When you're the only raw one in your house

[BeingK8]

I'd love to hear from others who are the only raw foodies in their households. I would suspect there may well be threads, so if you know of any, please do link me!
Particularly interested the experience of moms whose partners and kids are not raw and not really too into being raw, and ESPECIALLY if the kids are young enough to rely on you for their eating needs.

I'm interested to know anything and everything, from the logistics of things like food preparation and how you handle mealtimes, (for example something like, "I eat my dinner before they do, so I'm full when we're all sitting down together," or "My partner has stepped up and taken over cooking for the family and I do my personal food prep"), to the psychological tips and tricks that have worked for you to keep you from just eating what they are, say when they're having something you REALLY used to dive into with gusto in your pre-raw days.

Let it flow - I'm excited to hear whatever you have to say on this topic!

[BlackKat]

I have no experience with kids (I haven't had any of my own yet) but I do live with a mother and an older brother whom both do not eat raw.

Regardless of their sad eating habits I feel better knowing that they have healthy raw food choices within reach. I am trying to lead by example and my two family members are extremely hard to convince of this raw idea. My mother has been open ears which I appreciate and she is understanding my explanations. She sees why i am doing this, and hopefully in time she will realize if she wants unlimited health she too will eat more raw. And that is all I can ask for.

As for my brother, he doesn't seem to care. He actually sometimes makes fun of my eating habits... sounds like I am talking about a teenager. No, he's 30. hehehe.:rolleyes: He did however try a piece of banana and a stawberry the other day when I was making my smoothie. Ya never know..

I need to show them how amazing this lifestyle is and it won't happen by me just opening my mouth and talking their ears off. This will take time, and like I said the best I can hope for is they begin to see for themselves, and begin to open up to a new way of thinking. If they are not open to something new, nothing will ever become of it.

Maybe your children, as they grow, will become more interested. How old are your kids? Once they become more aware of their bodies (teenage/young adult) they might think back on your lifestyle and say "hey, my mom is an amazing woman and maybe this is something I should really give a try". Sad food is such a conditioned human habit. It's like reprogramming a way of thinking for some people. It's not as easy as picking up a book (although that's how easy it was for me! and a lot of people on this forum:heart:)

[Tenuviel]

I don't have kids, but cook dinner a lot for my SO, and it works out thus.. We usually have a giant salad with the works, and if he wants meat on it, then he grills that while I prep all the veggies and fruits for the salad. He can add whatever else he wants to his portion. With other types of dinners, I make them veggie oriented, so that I can separate out my portion of the raw veggies etc and put them aside, and use the rest to make a stir fry with rice for him, or something like that. I usually have cut up fruit for dessert, which eveyone loves, especially if it is already cut up for them lol... it's funny how no one will eat the fruit unless it is cut!

[kmik]

I do prepare and eat my food first, and I offer to share it with my hungry family members. Sometimes they like it, and sometimes they don't, but the results are two fold, I get them to try things and consume more raw food than they otherwise would, and I don't have to worry about being hungry and going in for "just one bite" of their food that may end up ruining my day.

[mcster]

I started this thread a few weeks ago: http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=63524

[bananaberrie]

Hey BeingK8, I can really relate. My kids are 6, 5 and 2. They are not raw and neither is my hubby. It can be hard sometimes, one of my secrets is baby carrots. I munch on them while I am fixing dinner for the family. By the time I am done cooking I have usually filled myself up on them :)

My kids also LOVE "snack plates" I will make a big plate for them filled with cut up fresh fruit, maybe some veggies and cheese. Then I can munch on the fruit with them. I have also started adding one raw thing to their dinner, usually carrots, my son likes them. Plus carrots are easy and cheap...maybe I should buy stock in carrots.

My hubby is not raw and doesn't cook, so it is all on me. Some days I do good, others not as well as I would like. One of the hard things for me is I still bake bread for my family. The smell of it out of the oven is a challenge, but most of the time I can resist.

My big thing is I can't let myself get too hungry. I will be interested also to hear tips and tricks.

