previous vegetarians or vegans?

[joanofarc]

I have been enjoying reading the threads on this site. I am trying to decide if I should try the raw food way of eating or go vegetarian. Right now I eat everything. It does seem like eating a vegetarian diet would be easier than raw. Are there any previous vegetarians or vegans who have made the change to raw that can tell me if the noticed any changes to their health? Many say that I will notice a big change just going vegetarian.

Thank you for any responses.

[juliebove]

I was vegetarian and found out I was allergic to dairy and eggs. I was already eating a diet high in raw foods so this seemed the way to go for me.

[VeryBerry]

Vegetarian diet would be healthier then the standard american diet. It would be a very good idea to incorporate lots of fruits & veggies into you diet.

Try to avoid junk food & processed food as much as you can. There are still lots of junk foods that are vegetarian and vegan. I would also avoid all soy products, they mess with you hormones & your thyroid.

I was vegetarian for 15 years, vegan for 2 year, then I was high raw vegetarian for 2 year. Now I am 100% raw for 1 month. Eating more raw food really takes your health to a new level. You don't have to be 100% raw to get some of the benefits.

Best of luck.

[VeryBerry]

When I was vegan I ate mostly cooked foods, breads and soy products. I did not feel very healthy, had severe pms, axiety, was angry all the time and generally miserable. When I started eating more raw foods and stopped eating soy the pms get a lot better and shorter, my moods got better too.

I was high raw for 2 year and during this time I noticed that eating raw food always make me feel better then eating cooked foods. When I went 100% raw I noticed that I am almost always in a good mood and have more mental clarity. I feel more happy. When I was vegan & high raw I usually had chocolate cravings and had to have a little bit of chocolate every day, I also was hypoglycemic. Now I don't get anymore cravings.

If you are just starting out I think it would be smarter to transition gradually, rather then just jump into it. Just start buying more fruits and veggies, experiment with some raw recipes.

[codajess]

I've been vegetarian for years, usually stricter than lacto-ovo.

I don't notice much of a health difference with raw. I've never been that healthy of an eater, either.

Nothing will last if you aren't doing it for the "right" reasons. So it all depends on what your goal is. If it's animal welfare/rights (which it seems that it's not) then veg will work for you if you're passionate enough. If it's weight loss, you can do that with any diet that has portion control and exercise. So I say it all depends on what you feel is right for you and what your longterm goal is. If the raw "miracles" have you curious, then try it out. If it's right for you it'll work. If it's not, then ah well. Different strokes.

[VeryBerry]

Nothing will last if you aren't doing it for the "right" reasons. So it all depends on what your goal is. If it's animal welfare/rights (which it seems that it's not) then veg will work for you if you're passionate enough. If it's weight loss, you can do that with any diet that has portion control and exercise. So I say it all depends on what you feel is right for you and what your longterm goal is. If the raw "miracles" have you curious, then try it out. If it's right for you it'll work. If it's not, then ah well. Different strokes.

You are absolutely right!

[Sunshine9]

I was raised vegetarian... and I will say - you can be a strict vegetarian and still eat a less than healthy diet!!! I know that Alissa recommends jumping right into 100% raw. She was a vegetarian prior to that jump though.

Perhaps go vegan, eat lots of raw food for two weeks, and see how you feel. I did this a few times in my food journey and always noticed a massive shift in my well-being. If you feel ready, go for a 30 day challenge. There is lots of support here.
Whatever you are most comfortable with. :)

[luckitri]

I have been vegetarian of various types but mostly not too strict (usually include eggs and cheese). There is a world of difference between vegetarian and raw! Vegetarian was OK. RAW is great! In how you(I mean I) feel physically.

[Helen Of Tennessee]

I have been a vegetarian for 4 1/2 years. It took me 1 1/2 years to totally wean off of meat.

To be honest, I didn't notice any difference in how I felt (but I know it was best for my body). I then started increasing my raw food intake. When I was 50% raw I didn't notice anything (but I know my body was excited about it and I'm sure my body was doing some repair at that time). Then when I hit about 75% raw, that is when everything started to kick in and I felt and saw a huge difference!!!!

