Why

[Green Girl]

No longer posting

[sachis2112]

Fantastic thread.

I have a friend who went raw about 3 months ago. She's looking and feeling great. While she never asked me to go raw, she did share information with me. I tried to be as encouraging as could be. I think I did pretty well, lol.

I'd considered doing a raw diet with my fiance. He's got various ailments and I thought that it might help. Even if we only do it a short while. But he was working on a new drug regimine and I didn't want to screw the guy up with all the new stuff. So I'd planned on giving it a try in 3 months. He checked with his docs and we were ready to give it a whirl.

2 weeks ago, I figured we'd try one raw dinner. It stretched for two nights.

That Saturday (4/2/05) I bought a whole bunch of fruit and made a salad for him to take to a recording session. The salad disappeared. All I ate that day was fruit. Until dinner... we had pizza from which I could only have 2 slices after having fruit binged all day. The next day, same thing... except I had salad and soup for dinner. On Monday, we went to Red Lobster and I had popcorn shrimp. My stomach HURT! I've never had a stomach "ache" before. I've been raw ever since and so has he.

[tracyinfo]

I was tired of being overweight. I love to eat, and this way I can eat as much as I want, as long as it's raw. I've lost over 30 pounds, and went down 2 pant sizes. I feel great!

[Pailani]

My reason...I am tired of feeling BLAH..
Green Girl

That about sums it up for me! No energy! And I was just starting to see signs of my age creeping up on me--stiff joints, mostly. Also, I had a stiff, sore neck that's much, much better now since going raw.

[Helen Of Tennessee]

I was really sick with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Horrible headache, etc. They were all symptoms of thyroid disease. I wanted to find out why I had thyroid disease and discovered raw foods. I'm still in transition but have have my meds cut back. One day I'll be off of them totally and I won't have all the symptoms either!!!!!

<>< Helen of Tennessee
http://www.shazzie.com/raw/transformation/helen.shtml

[swingbolder]

I went raw to heal myself of asthma (it worked). What a surprise to have my insomnia, arthritis and sinus problems disappear too!

[Fuzzball]

Green Girl,

What a great idea....

Why?? hmmmmmmm..... I have to be honest, I wasn't looking for it...it sort of found me.

I was on a program that is available from my business. I was serious about losing weight and getting rid of Blood Pressure and Diabetes medication. I was tired of saying that I was in the Air Force about a hundred pounds ago, knowing that it was creeping over a hundred pounds.

I was also darn right tired. Snoring every night took away my energy during the day.

The program I was following helped me lose 25 pounds in 30 days. As it was a 30 day program and I had 75 more pounds to go before I reset my goals, I started over from the beginning...it was frustrating that the pounds weren't just dropping away anymore.

Then my Jabez appointment happened...(Prayer of Jabez, Bruce Wilkerson)...someone was looking to expand their territory (ministry) and found me and shared Alissa's book and DVD. I quickly proceded to lay it on a shelf for a month, not in a hurry to hear about another plan even though I had seen the difference in both her and her husband.

Finally, I watched the DVD because I just had to give it back and I didn't want to say I hadn't at least watched part of it. Well......what can I say......I got about 15 minutes into it and my wife came out to see what I was watching. We went straight through both DVD's without stopping only to wish that there were more. My wife said she wanted to do it, not for the weight loss (she barely tips the scales at 100lbs) but for the health benefits. I agreed that it made perfect sense, so we started our raw journey.

Since that day (about 3 weeks ago) we have stocked the fridge and counters with raw fruits and veggies, gotten jars galore for raw nuts, seeds and grains. We have a nine tray dehydrator, a saladacco and a second "Magic Bullet". We have an area in the back yard that is about 15 X 25 that has seedlings ready to grow an organic garden and we have a compost for all our fruit and veggie remains.

When we made the decision, we decided to 'do', not 'try'.

I've had people tell me that they can see me getting smaller everyday, but I believe that's mostly encouring talk, as I have only pulled the belt in one notch since I began my raw journey....(Darn unsoaked nuts.......) but now that I've gotten a few things straight in my head....look out world.

Here's to a long, healthy, activity filled life!

