I feel bad for even asking...

[dreamrawalwz]

Thank you Rawnora. I think the cravings have past, actually. Maybe they'll come again and I'll keep this in mind! I just had a thought....today was the one day I forgot to take my liquid vitamins and the day I've had the most intense cravings..maybe my body was lacking something? I'll just have to remember to take them from now on! I know for me if I don't have organic I'll get an almost instant migrane so I kind of feel trapped. I mean, I know it's good for my body, but it's limiting as well...

[sungoddess]

rawnora's posts always make me feel like someone has all the answers!

Dream, best of luck! It seems like you are making progress despite your struggle right now. You have been raw into this year longer than ever before. I think as long as its not a full backslide you are still moving forward. Maybe next year you will have gotten so far as to not need the "comfort" of cooked in the winter.

And because you say "comfort" and warmth, it IS a psychological attachment to certain foods. Which I think is OK for now, we can't expect to change like THAT, and in an instant. Everything takes time. Everything LASTING takes time and dedication. Ups and downs. I have problems with binge eating. I stay 100% raw, but stress eat, and eat in a frenzy. I also live in NYC with TONS of intense raw desserts. I just went to get raw vegan ice cream (cashews, coconut, agave, etc.), a pint, thinking I would be able to control myself when I got home. Then the frenzy began. I almost ate the whole pint when I just seriously old myself that - it would be there tomorrow!!! And I was able to stop... but not before I had stuffed myself. I am trying to take it one incident at a time. You can do this! Small steps. Small victories. Its hard to be young and feeling less than healthy I believe in you, and best of luck!!!!!!!!!!!

~Chevy

[Vandy]

Good post sun~ :)

[goodbeets]

Living in Maine, it get's pretty darned cold. I have been finding making things like squash or sweet potato soup (raw) and then heating it up just to warm helps. I know spicy spices like cayenne and ginger are very warming. I put a hunk of ginger in a pot of water and let it simmer for a while then I add a bit of raw sweetener, yum and warm. I have also found that even when I indulge in a cooked emotionally convoluted food I eat far less of it then when I had a cooked food diet. I also feel very happy on the inside when I am truly able to forgive myself and love myself inspight of my flawed life.

[lily]

I must say I do agree with honeybee joy about 'cooking' some foods in the dehydrator. I find this really helpful -- having them straight from the dehydrator, all warm and juicey.

In fact I've just had a yummy salad with warm, garlicky portobellos on top -- they were warm, 'cooked' through, and really hit the spot.

I just wiped them very lightly with olive oil and a bit of salt and crushed garlic before putting dehydrating. You could do this with other veggies such as broccoli.

Warmly,

lily

[rawnora]

I must say I do agree with honeybee joy about 'cooking' some foods in the dehydrator. I find this really helpful -- having them straight from the dehydrator, all warm and juicey.

In fact I've just had a yummy salad with warm, garlicky portobellos on top -- they were warm, 'cooked' through, and really hit the spot.

I just wiped them very lightly with olive oil and a bit of salt and crushed garlic before putting dehydrating. You could do this with other veggies such as broccoli.

Warmly,

lily

Lily,
I also used my dehydrator a lot in the beginning to get through cold weather. There are lots of creative things people can do to simulate cooked food and stay away from the real thing.

However, even in very small quantities, condiments such as oils, salt and garlic render the foods they accompany into the stomach very difficult to digest. By contrast, light steaming offers the advantage of converting some of the long-chain sugars in veggies to simple sugars that the body doesn't have to break down. Unfortunately, it also denatures some of the other nutrients so that they are unusable. However, on balance steaming is an acceptable transitional practice when you add the fact that it also increases the satisfaction factor, which is crucial. Putting oils, garlic and salt on foods is not in the same category. It may help to keep a person satisfied, but it offers no nutritional benefit in return and causes big problems for the body. If a person is needing to compromise in order to stay on track, it's helpful to know which compromises are least harmful. Eating highly condimented food is much worse than simple steaming. We don't often hear the truth about this because in the raw community eating raw food has become more like a religion where adhering to the tenets is a more important goal than becoming healthy, imo.

It's all relative, of course, because if a person eating even a highly condimented recipe would be eating something worse otherwise, the recipe is preferable. Also, I recognize that we all have to do what is necessary to stay on track, and I did things in my early days that make me cringe today. I'm just offering the above to try to help people make the least harmful choices.

