Christmas: a time of celebration, magic and sparkle.
It’s my favourite time of year…always has been.
But have you ever had a Christmas when the anticipation was a good deal more magical and sparkly than the reality? I think we all have, and for many people every Christmas is like this, truth be told.
The number one reason? Although overdosing on legal mind-altering drugs (aka consuming traditional festive foods and drinks in traditional quantities) is seen as an obligatory part of Christmas fun, it’s not fun – not really.
I think we all know that, at least on some level.
You can have fake fun on fake foods…but the soul yearns for something more.
The “normal” thing to do is ignore that voice and tuck in to industrial quantities of sugar, dairy, white flour, meat, caffeine and alcohol – and stumble through the season in the accompanying haze.
But – as you may already have discovered – decline to partake, and the reactions from your nearest and dearest can be decidedly lacking in Christmas cheer.
Every December I receive emails from readers who are worried about these very issues.
A few Christmases ago I asked 10 other raw food writers to share their tips for sailing effortlessly through this very situation, and I bring you those tips today.
Read on to find out how you can make this Christmas a happy and healthy one, no matter who you’re spending it with.
Elaine Bruce is the founder and director of the The UK Centre for Living Foods and the author of Living Foods for Radiant Health.
Q: What are your tips for spending a stress-free Christmas with people whose food choices are different?
A: Just take plenty of raw stuff and set your juicer up in a corner where it won’t hassle the chef. Don’t let people think they have to cater for you – take treats to share. Enjoy the company and the games and don’t get into confrontations about food! Hard I know because people can feel very threatened, but a soft answer and the offer of a sweet treat go a long way.
Q: Any other words of wisdom?
A: Watch your immune system. We are all increasingly under pressures of all kinds, so keep a check and if you feel tired, don’t rationalize or make excuses. Find out why!
Brian Clement is the director of Hippocrates Health Institute and the author of many health books, including Living Foods for Optimum Health, and the newly released Killer Fish.
Q: What are your tips for spending a stress-free Christmas with people whose food choices are different?
A: Once you are confident in what you are doing, and get over trying over trying to enrol the troops in your ideology, everything goes smooth. If you are in another’s home, bring more than adequate amounts of health-building food with you to offer to any interested person. If this makes them feel uncomfortable, tell them, “My doctor told me to do this”. This pacifies the most insecure.
Q: Any other words of wisdom?
A: Wisdom is individual yet what we would like to share is that anyone is capable of anything providing they focus, commit and follow through. Disorder is a lack of order and efficiency of personal output. You are capable. Make life happen.
Alissa Cohen is a writer, speaker and consultant on raw and living foods, and the author of the bestselling Living on Live Food.
Q: What are your tips for spending a stress-free Christmas with people whose food choices are different?
A: Whether you’re celebrating at your own house or at someone else’s, my number one tip would be make a bunch of yummy food! Delicious raw desserts will please most people, raw or not, and help keep the cravings away.
Q: Any other words of wisdom?
A: Keep it simple and fun. When you love what you are doing, the process is a breeze!
Dao Earl is a director and facilitator at Sura Detox, and one of the UK’s leading experts on holistic health and healing.
Q: What are your tips for spending a stress-free Christmas with people whose food choices are different?
A: Relax: it is only food. The very building blocks that we are made from, yes, but other forces of almost equal strength exist with us, like the mind and the heart. If you put too much emphasis on any one, then you will miss the benefits of the others.
Q: Any other words of wisdom?
A: Your health, body and being are a physical accumulation of choices. If you keep your focus on your direction, and allow your wheels to spin sometimes, you stand a greater chance of making the distance. Rigidity is usually unsustainable, and certainly not a useful tool for evolution.
Out of flexibility comes new experience and from that, growth. So enjoy your choices, no matter whether they comply with your higher ideals. And if you torture yourself about it, enjoy that too. For that is, after all, just another choice.
Karen Knowler is The Raw Food Coach and one of the world’s leading experts on profound personal transformation via living nutrition.
Q: What are your tips for spending a stress-free Christmas with people whose food choices are different?
A: For me it’s a combination of attitude and great food. If you don’t make a big deal of it, other people are much less likely to. Keep smiling and having fun. If people persist in asking questions, it’s because they’re interested – answer their questions but remain mysterious, like you have a special secret. This is much more attractive than proselytizing and preaching – and much more effective!
