Let's talk about your childhood

[monkeyboy]

Hi everyone,

HMM.....Where to begin.

Why raw food and better nutrtion?

What happened way back when, which you carry to this day.

I wasn't a fat kid.
I hated hamburger helper.
My grandma taught me about greens and beans.


I think the big thing from my childhood and teen years was my Mom.
She was a food scientist with Pfizer.
I tried all sorts of crazy stuff as a kid.
Before Alton Brown there was my Mom.
Her lab was way cool.
She worked on some great products, though not raw.

Interesting.

Peace,

M.B.

[kmik]

Everyone called me horse... not because I was fat, but because I loved horses. Nonetheless, it doesn't do much for a young girl's self image!

Anyway, horses are raw vegans (with the exception of an occaisional dumb bug that doesn't jump off the grass in time!), so I figured if it works for them, it'll work for me!

Oh, and don't worry, I've matured out of my low self image, and realize it was "their" problem, not mine ;)

[RawTruth]

Why raw food and better nutrtion?

What happened way back when, which you carry to this day.

I was encouraged as a child to think for myself and express my opinion. As I grew older, I felt free to explore other ways of eating and thinking. I remember coming home from college totally excited about having learned in one class to pick wild greens on a day trip into the forest (went to school in the Pacific Northwest) and how bad white bread and preservatives, etc. are ... and was actually listened to by my mom. My siblings, being younger, had no choice but to listen!

Today is my mom's 30 days raw birthday, so you could say she kept on listening, even years later.

[rawpriestess]

How much bandwidth does this board have? LOL

No really, I've done massive therapy about my childhood, and I'm still crazy.

I grew up in a family, where my brother who was two years older than me was mentally ill. He was the ONLY boy grandchild.

I was very smart, and left alone most of the time. I was paid to babysit myself when I was 5, because I did a better job than the babysitters did.

My mom was the ONLY divorced woman in town, and she worked for a Nuclear plant, Hanford. (she died very young) YES, I believe there was a connection.

My entire life was about my brother, picking him up, taking care of him, making sure I was playing with him, watching what I said, so he wouldn't get mad and hit me again, sleeping without moving, again, so he wouldn't hit me, we slept in the same room.

I couldn't have any friends, because they might find out about my brother, I couldn't stay the night anywhere, because we couldnt' have any changes at home, we could never buy anything new, because if you brought something new into the house, he got all upset.

it was a nightmare.

I remember the ONLY thing in my life that was equal was our food, I would always get as much as him, the same amount of fish sticks, the same amount of bread, everything else was always way on his side.

So, I theorize that my food issues, stem from wanting to be loved and accepted for who I am, and the only way my mom showed me that I was ok, or equal to my brother who took all her time and energy, and every waking second of her life, was to give me food.

That is my dimestore conclusion.

also we were always on a diet, usually the eat only meat diet, boiled chicken was how I grew up, my mom couldn't cook, had no time to learn, and didn't like to make anything. treats were Kraft Macaroni and cheese or going out to dinner was to Zips for cheeseburgers, Oh yes, and after Sunday school was donuts, an entire dozen, all had to be eaten that day, so we could start our diets again on Monday. (last supper sydrome)

I became a vegetarian one day in meditation, I had a vision, haven't eaten meat since, that was 11 years ago, I went to a cooking class, someone was talking about raw food, I went to Victoria Boutenkos' free lecture, took her Gourmet Chef classes (5 weeks) and here I am.

Personally, I think THIS is the interesting part, when my mom passed away, 21 years ago, I ate almost a meat only diet, I weighed about 145 pounds, when I became a vegetarin 11 years ago, when I was eating meat and vegetables about 1/2 and 1/2, I weighed about 185 pounds, when I went raw 6 years ago, when I had been a vegetarina for 5 years, I was 260 pounds, hummm, is this actually helping? LOL

all I know is that food and food issues have been my entire life, when I die, I want people to remember me for my art, my books and my creations, ie, costumes, recipes and my houses, I don't want people to say, "she kept a clean house, or she was thin" so, food will probably always be an issue with me, but I'll keep getting better and better each year, a little older, and hopefully wiser, but definitely rawer.

[JoJo]

Great idea for a thread.

I grew up where people ate steak and baked potates with all the fixing at least once a day. I never cared for the taste of meat. So, I had lots of problems with my parents about not eating a lot of meat. I sat at the table many times until I finished my plate. I drank tons of coke or diet coke. I love potato chips and ate tons. The diet coke never seemed to help me lose weight. I was always a not fat but pudgy. Most of the weight has always been in my double chin and stomach.

Potato chips are still my biggest problem with trying to be 100% raw.

JoJo

[eatyourbroccoli]

hmm..

i grew up on hamburger/tuna/macaroni helper, macaroni and cheese, popcorn shrimp, fish sticks, grilled cheese with sour cream, frozen pizzas, meatloaf, tacos, cheeseburgers, fruit roll ups, poptarts, trix and cinnamon toast crunch...typical american upbringing i guess :p

my mom cooked chicken and pork chops and veggies and whatnot, but to me that was always "grown up" food and i rarely touched it.

i was also heavily into sports, so i was never a heavy child. pretty skinny up until 8th grade when i was put on birth control for "health reasons" and i began to "blossom." was still thin, until i quit soccer sophomore year of highschool and lived off of mcdonalds one summer. shot up to about 170 lbs on a 5'10 frame from about 150 lbs when playing soccer.

i decided on RAW after being very very sick with mono almost 2 years ago and it destroying my body..specifically my digestive system. RAW keeps me healthy and is one of the few things my body can handle. got down to about 145 lbs between mono/unhealthy eating disorder.

