What the Raw Food Diet is Not.

I've been thinking about today's topic a lot lately and I would love to hear your experiences and insight about it!

It seems to me that often when we jump on the raw food bandwagon, we attribute many things to it that it's not. I am a perfect example of this. I was very excited to do this because of alllllll the many fabulous things that were going to magically happen in my life if I just switched to raw.

Among other things, I was sure that the raw diet would:

1. Normalize my weight without my having to do anything else about it.

2. Give me back the skin of my youth, and when I say youth, I mean like when I was 1, because my skin decided to hate me not too many years after the age of 1.

3. Make every mysterious ache or pain I'd ever had over the years, disappear forever.

4. Render me completely immune to illness and disease.

5. Make my twin belly go away.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

So what's the problem with all that positive thinking?

I'm all for positive thinking, but I think sometimes we expect way too much of this diet. We give it a go for a week, maybe a month, and when all those things above didn't happen in 30 days, we throw our hands up in the air and say, "This did not work for me." And then we move on to the next thing.

But here's the deal, friends. Well, my deal anyway. :-)

Photo from Mark Sardella

The Raw Diet is Not a Miracle!
There is simply nothing miraculous or stupendous about a diet that consists of raw fruits and vegetables. Nothing at all. *Strong opinion warning* - It's simply a return to the way nature intended for us to live.

By making a decision to only fuel our bodies with fresh ripe whole fruit and vegetables, we are giving our body what it was biologically designed to live on. Nothing mysterious or other-worldly about it.

Our bodies are the miracle, not the diet.
The only reason it feels miraculous to those of us who try it, is because our bodies and minds have been so polluted and perverted by the advances of civilization and man made technology, that as a species we are increasingly losing a lot of our innate instincts.

As a result, we have no idea how it even feels like to be somewhere close to a state of natural health.

So when our bodies start healing and working right again, we begin to have a glimmer of realization that it is not normal, nor an unavoidable byproduct of aging to have headaches several times a week, or slight achy pains in our joints. It is not normal to walk around constipated for days or weeks, and it's not normal to need a nap after eating.

These are a few of the not-really-scary things that can happen if we're pumping the wrong type of fuel in to our bodies, day in and day out. There is much more scary stuff out there and I see it every day and I'm sure you all do, too.

It Takes Time.
As for the several ailments I mentioned above, and the more serious illnesses that many people come into the raw diet having, yes, happily, changing our diet and lifestyle does usually bring about some pretty big physical changes.

For example,
1. My weight did normalize. However, I learned that fitness was a big part of this also. I also learned that it is just about as easy to gain weight on the raw food diet as it is lose weight!

2. My skin is getting better and better slowly. It isn't perfect on my face but I can say it's pretty much perfect everywhere else. Except my belly.

3. I don't get random pain in my joints anymore. (I used to when I ate cooked food.) I do get sports-related injuries if I'm not careful and smart. :D

4. I'm not completely immune to illness, but I rarely get sick - the last time I had a mild cold (which is the worst thing I've gotten in a year) was in January - and when I do, it seem to get very bad or keep me down for very long.

5. Twin Belly - Nuf said.

Photo from jbelluch

But we can't expect it to happen overnight, as much time as most of us have spent indulging in different bad habits. I believe patience is key here. And patience is a virtue that is difficult to cultivate if we're hoping for a miracle, but maybe a little easier to develop if we remember to hold the perspective that we're simply, gently taking steps toward a natural life.

Your thoughts?
Have you had expectations of the raw diet that have changed over time? Have you ever wanted it to the a miracle and it didn't turn out the way you hoped? Do you agree or disagree with me? :-)