I think everyone notices different things at different times. You'll just have to decide how you are going to approach it, like going vegetarian, or starting to increase your percentage of raw, etc. and see how your body reacts. Remember you may not feel or see a difference, but the more live food you eat and the less cooked/process foods you take in, you body will start to repair itself.

[RawTruth]

I have been enjoying reading the threads on this site. I am trying to decide if I should try the raw food way of eating or go vegetarian. Right now I eat everything. It does seem like eating a vegetarian diet would be easier than raw. Are there any previous vegetarians or vegans who have made the change to raw that can tell me if the noticed any changes to their health? Many say that I will notice a big change just going vegetarian.

Thank you for any responses.I was vegetarian for over 20 years before I went raw 2 years ago. The difference between raw vegan and cooked vegetarian was like the difference between day and night. I have enormous energy, sleep much less, no headaches, no allergies, no colds, no aches, and damaged cartilage in my knees has regenerated (surgery had been scheduled before I went raw). My hair grows faster, my body is lithe and flexible, and I look noticeably younger than my age. These are only the physical changes; there are enormous emotional and spiritual changes that have made at least as much of a difference as the physical ones.

Hope this has answered your question.

[DavidZaneMason]

I was a vegan for about 2 years before transitioning to all raw. As to differences? I experienced a lot of benefits (lower blood pressure, no muscle aches, ameliorated sickness...etc.) when going all raw. But more to the point, I found fresh, raw plant food to be the highest grade of food I could eat. And I stopped settling for second best.

-David Z. Mason

[Goldenrod]

I was vegan for 18 years and I've now been raw for 24 weeks. I lost the few extra pounds and inches I'd been carrying around and I have lots more energy. I've been able to increase the length and intensity of my workouts and I know longer get sore from them. I always felt that I was quite healthy, but I definitely feel better now.

[jaurequi]

Vegetarian and/or vegan does not mean healthier. One can consume an extremely unhealthy vegetarian or vegan diet. There are so many "junk-food vegetarians/vegans."

Dairy is purported to be worse for health than meat; so vegetarians, who consume this, many times in larger amounts than meateaters, are often doing more damage to their health than those who consume moderate amounts of meat.

I would do a whole-foods vegan diet first, IF you must transition slowly; but, I think you should try to jump into raw 100% and get the benefits faster.

Best,

[Sharon in Colorado]

Of course with rules of the board we are not supposed to encourage anyone to eat cooked food, but I will mention this:

It is easier to go raw from a vegetarian diet, and the times you may indulge in cooked food, it will usually be vegetarian cooked instead of animal foods. This is healthier in the long run, as it is much easier on a body, especially for those who tend to go back and forth (raw, cooked, raw, cooked, raw, cooked) :)

Also, as the others say, be mindful of what you eat on a vegetarian diet, and avoid using vegetarian versions of meats or crutches like all the vegetarian and vegan processed soy products and such.

[chilove]

Hi there,

Welcome and congratulations on discovering raw!! :-)

There is huge difference in the health benefits between going vegetarian and going raw. To begin with, you'd really need to go vegan to derive all the benefits of cutting animal products out of your life. You should read "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell to learn about what animal protein does to humans.

I was a junk food vegan for many years and my health suffered greatly. When I went raw I was cured of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, IBS, depression, panic attacks, hormonal imbalances, chronic bladder infections and a few other minor health issues. We are meant to eat a raw, fruit based diet. That is our natural diet.

Going vegetarian for a couple of week, and then vegan for a couple of weeks, and then getting off of all procsessed foods for a couple of weeks would be a great way to transition to raw though.

All the best,

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

[Joyful Mary]

I'd been vegan for 17 years when I became raw vegan (99%). I've been raw vegan for 1 year and I can honestly say that there is an incredible difference. On the vegan diet I developed a gluten intolerance due to the large amount of cooked grains consumed. Raw vegan is beautiful - very freeing!

