Maintaining Discipline

[Mindatrisk]

My raw vegan diet is falling to pieces. I'm still having a majority of raw vegan, but it's little moments that i am succumbing to. I work in a kitchen and the chef has been making these gorgeous homemade chips, and today one of the girls had made a chocolate torte and I munched a full slice! Insane! My motivation just isn't there in moments of temptation. I'm on about week 4 of raw vegan and i'm trying hard to make the food more enjoyable, but obviously at the moment it isn't enough to combat temptation.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to maintain discipline and motivation? It's frustrating because it's become frequent and insidious and so there is no sense of failure now. Maybe I just need to relax and allow this to work naturally, i.e. i'll find motivation and discipline when the raw food i'm making is more enjoyable and tempting than chunky homemade chips and slabs of chocolate torte. :confused:

[kjduf]

Well the only advise I can give you is your mind set has to be there. If its not then your gonna eat. Example my family ordered take in pizza and bread sticks and it smelt heavenly. I ate my raw food and watched them gobble slice after slice. After everyone was in bed I thought hmmmm I could have a slice and no one would know and I could still say I'm raw they'll never know. So I got the plate put the slice on it and picked it up and thought WAIT.... who am I hurting? My husband my kids? NO I am hurting myself and I put the slice away and have never looked back. I am actually turned off by ppl shoving unhealthy food in their face now.

So I would have to say you have to want to eat this way for you and only you. So get in the proper mind set and feel sorry for those ppl eating all the deserts and stuff. I would bring some yummy raw desserts into work so that when you need your sugar fix you got something healthy and raw to eat.

Good luck.

[Icequeen]

I have two schools of thought on this, because I struggle with it as well.

My first school of thought is that life is suppose to be enjoyable, and if you are doing things that are making you miserable, then you need to adjust. If a slice of chocolate torte every once in a while makes your life happy, then indulge in that slice and know that every other day of the week, you nourished your body SO much better than a majority of the planet.

My other school of thought is: Why on earth would I put that poison into my body, when I know how AWESOME I feel on raw foods.

Sadly, I still cave to school of thought 1 more than I should. I'm still pretty new to this, and friends of mine have told me that maybe I should have transitioned in instead of going cold turkey, by eating 1 cooked meal a day, then every other day, etc. But I kind of believe Alissa's theory that as long as you are eating cooked food, you will crave cooked food... and she's right.

So... as you can tell, I'm no help to you LOL Just know that you aren't alone!

I did really well for a couple of months, then had shoulder surgery and ate quite a bit of cooked food afterwards (hubby was preparing my meals and who will turn down comfort food, especially on narcotics!) and I feel pretty icky as a result. But I did notice, once I had been 100% for a couple of months, the cravings weren't as bad at all. I think it's just like going through rehab.... you have to deal with the addiction in order to heal. I'm back to dealing with the addiction right now.

[WanderRA]

Does anyone have any ideas on how to maintain discipline and motivation? :confused:

There really is no simple answer.

you just have to be disciplined.

at the end of the day, you are what you create.

your self perception and outlook will reflect this.

[Dimond]

For me the answer is to always have tons of raw treats around that are just as good, if not better, than any temptations. You can either make these yourself or buy them pre-made. There are tons of raw chocolate desserts that taste way better than SAD. You can make or buy your own raw chips. It's really all you can do if nothing else works to keep you on track. I personally couldn't work in a non-raw kitchen, but sometimes you don't have a choice. If food prep is a passion of yours, you can become the best raw chef. :) Otherwise maybe consider a new job if that's possible.

Very simple, quick dessert is blending cacao powder with dates. You can eat as is, make into balls or brownies or add other ingredients. Very delicious & satisfying.

[Mango134]

When i first researched raw, i tried to go completely 100% from vegetarian with lots of cheese all at once ... i lasted four days. For me, I had to mentally prepare myself because my family is really into cooking and eating out and i mean cooked dinner at the table every night and eating out friday-sunday. The gradual approch seems to be much more affective for me. I have literally been working my way there for a couple of months, and for october, i'm doing it 100%! it's time for my thirty day challenge, i feel great and excited about it!