it's funny though..i've been really detoxing these past couple of days since i'm on day 16 of 100%, and i've been getting these crazy cravings for food i haven't eaten since childhood. like mozzerella sticks with marinara sauce, grilled peanut butter sandwhiches, chicken strips..

crazy detox :rolleyes:

i'm now about 135 lbs HEALTHILY now. mentally, spiritually, physically at peace :D (or will be once this detox is over :p)

:)

[JennaBoBenna]

MB,

Three words-

Twice. Baked. Potatoes.



but seriously now,

I started getting fatter when I was 8 years old because I loved cookies, chips, IronKids bread, grilled cheese with ketchup, McDonalds plain cheeseburgers and fries, and the love of my life was chicken fingers/tenders. In elementary school, kids called me overweight, I was only like ten years old! The sixth graders made fun of me :( Then I kept gaining weight because all I ate was junk! I would hardly eat fruit let alone vegetables. My freshman year of high school I gained about 20 pounds because my school had 50 cent vending machines! I would spend like $5 at a time on it claiming I would "eat most of this stuff later", when I would really just eat it all because I couldn't choose what I wanted to eat now. I really love potatoes, and when I realized that they are a problem for me (one bite and I eat it all), I tried to not eat any at dinner one night and my parents were practically forceing them down my throat! I kept saying I didn't want any and they kept insisting I have some.
I became vegan March 30th 2005 overnight after watching a Peta video. This started a disagreement with my parents and I. "Where will you get your protein!?" Oh, I wish I had known more about protein back then!!! I told them I would eat soy, and drink soy milk and it'd be fine. The first week of being vegan I shed 7 pounds and felt great! Then the weight stayed where it was at and didn't budge until summer 2005 when the only thing I snacked on was french fries and onion rings. Now that I think about it, those probably were not vegan, but ah well. I gained about ten pounds and decided to stop that, and it was very hard. Then I learned about raw in August 05 and tried to do it, but I didn't know enough about it yet. I then struggled to be raw the rest of the year until now. I've been raw for 4 days, today is my 5th, and I feel fantastic!
Bread and potatoes are a struggle, but I haven't craved them at all. Although, I did walk out of Safeway, which is by a McDonalds and enjoyed the smell of the fries...but no cravings! :D

[JMD]

great idea for a post....
I am Sicilian Italian...so in my large loud family--bread was a utensil. I was a chunker of a kid...very lonely---parents worked so i pretty much cared for the house and my only little sister--8 yrs younger. Food was my best buddy..me hostess and little debbie....
In my family food was EVERYTHING....3 family members run a bakery if that gives you a clue. When i realized it was unhealthy to eat this much (my mom's serving size of pasta was a lb per person :eek: ) i started reading diet books etc.
Long story short...family is still obese and compulsive dieters and sabotagers..I am the only one who exercise and is slim..I am grateful i was NEVER EVER denied food or malnourished,,,,however if it was not for an eating disorder support group and lots of inner soul therapies I may have been just like them too....

[maraw]

I grew up in South Texas with two really brilliant and creative cooks (mother and grandmother). The major drawback was they both enjoyed cooking with lots of salt, hot peppers and fat - none of which has ever been very appealing to me. Both my parents also smoked - a lot. I was always a fruit and veggie girl as a kid, but not vegetarian until after college. When I was pregnant with our first child I started dreaming about cheeseburgers and it was all over.

Almost every member of my family has died from some variety of cancer. You might say, the tendancy is in my genes. When I started looking at my children and their future, and how I wanted to teach them to be wise and live healthy lives and make good choices, raw and whole food just seemed like a natural. SO much better than smoking, alcohol, and artificial society. So, you might say I started looking into it for my children's future, not my past.

Great thread - somebody grab a couch.

[sport]

I remember watching my cousin skinning a rabbit when I was very young. Eating rabbit is not very common in Ireland so I think that it effected me. It was not something that I ever expected to see. I dont think that I can blame him for me being vegan. I think that I was born vegan.
I had a good childhood, growing up in the country and sometimes picking fruit and veg from the field and eating it instead of going home to eat. Pity that the kids of today can not do things like that.

[solarliving]

Like Rawpriestess, I too have gone through much therapy about childhood. I was raised on lots of meat. Infact my stepdad was a hunter and he would bring home food for us. The liver always went down the toilet. We had chickens and at the tender age of 5 was forced to battle them for their eggs. We also had a beautiful garden with rasberries, carrots, zucchini, sunflowers, mint, and much more. Oh how I wish I had that garden now : )

I have an older sister but i spent most of time alone, I guess nothing has changed. I've always been artistic and musically inclined so that helped me deal with my emotions. I started smoking cigs and pot at the age of 12 and quit both last year at the age of 32. My gramps died of colon cancer 6 years ago. Pretty much everyone in the family is a smoker or addicted to something. My aunt June (grandmas sister) smokes and is addicted to vicodin yet she still up and around at the age of 87. I guess i have fairly good genes. Grandma is in her 80's and used to be an alcoholic. Mom's on her 4th marriage, but she has always been a very loving mother. Both uncles have been married 3 times. Bascially my childhood was disfunctional but It has made me what I am today. A kind, understanding and compassionate human being. I am a Hypnotherapist and massage therapist and I love my job. At this point I can safely say I am a recovered wounded child.

[Naturallynice]

Grew up in Greece, in the midst of a fruit orchard my dad planted. We had cherry trees, apple trees, pear trees, apricot and peach trees and lots of nut trees, walnuts trees, hazelnut bushes and almond trees. And ofcourse we had our own vegetable garden.

Need to make a salad? Go to the garden, get some lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, spring onions and parsley and there you go, from the soil to the plate. Ate meat sparingly.

