Losing faith...I need your help!

[ciarac]

Looking for help and support.

Hello to all, I’m Ciara. I’ve posted quite a few times on this board over the past few years, and some of you will know me, but most of you won’t. Anyone that does know me will know that I’ve been trying to be raw for quite a while, with no success.

I’m kinda at my wits end at the moment.
I know that raw is the way, it makes sense to me and it just feels right.
Alas, I am the product of guru saturation, i.e. to many theories wandering around about WHICH raw way is the right raw way. We have: vegan, vegetarian, insect eating, animal food eating, 75%, 100% and all numbers in between, high fat, high sugar, lots of sprouts, no sprouts, and so on, and so forth.

A lot of you will be thinking, “Well, why doesn’t she just eat in the way that makes her feel best”, “Listen to your body, your body knows”, and so forth.
Well, my body either doesn’t know, or just isn’t talking to me.

I am reasonably healthy. My main problem is tiredness. I am just tired ALL the time. I don’t say I have extreme tiredness like some poor folks do. I’m only 25, and am slim and fairly fit. But, I just have never continually gotten the raw food glow that people speak of. You know, this massive increase in energy.
What bugs me so much is that I eat so, SO much better than all my friends, and my boyfriend, but I don’t have more energy than any of them. In fact, I have less energy than both my mother and father have, although they lead “healthy” lifestyles, my food intake is definitely better, or so it seems to me.

My problem is that I flit between different eating patterns, always returning to cooked and unhealthy foods in between these different patterns. Most recently has been the diet suggested by ‘The free acne book” (www.waidiet.com) , which advises large intakes of both fruit and fat, including raw fish also. Before I started, I thought, “Wow, all this time my problem may have been a lacking in minerals or vitamins, and/or calories. So, did all they suggested, and truth be told, I only lasted 3 days. It didn’t feel right and although I like avocadoes, eating so much fat made the thought of avos make me want to hurl.

Anyway, as I said, my problem is the flitting between diets. I need to choose one and stick to it. But I’m so confused with all the information that is out there that I guess when I’m on one path, I have the thoughts of other paths in my head, making me doubt myself. And I can’t listen to me body because it’s not talking right now. Tomorrow I’m planning on going mono-foodist for a few days, see how that makes me feel. But all the while, I’m gonna have the advocations from the free acne book in my head, which says that you should always eat fruit with some fat so as not to increase your blood sugar level too quickly.

Somebody, please just tell me what to do!
I need to hear from someone with a similar experience, please!
I mean, someone who has started raw, but hasn’t felt any huge changes until doing or changing ‘X’. What’s the damn X factor?

I know some of you will want to respond, “you need to choose a path, stick to it for at least a few weeks and then tweak things until you feel better”. And I agree but understand that when you have had no hints as to what path to take, and when you have so many theories facing you, which contradict each other, it’s not so easy. Most people when they start raw AT LEAST feel shit. I don’t even feel shit, if I did, I would welcome it and know that it was my body trying to recuperate. But no, I basically feel very little change. This is the problem.

Let me just tell you all a little about my lifestyle so maybe someone can relate to how I live and suggest possible changes.

* I lead a fairly active life in Barcelona. On most days I will walk at least two miles, but often more. I live by a mountain so I occasionally walk up there. I run on the odd occasion, but honestly, the lack of energy makes me run less than I would like to. Could it be that I need to do strenuous exercise more often?

* I am a coffee drinker. I know coffee isn’t great for my body. But I have not yet given it up because, as I said, I have never experienced big changes from giving it up previously. I would love to give it up and am anxious to hear from people who have given up coffee and experienced noticeable benefits. My boyfriend is Italian, so for me coffee has an emotional enjoyment issue as well. I need serious dissuasion from coffee drinking if I am to quit! All being said, I only have about 1 coffee a day, occasionally two. Fortunately, I’m so tired these days that even coffee has ceased to energize me, so it shouldn’t be too hard to give up.

* I am a dairy ingestor. Not huge amounts, but yes’m, I take it. Normally I will only have dairy with my coffee, about half a cup. Occasionally I will eat cheese, sometimes yogurt. I definitely feel that dairy is not natural, but the few times I have given it up, (only for a few days, never more than 10 days) I have never felt a positive change.

