How did you first learn about RAW? [Archive]

portiz

02-27-2007, 11:43 AM

I started this thread to see how others heard about RAW. I'll start by saying, I first learned about RAW (and heard about this site) on the boxer world site. I have two boxers and was learning about the BARF diet (the equivalent of RAW for humans) because I wanted something better for my boxers.

After reading these forums and realizing the same principles apply to us as they do my dogs...it just felt right.

We were eating wrong and it showed. I have two ENERGIZED boxers (as if being themselves weren't enough); the only difference is we (my BF and I) can now keep up with them.

solarliving

02-27-2007, 11:48 AM

I was watching Carol Alt on t.v. and she was talking about the raw food diet. After that I did a search and found this lovely site. That was 2 years ago and I've been here ever since.

Veganforlife

02-27-2007, 11:55 AM

I was in my local HFS. The gal that works there was telling me about this gal that does all raw foods and, "...uses a lot of dates and stuff..." So I jotted her name down and went and opened up the web site and bookmarked it. Didn't pay much attention to it. Months later my son, my Mom and my son's girlfriend were celebrating my son's b-day with a vegan meal and he asked if I had ever heard of Raw Vegans. "Nope." was my reply. He said there was an article in the Baltimore City Paper and it was interesting. His girlfriend and I looked at each other and asked, "But what would you eat? Carrot sticks and nuts?" "Nope. That's not for me. I need subsidence. I don't think I could do that." was my reply. Ha! Little did I know! So I went on line and read the article. It talked about the Yabba Pot and interviewed various raw foodists. It really got my interest up. Keep this in mind. I have suffered with migraines my entire life. I'm 53. I went back to Alissa's bookmarked site and read everything I could, the testimonials, the posts, the recipes. All the while this little voice in my head telling me that this is a healing way to eat. Well, I was convinced. I mean what's one more try of eating healthy? I'm been Vegetarian for 26 years and then the last 2 Vegan, it's worth a shot. I ordered her book AND DVD and when it arrived, stayed up reading and highlighting the book and the next night watched the entire DVD. I was convinced. I was excited. I couldn't wait to start. That was over 9 months ago. I am 100% raw and never will go back to CRAP food (because it makes me feel like crap, aka SAD food). I have not had one migraine since. My thyroid is finally functioning after being diagnosed practically dead six years ago. I've dropped about 40 pounds.
Alissa is truly an Angel sent to me. That little voice in my head telling me this is a healing way of eating? That was Alissa.

portiz

02-27-2007, 12:03 PM

I might add...I'm not 100% RAW, but I am taking the March 30 day challenge. My BF is not and probably never will be 100%, but has defintely taken more interest in it. He needs to have his beef and chicken.

I've been working my way up to RAW now for about 6 months.

JGex

02-27-2007, 12:07 PM

Woody Harrelson's documentary Go Further

We immediately bought Renee's book. That was over a year ago.

:D

vwinters

02-27-2007, 12:10 PM

I first heard about raw foodists on a reality show called “Amish in the City” where one of the house guests was a raw foodist. Then I saw some discussions about it on http://vegsource.com/ (http://vegsource.com/) which got me researching.
VW

vwinters

02-27-2007, 12:17 PM

Woody Harrelson's documentary Go Further

We immediately bought Renee's book. That was over a year ago.

:D

JGex,
I’d not seen ‘Go Further’. Looked it up and it sounds interesting so I put it at the top of my Netflix queue. Thanks for the recommendation.
VW

DavidZaneMason

02-27-2007, 12:22 PM

I came across this website and livingfoods.com when doing research on healthy eating and fresh fruits & vegetables.....which seemed to be recommended across most dietary regimes.

-David Z. Mason

JGex

02-27-2007, 12:44 PM

JGex,
I’d not seen ‘Go Further’. Looked it up and it sounds interesting so I put it at the top of my Netflix queue. Thanks for the recommendation.
VW

It's a fun little film! Woody is a nutbag, but a total lovable one!!

