Steps to success...attitude when fallen off that wagon and having the option

[mattm]

Hi guys, continuing my "steps to success" series for newbie youngins I want to move onto what to do when you've fallen off the wagon, caved into temptation and pressure to eat that cooked food. Well, first things first, we all do it! How you react, YOUR ATTITUDE afterwards is what counts. Taking Seren's reaction in her "should I fast?" thread when she ate some cooked food as an example...I was so impressed by her because even though she was annoyed at haven eaten the SAD, she was NOT SPENDING ALL YOUR TIME BEATING HERSELF UP ABOUT IT. It sounds odd to say but in a way falling off the wagon is all part of the raw experience...yes that's right...it's like the saying "you sometimes must take one step backwards to take two forwards". Over your lifetime, because we don't live in a perfect world, there are going to come plenty of times where temptation and social pressures to eat cooked food are going to surround you and be so overwhelming that you might slip up. Now this doesn't matter so much if you know how to deal with these things...the beauty of having the knowledge of raw food, the green smoothies, juices etc is that it gives us something many don't have when they indulge in something they know they shouldn't have, that's unhealthy...it gives us an OPTION. Having the option, the knowledge of raw we know that even though we may have slipped up, tomorrow is another day, we can wake up and, for instance, put nature's finest foods in a blender, get back on that raw road of ours and nourish our bodies so deeply and in such a way in just a matter of seconds that 99% of the population don't do in their entire lifetimes...how cool is that:) And all of this is why I was so proud of Seren because she realised that tomorrow is another day and, as she said, she can get "...back on the smoothies, extra green with lots of spinach!". Also she ended her post by, not dwelling on negatives, but WHAT SHE HAD ACHIEVED on raw so far. When you have these slip ups, take the positives from these experiences and learn...for instance...ask yourslef what can you do next time to avoid this happening? In Seren's case it was1)How important it is with this lifestyle to plan ahead, if you know you are going to very busy the next day...make up a GS the night before or in the morning and put it in a thermos to have during the day when you have no time (I do this all the time at uni)...and 2) Make sure your stocked up so you have variety/choice all the time which will help make this diet as interesting as possible and tasty. As I've said in the past this lifestyle is as much one of self discovery and I can even remember when I started out on raw and used to have the occasional pasta or rice dish...every time I had it and tried the pasta or rice, it was rubbish, had no flavour and I DISCOVERED...what did I REALLY enjoy?...the RAW PESTO I mixed with it...yet I still had craving every night for these grains, yet I knew they were tasteless! And that is when it hit me...it's all physcology...I'm eating it because I'm addicted to it, I've tricked my brain into thinking I like it, thinking back to all those 'great' nights when I used to sit around with my family and we used to indulge in that pasta dish. What I failed to realise is what made all those nights with my family great and likewise all those other times when we went out to eat in a restaurant and would have a wonderful time wasn't becuase of what we were eating, it was because we were together, talking and 'enjoying' something together. If we lived in a world where raw food was the norm and, instead of spaghetti bolognese on a Friday, my family had, for instance, courgette and butternut squash pasta with raw pesto as I grew up then I would have JUST AS fond memories about those Friday nights of ours. At the end of the day, an aweful lot of this is physcology and attitude...knowing and being comforted by the fact that through raw you have the tools and knowledge to give you the best option available when you slip up, that you shouldn't go beating yourself up about things because tomorrow is always another day.

All the best and your thoughts and comments are welcome.

Matthew

[Bobbie]

me too, I used to succumb to rice or pasta or potato and then find them completely tasteless, and it was only because of fond childhood memories. Well said.

Hi Matthew :) I used to know a Matthew M. What's your last name?