[yeahbethany]

Ditto to everything here. I was cooked vegan before, and there really is no comparison in terms of health and vitality. Raw vegan wins, hands down.

[Nik]

I would also avoid all soy products, they mess with you hormones & your thyroid.

I would also avoid Flax Seeds for the Exact Same reason! Raw foodists eat a lot of flax but they do the same thing as Soy!

You can eat a lot of junk on a vegan diet, or even on a RAW vegan diet you can eat a lot of junk and binge on dates, nuts and oils etc.

Yet for the most part they are all healthier and if you eat a Whole Food Vegan Diet that is say 50% raw to start, it would be a HUGE improvement and step. By whole food I mean organic, low processed or unprocessed and unrefined. So no refined flours or sugars or oils and other things. Try to stick to only steamed or boiled or lightly baked foods, cooked without any oils or just a little bit of coconut oil, and stay away from fried foods, fast foods and sodas and other processed stuff etc. And if you eat a cooked meal, I always feel better if I include at least 40-50% raw in the meal. Add in a salad or something raw to balance it out and give you some enzymes etc.

I was 100% raw for quite a while and vegan for like 8 years prior. I noticed a difference in that, but I don't notice a difference in high raw whole food vegan 50-80% and 100% for me. Except that at 100% I was more hungry all the time, more stressed, and couldn't keep any weight on. Too bad. It felt too restrictive to my mind too and hard to maintain.

[Nik]

Where did my post go?

I keep noticing posts just dissapearing for no reason at all. From other people on my threads, there posts disapear and now mine are starting to disapear when I reply on other threads. What's going on?

[Rawkinlocs]

Nik...check your email!

===

It was just returned to me undeliverable. The email address I sent it to, I got it from your profile via the admin area. If you want, you can email me and I'll resend you what I sent you.

[Nik]

I haven't received any email. I would still like to know why my post was deleted. Anything you have to say to me you can say to me on here, publicly. Let Everyone know why my reply was deleted. They deserve to know why too.

I didn't say anything that different then everyone else had said on this thread. I mentioned that I was vegan for over 8 years before raw and warned about unhealthy foods to stay away from, and agreed as others have mentioned that I didn't notice much difference between 100% or not. And advised to eat at least 50% raw with each meal and not eat 100% cooked meals.

Is it because I admited that I am not 100% raw? Sorry I'm not perfect like the rest of you.

Is it because I admited that I couldn't keep my weight up on 100% raw and it made me feel more stressed? Sorry if you don't like that reality, but that is my personal experience! What a stuffy place this is if any single thing that you don't agree with or like that someone has experienced you just delete instead of just discussing it or disagreeing on here!

[Rawkinlocs]

Nik, as far as I'm concerned, you've blown your chances of hearing the possible reasons for your post having been deleted.

It has already been expressed to me that we (moderators) are not under any obligation to explain ourselves when we make a decision to delete a post or a thread. But despite that fact, I was willing to extend you that courtesy. But now, since you've decided to put things in such a manner then I will openly decline your request for an explanation and definitely not give you one here on the forum at your command.

I made an attempt to explain things to you in the nicest possible way but apparently that wouldn't have been enough for you as far as I can tell from the tone in your last post.

So...since RFT is such a stuffy, etc. place - well, no one is forcing you to remain here. It's not even about not agreeing on everything.

And please be aware that I'm not going to continue a back and forth argument with you either so the choice is yours if you want to stay or leave.

I'm done with it.

Any other moderators or admin who want to continue this discussion with Nik, you're free to do it but I am throwing my hands up of this as I truly don't need anyone coming at me in this manner when all I'M trying to do is what I've been asked to do in terms of moderating this forum.

[Nik]

Throwing your hands up? You started it! All I am asking for is WHY you started it? Everyone here deserves to know that.

I did absolutely NOTHING wrong. All I did was reply to a thread and offer my personal experience and advice. The EXACT same thing as everyone else on this thread had done in their reply.

If you don't tell people why you delete their threads then how do they know what to be careful of NOT to say or mention in the future? It's crazy even that everyone here has to walk on eggshells and be careful anyways of every single thing they say to guess that one of the moderators will agree with it or not. Yet to not even know what those things are.

