LAST SUPPER syndrome!

[rawpriestess]

I've done this myself soooo many times, so please understand I speak with experience.

The Last supper syndrome is that way of eating "just this last one" or "until there are no more left" or "tomorrow I will start again" or "today is already ruined" or "tomorrow is another day"

Well, I can tell you this

Tomorrow IS another day, but YOU are the same YOU.

So, when you wake up all guilty because last night you ate an entire pepperoni pizza all by yourself, then topped it off with SAD ice cream and pop and chips and a late' KNOW, that starting fresh again today, isn't going to stop your abusive behavior to yourself.

I've been doing this, starting raw food eating in the morning, then someone invites me out to eat for lunch, so I go, and instead of getting a fresh raw salad, I have a garden burger, which MUST be accompanied by a pop. and onion rings, and a milk shake and since I've eaten that, on the way home, I grab a candy bar and a late' and a frozen pizza for dinner.

So, my logic is this, "Well, I've RUINED my raw day, so I'll start tomorrow."

But tomorrow I am the SAME person, so it happens all over again.

Now, I have read on this forum, how people have done this, and I always think, "Yes, I've been there, starting tomorrow is a good thing" but it isn't.

There is NO tomorrow, because tomorrow is a thought, a different place, it never is TODAY.

So, yesterday, I didn't think about tomorrow, I though about TODAY. And I decided that TODAY is the day that I will eat raw, and if I wanted cooked, I could have it tomorrow. A slightly different concept, but one that worked none-the-less.

So, I ate raw 100% yesterday, enjoyed it, thought about cooked food, and said, "If I want cooked food, I will have some tomorrow, but today is a raw day." that worked for me.

You see, it never works to fight ourselves, we can't win, because we always lose, well, one part of us does.

So, it is best to learn to use our own beliefs and thoughts for our better good, so I had to think, "Okay, if I was councelling this person, how would I use their "Last supper-dome" for their better good, instead of allowing them to use it against themselves." then it hit me.

To make the RAW meal the last supper, not the cooked meal.

So, every day, I say today is the day I am raw, I can always eat cooked tomorrow, (knowing that tomorrow is a thought away) and when tomorrow comes, it will be today, and on and on and on.

So, make this your raw day, make it count, because it may be your last raw day, it may be the only day you will have to eat that perfect mango, or pineapple, it may be the last day that you allow yourself to eat fresh ripe raw raspberries or strawberries, or Alissa's date nut torte. So, enjoy it, and relish in the raw pleasure of it all.

Because tomorrow is another day.

[findingme]

WOW!

I think you may have solved my biggest issue with weight! I'm going to use this philosophy from now on. I can't believe I never thought of it that way...it totally makes sense! Thank you so much!

You see I've been having a last supper now for 2 months and it's GOT TO STOP! I went raw for 30 days and on day 31 I missed cooked food so much that I broke down and have not been able to pick myself back up. Thank you Rawpriestess!!! I have known that I need to change my thinking but I kept sabotaging myself and eating and eating and eating cooked (and I'm not talking about healthy cooked, I'm talking horrible junk!). I think I gained back most of the weight I lost because I kept thinking I'd never get to eat this or that and that kept me going and steering me away from raw. I remember how great I felt on raw and I want that back. When I'm cooked I am depressed and I hide myself from the world as though I'm ashamed of who I am. During those 30 days of raw I was so ALIVE! I want that back...I just have to find it in me to re-commit just as you said for just today.

Thanks for your post, Rawpriestess. I'll keep you posted on my journey.

Karen :)

[Autumn]

Rawpriestess,

Excellent post!!! A LOT of people are going to identify with this.

I have a similar mantra when someone asks if I'm never going to eat cooked again. I reply, "I don't know. I only know I'm not going to eat it *today*." It does work!

[shakalover]

another thing that works for me is if i eat sad food, instead of saying, "well, tomorrow i'll start over again", i say, "why don't i just start right now." that can be the beginning of my new day.

[karotw]

I relate to this post. Thank you, again, for your wonderful insights, RawPriestess. I've spent too many Sundays eating because I was going to start my diet on Monday (yeah right). . . .or saying to myself, I just have to have this one more thing and then eating several bags of it. . .

