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Author	Topic: Social aspects of eating / this diet / orthorexia
Ryan 12-27-2002 04:59 AM	im going on holiday with 6 of my friends and we are all living together for 8 days, how do you guys deal with people critizing you about this diet, and having a go at you?We all had dinner last night. i came out with my big bowl of salad, while everyone had pasta. They all started saying its bad for me to eat this way, my stomach cant handle all this fruits/green leaves, lettuce...etc.... Now i have to put up with it for 8 days!!! Im worried about what i will do when they all go out to eat in a restaurant, what should i do, stay at home alone? just need some support, i am so determined to stay on this diet, because it works for me. god bless wai
gralleigh 12-27-2002 05:52 AM	Dear Ryan Don't know how bad your skin is but I agree it's very difficult over the holiday season-if you fall off the wagon don't beat yourself up just start over the next day. I have found over the holiday season that I can pretty much have one cooked meal a day-I stick to vegetarian or fish choices or a couple of drinks and a salad while sticking to a raw breakfast and lunch and my skin remains clear as long as I have LOTS of fruit including juices and stick to the other rules (fat with every fruit meal etc) If I am having a dirty protein meal I obviously do not have the egg yolks, sushi etc. I have even had the odd desert/chocolate without a problem. So obviously this is not ideal and I mean to go back on a stricter diet once the holiday season is over and I'm not out sociaising every night but have been doing this for 2 weeks and have had no breakouts. So-experiment a little and have fun. The diet is so good that you'll have no problem going back on it once your holiday is over.
Wai 12-30-2002 11:00 AM	yes, it is very wise to experiment and to not beat yourself up. It is wise to experiment for a couple of reasons: - it is fun - your senses are daily exposed to attractive odours of cooked foods (like freshly baked bread), and tasting different tastes is almost unavoidable. - getting new acne by straying from the diet gives you more insight as how exactly your skin responds to 'bad' foods. And the more you know about what your skin can cope with, the more clear it is what your options are. So that you can chose to be clear or have fun, at all times. Maybe acne is not so bad as long as you are totally in control; if you sometimes chose some good tasting food over having a clear skin, the acne is not nearly as bad as when you get acne and you don't know why, and what to do about it. This diet is about being able to control your skin condition again, and that you can chose how clear your skin needs to be, and when you want to enjoy good tasting bad foods.
engesongwok 02-06-2003 04:34 PM	I have several friends and family members who know I have special dietary habits. They aren't always understanding, supportive, and often offer me food that I am not interested in eating. Sometimes they do it on purpose, because they don't think I am eating enough, or missing something from my diet. Sometimes its just out of habit, as offering food is one way of showing hospitality. Sometimes I do eat some of the food just to taste it, and I say its good. Which often leads to some confusion, as people often think in all or none kind of thinking. One person has accused raw food advocates as being 'arrogant'. (as a way of seperating from the general population, and making themselves 'special' or better in some way). Some have labeled special diets (other than perscribed by a doctor) as being 'orthorexic'. Something like anorexia, but not as debilitating nutritionally, medically or socially. I think any eating plan can take on pathological aspects if one is not careful. What is your advice reguarding critics of raw food diets? I have a difficult time with people trying to change my mind, like it somehow makes them feel bad about what they are eating. Not my intent at all... What is the best way for someone to follow the basic plan more or less, and not obscess over it? (I think that I do have orthorexic tendancies, and tend to fixate upon food.) Thank you
nik 02-06-2003 04:35 PM	HEllo engeswok, I am just starting the diet myself (about a week now-elated! with results so far)and like you, and many others on this board, I am experiencing pressure,adversity, and sometimes just straight up annoying reactions from people about being on this diet.But I believe that when people resond in the ways you so eloquently described it is their own problem, not ours. When I first told my friends and family I was going to start eating raw egg yolks, they really thought I was crazy, "cant you get salmonella poisoning!BLA BLA BLA" I got sick of expaining and defending myself after a while. If someone told you they think "raw food advocates" are arrogant, they are probably just jealous, or threatened by something that forces them to think outside of the little box that makes them feel comfortable and "normal" Maybe they are worried that we are right to eat this way, and they are afraid to take the responsibility of accepting it. If deciding to become aware of what foods are ideal and healthy and prevent seriously bad diseases makes us special, than good! Ill stick out for that, instead of joining the flock of cancer prone sheep! I think your "orthorexic" point is interesting. It hits home for me because I am going throuhg the same kind of hyper food-conscoiusness that you expained. But I think for me its just like any new change in life, it feels weird, different, new for a while and then gets banal and you vary and start improvising and evolving. I am glad Im evolving in this more disciplined, aware, educated, knowledgable choicemaking, and preventative way than just eating more beef and taking more milk of magnesia and looking forward to dying of colon cancer at 60, know whatta mean? Thanks for your topic and starting me off ranting! Felt good!
engesongwok 02-07-2003 01:12 AM	Hello Frugivore, Thank you for sharing! Yes, I had similiar comments from a friend about eating egg yolk. The funny thing was that he was the person to introduce me to eating them raw! He actually eats raw quail yolks at sushi bars. I asked him, does the resturant have some knowledge that you can't obtain, is there some secret supply of safe raw egg yolk? Tonight I ate at a Korean resturant and had raw beef. I didn't think I objected to foods because of 'ethical' or emotional needs. I ordered it because I felt pressured to eat at a resturant, and be 'social'. I don't really care for resturants. Anyways, I didn't mind the taste, and it was VERY filling. However, when you eat meat raw I was much more aware of what pain the animal must have gone through in the process of being slaughtered, and becoming meat. Cooking meat somehow reduces this sense of intimacy with the animal.I don't know if I will ever eat it again. Egg yolks and raw salmon don't seem to create this sensation for me. I actually much prefer the taste of raw fruit to raw meat...