* I drink juice regularly. Sometimes just orange juice but I also love apple and zucchini. Normally I’ll just make one juice a day if I use my juicer (i.e. if it’s not orange juice which I squeeze by hand and is less bother to prepare) but this will generally amount to 1 liter of juice.
I used to eat a lot of sprouts but they never have given me any extra energy, and these are one thing that I HAVE eaten over a longer period of time. I would often have buckwheat porridge for breakfast then maybe some sprouts in salad later. I have since given up on sprouts, as they don’t give me energy and I can’t say that I enjoy them. (Incidentally, I don’t really feel that they are natural for us to eat, but I maybe wrong.)

* When I DO fall off the ‘wagon’, I will still actually eat about 50% raw anyway. If I start the day with cooked food, I will always crave a salad and juice later on, which hopefully means that my body is in reasonable condition. That is, my body will often crave healthy foods in place of unhealthy food. I guess my body and I DO talk a little. This also means that I should NOT be as tired as I do, I mean, even 50% raw is very good, no?

* Umm…what else? Nope, I think that’s it.

So, basically what I’m looking for is support and advice. Trust me, I know I just need to choose a path and stick to it, but as I said, it isn’t easy when you are receiving few signs from your body as to what path is the best one to take. I mean, I chose to give up dairy, but after having received no benefits, I felt that the inconvenience of avoiding dairy outweighed the POSSIBLE benefits of not consuming dairy.

Who knows? Maybe I’m allergic or intolerant to something and that ONE thing makes me tired. SOB! :( I don’t know!

I’d love to hear from anyone else who, when starting raw, did not experience any great difference within their body, and to hear what made the benefits eventually come. Did you just give it time? Did you tweak just one thing, i.e. give up dairy/coffee, etc…

Also, I’d love to hear from people who beat tiredness with raw. Not any particular illness, but tiredness, which is what I am plagued with.

Please help me if you can, despite the up-beat-edness of this message, I suffer from depression also. Chicken or the egg? I don’t know which comes first. But certainly, I get depressed because I feel I am missing life, and with no energy to grab life by the scruff, I get more and more depressed, often crying for no reason, just crying. (But, in this moment, I am fine, because I am hoping that by reaching out for help I will get some guidance from those who have been there, done that.)

Thanks to all for reading and hopefully replying,

Yours,
Ciara.

[Rawkinlocs]

Ciara,

My biggest suggestion to you is to follow Alissa's plan. I know that sounds biased and maybe it is...but believe me when I tell you that I've been where you are. I almost gave up on raw because I got SO darned confused with all the conflicting information out there - low fat, high greens, no sugar, no condiments/spices, eat what you want, you gotta eat raw animal products, raw animal products are bad, blah blah blah...

I got scared, confused, angry...the whole nine - but THANKFULLY, I one day decided to purchase Alissa's book and it's been a no-brainer ever since!

Her concept is very simple - when you first start out, JUST EAT RAW! I know some disagree with that, some say they've tried that and it didn't work for them because of xyz reasons...but for ME, it was the exact thing I needed to hear and to do. So, I did. I ate tons of nuts, trailmixes, etc. and I allowed my body to do what it needed to do and take me where I needed to go.

Then one day I noticed, I wasn't eating nearly as many nuts as I used to - I have my days where I feel like I want to just snack on a lot of nuts - but they don't last long at all...in fact, it may be a day or two and then I'm craving fruit. Sometimes I'll get on a green smoothie kick and then I won't want them anymore but I'll all of a sudden want salads - then I won't want those for a while but will then desire nut-based things such as nutmilk shakes or nut cheezes.

So, in the beginning...you can't rely on "listening to your body" because your body has mixed signals...but after a while, after you've done this for a while and allowed your body to clean out you WILL know when it's time to eat a lot of fat and when it's time to cut down on it and eat more fruit and when it's time to cut back on the fruit and eat greens.

It may seem super-simple...almost TOO simple, but it's true....at least in MY experience as well as Alissa's and the many thousands of people she's helped both directly and indirectly.