I really like the idea of making the "last supper" meal a raw one. . . what a fabulous way to turn the tide in ones brain. . . .and I often use the concept of "I'll eat raw today, if I want cooked I can have it tomorrow". . . I've gotten through lots of days that way. . .

Thanks!

Karot

[mellyc37]

Last supper = food I should not eat = food that is bad for my health and my weight

substitute any of those in the sentences below.

I do not want * to take me away from my children and other people.
I do not want *to keep me from enjoying things with my kids.
I do not want * to keep me from enjoying life.

I think I will have to say these sentences using FOOD at least 100 times every night... :) Maybe I should post them on my fridge.

[mbf]

Wonderful as always RP !

I tell my friends and personal training clients to just stop. If they ahve eaten 3 cookies stop ! having a fourth will just make it worse and by getting control and not eating that fourth cookie they will feel so much better beacsue they took control.

As far as starting,it drives me crazy when peopel say I will start tomorow, or Monday ! I tell them eat a piece of fruit instead of a donut and you have started !

Thanks for all your inspiration and words of wisdom !

MBF

[Rawma]

See, this is exactly what I was talking about when I posted that I love this website. Here I thought I was alone in the Last Supper Syndrome and so manyof you are just like me!
So much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving and yes I am changing my mantra to I will eat cooked tomorrow not for today!
Thanks RP for always being so insightful and willing to share!
Lisa

[Rawkinlocs]

I like this a lot! Thanks RawPriestess!

[calee]

Great Post! I figure I've had enough Last Suppers to last a lifetime. I always tell myself if I really want something that bad, I can write it into my food plan for the following day. The urge is generally gone long before it's time to plan my food for the day. I always remind myself that I do this by choice, not because someone told me too, so there's nothing to rebel about.

This post is perfect for the holidays. I stopped at the store tonight to get the ingredients for the salad I'm taking on Thanksgiving. Everyone will be eating the standard fare, but I won't feel sorry for myself knowing that I'll wake up Friday morning with great energy, and no regret for another Last Supper.

Thanks RP!

[Dandelion Girl]

This came at a really good time for me. I was raw for 3 weeks and then I ate cooked because I was hungry, tired, feeling sorry for myself because I didn't have money to buy good food. Once I ate the cooked I started having a hard time getting back to 100% because of the exact mentality you were talking about. I'm starting the 30 day challenge again and I think your advice will help me a lot. Thanks for this and for all the other good advice you give.

[Peas&Carrots]

I had the same exact thing happen. Well, I've had this sydrome for probably a year now. It is so incredibly depressing and I do not know how to break it. I keep my binges secret, I hate them and feel fat and depressed afterword, but a week later, I do it again. This month, I said I was going to do 30 days. I told my boyfriend, family, friends at work. On day 21, I broke. And then again on day 22, 23, 24- it was horrible. I was eating muffins, pizza, chips, candy and cheesecake like never before. Yesterday I got back on track, and today too. I had never been 100% for that long in a row, and I'd never had such a bad binge. I need support and tips, I hope more people respond to this with an actual solution. Good luck to us all, thank you for the post. I have plans to make a huge raw thanksgiving, this is going to be an immense challenge.

[sweetgoddess]

Great post RP. I had to chuckle at the title of "Last Supper syndrome" I used to know it soooo well. Didnt realize it had a name.
Thought it was called Carmel syndrome! ;)

Thanks for sharing this. I am sure so many of us relate to that misbelief.
And how it carries over to many other areas!

Happy Thanksgiving~
Carmel

[Guydiane]

My husband and I have been raw since Oct. 10th he caved in today and just had one last piece of turkey. Now he says he isn't felling well and had a big rock in his tummy LOL now he says never again

[Beth]

Thanks for posting this.
As a past yo-yo dieter, I know all about this!

