How did you kick, your cooked food addiction?

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Permalink Reply by Winona on June 30, 2008 at 3:41pm

And - I eat whatever I want, whenever i want, and as MUCH as I want - as long as it's raw. I love uncooking too!

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Permalink Reply by Chris Carlton on July 1, 2008 at 7:41pm

Here is a link about beating cooked food addiction and ending cooked food cravings.

http://www.purelyraw.com/stayingpure.htm

Lovebows,
Chris

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Permalink Reply by Raw'r on July 3, 2008 at 7:06pm

i agree with durianrider about how accepted horrible food is....mcdee's really is a drug cause i would do bad things for those juicy fries....but i am trying to stick with this whole pure foods thing.

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Permalink Reply by Freelee on August 30, 2008 at 5:08am

Hey Suvine just curious what difference is there between fruitarian and raw vegan with lots of smoothies? Yeah 100% all the way :-)

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Permalink Reply by John Coleman on August 30, 2008 at 3:35am

Most cooked foods are not addictive like drugs are, it's usually what is put on them or with them that is addictive. Bread and cheese are both addictive due to opioid activity, and perhaps to an extent meat as well for the same reason.

Like any other drug you withdraw them for a while until the chemical dependency is broken.

For me bread was very tough to break, I could manage a few days without it and then would binge. However, with persistance the cycle was broken. I found that the rest of the diet being completely raw adjusted my senses until I no longer wanted to eat damaged pseudo foods.

Salt addiction can be tricky. I guess I am about 90% raw these days, will push closer to 100% once I sort out a good source of greens.

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Permalink Reply by John Coleman on August 30, 2008 at 4:15am

Some wise words there Pete, I think it takes at least 3 years to figure out how to eat high raw for ones individual circumstances.

Biggest mistakes by far in my experience are not getting enough carbos by eating sufficient fruits and using fats instead, and then not getting enough greens to supply mineral needs.

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Permalink Reply by Freelee on August 30, 2008 at 5:19am

Yeah I second this John.

It really is very simple. Eat enough fruit, combine it properly or ideally not at all..aka mono meal.
The more non-foods like cheese, dough, meat etc you eat the more you will want them & the more cravings you will have, these foods must be eliminated completely before the cravings disappear, they are like drugs and continue to circulate in your system until enough energy is freed up to expel them....add more fruits & greens so you don't have room for anything else. Our tastebuds prefer sweet & are easily confused with all the excito-toxins/salts & various condiments most cooked & gourmet raw dishes have in them. If the sugar isn't getting across into the cell then there will also be cravings so to answer your question...
I increased my fruit intake to as much as I could fit, made sure I was eating mainly mono meals, smoothies and lowfat. Approx 90% carbs.
Be aware that dried fruits and nuts can also interfere with sugar uptake therefore leading to cravings. Drink water too, keep an eye on the colour of your pee.
100%.

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Permalink Reply by Raw'r on August 30, 2008 at 1:20pm

i have found that i only get the benefits of raw if im 100% its kind of like all or nothing i guess....because once i eat a bit of cooked food i crave it even more.

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Permalink Reply by Jen on August 31, 2008 at 12:25am

I have been 95%+ raw for a year now. Once I started making my own salad dressings and desserts, it really wasn't an issue for me to stay raw. The key is going to the farmer's market each week and stocking up on fresh and exciting produce. That keeps me going...

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Permalink Reply by Raw'r on August 31, 2008 at 1:44am

i know what you mean i get so excited if organic strawberries are on sale or something. I find it hard especially when none of your friends and family are raw and you only have one raw restaurant...

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Permalink Reply by Uti on August 31, 2008 at 12:23pm

First thing I did was stop calling eating cooked foods an addiction. For me, calling it an addiction says I'm a victim and I'm helpless before it. That feels like shit and constantly sets me up to judge myself harshly. Denial never works for me. It's an endless cycle and a pretty small box to play in.

Notice that's it's our human condition to define and label things; especially good and bad. This is how we keep our "box" neatly under control. This leads to narrow-minded thinking like: "If raw food is good, then cooked food has to be bad." Our egos love to get stroked by saying we're %100 percent raw, even if it isn't serving our total being to the highest level. I've seen tons of raw foodists abusing themselves without mercy trying to be %100 raw. Being 100% raw is really not that difficult. We humans have an amazing ability to accomplish just about anything when we put ourselves in "survival mode. That is not the same thing as Thrival Mode.

What one of my guides showed me was there is another larger arena to explore diet from and part of that is what he calls Indulgence With Awareness. Indulgence with awareness lets you take your power back. When the desire comes up to eat something from what I formerly called the "forbidden list" I take a breath and try raise my consciousness around what's going on for me in the moment. If I decide to indulge in the food I do so consciously and I take full responsibility for the decision. Then I work on trying to FEELhow my body reacts to the food. That is usually not what my mind projects the outcome will be. This is a Process and by being gentle and loving to myself, the foods that do not serve my well being seem to leave my diet of their own accord.

I transitioned to raw food over a period of several years. As I added more raw foods to my diet processed vegan and cooked foods diminished. At one point I moved into a new living situation with a roommate whose diet was also mostly raw and some cooked foods. We decided to go 100% raw together and support each other's process. Both of us are master control freaks so we maintained 100% for 2 and a half years. What I found out the hard way was that I was doing 100% raw from my mind and that led me down a blind path to the point I compromised my immune system with diet and some stressful emotional things going on in my life that needed my attention and work. An ordinary flu bug hammered me big time and nearly killed me. As we say in my yoga path "sometimes the lessons come with the whisper of a peacock feather and sometimes they come like a ton of bricks on our heads." I got the ton of bricks plus a few! My normal weight of 125-130 had dropped to 98 pounds!

My illness forced me to totally go back and reevaluate my diet and seek counsel with my raw and yoga guides. I started keeping a food journal and counted the calories I consumed for six weeks just to teach myself to get a feel for the calories in my food and to make sure I was gaining weight and physical strength back.

Earlier this summer one of my guides told me I was still controlling my diet and eating from my head. I finally had to come clean and admit that there were some cooked foods I was having a desire for: brown basmati rice, quinoa, steamed root vegetables, Japanese sweet potatoes, shitake mushrooms, and steamed dark greens like chard. So I began to indulge in these cooked foods again, having several cooked meals a week. I feel an immense sense of satisfaction, relief and emotionally much lighter. I'm free to eat whatever I desire. I'm still more than 80% raw, but a much happier camper, because when the desire for some cooked food comes up my response is: what's for dinner?

To me food is a sacred gift. When I forget that I get my ass kicked. When I remember to honor my food as a gift from Mother she gives me good health and happiness.

Closely check out Pete Vincent's post above and read the A.C.E. thread on GITMR's R

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Permalink Reply by Uti on August 31, 2008 at 9:43pm

I see that my last paragraph from my long post this morning got clipped in the editing process.

IT SHOULD HAVE READ:

Closely check out Pete Vincent's post above and read the A.C.E. thread on GITMR's Raw Humour Group's discussion forum.

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