Being raw in this world is not easy, it can be a bit of a challenge especially if you do not know WHY you are raw.

I have learned that it is important to know why you are raw. I have to say for a short time I started to feel like I “had” to be raw and not that I “wanted” to be raw. I believe this stemmed from my original reason for going raw, which was health related. A part of me want to eat SAD but the other part knows better. I had to sit down and really think about things I had to really ask myself why am I raw?

I’ve come to the conclusion that it is about health, but also my confidence, my self esteem my peace of mind. What drives me to be even more raw is that every time I look around on the news or talking to friends I hear of someone with cancer, diabetes. At work I hear people coughing, people clearing their throat because they are full of mucus. Before raw I had become one of the throat clearer’s, it was quite embrassing, but I didn’t know it was due to milk…I feel sorry for people with Cancer, diabetes, etc… I really do but most of all I feel that I can end up just like them if I don’t really grasp why I should be raw. Until we have a why it doesn’t matter how because we have no reason to change.

I’ve decided that at this point, I can and want to be raw. I want to feel good, I want to lose weight, I want to take care of my temple and eating for the fun of it or eating SAD just because I remember how great it taste isn’t worth the harm it will do to my body. I’ve learned that being so hard on yourself when having slips can cause more harm then good. If you slip up, that is ok. What is most important is that next step. I have messed up so many times, but each time brought me closer to raw. I believe it was because of my determination to be raw. I am still not perfect now and I might not ever be perfect, but I eat far better then I use to when I was eating SAD.

What I am trying to tell you is develop a WHY and being raw might not be so hard.

I am coming to the point where I’d be happy to see people be 80% raw. Some people are so stuck on 100% and that is ok, but I believe a lot of people in the SAD world are not going to give raw a chance with such a strict view on this lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong I believe 100% is the best way to go but I think it is a hard lifestyle to live in a world that still doesn’t fully support Vegan’s, let along raw vegans. I am not making any excuses but I am sharing my thoughts. I Believe that more people can be 100% when the world is able to support it. I think at this point it would be great to get some people to eat some raw food period. Some might disagree but I think we have to move slow and not make people feel they have to be 100%, let it be a natural progression. Why not teach people to include a raw dessert in there SAD Diet, why not teach someone how to make a salad that they will actually like or why not have a class on how eating SAD foods affect the body and not just a class on being 100%.

I hope to bring something different to the raw food world, I hope to help inspire and educate people and not just push 100% on them. I want to allow them to learn the importance of eating right and I believe that will give them enough drive to change.

Have a great night,

Tanisha
http://www.tanishamarshall.com