The biggest snowstorm of the year!!
So, the other day I stumbled upon a dilemma, but I think I've found the answer. I asked myself the other night, "why does cooked food taste so yummy and a lot of raw food taste so icky? If God wanted us to only eat raw foods then why would he give us the knowledge to create blueberry cheesecake, or onion rings, or stuffed chicken marsala? :)" But, then that begs the question, did God give us that knowledge? I have a hard time believing Satan would, but then again, I do believe Satan is behind the fast food industry...but that's a whole other can o' worms, so lets not go there...anwyay...so, let's be hypothetical and assume that God did give us all this knowledge regarding yummy food that isn't so good for us. That leads me to 2 conclusions. Firstly, that my original question is wrong in its entirety, because most of our taste buds have our priorities wrong. It could be that cooked food is supposed to taste icky, and the raw food the yummiest. Still, I have a hard time with that because let's face it, there are some cooked things that taste good, because they just taste good. Such as refined cane sugar, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, etc. Even if I was able to go 100% raw for my whole life I couldn't deny that those things DO taste yummy (to me, anyway). So the second conclusion (the one that I agree most with) is that God gave us these yummy cooked foods as treats, as things that should be eaten sparingly. First off, I need to clarify between what I believe are essential cooked foods, and cooked treats. Essential cooked foods, things that I believe we need lots of, would be grains and beans, maybe potatoes once in awhile. Cooked treats would pretty much be everything else. That being said, I am making sense of my conclusion about cooked food in 2 ways. 1. I have gone on an epic quest to find raw recipes that are great substitutes to the cooked food I'm used to (not an exact match in taste per-say, but yummy in their own way). 2. I believe that all the food out there, raw and cooked, is for use to enjoy. The problem is that most people, especially Americans, eat the cooked foods in so much excess that we throw our bodies way out of whack. We indulge in things that should be eaten sparingly, every day, as if eating mac n' cheese is good for us, and normal. To me it is not normal. It used to be, but now it is just a treat. Now if I go the other way, and say I eat only 100% raw 100% of the time, then I look back and say "gee, there was this cooked dish that I absolutely would sell my soul for...too bad I can't eat it because it's 'bad' or 'poisonous'...", then how sad is that for me?! I believe everything on this earth can do us good, and God put everything here for a reason. Granted, some things should be taken in moderation, like cooked treats, and some other things very moderately (like drugs), but to deny myself something I LoVe forever is cruel and unusual punishment. So if it's my birthday, and I want pineapple, I will be quite content. But if instead I am craving some cake and fetucchini alfredo , I'm going to eat it, and then thank God and ask him to bless my delish treat. Now, there may come a time when I no longer want certain cooked treats, and that's fine...more power to me. In fact, I expect that to happen as my tastes change. But, I'm not going to lie to myself and say "I don't like that" when I really still do. Hopefully I live longer and healthier by eating mostly raw, but life is still too short to deny myself molten chocolate lava cake...for my whole life - because let's face it, no raw creation will ever taste as good as that original! Give me something that does and I'll eat my hat (and the whole cake :))!
Another thing that baffles me is why I'm so into this raw thing, since I am a very analytical person, and there is SO much information about nutrition floating out there...more than anyone like me will be able to grasp. It's like I'm going on 10% research and 90% intuition...but I consider myself a very intuitive person and have learned to trust that. Still, I feel like the more I learn the more I don't know, like I'm running on faith with this whole thing. It's not entirely faith however, because I have felt the positive effects firsthand, and I wish I hadn't stopped for 3 months. I couldn't help but go back to raw though. It's something I can't deny anymore because it just makes too much sense to me. If I ever end up denying it in practice I still won't be able to deny it in my heart! I feel finally freed from food (say that 10x fast). I am no longer anxious about how I'll get healthy and stay healthy...I am no longer afraid of the journey. I know now that all I need to do is take care of my body, feed it the purest things, exercise my heart, mind and soul, and everything will fall into place. It's such a calm, peaceful, free feeling! I know that God answers prayers and that he will make all things known unto those who ask. Each one of us may get different answers about some things, but they will always be the right answers for each of us unique beings!