I don't even make a lot of recipes but I don't go with any one person's philosophy about them to make me totally and completely restrict myself from them either. When I want them, I eat them...when I don't want them, I don't eat them...simple as that. I don't need to label myself a certain type of raw fooder...BEING a raw fooder is "strict" and "hard" (but not really hard, just different) enough without adding a bunch of hooplah.

So, if you have Alissa's book, re-read it...the beginning chapters and just try and relax and follow what she says because in her words lies a great deal of wisdom that sometimes, people who fight against it end up coming back days, weeks, months or even years later and saying, "Ya know...Alissa was right all along although I didn't believe or want to believe it!" I've seen it happen time and time again right here on this very forum. If you don't have it, get it and in a hurry!

Many think that Alissa is trying to be monopolizing or what have you by making RFT mainly about HER approach to raw, but as I've said before, there is a method to her "madness" - sometimes it's revealed to people as soon as they read about and try her approach and for others, it happens later on in their raw journey after they've gone out there and listened to and tried other approaches and found them too strict, too unrealistic or that they just didn't get the results they thought they would get.

Hopefully you will get the same peace and contentment with raw as I was finally able to get once I decided that "everyone is right and everyone is wrong" and that I have to take what folks say with a grain of salt and...(not to sound cliche'ish)...listen to my OWN body. ;)

[Rawkinlocs]

One other thing...have you been ALL (or at least mostly) raw for any given period of time or have you been consuming dairy, coffee, etc. since you first started incorporating raw? Perhaps letting go of those items will bring you to the changes you say you haven't seen yet. If you HAVE been all raw, for how long?

[RawChicky]

Giving up this or that for only a few days is not long enough to feel the benefits of not having those items in your diet! Giving up dairy for less than 10 days is not long enough to decide, "oh, I feel the same, it's not worth it." Yuor body has to completely get those toxins out of your system which could take months! Have you ever been 100% raw vegan for more than 3 months? I think after doing something like that, you can reevaluate where you are. I mean NO animal products, just raw vegan. After 3 months you might notice some changes in your body and energy levels. You can't just give up one thing for a few days, not notice a change, and then reintroduce it, then give up something else, and repeat the cycle. It won't work. You probably won't notice immense changes after such short periods of time. Changing your body and improving your health takes time, and commitment! I say join the june 30 day challenge, and then the july and august challenges, and after 3 month 100% raw, eating anything raw vegan, THEN evaluate where you are and how you feel.

Good luck, hope this helped!

[barose]

Anything that slows down my digestion makes me feel tired. Dairy is one of them. Even when I was just using a little bit of 1/2 & 1/2 in coffee was enough to slow me down and make me feel out of it. Now I get my diary fix through homemade nut milks. Eliminating dairy does make a difference in a lot of people.

[ciarac]

Thanks to you all.

To answer your last post, rawkinlocs, no, i really have never been 100% raw for a given period of time. No more than 3 or 4 days, anyway.
Not to make excuses (although i am now about to make an excuse), I change my mind regularly, about everything, which isn't beneficial to me at all.
Raw chicky, I couldn't agree with you more, in regards to giving things a chance. My problem is all the conflicting advice which i hear about the raw food diet. I realize i am too much in a hurry. My body has gotten to this point of exhaustion from 25 years of living on insufficient food. 100% raw for three months, with the possibility of not getting results soon, is daunting. But i am not thinking in the right way.

I have a dangerous closeness to the eating disorder border, and so, everytime i intend to go 100% (which i think is what i need, at least right now), i realize that i am obsessing, and i hate that, i fear it. So then i change my mind and say to myself "if having the coffee and maybe popcorn at night (or whatever) makes me keep my intake of raw high, without obsessing, then do it."
Hence, i hang onto coffee.

I think i need to let it go.
I really appreciate your input on the Alyssa plan, and i appreciate what you are telling me, but i have tried going down that path, given, perhaps not for an extended time. I respect the idea, that if you are raw, then you are doing well, as a beginner. Don't obsess, just be raw and then tweak it, or listen to your body. And i agree with the philosophy but i don't know if its the best idea for me. Or maybe it is? I will consider it this evening. Yes, let me sleep on the idea.

