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Why do I keep doing this?

AVLAVL Raw Newbie

Both yesterday and today I've been doing horrbible with my eating. I had a lot of crackers yesterday afternoon. Today at lunch, I had my usual large salad with all kinds of good stuff in there but in the staff room there was a bowl of pretzels and chocolate finger cookies. Well guess what? Yup, I had some :(

I'm supposed to get my period next week and I find that I alway get uncontrollable cravings a week before, but really bad ones a few days before. How can I not "cheat" on my new way of eating I feel like I've screwed up so much. I feel like such a failure. I'm usually pretty good at resisting all that stuff, but not today. What can I do so the rest of my day goes better?

Comments

  • Something that works for me whenever I slip is to think about where that craving is coming from. Instead of having some random craving that takes over and you thinking "wow, that was weird, why did I just do that", you can think that the cravings are coming from an influx of hormones due to your oncoming period. Once you remember the root of the craving, you can better stop yourself from reaching for those pretzels and think "these are my hormones reaching for them, not my mind- I know what my body needs", and thus, decide to eat something else or nothing at all. Try making more raw "junk" food, like cookies and pies and crackers and bring them with you to work and keep them in the fridge so if you do have a craving, you will have those as an option instead of opting for the junk food elsewhere.

    Remember that everyday is a new day and decisions that you made before are in the past- keep being mindful and proud of yourself for doing this at all. Most people consider pretzels to be normal food, and you are superior in that you know what is right

    keep up the good work!

  • Please don't feel a failure, it is so hard when you get the pre-m cravings and you are working so hard. The more you get wound up about it the more likely you are to just revert back to what you have done in the past. Just celebrate how far you have come, and once your period is over, you can concentrate on your new way of eating. Have you tried making any of the recipes that include cacao as this may well stop you craving the rubbish they put out at work. I am also doing green juices that include half an organic lemon (so it has organic asparagus, cucumber, kale, spinach, broccoli, celery, etc) and this is really giving my body some good minerals which is definitely helping with cravings. It does take some getting used to tho. Good luck!

  • AVLAVL Raw Newbie

    Ok seriously...3 timbits & buttered popcorn????? What the heck is wrong today? It's not like I ate it at home, it was in the staff room. I know...really bad excuse. I HATE PMS!!!!

    I don't know how people eat like this everyday. I feel so heavy and bloated. Wow, now I realize how good my body feels when I eat a raw vegan diet.

    I'm trying not to beat myself up over this, tomorrow is a new day.

    Don't worry, I left work, so no more staff rooms until Monday!

  • luxdivonluxdivon Raw Newbie

    Hey AVL, try out some lara bars. They are a lifesaver! Especially the chocolate one! if you have one with you you can eat that, and it will satiate your craving. Also, don't feel so bad.

    We let ourselves have non-raw food every couple of weeks. So we ate roastbeef and swiss with croissants. And we didn't even like it that much! It was very strange. But then yesterday I bought ice cream, and we ate that, and it was good. But I don't feel guilty, because you don't HAVE to eat anything. WE just CHOOSE to eat good foods because they make us feel good. Because of just accepting that I ate something non-raw, I can now go back to eating raw and loving it all the more, because I know that I actually DO feel better when I eat well. Guilt will not help you. I repeat. Guilty feelings will not help you on your path to a more raw lifestyle. Like they said, find a raw treat that you love, and make sure you have ample supply. Denial to cravings is not the answer. jUst finding something that is healthier that will satisfy the craving. p.s. I have been on my period all week too. Mine happened during my period. It's just our bodies telling us we need something.

  • I agree with luxdivon, Larabars are great for cravings!

    I recommend the coconut kind since the chocolate ones are not 100% raw.