My mum and grandma were very good cooks and always on the healthy side.

My mum died when I was 10, my dad took over cooking and it was fried this and fried that every day! Seriously. And potatoes, pasta rice with loads of bread in between. I was always a big girl for my age - solid rather than overweight, but my pre-teenage years were an eating dissaster. I gained weight very rapidly and all the stretch marks I have was from that era not from my pregnancies. Shame, isn't it?

Became vegetarian when I was 20 because I lived away from home and couldn't/wouldn't cook meat at home. The only meat I was eating was at McDonalds and I knew that wasn't the best meat so I gave up meat altogether.

A bit later became vegan. Been vegan/vegetarian for 11 years now. But I was always hooked on white carbos even as a vegan and my downfall was my sweet tooth. Heard about raw foods last summer and I am on and off it. I am now pregnant with my third child and doing the 30 day raw food challenge. I manage to keep to 90-98% raw. I live in N. Ireland now so I miss all the good, plentiful fruit and veg Greece has to offer. But then again, we can be sure that organic is organic here.

I am on my 3rd week and I don't like sweets anymore, I crave my salad everyday, I am most happy to chew carrot sticks instead of crisps let's say and my cellulite is improving! Yeah!

Esther

[karenisraw]

We had a garden and we mostly ate fried chicken, spaghetti, pancakes and sausage, beef stroganoff, etc., but we always had fresh and cooked fruits and vegetables with it. I guess I just gained weight easier than the other siblings so I started at about 14 watching my weight. My eating habits just kept getting healthier and healthier and healthier until I ended up raw vegan.

k
:)

[misslinda]

:eek: Carry over from childhood? Awesome question MB,,,,,,,,


~I carry my overall "It's not good enough and I'm not good enough" mentality--perfectionistic.

~It's a way for me to keep myself in check. Why and why raw/nutrition????

~I was born the chubby girl in the family---aka "Cute & Smart but she's chubby."

~I recall [knowing] I was FAT at 3 years of age and going thru my older sister's collection of designer jeans and examining the shape and thinness of it. This was the beginning of my poor distorted body image.

~My father controlled eating. Seafood everyday (YUCK!) and Sundays was ONLY salads.

~Father use to bring the weight scale and have me step on it--so he could prove I was FAT.

~I use to be up until 1-2 am cleaning the kitchen from the age of 9 years of age b/c I hated the feel of food and the kitchen "Room of "gluttony." Beginning of my issues with food and the start of eating disorder behaviors.

~I was required to know designer clothing labels by the age of 10 and spent many nights learning thru reading and looking at magazines with beautiful thin models. HELL, got my first Louis Vuitton at 12 yrs old---DARE NOT BE FAT and CARRY THIS LINDA!

~My oldest sister declared medecine as her major when I was in Junior HS. This intensified my anorexia as a explanation to support my food avoidance.

~My oldest sister was always referred to as the MOST intelligent,skinny etc. A snotty, self righteous, anti-men Scripps Alumini.

~17 years of nothing but being sick and near death,in and out of hospitals,therapy offices and accomplishing NOTHING.

~Ugh, when paramedics start recognizing you when you go walking, it's time for change......... :o

~I deserve to heal and love myself this time.



Thank you for posing the question. It really made me rethink why RAW. :)

[monkeyboy]

Hi Everyone,

I Post With Tears In My Eyes...Really No Joke.

My Pop Is In Ill Health.

He Ate Chesse And Butter And Fried Eggs Forever.

He Drank Way Too Much Jack Daniels.

He Was Always There For Me And A Great Pop.

My Mom Kept Us Together.

A Professional Educated Women In Her White Lab Coat.

My Pop Is Doing Ok, But I've Made Plans To Fly To Orlando To See Him.

The Guy Loves Golf And The Warm Sun.

Much Different Than The Preppie Colony.

Please Pray For My Pop Tonite.

Love, Yes Love, M.B. Tom

[misslinda]

Hi Everyone,

I Post With Tears In My Ears...really No Joke.

My Pop Is In Ill Health.

He Ate Chesse And Butter And Fried Eggs Forever.

He Drank Way Too Much Jack Daniels.

He Was Always There For Me And A Great Pop.

My Mom Kept Us Together.

A Professional Educated Women In Her White Lab Coat.

My Pop Is Doing Ok But I've Made Plans To Fly To Orlando To See Him.

The Guy Loves Golf And The Warm Sun.

Much Different Than The Preppie Colony.

Please Pray For My Pop Tonite.

Love, Yes Love, M.b. Tom


I'm sorry to hear about you Pops Tom,,,,,I will say prayers for him and you and your family. [ handing the hanky box to you]

btw, that's interesting how every first letter of each word is capitalized. :confused:

[monkeyboy]

Hi Everyone,

The capital letter thing was just a bit of a statement.

Pops is ok, but sounds droggy on the phone.

Jet Blue reservations for later in the month.


Thanks Misslinda for being a pal.


Peace,

M.B.

[PICOHEALTH]

Monkey Boy,

I will pray for you and your dad, you because you are sad and you love him so much and him, so that you gain wisdom and are ablr to enjoy this visit and that he will be so overjoyed that you have come to see hm and leave so much move in him.

My mother while not ignoring her roots, cooked from every culture for us - so O grew up in a very eclectiv household. We had losts of veggies, but come to think of, not alot of fruit - MOm, :confused: I need to tak you

calling Mom now, rign, ring ( now what I am to say?

[JMD]

MONKEYBOY

My thoughts and prayers are with you......thank goodness you have raw clarity and love you can take to him, embrace him, and share emotions.

