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dogsuponhotcats
Raw Newbie
I don’t think I could ever be 100% raw unless I wanted to forfeit any kind of social life, quit my job and live in a thatch hut in a jungle (or an isolated, possibly-illegal raw commune with a “prophet” LOL)... sorry, I don’t mean to offend any of you, but you see what I mean about the difficulty of 100% commitment.
That said, if I’m alone and I have easy access to raw food, I TOTALLY stick to eating raw fruits/vegs, NO PROBLEM. However, I make exceptions (and basically go all-out) when I’m with my friends, boyfriend, or at some work-based event where it would be weird if I didn’t have a paper plate with scones in my hands! :-)
I don’t want anyone, not even my family, to know that I’m eating raw (or trying to), so to keep them in the dark, I just eat whatever’s served. Plus, I don’t want to be rude or have to make excuses (which they will interpret as such), alienate myself or miss out, so I just eat whatever everyone else is eating.
Usually, I’m surrounded by people during weekends, so I deem the day completely phucked and I eat whatever – and later feel like schitt. And sometimes when I’m eating out during the week with people.
Eating raw, I’m so light, fresh and bouncy! :-) Can I still reap the long-term benefits even when I occasionally sow pasteurized seeds? Is anyone in the same situation?
Comments
Oh man, I have the same problem! The other day My friend Janna calls me to have lunch with her (she was having BF probs) so we go to this really cute, quite delicious Peruvian restaurant. We sit down immediately the waitress drops off the bread (ah my demise) so of course I pick one up, BUTTER it, and eat it. In my mind i’m thinking oh well my friend needs my help I can have lunch with her here this once. I go there tinking all i’m gonna get is a salad, over and over in my head…..then what do I do when the waitress comes back…order the freakin vegitarian plate. (the salads sounded awful). Plus I didn’t want her to say “we come here, and that is what you are going to get a salad”....let’s just say the place isn’t known for their salads.
I got a really bad stomach ache and then fell asleep for 2 hours (digestion nightmare)...so I made a vow (once again) not to do that again.
Been 100% for 2 days now….but of course I have been a prisoner of my own home, and I am frightened to leave because i know there are too many temptations and reasons to mess up.
all in all… I feel for me and you!
I don’t see why not… ; ) One could make the argument that while good nutrition is “concrete” and “scientifically proven to be beneficial”, our minds create our bodies, if the mind is not content and satisfied, how can we hold out any hope for the body?
I also advocate a raw diet but don’t maintain a 100% diet myself, actually I eat exactly what my body tells me to eat and I don’t think I could do it any other way…
stylestacey, it sounds to me like you needed to eat all that bread and cooked veggies to learn not ever to overindulge again, believe me I have been there many times before and I rarely repeat the same mistake…
Stylestacey – Oh yeah, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. :-) And you’re right, at a lot of places, the salads seem to be comprised of wilted iceberg lettuce, a few scanty shreds of carrot, and stiff shreds of red cabbage that smells unwashed! LOL And then after eating a big, cooked meal, it’s like the raw police come tromping over to “arrest” our digestion.
Silent_advocate – That’s a great philosophy, it sounds like it works great for you, and I can’t deny that you look perfectly healthy.
Be strong Dogsuponhotcats…I personally think 95% or better raw is best. I strive for 100% and I reach that goal daily. My only problem is salad dressings in restaurants and I go for simple as possible and the occasional beer. Very rarely do I eat out anymore.. look at the money I am saving. ha ha. You feel like schitt afterwards then ding ding ding. I live in podunk upstate NY and I can remain raw. I don’t think you are truely committed if you go for cooked food that quickly. You are making excuses for your old habits. Let them go. Transition….. Hope this doesn’t sound mean. Good luck to you.