Dunno if this approach is the best but it seems to have worked quite well for me, i've maintained the past month at about 90% raw and this next month i think I can make 100% and stick with it.

[blizzardfrisbee]

I think the answer for me has also been raw treats and a little variety of other stuff. I've been making some meals too. I haven't had any problem with going raw because I know I want to be healthy and I think raw is the answer to that. No meds for me, no being crippled with arthrtis, no benign cysts and so on!

[klomasius]

I don't really have an answer, I can only tell you what goes on in my head.

I no longer have cravings or temptations and haven't for some time. I love food and eat to live (but sometimes I live to eat. :D). Actually scratch that, I live to eat a lot of the time!

I used to work in the hospitality industry as a vegan, the turning point for me was when I saw a HUGE vat of meat being boiled in preparation to be made into bolognese sauce. I looked at it and suddenly it just didn;t seem like food anymore, it looked kinda horrifying. From then on I started to see lots of non vegan foods as 'non foods' automatically. At other times I could turn a switch and they'd be considered non foods.

Now as a raw foodist, I'm able to do that on another level, and also, almost automatically, a thought pops up into my mind 'how can I rawify that?'.

There's no 'disclipline', no 'going without' for me, it's defintiely a mindset thing, but one that means you are seeing all the water in the glass and going 'wow!'.

[BlackKat]

I am actually turned off by ppl shoving unhealthy food in their face now.


This is how I feel. I spent a weekend with my friend and I couldn't help but feel bad for her about her food choices. Sitting there, watching her shovel in bread and butter, cheese cake, chips, pizza, etc. It kindof made me feel uncomfortable like she was self-destructing. She is also a person who thinks I'm nuts for eating raw. She doesn't understand it. I've tried and tried to explain it to her but have had no luck.

I guess the best thing to do is to remind yourself what you're doing to your body when you eat pizza or pies.... you're mind is saying let yourself have it but your body can't talk for it self. Dont do it for your mind, do it for your body, and slowly you're mind will learn.

[Mindatrisk]

Thank you to everyone for their empathetic and very helpful replies, it is greatly appreciated. I know that I want to be a committed 100% raw vegan, and as someone who really enjoys food I definitely need to be making great tasting meals and, as a few have said here, have lots of raw vegan treats around.

I made a breakthrough at work yesterday and it's the simplest trick possible... I asked God for the motivation and strength to avoid temptation and remain raw vegan, and it worked perfectly! I had no temptations and I easily stayed raw vegan for that shift. God can be pretty useful :)

Thank you again. This forum is going to be very positive for me and i'm really glad to be around such an inspiring and helpful community. In Lak Ech! :)

[Raw Angel Mom]

For me, it is a journey and a learning. I was like you, made exception and found it difficult to stay on track. So here is what i did during my journey to make sure that i don't get carry away with exceptions. I allowed myself to eat certain cook food only (rice, steam vegetables and cooked beans). This helped me to stick to as much raw food as i could and not to get carry away with exceptions. During my journey, it was clear to me that when i would eat this rice etc... my energy level would drop and i would crave for more cook food. I would then drink more green smoothie to help me to stay on track. Finally, i am in a point that i no longer want to eat that rice anymore. I craved for it but i don't want it. I want youth, energy and freedom more then anything.

Don't be hard on yourself. Learn from each experience and once you do the 100% raw again, remember not to under estimate making exception and it is better past then having to go through healing the craving again.

Be grateful for your accomplishment and making room for the good stuff always (fresh alive plant food). It might be time for you to write this list again of what you truly will gain by doing 100% raw.

The plan would be to learn with what work for you. All is well, and you will crave for this healthy alive food again.

[RawKnitster]

Having raw treats and snacks at the ready is the best way to combat this. In the beginning I never left the house without a bag of dried figs and cashews in my purse. Don't let yourself be hungry in a tempting situation. When I knew I might be in a situation that would tempt me, I prepared a special treat to have waiting for me at home. Knowing it was there for me was enought to avoid temptation.

