SNMB
08-07-2006, 08:38 AM
Arrrrrrgh! Really, so sick of it. High fruit, high fat, just eat raw, whole food vegan, WHICH IS BEST FOR ME? I think that psychologically, whole food vegan is best for me. I remember eating that way and glowing and feeling healthy and not at all deprived. I was overweight but just by 20 pounds or so and I was losing it slowly. But then my vanity took over. I undertook a 10 day water fast which I broke horribly and did not supplement with probiotics. I gave myself a lovely case of candida overgrowth - ringworm, recurrent yeast infections, itchy ears, the whole thing. This means I can no longer thrive on a cooked vegan diet. Then comes raw. I love so many different raw foods, but this definitely includes both fruit and more fatty things. I've heard that the "Just Eat Raw" approach might fight off candida eventually but I'm now in a relationship and waiting that long while dealing with yeast infections is even less appealing than dealing with them by myself. The only way I've had success is by following a high fruit/no overt fat diet but let me tell you it drives me INSANE. I have to eat constantly, not to keep myself from getting hungry but to keep myself from thinking too hard about all the things I'm not eating. I don't have the money for that, as I'm in school. I started taking some probiotics yesterday (finally) and am hoping that'll help.
I can't help but think that I've willed these ailments on myself, kind of like the "You Name It, You Claim It" thread. It's a combination of the physical and the mental. I was never happy with being overweight, so I starved myself and got the skinniest I've ever been. Then I developed food issues, constantly overeating awful foods, feeling incredibly anxious when I tried to limit myself. Somewhere in there I decided to follow a fairly healthy vegan diet. I had no concept of raw vs. cooked but I ate LOTS of lightly cooked greens and veggies and I felt GREAT. That's another thing that I can't help thinking: Before I had read so much about the raw lifestyle, I didn't think about it. When I ate steamed or lightly sauteed greens, I felt like THAT was the best thing I could do for my body. Thing is, it WAS! At the time, that was the best I could do for my body. But now, if I ate some food like that, I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about how it wasn't at all ideal and therefore I'd be signaling to my body that THIS IS BAD FOOD, REJECT! Anyway, ate a healthy, low-fat vegan diet, felt good but wanted to lose weight faster so I started fasting, which led to binging and you get the idea.
Sorry, this is a total stream-of-consciousness thread.
These are the things I have to deal with:
1. Candida - I've read through all the threads and have seen a lot of speculation about Cousens' approach and a lot of success stories with Graham's approach. I could handle a few flareups but this really needs to go.
2. Overeating - In some of RawPriestess' threads, she talks about food having been her lover and how that is changing. I want SO much for this to happen for me and I know that releasing all of the guilt associated with food is a huge part. Being "allowed" to eat as much as I want, when I want (if it's raw) without worrying about it making me heavier would be so good for my mind, I think. I'm not too comfortable with myself now but I've got a great boyfriend who likes me how I am and this is HUGE. I want to lose weight but no extreme approaches for me. No more fasting. (Long-term, that is. Mentally and physically, my body does well with one day fasts.)
3. Money - As mentioned above, I'm a college student. I get $400 per month for food, a FORTUNE compared to the less than $100 I see many of my friends living off of, but not much when it comes to raw food. I know I can sprout and eat lots of bananas and all of those things but when I'm dealing with the overeating thing, it would be nice to have whatever I want available to me.
4. Exercise - This ties into money. I live in Portland. I've got my bike that I ride, I walk a lot. I'd love to start running but I don't have the motivation. Some sort of hot yoga really appeals to me, and the benefits sound great. There's a yoga studio about six blocks from my apartment (With a raw restaurant in there too!) that offers hot yoga every day and an unlimited monthly pass is $130, probably closer to $100 with my student discount. I think something that is close to me, that I GO TO on a regular basis would work really well, but the only place this money would come from is my food budget. Now, $300 per month or $75 per week is totally doable if I'm eating high raw but supplementing with some beans and rice, which I think would be a comfortable level for me to stick to and a reasonably healthy diet for a college student but then there's the damned CANDIDA ISSUE! ARGH!
So yeah, I guess I'm not asking for anyone's advice unless you just HAPPEN to have been in this situation before and found something that worked for you. Thanks for letting me rant.
I can't help but think that I've willed these ailments on myself, kind of like the "You Name It, You Claim It" thread. It's a combination of the physical and the mental. I was never happy with being overweight, so I starved myself and got the skinniest I've ever been. Then I developed food issues, constantly overeating awful foods, feeling incredibly anxious when I tried to limit myself. Somewhere in there I decided to follow a fairly healthy vegan diet. I had no concept of raw vs. cooked but I ate LOTS of lightly cooked greens and veggies and I felt GREAT. That's another thing that I can't help thinking: Before I had read so much about the raw lifestyle, I didn't think about it. When I ate steamed or lightly sauteed greens, I felt like THAT was the best thing I could do for my body. Thing is, it WAS! At the time, that was the best I could do for my body. But now, if I ate some food like that, I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about how it wasn't at all ideal and therefore I'd be signaling to my body that THIS IS BAD FOOD, REJECT! Anyway, ate a healthy, low-fat vegan diet, felt good but wanted to lose weight faster so I started fasting, which led to binging and you get the idea.
Sorry, this is a total stream-of-consciousness thread.
These are the things I have to deal with:
1. Candida - I've read through all the threads and have seen a lot of speculation about Cousens' approach and a lot of success stories with Graham's approach. I could handle a few flareups but this really needs to go.
2. Overeating - In some of RawPriestess' threads, she talks about food having been her lover and how that is changing. I want SO much for this to happen for me and I know that releasing all of the guilt associated with food is a huge part. Being "allowed" to eat as much as I want, when I want (if it's raw) without worrying about it making me heavier would be so good for my mind, I think. I'm not too comfortable with myself now but I've got a great boyfriend who likes me how I am and this is HUGE. I want to lose weight but no extreme approaches for me. No more fasting. (Long-term, that is. Mentally and physically, my body does well with one day fasts.)
3. Money - As mentioned above, I'm a college student. I get $400 per month for food, a FORTUNE compared to the less than $100 I see many of my friends living off of, but not much when it comes to raw food. I know I can sprout and eat lots of bananas and all of those things but when I'm dealing with the overeating thing, it would be nice to have whatever I want available to me.
4. Exercise - This ties into money. I live in Portland. I've got my bike that I ride, I walk a lot. I'd love to start running but I don't have the motivation. Some sort of hot yoga really appeals to me, and the benefits sound great. There's a yoga studio about six blocks from my apartment (With a raw restaurant in there too!) that offers hot yoga every day and an unlimited monthly pass is $130, probably closer to $100 with my student discount. I think something that is close to me, that I GO TO on a regular basis would work really well, but the only place this money would come from is my food budget. Now, $300 per month or $75 per week is totally doable if I'm eating high raw but supplementing with some beans and rice, which I think would be a comfortable level for me to stick to and a reasonably healthy diet for a college student but then there's the damned CANDIDA ISSUE! ARGH!
So yeah, I guess I'm not asking for anyone's advice unless you just HAPPEN to have been in this situation before and found something that worked for you. Thanks for letting me rant.