Hope youi enjoy it, vwinters! ;)

dreamrawalwz

02-27-2007, 01:05 PM

I don't even remember! I don't remember how I got to raw or this website. I do know it felt natural and I think I came to eating just raw by myself, then I gained more knowledge about it and how it affects your health and live in positive ways.

Morn

02-27-2007, 01:13 PM

I listen to a prayer request show on a local station here in Michigan after work one morning and a pastor was talking about the benefits of eating raw food on the radio and about how all then enzymes get destroyed after heating them above 118 degrees. That morning I then did a search on the internet to find out more and found Alissa's site and all the testimonials and then I joined in 2 weeks later. That was a little over 5 months ago.

Dj 247

02-27-2007, 01:15 PM

I watched the diet wars on the Tyra Bank's talkshow. Also I like Dr. Timothy Brantley(spelling?) he is the author of a book called, "The Cure."

lauralee

02-27-2007, 01:15 PM

i went to a health practitioner for a colonic. i had heard that it makes you feel light and fresh so i did it. the colonic was ok but then i thought i don't really want to put junk just after i've cleansed. this was just a thought in my head though. the health practitioner casually mentioned how he advocates eating a raw food diet. on my next visit, i read raw food books while waiting on him and became so engrossed by gabriel cousens and alissa. so then i asked him to teach me. he made a coconut/cocoa/nut dessert that was about the best tasting thing i had EVER eaten at the time. then i tried my first raw macadamia nut and fell in love. ahh. i was so afraid of eating the nut because i had been told that i was probably allergic to it. but i wasn't!!

Rawkinlocs

02-27-2007, 01:22 PM

I first learned of eating raw on nappturality.com. Some of the members there were doing a raw challenge where they would eat all raw during the week and then allow themselves (healthy) cooked food on the weekends.

I was just introducing myself and my family to eating vegan foods, so this intrigued me and I followed the thread along with links they provided to other raw sites and eventually, began to incorporate it into my own lifestyle.

KatK

02-27-2007, 01:26 PM

Either from Dr. Schulze who recommends eating more raw food or from the Fit for Life books.

Firicia

02-27-2007, 01:41 PM

I saw Alissa on the Tyra Show. The first time I saw it I thought that the raw "diet" sounded crazy and felt bad for the girls who got it. Then on the come back show that one girl who followed the diet came out and looked amazing and just was glowing. I looked at both her and Alissa and thought I want that natural beauty, they looked so alive and I looked so dead and way over my age. So then I came here, ordered the book, and now I am on day 6 of eating raw minus 2 slip ups(darn pesto sauce) which I am not gonna worry about cuz it takes time to learn a new habbit/way of eating. I am so happy though that I haven't had any white sugar for 6 days and I don't miss it, I was so addicted! I was scared everyday cuz I couldn't seem to control how much I overate the stuff, I was so scared of getting diabetes from it too if I couldn't find a way to control myself. Now I am happier, and don't have that stress waying me down anymore.

portiz

02-27-2007, 01:47 PM

...now I am on day 6 of eating raw minus 2 slip ups(darn pesto sauce)...

you know there is a RAW pesto sauce recipe.
;)

Ariannah

02-27-2007, 01:50 PM

It was a journey starting from a couple of years ago, when I first got rid of all household chemicals, scented cosmetics, and stuff like that.

I corresponded with a few people and they talked about how they mostly eat organic food (didn't mention raw)...

Then at the same time I was reading about food enzymes (pills), and how they help people with a particular "disorder" and read about raw food. I then googled "raw food" and naturally, a plethora of sites about raw food diets came up, including this one. I had also at the time read "Fit for Life, not Fat for Life" by Harvey Diamond (an off shoot of his Fit for Life books), which is not 100% raw, but recommends a cooked meal at dinner.

I thought, well, I want to see what *all* raw is like. I came to this board and read about a 30 day challenge, and thought, ok I will start. So that is what got me started seriously thinking about raw food. I was 100% raw for over 7 months after that, went back to cooked, discovered I didn't like cooked much any more. Then now, since early Dec 2006, I've been raw once again.

