Raw Challenges

This week I’ve been a bit down. You see, Raw Diva or not, I am having that old familiar feeling. Yup… it’s the raw food struggle. Like many of you, our lovely divas, I too have a bit of a yo-yo relationship with raw food. To be honest, nearly every raw food person I’ve ever met, has had the same issue at one time or another, or still does.

Does this mean the raw food diet doesn’t work? Does this mean that the raw food diet is impossible?

Not at all!

In my case, it isn’t the food that isn’t working. It’s the logistics of my life at the moment. Here are some of the factors contributing to my struggles:

1. Living with my parents
Living with my parents is great. I have a wonderful relationship with them, and they are helping me out in a transitional period of my life. On top of that, I am very lucky that my mom is interested in the raw food diet too (thank you to green smoothies for getting her on board!), but like me, both of my parents are extremely busy. Shopping is a bi-weekly affair most of the time, and due to the number of people hanging around under this roof at the moment (6-10 on any given day), all with different dietary priorities, fridge space is at a premium and fresh produce doesn’t stay that way for the duration. When ingredients get thin, well… that’s when I succumb to just eating the mashed potatoes, or spaghetti, or whatever.

2. Being a single mom
This is an interesting one. You see, it isn’t specifically being a single mom that makes being raw difficult. It’s the things that go along with being a single mom… dragging kids shopping, making kid-friendly meals, getting your kids to eat a variety of foods, generally being run ragged, not to mention the emotional aspects of singlemomdom… the stress, the vulnerability… and the draw of food to suppress those pesky emotional distractions that seem to pop up a little more frequently than we’d like!

3. Living a fair distance from the grocery store
This is really just about being spoiled. You see, I am used to living as a raw fooder in a cosmopolitan city, full of raw food stores, restaurants and supplies. Now however, I live in a tiny town with a population of a few hundred and the closest thing to groceries is a convenience store. The nearest store with any organic foods is about a 25 minute drive away, and believe me when I tell you that their organic selection is less than inspiring!

4. Limited access to organic foods
Wilted lettuce, bagged baby carrots, distressingly over-ripe avocados, and very green bananas… all at premium prices… that pretty much sums up the organic section of that previously mentioned “closest grocery store”. So while I don’t love the idea of waxing on about the negatives, that’s one more to add to the list of challenges.

5. Time
Mick sang, “Time is on my side”, and I wish I could agree! This is the #1 factor in my current raw food roller coaster. I have currently allowed my life to become so busy, that finding time to chop vegetables, go shopping regularly, or get out and enjoy life (to keep those emotional responses to food under control), has gone out the window! Why it then becomes seemingly more manageable to reheat some pasta instead of biting into an apple… well, I can’t explain that except perhaps to point at the emotional responses issue…

6. Discipline
That’s the pasta over an apple deal. Sometimes it really just comes down to making a commitment and sticking to it, even when thoughts of those thanksgiving pies are dancing around your brain. Discipline takes practice, and practice takes persistence… and it’s all so darned intertwined, because sorry, but the truth is that lately, I’ve already inhaled the cookie before I’ve even looked twice at the mushy grapes in the drawer of the fridge!

7. Breast feeding
This one is interesting, because it works differently for different people, and of course, is only of account at very specific times of life and for only a very specific gender! In my case, breastfeeding means being constantly tired and hungry, and seems to result in my body hanging onto every little (or not so little) fat cell going, no matter how many salads and green smoothies I choose over less ideal emotion suppressors. And so, perhaps even stepping on a scale or shopping for new clothes should be set aside until after breast feeding, and I should just put my attention to eating things that are healthiest for baby and me, but I’d be lying if I said my current stall in the losing of baby weight wasn’t getting me down!

With so many variations on challenges as there are people in the world, how do we manage to get our feet back onto solid ground and our hands off of the candy bars?

In my case, it’s time to get back to basics, look at resolving the challenges I can, and just make a conscious decision to do my best in each situation as it comes. In this case, it is time and discipline that I can influence most, and a lot of the rest will naturally fall into place.

In all matters of importance, I would say that making the time to approach things properly is the key to success. Thus, making time to take twice-weekly trips to the store must become a priority. Making the time to cut up a plate veggies mid-morning, is a 5 minute day pass from the cookie jar! Renewing the commitment to my health to choose those veggies in favor of dad’s left over lasagna, is all about taking charge and not being led around by the things that aren’t so easily controlled.

Your issues and needs may be similar to mine, or completely different. It could be lack of raw community (a huge one!), economic factors (a timely one!), social obligations (been there!), or any number of other things. The specifics aren’t so important as simply assessing where you are and implementing steps in the right direction and at a pace you can handle, while still challenging yourself to improve each day.

In other words, don’t sweat the small stuff. Manage the key factors to the best of your ability, make the commitment to yourself, and just get on with it and do the best you can as you go!

Luckily for me, I’ve got an amazing community of like-minded women around me in The Raw Divas programs and offerings. So I’m going to take the time to get back to basics right along side you in our upcoming session of the Body Enlightenment System.

Hope to see you there!