PS jet blue is my fave airline...:)

Eat well and take care of Monkey Boy first so you can help others..

Peace,

JMD

[maraw]

All you need to do is ask = of course you and he are in our prayers. May I ask his first name?

If I may be so humble as to make a suggestion to you. When you are with your dad, be really with him. He has made hard choices in his life (haven't we all?) and it appears that some of them may be coming back to visit him. Try not to judge - just love and love more generously. And then when you think you are done, love him even more still.

Peace be with you and your family.

Anna

[aisah]

my mom was hospitalized just early last month. she stayed there for a little more than a week. it was indeed a trying time for me and the entire family. doctor said she is a walking time bomb. i visited her daily and stayed on to be with her throughout the entire day. when she was discharged, she still needed to go for her weekly medical check-ups. i willingly volunteered to bring her for her check-ups. but now that my work requires me to travel frequent, i do not have the time luxury to assist her. it saddens me that i could not do so on a regular basis now.

so i fully understand your situation. i am sending my healing love to you and your family. my best to you and your dad.

[Queenie]

I also therapized about my messed-up childhood and the daily humiliations...

But as far as food - my sister "went veg" when I was still a kid, and she used to go around acting self-righteous and calling the rest of us carnivores. Then my mother did the same thing. My mother is still self-righteous about the fact that she doesn't eat meat, constantly announcing it in restaurants... it's so embarrassing....

I don't need the ego trips. So what if people occasionally eat meat? People are all on their own paths.

I've dealt with self-righteous attitudes about food and eating since I was about ten years old and I refuse to fall into that category, regardless of what I eat. I used to smoke, and when I quit I didn't go around saying "Ew, Gross" to everyone who smoked, either. So now I eat raw and I don't look at other people's food and go, "How can you eat that crap." Having been subjected to it myself by the two dominating older women in my life...

[juliebove]

I can't think of anything that happened in my childhood to bring me to where I am today, in terms of food.

As a child, I was underweight. Very underweight at times. I ate and ate and could never gain any weight. I was also very active. I took ballet and tap and was very active.

I was born in the midwest and we had a huge vegetable garden during the summer. My maternal grandparents had a farm. We were never lacking for nutritious food.

We moved to WA when I was 7. We moved here with Boeing and there was a lack of housing. We lived in a motel for a while, then rented a house. So no garden during this time. But when we finally bought a house, we put in a garden.

We did not eat a lot of junk food like some of the kids I knew. Yes, we did have processed cereals and Poptarts at times. And we did have more donuts than I care to remember. The store near us would put out grab bags each night after 8:00. Whatever baked goods were left over were put in there and sold at a greatly reduced price. These were usually donuts, but occasionally there would be a roll or muffin in there. I think the main reason we got these was because they were so cheap. There was enough stuff in the bag for two meals and some leftovers. My mom would freeze the leftovers and then heat them up in the oven. If there's anything worse than a donut, it's a reheated donut! I remember how the icing would get all blistered up from the heat. Yuck!

We did dine out a lot. A lot more than many of my friend's families. We didn't have fast food often, and when we did dine out, I rarely got a kid's meal. When I was a kid, I hated foods like pizza, burgers, hotdogs and fries and refused to eat them. I did love salad and if we dined at a restaurant with a salad bar, that's what I ate.

I learned to cook at an early age and by the time I was 12, I was cooking many of the meals for the family. My mom hated to cook, but I loved to! I became vegetarian not long after. My mom told me that as a very young child, I ate a lot of meat. But that changed in 2nd grade. I remember having lunch at school andd the lunch that day was a chicken leg. A boy sitting next to me said something like, "Do you know what happens to the chicken before they put it on your plate?" Well, I knew. As I said, my grandparents had a farm. I couldn't eat my lunch after that.

From then on, I tried to eat less and less meat. Much of the time I couldn't avoid it. My mom insisted that we eat the hot lunch at school. She would occasionally allow me to bring my lunch, but not often. Our school lunches almost always included meat or fish. And there wasn't a lot of food, so I'd try to eat it.

By the time I reached my teens, I was a total vegetarian. I made my own trail mix of nuts, seeds, some dried fruit and maybe some coconut. I'm rather picky when it comes to fruit and nuts. I've never much liked cashews. Too oily. I can eat them now, although still not a favorite. But as a kid, I couldn't stomach them. And I don't like things that are really sweet. So this is why I made my own. I always kept a bag of this in my purse so I would have something to eat if I couldn't find suitable food where I was at.

Fast forward to adulthood. Although I still preferred to be a vegetarian, my friends were not. I got my first apartment and invited friends over for dinner. I had to fix meat for them. But then my room mate moved out. For the next several years, I went through a series of room mates. I had an old car that always needed fixed. I had very little money. I gave up the meat. I simply couldn't afford it. I went onto a diet of peanut butter sandwiches, spaghtetti with tomato sauce, apples, carrots, canned peas and occasionally, hard boiled eggs. I ate these same foods day after day after doing some research and deciding that this was the most nutritionally sound diet I could come up with on my limited income. On weekends, I'd go to a restaurant with an "All You Can Eat" salad bar and I'd fill up on salad there. And I put in a small garden in my backyard to help supplement my diet.

After a few years, I moved to a house and had a couple of room mates. There was a produce market nearby and I could always get fresh fruit and vegetables. I'd take my lunch to work. It was usually a large salad with kidney beans, walnuts and cheese. At home, I'd make pots of soup for dinner or various kinds of pasta. The grocery store near me would sometimes sell the cheese ends from the deli for a reduced price. I'd buy these, chop them up and make of casserole of whatever veggies I had leftover, some pasta, tomatoes and a bit of wine. I'd make a huge batch of this and as the week progressed, I'd just add more vegetables to it.

