lifestyle vs. diet...

[theclaire.42.]

ok... this has been bothering me... i try to eat raw b.c i know it;s wonderful for my body, my world, and my spirit... i appreciate my body and the food si put into it...

so i find it very disturbing people are using raw as a weight loss program! yes... you lose weight... but that is not why you should go raw. i study health, psychology, and addictions...and it seems much like a disordered eating mentality to cut many foods out to just lose weight.

please... if you go raw....do it with a peaceful mind and heart...its about feeling good about life... not feeling bad b.c you haven't lost weight.

does any one else feel this way????

[monkeyboy]

Yo THECLAIRE,

The college kids chiming in is nice.


Yes... the raw diet is a lifestyle not a fad diet. It's a way of living and being aware of what you put into your body.

Listen to your teachers at school but also question them.

Peace,

M.B.

[berrienoire]

:) amen to that! I've had to reiterate that to quite a few friends, so I understand.

but, still... I am glad that people are interested in "raw" however they find it, and hopefully those same people will begin to appreciate it as a lifestyle and not just as a "diet".

[karenisraw]

theclaire42,

Hi Claire,

I found raw because of weight issues, but found immediately that this is the way I want to live my life. So I guess it just turned into a way of life for me. I don't feel I am dieting though because I just eat what I feel like, I am always full and satisfied.

I don't really have a hard set limit to anything except I keep any eye on fats but I don't really have a problem with that because I just go with what I am feeling and it just works out fine. I don't feel deprived of fats either. :p

[sport]

I have never had a weight issue. I just want to live a painfree life and die a painfree death.

[Rawmommie]

I think however people find the path is fine. Everyone has a different journey and once someone lives raw for a while, I think it's nearly impossible to not FEEL how different this is from a diet. Whatever brings people to raw! :)

[Universal]

Peace to all,

I agree with Sport, as far as my self. I never had any weight issues either, i'm a young (sort of) college kid, and i just began studying about the effects of different diets from a biological standpoint. I later began to experiment with my self, and came to the conclusion that i'd stick to eating raw for 2 main reasons. 1. It just makes common sense! (no other living organism on this planet cooks their food) and 2. After experimenting, i've never felt this alive, this much in CONTROL over my self and my body ever before!
So why go against something that's working??

No doubt, it takes a lot of discipline and will power, especially being in the midst of a world who advertises 180 degrees to the contrary of this lifestyle. But all of those characteristics (discipline, will power, determination, etc...) will increase as you maintain this lifestyle and that's the way I've come to Understand how many of the SAD food cravings i used to have no longer exist.

Raw is a LIFEstyle, which includes eating Raw Foods. That's how i see it.


PEACE
Universal

[Amberly]

Obesity IS a problem just as much as any other health issue. I see no problem in people wanting to eat raw to lose weight.

[Universal]

I agree with that Amberly.

The issue concerning this post is that often people look for a quick fix, and the mentality that comes with "going on a diet" usually comes with a certain attitude. For people that go about eating raw foods the right way, even if it's initially for the purpose of losing weight, you will begin to "evolve" into LIVING the LIFESTYLE that automatically comes with the territory of eating this way. And before you know it, while u see yourself losing weight, you'll notice how you begin to feel, how well you interact with others, and certain activities you've chosen to participate in as well as abstain from... And 'lo and behold, it has become a lifestyle!


PEACE
Universal

[Angelina]

Hi Claire, hmmm..I understand your point and agree and disagree; here is what I agree on, how some people take a good thing and abuse it! Just yesterday someone told me about a woman who uses colonics after a junk food binge!! Total abuse of something that is very helpful and useful to people. I guess some people have come to raw for various reasons whether to lose weight and gain health (similiar to what amberly said) or to take their bodies/spirit to a higher level. What sets the abusers apart from the serious people is whether they will stick with it (or just lose the weight and go back to abusing their bodies) and fully incorporate it into their lives. I've always lived very healthy, no drinking, smoking, drugs..lots of fruits, veggies and unprocessed foods. I came to raw becaue it was a natural transition for me to take my health to the next level (and to also free myself from food allergies that have held me back for soo long). I will continue on this for the rest of my life, do I claim that I will be 100% for the rest of my life ~ well I can't make promises that I won't sneak in some steamed veggies or something similiar but I do know what living pure and clean has done for my body and I absolutely know that I prefer this over anything.

[mommamia]

theclaire~

You know, that kind of irritated me, too at first. I know someone who is using this totally as diet. There is also the friend of mine who upon hearing this said "I need to loose weight! wow!" It's hard because I totally came at this from just wanting to be mentally healthy and physically healthier. But the fact is I know tons of SAD people who think they eat really great ("I had a diet soda and salad!") and who don't realize that their lack of energy is not normal. It's what you get used to right? In my case I had more extreme problems and new it wasnt "normal". So either the fad dieters will stick to this and see the lifestyle benefits or they won't. You can lead a horse to water.....

When I started to loose weight I hopped on the scale. THen I became obsessed with weighing myself, loosing sight of the real goal. We are SO brainwashed to think weight, weight, weight and not health. It's a fact of teh society we live in.

Someone mentioned that obesity is a health issue, and I agree with that. I think many people who are truly obese (and I'm not talking the "ooo i want a new diet to try"people) have a huge round of health problems. They turn to raw for the dual purpose of loosing weight (which takes care of many health problems on it's own) AND to be as healthy as they can be.

