What is the best way, in your opinion, to transition from vegan to raw vegan?
I am having problems wrapping my mind around it and wonder how you all have done so well.
When i went veg i thought i'd miss my hot bloody steaks, but I really don't, but I know I will miss my hot steamy bowls of veggie soups and rice dishes.
Do you miss things? Do you ever stray from the raw diet just because?
I would love to try this full on for a while, I don't think i can do it full on due to holiday traditions but to me it seems "harder" to do. Perhaps because going from meat to veg was so easy I don't want to transition again? I don't know, what are your thoughts?
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We here on 30B don't advocate transition because it tends to make the journey that much harder in the long run. That the shortest distance between any two points is a straight line is just as true in diet as it is in lifestyle.
I fully hear you on the socialization front. I just returned from spending 3 wks with family surrounded by many tasty and yes vegan cooked creations. These foods are actually pretty healthy on the grand scheme of things, but I knew it would still be a step down for me. Last year, I made the choice to indulge, and it led to an 8 month slump from which I'm only now recovering after over the past four plus months back at what I have proved works best for me, fresh fruits and veg. This time on holiday, I was able to stay the course. At times it was quite difficult mentally, but worthwhile, as I returned looking and feeling better than when I left.
I tend to be a no-limits sort of guy when it comes to diet--if one potato is ok, 3 must be better, and 6 must be even better than that :)
But that's me. Some people can have that one potato and be ok. But even this maintains the link in the mind that cooked food is fine. It might be livable but not ideal. I prefer to consume foods that love me as much as I love them. That means foods that don't cause me harm, which for me tends to manifest in skin and digestive issues. Much experiementings has proven that fresh fruits and veg treat me well and allow me to maintain and build my health.
That said, you have to work with where you're at in your own life and what you know you can handle. Obviously not all cooked foods are created equal. Whole foods, regardless of their preparation should always predominate, i.e. rice/potatoes/sweet squashes trump breads/noodles/or anything in a package.
If possible keep your foods pure, sans salt and spices, and learn to relish their inherent flavors. Eventually, you might find yourself more and more drawn to the fresh items as their flavors tend to be so much more vibrant that their cooked counterparts.
Hope this has been helpful; feel free to ask any further questions, as well as to post your thoughts and questions on the forum at large. The many more members there should be able to give you a much broader perspective from which to learn.
L8R!
I am going through the same transition right now and I find that the hardest part for me is battling social situations.
I really WANTED to transition, but I also wanted those comfort foods, and I had a hard time giving them up. What jump started me is that my cousin wanted me to do a fast with her through jointhereboot.com about a month ago, and instead of doing a juice fast, I did a fruit fast. The fast was only for 5 days, so I started it on a date I knew I wouldn't have any social obligations or anything to derail me. Plus I had her support. By the end of the 5 day week, it was some how really easy to keep going eat so much fruit. Plus I saw results, which motivated me too.
I have been doing lfrv for 3-4 weeks now, and I have to say that a majority of my cravings have gone away, but I'm not out of the danger zone. The smell of cooked food still makes me salivate, and social situations where there is peer pressure to eat is hard for me, so I deal with it by trying to avoid it. In all honestly, I'm not ready to announce my new eating habits to the people in my world because they will think I'm nuts! They already rip on me for being a vegetarian. So I want to stick to this diet quietly until I have some results that are noticeable by everyone, and they can see that I am not full of bologna (haha).
I also have a large-ish insulated lunch box that I carry around with fruit in it. It's kind of annoying, but the worst thing for me is to get really hungry. When I get starving, I don't care what I eat, and I lose my ability to rationalize food decisions. I find that it is REALLY IMPORTANT to eat plenty of fruit. I have been overweight my entire life, and pretty much everything I tried has never resulted in weight loss, but this has, and I put down like 3,000 calories a day. So eat lots and lots of fruit, and never get hungry.
The last thing is that I'm definitely not perfect. I do occasionally allow myself to eat a big fat veggie sandwich where I use avacado (instead of condiment) and I load it up with zuchinni, tender lettuce, sprouts, shredded carrot, and whatever else I have laying around. I always use bread with minimal ingredients, and I use it as a vehicle to get those greens into my stomach (because I'm not really motivated ot eat salads for some reason). I'm not eating it out of craving, but because I crave the greens and I don't like eating salad. Sometimes I crave something warm, and I do drink non-caffieneated herbal teas too, which I think are recommended against as well, but it helps me and keeps me from wanting other foods I used to eat, like sugared up coffee.
One other thing that helps me is that when I AM craving something cooked, I just think to myself "well, If I still have the craving tomorrow, then i'll eat it, but for now, I'll have some bananas" and by the time I am done with the bananas, the craving has disappeared. For me, that makes it not about deprivation, but about just waiting a bit for the craving to go away naturally.
Anyways, hope that helps a little bit!