Not precisely. Both require one to have some serious willpower, to say the least. For cooked food vegans it takes a great deal of inner strength to overcome meat cravings. Meanwhile, for raw food vegans it takes a strong will to overcome cravings for cooked foods. Either way, a craving is a craving and old clothes can be very hard to break.
To overcome the addiction to cooked food, one must let go of previous beliefs. Throughout our lives, we are led to believe that food has to be cooked. The beliefs run deep, and the concept of a raw food diet completely contradicts those deeply held perceptions. Not only that, like a drug, we develop a dependency on cooked food. Our minds tell us we need it, and for long periods without it we crave it, feeling sick, weak, and disoriented from the hunger for it. Therefore, one has to be really emotionally prepared to confront and overcome all these inner demons, so to speak, in order to successfully adopt a vegan raw food diet.
On the other hand, many will admit that the initial phases of a cooked vegan diet are just as challenging. The difference is that this battle usually occurs externally. Veganism is a lifestyle that is very different from most, so it requires some adjustment not only for the person who embraces this lifestyle, but also for close friends and family who observe it. Although the physical impact of a cooked vegan diet is not as drastic as that of a raw food diet, the emotional effects are the same. It takes a lot not to give in to cravings and even more to accept that others may never accept you.
At the end of the day, one is just as challenging as the other. For one thing, until one can change their belief system about food, a vegan diet is nothing more than a fanciful dream. In the meantime, until one has overcome their addiction to cooked food and cares about the opinions of others, maintaining a raw food diet long-term can be next to impossible.