Like rawmommie said ~whatever it takes to get here.

[tglasco4]

I dont think anyone should seek to dictate to anyone else as to why they want to do something. If someone wants to go raw to lose weight, thats really their personal choice. For me (or anyone else) to say your reasons are wrong because I say so, is trying to be somebody else's conscience. I am raw for spiritual reasons, but if someone else wants to just lose weight, I say, more power to them!

Peace.

Todd

[JMD]

I also agree with what was shared--whatever it takes for one to let go of toxic foods for THEIR body is great. Maybe it will take the desperation at first to lose weight and then when one feels good they will want to stay with that food plan and make it a lifestyle... i know i rarely make drastic changes in my life until i BECAME DESPERATE!!
However, I think the word "DIET" stinks too--i mean it has DIE right in it!!! :eek:

[Revvell]

Sort of off topic yet, at one time the word "diet" meant the food one ate. I use to have a pet supply business and sold parakeet diet (as well as other bird's seed) and people would invariably say "I don't want my 'keet ('tiel, whatever) to lose weight!" That's when I realized the word had de-volved into weight loss instead of overall food program. ("My diet consists of...."; the macrobiotic diet, etc.)

When I first read the OP I felt the same yet, as I've considered what others have said I realized ~ first, it's none of my business what people wish to do with the raw food program. IF they ask for assistance and wish to eat raw and are willing to acknowledge all the other benefits that eating raw does for them ~ whether they are losing weight or not, more power to them. IF they wish to use it as a weight loss program, who am I to dictate they do otherwise? (Although, you may still see me here explaining the dif) :)

Obviously I am still in the process of leaving others to their otherness and taking care of myself. Thank you for the post.

Revvell

[Kris]

I agree with the "let's not be judgemental" kind of replies here. Who cares why someone else is eating raw, or even what someone else eats at all? What should matter to you is what YOU eat and why YOU eat it.

It's not for any one of us to decide whether RAW should be a weight loss program, a healthy lifestyle choice, a path to spiritual enlightenment, or simply a passing fad. RAW can be any or all of these things to an individual.

I don't really see the point in developing a self-righteous, esoteric attitude toward raw foods. In fact, I think it's counterproductive. If you're coming to raw to nourish your body and find peace in your soul, does it make any sense to be elitist about it? As in, "My reason for eating bananas is better than yours, nanny nanny boobers..."

Come on, surely you have something better to do with your time?!

[yeahbethany]

I agree with everyone's post (including the original one! ) =)

[luinla]

Maybe you can help me out then.

I am getting into trouble with people because I don't know how to say that I'm on a raw diet without people asking me why I need to lose weight. Though weightloss is certainly a goal, my reasons for starting Raw were much more complicated and health oriented- having bronchitis for the 8th time in two years, asthma, allergies, insomnia, IBS, endocrine system problems, etc...

What do you call it?

A raw diet?

Raw regime?

Just eating Raw?

How can I convey a dedication to better health and well-being without being shoved aside into the modern world of fad diets simply because of vocabulary?

Thanks,
Lu

[meckleyj]

Well hear from a newbie now.

I originally considered the raw food diet as a diet because non of the other things I did where gratifying or extremely successful.

Thirty five years ago when I turned over a compst pile and saw a marachino cherry intact I started saying, "All this processed food can't be good for you". For the last thirty five years I have been saying that over and over and reading statistics like the escalation of cancer has caused me to repeat it again and again.

When I read Carol Alt's and Alissa Cohen's books my response was. My God haven't I been saying this for 3 decades and now I have scientific proof that I was right.

So now after having had cancer and having numerous other health concerns this is not a weight lose project this is a living life fuller project. The weight that I am loosing is just another plus.

[meckleyj]

How can I convey a dedication to better health and well-being without being shoved aside into the modern world of fad diets simply because of vocabulary?
Lu

In Carol Alt's book, which I have loaned out and can't quote, she talkes about what happens to vegetable matter when you add water and heat and it starts the decaying process hence the early stage of garbage. So I just refer to it as garbage.

Sorry I don't eat slightly decayed garbage. But I can get away with saying stuff like that.

[Angelina]

Hi Lu, in response to your question as to what to phrase it, why give it a name/label at all?? Just say you eat healthy. If they press for more info, you can just easily say you mainly eat unprocessed foods, my god if they still want more info, just keep it at, I have some food allergies/intolerances and I have to avoid some food. I find the less of a deal people make over what they eat, the less other people will make a deal out of it (does that make sense?) I tend to not like the word raw food!! It hasn't grown on me yet, and I think for non raw foodist it conjures up the thought of cold, flavorless foods or worse yet bland salads and veggie sticks. But I know how difficult it can be, even when you don't make a fuss over what you eat ~ I have a lovely coworker that ALWAYS has to comment on what I eat (even before I was all raw)..no matter what it is, she puts her two cents in (very unwelcome after all its been a few times EVERY DAY for a year!!!)...

[Revvell]

I am getting into trouble... I don't see how you are getting into trouble. To me that connotes something bad/wrong.


What do you call it?

You can call it Ralph for all it matters. People can only come from what they know and no matter what title you give it, they'll be coming from their own perceptions and through their own filters.


How can I convey a dedication to better health and well-being By saying what you just said AND/or, inviting them over for dinner. :D


Welcome.

Revvell