I moved a few times since then, continuing to be a vegetarian. Then I met the man who is now my husband. He loves meat! I'd try to make him vegetarian meals, but they just weren't satisfying to him. We dined out a lot so I could usually get the vegetarian meals but at home, I'd either have to cook twice or try to eat meat along with him. I was still eating vegetarian meals about 95% of the time though.

Eventually, we married. He's in the military and would be away for 3 months at a time. When he was home, he was still working on the ship and played a lot of golf, so he wasn't around much at meal times. He pretty much made do with whatever vegetarian leftovers I had in the house, or a sandwich made of lunch meat.

Then I got pregnant. I had a high risk pregnancy due to 5 threatened miscarrriage, my age (38) and gestational diabetes. I was sent to a dietician who told me I was eating too many vegetables, not enough fruit and wasn't getting enough protein. She said I really should eat meat. I didn't want to. And I didn't at home. But towards the end, I was going to birthing and other classes at the hospital. We'd stop for dinner on the way there and I'd have some meat then. Somehow I felt like I was doing something better for the baby by doing this.

After I had the baby, I went back to being vegetarian. But a year later, I wound up in the ER, very sick to my stomach and unable to walk. I was told I had diabetes. I've seen two dieticians since then. One urged me to eat meat. The other didn't have a problem with a vegetarian diet, but also couldn't help me much with the diet I wanted to eat and was urging me to eat weird stuff like diet pancake syrup.

My health was very bad for several years. I saw Dr. after Dr. and was eventually diagnosed with several other things. And I finally got disability. That was a great load of stress off of me! I was forced to take a ton of supplements and some prescription meds just to be somewhat functional. I do have insurance, but my supplements were not covered. So the additional money was really needed! Then my daughter went to school so that was a help to me to. I have bad veins in my legs and need to keep my feet elevated above my heart most of the time to take the strain off of them. This was next to impossible to do when I had to chase a child around. But with her in school, I could finally rest when I needed to.

I began to get better still. Since my husband is in the military, we moved from state to state several times. Finally wound up back here in WA. One medical problem seemed to go away. That was the thyroid problem. I stopped eating soy and no longer need thyroid meds. The thyroid had been making me really ill because some of my Drs. were allowing me to be hyper thyroid. I'd complain of symptoms but they'd tell me there was nothing wrong with me. Then I'd see another Dr. who would cut back my dose of thyroid med and I'll feel better. For a while anyway. I also had anemia and it seemed to be chronic. I found that I had to eat red meat once or twice a week to keep it at bay.

Then this past year, I was very sick much of the time. Lots of respiratory problems. Terrible stomach problems. I looked pregnant. I thought I had just put on a lot of weight. My arms and legs were normal size but my stomach was HUGE! The Endo. I saw thought I had a cortisol problem but that turned out not to be the case.

I couldn't figure out why I felt so awful. One day I ate some egg salad that I got from the store. 16 hours later, I was deathly ill. Finally felt better the next day and was fool enough to eat more of it. 30 minutes later, the same deathly ill reaction. I thought it was food poisoning. Then the following month, I had some eggs that were about to expire. I cooked them and made egg salad. I ate some. 16 hours later, same deathly ill experience. I still didn't figure it out. Ate more the next day and 30 minutes later I was back in the bathroom. That's when I knew that for whatever reason, I should not eat eggs!

I have eaten eggs all my life and had not noticed a reaction to them prior. But then I was eating them on pretty much a regular basis in some form such as bread or pasta. So this may be why I didn't have a violent reaction. It was only after I stopped eating eggs for a while and then ate them that I had a reaction. And I had stopped eating them because my daughter had been diagnosed with an allergy to them and 6 other foods. Then my mom got tested and was found to have food allergies. I then got tested as well. Found out I was severely allergic to eggs. Also allergic to dairy and almonds. I immediately stopped eating these things and did research.

I discovered that a dairy allergy can lead to anemia if you continue to eat dairy. Ah! Pehaps *this* is why I had anemia. So I decided to stop eating the meat totally and see what happened. But what to eat for protein? For fat? I started eating pumpkin seeds and discovered that the raw ones tasted better than the roasted ones. I began eating raw coconut. I lost 15 pounds in 2 months. My hair and skin began looking better.

I've been having trouble lately finding things I can eat that don't send my BG (blood glucose) through the roof. Pumpkin seeds and coconut were working for me. I could eat these for breakfast, and sometimes a bit of grapefruit as well. But lunch was a problem. Even my standy things like celery and bell peppers were sending my numbers through the roof! That's when I decided to try the sprouts. So far they seem to be working. They have protein in them and I think that's what is making the difference.

I read a magazine article written by Carol Alt about the raw food diet. That's when it dawned on me that most of my diet was raw food already so perhaps this was the way to go. I bought books on the subject, including hers. I wouldn't say hers is the best, but it is what led me to this path. I will be going to the Dr. later today and can't wait to see what my labs say. Everything had been in range except the triglycerides. Hopefully those will be in range now.

[monkeyboy]

Hi Everyone,

Lets bump this up.

I just told my Mom about her mention in one of my posts.

She's freaking out.

She is someone we all should talk to about food,chemicals and research.





Peace,

M.B.

[misslinda]

(((( waving )))) "Hi Mom!!!"


yeah yeah yeah,,,,,,,,,,she's one of those...white lab coat people's......conducting all those experiments and test that we believe to be the TRUTH!!!!

Tell mom we need to change that coat from white to hemp with a matching tie dye t shirt. Can we give her yur Chucks too?

:D

[Conscious Midwife]

I'm from COLORADO
:D

[RawTruth]

She is someone we all should talk to about food,chemicals and research.Oh no, I don't want to.