Finally, determination and persistence are key. Don't listen to the little tricks your body and mind will play on you to get you eating something cooked. In fact, don't think about it at all. Weighing the pros and cons of eating anything cooked is a losing argument. It is really very simple. Like Alissa says, "DON'T INDULGE THE THOUGHT."

Besides, there is no cooked chocolate anything that can compare to the deliciousness of a good raw chocolate recipe. Check out "Cafe Gratitude - A New World of Raw Desserts". There is no going back after that. :)

[renerdrat]

I know when I feel like I really want something yummy that I shouldn't eat... I always realize and really think about how indulging at the moment NEVER is worth it. It really isn't. I like the other tips too.. like always having a "treat" that is still good for you.
Because even though I know it's never worth it, I still slip up, but I'm getting better, and some of these tips were good. thanks.

[Seductive Arts]

My raw vegan diet is falling to pieces. I'm still having a majority of raw vegan, but it's little moments that i am succumbing to. I work in a kitchen and the chef has been making these gorgeous homemade chips, and today one of the girls had made a chocolate torte and I munched a full slice! Insane! My motivation just isn't there in moments of temptation. I'm on about week 4 of raw vegan and i'm trying hard to make the food more enjoyable, but obviously at the moment it isn't enough to combat temptation.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to maintain discipline and motivation? It's frustrating because it's become frequent and insidious and so there is no sense of failure now. Maybe I just need to relax and allow this to work naturally, i.e. i'll find motivation and discipline when the raw food i'm making is more enjoyable and tempting than chunky homemade chips and slabs of chocolate torte. :confused:


To be honest, I say do whatever your body wants. I tried and beat myself up for not being 100% raw, or 100% raw vegan when I craved or saw a food that I liked that didn't match up to be raw, or vegan.

You will only set yourself up for failure if you start to eliminate foods that you love and treat it like a chore, or a slavery type of submission to the Almighty Raw God like this was a religion. Caving in to my desires to taste some really good foods made me feel like a failure. And eating shouldn't make one feel like a failure.

So I stopped going to the 100% Monthly Raw threads on this site, because I knew that being !00% Raw was impossible for me and something, quite frankly, I don't want to try and obsess about and do.

I rather say that I am high vegan raw, which allows me to eat some cooked and non-vegan foods on an occasion. I am raw for health reasons and improving my health is a process. Plus a learning experience in knowing when and why I don't eat raw.

Doing this over a year has slowly made me ween off of junk foods, but still appreciate a well prepared cooked food once in a while. Raw has made me become a foodie of sorts, because if I choose to eat non-raw, it sure better be a high quality cooked meal. I won't eat a Snickers bar, but I will have a nice slice of sweet potato pie, or a bowl of pea/lentil soup on a freezing winter day.

Life is too damn short. I am just not going to fret over food as long as I know I am eating healthy most of the time. Raw is a healthy lifestyle, not a strict religion. Quite frankly, I don't think anyone is 100% raw, or raw vegan. To be realistic, no one is 100% anything in life.

Enjoy life. Enjoy food. Just eat mostly raw and once in a while enjoy having whatever you like to eat as long as it is quality food.

[Raw,Raw,RawGal]

Boy, am I glad that you posted this! I was about to post the same thing. I am in need of some discipline as well.. mostly will power I think. Starting a liquid fast today. Hopefully will reach 30 days. I have been feeling a lot of bloating and gutrot, ugh! Hopefully the break on my digestion will help a lot!

[Luciano]

Boy, am I glad that you posted this! I was about to post the same thing. I am in need of some discipline as well.. mostly will power I think. Starting a liquid fast today. Hopefully will reach 30 days. I have been feeling a lot of bloating and gutrot, ugh! Hopefully the break on my digestion will help a lot!

theres no shortcut to generating willpower. it just adds up whenever you use it, like a muscle.

if you want to do something good in your life, be it play the piano, run, play a sport, or eat a healthy diet, theres gonna be some things you're gonna have to do, and you're not going to like them every time. but you find the strength inside you one day at a time.