The Many Misadventures of an Aspiring Raw-Foodist

The purpose of this blog is to give you a realistic view of the transition to a raw vegan life and the restoration of health. It isn't always easy. I don't always feel amazing. But in the end it is worth it. My hope is that I can inspire others to make positive changes in their own lives.



10.04.2010

Food That "Feels" Good

Recently I noticed another unexpected shift has occurred in the way I perceive the food that I eat. I was eating something one day and said to myself, with pleasure, “This feels really good!” I then stopped inside myself for a moment to consider the fact that I’d unintentionally replaced the usual word, “tastes,” with “feels.” This thought, came like revelation to me, has stuck with me ever since. As I’ve ventured farther along on my raw journey, I’ve begun to really taste food for the first time. I used to eat it either because I was bored or anxious, or in need of the comfort of “stuffing” my feelings… I don’t think I ever actually stopped to taste the food, smell the food, feel the texture of it in my mouth. As I’ve learned to do this I’ve discovered that almost all cooked foods do not taste good to me at all. I’ve spit out a mouthful of chocolate chips. I’ve sat down with a handful of potato chips, eaten two, scrunched up my face and returned the rest to the bag… I NEVER would have imagined myself doing these things! But really, if it doesn’t even taste good, AND it’s going to make me sick, why would I eat it? Thus far the only food that really tastes good cooked is lightly steamed vegetables, especially in a vegetarian soup, which I have little reserve eating on occasion (two or three times) during the winter. There are still smells that get to me… pizza and cinnamon rolls come to mind… but those foods don’t feel good… in fact the feel pretty darn terrible! As I’ve noticed that cooked foods don’t taste as great as they’re cracked up to be, I’ve also noticed that my enjoyment of food now comes more from the way a food feels in my body than from taste or comfort. Food isn’t really comforting at all anymore because I’m allowing my feelings to surface, looking at them for what they truly are, and putting a positive spin on them. I’m learning to be grateful for all of the suffering I’ve endured, because I wouldn’t be who I am without it, and because I have the God-given power to rise above it. Why hide from that? It’s okay to feel, it’s GOOD to feel, even unpleasant feelings. It’s all part of the human experience, allow yourself to really feel your feelings, live in them, and then say, “Thank you.” Unpleasant feelings don’t have to be negative! Then there’s the physical “feel good” of food. What I experienced that day was a feeling of free-flowing energy throughout my body, a harmony. A feeling that this food was becoming a part of me, and that it was created to be. I felt right with the world. My spirit rejoiced. What could be better than that?!! I would encourage you to experience your emotions and express gratitude for every one of them, to begin to slow down and really taste and feel your food, and to gravitate toward foods that “feel good” in a pure, clean, and joyful sense over foods that are comforting or that you feel taste good in a heavy, cumbersome, addictive sense. It can be done, give yourself some time and a whole lot of love!

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