STAYING ON THE RAW DIET
Jenny's Twenty Keys to Stay on "The Raw Wagon."
Written especially for us ex-overeaters!
By Jenny Silliman jennysilliman@juno.com

1. FACE YOUR PROBLEMS.
If you are a food addict or a compulsive overeater, or if you are unhealthy or overweight, try eating a 100% raw diet to stop overeating, lose weight and gain radiant health. (For more on this see my website for info about my book Raw Victory www.rawvictory.com ) The raw fiber, high water content, enzymes, chlorophyll, and high nutrient content of raw produce--all help you to feel satisfied. However, one bite of cooked can ignite overeating! Admitting your struggle, praying to God, asking for help--these are step one to getting on and staying on the raw diet--or as I like to call it, "The Raw Wagon."

2. ELIMINATE ADDICTIVE, DESTRUCTIVE COOKED FOODS.
Did you know cooked foods trigger overeating? Cooked foods also upset the delicate pH of the body; they are acid-forming. Cooked foods (as well as strong spices like pepper, mustard, vinegar, etc.) sap and even destroy our enzymes. Enzymes are crucial to the health of the body! Enzymes are like a hive of worker bees buzzing around inside your body constantly performing countless tasks for our 100 trillion cells for our optimal health and well being. Without enzymes we could never lose excess weight! Enzymes also balance our hormones and cause the appetite to be satisfied. Caffeine, chocolate, sugar, salt, cooked carbs, and yes, even cooked foods in general, are addicting and damage, destroy, or hinder enzymes from doing their work.

3. COMMIT TO EATING 100% RAW VEGAN DIET.
Even a 1% window can and probably will be your downfall, if you are a compulsive overeater. This is the common consensus of overeaters. Keep mouth closed to even one bite of cooked.

4. PRACTICE MINDFUL EATING.
This means when you eat, sit down, relax, and focus on eating. Enjoy the process and eat slowly and mindfully. Don't just mindlessly shovel in food. Do not eat in front of the television or the computer. This is a bad habit. This is what fat people do!

5. EAT PLENTY OF RIPE FRUIT.
Eat all you want (green fruit is bad for you--make sure it looks, smells, and tastes ripe!) until your hunger is satisfied. Fruit has gotten a bad rap as a high-calorie, high-carb, and high-sugar food. Fruit is what you were created to eat! (See Genesis 1:29) Fruit provides raw carbs for energy! Fruit is full of the best water on the planet for internal cleansing! Fruit provides raw fiber that scrubs your insides like a gentle scrubby for internal cleansing! Fruit's water and RAW fiber content will satisfy hunger and when your body has had enough, you will naturally stop eating. To a compulsive overeater this is miraculous. No more calorie counting--just eat plenty of ripe fruit and your body tells you when you've had enough. The fiber naturally slows down the fruit sugar, so that it is perfectly metabolized, assimilated, and utilized in your bloodstream. People ask me how I gave up sweets and I say, "I enjoy fruit for my sweets!"

6. ONLY EAT WHEN YOU ARE TRULY HUNGRY.
Learn to recognize "true hunger." A rumbling in your tummy is not true hunger. Cravings for something sweet, salty, spicy, or for your old favorite cooked foods--that is not true hunger. When you first go on the raw food diet, you may experience lots of withdrawal, cravings, and detoxing in the first three days and there will also be bouts of detoxing (and possibly cravings) as you lose weight and more toxins are shed with fat stores. If you blow it or splurge, you will probably go through three days again. (See my book Raw Victory www.rawvictory.com chapter 5 on detoxing.) I like the saying, "If you are truly hungry, you will be hungry for fruit." Satisfy your true hunger on that which satisfies--raw fruit, leafy greens, and raw vegetables. Eat all you want until your hunger is satisfied.

7. JUICE IN THE WINTER MONTHS AND IN TOUGH TIMES.
When the fruit becomes scarce, and I can't have melon for breakfast, and when the apples become plentiful in the fall, I pull out my old trusty Champion juicer and start juicing. "Jenny's Raw V-8 Juice" is my break-fast. I juice quickly and have streamlined the process, because if it is too complicated I get bogged down and I don't do it. JUST DO IT! I use carrot, 2 different kinds of apples, celery, lemon, orange, baby spinach, a sprig of parsley, carrot, and zucchini. Ahhhh!!! So satisfying! CURES CRAVINGS. Eases premenstrual tension. Floods your 100 trillion cells with nourishment. What a great way to start a healthy, raw, new and wonderful day! I drink one and a half cups of fresh, raw, delicious juice first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and then do not eat anything until I am truly hungry again. (At first juice may not taste good to you. Keep on...your tastes will change!)