I know everything that I said in my post, and there was nothing bad in it at all. So for any single word in the post to have caused an instant delete and COVER UP of that information is beyond me. I am not leaving, but I am not going to keep silent about this either. If you want to ban me because I'm not 100% raw and will defend myself against this unfair treatment, then fine. But I will let everyone know about it in places where you do not have the power to cover up and hide the truth.

[rawpriestess]

Rawkinlocs, I stand beside you as we BOTH have deleted many posts and threads, and spend a great deal of our own personal time on this board just trying to keep it spam free.

We do the best we can, and sometimes we delete a post for the content, and sometimes for the way it is written, if it seems rude, or sometimes because we are asked to by another member, depending on the situation.

each time we do something, like delete a post, or even when we leave posts, we are making a decision based on our guidance by Alissa, and we often get flaming emails because we deleted a post, and we often get flaming emails because we didn't delete a post.

But no matter what, Alissa stands by us and our decisions, and we stand by each other.

So, I am here to stand by Rawkinlocs and we both stand strong, sometimes we simply MUST delete a post that looks like it may take a thread into an argument, or we must delete a post as it has information that isn't in keeping with the reason this FREE (for all the members) board is here.

Alissa has asked us to moderate this board, and that is what we do.

We aren't perfect, and neither of us have ever said we were, and quite frankly, I take offense at your tone in the post that indicated that we think we are perfect.

No one is perfect, not even you, and so please, do not use sarcasm, or idle threats or cruelty, or insinuations, or just nastiness when talking to us moderators or anyone on this board, because it will not be tollerated.

And although Alissa hasn't said anything specific about this particular post removal, I'm sure she would back Rawkinlocs up on it, just as I am.

Now, let's play nice.

thank you.

[Rawkinlocs]

If you really want to know, then read the mission statement and read the new rules of posting and then recap what you wrote and see if it all lines up.

It's not about what I or any other moderator agrees with or disagrees with. You don't know me enough to know WHAT I agree or do not agree with in your post. For all you know, I could have agreed with all of it, but if it doesn't line up with what has been set as guidelines here, then it goes, period. AND...I DID try to let you know what was up (in an email) but YOU decided to get nasty with me and DEMAND that I post my explanation to you on this forum. Yeah, okay...

And talk about walking on eggshells, I have to walk on eggshells trying to do my "job" without worrying about pissing anyone off and getting THIS kind of backlash!

And for the record, I really don't care what you say or write in other places..go ahead. I don't plan to ban you but if it happens by someone else, then just know that you can say whatever you want...won't hurt me one bit.

NOW I'm done!

And thank you Rawpriestess...much appreciated. Now I must go tend to something else for a while.

[Nik]

Sorry if it came off that way, but I only said that I would still like an explination, that is not a demand.

I HAVE read the mission statement and the new rules for posting on here, and NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING that I said does not line up with them!

I did not tell the poster to do a different diet. I only shared that I didn't notice that big of a difference between 100% and high raw and if they DO decide to eat a less then 100% VEGAN diet to make sure to stay away from fried foods, refined foods and stick with whole organic cooked foods, steamed etc. IF that is what they are doing. Same advice basically given by those above. Another post I notice got deleted that someone else wrote on one of my threads just because they mentioned that frozen foods interfer with B12 absorption. It was just gone, deleted, including all of the replies to it. Obviously it could not of been for any reason other then that they don't want that mentioned or discussed.

The new rules are very vague and basically read, if we don't like what you say and don't want others to see that information, we will delete it. Well, it's nice to know that Alissa is behind all of this and this is how she personally decided to treat others and her customers. I found it extremely rude and unfair being that my post was in line with everyone else's on this thread and was extremely offended by it just being deleted with no discussion. That is no way to treat people who are trying to be part of a community and offer and recieve help and are NOT spammers or against the lifestyle, and live it themselves.

[Rawkinlocs]

Nik,

Now that I've had time to cool down a bit...