Apasaraw

02-27-2007, 02:00 PM

It was Juliano about 5 years ago on some E! entertainment TV show frolicking on the beach eating a sun cooked pizza...as soon as he started talking about raw I totally got it...I preferred my produce raw and grew up eating raw veg and fruit because of my mother's culture. When I left home I sort of put up with the way other people were prepping veg even though I didn't like it. It was like I had amnesia.

Anyway since Juliano's frolick I embraced raw produce but was still eating cooked other things until about 2 years ago. I developed allergies to all grains, additives and eggs...and to boot MS and hey...what's left to eat?

Recipe searching for raw recipes I came across Jinjee and Storm on the web along with Alissa. They gave me the gift of variety. I also feel very grateful for the positive energy, thoughts and ideas you all have here!

Solace

02-27-2007, 02:00 PM

I was searching for it, for a very long time. I had read just about every book out there and I was on the DR. Weil program for a LONG time.:( I was extremely depressed and anxiety disordered etc. My Aunt loaned me 12 steps to raw by Victoria Boutenko and I read it reluctantly. I believed Raw was extreme and unnecessary, I read it anyway and CLICK :eek: It all made sense. Since then I have done a ton of research and just finished reading The Sunfood Diet by David Wolfe and have been raw for 12 days NO antidepressant and feel great.:D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xzKfI3HIuI

Rawmommie

02-27-2007, 02:07 PM

first learned about RAW (and heard about this site) on the boxer world site.

ha! What a small world! I have posted before at boxerworld about my raw diet! I have a fawn, he's almost a year old! :)

2 1/2 years ago I found Shazzies journal one night online and read the whole thing from start to finish and went raw that next morning! :)

Zella Juice

02-27-2007, 02:22 PM

rawpriestess

02-27-2007, 02:54 PM

The specific moment that I actually heard about eating raw food as a way of life, was at a vegan cooking class, and the person sitting next to me said, something along the lines of "I think I'm going to eat raw now."

I asked him what he meant, he looked at me like I had three noses, and told me that Victoria Boutenko was having a free lecture and food tasting session at Marlenes' in Federal Way, (one of the local HFS), I went, then took her 5 week course, and that was the beginning, back in 2001

Rawkinlocs

02-27-2007, 02:58 PM

My stepmom brought back food from an Alissa Cohen class in Olympia...maybe it was Locs. The food was so awesome tasting...I knew our family could go raw. We have been raw now for a month and feeling good. There is NO way we would ever go back to all that cooked food.

Ooo really? Who's your stepmom?! You can email me privately with that info if you want to...but I'm VERY curious to find out if she's someone who took a class with me! :)

greenfeline

02-27-2007, 03:53 PM

I had a raw dessert at my local health food store. Upon looking at the ingredients I could not believe this creamy cheesecake was made with cashews. I love to cook or uncook now, and I started looking on-line for a similar recipe. I think the first site I found was from sad to raw.

portiz

02-27-2007, 04:04 PM

ha! What a small world! I have posted before at boxerworld about my raw diet! I have a fawn, he's almost a year old! :)

2 1/2 years ago I found Shazzies journal one night online and read the whole thing from start to finish and went raw that next morning! :)

you have the same screen name on boxerworld, don't you?? yeah i remember you! i think the person who directed me to this site was Louis or louie (something like that). i just NOW bought alissa's book and dvd (i think i've typed that today like 5 times)
there's another person here that also visits boxerworld, i THINK it's laffsalot.

for soemthing so worldwide...it is such a small world, huh?

michigan roman

02-27-2007, 04:07 PM

about a decade ago my neighboor/friend/gardening buddy , an elder scotch women / master gardener of great wisdom , gave me the book 'raw fruit and vegi juices' by the late great norman walker and i became completely sold on walkers outlook on diet . no ones words on diet and disease have ever made more sense to me . it was an old junky looking paper back book from the 60's that ended up becoming the best book ive ever known .

ps - ive since given near 20 new editions of said book as gifts to family and friends .

lafsalot

02-27-2007, 04:11 PM

I started my dogs (two boxers, rottie, and mastiff) on barf (raw) and followed suit when I saw how all four thrived on it. I have been 100% now for several months and have never felt better. My dh has been very supportive, and I have even been incorporating a lot of raw into his diet without complaints.