Another thing i was considering, just after i posted this message was to keep a raw journal. I do keep a journal anyway, but its an everyday journal. I was thinking of maybe keeping a journal recording EVERYTHING. For example, start tomorrow by writing how i feel. Then having an orange juice, and recording how i feel. And just really keeping to simple foods, fruits, veg, mono eating, if i can manage it, all the time recording how i feel.
But i fear that this will make me obsess again. It's worth a try, I guess.

Well, i will certainly keep you updated, maybe even start a raw journal on this site.

Thanks again and keep the advice coming!

[Rawkinlocs]

Hi Ciara,

I totally agree with RawChicky and Barose!

Yeah, you definitely have to give it more time. Just consider this - how many years of your life have you eaten cooked food? Compare that to how long you've eaten raw food. It takes years of eating poorly and (most times unknowingly) build up the toxin in our systems that cause of to get to where we our with our health but yet, we expect that this should all reverse in a much shorter period of time. For some, they DO see positive changes in only a few days or weeks into it...but for many, it takes much longer. We have to learn to be patient with our bodies - we've abused them for so long, so we have to allow them time and grant them patience to cleanse, heal and get back on track and this is sometimes actually hindered by continuing in the same patterns as before i.e. continuing to drink coffee or eat dairy or eat cooked bread, etc.. We slow down the process of cleansing, healing and renewal.

Also, about obsessing - anytime you start a new...ANYTHING be it a job, school, hobby, or lifestyle change - you will "obsess" about it in the beginning because it's new to you - you want to learn it and it's all you think about for a while but it doesn't last long - eventually the longer you do it, it becomes second-nature and you don't give much thought to it at all as you once did.

I also went through that - reading all the books, visiting all the websites and forums, seeking out others so I could give and get support from them, preaching about it to every person I knew, etc. Now, I don't visit many websites at all unless it's just to get some recipes or just be nosy and see what others are doing - I don't post on any raw food forums but this one and that's mainly 'cause I'm a moderator ;) I don't talk to people about unless they happen to ask me about it - it's just a part of my life now.

[eatyourbroccoli]

I need to hear from someone with a similar experience, please!
I mean, someone who has started raw, but hasn’t felt any huge changes until doing or changing ‘X’. What’s the damn X factor?


releasing stress from my life and adding a high quality probiotic

it has made a huge difference

a lot of times, physical ailments arent even grounded in our physical body, but in our mind or emotions.

meditate, yoga, walk..relax. relax and eat raw.

at least, thats been my approach for the past month or so and im finally making progress

[hypnocmt]

Number one-

Greens equal energy. When I skip the greens and just eat fruit and carrot sticks or something, I start to lag behind. As soon as I add a handful of kale to my smothies, I feel 100000% better...IMMEDIATELY.

Also, when you go back and forth from diet to diet, raw to cooked, you are very likely experiencing a mild detox--->re-tox--->detox cycle. Find what feels right and just choose it!

Also, what does obsessing about food allow you to distract youself from? The foodfixing, and searching for the perfect diet as a hobby sounds very much like a well-disguised ED, or pre-ED to me. I used that rationale to cover up my ED tendencies and need to control/check/worry for many years.

Choose fresh foods as a lifestyle and get free!

Worrying about getting it right takes alot of energy...why not repurpose that energy and feel really great!

[dreamrawalwz]

I'm just wondering how you feel it isn't right for you if you havn't tried it? Obviously the way you're currently eating isn't working either :rolleyes: Just try raw for 30 days. True during that month of time you may feel tired and therefore "no change" but it WILL come. I also bet that if you removed things from your diet that aren't optimal (animal products, coffee, etc.) and feel no change...I bet a month or so without said products, I'm sure you'd definitely FEEL it then!! I bet you don't feel bad with these products because your body is so confused.

Just eat raw! I know as others have said, it sounds simple. Once you get that under your belt your body will naturally gravitate towards how it wants to be. At the moment it isn't listening or knowing what it wants because it is blocked with the cooked and toxins. Your body is very imbalanced at the moment and you need to detox. If I were you, I'd definitely go vegan. Maybe transition slowly. Remove all animal products and go vegan. Then increase your rawness even more.