RubyLaine – But what do you do when your friends want to go out with you, or if you have to eat what’s served in someone’s house/event to avoid seeming rude or orthorexic?? You are strong though then, lol…
I have been vegetarian since 1989 and vegan since 2001, my friends are used to my eating preferences. My transition to raw was easy. I graciously decline cooked food. I still encounter people that don’t “get it” but I still am able to just say no thank you. I know this isn’t easy for you but good luck.. you will find your way I am sure.
silent_advocate—- i’m a dummy and make the same mistake over and over… but for now I can say that was the last time I sweat ;)
dogsuuponhotcats——This is what I have been thinking of doing….tell me what you think…
I want to say to all my friends, family, and co-workers. I am Raw, I want to be raw, I believe this is the healthiest form of eating out there for ME! I don’t necessarily need your support, i just need you to understand that I can not always go where you want to go, or eat what you want to eat. I am not trying to be rude, I am just trying to stay true to who I am and what I want in order for me to be happy….
have not done that yet (HAHA) but that is my plan…think that might work?
Amen… stylestacey.. that’s all you have to do. Take control of “your” life.
If your friends are true friends they will respect and support you in your decisions. Your friends like you for YOU, and if raw is part of the package, they’ll accept it.
oh and they do accept me either way, but if I don’t say anything I am such a pushover, and they can easily talk me into doing what they want me to (I am one of those people who constantly has to please others, make sure they are happy before I worry about myself etc)....so I am preparing for my speech, and gaining my strength…no more mrs. pushover!
Yep, i feel ya too. i make that mistake over and over and over…. swear i wont do it again, and then…. cant force myself to eat the awful salad when theres so much yummy sounding restaurant food. suffer for it every time, but never learn. bread is my biggest downfall too, and the “raw breads” and crackers just dont do it.
I’m in a similar boat. At home, I eat raw all day. My boyfriend isn’t raw and I do the cooking, so we compromise at dinner. Some dinners are raw, some are cooked, but still vegan and the rest are a combination, possibly with non vegan “extras” for him. Restaurants are a different story, however. We are eating out less, which is good, but when we go out, I try to ease up on my raw preferences, while he satisfies his desires for anything that he doesn’t get at home. If I can negotiate a large raw salad for myself, then great. If not, I try for vegan. If that isn’t happenin’, then I have fish and salad or vegetables. I truly believe that in order to share a life with another person, there must be compromise. He eats more a few more raw meals than he’d like. I eat a few more cooked than I’d like. But, the fact that he is willing to eat this way when it is not how he was raised and is not what he gravitates toward in restaurants, makes me happy. He’s doing it for me, as well as for health. I think that I owe it to him and to us to be flexible in restaurants and not make dining out an uncomfortable experience for both of us.
If this makes me sound less than dedicated, or not a true raw vegan, then fine. So be it. I try for raw as much as possible and vegan as much as possible. This isn’t a 12-step program. I don’t have to consider myself “off the wagon” and back to Day 1 if I eat a little cooked food in a restaurant and enjoy it. I couldn’t agree more with silent_advocate’s first reply.
Sweetpea, appart from the fact I never eat fish, this is how I operate. My bf is getting a little more into the raw way of thinking but will never want to “go raw” completly for every meal and I can’t and don’t want to force him. “you can lead a boyfriend to raw, but you can’t make him eat it” is a corruption of a common phrase that springs to mind!
I struggle with this too. My friends and family and co-workers know about my lifestyle so they work with me. At work I eat NONE of the doughnuts, bagels, bbq and such that are served often. At home I’m 100% and with family I am still able to be 75% my friends are helpful and I do my best to decline but in certain situations it’s friendship over food. Overall I’m between 80%-100% raw. I do my best but I don’t let food come in the way of relationships…..except at work. I could care less about all that. haha
Yes, for me it is raw breakfast everyday, raw lunch during the week, raw snacks during the week and try to at the weekend, cooked (vegi or vegan) dinner probably 6 days a week, raw the other day if I can tempt the bf. Sharing food together is so important to most relationships, my bf would prefer I ate meat, so as I am a strict vegi that is a compromise for him as we have to cook together instead of the same i.e. we both cook a curry with mostly the same ingredients but mine is vegi and his has chiken in it. If I go to a restraunt I try and eat raw but mostly end up eating cooked vegi/vegan. As I eat cooked food almost everyday this doesn’t give me any problems so I don’t mind. My diet still ends up healthier than a traditional standard vegi/vegan diet so I am happy, I just keep trying to find more raw foods tha bf likes…