The Rawtarian Community
The Rawtarian Community is one of the largest online raw food communities. In addition to this community forum, you can browse and search thousands of community recipes added by over 5000 talented Rawtarian Community members just like you!
Visit The Community
Comments
Desperation, illness and fear:-)
vegan: read Diet for a New America
raw: trial and error. i experienced what it was like to be raw and it’s become it’s own motivation.
you have to push yourself a little to experience that shift between your former health and your RAW one, but once you get a “taste” of what that feels like,—even if you SLIP UP!—there’s no going back. you’ve been awakened.
alix- wow. that’s inspiring! =)
I wanted to be healthy, and eat closer to nature. As it turns out, it cured my depression! Woohoo! I cannot even express what that sentence means. YEARS and years and years! of depression. I counted moderate depression as “normal” life and was “lucky” to just be blank. That was “happy” most of my life. Then I finally decided to do Living foods, and ended up TRULY happy, excited, motivated. I just feel good.
The few times I have eaten naughty, I get a really mild taste of my old depression, I have broken out on my face, and I get a sore throat, tonsils, and my lungs and nose fill with thick mucus. Ew. I think that tells you. And that was from two bites of organic cookie dough!
also, you can stay raw, just eat a lower percentage than 100% if that’s too hard. Something is better than nothing. Especially if you eat things like beans, and whole foods as your cooked.
If only I weren’t having a weird mental “health crisis”/detox from this juice cleanse. I could explain it better and bring up more points.
“once you have reached your truest potential, it is impossible to settle for anything less”
My rowing coach from high school told me that about 6 years ago, and I think it applies to this very well!
Also, a biggie for me is the ENERGY!!! I get from eating raw. I lead a very hectic lifestyle between working morning shifts at a coffeeshop, school, and freelancing, and eating raw, I am able to thrive on minimal sleep because my body no longer wastes time digesting hard-to-digest processed foodstuffs. The energy you feel from a bit of fruit sugar is ecstatic, and the beauty of eating a greens salad while sitting in the grass on a sunny day is absolutely thrilling! These are just a few reasons….
I tried raw once because of illness, desperation and fear. Didn’t last. Almost a year later, I came to a place in my life where I only wanted to take in what was really best for me, and I naturally was drawn to raw very quickly. Now, I have gone back a couple of times, and I feel so good and happy eating raw that I can’t stay away!
Alix – I understand the fear.
Pianissima – Thank you – I do need to push myself.
Have_Mersey – Glad to hear that things are going well. Depression is such a scary word – there’s lots that we don’t know about it. I also suffer occasionally but try to have the “oh, suck it up” conversation with myself. I guess it’s a work on progress. I also feel better, happier and more balanced when I eat raw.
BeTheChange – I am looking forward to the energy coming. When I first started raw I had loads of energy – now it fluctuates – mind you, so does my percentage of raw. Hmmm, clearly there’s a connection. I just have to get back on track.
Angie – You are always the voice of sincere reason. Thanks very much.
Absolute happiness, peace within and a passion to heal the body. on 100% raw , there is no depression, no ill mood, total clarity, and no bumps on the backs of my thighs!
Simplifying the decision on what to eat and eating something that doesn’t make me feel tired or sick :) BUT, my main motivation is keeping off the extra pounds!
I used to have terrible, TERRIBLE depression, where everyday I would wonder if I would end up killing myself. That’s an awful way to live.
Since I’ve been RAW, I don’t struggle like that anymore. I feel optimistic about life, excited about the future, and about TODAY. I feel like I’m slowly beginning to realize my own potential as a human being. Since going all raw I’ve taken an avid interest in manifesting my vision for my own life. Life seems FUN now, more like entertainment and joy, when before it was only drudgery. I have so much more energy and I just generally… FEEL BETTER! :-) That sums it up: RAW helps me feel so much better.
I stay away from cooked food because the mental clouds are just now parting and I want to stay in the sunlight forever. :-)
Plus I just honestly love raw food.
well I love animals so that is why i am vegan. it’s ethical for me.
raw is about health for me. I have had severe depression, back pain, and fatigue for at least 3 years. so, it started out as an experiment. each week I have asked myself “do i feel better?” then i ask myself ” am I craving cooked food?” I have not really craved cooked food and I have felt better so I carry on.
I have to believe that it will help me as it has for many others. mainstream medicine had little to offer me. so I do this and my herbs for now.
well, i was in the cookbook section a few weeks ago and picked up the raw food detox diet. I decided, why not? I’d been on a ‘diet diet’ for 3 months, had lost 12 lbs, and was feeling good but wanted to feel better. So I tried incorporating more raw foods, up to like 60 % and was feeling so good, that I just ate more. Then I noticed that I really didn’t WANT any cooked foods at all! I had just bought a large case of like 48 crystal light packets that I had formerly been addicted to, and now they’re just SITTING there. I haven’t had any in 2 weeks. And I had LOVED diet coke, and haven’t had any in 2 weeks. I don’t know why—I wasn’t so “raw fanatic” that I wouldn’t have had one (hey, I’d bought them, might as well use them!) but I have had ZERO desire for it. And my coffee cravings have almost disappeared. Last year I was having 4-5 cups a day and now I just have 1/2 cup in the morning and dont’ want more. I don’t want any pasta, which is so weird too.
Mostly, I am just really, really curious about how my body’s food desires seem to be changing, and want to see where it takes me. My energy is SO much better over the last couple weeks that I just need to see “what’s next??!!”
So, it sounds like if I just commit myself, the motivation will look after itself. OK - here I go! Day 1. :) Thanks all.
Karuna – Woohoo! And don’t worry – just go at your own pace – wishing you well. :)
Yes go at your own pace! And have happy happy happy fun! Also: don’t feel like you have to buy a bunch of exotic ingredients(unless you want to), I do just fine with the very basics. :)
I started on raw to eat closer to nature too.
Also being vegan can be pretty limiting so the raw recipes definately expand that – plus, I try lots of things that I didn’t eat before.
I came close to developing colon cancer so anything to keep my colon clean is good. I am still battling my bread addiction but I am finding new recipes everyday that help me replace the vegan cooked things I loved.
Plus, staying raw keeps me looking younger too! Being raw, I can tan without burning and I don’t look like a ghost anymore!
I have never had a problem with my weight but it is nice that raw helps keep that in check too !
I also notice I sleep deeper and better and I notice if I eat raw I don’t remember my dreams and I don’t wake up feeling depressed like I normally would. I noticed that when I eat vegan soy I wake up feeling depressed and I am moody. Being raw I don’t feel as moody or sad.
I also like the fact that raw tends to create less waste that isn’t biodegradable – so great for the environment too! :)
I still have a few health issues I hope that raw will cure (or at least make better) some day. I don’t always notice an energy boost with raw – it sort of comes and goes.
I stay raw because it makes me happy. i have never been so blissfully happy in my life. i also glow, my skin looks awesome and i have a ton of energy!!!
i am afraid to go back to eating SAD, becasue i don’t want to feel, and look the way I used to!!
Raw for life baby!!!
lately I have noticed the visual appeal of raw foods. i looked at my cart today at the grocery store and it all looked so beautiful. and only two things were packaged. i saved sooo much wrapping. i think produce was designed by nature to be beautiful to encourage us to eat it. all the stuff that is processed has to have pretty paper on it because inside it is just brown mostly. ick.