I feel bad for even asking...

[dreamrawalwz]

Ok, I've been raw off and on for 3 years, almost 4. Every winter, well, around August I went off 100% raw to 100% cooked. This year so far I havn't, but it's REALLY catching up with me!! I'm thinking of going high raw on purpose so I don't slip up and go BAM on my face! Each time I slipped up for months I was eating microwaved veggies, canned beans, cooked whole grains, lean meats, ect. I was adddicted. Now I honestly think I do have control over this and if it's a conscious decision that I'll keep it mostly raw and just have steamed veggies for dinner because well...it's COLD and I want some more variety in the winter. I don't know if this is excusing it or what I feel guilty for thinking about it, but I think doing this is better than completely screwing up one day! If I find myself getting off raw too much, craving things, using condiments, spices, ect. or eating the wrong things then I'll go right back to 100%. Help, I feel like I ned someone to be able to back me up here. I know this is a 100% raw board and I advocate that myself, but ahh...it's hard to explain. I know in spring I'd go right back to 100% if I did this...I don't know what to do! I've been craving asparagus, green beans, sweet potatoes, and artichoke hearts, even beans like crazy lately! Stupid weather....help?

[Vandy]

why don't you replace those condiments with the fruits in season? That's what makes it through winter for me! I get addicted to persimmons, pears, grapes, dates, bananas, papayas, mamey, citrus fruits, etc! You can find just as much in the winter, but because all of the juicy summer fruits that leave with the season, people seem to think they have no options and fall back. Not to mention veggies are ALWAYS availible. It is harder during the winter time, but eat with the seasons...isn't that what we're supposed to do ;)

[dreamrawalwz]

why don't you replace those condiments with the fruits in season? That's what makes it through winter for me! I get addicted to persimmons, pears, grapes, dates, bananas, papayas, mamey, citrus fruits, etc! You can find just as much in the winter, but because all of the juicy summer fruits that leave with the season, people seem to think they have no options and fall back. Not to mention veggies are ALWAYS availible. It is harder during the winter time, but eat with the seasons...isn't that what we're supposed to do ;)

I need to stay organic and I don't have many options fruit wise Only apples, pears, a few raspberries, and pineapple. I can get beets, sweet potatoes, green beans, ect. organic though. I know you can eat them raw, but I think it's the warmth I'm looking for...I don't know.

[honeybee joy]

asparagus, green beans, sweet potatoes, and artichoke hearts, even beans

Have you thought about coating some of these things in olive oil and dehydrating?

[dreamrawalwz]

Have you thought about coating some of these things in olive oil and dehydrating?

No I havn't. I don't like olive oil, ewww (IMO). Ugh, I sound just like those that I would tell "stop making excuses and just be raw!" I think having these thoughts/fights in my head is more stress than just eating the steamed veggies. When I say steamed I mean not fully cooked, but warmed and a tad softer than they are...

I think I need to plan to go off for a day and hop back on...you know how some say to "plan the binge" so you don't fall off the plan completely for a long time...I just don't know

[Dimond]

Put on the heat, bundle up in warm clothes and enjoy raw!

[honeybee joy]

It sounds like to me this is a emotional thing. You know....winter comes around and you start thinking about pumpkin spice lattes! lol I swear...I have yet to think up a mock pumpkin spice latte...but I will. I know that once I have what I think I want I think....hmmmm this was not as good as I thought it would be....then I get hooked. Try to make up fun raw versions!

[dreamrawalwz]

Put on the heat, bundle up in warm clothes and enjoy raw!

Haha I like you're style. My selection is SOOO limited that I'm SOO bored. Bored with food, bored with life, tired of being cold all the time, ect. I'll shut up now! Maybe I just need to talk this through and I'll wake up and be better tomorrow. I may have had baked sweet potato today (a little) b/c i had my mom warm them in the oven while I was on the way home from work. They were a little too hot, but eh...maybe that's fueling the cravings more. I think I'll be ok tomorrow as long as I don't fall into this trap!

[Dimond]

Do you make any recipes or just eat straight produce? Maybe you can spice things up by trying out some new meals. Also if you can afford to, get some ready-made snacks to add variety.