As for the ED, many here have struggled with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, or other eating disorders and have recovered with raw or are in the process of recovery, myself included. It may seem like "obsessing" but honestly, sometimes it seems that anyone has to be very careful with what you put in your body. You can either "obsess" and be raw and healthy, or just not care, and get sick.

[hypnocmt]

The difference between vigilance and obsession is a delicate, very thin line defined by one question:

Are you doing this out of love for your body and yourself?

... or self-hate/doubt/fear/despair or even self-denial/punishment?

We all have a little of both ends of the spectrum...but which seems slightly more true for you?

[Ama]

Hi Ciara,

Also, about obsessing - anytime you start a new...ANYTHING be it a job, school, hobby, or lifestyle change - you will "obsess" about it in the beginning because it's new to you - you want to learn it and it's all you think about for a while but it doesn't last long - eventually the longer you do it, it becomes second-nature and you don't give much thought to it at all as you once did.


EXACTLY. I agree with what everyone else is telling you Ciara about giving it more time but I really-really like this point that Rawk brought up. It is so true. When I first went raw (it's been 10 months now) I used to always be thinking of what my next meal would be. This lasted for a few months. I used to buy tons of different ingredients to make all the tasty dishes that you can find on this forum. My body needed it as I was used to heavier foods and I liked feeling full. Over time that just stopped. I used to have a MAJOR sweet tooth and always had to have some dessert in the fridge whether it be a raw berry pie, date nut torte or raw chocolate pudding... I haven't made anything like that in months now... Just don't need it anymore I guess. Same thing with all of the fancy dehydrated meals. I used to make them ALL the time, for every meal, now, I hardly use my dehydrator for meals. I usually use it just for raw breads now and occasionally for some nori snacks.

About the coffee, this was my #1 addiction when I first went raw. What I did was I bought teeccino (http://www.teeccino.com/). It is a coffee substitute made of different herbs and while not raw, it's definitely better than coffee. My favorite flavors were chocolate mint, java and regular. You can make almond milk or hemp milk (or some other nut milk) to use instead of the milk or 1/2 and 1/2 (I LOVED 1/2 and 1/2). For me, my addiction wasn't the caffeine, it was just the fact of drinking the warm satisfying coffee so the teeccino really helped me when I needed it. Now, I don't even think about it any more.

I agree with what some of the other posters have said about joining the June/July/August challenges. You can find support on this board whenever you need it... just don't give up and give your body time to get used to a new way of eating.

[ciarac]

You are all great, thank you so much.
I knew reaching out to everyone here would help but i am surprised to hear so many inspirational and intelligent things that i didn't expect to hear, i am very impressed by you all.
Thanks, i feel really supported and remotivated.
I will do as most of you suggest and just GO RAW, forget all my negativities and just eat raw. I am gonna start a raw journal tomorrow so i will keep you all posted***

[tvillemom]

Ciara, I couldn't agree MORE with everyone else here!! I have noticed, during my LOOONNNGGGG journey (about 2 years) with raw, up and down...100%, 50% sometimes, 10% other times...then back to 100%, it has caused me to yo-yo and at times look VERY unhealthy, and feel WORSE than if I was just eating junk all the time. NOW that I am 100%, and committed to staying, I have more energy, feel younger, I TRULY feel like I am turning BACK the hands of time. I just had my 36th birthday, and I feel better than I did 5 years ago! You have to give it 100% for 30 days! I promise you, you will notice a difference! Don't be scared. Join the 30 day challenge thread with the rest of us....even if you are later in the challenge, you will find encouragement, and strength from the others!!!
Keep it simple, just decide to eat everything raw....and coming from a coffee addict that sometimes slips on that too, give it up, even slowly, but take the non-raw dairy stuff out. If you are going to wean yourself off coffee, make you some almond milk to pour in....
Teas have helped me to kick the coffee. I know they aren't raw...so I guess if you want to get "technical" I'm only 99%....but I don't care, I GAVE UP COFFEE!!:D

You can do this.
Welcome to RAW. Trust us on this....you will notice if you go 100% for the 30 days!!

Peace,
Wendi

[solarliving]

You've gotten some good advice here.

