Junk Food Experiment

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Permalink Reply by Uza on August 1, 2008 at 4:20pm

Send me your email addy and I'll invite you in to join the challenge

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Permalink Reply by Uza on August 1, 2008 at 8:00am

UPDATE:The Morning After

Let me just say that every part of my anatomy ACHES. And even though I am very excited about today I find I am extremely irritable. It was difficult to sleep last night. My mucus membranes were so swollen it felt like someone had stuffed dried beans up my nostrils; I could barely breathe!

Just out of curiosity, I reviewed all the videos I've made during the last week, and was utterly appalled at the differences just over the last two or three days! When I went back videos I made a week ago, I looked vibrant. That definitely does not describe me now.

Even though I knew what to expect and thought I was prepared for it, this experiment slammed me harder than I remembered from my past experiences of having done this (out of sheer stupidity). This is in fact why I did what I did and created this video: To serve as a reminder to me that "just a little bit" can and does hurt.

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To put it into perspective, this was a video I made one week before The Junk Food Experiment:

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Permalink Reply by Christine on August 1, 2008 at 10:57am

I have found that particularly in the early days of going raw, when it's all exciting and new, and you get this new high, vibrant feeling of health, it is easy to forget how we felt before. Also, we store certain memories regarding comfort foods, junk foods, and other "favorite" that we enjoyed in the past. By eating this food again, you can now subsitute the "feel good" memory with the newer "this isn't so good" memory.

I think it is a necessary step for most of us. It does help tremendously with craving. Though I still have cravings now and then, I can immediately connect with how this would make me feel, and 99% of the time, that is enough to deter me from eating it.

Now I can enjoy an old memory of a childhood favorite, or a family tradition, connect with the emotion and warmth of that time and treasure it, while at the same time, have the other simultaneous connections to the fact that I have no present desire for this food because I know what it feels like NOW to eat it. It is separate and happens at the same time.

Your experiment took guts and will greatly reward you in the future.

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Permalink Reply by Uza on August 1, 2008 at 11:32am

Oh gosh I hope so! For fifteen years now I've been on-again-off-again raw, and this last year was the WORST . . . my life was in a shambles and I fell into the disgusting habit of hitting drive-thrus because I simply didn't care anymore. And that only escalated matters as the poisons did their work not only on my body but on my thoughts and very soul as well.

About four months ago my first grandchild was born. Pictures were taken. And wow . . . .

I hadn't realized just how out of control everything had gotten until that very moment when I first saw those photos and saw, instead of the picture of health, the picture of un-health!

So I made a promise to myself right then and there to get my act together, if not for me, then for my young son and brand new grandson. Slowly I've been regaining my health, but as I communicated with others new to the raw road I saw them struggling with some of the same issues I had: Temptations for comfort foods and convenience.

When I started stumbling and eating more cooked & processed foods again this last week, as we were preparing for this 100 Day Raw Food Challenge, it occured to me that I could turn this into a learning experience with lasting results--not just for me, but for the raw community at large. Thus my Junk Food Experiment was born.

Your observations are so 100% right on. We somehow "forget" what these foods do to us, even when we know on an intellectual level that they are bad for us. And yes the memories play a huge part in it, especially foods that are associated with celebrating, like pizza, etc.

Thanks for your wonderful insights. I hope others can learn something from my experiment but the most important point of it for me was to have visual documentation of what junk food does to me. I don't think I will EVER go there again.

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Permalink Reply by Uza on August 1, 2008 at 4:58pm

Let me know if you want to join Raw Fu . . I can still get you in by special invitation, today only.

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