One of the most fascinating aspects of following a raw food diet is how it influences other aspects of your life. Whether it gives you additional energy that allows you to engage in more activities or a greater sense of connection that increases your daily joy, a raw food diet is going to have an effect not just on you, but on those around you. If you have decided to follow a raw food diet for health reasons, you may find along the way that you have also become interested in ethical issues around animals, or that you are more sensitive to your environmental impact (or global footprint). You may also notice an increased desire to exercise or to be outside.
It can be difficult to incorporate a raw diet into social settings, especially with family, and you may find yourself questioning how to handle different dining situations graciously (or you may be wanting to scream your truth from the rooftop!). How these situations are handled can make a big difference in how accepting others are of you diet. If you run into conflict in these areas it can be very emotional, as most big and meaningful events in our lives revolve around food. Are you going to turn down a piece of Nana’s apple pie, and how?
One of the raw food debates is whether a person needs to eat 100% raw to derive the greatest benefits or whether around 80% raw is enough. This is definitely a matter of personal preference. Some people find it too difficult to completely restrict cooked foods, whereas others find it too easy to slide into old eating habits if they do incorporate cooked foods. This choice will definitely have an impact on how easily you can integrate a raw food diet into the rest of your life.
It is very important to ask yourself why you are on this raw food journey so that it does not become an end in and of itself. So that you can still listen to your body and make the healthiest decisions that support your goals. I follow a raw food diet of about 80% raw because it gives me the energy to keep up with a hubby, three kids, occasional live-in teenage students, and have enough left over to dance. It also allows me to socialize more easily and enjoy the gift of others’ cooking. After all, a meal is not just made of food but also of the love that was put into it 