[Sharon in Colorado]

Hereditary high cholesterol.

Always tired, no energy, foggy-headed.

Bad PMS

I have more on my list that I included on my journal in the beginning of my journey.

[sweetgoddess]

I have wondered this many times myself.
I went raw because of:
Chronic head/neck/shoulder pain that was taking over my life and ruining my sleep, Hidradenitis Suppurativa an "incurable" condition and excess weight ( read out of control eating habits), depression due to all of that, as well as removing attachments that were an obstacle to my spiritual growth.

[levamssg]

I went raw because I wanted a different way to deal with my cancer diagnosis. Bring raw worked wonders during radiation, I felt Better instead of Worse. An added plus, I lost 30 pounds, have more energy now than I have had in years.

[rawpriestess]

10 yeasrs ago I had a vision, and knew that I would never eat meat again, I haven't, then I found out about raw, through Victoria Boutenko's class, and decided that it "felt" right to me.

Soooo, here I am, of course it took me 4 years to get here.

LOL

[VeganVixen]

Why Did I Go Raw ?.......why Not!

[kiwilime]

Fatigue, foogy-head, bad bad bad PMS!!!!!! and lots of other reasons. I wanted a way to feel better and to stay looking young. I've been 15 days RAW and my headaches (which were minor) are gone and I think clearer at work. As far as my PMS... we'll see what happens in a week.

[catherinethegreat]

i had never in my life been so depressed. Couldn't get out of bed, none of my clothes fit, didn't recognize myself in the mirror, on steroids and antidepressants for hypothyroid and anxiety and it wasn't really helping, had CONSTANT acid reflux, and didn't digest food well. Puffy face, no energy, my business was heading south as a result of all the health stuff.
Had candida, ulcer, pnuemonia and didn't know it.

found http://www.rawreform.com and that totally hooked my attention to raw foods and alissas 30 day challenge got me started
thank god!
*c

[joy]

Super high cholesterol (327!), violent, irregular periods, and very persistent acne.

I discovered Shazzie's site and went raw the next day (had never heard of it before). A few months later, and after a windingly raw path, I'm glad to be here and nearly 2 weeks into the challenge.

The cholesterol gets checked this weekend, so we'll see how that's improving...

[blue_sky]

I am young, and thank god/dess, relatively HEALTHY. No ailments to speak of. And I want to stay that way, and raw is the way to do it!!

High cholesterol runs in my family (dad and grandma both have been above 300.... of course they are also big meat eaters) and mine even on a vegan diet hovered around 180.

Dad had a 90% blocked aorta and needed bypass surgery at 55. He still eats meat and smokes at least a pack a day :(

Mom and multiple other female relatives have suffered from breast cancer (mom has been cancer free for years now!! :D )

I have suffered from anorexia/bulimia and compulsive eating in my short lifetime. Raw is a way to make what I eat a source of joy instead of grief. I don't agonize over what I eat as much anymore. There are still many days when I struggle with body image but I know i'm doing the healthiest thing possible by being raw and exercising.

And, it just plain makes sense. Why not partake of the earth's wonderful bounty? It doesn't matter whether you believe in God, Goddess, Supreme Being, spirits etc.... None of those things put twinkies and tv dinners here for us to eat :)

[lallen13]

This is great!

I have always fought with my weight so I have read or at least tried every diet out there. They all seemed temporary and not very healthy. I researched this raw way of life extensively and it made so much sense to me. The Halajhluia Diet was the first that really started to click. I do believe that this is God's diet for us to be healthy. I have been having trouble with blood clots in my legs and I read "Natures First Law" that said that cooked food thickens the blood. well that is what made the decision for me but I was still struggling with the day to day. I then read "Living on Live Food" and I finally figured out how I could live this way and be healthier.
Thank-you for the support I feel here. It keeps me raw and healthy!

[sara]

I was tired of being tired. I felt like I was missing out on so much in my life and didn't want to waste another day. This was just one of several life changing decisions I have made recently. I started listening to my body, and stopped eating meat and dairy(both of which I didn't particularly like), and found out about raw eating in a magazine. I also have a sister who the knowledge queen on all things healthy, and she gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up on this.