Oh yum! I just had one of the tastiest meals yet. I juiced 2 lemons from next door, 12 oranges from my favorite organic farmer, and peeled and cut up 3 kiwi fruit into tiny chunks and threw them in (when I was near the end of drinking the rest, just for fun). What a combination! That’s about a quart and and a half of juice. Plenty of calories to keep me going today, the lemon gave it a nice twang, and the kiwi added some interesting flavor and texture.
I read a blog post today that inspired me to comment. I have worried many times that if I were to eat some cooked food, even a small amount, that I would fall back into old eating habits.
Phillip and I have been transitioning to a raw vegan diet for almost 2 years now. I have given in to the urge to eat cooked food a number of times. In each case, the severity and length of the “binge” has decreased. And likewise, the length of time I can now stay raw has increased.
These days, when I fall off the wagon, it isn’t for very long, and what I eat isn’t all that bad, as I don’t crave the really bad stuff anymore. I haven’t had anything deep fried in a long while, and dairy is not a temptation at all. Letting some time pass while you are transitioning is helpful.
I’m having good results following Dr. Graham’s 80/10/10 program, as described in his book, The 80/10/10 Diet
- a ton of salad, with lots of avocado
- “combo-a-bombos” (as I’ve heard someone describe them, ie. gormet raw foods with too much fat)
- not enough calories from fruit
I didn’t know it at the time, but now that I’ve read The 80/10/10 Diet, it seems pretty clear that the above formula, although nutritional, wasn’t giving me what I needed to sustain myself. After 3 or 4 days without getting enough calories, I got too dizzy and nauseated to function during exercise, particularly Tae Kwon Do practice, when we would do backward kicks. These require some balance and spinning, which exacerbated the problem. And some mornings I would wake up dizzy and weak from the get-go.
It was discouraging, because I really liked how the raw foods made me feel and I wanted to be completely raw right away. It makes sense to me now though. What I was doing was nearly like fasting, while still piling on my regular exercise program.
I’ve had more lasting success on raw food now that I am getting enough calories (like with the orange/lemon/kiwi fruit combination described above). I’m not losing weight so fast and I feel comfortable. It almost seems like if I eat right, some days there are no cravings at all. It’s just a matter of time until I figure out how to keep it this way for good.
I just wanted to write a comment to say thank you for writing this post. I have been making the raw transition for two and a half months now. Each time I fall off the wagon and eat cooked food, I get so discouraged. To read that, over time, your “binges” have lessened and lessened over time gives me hope that, with some patience, this will become effortless. Also, you are the millionth person who has mentioned 80/10/10. Thanks to you, I am now off to Amazon to finally purchase the book.
A little cooked food is like eating cooked food, same as a little poision is eating posion same as a little evil is evil.
Principles are the same.
I fight it a lot and am successful by decisions I make when alone and noone is looking, those are the ones that count!
suvine.com
Thanks Wendy and Suvine for your comments. Wendy, it is heartening to hear I’m not the only one who frets over the binges.
I’m glad to hear you are purchasing Dr. Graham’s book, I highly recommend it. I just keep re-reading parts of it over again until it sticks. I found the recipes a little overwhelming at first, because there are so many in the seasonal meal plan. But then I decided just to focus on one season and make a list of the fruits and vegetables needed. After a while it didn’t seem like so much work.
In fact, all I really needed to do was dive in a try a few recipes. They are very simple, most of them, and I’ve already started creating my own combinations. I actually find that my own combinations are better, because they are made from my own favorites. Like the day I tried combining a little lemon in my orange juice, and threw in small chunks of kiwi fruit (as described in the post above). It was yummy!
The best is that once you find a fruit or combination you really like, you can eat as much as you want!
Cheers!
- Van