Do you think a raw food diet is sustainable for you long term?

[Bunny Berry]

With so many people struggling to stay on a raw food diet, do you think it is something sustainable for you for the long haul? Do you see it as a cleansing diet that you do between binges?

How many of you feel like if you changed your mind and decided to go Whole Raw with some cooked whole grains and greens and the occassional sweet potato would be less yoyo raw food dieters?

Aren't we supposed to enjoy eating? Enjoy food as part of our long lives? And not put stress around it?

Told you I wad going to ask some hard questions starting today, but I am really interested in the answers from your own personal perspective. No judgement. No foul. It's just a question Try to answer with your heart and heat in alignment.

Oh, and what percentage of raw do you think is vital?

[KirbyCuke]

I am at that point right now where it is not worth the stress right now obsessing about all raw,high raw,
Im thinking about foods more now than I ever was and I dont like it. I just have to eat to fuel my body..i know what is processed isnt right for my body anymore..it makes me feel horrible and the effects afterwards are just not worth it. But to keep saying Im raw..but I eat a baked pot or steamed veggies or some brown rice well that is just me eating normal foods.why say Im raw..or not raw..Im just eating healthy whole foods and that is the way Im going about it right now. It has been a whole week..and I am losing again and I feel good because Im not stressing out about agave or the cashews are they raw?? Im just trying to focus on whole foods...no processed..and low on fats.
so I dont have a percentage for you because im just trying to eat better each and every day.

[Bunny Berry]

I'm so happy for you, Kirby. Keep it real. Keep it doable. More greens and veggies , cooked or not is better than processed. Good for you.

KirbyCuke said:

I am at that point right now where it is not worth the stress right now obsessing about all raw,high raw, Im thinking about foods more now than I ever was and I dont like it. I just have to eat to fuel my body..i know what is processed isnt right for my body anymore..it makes me feel horrible and the effects afterwards are just not worth it. But to keep saying Im raw..but I eat a baked pot or steamed veggies or some brown rice well that is just me eating normal foods.why say Im raw..or not raw..Im just eating healthy whole foods and that is the way Im going about it right now. It has been a whole week..and I am losing again and I feel good because Im not stressing out about agave or the cashews are they raw?? Im just trying to focus on whole foods...no processed..and low on fats. so I dont have a percentage for you because im just trying to eat better each and every day.

[Angie]

Great questions! I used to think raw was the only & best way for me to eat, and that I would need to eat raw forever. After a few years, I became troubled because my health was declining even though I was eating raw. I was also troubled because I couldn't see any reasonable explanation why certain organic cooked foods would be bad for me, as long as I'm getting my enzymes by eating plenty of raw stuff. My current opinion is that raw can be extremely helpful (and sometimes totally necessary) for healing, but the percentage needed will vary based on each individual's state of health - in every part of life. I also believe that food (raw, cooked, wholesome, processed or whatever else) has a definite impact, but that it is only one component of health/sickness, and it is easy to look to a diet as a panacea to cure all ills when in fact there may be many other factors that will get overlooked if diet is expected to cure everything. I also believe that if a person is yo-yoing between raw vegan and hot dogs/Twinkies/Doritos, there may be other things to consider (emotional issues, imbalance or lack of nutrients in the chosen raw diet, etc.). I think that stressing over the particulars of a diet may also be more harmful to a person's than the "bad" foods one is trying so hard to avoid. I eat the way I eat because I want to do what's best for my health, and this is what feels best for me right now. I am fully aware that tomorrow or next week or next month, something may change and I'll need to be eating differently than I am today.

[T]

i plan to maintain high raw and close to 100% raw in the good growing months -- for the winter i am allowing some cooked grains and the like -- i have only been eating this lifestyle for little over a year and it is a learning curve to undo all the damage mentally you have about cooked foods -- i do eat much better than i did before i started my raw journey last year and have pretty much maintained my weight loss -- i don't sweat it if i go out for a meal with my bf or family -- i just eat raw after that -- i do find i choose whole raw foods mostly over the way i used to eat -- the biggest thing i have learned is not to count -- calories or fat grams or the like -- if its raw i eat whenever and how much i please

but i think the "binges" are mainly the way we beat up on ourselves -- we reach unconsciously -- we cover the hurt and pain with comfort foods -- i believe truly loving ourselves and treating our bodies like temples instead of garbage disposals make us aware of what we're putting into our bodies -- once we have ventures eating raw foods we then find how cooked or processed foods make us feel -- once we get past the mental memories i think high raw with the occasional healthy cooked option is fine -- unless you have health issues which prevent it -- miracles have happened with raw food eating

just my 2 cents worth
hugs T

[Angie]

As far as sustainability long-term, I think it's as sustainable as it is necessary.

