Cravings / Shalu

[Guest guest]

Shalu,

 

The longer I am on the raw journey, the less I crave cooked foods. Its been

long enough for me that the smell of most cooked foods makes me nauseated. I

walked past a deli / meat market in the grocery store last week-end and the

smell gaged me!

 

When I know I am going to be around people eating anything that I don't eat...

I bring ALOT of my own food. Like the pineapple yesterday, I take more than I

can possibly eat that way I can be sure I am " full " . Being " full " seems to

reduce my temptation issues greatly. Its not part of your question but, I

schedule snacks at 10 am and 3 pm so that I never get to hungry. When I get to

the " starved " feeling I am much more likely to eat the first thing I find. Not

good.

 

Margaret posted about fasting and so much of it being a psychological issue, I

think that applies to cravings too. Don't focus on what you can't have, but

instead all the wonderful things you can have. Think about all the things that

you are adding to your diet. I love the idea of eating as much watermelon as I

want...

 

The other deterrent for me is that after a couple of weeks raw I just HAD to

have a Burger King Whopper with Fries. It was the worst night in my life. I

was so sick with stomach cramps and trips to the bathroom, I hardly slept. It

was intense enough pain that I haven't forgotten and now I have zero desire for

Whoppers.

 

Kindest Regards,

Leah

 

shalu d <shals_in_in wrote:

I'm new to eating raw foods, do you ever get cravings .... i get very tempted

when my friends eat any food like pizzaas...

If you do what do you do abt it.

Shalu

 

 

 

 

Sneak preview the all-new .com. It's not radically different. Just

radically better.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Leah wrote:

> Margaret posted about fasting and so much of it being a

> psychological issue, I think that applies to cravings too.

> Don't focus on what you can't have, but instead all the

> wonderful things you can have. Think about all the things that

> you are adding to your diet.

> I love the idea of eating as much watermelon as I want...

 

Leah (what a beautiful name!):

I will second your extrapolation of the comment on fasting

to cravings! After all, when you are fasting, and a " food idea "

floats by in your mind, what is that but a craving?

 

Did I mention that I read cookbooks when I am fasting? I also read

recipes when I have a craving. I don't know if you have ever noticed

but *cravings*, although they are often for a particular food, are

really for a particular taste, or a particular *substance*. If you

crave, for example, Burger King Whoppers, your body might be asking

you for fat. (on the other hand, if you just want that Burger King

experience, with the meat on a bun between your hands, all bets are

off -- but you can still use the cookbook to find something that

makes your mouth water in the same way)

 

Have you ever had a craving that feels like " I want to eat something " ,

but you eat something and it isn't the right something?

 

I get those cravings once in a while (and the old easy foods picture

themselves sexily in my mind, posing cutely). With raw food, if you

want to make the exact thing, it can be time consuming, but, if you

come to realize what the particular *substance* or *ingredient* is

that you are craving, you can often take care of it in an easy,

" fast-food " way -- for example - if you are craving Burger King, the

fast way to get over it would be to eat some very high-fat nuts, like,

maybe, Brazil nuts, or even almonds. Avocados might work, but they

might give you too much of a " green " experience, when you want a

" brown " experience (if you are synesthetic, you might understand what

I mean, otherwise, *never mind!*)

 

Living in New York City, the land of fast food (just about wherever

you are in Manhattan, you can run downstairs and find a fast food

restaurant within a few paces), it is difficult to get over fast food.

(I had little problem in my year in Virginia Beach, VA, where, if you

have a craving for anything at all that is not in your pantry, you

have to put on presentable clothes and makeup and go in your car to

buy it -- I'm lazy once I'm home and showered, and I don't like to

drive, so if I didn't have a good substitute in the pantry or in the

refrigerator, I had to starve <grin>)

 

I have joked that I told my students that the crackers and " cheese* I

had brought were " hamburgers, but, I have to tell you that crackers

made from " oily " nuts are *extremely* satisfying, in the way that

hamburgers are. Put stuff on top of them, like the curry

mayonnaise/avocado/tomato assemblages I made the other night,and you

might think, after a few, that you had had a good hamburger experience

(no, of course, you did not *taste* the burger, but your tongue and

your stomach and your system got what they were really looking for)

What do I think " oily " nuts are? I'm talking about the ones that you

can run through the champion after a short soaking, and they don't

need more oil.... sunflower seeds and almonds are the ones I use most.

peanuts would probably do the trick, except that I am not in Virginia

Beach (close to peanut central!), and I do not trust the raw peanuts

here or anywhere else!

Margaret

 

>

> The other deterrent for me is that after a couple of weeks raw I

just HAD to have a Burger King Whopper with Fries. It was the worst

night in my life. I was so sick with stomach cramps and trips to the

bathroom, I hardly slept. It was intense enough pain that I haven't

forgotten and now I have zero desire for Whoppers.