The Organic Climber – Vegetarian running, cycling, swimming, rock climbing and raw foods.

Honestly, right now I have been getting sort of bored with raw foods. I think it has to do with a number of things. One, I just moved to Austin, and there are so many good eateries here, all vegetarian friendly too. Two, I’m experiencing salad burnout, but that is partly my fault for not changing things up enough. Three, I’m out of routine. Being self-employed and starting up my own business has been great, but it is harder to eat raw since I’m working from coffee shops – salads won’t keep without a refrigerator.

My diet is probably around 50% raw currently, except on weeks that involve traveling on the weekends. I’m becoming more and more okay with this though, as who I am is not defined by my diet. I do notice a difference in my health though when I’m not eating as much raw foods, and when I make poor choices with cooked foods – my digestive system lets me know. When I first started getting into raw foods, I went all out. My diet consisted of 70-80% raw food, and meat a few times a week. I eventually departed from that though and was completely vegetarian. I have found the high raw food lifestyle is very difficult to maintain.

So, all this to say – I’m totally fine with my current raw food intake. But, I will say I want to make sure I’m making healthier cooked food choices, which can be hard with so many good, local eateries here in Austin. I especially need to make this a priority because of my bike accident. I know from experience with my high raw food intake in the past that the healing process can be much faster when you provide your body with nutritionally dense foods and lots of greens.

I have also decided that it’s okay to eat snack foods and deserts in moderation, although I still avoid the really bad things that are made of nothing but sugar and unnatural ingredients. One of my main reasons for this is because of the comradery it provides with other people. I always hated it when I wouldn’t indulge in a tasty desert and the conversation would then focus on me and my diet. Not only that, but I also believe there is absolutely nothing wrong with these indulgences, just as long as they are in moderation.

I have grown to hate some of the pretentiousness I have seen in the raw food community as well. But, I am thankful for people like, Philip McClusky who have recently announced to the community they have introduced cooked foods into their diet. Perhaps it will take down the high and mighty attitude some people have about their diet. I admittedly was sucked into finding part of my identity in raw foods for a while, but thankfully have realized that is not where my identity lies.  We are human beings, created in the image of God, there is much more to who we are than what we eat.

I guess what I am getting at is that you shouldn’t worry about how closely you cling to a particular diet; especially one that restricts you from enjoying life, and other people. I still aspire to eat mostly raw foods and strongly believe it’s a highly beneficial lifestyle, but I refuse to let it dominate and define my life. So, finding a good balance will be a challenge, especially since I can tend to struggle with moderation when not being strict on my diet. But, I do believe a balance can be found.