[jhodi]

I live with my husband, no kids. Although he still eats like one. It is very frustrating as I am concerned for his health. For us, we live very independent lives and this carries over into our meals. He is simply on his own and so am I.

I am sad for him, I would happily prepare his meals as I have done the past 12 years. But now I have to focus on my health and being so new to raw it takes all my energy.

The other day I begged him and he would only drink one HALF of a shotglass full of gorgeous juice...."take it as medicine" I pleaded. Wouldn't even let me fill a one ounce shot glass. good grief.

This may end up coming between us as I continue to evolve and his stagnation may become a deal breaker. wow. did I say that?

[BeingK8]

Great stuff everyone! Keep it coming!

Mcster, thanks for the link - will head over there in a sec

Jhodi, :hug I'm sure it's really tough and my heart sends love and light energy to you while you're in this challenging spot.

[mcster]

This may end up coming between us as I continue to evolve and his stagnation may become a deal breaker. wow. did I say that?

I'm very sorry to hear this. This is exactly the reason why I started the thread I posted above. I remember having the sense that there are a few people on the forum who are saddened by their situations with their significant others. It's only natural that something like this, which can represent a major deviation in values, can have the potential to cause disharmony. But now you're in this situation and it's not a bad idea to remember that life is what we make of it. You can choose to let it upset you or you can roll with it and make the best of it. I wish a positive outcome and resolution for you.

[bananaberrie]

I live with my husband, no kids. Although he still eats like one. It is very frustrating as I am concerned for his health. For us, we live very independent lives and this carries over into our meals. He is simply on his own and so am I.

I am sad for him, I would happily prepare his meals as I have done the past 12 years. But now I have to focus on my health and being so new to raw it takes all my energy.

The other day I begged him and he would only drink one HALF of a shotglass full of gorgeous juice...."take it as medicine" I pleaded. Wouldn't even let me fill a one ounce shot glass. good grief.

This may end up coming between us as I continue to evolve and his stagnation may become a deal breaker. wow. did I say that?

Seriously! you would let a conflict in diet ruin your marriage? Didn't you say you are new to raw? Would you expect him to change overnight just because you do? There must be more to it then just the diet conflict.....I hope.

Also, "begging" someone to try something might make it worse. Just get yourself where YOU want to be before you go insisting on someone else changing. Be a good example and don't pressure or nag, give it time and then see what happens.

[jhodi]

New to raw but not new to spiritual, nutritional, psychological, emotional growth. So yes, MUCH more to it. You know the old saying about straws and camels.

We have to be careful in what we assume.

[MysticMal]

I am the only raw person in my house. I have a 20 month old daughter and a husband who was raised on a farm and is a completely farm fed guy. He likes veggies but he doesn't love them and he was pretty big on red meat.

I'm pretty new to raw so what I have been doing is planning a menu for the week and make their dinners consist of veggies, fish, and a rice or quinoa, something along those lines.If my husband requests something in particular I make it for him. For example, Sunday morning I made him biscuts and gravy. This type of thing is just on occasion now.It has taken many baby steps to get to this point. I try to make them veggies that I would eat raw so that I am not over buying or spending extra money bc we are on a tight budget. I just make their portions cooked and I eat mine raw. Everybody is happy and everybody pretty much eats the same thing. :woohoo:

[kjduf]

I am the only one who eats raw in my household. I live with my hubby and two adult sons. My husband does all their cooking and I do all mine.

I will have to say they love the deserts and some of the meals. I make them try everything I make. Sometimes I'm running around after them with a fork saying "oh come on just try it"!! LOL

[Christy]

I have been eating raw for a little over a month now. My husband and 17 yr old son still eat SAD. They are now mostly preparing their own meals. I have been able to get them to drink green smoothies and raw fruit on occasion. I would never force them to eat raw and glad to see that they are at least taking steps and open to what I'm doing. The hardest part is when they say "Go ahead and cheat just this once, it can't hurt you" I still have the cravings and temptations to deal with but it's getting easier.