I didn't see anything about water. Dehydration can cause afternoon sleepiness. Make sure your drinking enough water, even on the Raw food diet.

Best wishes,

Solar

[YogaJo]

ciara, you sound sooo much like me! i struggle with depression, low energy and previously borderline eating disorders, changing my mind all the time and obsessing. is your depression being treated in any way? i'll tell you what has helped me:

1) after years of suffering from depression i finally tried western anti depressant medication and it helped quite a bit. definitely helped me get to a point where i was well enough to try other, more natural healing modalities. i would not have come to the point of discovering raw food if i did not give the medication a try. (i am not telling you that medication is the answer, just that it helped me in my process) i look forward to the day when my body chemistry has become balanced and i no longer need this medication.

2) a consistent and regular bikram yoga practice helped tremendously with all of my struggles. this was very powerful for me!

3) i decided that keeping a food journal was not helping me as it seemed to help others. it seemed to make me more obsessed. i stopped and it helped a lot.

4) i stopped weighing myself for about 4 years

5) on trying to sift through all the conflicting diet BS, i just decided to go with the simplest approach which is alissa's "JUST EAT RAW". i have been almost 100% raw (vegan) since may 20th and still, anytime i start thinking about trying to tweak it at all, i get that anxiety feeling and know that i am not ready for that yet. i have to remind myself of the "just eat raw" mantra.

also, i have not felt that increase in energy yet either and have been feeling a little discouraged off and on. i think it's human nature (or at least my nature, lol) to want results righ away, especially when we're putting this much effort in. i would love to have the high energy that others seem to have and i'm hoping i will feel an increase soon. hope this helps.

[freelive]

It helps if you decide to take just one day at a time - be raw just for one day(the other day again).
As for energy, for me too much fat(nuts, seeds, avocado, oil in salad), makes me tired. Greens and vegetable juices keep my energy up. Grated vegetables(I use Champion juicer blank plate), like carrots, fill me up- I have food addiction too, so it is important for me. I grate harder vegetables, because my teeth are not that great.
But the most important thing is to live creative life. By creative I do not mean doing arts. I mean taking charge of your life in every aspect versus leaving everything to professionals. Learning new things everyday. Living ther life your heart wants to live. For me it means that I will leave city and go to live closer to the nature and raising my food. For you it might mean something competely different.

[lovilla]

hey girl.
the great thing with raw is that you can eat lots and lots of food without putting on weight. i think its great for people who have eating disorders or other food issuse. its so great and easy because the universe made it for you and you dont even have to do anything to it, just put it in your mouth. ok maybe wash it first. lol you can intake so much nutrition with far less calories than on SAD. your body wants nutrients and enzymes and life. its nothing to obsess about. if its raw you can eat it.
i have had my time with caffeine. i used to drink a good 10 cups a day. im convinced the stuff made me insane. its a dangerous drug. caffiene is a crazy stimulant and what goes up must come dowwwn. with coffee you are putting your nervous system on a rollercoster. there is alot of info on the internet about this. also dairy puts a huge strain on your liver. it takes so much energy to break down casine for the amount of amino acids that your body actually uses of them. if your liver is tired you are tired. if you are drinking caffeine after mid day, you are probably not getting a good night sleep. do you sleep ok? what are your sleeping habits like?
my advise is the same as all the other wise raw people. try going raw 100% and then you can see. you wont be missing nutrition, you will be getting more. and your liver will be saying thanx.
good luck to you. being tired all the time is no fun.

[gcleanth]

Hi Ciara,

What most people are saying is true, BUT time on the diet isn't the only thing. I for one have tried going all raw for 6-7 weeks but I actually had less energy towards the end.

The reason? My metabolism. I have always had a high metabolism which is why I never really put on too much weight while eating junk food. You are slim so I will take it that dairy and meat never had an overly negative effect on your body also.
In my case, to maintain a 100% raw diet I needed to eat constantly throughout the day. I remember that i had to make a huge bowl of salad every 2 days and was also buying salads at work and eat 5 fruits and around 10-15 cucumbers per day. Needless to say it was quite annoying and EXTREMELY expensive (even if shopping at the markets). And even then it didn't keep my energy levels up.

