedding today and we went to a restaurant that was unfamiliar. I ended up getting a caesar salad, baked potato, and steamed veges. Plus a nice slice of wedding cake. It was the best choice. I ate til full and I am not dying right now thank goodness!
Just give yourself a little time to get passed the newness of the raw lifestyle. We have been eating cooked all our lives and then making a radical switch. Its good that you don't want the cooked food but don't look at it as taboo. You know how your body feels after a raw meal and how you feel after a cooked meal. That may help you get past the mourning. I know that it works for me.
One more thing...I went to a Christmas gathering at an Italian restaurant last year and I had a cooked meal. After that I had the Chocolate Torte for dessert. Big Mistake! I got home feeling like I was going to bust and could not go to sleep for my heart beating out of my chest. That proved to me that cooked food is not good for the body. Times like this help me to stay raw in social situations or make the least worst choice. Hope this helps.

[bing]

NOW THIS SCARES ME...:(

I just gone raw a couple of days ago. Haven't been in a social gathering or dinner party yet.

We have a monthly meeting in our office and we eat lunch together (for free of course). Sometimes there are fruits intended for deserts. What could I possibly feel? I'm afraid I'll get into this mourning stage too early...:o

[k8sl8]

NOW THIS SCARES ME...:(

I just gone raw a couple of days ago. Haven't been in a social gathering or dinner party yet.

We have a monthly meeting in our office and we eat lunch together (for free of course). Sometimes there are fruits intended for deserts. What could I possibly feel? I'm afraid I'll get into this mourning stage too early...:o

Don't worry about it... It did happen, but it was a passing thing more or less. I had been TOTALLY out of the food lane as I was living alone for a couple months while DH was working out of town and I hadn't had to buy, eat or look at anything except what I wanted... A totally different situation, I'm sure.

[beckyh]

I would agree with what everyone is saying. Just remember that there is no raw police. I have a good friend who told me that she is as raw as she is for herself. You are the only one that knows your body, and what makes you feel good and what doesn't. Raw food is awesome and it will always make you feel better than cooked food. There are a couple of things that I am not ready to give up that isn't raw, does this make me any less raw than anyone else, I don't think so. However the food that I am not ready to give up are healthy and not sweets, or processed food, they are healthy vegan food. In the beginning I would feel so quilty eating them, but than after talking to my friend I asked myself why was I feeling so guilty, I am still healthy, feel great and this is what works for me. Find what works for you and stick with it!!

[blizzardfrisbee]

Yep, I agree--find out what works best for you and stick with it. I have tried some cooked food since going raw--and what I've found is my taste buds say "ugh". I like the raw stuff much better. I know how I feel being raw and love it too much. It has been a good thing for me to eat soemthing cooked here and there--that way I've found --hmmm it wasn't what it used to be!!!!

[Lady Green Jeans]

My signature line resonated with me the first time I read it here on RFT. It is a good reminder to myself that I do feel so much better on raw. So very bogged down and not my energetic self on cooked--cooked anything.

Do what works best for you--even if you decide on a slower transition.

[k8sl8]

Interesting that this old post showed up a year later... when I needed a proverbial "kick in the pants", lol. I sometimes find myself in a rut even though there are a ton of options available. Did the same with cooked food, though, so I guess it shouldn't suprise me!

On the move again the end of the week and it will be a challenge as we will be living off the beaten track, so to speak. Very little organic available till my garden grows... NO ready made RAW... Oh well. It'll all work out.

[brydee]

I have been on/off raw for the past 4 years and feel like I hit a wall everytime I come to this 'mourning' period it is when I usually find my way back to cooked food.
I have found with me that it is a social thing and a comfort thing, cooked food is the food most of us are brought up on and unless you seek raw food friends to go out and eat with the majority of people you know eat cooked food and when they go out for a meal/special occasion will generally splurge. Its an emotional thing that I find very difficult to deal with as feel totally severed from people and abit of an outcast when eating raw. But love the way it makes my body and mind feel. I guess abit like people loving abusing partners/parents still even though they know what is coming...

[sport]

I when they go out for a meal/special occasion will generally splurge. Its an emotional thing that I find very difficult to deal with as feel totally severed from people and abit of an outcast when eating raw. But love the way it makes my body and mind feel. I guess abit like people loving abusing partners/parents still even though they know what is coming...
You have to set your priorities. Feeling good is what it is all about. Do you smoke or do drugs. Probably not, and you probably feel that anyone who does is an idiot. Why would anyone sacrifice their long term health just for a few moments of gratification.
You should start feeling the same about cooked food. It will help.
All of these feelings will pass if you stick with the raw. I do not even see cooked food as food anymore. You may as well ask me to eat the box that it comes in.

[Raw Rabbit]

I was addicted to food before transitioning to raw, I am still addicted, but not for taste. Most of the time I hate cooked food, and I am really craving juicy grapes. I just don't want to eat them cause I'll have to go wash them or something, every day I have a new excuse, its pathetic, but hey I'm learning. Anyway, lately I have been craving this one cooked food and we finally had it in my house so I had it and I was DISCUSTED! I used to be a sucker for cheese, now I can't stand it. It came on all of a sudden its so ridiculously crazily insane. Sometimes I'll even still have food I don't like just for the sake of feeling normal. Being a teen and raw is really hard because all of your friends question what the heck is in your lunch box, or what that green concoction is in that bottle. It's tough work but we just have to stick with raw and "Trust the process' (Revvel- LOVE YOU!) Good Luck!

[Raw Angel Mom]

What about you approach it with a different way. You sure can eat that food from the buffet but you choose not to do this because you choose youth, health, beauty and freedom.

Sometime, people at work say to me, you cannot eat this and that. I answer, i certainly can eat anything i want but what i want, is plant food period. This is the food that i love.

Change your perspective and you will feel at peace. I bet you, in no time down the road, more and more people will have organic raw food that they serve and you will find it much more easier to find. When i went vegetarian the first time, you could barely find a place that serve a vegetarian dish except for salad, now even McDonald has vegi burger, lol.....

So hang in there, and go in places where it suite your needs. If i go in those places to hang with others, i either eat before i go or bring my stuff or simply will orther and entrer for them and stick with water.

These buffets food are poison, toxic and aging. Be proud for choosing health, youth, beauty and freedom.

All is well