You can't make me.

Nosiree.

Too scary.

I don't like horror stories.

[fruit]

I grew up on big macs,Whoppers,Pot pies,and anything else that was processed chemically man made garbage.My mom even gave me soda in a bottle when i was just months old.
I was never overweight as a child i would literally eat two big macs at one sitting and i was a very skinny wearing a size 3 up until i got pregnant at the age of 17.With my pregnancy i gained 80 pounds,Went from 100 pounds to 180 pounds and i am about 5' 7" in height.I would eat 5 candy bars and a western bacon cheese burger (i lived on throughout pregnancy) with an onion ring and a huge soda for lunch.Dinner would probably be about the same thing.I ate so much because i was so depressed about getting pregnant when i was just about to start my modeling carrer.Even after having my baby i continued to eat the same way,It was mainly out of sadness and depression.I really had no one to turn to,My mother would curse me out and tell me not to come to her house she did not want me there,My husband who i had married right after i got pregnat was very abbusive and never had time for me or the baby,He would be out living the single life.So i was pretty much all alone.Then i got pregnant again at 19.deju vue all over again.I love my two beautiful angels they are my world.

I started having heart palpatations at 19.Just did not feel healthy in general.I thought okay maybe my past is coming back to haunt me.I started doing meth and other heavy drugs(lets just say they were stronger than meth)at the age of 12,I also started drinking heavily at 12.I stayed on drugs and alcohal until the day i got pregnant,Then for my baby i completly stopped.I was not diagnosed with anything for 7 years.I went from doctor to doctor and they all said there was nothing wrong its all in my head.Well when my brother suddenly passed away in april of 2003 of a heart attack at 28,I really started to try and take charge of my health and what i was eating.But things did not quit go as planned I started getting severly sick were i was bed ridden,The only family i had was my still living brother but he was all the way in ohio,and of coarse my 2 kids and my husband who (at the time) could care less if i had died.And i say at the time cuz he was on meth which made him really abbusive to me.Well he went to prison and i was bed ridden at home with no family or friends And no money with 2 small kids to care for(5 & 7).So convinced my brother to fly out to cali and help me out for 1 month,Which was hard for him cause he had 2 babies at home.While he was here i had my first heart procedure that atleast allowed me to get up,cook,do easy things.k i know im going on and on let me fast forward a little
how i got into eating raw,It all started a year ago when i researched on the internet about being a vegaterian and came across raw foods.Once i started reading about raw foods i knew that it was for me,I was high raw a couple months back and fell off the wagon.Although it is hard to be 100% raw not because i have no will power,Its just not what my body wants at this moment,but i know that someday in the future when my body is ready to be 100% raw i will get the full benefit from it.But for now i will eat as much raw as i can handle and not stress on it when my body is ready to be 100% i will know.I will also be a very happy camper.
So now that its been 13 months since i have been bed ridden,And although i still struggle on a daily basis<and i can not do things that most 27 year olds can do like exercise,clean the house,work,And the list goes on.I have life,I have two beautiful kids,I know that someday through raw foods and taking care of myself i will conquer all of my sickness.And hay what more can i say i am just happy to be alive,Life is so beautiful

[theresaann]

wow, everybody-especially rawpriestess, misslinda and fruit-great stories. You prove how strong the human spirit is.

I too have a story that could keep ya on the edge of yer seat, but it's too Looonnnggg, so I'll just keep it to the food part...

I was born an aquarius psychic visionary to a mother and father too young to have me and confused as people. Our family was strong, catholic and conservative. My mother didn't really want me and certainly had no spiritual development to recognize who I was and how to nurture me. I felt literally from day one that I must be really worthless if even my mother doesn't want me. I ended up being an emotional loner and really could barely eat anything until I was 5. I couldn't eat animal products at all and would get terrible stomach aches, and was anemic from not getting any fruits and veggies (cause they weren't given to me) so had to get iron shots when really little. Then around 5 years old my body finally stopped fighting and I could eat all the captain crunch, pizza, meat, dairy and everything else.

growing up was a blur of "Gilligan's Island", playing outside, going to "burger chef" for "kids meals" or just eating my mom's cooking. (to her credit she did a pretty good job-it was just all meat and starches though).

my the time I reached adolescence I started having my first allergies and smoking pot (which I got from my father when I was 14-Dad was my "buddy" and later made me his surrogate "girlfriend"-definitely abusive but stopped short of actual sex-it was all psychological. it's so hard to talk about...) and ciggarettes and alcohol, which I continued until age 28. At 29 had first child, completely sober for 2 years, and mostly vegetarian. I was the healthiest physically at this point, and was learning a lot about spiritual healing.

Then second child came and I was so depressed and stressed during that pregnancy, (abusive father, womanizing, abandoned by family, drama, legal issues, denying paternity, family wanted to institutionalize me because they didn't understand why I wouldn't just go back to my
"medical career" instead of insisting that I am a psychic healer, tried to take my kids in their extreme ignorance because I was breastfeeding past one year and not vaccinating, on top of all that-no money, living on assistance while my daughter's father was a millionaire, narrow minded, greedy lawyers, biased judges.......a true nightmare-everything eventually turned out fine, but man, what a ride. Picture a "crucifixcian")

at this point everything I knew about health went out the window and I ate whatever, whenever.....got toxemia because I was eating all sugar and no protein, midwife threatened to risk me out of a homebirth so I had to eat animal products again those last couple of months, and ended up gaining 70 pounds-that last 20 of which I'm releasing now with raw, exercise and sauna's at age 41.

