Since starting to teach raw food classes at my local health food store, I am searching all over the place for raw food blogs, website, communities. And the one that sticks in my mind most often and who I mention every single class is Phillip McCluskey. If this man can change the way he eats and feels about food, then anyone can. Read about how he came to the realization that he was indeed obese. It is an eye opener.
When I was starting to add raw food to our diets, I began google them everywhere, and believe you me, there are plenty of sites and YouTube accounts on Raw Food. Check them out and see what you like. There are many different styles out there. From the meek and mild to thee In Your Face raw foodists. I like Phillip, he is somewhere in the middle, someone I could find myself talking to and not feel as if he were talking down to me. That is how I like to feel when in someones presence. I like to feel comfortable. And if I would invite them to my backyard BBQ, then they are AOK in my book.
People feel the need to have the quick fix when it comes to weight loss. But bottom line...it did not take you 1 day to get that big, what makes you think you can get thin super-quickly. The whole idea of weight loss is how you 'feel' about food mentally before you actually start the process. For most it is a crutch. I know of a friend who did in fact have gastric by-pass surgery a few years ago. And the night before the surgery, this person went to an All-You-Can-Eat rib joint, and ended up woofing down 3 plates of ribs. Now you tell me what kind of mentality that is? That is definitely not someone who is ready to change their eating habits. Changing the way you think about food is in the mind before it deals with the mouth. And most people do not get it. And, for those who do get the stomach surgeries, there may not be some'one' telling you what to eat, but there is some'thing' telling you how much you can and cannot eat. And that is your stomach. For it is has been taken down to a size that is most unnatural. Talk about butchering the body.
So what is worse, getting to a size that puts you into a morbidly obese classification or having to go under the knife and have major surgery that many cannot adhere to. Last I heard the failure rate in gastric by-pass surgery was a whopping 85%. Hello, that alone should tell you something. It is not a free ticket to eating whatever you want. I believe there should be mandatory food classes for those who are considering the surgery. There should also be cooking classes to show people who to really prepare food and then be able to apply it to their lives. I know folks are working 40 hours plus and many of those people are single mothers. But with a wee bit of planning, you can still eat healthy, it is just a new way of doing things. I myself make my bread from scratch and I go a step further and grind my own wheat. And people look at me like I have 3 heads when I tell them this. But for us, in this house, it has become part of who and what we are. Did we get here overnight? Absolutely not. I do not suggest folks to go cold turkey. Rarely, if ever, do people have the ability to go cold turkey and stick with it. Baby steps. Find something that you want to change, and tackle it and master it. Once you have done that, then move on to the next thing you want to readjust in your life. For us it was food and positive attitude. They seem to go hand in hand.
And once you make the changes in your life, you will then see how people react towards you, but be ready for many a folks to get defensive and criticize your new way of life. It puzzled me for the longest time why people treated me like dirt (in a manner of speaking) when I told them I was a vegetarian and was on my way to being a vegan. And once a friend of mine explained it to me, it all became so clear. Once you make the changes and talk about it to others, by you being healthy, you make them look at their own eating styles and if they are honest with themselves, they are going to get mad and then defensive. It is a coping mechanism. I stand my ground, but am also trying to let people know they can do it as well, but in their own time frame. I try to put them at ease, saying that I did not get here overnight. But you will not reach everyone. There will be that one idiot in every crowd that will have a come-back to everything you have to say. Do not let yourself get pulled into that argument. Let-it-go. I no longer get angry or defensive about my eating choices. I explain why I have made them and if they continue to try and make me look like an ass, I stop the conversation right then and there. It's not worth it, for there is nothing you can say that will get them to see why we do what we do, so don't waste your breath or time...they are unreachable and comfortable in their own little world.
See, I told you I post more then just recipes. I am learning to be more understanding when it comes to peoples food choices. Years ago I was a snobby vegetarian, but no longer. Most people will never get to the level of eating habits I am at or on my way to having. And that is fine with me. What I do find offensive is that when I announce that I am a vegetarian, many folks start grilling me, not asking questions, about my choices. And yet, I never ask them about their choices. Why is that? They don't question the type of car I drive, why is what I eat so encroaching to them? Because by me making the choices I have, it makes them realize that their choices are not all that great. And most folks will tell you they want the truth, but in reality, they do not.
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