Trouble with Staying Raw when Traveling

After this weekend, I realized how hard it is to travel and stay Raw Vegan. I traveled to my birth home for a family get-together for my grandpa’s 80^th birthday (whoohooo!!) The members of my family are BIG meat eaters so much of the meal is focused on the meat rather than the sides of vegetables. The way I maintain a Raw Diet comes from my excitement about the nutrition of my food choices. However, when eating in a group family dining setting, there are not many selections that pertain to my diet and eating only fruit for dinner is very difficult when everyone is loading their plates high with all the cooked food selections. I found it very tempting to eat the eggs but I beat the temptation, however I did give into the breakfast bread. The setting of the traditional family dining, where we all gather around the table, shook my Raw Diet. At the table, I was the minority because of my preferences of food and it was easier for me to follow my cravings and eat food that I would not normally eat in my own home. How could I deny having my grandpa’s birthday cake? I wanted to take part in group family activities, and I conformed my eating so I could take part.
And now that I am back at home and eating Raw Vegan, I am still having trouble! After my large dinner salad of a variety of colorful vegetables, kale, and other leafy greens, I craved sugar after my meal- probably from eating birthday cake after meals two nights in a row! So I made myself of bowl of mint ice cream and while I ate it, I felt good inside and I came to realize that family tradition is comforting to me. I missed my family and eating the ice cream brought me back to that memory of us all sharing cake and ice cream. Food is a powerful substance when connected to emotions. I know that if I maintained my Raw Vegan Diet this weekend, I would have been showing lack of respect for the effort it took my family to pick out, purchase, and cook the meals.
I could have said no to the cake, right? But I did not want to feel left out from family tradition and being a part of everything right then and there, meant more than eating for optimal health.


Aside from the difficulty maintaining the raw diet at a family gathering, traveling in general makes it difficult as well. Airports usually have fruit on the go, but many of the salads are loaded with chicken or cheeses. Also, there are thousands of fast food restaurants conveniently on the side of the highway, but wheres the organic diner when you need it!?! Then, once you made it to your destination, the city may be foreign to you which causes difficulty in finding the healthier restaurants. This is something to be aware of when traveling because you want to keep your immune system strong, but with less choices of food, you don’t always end up getting the foods high in vitamins that you need as a Raw Vegan. This is a topic I will revisit and ponder over until I can get down a method. But for now, I will focus on regrouping my thoughts so I can mentally prepare myself to restart eating for health AND do my best to shake out the sugar cravings!!

Sto Lat, Dzia Dzia!                      (happy birthday, Grandpa! in Polish)
Virginia Lilly