What I found is that I needed more balance. I still never it fast or fried foods and I recommend that you stay away from them permanently. Red meat is also quite heavy and despite the exaggeratedly well-known protein and iron content it does far too much damage to be beneficial.

You should try having the salads with the cooked food as a combination rather than separated throughout the day. If you have toast in the morning, have fruit or a vegetable with it. If you do need meet (like I do) have it once every week or 2 and white meats (fish and poultry) and have a large salad with it.

My NUMBER 1 RECOMMENDATION though is to find a salad sandwich that you like. My fav is avocado, cucumber, tomato, lettuce, and onions. All have an alkaline effect on the body (which is what being raw is all about). You may need to have a few of them (my regular work day has around 6-7 sandwiches and rolls) but you will notice the difference.

Another tip for energy levels is breathing exercises. General daily activities cause an increase in the speed and depth of your breathing (even talking does this). Try breathing deeply 10 times in a row 3 times a day. You may have heard this ratio somewhere else but its breath in normally as far as possible without straining and count how long it takes. Then hold it for 4 times as long (or until BEFORE it becomes uncomfortable) and the breathe out for 2 times as long as the inhale.
This helps train your lungs to breath deeper and absorb more oxygen. If you can do this consistently you will notice massive differences in you energy levels and endurance.


OH and one more thing (AND PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT): the worst thing about coffee is not its effects on the body, it is its effect on sleep. Look up some experiments and you will find all show the same result.
The effect on the body is simple: the increase in adrenalin and seratonin levels (and whatever else it might do) causes your body to expect it. This reduces the amounts your body creates naturally, thus reducing energy levels and concentration without it.

The mental effects, however, are far more serious if energy is your problem.
Coffee in general reduces your capacity for REM sleep. This is a problem since REM sleep is the most important stage of sleeping. It is when the mind and body rejuvenate at the highest rate. Studies show that people deprived of REM for a week will have far more of it in a single session than before.

Drinking coffee regularly causes you to wake up during the night (without actually knowing it) and lose sleep because of it. Bad cases in experiments can be up to 40 mini-wakeups in a single 8 hour sleeping session (this is for regular coffee drinkers consuming more than 5 cups per day) but affects everyone the same way, even to a lesser extent.

If you are seriously having energy problems then coffee should be the furthest thing from your diet, beaten only by fried foods.

Also, in terms of REM sleep its a good idea to also have a regular sleeping pattern - so like even if its 6 hours a night, make sure its 6 hours every night. And it also helps to sleep in every week or 2 and to have a powernap for 15 minutes some afternoons if you feel tired.


I have more info on energy and diet and such stuff so if you think what I've said fits you then write back with any questions and I will be happy to give you more info.

[gcleanth]

Oh and by the way, dairy products in general a the largest cause of phlegm/mucus build up in the body, making it harder to breath, and making your body more prone to illness and bacteria.

[ciarac]

Thank you thank you thank you!
You are all brilliant and supportive.

I really appreciate it, and as you can see, I have started my journal.
You have all really boosted me up and I feel SO ready to go! Today is my first day of 90% raw!

(Uhh, I may just have had a coffee...)

Gcleanth, thank you for your long post. Yes, sounds like me, and I would love that information that you have, thank you.
Very interesting what you said about coffee.

[dustandbreath]

I really can't add anything that will compare with all these fine posts, but let me go ahead anyway.

I got addicted to coffee while living in Miami, thru a Dominican co-worker. I continued for the last 3 or 4 years, every day, many cups. Yeah, it would give me a bit of a buzz, but my energy was not consistent, and I felt my body saying: NO MORE. Well, I still drank it religiously until going raw early this May. It was a KILLER not stopping by my favorite shop to get it, or making it, or relying on it, or holding it. But after going raw, and about 2 weeks into it, I got over the NEED for it, and even though the detox made me tired and weak, it was not the same as when drinking coffee and then crashing. And now, I never feel I need it to pick me up. I don't feel the raw buzz most of the time, I just feel good.

All the best to you. Find a new habit. Tell yourself that being Spanish is not all about coffee drinking . . . try some of the substitutes and recipes people here mention, or make smoothies and enjoy them. Stuff a few greens in them and you will feel fine!