Fwd: [SoFlaVegans] 5 Ways to Overcome Social Obstacles on the Raw Food Diet - I

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5 Ways to Overcome Social Obstacles on the Raw Food Diet, Part 1

by Frederic Patenaude

 

http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/ezine/072006.html

 

Let me ask you a simple question. Do you find it hard to try to

improve your health, eat raw foods and really take good care of

yourself when there is social pressure to eat junk food, get drunk

and be just like everybody else?

 

Do you face opinions, negativity and skepticism from other people

about the raw food diet or anything “different” you might be doing?

 

Do you find it hard to get what you want at a restaurant or deal with

someone who’s resistant to your changes?

 

I find that it’s a big problem for people.

 

You may want to do all the right things to improve your health but

your friends, work colleagues or family members might be very

resistant to these changes!

 

By the time you’ve finished this two-part article, you’ll have 5

great tips to overcome most social obstacles on the raw food diet.

 

#1. Communicate — With Yourself

 

Communication is everything. The only reason why you are experiencing

social difficulties for doing something different is because of your

communication.

 

There is nothing else.

 

Now I know you may disagree, but hear me out on this.

 

The only reason that you find it “socially” difficult to eat a raw

food diet or be different is because of your communication with

yourself and with others.

 

Your communication with yourself is the little voices in your head

that tell you things like:

 

“Oh, they won’t understand me.”

 

“They’ll think I’m crazy if I explain what I’m doing.”

 

“I’ll never be able to get what I want at this restaurant.”

 

“It’s so hard to be social on this diet.”

 

“Well, I’d rather be social and happy but not so healthy than become

a hermit, a health food nut.”

 

Does this sound familiar?

 

The truth is that all of that is just a big long story and it doesn’t

mean anything. You create everything by your thoughts, so if you

think that you can’t be social on a raw food diet, that’s exactly

what will happen.

 

If you think that other people won’t understand you, that’s exactly

what will happen.

 

If you think people will think you’re crazy, that’s exactly what will

happen.

 

And if you think it’s not possible to be healthy AND socialize with

the rest of the world, that’s exactly what will happen!

 

So the first step is to really get rid of all these pre-conceived

ideas and all of that mental chatter and have the expectation that

yes, you can have a great social life and eat whatever makes you feel

best!

 

Communicate — With Others

 

The next part of communication is with other people. Usually, people

communicate a lot but for the wrong reasons. Basically, their

communication lacks power.

 

You may try to convince somebody, but it’s not going to make them

change their mind, have you noticed?

 

You may try to explain what you’re doing, but the other person might

not necessarily get it, right?

 

So what should you do?

 

The kind of communication you need to have with people around you is

a powerful conversation that enables people to realize that what

you’re doing is *important* to you, in a way that leaves them touched

and inspired.

 

It doesn’t mean that they have to do it too. AND it doesn’t mean that

they have to understand exactly what you’re doing.

 

But they can be touched and inspired by you sharing with them what

you’re doing for yourself and why it’s important to you.

 

Here’s an example:

 

Go to the people around you and have a conversation along these

lines:

 

“Bob, I have something I need to share with you, and I’d really

appreciate it if you could give me your attention. You know, I really

respect you and who you are, and I think it’s important that I share

with you something important I’ve been doing. Can I do that?”

 

At this point, you’ve created a space for communication to happen.

Then you could say:

 

“Bob, I want to let you know that I’ve been following this new diet

of raw foods, and it’s something I need to do at the moment.

 

“I know this means I won’t be able to eat the same foods as everybody

else for a while. But this is something I’m doing for myself and I

don’t want to force it on anybody else, including you, Bob. I know

it’s helping me and my health and it’s really making a difference in

my life.

 

Right now, it’s really important that I get support from people

around me. Can I get your support, Bob?”

 

Now that’s powerful communication. And that’s going to make a

difference. And people will understand.

 

And if you think that you CANNOT have a conversation like that with

people around you, refer back to the first part: communication with

yourself!

 

Find Community and Support

 

Another big part of your success in being able to be social on a raw

food diet is to find a community of people that believe in what

you’re doing and that can support you in the process.

 

I’ll be talking about this and more tips for succeeding socially on a

raw food diet in the next issue.

 

Now that you’ve got some of the most powerful tools to transform your

relationships and succeed socially on a raw food diet, start using

them and have these engaging conversations with people around you.

 

Fidyl

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