Struggling!

[veggiefreak]

Hi there!
I am new to raw foods, and have so many questions.

First off, I am doing a raw diet after struggling with an eating disorder for a very long time. My problem was more with bingeing/purging, some food restricting, and some compulsive exercising. I have always weighed a normal to slightly low weight for my height. I was practicing Vegan Macrobiotics, and while really enjoying the principals struggled with the foods and cooking styles. I couldn't eat enough salads!!

So, now that I am transitioning to raw I am finding that I am not sure how much to eat (remember that listening to my body is somewhat of a foreign concept!!) When I wake up and start to feel hungry (usually pretty quickly) I make a green drink - I usually drink Green Lemonade from Natalia Rose's Raw Foods Detox Diet book. Then I might have a banana mid morning, or I might wait until lunch. At lunch I eat (for example) some celery dipped in hummus, a salad with arugula & other mixed greens, cukes, sun dried tomatoes, 1/2 an avacado, sprinkled with gomashio and the juice of 1/2 a lime. I also might snack on some carrots.

Then at around two or three (always a terribly horrible time for me - ED or not) I want to have bagels and sandwiches, cookies, pastries, anything "white" I can get my hands on....in fact, it could possibly be a piece of bacon and I would eat it!! I do have to add that diabetes and hypoglycemia runs heavily in my family. So, I usually have a snack of fruit or something and then get my "fix" from a huge bowl of oatmeal for dinner.....HELP!!!!

As far as technical questions go, I also have a few regarding tools. I have a juicer that is the bottom of the barrel, target brand juicer that I got some time ago to "try" - I wanted to make sure I was going to be into this before buying an amazing juicer. Now, I want to juice everything I can get my hands on, but am debating as to whether I should buy the Green Star or the Champion. If I got the champion, I would also buy a manual wheatgrass juicer to use as well. (I believe the greenstar will juice everything - veggies, fruit and wheatgrass?) Also, I have a cuisinart food processor and just a standard blender. Do I need to get a vitamix or a K-tec?

Any information about the diet and what the heck I should eat would be great. Maybe I am just not getting "enough" and therefore am out of my mind by mid-late afternoon. I do have Natalia Rose's book, along with the 12 Steps to Raw that I am just now reading. I would also love whatever product info I can get on juicers. Thank you SO MUCH in advance!!

[gabscastillo]

The late afternoon starch cravings are something
I struggle with as well. I find that I ususally need some good fat. Raw nuts, raw nut butter, sometimes raw nuts with a light sprinkling of raw honey (oh... yumm), a bit of raw cheese. These things usually help. My stand by is raw pecans with light raw honey and some jasmine green tea. I can get through the craving fires of hell with that little indulgence.

Just try to recognize what your body is really asking for. It's not a bagel- you know that- just experiment until you find out what it is.

Best of luck to you!

[jroo]

Welcome Veggiefreak. It sounds like, despite a few frustrations, you are off to a good start. Here are a few things you might want to try.

Originally Posted by veggiefreak

Then at around two or three (always a terribly horrible time for me - ED or not) I want to have bagels and sandwiches, cookies, pastries, anything "white" I can get my hands on....in fact, it could possibly be a piece of bacon and I would eat it!!

You said you have a green drink every day. Is it juice or a smoothie? Some people say 1 quart of green smoothie a day will eventually help with the cravings. You should be able to make it in your blender, just have to chop things up pretty well beforehand.

Maybe lunch is when your body wants its biggest meal. I think our bodies also need to be re-trained. No matter how I eat during the day, I usually crave grains all night from about 8 until I go to bed. Mostly, I think it's out of habit. You could make yourself a rule that you have to eat a big salad before anything cooked. Greens are loaded with nutrients, and I think nearly everyone is deficient in this area.

Beware of cutting back on food because of the cost of eating fresh or because someone says you'll eat less on raw. I think it's true that you may eventually need less food, but let your body tell you that--after it's absorbed enough nutrients to balance out your previous lifestyle. (Eventually, you may want learn to stop eating before you are full, a good habit for living a long life. But wait until you are more secure in your diet.)

I recommend reading something by Dr. Cousens. Try "Spiritual Nutrition" or "Conscious Eating", there's just so much good stuff about enzymes; the effects of meat, dairy and cooked grains on our bodies; raw research; GMO foods; organic; combating radiation and heavy metals; etc.

Most of all, think positive thoughts. Rewrite negative ideas to be positive. Write down goals. Be easy on yourself (you will slip up-it's okay!). You can also read David Wolfe's "The Sunfood Diet Success System", which has a lot of info on our thoughts becoming reality.

[Sam_Is_In_The_Raw]

I get a lot of really sweet cravings. Sometimes I am in withdrawal from pressure cooked grains because I was vegan before this. Consequently I end up snacking on soaked oat groats or soaked hulled barley all day and end up feeling like crap. I'm having trouble waiting for the meals and when I do eat I will either grab that or something sweet like dates or make a raw pie, and I know i'll eat too much and not feel great. I want to grab the green veggies because it makes me full of life and energy but I often don't feel satisfied afterward and still crave something sweet. What should I do?

[Double Helix]

I would suggest, be super-prepared with some fruit or other raw snack so you know what you can eat at the witching hour.

Make yourself a list 1-5 of what you can eat when the hunger pangs strike. #1 being the healthiest like fruit, and #5 being a Lara Bar or something. Just go down that list until you are satisfied. You can even do another activity that doesn't involve food, work-out, go for a walk, call a friend, do 100 jumping jacks, read 1 chapter of your favorite book, etc.

If possible, don't have trigger food in the house for the first few days you are doing this. If living with cooked eaters, see if you can put the trigger food in a specified area where you won't go to.

Hope that helps.

[Sam_Is_In_The_Raw]

I actually do live with all cooked food eaters, though they actually don't ever eat at home, so I'm the only one preparing and eating meals at home (my parents eat all of their meals out and my brother is in college) so I actually get the whole kitchen to myself. I think I'll try busying myself with other activities. Like yesterday I went outside for a jog and only then realized how stuffed I was.