Guess it is a small world, I am also a member of BW. ~ Cathy

Solace

02-27-2007, 04:16 PM

portiz

02-27-2007, 04:17 PM

Hi, Cathy!!
Give your two furbabies a hug from me! I'm going to take the March 30 day challenge and hope to stay 100%. I love hearing about how we all got here.

Yes...BARF is a raw meat diet for dogs. a few of us met on Boxerworld looking for information for our boxers and we began talking about RAW for humans...er...i mean us!! and were redirected to this site...our furbabies brought us here.

RawVee

02-27-2007, 04:20 PM

I first read about raw when I read David Wolfe's book "Eating for Beauty." I thought, "this is crazy. Who would do this???" Then I saw Charlie Trotter's gorgeous uncook book and thought "This is crazy. Who would do this?" Fast forward 2 years and I try raw food for the first time and realize that I don't feel uncomfortably full or tired afterward. And here I am. :) This is crazy!!

Solace

02-27-2007, 04:25 PM

Faithfullyfit

02-27-2007, 06:03 PM

I saw Alissa on the today show....sharing her green smoothies with Katie Couric:D

I was glued to the program when she was speaking and had to order the book that day!

It arrived and I read it in 2 days- EVERYTHING resonated with me so strongly that I jumped right in at 100%. I had a wonderful summer of pure energy and happiness. I have never felt that great.... ever! I have since struggled a bit but I am back to my senses and starting to feel that amazing RAW feeling again -YIPPEEE!!

Thanks to Alissa for her pursuit of the media coverage- you have led us to a wonderful life!

konmai

02-27-2007, 06:30 PM

I was doing my first determined water fast and read a book on fasting and its medical benefits. I used to get major head and eye aches. The book mentioned it's preferable to go raw after fasting, & I was thinking what would I eat:confused: That's how I found RFT and see this eatting RAW is definitely for me. :p

puffysmom

02-27-2007, 06:40 PM

My son and DIL saw Dr Brantley author of The Cure on Rachel Rays show almost a month ago. I ordered the book and read all the information he wrote and then I did a search on the net for more information on what to eat and how to eat it and I found this site and sat for 2 days reading and printing out recipes. In fact i sat so long and had my arm on the mouse so long that first my shoulder went on me and then when that was getting better my sciatic nerve went on me. All due to Raw.
Now I am trying to do raw. I messed up yesterday and had my favorite of all foods and that is popcorn. I have had major gas problem ever since and until late this aft could not figure out why. It is going to be hard to give that up cause it was the one treat my siblings and I got to have when growing up so it represents fun and affection along with good eating but after my bad day today I will keep from eating it as much as I can. I know i sure do feel better when I dont eat it so that should help me stay on the straight road to health....right?
I have psoraisis and psoraitic arthritis which most people say cannot be cured with what we eat. Thing is I know of people who have cured themselves and not being as strick as Raw is. I do know that my psoriasis is a light pink compared to a nasty angry red, I do not have much dead skin anymore and my arthritis is so good that i forget to take my suppliments. I also forget to take all my vitamins that i bought trying to clear up my ps. I think it is cause my body is getting everything it needs and so why bother taking extra vitamins.

lil fairy z girl

02-27-2007, 07:08 PM

i found out about raw when i was searching for weight loss on the net, i was really desperate to lose weight and i saw a site saying about raw food, i then did a search on raw food and discovered the site fromsadtoraw.com and saw peoples before and after pictures and then i was hooked. i then found Alissa's site and it looked friendly, and so now this feels like home :)

best wishes
sal
~*~*~*

okorolina40

02-27-2007, 08:04 PM

I found information on raw foods while doing the master cleanse in 2005 on peter glickman's forum at www.therawfoodssite.com

From there, i did some searches, but didnt really pursue it until a natural hair friend did an online album of her raw pics -- and her skin is also to die for :))

So here I am!!

