how do your families respond?

[rande]

i know i've read of some young raw foodists having a hard time with their families, since they dont buy their own groceries living at home and everything. just wondering what everyones experience is. i buy my own food when i'm away at school but i'm home for the summer. i have to say that my family is pretty much awesome! we've got a fridge STUFFED with greens right now and my mom just bought a whole case of young coconuts! she's pretty high raw which is really cool and my stepdad likes my smoothies :)

[MelonManiac]

My family thinks it's crazy and my mom insists I have to eat cooked food too but can eat a lot of raw with it :-\ ... I just wish they'd let me do my own thing liek your family ... I'm just starting raw and it would help to have my family support me instead of trying to force feed me cooked food

[Random Violin Guy]

Rande, it sounds like your family rocks.

My family's always considered me kind of... quirky. When I first went vegetarian, they thought it would be unhealthy, but they eventually got used to it. Then I gave up eggs and dairy (I forget which I gave up first) and they thought I was being extreme. Once again, they've gotten used to it with time. They definitely don't understand why I went vegan and gave up leather and wool and silk.

I think my mom is beginning to understand where I'm coming from on the vegetarian thing, though. I keep sending her articles from time to time. Yes, I'm working away at her until she eventually goes vegan. ;) Shh! Don't tell anyone. hehe :)

As for RAW, they know about it, but I didn't go raw until I was living out on my own again. They don't really see it day-to-day, so I don't really get any feedback or opinions or anything like that. I imagine they must think I'm barking mad because of it.

You know, if I told them I joined a nudist colony, they might believe me. Haha. I'd tell them I thought it was healthier for the Vitamin D.

[mattm]

My family are all SAD and my father has a very firm belief in the 'meat and 2 veg' way of eating and I don't see that ever changing....though, put simply, they are absolutely amazing and have always been behind me 100%. A lot of that support comes from the fact that they know how determined I am when I commit myself to something and they couldn't do anything to change my mind. Plus, they see the transformation I've undergone...the energy I now have, the happiness and confidence and all the ailments I've rid myself of and they've told me that they would support anything that does this for me. Also even though my parents will continue to eat SAD, they have taken on a lot of what I've said after seeing the benefits in me and my enthusiaam for nutrition...for instance they now always have large salads with their meals, eat virtually all organic, started our own growing our own veg and fruit in the garden, drinking (oh my god!!) juices after I've started over the holidays getting up especially early in the mornings and making them before they went out to work and (2nd oh my god) i've got my father (who smokes) into taking chlorella tablets every day (good, among so many other things, for eliminating heavy metals). Now I know they aren't going to be raw, my father is going to continue to smoke but I feel least I have given them something, I'm trying my hardest to help them as they done for me and continue to do so with so much love. I feel extremely lucky to have this support as I couldn't imagine how tough to have literally everyone around you 24/7 putting you down and exerting pressure...again this is why this forum is so important because for those youngins that do not have the support some of us are lucky enough to receive, they will always find it here in abundance.

All the best and great thread.

Matthew

[shooting star]

I'm still in the raw closet!


My parents live 300 miles away so they don't have a clue what I'm eating. Also as I'm 32, it's really none of their business!

However I still haven't told my husband yet! Still working on that one.

[Pipen17]

Basically everyone in my family is vegan, except for my mom who is raw with me... so that makes it so much eaiser!! But the rest of my family has been supportive all along and now that they are seeing some of the results they think it's even greater than before!!
When i go off to college i think it'll be easier for me because i'll know what to get and i will have been raw for a couple of years
-pam

[RawBecky]

My parents are very supportive and understanding. They agree with what I'm doing, but just aren't raw themselves. However, they are vegan.

[rawsurfer]

i was always the ¨"bottomless pit" to all of my family. i ate so much food (miraculously i stayed skinny).i was the most adventurous when it came to food, and family always told me that i was the most fun to go eat out with because of it. i think they were sad for themselves when i went raw, because a big part of our lives just ended suddenly. there was no transitionary vegetarian or vegan period, it was just i was interested in health for a couple of months but still tearin up all kinds of meat and goodies, and then bam i read alissas book and the next day i went raw and havent stopped since. they were resentful for a couple of weeks, and tried to pressure me into sad eating similar to the way old drinking budies will try to get you to drink again.
then i got on this evangelistic trip where i was trying to convert everyone i met and they got super exhausted, and i think they were just over it and possibly feeling guilty (since i was tryin to guilt trip them into raw)...

eventgually it just mellowed out and is really chill now. the whole time the still supported me even though i seemed like a nutter to them. for a while though they really thought i was hurting myself doing this. but ya they pay for all my organic food (i eat like 80 % org) and pretty much couldnt be more supportive. i couldnt imagine not having the homelife that i do, even though i have never really met too many people with aas good of a home life as i do. so i know i am really spoiled. its sweet thou

[RawChicky]

My family thinks I'm psycho but they pay for all my stuff cuz they know they love me

[silverundertone]

the family unit thought i was 'just going through a phase' when i became vegetarian at the age of 13....but by now theyve learned to deal with it..and sometimes even go through the effort of stocking their fridge with good organic fruits and veggies whenever i come over.

[magglepie]

Luckily my family has ALWAYS supported me. When I was 15 and first went vegetarian, my brothers would kind of jibe at me and be like "Oh come on, just eat one little slice of pepperoni," or something like that. Now, 11 years later, they are used to my eating habits. They respect that there are certain things I am just not going to eat! Sometimes I'll get the occasional "A little bit of cheese won't hurt" comment, but usually they are all cool. In fact my cousin has even delved into raw for a short period. I am hoping that I can get him in longer ;)

[Raw Mom]

My parents are the reason I am on this journey. They've worked at Hippocrates and Optimum Health Institutes for the last 20 years. And oh, the stories they tell.....Thanks folks.....

[Anastazia]

My family has heard me talk about health stuff for a long time, but not live it consistantly, & have seen my health problems progressively get worse, so though they support me as much as they can, & encourage me, i don't think they really believe it's making (or will make) a whole lotta difference...

...they have changed some of their eating habits, though! & I'm determined to show them it really does work (yea, when ya work it!)

My daughter loves it when i go raw, but she's seen me fluctuate so much she, too has a wait & see attitude, when it comes to my getting & keeping weight off! Thankfully, though, she LOVES raw food, & is willing to get free of her cravings & attachments to cooked & processed food~

It's interesting to see how different families respond!
~Anastazia~

[Elizabeth]

I'm still in the raw closet!


My parents live 300 miles away so they don't have a clue what I'm eating. Also as I'm 32, it's really none of their business!

However I still haven't told my husband yet! Still working on that one.

LOL!!! Somehow this struck me as funny... How do you manage that with your hubby?? I see you hiding in closets, furtively munching carrots...slipping greens into seemingly innocuous blended drinks...trying to approximate the color and texture of more "acceptable" shakes and frappacinos...

undercover Raw in a "cooked food world.."

my imagination gets the best of me sometime..'scuse me...:)

[Rawzula]

My family (or what's left of it) don't really care about my eating habits.