Sorry 21CG. I too missed this thread, great to note your plans, yup you can look after yourself, health is far more important than anything. Just go for it - read your aims daily - a little light yoga might help, some good meditation music, wear some bright colours, yellow, orange or red always perk me up, blue for quieter times.
I will be thinking of you, I leave for Melb. tomorrow am. I will have to be on the ball with my raw intake as I will be busy, we are not allowed to take food into our volunteer venues suppose to eat what is available on site, hope I can fit bananas in my bum bag the only purse etc we are allowed.

Joss, I would like Jen's recipe when you have a moment.

CG,

Are you following a formal (set) regimen, or are you simply following your nose, so to speak?

Here are a couple of things that helped me keep 100% raw. I apologise in advance for the fatherly tone and I don't mean to condescend. Also some of this might not suit everyone. In fact, I've made it beige, so you wont even have to see it unless you scroll overr it. I'm not down on myself, I just hate giving advice.

1. Prepare foods in advance, so there is a variety of tempting things on hand (eg: soaked seed and nut sauces and milks; zuchinni chips; fruit sorbet; rejuvelac, etc). The preparation effort also acts like a personal investment - if you make it you don't want to waste it.
2. Make sure there is always lots of fruit and veges on hand, and don't be afraid to go for it. (eat 1/2 a kilo of carrots, or a big bunch of bananas and see if you still want something cooked)
3. During meditation, affirm two things (ie: create an affirmation and recite it several times at the end of the meditation - add a visualisation if you can)
    - meditation is a daily practise each and every day of my long and healthy life.
    - this body only consumes living foods.
If the meditation is consistant, both affirmations will get more "airtime".
4. Cravings or temptations occur exist in moments, so when those moments come, do something that is inconsistant with eating. eg; If cravings happen while watching TV, go and clean out a cupboard or go for a run... Try to anticipate/predict when the temptation is likely to occur, and plan for it. Like a child.. if the child starts doing something you don't want it to do, then rather than scream at it, give it something else to do. It will be just as happy to play with blocks as it will be to play with razor blades.

Luck

Brett

Oh, you are the clever one Brett, my computer skills are limited, I scrolled over the area got nothing....was interested in the advice...so help please....

Yea start the day like ur 100% raw, thats a good one...

Thanks for the encouragement cee, brett and sheryl

ah, clever little lotta wisdom there in a beige disguise brett, thanx 

Hey Guys! 

The recipe for Pad Thai that I took to our picnic on Sunday was from Kate Wood's book 'Eat Smart, Eat Raw'
I lent the book to Joss, so she can post the exact measurements, but the main base is Daikon (chinese radish, looks like a big long white carrot), mung bean sprouts, green beans, cashews, shredded lettuce or white cabbage, grated zucchini  etc. Its yum!  Quite strong on flavour coz its got garlic, chilli etc in it.  Would be a great dish for colder nights coming up.

It was one of my favourite recipes when I first went raw. I recently went to a resturant with friends and ordered a cooked pad thai, and it was tasty at the time, but afterwards i was soooo grossly full, I had to lie down and couldnt move for an hour or so!  It was so uncomfortable, it just sat like glug in my stomach.  Uggg.   The raw Pad Thai is much lighter and fresher!

x  x

M'iggles and 21cg don't for one moment think that you are the only ones going to extremes. We all have been there at some time ot the other. Only we have learnt that raw tastes better for longer and that cooked has nasty side effects for me. Just keep getting back on the wagon and be easy on yourself.
i shall post raw pad thai recipe later.

Joss

Its a cool recipe jen and joss, must be a good book.

Nah MG u can speak for me cos ur completely right. Extreme's like my middle name. Heaps happy, or heaps quiet. Real ambitious or pro-crastinating. Ive thrown myself into so many 'styles' its ridiculous. Sometimes im so dead-set with an idea, i think ive found the solution, only to find 20 mins later ive completely changed my mind. I step back and shake my head at myself. Mum laughs, she knows im mad.

I gave up on all the counsellors, psychiatrists are usually crazier than me and doctors just feed u pills. When i was in hospital i was across the hall from a psych ward, thats enough to make u feel pretty sane, but they were all good ppl, it wasnt a padded cell type, just more of a 'get away from the world for a bit and chill' place. The crazier ppl are, the more they go thru, the better ppl they become for sure. And they have the BEST stories 

Ah CG we are peas from the same pod!

When I was 21 I actually thought I was going mad.  Truly.  Now, 20 years later, nothing much has changed.  One thing that I read about that time, which helped me specifically with the fact that I contradicted myself all the time (and my mother called me a hypocrite) was this quote from the luscious Oscar Wilde:

The well bred contradict each other.  Only the wise contradict themselves.

This was my wee suit of armour when I was young.  And, well, it probably still is.  We're wise CG!  WISE.

miss g