As RP stated, we are NOT perfect and sometimes we can and will make a hasty decision to delete something. Now, one of the things I said in my email was that when I am not sure about whether or not a post should or should not be deleted, I will "soft" delete it meaning, it's no longer visible to the forum but we (mods and admin) can see it. So, your post at any given time CAN be restored. My plan was to "temporarily" remove it and find out if it should stay or go and then go from there and when I removed it, I tried to email you but it was returned undeliverable and I noted that in my post to you about the email but then you kinda just went off on me and then...well you know the rest.

But you said that the rules are vague, etc. and basically say that "if we don't like what you say and don't want others to see that information, we will delete it." Nik, it's not even about alla that. The bottom line from MY perspective is this...Alissa had this forum placed here with it always being in her mind that this would be a place for people to come who had either read her book or heard about it and wanted to get support with doing raw according to what she teaches in her book (and there ain't nothin' wrong with that) HOWEVER...as the board grew and grew, things just took a different turn and it became a very general board where people became comfortable in posting whatever the pleased whether it went against her approach to eating raw or not and she allowed it to get that way because she did not want to step on any toes or cause people to leave.

But now that she has made a firm decision to bring RFT back to what she initially envisioned it to be, it's going to be tricky trying to enforce these things with the board being so large and people having become accustomed to saying almost whatever the please regardless. But she made a very firm decision that we have to do what we have to do and that we realize that while many will understand, appreciate and even agree with her decision that many would also be angered by it, feel it unfair and even leave because of it.

So, this thread has been sent to her...I'm sure by now she is probably sleeping and will see it in the morning. Your deleted post will also be able to be viewed by her and a decision can be made as to whether or not it was appropriate. I admit, the majority of your post WAS fine and was basically saying pretty much the same as many of the other posts in this thread said however, there WAS a portion of it that just seemed kinda negative and like it or not Nik, there IS a certain atmosphere of positivity that Alissa (and most of the members here) want to create and keep. I know some folks hate that we try to keep things all nicey/nice, keeping raw in a glowing light and sappy sweet or what have you...but that is one of the things that many people, both openly here and in private emails to Alissa, say they LOVE about this board.

Sure, your experience is your experience and no one can take that from you...but again, there was a question mark in MY mind as to whether or not that portion of your post belonged here and rather than edit it out, I decided to put it "in waiting" until I got a second opinion.

I'm sorry for blowing up and sorry for offending you but again, sometimes we have to make decisions and they won't always be well-received...that is out of our control.

[Nik]

Thanks for your explanation. Sorry for getting so upset. I just had never been treated like that or seen that on any other board before. I've only seen inappropriate posts deleted. I've only started posting here recently as you can see I only have 15 posts, so I didn't know or expect this type of atmosphere of strict editorial censorship. I don't know what it used to be like on here.

I know you are just doing your "job". It's whoever made up those rules that I disagree with. Obviously that is Alissa. I don't understand the "negativity" thing. I understand if someone is being negative to someone else. Discouraging them or being mean to them or whatever. However the only "negative" about my post was that my own personal experience was better as far as keeping more weight on on high raw vs. 100% raw. I even said after I admitted that that it was "too bad". That's not how I would of liked my experience to have been and I wish it was the opposite, but I can't make up a fake experience just so that it is "positive" and "glowing" to perpetuate the Hype that Alissa wants portray and hide any experiences that are not that. I understand how marketing works and that people who hype things up only put on the glowing and positive testimonials and never the mixed ones. But this is a board about people's experience and knowledge with the raw diet, it is not an advertisement for it. She can try to mold this board into an interactive advertisement and positive billboard testimonial all she wants, but it will never be reality. And now I know not to trust and believe all the glowing posts on here because I now know that they are one sided and that anything that is not that had been deleted and heavily edited to fit Alissa's Agenda. I do not need Alissa to "approve" of my experiences and advice, if it meets her hype meter, and will not be waiting for her to "approve" of it. You can tell her to forget it, just as I will be forgetting this board, and Alissa.