  • It seems that you are feeling a lot of anger and failure around your food choices, that's not why we do this. We are not eating raw to punish ourselves and keep ourselves from eating things we truly desire. ..it is not a DIET. It is a choice every day, every moment. And you know what? sometimes we can choose to eat something else, something cooked or processed, or brewed, or distilled, or whatever...and that is OK! But remember to eat it because you truly want it and not because you are creating a forbidden fruit out of it. Just eat it, enjoy it, and move on. If it makes you feel bad you probably wont eat it all that often. We eat raw because it makes us feel good. If you don't feel good than find another lifestyle of eating that does. Adapt. We can never be 100% of anything ever, nor should we. So maybe you should reevaluate why you make the food choices you do, raw or otherwise. There may be underlying issues emotional or physical that are causing your cravings. Or you are just like everyone else and sometimes want a treat. Go ahead...you'll be fine. :)

  • pixxpixx Raw Master

    "Just eat it, enjoy it, and move on."

    Great advice, Sypita. You beat me to this! ;)

    AVL= "I feel like such a failure." This is what I recommend you let go. You are not a "failure", you simply ate something. No need to see this as an all-or-nothing venture. It is not a pass-or-fail thing. "Just eat it, enjoy it, and move on." Keeping it in that light may very well make it easier to pass on it next time. (If you know you don't enjoy it, it may be easier to pass on it, rather than viewing it as a test. And if you ARE enjoying it, then a little bit every now and then is not such a bad thing!)

  • ambiguousambiguous Raw Newbie

    How about making some raw cracker, chip, and/or cookie recipes? That way you can satisfy your cravings (which really do sometimes drive you to eat a nutrient you need), and still stay raw.

    I recommend reading this for an insight on how to work with your cravings, and why "raw foodists" tend to crave starch: http://radicalhealth.com/raw-food-diet/people/favor-david.html#2days

  • AVLAVL Raw Newbie

    So since I've been completely off my meal plan today, I ended up having a dinner of bread, lots of cheese, crackers, some Nutella on my crackers, and a raw vegan brownie.

    I was so good as I was eating it, but I feel like crap now. Hopefully it will pass soon.

    Thanks for all the advice. It's nice to know that others also take some "time off" from this eating plan and that we can't be 100% raw all the time.

    Ok so tomorrow I'll be back on track. I'll let you know how I do.

  • pixxpixx Raw Master

    I'd like to suggest, that a slip-up during the day does not necessarily mean the day is blown. Each moment is new, not just each day. :~)

  • don't get so caught up in it!!! i spent years being completely obsessed with what i ate. then, on occasion, i would eat something "forbidden" and i would feel horrible about it. whether i had a hard time digesting it or i felt guilty it was always some sort of negative feeling.

    so i finally made some changes. i let myself try things that i wanted and wouldn't let myself feel guilt. i also stripped away any labels i had attached to my diet. I feel so liberated now. seriously! i had no idea how dependent i was on those damn labels... my whole life revolved around it! so now i just enjoy food and i find that i naturally make healthy choices more because it is what makes me feel good!!!!

    treat yourself well!!! :)

  • ras-saadonras-saadon Raw Newbie

    One thing I discovered about cravings and eating cooked food that makes you feel bad(physically), don't eat much and it will be ok, I know thats exactly the problem, but when I had mad craving for bread I discovered that if I'll only eat 2-3 slices and not half a loaf I can actually eat it without feeling that bad, I don't say you should eat cooked, but if you already do, really try to limit it so you can satisfy your craving but not feel that bad after, but really try to do some deep thinking and see the root of those craving..

  • J AJ A

    It is all about emotions. I believe there is a supressed emotion behind every craving. Most of those probably came along when we were children - the younger, the deeper emotions. Probably none of us have had a very secure and fulfilling childhood, in a deeply emotional sense. Or at least very, very few. Our society is not built to help parents and other family members give children all the love they need, whenever they need it. Our parents probably didn't grow up with all the love they needed and thus lacked tools for giving us all the love we needed. I was brought up believing I needed to do things to earn love, something extremely common today. I didn't realize that at the time of course, I only realized it very recently, but as a child I was loved when I did what my parents wanted me to do - was quiet, happy and at peace, didn't cry, ate what they gave me. The trouble is, every emotion you supress is kept supressed only by effort. They will keep popping up, most of the time we are totally unaware of it, perhaps catching a quick glimpse of an emotion somwhere in our body. I believe the most common way to keep supressing those emotions is by eating, for whatever reason. Other ways include smoking, alcohol, sex, drugs, gambling, computer games, violence etc. There are a zillion ways, we are extremely good at ignoring our hearts. We have to be - otherwise the emotional pain would have killed us as babies.