Lina

misslinda

02-27-2007, 09:06 PM

October 2004, I was searching the web and I can't remember exactly what brought me to Alissa's site but I recall seeing the pictures of the raw pizza and date nut torte in her online store.....I was amazed and astounded by what one can truly creat with living all natural ingredients!

:)

NicoleDaboin

02-27-2007, 09:14 PM

I heard about the Raw Diet from seeing Alissa on the Tyra Banks show. I was wondering how many people saw that and have decided to go raw because of it. I really just catch the Tyra Banks show on rare occasions. I'm so glad I saw the show with Alissa! I love raw and I want this to become a part of my life forever!

rawOrchid

02-27-2007, 10:14 PM

I was always searching for "natural cures" for acne (still am ...arggg) online and came across acne-advice.com. Karen Jessett had cured her acne completely with the help of live, raw, organic foods. She was selling her book Clear Skin on her site, but also Shazzie's Detox Delights...

I was so intruigued by this whole detox delight book that I went on her website and read her whole journal in one sitting!!! (just like rawmommie!)

I then googled "raw food" online and found tons of sites, including THIS ONE!

I figure raw food is the way to go to cure, heal and glow from the inside out...!

Stina

02-27-2007, 10:51 PM

Last summer I had my first colonic and immediately afterward had a strong intuitive feeling that my body desperately wanted raw food. It was as if for the first time my intestines could telepathically communicate to my brain......

Nectarine

02-27-2007, 11:10 PM

I was first introduced to the idea of an exclusively (or predominately) raw food diet while reading up on which foods were acidifying/alkalinizing to the body...non-cooked fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds being the best way to achieve and maintain the slightly alkaline ph levels needed for optimum health :)

Rawmommie

02-28-2007, 06:16 AM

I think it's so great how the word has gotten around about raw! Soon we'll take over the world!! ;)

you have the same screen name on boxerworld, don't you?? At BW my screen name is twoboysnmygirl. :)

Alba

02-28-2007, 08:01 AM

I live in Denmark where there isn't nearly as much attention to raw as in USA, England and Holland. Here, we don't have any raw (un)cooks, (un)cookbooks or juicebars...well, maybe one.
Anyway, there are like 20 rawfoodists here in DK - and one day I read an article about this guy who ate 20 bananas/day (following 811) and I thought: What a stupid, stupid thing to do...?!
I am a curious nature so I started googling and found a few sites but at the time I just laughed at it...thought it sounded really extreme...
Then suddenly 7 months ago - something made me remember those crazy raw foodists and I googled it again - this time, a lot less laughing. I ordered Allissa's book and DVD and I have been 100% since the day after. 7 moths the 6.th of March:D

Love alba

jah

02-28-2007, 08:53 AM

8 years ago I was a 2 year old vegan and Cooking Network addict! I saw Juliano on Extreme Cuisine. got his book.. Beautiful but too complex especially 4 beginners. Yet he sparked the inspiration

Springtime

02-28-2007, 08:55 AM

I've always had a living/raw thought in my mind.
My great grandmother was very into health foods, and even though I never really got to know her I've always been told I have her health-gene going on in me.
The first time I heard about people actually being raw foodists must have been a really long time ago, because I can't remember too well. I think I saw Carol Alt diong one of those interviews in celebs houses, and she talked a lot about raw, and I was mantally hooked.

I am not yet raw/living, but I do my best. I've been a vegetarian on and off my whole life (I remember being a kid asking my mum if we could "please be vegetarians, because it's so cool") and a cooked vegan for two years. In january this year I picked up Stever Ross' book Happy Yoga where he talks a lot about the importance of living foods, and I've been doing my best ever since.

