Which of these 9 misconceptions are killing you slowly?

Thank you for taking the time to come up with all of these great raw food diet questions. I look forward to answering them as best I can for you. I didn't expect to get so many. Because there are so incredibly many questions, I won't be answering them all in one post.

Today for instance, I've only answered the first 9 questions. This way you get the information in bite size chunks so you can digest it. And I can give the answers without feeling rushed. After all there are 182 or so questions posted.

And of course, I'll be looking over all of these questions to find the best one and give that person a free yearly membership to HowToGoRaw.com.

Please realize that I can't give you answers customized for your particular situation. In this case, I have to go with a best guess. Normally I have my coaching clients fill out a detailed questionnaire so I can get an idea of what they're eating, their health conditions and their mindset regarding going raw.

Sometimes you'll notice that my answers are answered with a question. A little use of the Socratic method and to get you to really think about what was asked.

Many of these questions have presuppositions built into them. What I mean is that by the very asking of the question the person demonstrates the lack of what I'd call the 100% Raw Food Diet mindset. They believe ideas that are the very thing holding them back from staying raw.

Of course, this is what's to be expected because you have to eventually learn the 100% raw food diet mindset if you ever wish to succeed at staying raw.

Basically that requires a new way of thinking and adjusting the beliefs that hold you back as well. The problem is that it's not just about going raw. There are many self-improvement issues and freedom principles that people need to learn before being able to go raw.

I've found many people are living a delusional life. They live by certain principles or beliefs that makes it impossible for them to go raw. And on other levels these delusional beliefs keep them from reaching their full potential in many other areas of their lives, especially financially.

Often times it's cultural delusions that have to be broken. I feel bad when I speak to friends and they hold certain concepts as facts in their minds and I know they're just deluding themselves about life. That they can't get anywhere until they replace those limiting concepts.

For some people going raw would be relatively easy. They can handle the addiction to cooked food pretty well, but they're more concerned about what other people think than for their own welfare. To me this is deluded thinking of the highest order.

Because how can you best serve others by giving yourself handicaps. It would be like purposely putting yourself in a wheel chair so that your kids would be happy. But while you're restricted to that wheel chair you can't give your kids the standard of living they deserve.

(Note: this is not an excuse to not live the greatest life possible even if you're handicapped. I'm just trying to make you realize that you have to take care of yourself first, if you want to be able to take care of others.)

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when is this raw thing going to be exciting, how could I be social with non raw foodies?

RH: You've actually asked 2 questions. Raw gets exciting when you get comfortable with it. Each person will do so on their own schedule. But it's more a matter of overcoming old ways of thinking.

Raw food recipes can be very exciting even to the untrained palate. But the longer you go raw and the simpler you eat, the more subtle flavors you'll be able to taste and enjoy. For instance, salt is not only toxic but it deadens your taste buds for about two hours.

So it gets exciting when you no longer think of cooked food and realize you can do whatever you want, go anywhere you want even though your eating raw foods. This might be a bit difficult at first because it's just easier to deal with cooked food addiction if you don't go out to cooked restaurants and don't see or smell cooked food.

You just want to get it out of your mind so that you can beat the mental and subconscious pattern of addiction. But after 6 months to a year of being raw. You won't have much problems socializing and going out with friends like usual. Only difference is you eat a different kind of food.

No big deal, people do that all of the time. The problem with most people going raw is that they're focusing on all they are missing from cooked foods. When you start focusing on all of the incredible things you gain by going raw, then the raw food diet will be the most exciting thing imaginable.

I can do so many things that most people my age can't do. I have a dream life right now and very much of that is due to eating a raw food diet. To me life is the most pleasurable and exciting adventure.

I hope that answer helps. It's mostly an internal shift, that will happen. One other thing though. You have to be doing the raw food diet in a healthy and sustainable way like I teach at HowToGoRaw.com.

Can you really be healthy without animal protein in the long run?

Mia: You're making the presupposition that animal protein has any benefit to your life and health at all.

Why aren't you asking if you can be really healthy with animal protein? It's obvious that most people in this day and age are prematurely old and literally falling apart. Most people eat meat and they're having all sorts of incredibly bad diseases and rusting out bodies.

What if you were born in a Vegetarian culture like in India? There are some people who live long and healthy lives and have never eaten meat.

Personally I know a couple of young kids who have never eaten anything but vegan raw foods in their lives and they are just really incredible children with superior talents and they never get sick. And very well behaved I might add. They just don't have emotional problems or most of the problems that children who eat cooked food run into.

I know people who've been eating vegetarian for 40 years or more. I know raw foodists for 40 years or more. So no I don't believe it's a problem in the long run.

