PDA

View Full Version : Emotionally Raw - questions about raw food and our emotional body



dhammala
11-27-2005, 06:59 PM
Hi everyone,

During my 30 day challenge, around day 15 I entered into a real depressed/moody state. I knew on some level that this was an emotional detox, and I gave myself permission to let it be. It lasted for about two days and when I woke up after that, I felt very energized and emotionally clear. I remember being like "wow!" I felt like a 14 on the scale from 1 to 10, in fact, I was floored because I didn't realize that before (while eating my veggie SAD) that I must have had a slight depression and hovered around a 7 on that scale.

The 14 lasted throughout the rest of my 30 day challenge. During that time I noticed that I was feeling much more social, starting new projects and completing old ones, even cleaning up the house! Yes, one morning I woke up and found myself scrubbing the bathroom like never before! Yikes!

Now that my 30 day challenge was over, I found myself being very confused about what to eat. I chose to allow myself to eat some of the cooked food that I had craved over the 30 days, to watch how I felt and to take things from there.

Well, not too surprising but the day after I had my first cooked meal since the 30 day challenge, I woke up feeling emotionally miserable, moody, depressed, angry, irritable, etc. What is interesting is that I *don't* feel like I am in a place that is any different than where I used to be, but now that I have had the raw experience, I know what is possible and this is not where I want to be.

The obvious solution is to go back to raw, and I don't have a problem with that and am excited to get started again. That's not the reason I am posting this. I am curious to know how many of you have gone through this type of experience before? I am not able to distinguish the source of the moodiness/depression, does any one have any idea where these emotions might be coming from? Is it just a lack of energy? Is it a cooked food addiction? What are your thoughts?

Beanie
11-27-2005, 09:36 PM
I've never managed yet that long on 100% raw, but if I do eat even a touch of anything with gluten in it, I get the same symptoms and I cannot think clearly nor do I get anything done. My mind is totally unfocused, I'm very tired, irritable, and depressed. But I link that to an allergy. If I have steamed veggies though, I don't really notice a difference. Just a little tired. But I'm curious what others say. From my experience, it depends on the amount and what I eat that is cooked!

JMD
11-28-2005, 07:48 AM
May I ask what are you eating that is un-raw??? For me, the only thing that I eat that is cooked is some steamed veggies. The only thing is see with them is I feel fuller. No other major difference. One time I acidently had something with grains in it and I was moody, constipated, bloated,swollen and "hung over" the next day--and that was from about a tablespoon.....or 2!! So I feel it is what you are eating and your body sensitivities that can guide you.

Blessings,
JMD

DavidZaneMason
11-28-2005, 09:52 AM
Hmmmm....

My thoughts / experiences / opinions:

Moodiness & depression can come from many sources: physical, emotional, habitual, thought, foods or toxic drugs, etc.

-YOU will probably NEVER be able to trace the exact root causes of each kind of negative feeling. It is good to KNOW them and experience them....but a person cannot back their way into enlightenment by simply avoiding pain. There must be a pursuit of dreams and goals and higher energies. As such, we can only do what we can do. Right?

-What CAN we do?

1) Eat fresher, lighter foods - in an ongoing, goal-oriented process.
2) Breathe fresh air - deeper and cleaner.
3) Get good rest
4) Get light exercise
5) Get a productive and creative hobby
6) Do volunteer & service work to take us out of ourselves
7) Pursue your dreams with reckless abandon
8) Get reasonable sunglight every day

-All you can do is stack the deck in your favor with healthy lifestyles. As to the actual circumstances that develop? The idea that ANYONE has 100% control over those things is a lie anyway.....heh..heh........

-If you do ALL you can...you are doing more than 99.9% of the population! And should be happy.

-I am not a fan of the all-or-nothing philosophy. I don't think anyone should get used to a feeling in their life.....unless they are prepared to engage in a process that will allow them to feel that feeling all the time.

-What do you think?

-David Mason

-

Boysenberry
11-28-2005, 11:17 AM
dhammala,

I don't feel like anyone really answered your question. It is my question as well. I am 8 days into raw and a bawling mess. I am sure you didn't cry, but leave it to me to do so... :o I have gained back some of the weight I struggled so hard to lose prior to going raw and can't get over feeling very sad and depressed today. :(

Is there anyone else out there that has felt this way in the begining of their journey to raw?

ksabe98
11-28-2005, 11:43 AM
Hi there,
I too have had the same exact experience with emotional detox. I was very happy light as a feather for say three weeks straight after going raw the first time. Then one day I came bouncing out of the building where I lived, hopped into my mom's car for an excursion and then all of a sudden I was angry. There was literally no event that precipitated the anger. Even my mom saw it. She said it was like a cloud came down over my face and there it was. I tend to wear my emotions right out there in plain view for all to witness and participate in. Then after about 15 minutes it passed and then I was just filled with joy. Also no event causing this change. It was probably the most dramatic emotional detox I have had to date. But I have had many times where I woke up one day depressed and the next day I was detoxing some other emotion or poison. I am just starting out the 30 day detox again. I started yesterday so I know it will come up again. Anyway I did read quite a bit about cleaning out the emotions and our physical environment with the raw food diet. It is something that just seems to come naturally through the process of detoxing. Many people in the raw food community have commented extensively on this subject where our physical, emotional, spiritual lives are all tied up together and when we free up our bodies from cooked food we open the way for all these processes to proceed and grow. I don't know just enjoy it. I was never happier in my life than when I was 100% raw and now I am making my way back there now. I hate being so miserable all the time.
Have a great day
Lisa

dhammala
11-28-2005, 12:42 PM
JMD, on Friday night I had about 1/3rd of a serving sesame tofu from our local gormet (seriously!) Chinese place. It is MSG free, and I had about four cubes of tofu and some of the stir fried veggies on steamed rice. Saturday, I woke up with the super-grumpyness.

Last night for dinner I had some zuchinni 'pasta' with a 'white sauce.' Today I woke up noticing that I am feeling much better emotionally. Crazy!