8. READ, WRITE, LEARN, AND TALK ABOUT RAW.
It helps me to read a little bit each day on raw eating, health, Natural Hygiene, and nutrition, whether it is from a book or magazine (my favorite is Living Nutrition www.livingnutrition.com See their book catalog!) or from a website or e-list. Raw websites are free and so are the abundant raw e-lists. I have opened new g-mail addresses just for a raw e-list and then I can read through when I want and learn and it is free and easy. A favorite is www.rawschool.com I also have raw buddies that I like to e-mail and keep in touch with and share new bits of info I am learning, my struggles, questions, ideas, or victories. Writing a journal is a great practice and at times I wrote down everything I ate in order to hold myself accountable. I also like to write in my journal inspiring quotes. I am BIG ON LISTS also, as you can tell! LOL. This list on "Staying on Raw" was first written out in my journal!

9. PLAN AHEAD FOR EVENTS, EATING OUT, TRAVEL, PREMENSTRUAL OR HIGH STRESS TIMES.
How much better to munch on apples, and nibble on dried figs in the movie theater, than to succumb to a binge on a gallon of popcorn. Been there, done that, and don't care to repeat the performance! I have noticed there are times I need extra nutrition, so I try to plan and shop and splurge on a cooler or backpack full of raw goodies. When I attend a social event, or eat out, I eat before I leave the house, and I know I can always order a salad. Dieting is so common now that it usually isn't a big deal if you stick to the veggies or ask for no dressing. If you are challenged, you can always say, "I don't care to discuss it right now." After a year or so on raw, your radiant health, abundant energy, and sparkling vitality will vindicate you, and your loved ones will want to know all your raw food secrets!

10. HAVE A PLENTIFUL SUPPLY OF RIPE, DELICIOUS, RAW PRODUCE STOCKED UP IN YOUR KITCHEN.
Personally, I still only buy a small amount of dried fruit and nuts at a time because I can easily overeat on these. If you've ever overeaten almonds, you know what I mean. I use dried fruit for special occasion treats and I have one quarter cup of nuts and seeds a day as a kind of dessert, after I've filled up on fruit or a big, green leafy salad. I like to go to the store, farmer's market, farm, and orchard, to shop for fresh, ripe and in season produce. I let my senses guide me to what looks, smells, feels, and tastes (ask for a sample!) the best to me. My body will tell me what I need, if I listen. If I have plenty of scrumptious raw fruit at hand, I will not be tempted to bite into my husband's sandwich.

11. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.
Sometimes we get our wires crossed and we just think we are hungry. If you are thirsty, drink water. If you are tired, rest. If the sun feels good on your face, take a sun bath. If you are restless, get some exercise. If the fresh air outside is refreshing, take a walk and do some deep breathing. If your muscles feel like they need a stretch, stretch! If you have a bout of detoxing and feel unusually tired or have flu-like symptoms, take a bath, fast, rest, drink water, and let it unfold. Your body will actually tell you how it needs to be nourished, whether it is a certain fruit or vegetable, or simply going to bed early--if we would only listen. Also, if you are not hungry DO NOT EAT. When you are eating, be alert to the signal (a small squeezing sensation at the top of the stomach) that says you are full. Learn when to stop eating--this is so important for us ex-overeaters. Don't keep eating just because there are others eating, or because there is still food left on your plate. The stomach usually holds about two cups of food--keep this in mind when you plan your raw meals, but don't feel like you have to eat it all. Sometimes I'll be emotional or upset and my throat will feel choked up and I now know this is my body's way of saying not to eat until I've calmed down.

12. BEWARE OF GREEN FRUIT--DO NOT EAT IT!
Green is great, green is good--but only when we're talking about leafy greens or vegetables that are supposed to be green, like zucchini or cucumbers. Green fruit is not good for you and can be harmful to your health. If a fruit has no ripe smell, isn't the right softness, or the right color, and if it doesn't taste ripe and delicious to you, do not eat it. This is a big mistake that a lot of newcomers to raw often make because green, unripe fruit is commonly sold in the markets. If you bought a bunch of green fruit, kindly return it to the store and write a polite letter of complaint to the seller. Sometimes we need to educate produce managers on how to buy fruit!

13. REMEMBER K.I.S.S., KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID!
Another quite common mistake of newcomers to raw is that they think they need to make all these complicated recipes and buy a whole new set of recipe books and expensive appliances like dehydrators and chopping devices, in order to eat raw and stay raw. I do not use any raw recipe books or a dehydrator or special spiral veggie choppers--I use a frig, a fruit bowl, a knife, and a chopping board. That's it! God created us and placed us in a garden and said to pick, eat, and enjoy. Most of us go shopping (and dream about sunny gardens full of fruit!) but the principal of simply enjoying raw produce that is fresh-picked and delicious just eaten out-of-hand still holds true. Keep it simple and easy and enjoyable. Staying on the raw wagon is not hard to do--enjoy the ride!