[dreamrawalwz]

I don't do well with recipies - too heavy for my stomach, can't do many of the ingredients, ect. I just eat straight produce. It may be an emotional thing, who knows. I think it's just comfort and warmth. Maybe habbit for this time of year.

[exurb]

each person needs to find what works for them, and best wishes to you.

better to ask and state your difficulties than just isolate yourself. I get the impression you're striving to be raw, so I don't see a problem from the board point of view.

Renee Loux Underkoffler (great raw chef) does quickly blanched/steamed veggies in her "raw" cuisine. Her book Living Cuisine is wonderful.

I always worry about those of us here with previous EDs. I hope you can relax, enjoy, do what works for you, and gives you the nutrition that you need.

[luckitri]

Yeah I don't do recipes well either but if you cut down the raw chili recipe to enough for one meal maybe the heat of the chili spice will warm you up and give you that comfort food for cold weather relief. As I recall, when I made it I did use a pot to heat it up but it went so quickly that I am sure that it was still raw - it barely got warm. Or, how about binging with herbal tea for warmth? I think you are doing great and merely giving voice to what many feel as the cold weather comes on.

[rawnora]

... and quick, before it's too late! Lol. Being raw is about being healthy, and it is far, far healthier for you to eat sub-optimal bridge foods like steamed veggies and unadorned cooked potatoes/yams than to push yourself so hard that you end up falling backwards.

In addition, you don't have to eat all organic. Even people who are very strict about always eating raw and organic can have atrocious diets. Organic is not as important as biological suitability, freshness and quality. All things being equal, organic is better but if eating organic limits your choices severely, it's going to be difficult to stay raw if you don't eat conventionally grown produce. Eating the kinds of foods you eat when you fall off the wagon is vastly more harmful than risking a few pesticide residues, even if they're there, which is not a given.

If a person can stay raw and be satisfied, then going 100% raw is fine. But if you're not satisfied, you need to add as many relatively harmless cooked foods back into your diet as it takes to satisfy you. It's very important, if you do this, that you NOT see it as backsliding. Eating these foods needn't lead to eating worse things. Draw the line for yourself. Pick a few designated, allowed cooked foods and don't eat anything other than those and raw foods. All of the foods you listed would be fine, except beans, which should be added only if there's a danger you'll eat pizza or pasta instead!

When the weather changes, the body goes through some adjustments. It has to divert some energy to that task, and we feel this in ways that we couldn't even describe if pressed. We call the feelings "cravings". When we were cooked we didn't think anything about eating hot soups, pasta, warm bread or other foods in the winter to "warm" us. Actually, they don't warm us at all, they rob us of our vitality. In any event, if a person responds to the feelings every year by eating these foods, a habit is formed that is very difficult to break. The good news is that it takes less time to break a bad habit than it did to form it! Adding the steamed veggies perhaps will allow you to get through this year without your annual backslide and then next year maybe you'll be able to get by on complex raw foods. Your main goal, imo, should be doing whatever it takes to keep you out of a full-scale spiraling backslide.

Hang in there. :)

Warmly,
Nora
www.RawSchool.com

[exurb]

thanks for your helpful and insightful post rawnora.

[Vandy]

I completely agree with rawnora, and dreamwaltz, who said these have to all be organic? Sweeeetie, you are speaking to a college student as well... I live very cheaply per week, and I don't always eat organic either, but the fruits I mentioned I can get non-organic, and they are hopefully/most likely not as highly sprayed as other conventional fruits, like persimmons for instance. I got a case the other day for 10$! That would be my advice to you b/c it has saved me money wise. Buy buy the case! Make a deal with the grocery manager, and they can sell you a case weekly for a discount price. I get about a case of organic lettuce and two other cases of fruit each week. Then you can pick out the other trinkets if you wish. This is what I have done. This week my two cases I ordered were persimmons and papayas, and b/c they had a special deal on organic bananas I got one as well. Voala, I am a college student living like a queen for 60$. How much are you working with? Last year I survived on 40$ a week with NO kitchen. It's possible. Reach deep, and just know that we can help you through. But if you decide to try and balance raw and cooked, you could become off balance. We are here to help encourage you through! :)