I used alcohol in my teens and early adulthood to escape a world that so did not have space for me because it's just too immature in some ways...and I had parents that were even more immature. The only thing that has saved me is forgiveness and nutrition. I am actually friends with my son's father now....awhat a miracle. It's cordial with my daughters' father (the millionaire-and no he doesn't pay child support-long story). The only reason is because I PRAYED, PRAYED AND PRAYED to be able to forgive for my kid's sake. They say the person that is the most aware has the responsibility to transform a relationship-whether they are right or not. I've forgiven my family too, but more importantly, myself. THAT'S what's given me access to the emotional stability to be able to do raw.

Each and every one of us has a story...it's amazing. But what's REALLY amazing is that we ARE THAT WE ARE!!! wow. life is a trip....

[elian]

Wow - what amazing stories! I applaud everyone for being here and being willing to share.

I grew up with a home garden and usually 2-3 veggies per meal... however 75% of the time they were cooked. We almost always had meat. We ate a lot of starches growing up.

I'm 4' 11" at 166 (I was at 172). Other than that I have good health. However I seem to always have blemishes on my face which are hard for me to leave alone.

I looked into raw food about a year or more ago. I've played with vegeterianism, but never stuck to it. The last few weeks I've been about 90% raw on average. I do really good during the week when I'm not eating with my husband. The weekends are hard when we are with friends and family.

I want to be a good role model for my 6 year old son who is a picky eater and lover of junk food when he can get it.

Elian

[misslinda]

yes, i agree. I appreciate everyone's openess for sharing :)

[rawfigure]

I grew up in a small town in PA. My Grandparents were Dairy Farmers and a big family so my Mom was raised in the garden, and canning making all there own foods. So Mom did not work and raised her 5 daughters. She has two gardens and we each had our daily chores. We loved to eat the veggies raw from the garden, even peas, green beans and corn, and loved to hike in the woods and we were thought about various good and poisonous, berries and mushrooms, trees.

My mom had meat but was not a huge fan as she grew up on a Farm and they killed there own, we had meat a few times a week, but none of us liked it. We also got raw milk fromthe farm, fresh eggs, again I did not like much except on cereal.

I became Vegetarian (later abondoned for my Bodybuilding , now wish I had stuck to my guns but it was a learning experience) at 14 when I went on a tour of a Meat Packing Plant with the 4-H group. I never ate a Hotdog ever again !

I was very thin and active, as were my sisters. I think what shaped some of my body image was a comment made when I was young and blossoming by a spiteful neighbor girl that "Twins always grow up to be Fat" my twin sister and I took that to heart and made a pact to always be thin..and that caused me some eating issues as I went to HS and College and my struggle to stay very thin and prove her wrong. I saw this women 30 plus years later ..just this past year at her fathers funeral and she commented on how "thin" I stayed. I realized then it was time to get past one comment, that shaped my preceived body image relationship with food. My twin and I released ourselves from the pact to never go over a certain weight for life. But thats another post...

[cattzeye]

Good afternoon, everyone!

I've had the best time, reading about people's childhoods, and how their experiences affect their behavior and experience today. No doubt our past shapes who we are today. I applaud everyone for sharing so openly.

When I was a kid, we pretty much lived on convenience foods. My parents divorced when I was 6 and my sister was 2. My mom worked hard to support us, without much financial help from my father. He would send $100 every so often, but that was about it. We didn't have much money, but we always had enough to eat, clothes to wear and a roof over our head. For that I am deeply thankful.

I remember breakfast on weekdays always being either hot or cold cereal. Hot cereal was either cream of wheat, or oatmeal. Cold cereal was the usual boxed, sugar-laden supermarket cereal. Weekend breakfasts were either french toast, pancakes, fried eggs or omelets. Weekday lunches were eaten at school, in the cafeteria. We all know what kind of food is served there! Weekend lunches were usually sandwiches, grilled cheese being my ultimate favorite. The dinners I remember were spaghetti with canned sauce and hamburger meat, Kraft macaroni and cheese with hotdogs, hamburgers made under the broiler, pork chops or chicken made with "Shake-and-Bake", meatloaf, or broiled steaks. Dinner always had one of these as the entree, with a side of frozen vegetables (ALWAYS frozen, never fresh), and some sort of starch, like baked potatoes or french fries, or some boxed rice dish. I don't remember eating dessert very often, that is, not a formally made dessert. We did have strawberry shortcake sometimes in the summer, when strawberries were in season. These were made with the little shortcake "cups" from the store, and the strawberries were always liberally sprinkled with sugar, and milk was poured over the top. We had ice cream sometimes. For the most part, I think my mom really tried to feed us the most nutritious food she knew how to. I don't remember going to fast food restaurants very often, and we weren't allowed to drink soda pop, except for "special occasions", like a party or going to see a movie.

I remember really LOVING candy as a kid. I would save my allowance, and then go up to the neighborhood drug store. They had a huge candy aisle there, and I would easily buy and eat 3 packages of candy at a time. I also loved those Hostess cupcakes, and those chocolate-covered chocolate cakes with the cream filling called "Ding-Dongs" (anybody remember those?). I was a real sugar freak. I was always really skinny as a kid,though, despite the types of food, and the quantities, I ate. I could literally eat anything, and not gain and ounce. I have remained thin most of my adult life, as well.