14. LOVE YOURSELF.
Nurture yourself. Nourish yourself. Take good care of your precious self--there's only one you! Love your body. You only get one for life! Be patient with yourself and kind. Say nice things about you in your head. The Bible says that as a person thinks so they will be. Tell yourself positive things and that you've come a long way baby. Don't be critical of yourself. Instead, tell yourself kind things and loving, positive things about yourself and especially your body. Love your body. It is a miraculous, amazing, self-healing, and wondrous creation! When you love yourself and your body, and value it, you will take good care of it!

15. EXPERIENCE BEING HIGH ON HEALTH.
Have you heard of a runner's high? You know how people get high on drugs and alcohol? Let me tell you that the most wonderful high is being high on health. Most of us ex-overeaters have experienced getting high on food. It is such a temporary and fleeting lift and the sluggish, gross way you feel afterwards is not worth it. When you experience how wonderful it is to be sparkling with vitality, energetic, radiantly healthy, full of creative thoughts and ideas, emotional serene, and mentally alert--you will want to stay on the raw wagon!

16. EAT PLENTY OF TENDER LEAFY GREENS EVERY DAY.
Juice them, munch on them, make raw sandwiches with them, make green fruit smoothies, add them to dips, dressings, or sauces, make raw soups with them, and make lots of big salads. In Genesis 1:29 when God says our food is fruit and the herb, I believe that botanically speaking, the herb is the green leaf and this is what we were created to eat. Sprouts, and tender green leaves and lettuces and herbs are some of the most nourishing foods on the planet. Study up on greens and you will be amazed. If you ever get a chance, stop at a juice bar and order a shot of wheat grass juice. Once I drank a shot of wheat grass juice a day for a week and I was literally high on health. I am convinced that most of the population in the United States are green leafy deficient. The chlorophyll is amazing--provides energy from the sun! Chlorophyll is almost identical on the molecular level to our blood. The only difference is that there is magnesium instead of something else. I was astounded to learn that depressed people are deficient in magnesium. Folic acid (from foilage) is another nutrient that people are commonly deficient in. Eat sweet baby greens to lift your mood and nourish your bloodstream, which will feed each and every one of your 100 trillion cells with what they are starving for! I saved the best reason for last...greens satisfy the appetite! GO FOR THE GREENS.

17. TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME.
Every day is a new beginning, a fresh start and you can embrace the opportunity to be the best you you can be. The Bible says, "Each day has trouble enough." This is the truth! If we take it one day at a time, we have enough to deal with. Sometimes when we look at the future a year, a month or even a week at a time, we can get overwhelmed. Give yourself time, take it slow, take it one day at a time, and let yourself slowly develop into a healthier person with good habits and a nourishing lifestyle. If you blow it, oh well! It probably isn't the first time and probably not the last time either. Don't be a wimp about it. Don't beat yourself up about it. Just get up, brush yourself off, and climb back on the raw wagon. You are learning and growing and getting better every day. There is no rush! Enjoy each and every new, raw day!

18. PASS IT ON.
"Each one teach one." We learn a lot through sharing our struggles, what we learn through our mistakes, and our victories. We learn when we teach, better than if we were students. I learn from myself when I write for you. Ha! Spread the word, shout it from the rooftops, and be a raw cheerleader with me. Raw! Raw! Raw!
19. Stay humble. I like to remember that there is always more to learn and there are many, many things we think we know to be true and find out later that it was hogwash. Many people believed the world was flat and then learned they were wrong--the world was round! Now, in hindsight, it is obvious that the world is round, isn't it? In recent health food history, it was commonly believed that to be a vegetarian you had to complement your proteins in order to ingest an adequate daily allowance of protein. For example, they mistakenly believed rice should always be eaten with beans for a "complete" protein. Now this has been proven wrong and we find out there was actually no scientific evidence to back that idea. What else will we discover about how to nourish the human body? I also like to remember that I may stumble, and fall flat on my face, and take a nose dive back into the comfort food. I am an ex-overeater, but I remember all too well what it was like to be out of control with my eating. We are all fragile and faulty human beings, bumbling along, and usually do all right. I call myself a "health seeker" and I like to admit that I have my failings and I am on a journey. I'm glad I make mistakes, you know why? I learn a lot from them!

20. BE OPTIMISTIC AND GIVE THANKS.
Healthy, positive thinking, and an attitude of gratitude and optimism goes a long way toward nourishing your body and sticking with the wonderful raw lifestyle. We have so much to be thankful for! Isn't it wonderful how we can learn from other raw, vegan vegetarians? Isn't it terrific that we know how to help our bodies to heal and be healthy on raw? Aren't you glad that you have raw knowledge and so many resources at your disposal? Ain't it grand to be alive and look forward to the future and not worry about disease or old age or living in pain or obesity any more? Isn't is fantastic all the choices and availability of delicious, fresh fruit and tender, leafy greens in our stores and farmer's markets? Call me Pollyanna if you want to, but I am GLAD, GLAD, GLAD. I thank the Lord Jesus every day for my raw, living, nourishing, health-giving food and my healthy life and for helping me stay on the raw wagon.