I want to get a juicer or blender, because I feel smoothies is the way to go, hopefully someone's left a vitamix at the goodwill...

love
/reb

portiz

02-28-2007, 09:12 AM

I think it's so great how the word has gotten around about raw! Soon we'll take over the world!! ;)

At BW my screen name is twoboysnmygirl. :)

AAAggghhhh! I remember you now!

luna99

02-28-2007, 09:19 AM

Woody Harrelson's documentary Go Further

We immediately bought Renee's book. That was over a year ago.
:D

how is her book? I love that documentary.. I own it actually and love woody and laura! If I was taking my honeymoon in hawaii, they were going to have me over and let me prepare a raw meal for them.. but we decided to go to aruba instead. :rolleyes:

luna99

02-28-2007, 09:28 AM

I heard about raw here and there.. saw juliano on tv, saw the episode of sex and the city where they talk about it a bit, etc..etc... so I had a *very* vague idea about it but was never curious to find out more.

I always had been into natural remidies, natural health, tried being a vegetarian a couple of times..... then I found the website www.freshtopia.net.

The food they were making there looked so good and vibrant and healthy! I wanted to try it!! so I started making it, not even knowing it was raw.

Well, the first website they have listed under links is www.alissacohen.com. I got to her site and read and read all about it and knew it was something I had to try... I ordered the dvd and book immediately and here I am five months later! I still haven't gone 100% yet.. but I"m getting there!

I love the raw lifestyle!

Princess Elaine

02-28-2007, 09:48 AM

Wow!!! ...so interesting to see when eating raw crossed our paths...

About 10 or 11 years ago a friend took me to Optimum Health Institute for a week (Lemon Grove, California) and I learned about raw, wheatgrass, and I loved it...I stayed another week and I was on my journey...I stayed raw about two years and little by little started eating cooked...why??? I didn't have enough knowledge...I understand the third week there is when you learn to prepare raw food...

Though over the years I've always eaten healthy I knew I was ready when I started getting the signals...a good friend had been eating raw and she was looking great...I went to a raw food pot luck at her house and another messenger appeared, Raw Truth, funny how when the student's ready, the teacher appears....we talked a lot about raw...I bought Alaissa's book from her and took her food preparation class...that was 6 months ago and I started feeling good at 4 days...went through a bit of detox at 3 weeks (pain in my leg muscles for about 3 days)....

I now have 4 friends who have changed to raw and I see how it's taking off by attraction not promotion...

Elaine

ella

02-28-2007, 10:08 AM

I was looking around the internet- a vegan search- years agao and found a fruitarian stite. That was the beginning for me. I knew I'd check into it more again. Then I found rawfoodsupport.com and got on the forums. A nice launching pad. David Wolfe's book "Eating for Beauty" sealed it.

fuzzywater

02-28-2007, 10:24 AM

I've never been able to cook with meat, it just disgusts me. So even as a teenager, when browsing cookbooks, I only looked at the veggie ones. Lo and behold, there's Juliano's RAW. I bought it, read it, never made anything from it... then about 2 years ago, there was a quick blurb on some Food TV show about a raw food restaurant.... the thought sparked, I rediscovered Juliano's book, and have been playing since!

sungoddess

02-28-2007, 11:25 AM

After my mom was diagnosed with cancer this last summer, I read the China Study. I immediately went vegan. My mom was thinking of doing the raw food diet to heal her cancer, so I started doing some research for her online. I came across Shazzie's website and was so intrigued and inspired. I read a testimonial about a girl being healed in 6 months completely of PCOS. I had been diagnosed with PCOS a few years before and was willing to follow this path if it would cure me. So the very next day I went raw!

It has been 7 months now, and I am still not cured, but I have a lot of faith that I will be.

(The FIRST time I heard about raw, was when I heard that Demi Moore did the raw food diet. I immediately thought: celery and carrots, and wondered how ANYONE could do that!!!!! hahahahah!)