    It is possible to change your diet completely yet keep supressing your emotions. I am 100 % raw yet overeat on fruits. I have recently realized I don't eat because I need all the nutrition, I eat instead to supress emotions I unconsciously don't want to face. I eat less when I excercise more for example, excercise brings my body more in tune with my heart and makes it easier for me not to eat too much. I have begun doing the following:

    Whenever I feel a craving (in my case, for fuit I don't really need), I stop doing whatever I'm doing at the moment, find a quiet place, sit down, close my eyes, take a few deep breaths and listen. I will continue to breath deep and listen. Then, after a while, I will ask - what is this emotion I'm supressing? I have only recently begun this practice and haven't been able to see or "feel" any emotions yet, but I feel there is something, something I can't quite grab but it's coming nearer for every time I stop like this and meditate for a while. After a few minutes (most of the time probably less than 15 minutes) I feel the craving isn't there anymore, usually I'll drink some water and go on with whatever I want to do. I believe that once I am through with the supressed emotions of my childhood, I will be able to truly hear what my body needs. Some people have stronger cravings, others less so. Stress makes it difficult to tune in to your heart, you may feel you can't sit down and calm down, you must eat/drink/do something to calm you down. I have heard some have been successful at meeting these emotions with excercise for example, which I think is great but as long as the emotions remain unleashed inside you, they will keep coming back. They want out and the best you can do is let them come.

    Depending on how strong the emotions are you'll probably have varying difficulties along the road. I believed I was done with my cravings when I went 100 % raw (it wasn't really difficult for me). But now I see I simply changed from chocolate to sweet fruits, I'm still acting the same way, just using a different - albeit more healthy - substance to quell the pain inside me. I know some people whose cravings are extremely strong, they become strongly agitated unless they can quell the cravings with whatever it is they want to have, it appears extremely difficult for them to stop, calm down and feel what's going on on the inside. It shouldn't be impossible though, just varying degrees of difficulty. I believe all this has with childhood to do, the stronger supressed emotions from childhood, the more difficulties with tuning in to your heart. Some of strongest cravings I've seen were with people who did have a very (emotionally) painful childhood. Most people don't know what kind of childhood they've really had, as children we supress the lack of love and caring we feel and force our wounded souls to forget. Until a few years ago, I thought my childhood was pretty much perfect. Today, I'm much more realistic and realize my parents did their best yet here I am, doing things I don't want to do and needing to meditate daily to understand what's going on. I don't feel angry at my parents, rather intrigued at what I've piled up in my soul, wanting to find out. It's quite thrilling actually, especially when I feel I'm getting nearer the core of it!

    I don't have any good suggestions as to what you could eat instead of the cooked food you crave. But like I said, I substituted chocolate with sweet fruits and obviously I'm far better off physically. Mentally though I'm at the same spot, though I do believe raw food makes it easier for me to tune in to my soul to find out what's going on there, who I really am deep down and what I really want of life. It's like trying to find a radio station, you keep tuning, you hear this crackle here and there, after a while you notice the sound is becoming clearer but it'll take a while before you can clearly hear what your heart is telling you. I've only begun this journey but I'm so thrilled at the results so far I just want to continue tuning in!

  • This thread is so reassuring. It is so easy to get caught up in doing the right thing all the time, and I have to say, the pressure makes me want to chuck it all and binge-eat sometimes. I do this still atleast one day a week, but I thankfully have not discouraged myself from continuing on this journey towards more raw.

    Those moments are intense: the moments where you are between an emotion and a decision, and you really can't see the forest for the trees.

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