by: Alissa Cohen
There's so much information out there now about going raw and staying raw. So many different ways to do this diet, natural hygiene, mono eating, 80-10-10, no nuts just fruits and vegetables, fasting, juicing, no fruit.
If you are new to raw there is no way you are going to be able to go on a strict mono diet (eating only one food at a time until your full) and be able to stay on it.. Ok, some of you may be able to, for a while. But this is the reason I see so many people fail on this diet.
For years I have worked with people who have spent time at some of the top healing centers, worked with the raw ‘gurus' and finally come to me and tell me they are sick of just eating salads, being so rigid or not feeling like they are having any fun with this.
If you have to 'white knuckle’ this the whole time your doing it, its not going to work.Yes, you may be able to do it for a while but eventually it will just be a matter of will power and that never works. You need to make this fun and easy and joyous! Otherwise why do it?! For health? Forget that. If that’s the only reason it wont work. You wont BE healthy because you’ll be so stressed and uptight and stress and anxiety produce acid in the body which is why you’re eating raw in the first place, to create an alkaline state not acid!
So, you need to make this fun, you need to make this something you can live with, something that resonates with you, something you enjoy and look forward to and not something you dread. So what do you do? Your not having fun, your getting bored, or you want to do it but the smell and look of other peoples food around you looks appealing and you find yourself wavering…
Well, if your dreading this way of eating, not having fun and not thoroughly enjoying yourself, you need to change what your doing, now!
Being new to raw foods, you cannot expect to go from a cooked food diet to a strict one of minimal amounts of food, this does not make sense! Think about this, please! So many times I go to peoples homes after they go raw and they have a small bowl of fruit on the counter. I ask, “where's your food” and they tell me, right there in that bowl. HA! Forget it! When you eat a cooked food diet, even when your are on a diet, there is plenty of food in the house to eat, in the fridge, in the cabinets, on the counters, etc… but for some reason when people switch to raw food they start eating minimally, they hardly have any food in the house or they go shopping and get just enough for what they need for a few days… stock up people! It is only logical that if you get hungry, run out of food and are new to raw food eating you’ll be headed to the nearest fast food place within days! Don’t be so hard on yourself and expect yourself to suffer through this diet with minimal food available.
Now, if your not one to prepare a lot of gourmet meals that’s fine. Many of my recipes only take minutes to prepare, but you have to have something in your house to eat. Stock up on nuts so you whip up a torte within minutes, buy a red pepper, scallion and walnuts to make the mock salmon, have some nori available to roll the mock salmon up with some avocado, so many easy things you can make. But you have to plan and think this out a bit. Its not hard, you would need to do this with any new plan or diet…. Teach yourself how to make a few things, buy the spices, ingredients, etc… and get used to preparing it. It’s so easy with raw food but there is a learning curve just like anything else. Take a couple of weeks to make all these mouthwatering goodies, get your body adjusted to the lighter feeling of raw foods, allow your taste buds to appreciate the pure flavor of fresh natural foods instead of processed cooked foods.
You should not feel deprived or cheated or hungry on this diet, if you are then your not doing this right. What is the ‘right ‘diet for everyone on raw? There is no right one, you need to figure that out for yourself. Ill write more about that in another post. But the only way to find what’s right is to allow your body to adapt and cleanse and shift while eating raw foods. Eventually you will begin to eat lighter and ‘feel’ what your body needs. Eventually after you have been eating delicious raw foods and having fun with it and making this a joyous adventure you will begin to feel better and heal and realize how this diet can be the most wondrous gift you will ever give yourself.
Once you have been raw for a while you know when to eat less nuts, when to eat more greens, when to cut out certain things, add certain things or change your diet and it won’t be big deal. It wont be painful and you will be able to do that with ease, but please don’t expect yourself to do that within the first month or two of changing your whole way of eating which you have known your whole life.
Its amazing to me that after 40 years of eating pizza and chips and cookies and candy, people go raw and after three days are worried they will be deficient in protein or certain vitamins! Come on, think about this, silly isn’t it? First of all you will be eating healthier then ever before, you probably have never eaten as much fruit and veggies before right? And it takes years to become deficient in most things…. After a couple of days of not rotating your food choices or having a green drink you’ll be fine really, trust me on this one. Most people have never had a green drink in their life!
So, closing thoughts – JUST DO IT! Stop talking about it, stop worrying about it, stop obsessing over it. Stop thinking you need to make this even more rigid (mono, natural hygiene, no fruit, no nuts, raw food is strict enough) Do it for a month and see how you feel, make the commitment and you’ll be floored!
Have fun, stock up on tons of food, make fun things to eat, talk to people about what your doing, stay connected (very important!) and discover your true self!
Best wishes on your journey to a new life!
Xo Alissa
www.alissacohen.com