[ReneeH]

It DOES get easier.... Especially when you stick to your lifestyle and show them that you are DETERMINED to keep your body clean.

My family does eat what I eat most of the time, but there are times when they don't. I respect their decision to eat SAD when they do, so they respect mine to eat RAW. All you can do is set the right example and they may follow your lead eventually. If not, you have to eat the best way that *you* can eat for *you*....

[IamLoved]

Hello

I have had a lot of experience with this. I have been raw on and off for 6 years now. My husband is very supportive of my food choices. When I first began he was a major meat and potatoes guy. He did not like to eat fruits or vegetables at all. He wanted to eat meat three times a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now we eat, as a family, 5-6 vegetarian meals during the week and only 1-2 meat meals. Sometimes we will all just have a nice big salad for supper.

This has been a very long and slow transistion for him though. If someone is not convicted about food chioces you can not expect them to change over night, and if they do there will often be a lot of resentment as a result. I am very proud of the progress my husband has made. Is his diet perfectly healthy? No. Is it a LOT better than it used to be? Absolutely!

We also have 7 children. The children eat a lot of fruits and veggies. If they are hungry between meals they snack on fruits. I also make flax cracker and other raw goodies and they love those and eat them right up. They also love my smoothies and they love carrot juice and fresh orange juice. I think that my children are very healthy, much healthier than the average child. My girls are all vegatarians. The youngest ones are a default really, because I stopped eating meat I just never gave them any. If, when they get older, they decide that they want to eat meat I will let them. I am not the food police. And it is hard to tell them no when other members of the family, including their Father, are eating meat. My desire is to raise happy, healthy and well rounded children. I do not want any of them having food issues because of choices I make or try to force on them.

One thing that we do is fruit or veggies until noon. So they will have an all raw breakfast and snacks then eat a regular lunch and supper. I also make everything from scratch. We do not eat fast food or anything that is processed. My oldest, who is 14, often will eat raw with me for days and then have a cooked supper if she wants.

As far as food preparation, at this point it is shared. I used to do all of it. But I now have a 14 year old daughter who enjoys cooking. She makes supper one night a week. My 10 year old son has also expressed interest in being a chef. He wants to go to a culinary academy. So he gets to cook supper one night a week too, under my supervision, whatever he wants to make. My husband will often cook on the weekend when he is home.

When we eat supper we all sit down at the table and eat together as a family. I think that this is very important. Meal time is not just about the food. It is about sharing together, sitting together as a family, having conversations. I don't want my children to think that if everyone is not eating the same thing they can't all sit down together. This is silly. So I will eat my salad, or whatever I am eating, and they will eat whatever they are eating and we do it together. Sometimes I am not hungry at supper time so I just sit at the table with them and talk.

This got long. I'm sorry :) Anyways, that is how we do things.

[jhodi]

I was a vegetarian when I met my husband 14 years ago. Gradually I met him on his terms as I began cooking for us and got tired of making two meals, etc and I gradually became a meat eater like him. I do not blame him, it was just a gradual occurrence.

Then I became completely intolerant to all processed foods and by the time I had it all figured out I had slowly eliminated 100%....through all of that, his diet never changed.

Over the years, I have evolved my diet to become healthier and healthier. He still considers french fries and baked beans vegetables.

So, no, I did not expect him to change overnight, and especially not to hop on this band wagon of raw vegan.

But through all of my modeling and setting examples and so on, he still has a frickin bag of fritos as a side dish to EVERY lunch.

Oh yeah, he is tall and thin! And I carry the extra 20. Really??!! What kind of God???!!! hahahaha


I am not irrational here....just getting a bit weary.

[blizzardfrisbee]

I have only been raw since August. My hubby isn't raw. I make food for myself but wil make food for him too. He doesn't have any problem making his own dinner though. :eat He eats very simply though so it is easy for me-- he is a meat and potatoes guy. The only problem I have is the cheese in the refrig. I have to fight the temptation to eat that.