Personally, I haven't eaten much if any meat for the last 10 years or so. You'd think I'd be falling apart by now and yet I'm in the best shape and health of my entire life.

If you want more proof from the largest scientific nutritional study ever done, then just read the breakthrough book, "The China Study."

Why am I feeling so tired on the raw food diet?

I have no idea why you feel so tired there are many possible causes. But I can give you some generalized advice. Very often people going raw initially feel more tired than when they were eating stimulating cooked foods. The fact of the matter is most people don't sleep enough and they mask their tiredness through stimulants like coffee and spicy food.

So when going raw and eliminating these poisonous substances from your diet a number of processes begin to happen. Your body finds higher levels of energy and better building blocks. So it makes you tired so it can focus on healing and repair.

You're not in charge, your body is. So just get more rest. You should be sleeping a minimum of 8 hours a day in most instances anyway. Do you realize people are sleeping less and less as times moves on.

Imagine how much you'd be sleeping if you lived by the equator in a tropical environment and with no electricity. There's only 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. So for 12 hours it's pitch black outside.

It's likely you'd be sleeping for at least 10 of those hours. If you want to experience a new level of health and peak performance simply allow your body to rest and shoot for sleeping 9 to 10 hours a day.

Watch how your life improves and how you actually get more done because of your incredible energy and productivity levels due to the extra sleep.

MIlos @ 6:00 pm

That's simple: Hang out with successful long term raw foodists. Go to support group meetings. An easy way for anyone to get this is to hang out with me at HowToGoRaw.com. Just get yourself membership and then start participating in the forum.

By reading the forum post of others and then seeing my response or responses from other successful raw foodists, you start to see the error in your thinking. You start to see your limiting beliefs.

It's often funny how members think they've caught me in a mistake only to realize later on that they mistake was in their belief system and not what I said. They're coming from a cooked food addiction mindset and the thinking and beliefs are very different.

You need plenty of exposure to someone who doesn't think that way to retrain your own limited thinking when it comes to eating raw. It's just much easier with support than taking years to figure it out on your own.

I failed at five years in trying to stay 100% raw. But once I started going to raw food support group meetings and getting the right ideas about raw nutrition I was finally able to stay raw. I provide that kind of service in a friendly environment at HowToGoRaw.com.

What you're doing right now is also helping you to gain that mindset. By reading my answers to these questions, you're gaining some insights and new ways of thinking. Just apply them to your own thinking and you'll start to see it easier to stay raw.

MIlos @ 6:01 pm

MIlos @ 6:03 pm

It's your choice and either way can be done successfully. I do provide a 6 Step Transition Formula that you can get for free if you sign up for the email course at HowToGoRaw.com.

MIlos @ 6:03 pm

The Vitamix is what I use. I'd not recommend the Blendtec because it doesn't have a tamper. That's a severe limitation in raw food recipe preparation. I've owned and used both.

MIlos @ 6:05 pm

What To Eat, When Not At Home? (E.G. When Working Long Hours)

 

It's really simple actually.

 

Fruit is the ultimate fast food. Bananas, oranges, grapes etc. Celery sticks, carrots, tomatoes.

 

You don't have to cook it. Many fruits have their own biodegradable wrapper like bananas and oranges. They're delicious, easy to digest and provide the fuel to keep you physically and mentally sharp.

 

You won't be feeling tired and sluggish like everyone else after lunch because most fruits are predigested fuel. They take very little energy in digestion. On occasion you might even want to bring an avocado to work for the end of the day. It's not best to eat fatty foods that are heavy to digest when you need to be productive.

 

Fruits are not only the ultimate fast food but the best food for peak performance at work and during sports activities.

 

MIlos @ 6:06 pm

1. Realizing that I wasn't eating enough calories. I failed to stay raw because no matter how much fruit I was eating, I still wasn't getting enough calories. Using Fitday.com or Nutridiary.com is a great way to make you realize if you are very low on calories.

Most of the people I coach to go raw end up way under consuming calories and not even noticing it.

2. When I first went 100% raw I was constantly thinking about and visualizing cooked foods. I focused upon what I was missing.

I didn't realize this was making the addiction and cravings worse. Then because of my training in personal development information I realized I should focus on the things I'm gaining by staying raw.

Once I did that, it reduced my cravings to next to nothing and staying raw was much easier after that. I didn't need willpower anymore. 

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I hope you've found those answers useful. Please feel free to share this and future posts with your friends. Obviously there's some incredibly valuable information in my responses.

To Your Radiant Health, Happiness, Fitness and Freedom, Roger Haeske