Has anyone found that eating completely fresh, raw food keeps cooked food cravings away than say, eating 1-2 questionably raw things here and there?

For instance, staying raw and having fruit for breakfast, more fruit for lunch and a huge raw salad for dinner and then if you are still hungry, you just have some berries or other fruit. The next day you feel great and looking forward to another totally raw food day.

Then if you weren't totally all raw and fresh, having a fruit smoothie for breakfast, a big salad (no bottled dressing) for lunch and then for dinner you have a few steamed veggies off your friend's or spouse's plate. Before you know you want something else that is cooked, like a bean burrito, potatoes, some popcorn or rice. Then the next day you do okay in the morning with fruit or a smoothie but feel like having pasta or a veggie burger in the afternoon. You might tuck into a Lara bar or eat some raw treat or dehydrated thing you made with questionably raw dried fruits or nuts or cooked cocoa. Then the next morning you feel like having a bagel with Earth Balance and before you know it you are on a cooked 'roll'. :-/

I am reading Jinjee's e-books from thegardendiet.com (excellent by the way-I got the 10 books for $20 and I can't wait to read through them all!)
and she often writes about breaking the seal. All it takes is letting in that tiny amount which breaks the seal you've created. Even though you've broken it and it is so small and tiny and it's just a little bit of bottled dressing, or some maple syrup, namna shoyu or miso or nutritional yeast or whatever, the seal gets just a little bit bigger every day and and before you know it you are eating cooked grains and soy meat analogues, etc.

I found that to be so true with me. I've been on and off raw for 5 years and see the pattern. Everytime I go raw again I eat less recipes and dehydrated stuff, more fruits, veggies and salads. Except this time I'm all raw I've been partaking in macaroons that I made from "Raw Food Real World" excellent book by the way, but I find that when I want something to eat I tend to have one or two of those instead of a nana or something that's truly fresh and raw. I guess I choose my 'crutch' that will help me get through the transitional part, but I am really wanting to let that little thing go before it opens the seal!

Thoughts?

I did all raw for a year and a half though I did eat some things that were questionable, like dried fruit and Larabars. I decided to let it go because I realized how deprived I felt and I realized that my whole life centered around one question, "Is it raw?" I really had a fear of eating cooked food though and when I finally decided to do so, I felt so liberated and much better mentally and even physically. I now do around 90% raw and I don't feel that eating some cooked food threatens my rawness at all. I still crave raw foods like sprouts, fruits, and vegetables with a vengeance. Sometimes I want something cooked and that's fine. But my favorite foods are raw foods. Even though I eat cooked foods, I would never consider eating a bagel for breakfast because I know I would feel yucky all day. I either have some fruit or some green juice for breakfast. I always have a huge salad before any cooked food I eat. And generally , I only eat cooked food on the weekend. During the week I eat all raw, as I work at Hippocrates and they provide all my meals for me. I feel much more balanced eating some cooked food, but I realize that not everyone is the same way. I thought I would have problems with eating too much cooked food after I started eating it again, but it really hasn't been a problem. Of course I eat too much sometimes, but it's really offset by the fact that I'm all raw Mon through Fri.

rawgirl, that brings up a valid point. Tell me what you think about my view towards things like agave, nama shoyu and braggs. My view is that they are not 100% raw so I won't use them.

I tell you, I sure miss them as ingredients in my raw meals. Life sure was easier with braggs as a flavor enhancer and agave as a sweetener.

Sharon, I hear what your saying, it makes sense.

Do you think I should leave flax crackers alone? what about my raw pizzas? It just seems like I am going to wind up being a fruitarian again, accept I will be eating some greens.

I think you need to do what makes you happy. Feeling deprived and unhappy because you can't have agave or braggs is not healthy for you. Being happy is such a huge part of our health. When I quit being so strict on myself, I found that my energy increased and I don't think it was necessarily because I was healthier physically. I was so much happier, that I had a surge in energy. But different things are right for everyone. Some people are all or nothing and if they eat something that may be cooked, they'll be eating all cooked and no raw. I thought it might be this way for me because I'm usually an all or nothing person, but I discovered that I do fine and feel happier with a little bit of cooked food. My social life is much easier now too. I'm not encouraging anyome to eat cooked food, I'm just saying what worked for me.

I think we all come from very different backgrounds and look at food in unique ways. Rawgirl, I notice that you are almost half my age (yikes for me) and maybe you haven't dealt with as many food issues as myself and others.

I think some people who were raised a certain way or used food a certain way have developed addictions and habits that can only be broken by totally staying away from trigger foods because one 'taste' of something, like an alcoholic can send them in the wrong direction.

But I think if you can enjoy certain foods that may not be raw and not backslide because of it, it is a huge blessing to be able to do that. It is easier for certain people. My husband fits into that category - I don't know if it's control or lack of interest to dive into a bag of chocolate, but he's just not that way.

I've tried doing raw so many ways - high raw, half raw, dinner-only raw and if I'm not raw all the way I eventually find myself eating way too much cooked, sometimes all cooked with so little desire for raw. I was raised with homemade and processed food on a kosher diet, not a whole lot of fast food but I went through a rebellious stage and probably because I had to restrict high cholesterol foods I ate a lot of other junk to make up for it. I eventually stopped eating animal foods because the cholesterol wasn't going down enough, but was still eating too many processed fats and sugars for my own good. Eating 100% raw helps keep cravings under control for me.

Samuel, I think you should keep in your diet what you like as long as it's not causing any problems. If you think the dehydrated stuff is bringing some cravings around, maybe try taking them out of your diet for a week and see if you like it that way. That is the neat thing about eating raw, you can try different things to see what works. Do you think the dehydrated food might be causing any problems from your own experience and the way you feel after eating them? They may work fine for you. It has to be up to you to decide.

Samuel I'd be interested to know how you feel on the different raw diets you've tried. I've never tried the fruitarian diet myself.

Sharon, here is the deal...

I am not experiencing any problems with dehydrated food. I mean I really do like my flax crackers. I just am the type of person that I want to do it right or not do it at all. I don't want to be kind of raw, that is not why I do this.

My opinion on braggs and nama shoyu is that they are living foods and I know they have beneficial enzymes in them, so this is why I keep thinking to myself that it is ok to consume.

Basically in summary, without dehydration, agave, braggs, nama shoyu, etc. it is very hard to create satisfying raw food cuisine. Don't get me wrong, I can make all sorts of chutneys, salads, etc without all the before mentioned stuff, but it is just much harder.

There is no doubt in my mind that a fruitarian diet is the most healthiest diet. However, the social isolation associated with that diet takes the right mind set. I may go back to it, but I am not sure. I really do enjoy preparing fancy raw cuisine meals.