With the food, eat what you want but know that the more enticing and delicious you make your raw food the more what you’re doing will make sense to others. 99% of people are driven by taste over and above any other concern, so if you want to impress or convert, the food needs to be the one doing all the talking.
Q: Any other words of wisdom?
A: Whether it’s at Christmas or the middle of the year, live every day in a way that makes you want to squeal with delight! Discover who you are, what makes you thrive and rejoice in being alive and commit to living as many moments as possible in those ways.
The best thing I ever did for myself was give myself permission to follow my dreams, the second was taking action on them. I’m so glad I made that commitment young as it’s already given me many years of extraordinary living, but it’s never too late to start and if we’re not here to be happy then really…what are we here for?
Paul Nison is a well-known raw food speaker and the author of several books, including Raw Knowledge: Enhance the Powers of your Mind, Body and Soul.
Q: What are your tips for spending a stress-free Christmas with people whose food choices are different?
A: I have a saying: If no one bothers or questions me about how I eat, I don’t bother or question them about how they eat. However my advice is if someone does bother you, just say, “MY DOCTOR SAID I HAVE TO EAT THIS WAY”! Once they hear that, they will leave you alone.
Q: Any other words of wisdom?
A: Do what feels best and is working for you. If you eat anything that doesn’t agree with you or makes you feel sick simply don’t eat it again. Read my book The Daylight Diet and stop eating when it is dark outside.
Ani Phyo is a raw chef and the author of several popular uncook books, including Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen.
Q: What are your tips for spending a stress-free Christmas with people whose food choices are different?
A: Always prepare food for yourself to enjoy. I love to make extras to share with everyone. Hopefully, you’ll have leftovers for the next day. No need to comment on what others are eating. Just offer your raw vegan food to them in case they’d like to try it. It’s so beautiful and colourful that it draws the eye, and people are usually curious….especially for desserts!
Q: Any other words of wisdom?
A: When I’m healthy, I feel good, am happy, and affect everyone I cross paths with. I strive to balance work, my outer world and my inner world. Mediation helps me tap into my inner world. It’s also a brain preservation exercise for me. I’ve come a long way to realize today that my priorities in life are to be healthy and happy, and to nurture relationships.
Natalia Rose is a clinical nutritionist, and the author of several health books, including The Raw Food Detox Diet and Detox for Women.
Q: What are your tips for spending a stress-free Christmas with people whose food choices are different?
A: Don’t worry about being different. Just do your own thing. Only eat what makes you happy. Let life not food have your attention! And don’t eat something because someone else wants you to for goodness sake!
Q: Any other words of wisdom?
A: Always follow the highest knowledge you know.
Pete Vincent is the author of The Most Sensible Raw Food Book in the World…Ever
Q: What are your tips for spending a stress-free Christmas with people whose food choices are different?
A: Don’t make food the main focus. Be accepting of where other people are at regarding dietary choices. Be prepared to compromise in order to spend quality time with those you love instead of ruining potentially happy times just because of your diet. One day eating a salad won’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things compared to happy memories.
Q: Any other words of wisdom?
A: Have a great goal that motivates you and keeps you happy. Give your body a reason to be healthy and make the most of the health you have right now instead of trying to make food your whole reason for being and the answer to all your problems.
Tera Warner runs online wellness programmes, including The Green Smoothie Detox and Women’s International Summit for Health.
Q: What are your tips for spending a stress-free Christmas with people whose food choices are different?
A: Tension starts on the inside. Look around at the people you love and remember why you love them. More important than what we eat or drink is how we think, communicate and the degree to which we can touch the lives of others in a positive way. Create a space that is welcoming and tolerant this year.
Sometimes people make what we may consider “bad” choices because they simply do not know better or understand. You can teach others, but speak first with your heart, then lead by example. If, and only if, you’ve got nice things to say, then share your story before you regurgitate the words of your favourite online guru. People making self-destructive choices likely don’t need another dose of intolerance or frustration coming from you. They wouldn’t be in that place if they felt better about themselves now would they?
Let your glass overflow with understanding. Pile on a second helping of compassion for friends and loved ones (not just for the animals). For dessert, take a sweet, deep, loooong breath and remind yourself that communication is the key to unlocking confusion and misunderstanding. Judgement, impatience and frustration will only give you more stress.
Q: Any other words of wisdom?
A: Care about others, don’t care what they think of you.