Kind regards,
Nora
www.RawSchool.com

[luckitri]

yes suddenly I am cold all the time. I just met a raw foodist who is quitting being 100% because she is cold all the time. This is a serious problem for some of us especially some medical conditions that have not gone away make us prone to cold. Well both ends of the spectrum bother me any more. I don't know why that is but it may be an indicator of some medical prob. Here in Az I am paralyzed by the heat for 6 months (used to not be bothered by it) and now it is only slightly cold and I am frozen and can't get warm. Couldn't stay in Rockland 'cause of it.....uhhhhh Labor Day weekend and 40 degrees in the midday sun! When I was a baby my parents put me out to nap in the snow and cold thinking they would harden me up to it! Seems like just the opposite happened!

[Forever Young]

What if I told you hot or cold dosen't really matter. Use your mind to create your body heat, your mind is more powerful than anything in this world. When you are done detoxing your body temperature will balance out and hot or cold won't bother you as much. Your as hot as you want to be or as cold no matter where you live. Forever Young

[Vandy]

Rawnora~ this is why I love 811...if I can add something... I used to be FREEZING ALL THE TIME LAST YEAR, even in the summer/spring. However, the longer I stuck to it the more my body adapted, and when I tried to include salt and heavy herbs into my diet again, I realized that my body was rejecting them, and I began to feel cold and other old symptoms return. Not to mention, the taste of salt to me is disgusting now. I would never spoil a tomato with it anymore. Ironically, I never used to eat a tomato without it. The more warm things you eat, the more your body will depend on it. However, if you keep putting things that are room temperature in your body, your body never has to work to normalize its temperature (cold or hot)...this should help your body a lot more to adapt. I don't eat warm things or cold things b/c I find that they throw me off and I either get cold or hot in the process. I always try to eat things at room temp, or if it is warm outside, that temp.

[lily]

Thank you, Nora -- I found your comments very interesting and helpful and appreciate your taking the trouble to explain. Although I've been doing my best with very high raw for a year now I feel there's still so much to learn.

Vandy -- or Nora, or someone who knows -- please could you explain briefly what 811 is? I have read your earlier postings, Vandy, but still don't quite understand the exact ethos and can't seem to find it on google.

I do understand that it's low fat and lots of fruit -- but what is it based on, and what does the 811 stand for?

Sorry if I've slightly hijacked this thread by asking this -- but as it has come up, it would be good to know a bit more, or where to go to find more, and maybe others would like to know these things too.

lily

[lily]

Replying to myself! i got the answer to my question in the next post I looked at when you, Vandy, recommended www.foodnsport.com -- so now understand -- in a nutshell, fruit all day, and a salad at night, very little of any kind of fat. Now I'm going to go to amazon and find out about Dr Doug Graham's books...

My goodness, what a lot I've learnt from this message board. May I take this opportunity to say a big 'thank you' to Alissa for running it and to everyone who participates for generously sharing their knowledge...

lily

[rawpriestess]

Well, it's all a trade off, I can understand eating all organic, as I grow most of my own foods, and I hardly ever use oils or salt anymore, in fact, I don't use them at all, unless I'm making a recipe.


I mostly eat fruits, and now that it is getting cooler weather, I have been drawn naturaly to tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, onion, garlic, etc. so I am eating those in a warmed veggie soup/smoothie. LOL

they really hit the spot, I add a dash of cayenne to my Vita Mixed, warmed soup and it's to live for.

it really helps on those cold days, I also add cayenne to my drinks even if they are room temp, they taste warm to me.

Orange juice with cayenne and ginger is really nice, so is carrot juice with cayenne and ginger. very nice indeed, tastes very exotic and warms me right up.

I would say it is better to eat all raw, and if for some reason that doesn't work for you, then do what does, and if eating lightly steamed veggies will keep you more raw, and at least vegan, then I say, do that.

and definitely asking on this forum is a good thing, so many people get off raw, or get confused and just hide, it's great that you are asking and getting so many good ideas, so you can make your own choices with all this great information.

[luckitri]

No this is a good question. I have inferred what it is, having read reference to it many times here but I would also like to know more.

[Lunar*Fey]

Don't feel bad, I don't think steamed veggies could really mess you up at all. I may have to be eaten steamed, frozen veggies sometimes. Not because I couldn't not eat them or something but because I just might have to. I know that there isn't anything I can do about it right now. I really don't think steamed vegetables will do anything any way. I, too, was wanting some beans, sweet potatoe, and vegetables...when I first got back from renfrew I had them if they were available because my mom was always like watching and still is and is upset I'm not doing it much any more. I tried some sprouted peas and loved them...which never happened before. THis is all nonsensical and jumbled haha sorry...

[luckitri]

Forever Young, I guess my mind just isn't that strong!