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Dogmatism or Encouragement?
Remember the puppy love of discovering raw foods? Are you there now? I remember the very first time I figured out that veggies could actually be something I would crave. I was giddy with every Amazon raw food book or cookbook purchase. Rarely did my family see me without something about raw foods in front of my eyes. I was infatuated bording on obsessed.
Then slowly, slowly I started to think that if cooked food was really soooo bad, how could it feed it to my children, give it to my husband, have it in my house? Cooked food is poison! We choose death with every bite. We are digging our graves with our own teeth. Oh my! No self-respecting mother that discover this kind of knowledge and not implement it in their home, certainly not me! And how could I not share this new information with all of my friends, relatives and even strangers at the grocery store? All must know. Don't feel good? Probably that yogurt you had for breakfast this morning. Headache? You had french fries last night didn't you? I morphed into the Diva of Dogmatism.
Then just like infatuation my eyes and mind started to clear. I met healthy people who were not 100% raw. What? My children refused to eat another collard stuffed with tahini. I saw people who were "completely" raw who don't look healthy at all. What?
It was then that I realized just how personal a the journey of feeding ourselves is. Food can be just as personal as how we feed our minds and our spirits and those paths can be hugely different from person to person. The true path is the path of health. For some that may be totally raw vegan, for others primarily raw, others feel fine with a small side salad with their steak. And that's okay.
We all know that more fruits and veggies are good for us. We all know that there is a reason junk food is called junk. We all do the best we can do for our bodies with each choice we make. Sometimes that best choice is to have a bit of ice cream with friend over a chickflick. Sometimes it is the adventure of green smoothies with the children. Whatever the choice we make, the true adventure is to come alongside each other with a smile and the sweet voice of encouragement and maybe some yummy raw lasagna. It's so much more fun that way, playing with our food, laughing and walking alongside each other with smiles of love and encouragement.
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