[earthmama]

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!! I have been beating myself up for failing. Now I know that I was approaching things from the wrong direction. I start the day well, then in the evenings when I'm tired, cooking for the family I would cave. Now I know how to reframe my discussion with myself.LOL. I have some doozy arguments with myself, and thanks to you I know how to win.LOL. So for today I'm raw!!! Thanks again, you are such an inpiration, your posts are always so helpful. Blessings Earthmama

[squidly]

Just wanted to bump this for the newbie's as I think it is a great thread - certainly something I still struggle with till this very day

[rawfigure]

Ah rawpreistress you stumbled on the secret ! Thanks for this post. This is the one reason I love this board. great !

I think this is a huge part of staying Raw or meeting any goal. While I still stumble (on many levels, not just RAw) this has been one of my secrets to meeting my goals at work, home and my eating habits from a young age, which has attributed to my never dealing with a weight issue. (Well I have a tendency to want to be very thin but that is another issue..)

Ways I stay in the moment:

"Do it now" attitude

I cannot start tomorrow because "Tomorrow Never Comes" I must start at that moment I am in.

when I start a behavior such as eating a SAD junk food, or wasting precious work time, I do the "STOP method". I have even throw out 1/4 eaten foods and given away SAD foods.

Then to compound the Last Meal Syndrome...I think we also Us the "I should of" syndrome. I should of had the salad, I should of made a Lunch to take with me today...so then we stress about what we should of done, and that wastes energy cuz just like Tomorrow..Yesterday is gone and we cannot go back and do the Should of.

Point of this Post. BE IN THE MOMENT, always in the moment.

[mommamia]

I'm so appreciative that this post was bumped up. I've been 'allowing' myself one cooked meal a week. It's so inevitable. Friends what to go out...it's all social and getting out of the house...

I can usually get thru the day, but the social occasions are harder. So perhaps I 'll start trying to order more raw foods thinking...."next time I go out to eat I'll have cooked..." and so on.

I love what melly said too. I really need to tell myself that cooked seriously effects the way I relate to my family and friends...I want to be ALL there for them, not just 1/2 way.

Great post.

[theresaann]

brilliant, really brilliant!!!

I am gonna use this in my classes and give you 100% credit-that is SOOO smart-thank you for posting, dear one...

[Fragola]

what you wrote is so clever and so helpful!!
RP, do you mind if I use your words for my italian blog? I would like to translate them, and obviously I will mention you as the clever author :)

[Denise Nicole]

RP excellent post! I too have been in this mindset and finally had taken control of my life "why start tomorrow when I can start right now" It took me a while to get out of that frame of mind, but it is when I saw progress. I had been known to eat "mindlessly" and midway through eating the bad food I would realize what I had done, then say "well I guess I'll start over tomorrow." Once I took control, when it had happened I could be mid-bite and think, "oh sugar, why am I eating this" and toss it in the garbage where it belonged.

No more starting tomorrow mindset anymore! It is quite nice to have gotten away from it. :)

[MamaBeth]

I had a VERY hard time this afternoon..had to run to Walmart after my daughter's speech therapy. Kids asked for a bag of chips, and they ate some in the van. I didn't think to grab myself a banana or anything while I was there...at one point I almost had one but I was able to put it back! WHEW! I told myself I could have some tomorrow, that today I'm trying to be raw. So..yes, it does work! :-)

[romanticsnet]

Thanks so much. This speaks volumes! I am going to use that thinking right now! I was so worried about dinner tonight, because I had some "cooked" vegetable soup that I made from scratch yesterday. I felt like I was wasting it if I threw it out.

But now I know that I can feed my body the best and freshest possible foods by getting rid of it.
My next thought though, is "How do I get past the munchies as I am making the "cooked" meal for the family, and the raw meal for me?" I have two apples at 430 pm in the car on the way home to tide me over, but it is never enough. I am usually grabbing vegan chips or cookies to tide me over till I get fed.

[rawpriestess]

Yes, you may use my words, and thanks for letting people know it is from me
that is very thoughtful.

[divaitalia]

Way to go RP. You are right on as always. I have been on that Last Supper Syndrome for about 1 month now. Lost it when my parents came about a month ago. Can't seem to get back on the raw. Thanks for the post and hopefully a new way of thinking.

Divaitalia :)

[Eveleaf]

This surely must be bumped!
What an inspirational post!
Thanks RawPriestess!