Roy Holman <[log in to unmask]>:
>*  Letting go of rigid control.  On a spiritual level, I believe I created
>this eating disorder to help me finally put my deep-rooted emotional issues
>in my face.  Food is only one of a long line of emotional numbing and
>stimulating tools I have used.

Tom:
I would also add here, letting go of perfectionism, and accepting/loving
oneself as you are today. We can also acknowledge the need for change,
without being perfectionist/obsessive about it.

Roy Holman <[log in to unmask]>:
>*  Less fasting:  ...  I finally realized I had to jump off of the "fast
>and binge" cycle.

Tom:
Excellent point. Some rawists promote fasting as "THE ANSWER" to problems,
when in some cases it can cause more trouble than it cures. Fasting is
"strong medicine" - take in "right dose", when needed.

Roy Holman <[log in to unmask]>:
>*  Less Fruit:  I rigidly adhered (quite willingly, since I grew to love the
>sweet, addicting fruit taste) to a diet of about 60% fruit for a couple
>years, resisting the intense cravings I would have for salty stuff, beans,
>rice, and bread, among others.

Tom:
Fruit, being cleansing and providing a heavy dose of sugar, really does
promote cravings. The excuse given by some advocates of fruitarianism
re: cravings is that "you're not pure enough". After 8+ years as a fruitarian,
I can say that the cravings don't go away - at least they didn't for me.

Roy Holman <[log in to unmask]>:
>*  I do not see any food as inherently "good" or "bad".  For awhile I was
>seeing all cooked food as "bad", an evil toxic enemy.  (forgetting that I
>have survived on this food for 40 years).  Then when I would eventually give
>in to the "enemy" bread or whatever, I would eat with guilt, envisioning this
>poison gunking up my colon.  The food didn't have a chance of doing any good
>to my body with thoughts like that.

Tom:
If we eat raw food because we are in fear of, or hate, other foods, because
they are cooked, contain protein, or promote mucus, then we don't have a
diet - we have an eating disorder (or an ED in progress). Fear and hate
are not the basis for a diet, but they are the basis of an eating disorder.
Fear and hate poison the mind and soul; bad food eaten with a positive
attitude will hurt only the body. It is easy to detox the body, hard to detox
the mind/soul.

Roy Holman <[log in to unmask]>:
>*  Get enough nutrients.  I've really helped reduce my cravings by adding sea
>vegetables, algae, spirulina, bee pollen, wheat grass, brewers yeast - even
>an occasional range-free egg.  I'm finally getting the nutrients I need,

Tom:
I find raw dairy to be very helpful in eliminating cravings. Dried barley
grass seems to help some as well (also aloe vera).

Roy Holman <[log in to unmask]>:
>...Many of the raw fooders I have met seem to grasp
>raw food dogma as the answer to their lifelong struggles and confusion, only
>to become even more disillusioned to discover that we cannot eat our way to
>God or to bliss - we must dig much deeper to the actual roots of our
>imbalance.

Tom:
Those who look for happiness, or the meaning of life, on their lunch plate will
not find it.  A raw diet, even the highly touted 100% raw diet, is not a
guarantee of health or happiness. Also, one cannot eat their way to heaven
or enlightenment.

Thanks, Roy, for your wonderful post and insights!

Regards,
Tom Billings
[log in to unmask]