For me, raw chocolate makes it MUCH more sustainable! ;)

[Julee Guevara]

I get sick now if I don't eat 100% raw. I don't know if that will change in the future, as I haven't sustained this level very long. I'm probably more in the catagory of healing, at this point. I have looked into the question of doing this long term and reading the experiences of raw 'leaders' who are 100%. What surprised me was not so much adding a bit of this and that later to a mostly raw diet, but the fact that it took many of the 'leaders' YEARS to get ot 100% raw.

At this point, I would like to think that I can be 100% raw long term, but time will tell, and I don't think the occasional cooked brown rice or sweet potato would cause much harm.

[Emily]

I was just listening to a podcast interview with Dr. Aris Latham of Sunfired Foods and he has been raw for 32 years. I´m sure any of you could list off a handful of others that have been doing this long term. He mentioned that if humans want to continue living on this planet, then long term, living foods is the only way. I do agree with him. Without getting into the superfood debate, I think that raw foods is one of THE only truly sustainable ways of eating out there. We have a lot of craziness out there to fix, and all of us have to fix ourselves first to do any good.

I think that for me, long term viability happens when I stop getting into the good food/bad food thing. When I am kind to myself, I only want good foods and for me that means raw foods. And I am happy at a mostly raw level.

Yes, we are supposed to enjoy eating. It is a cultural experience that ties us to our family, our location, our ancestors, our life. But recently, we have given it too much power. So many of us have food addictions and we have forgotten how to enjoy our life and then totally freak out when we are called on our need to change.
By we, of course, I mean me ;)
This whole food is meant to be enjoyed puts way too much onto what food is supposed to be. Food is not meant to comfort, warm, or occupy us. It is meant to fuel us. Our families, friends, lives and activities comfort, warm and occupy us. This is something I am really trying to focus on now.

ramble over now!

[Jane Solomon]

I find it easy to stay 811rv for most of the day although I have been slipping up in the evening. I think it's a question of habits and repetition and needing time to make the transition. But I think the challenge is half the fun, I would be quite happy to do rawfu challenges for the rest of my life!

[Bunny Berry]

Thank you all for your thoughtful answers. I'm looking forward to hearing more, especially from people who are struggling to stay raw.

Also, I notice a trend on RawFu. When people are high raw or 100% raw or somewhere close to that they are here and chatty and participating, and then when they go off on a cooked food time, they slink away and we don't hear from them for months. Like they are not somehow worth it to be here if they're not raw. It makes me sad when I see threads like, "Im Back! I've been gone for 3 months, but I'm back", when all that time we could have been there to support healthy cooked choices if they decided they needed to eat cooked during that time period.

It takes some raw foodists years to eat 100% raw. After years, some decide to add other cooked foods into their diets. I'm just wondering where this group falls on the spectrum.

My classes at Integrative Nutrition right now are talking about find the diet that is for you for LIFE, and I wanted to how you feel about raw foods for life.

Keep em coming...

[Angie]

That would be me! I thought this forum was to support people eating raw, and it wasn't what was best for me at the time, so I was planning to stay away - but then you made it about the whole person, which was where I felt my focus needed to be, so I came back. It IS nice to be able to get support for a healthy lifestyle, even if the diet is not exactly the same for everyone.

[Debra]

I don't struggle because I don't force any labels on myself. It's been pretty easy to do about 80% raw and 15% mostly steamed veggies + 5% whatever I feel like from time to time.

My main concern is 'what the heck would I do if I lost my job'. This is sooo expensive. Also if I travelled a lot it would be hard. If I had financial limitations I would definitely eat more stuff like beans/rice and less superfoods, powders, supplements, etc.

[Littlewolf]

I dont worry about it all...I will have times 100% and times when its 50% and thats OK, there are changes in the seasons and changes in our lives, so no point beating ourselves up...OK if you have the money, time and ability, but if not then do what you can, thast how I am living my life and its a happy one :)