How to Stay Raw Without Fighting Yourself

(in a Parking Lot Live, a New Bundle, and a Toddler Making Cabbage Sandwiches)

Sometimes life just does its thing. My friend Reny Kattel of @happyrawreny went live on Instagram to talk about the bundle launch, her little one had other plans, and somehow we ended up doing one of the realest, most fun conversations about how to stay raw that I can remember. Parking lot and all. Jesse was there too. Big waves from the warm volcanic soil of Las Palmas.

If you missed it, enjoy the video above, here is the gist below, plus a little more detail on everything we touched on.

First, the Bundle Is Live

The Ultimate Raw Vegan Bundle launched and we are beyond stoked. This thing has been a year in the making and it is genuinely one of the most stacked collections of raw vegan resources ever put together in one place. My book The Model Diet is in there, my 80/10/10 Masterclass with Dr. Douglas Graham is in there, Reny’s course is in there, and a whole lot more from some incredibly talented contributors. More on the individual pieces below, Grab it Here while the window is open, only until May 11th.

How to Stay Raw: It Is Not About Willpower

This was really the heart of our conversation, and honestly the thing I think most people in this community need to hear. Knowing how to stay raw long term has almost nothing to do with discipline or pushing harder. Reny said it better than I could: if you do not give your body a felt sense of safety, you can only push so far before something breaks.

And when something breaks, the old comfort food programming kicks in. Not because you are weak or failing, but because your nervous system is doing exactly what it was wired to do. Find safety. And for most of us, cooked heavy food is what safety felt like growing up.

That is not a character flaw. That is just wiring that needs a little gentle updating.

Reny’s Course: The Emotional Side of Staying Raw

Reny’s mini course is called “How to Stay Raw (or High Raw) without Fighting Yourself“ and it addresses exactly the piece that most raw vegan education skips entirely, the emotional underpinning of our food choices. It is not a recipe book or a meal plan, it is a real look at why we move away from raw eating without the blame spiral, how to release the internal pressure that drives cravings, and how to actually stay with urges rather than reacting automatically.

The goal is a more relaxed, flexible relationship with this lifestyle that actually feels natural to maintain. As someone who has watched a lot of people succeed and struggle with this over 22 plus years, I can tell you this kind of inner work is often the missing piece. Reny has done this work herself and she gets it from the inside out.

Her course normally runs $27 and it is included in the bundle with 30+ others for just $50. A rediculous value.

The Shift That Actually Works

We talked about the difference between “I have to eat this way” and “I get to eat this way.” It sounds simple but it is massive. If someone tells me I have to do something, it is the last thing I want to do. Most of us are wired that way. The whole energy shifts when it becomes a genuine want, when raw food stops being a rule you are enforcing on yourself and starts being the thing you actually choose because you know how good it feels.

Reny has been raw for 19 years. I am at 22. Neither of us got there by white knuckling it. Excitement and curiosity got us a lot further than obligation ever could have.

And when you do slip, because sometimes life is just happening and you are in a parking lot and things get real, the answer is not self flagellation. Eat the cooked food if that is what you need. Just do it without the shame spiral, with awareness. Then come back to what you actually want. You will find your way back a lot faster that way and learn from it more clearly without the self judgement, shame or guilt.

The Model Diet and Simplicity as a Foundation

We touched on The Model Diet and I will say what I always say: simplicity is the backbone of this lifestyle. The fancy recipes are fun, I love them, but the most sustainable version of how to stay raw long term is usually the simplest one. A perfectly ripe mango. A big bowl of cherries. Cabbage run through a food processor until it is juicy and bright. Reny’s daughter, who I have not seen in person since she was three months old, is out here building cucumber and cabbage sandwiches and blowing everyone’s minds.

The book covers the full picture: the nutritional framework, the real world situations, the mindset pieces, the resources. It is honestly the most complete thing I have ever put out and I am proud of it. It points to posts on my site, links to research, shares little insights I have picked up over two plus decades of living and coaching this way. If you are in the bundle you have got it.

The 80/10/10 Masterclass with Dr. Douglas Graham

Also in the bundle is the 80/10/10 Masterclass I built with Dr. Douglas Graham, five modules, twenty videos, everything you need to actually understand and apply the low fat raw vegan framework that underpins all of this. This is the nutritional foundation that makes knowing how to stay raw actually make sense physiologically, not just philosophically.

Cabbage, Mulberries, and Cherries in BC

We also just talked life for a bit, which is my favourite kind of conversation. Reny is in Las Palmas with Jesse and the little one eating volcanic soil grown produce that apparently just destroys everything else. I told them about biking across Canada and finding myself among cherry and nectarine trees in the BC interior for days, just eating my fill. We talked mulberries in Croatia. Carob. The fact that kids often have incredible raw food instincts when they are raised around it.

It was just real. Two friends catching up, launching something together, talking about the things that actually matter when it comes to how to stay raw, and how to stay sane and kind to yourself while doing it.

Grab the Bundle

The bundle is live now and the window does not stay open forever. Head to Reny’s profile or mine and grab it. The Model Diet, the 80/10/10 Masterclass, Reny’s emotional eating mini course, and a whole lot more, all in one place, all for a ridiculous price compared to what any of these would cost individually.