I did have a battle with an eating disorder, that started in my mid-20's. I got really, really thin. I had become vegetarian, and was really interested in nutrition. My main reason for going vegetarian, however, was ethics. It just really hit me one day that I was eating dead animals, it was such a strong realization, and I gave up meat that day. Never desired it again. But, back to the eating disorder. I don't believe that being vegetarian had anything impact on my developing anorexia. But it did allow me to know which foods were low in calories, and so I could still eat quite a bit but loose lots of weight at the same time. I was frightfully thin for a couple of years, but then something in me snapped, and I began compulsively bingeing. Lots of bready foods, mostly. When I was restricting I wouldn't allow myself any "bad" foods, but during a binge it was anything goes, nothing forbidden. Then I would starve myself for a couple of days, and compulsively exercise for hours at a time. I did gain weight, and felt horribly, terribly overweight. But looking back, I think I looked a normal weight. No one ever guessed I had a problem with food. People did tell me, though, that they were glad I had "put some meat on my bones", as they had been worried about me. Anyway, most of you probably know about the hell a person with an eating disorder goes through. Over the next couple of years my life really fell apart, and I decided to seek help. I started therapy, and while it helped, it wasn't enough. I checked myself into a year-long residential, 12 Step-based treatment program. It literally saved my life! I was so suicidal by the time I got there, and while it definitely was one of the toughest experiences I've ever been through, it was the best thing I could have done for myself.

Anyway, fast-forward to my mid-30's. My consciousness had been growing and evolving, and I learn more about veganism. I decide that I want to make this change in my life, and it happens almost overnight. People tell me they could never be a vegan, because they would miss cheese and ice cream too much. Believe me when I say I was the BIGGEST cheese freak in the world, before I became a vegan. But when I found out the truth about the dairy industry, I lost my taste for cheese and other dairy products immediately. I could no longer eat it, and have never looked back.

Anyway, as to how I got to raw. I have struggled with some health problems for most of my life, and no doctor has ever been able to help me. The most serious problem I had, the one which was making my life miserable, was the digestive ailments I suffered with everyday. Doctors had labeled it as IBS. I say this is a diagnosis given when they don't know what's wrong with you. After I decided enough is enough, I took my health into my own hands. I started researching, and through trial and error I discovered that the cause of my intestinal distress was gluten intolerance. I didn't want to believe this was the answer to my problem, because I LOVED wheat foods. I couldn't imagine living a happy life without bread! Seriously, it made me deeply sad to think of never eating bread again. But I was tired of being in pain and discomfort day in and day out. I couldn't take it anymore. So I decided to give up all gluten foods for a month, to see if it helped. To make a long story short, it definitely helped. I didn't get all of the gluten out of my system for about another 6 months, and still suffered pain and bloating off and on for a while. But when my body had been cleansed of the gluten, it was a night and day difference for me. I couldn't believe how wonderful I felt! I actually wasn't in pain anymore, and didn't have to always think about where the restroom was wherever I went.

Doing all my research on gluten intolerance led to me information about the rawfoods lifestyle. I admit, at first I thought rawfoodists were a bunch of kooks! How ridiculous, I thought, to only eat raw fruits and vegetables. How could a person live like that? Well, even though I thought rawfoodism was weird and crazy, I was intrigued by it, and I continued to read about it. Over time it sunk in, and I began to add more and more raw foods to my diet. As more raw foods came in, more cooked foods went out. I soon realized that I was now one of those kooky rawfoodists! Fruits and veggies have cast their raw spell over me, and I am now about 80-90% raw. I think that I probably will someday be 100%, but it is not something I force upon myself. I never deny myself anything, but the fact is I really do crave fruit and vegetables, and I prefer them raw. So these are the foods I eat the majority of. The cooked foods I do eat are baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, and winter squash. I eat a small amount of cooked beans everyday, along with some cooked sauces and condiments. Once in a great while, I go out for a meal, and I eat cooked vegan food. I consider myself a rawfoodist, because this is what I primarily eat. I absolutely love this lifestyle, and have never felt better in my entire life!

Thanks again to everyone else who has shared their path, I have enjoyed sharing mine with you.

Blessings,

Christine

[monkeyboy]

Hi Everyone,

Misslinda rocks the party.

By the way Dad is doing better.




Peace,

M.B.

[misslinda]

Hey can't be a parth without our MB in the house.........

:: smiles :: yipppeeeeee Dad is doing better......no jetting out there?


btw MB, I'm going to bump up a thread for old time sake......you gotta re read it ---I was busting out laughing last nite.........called "Bloating and more thread"


:D

[squidly]

How do I make it short?? I will try

R aised on standard meat and veg - mum OK cook. I was separated from my dad and brother at age 4, mum remarried at 5 so got 3 older stepsisters and my stepfather always rewarded me with food especially sugary food - mum also has one hell of a sweet tooth. Stepfather used to beat my mum so we kicked him out when I was 14 after an 18 month battle for the house - food was solace for mum and I. dad remarried too and they always had sugar and crap food at their place where I would go once a week.

We were not allowed sugary stuff in the house so I snuck out and binged on it for as long as I can remember - guess food = love to me as I always vied for attention. To this day I battle with sugar binges behind closed doors.

Had spleen and gall bladder removed at 8, tonsils at 15, kidney failure at 18 and at 20 when I moved to the country I gave up red meat then progressed to all meat gone, then mostly vegan (anything sugary my weakness) and now exploring raw. Sugar still a big issue for me that I battle each day - much emotional stuff with it.

I know raw is right for me as when I am raw I feel healthier, calmer and mote loving. I will beat my demons. Raw will lead me to the person I really am inside of this false persona I show the world and myself

[vickiesltw]

Why raw food and better nutrtion?

What happened way back when, which you carry to this day.


I was one of 17 children. My mom remarried a man who had 13 of his own. Anyway, everything was cheap and easy. I did not learn how to cook anything till after 27 years old when I left the military. I have always fallen back on the easy cheap microwavable stuff and my weight show it as i've gotten older.

So Raw is cause it sounds good I guess and something I have never really had.

Lil' Brat