New here. Former alcoholic, going RAW

[Courtney]

Hello all.

My name is Courtney. I just joined this forum, and I'm really eager to learn.

For about ten years I was mostly a raw food vegan and a runner. I loved the lifestyle and felt terrific.

Two years ago I moved to Siberia, Russia (Novosibirsk) to do research for my second book. Well, it snows here more than half the year, and at the other times, it's often raining or two icy to run. To relieve stress, I began to drink beer. Eighty to ninety percent of Russians drink alcohol, so it's hard for that culture not to rub off on you eventually. Alcohol is available 24/7 and is very cheap.

I got to the point where I was drinking 2.5 liters of full-calorie beer every day, consecutively, for two weeks straight.

It has been 3 days now since I have stopped drinking. I feel so much better, but now I realize that I need to do a lot of detoxifying. I want to take the 30-day Raw Food Challenge. It really helps to read other success stories and get support from like-minded people, so please share your thoughts!

Day #1 will begin tomorrow. (Today I had a raw salad and raw black currants.......but also cooked barley.) Tomorrow will be totally raw. Wish me luck!

Courtney

[ChaiLife]

Courtney, I am so happy for you and your commitment to better your life. You can do it! It's nice to have this board for the support, recipes and wealth of knowledge. Yes, you will more than likely go through some detox and some mot-so-pleasant side effects but it's just part of the healing.

A very warm welcome to the family. :) be sure to post. Folks here will help keep you accountable. :o

[Stina]

Hi! Welcome to the wonderful world of eating raw. Several of us here on this board have put alcohol behind us and embraced a healthier, happier way of living with the raw diet. I'm three years clean of alcohol and now that I'm practicing the raw diet, I truly feel better than I ever have.
I had a hard time making it through the detox phase of eating raw, but now it's a piece of cake, and I feel wonderful. So, go easy on that hard-working liver, just eat raw and keep in touch with your new friends here.

Love, Stina

[StarFire]

Aloha and Welcome to RFT!! I'm one of those rawbies that put alcohol behind me too!!! I gained so much weight and became soo unhealthy from all the alcohol .... and now - I'm going on my 5th month raw and loving life.

You will never regrett your decision to chose life and reclaim your health!! blessings on your journey - you'll do great!!

I look forward to following your journey! Aside from jumping in on the 30 day challenge -- Please join us in the journaling section too and start your own blog ... it's a great place to get support and to follow other rawbies and what they are going thru, experiencing & discovering.

RAWK ON... you're gunna enjoy the ride! :D

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/sun.gif

[Veganforlife]

Courtney - welcome! If you don't already have Alissa's book and DVD, you chould invest. Powerful tools to help one on their journey into raw. Raw is healing. Our bodies are forgiving. It's very cool that you are commiting to a 30-day challenge - awesome! It will work for you. Also something good for the body and soul?
Green Smoothies. Until you get Alissa's book, they are very simple, filling, cleansing, cheap and so healing for one's body.
A warm, warm welcome to you!

[spicyfull]

I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW......Welcome to MY World.

[Courtney]

Hi! Welcome to the wonderful world of eating raw. Several of us here on this board have put alcohol behind us and embraced a healthier, happier way of living with the raw diet. I'm three years clean of alcohol and now that I'm practicing the raw diet, I truly feel better than I ever have.
I had a hard time making it through the detox phase of eating raw, but now it's a piece of cake, and I feel wonderful. So, go easy on that hard-working liver, just eat raw and keep in touch with your new friends here.

Love, Stina

Thanks, for the support, Stina! Congratulations on staying away from alcohol for three solid years! That is definitely what I want. Did you notice any health problems - or minor annoyances - that cleared up over these past 3 years? I'm curious. (Alcohol, as we know, sends toxins to every part of the body.)

I woke up this morning feeling a wonderful tingly feeling. I remember that feeling from the old days.

A lot of old pensioners over here grow their own vegetables and fruits and sell them along the sidewalk. They are totally organic; these people do not use any chemicals or fertilizers. I want to take advantage of this.

Right now I'm eating black currants! I can tell they must be packed with vitamin C, because they are very tart! My teeth and gums are so sensitive right now. Probably all the alcohol has contributed to gum recession. I sure hope this raw diet will clear up this problem eventually---sensitive gums.

Well, thanks for listening!

Courtney

[rawsurfer]

as a former fledgling alcoholic and drug addict, welcome and congratulations. its such a better way of life. 6.5 months raw, sober 7 months (well, almost; i got really drunk off of 3 glasses of wine with dinner at pure food and wine in nyc last week, i didnt realize how hard it would hit me), and i feel so amazing. i am literally high on life. it is the most fulfilling thing i could have ever imagined.

as for detox, there were times when old drugs revisited me, but instead of the normal drug effect of feeling good for a while and then bad for a little, i felt good for like 30 minutes and then felt like poop for hours. like a week into raw i was in bed for 2 days. but i was very hard on my body, and went from a very toxic lifestyle straight to the most pure lifestyle there is. it was sooooo worth it. good luck and hang in there. life is so much better this way.

much love

[Courtney]

Thanks, Starfire!

I quit alcohol (beer) 3 days ago, plus did 50 situps and ran 40 minutes each day, and already I have lost 2 pounds! I was drinking 2.5 liters of beer a day--full calorie. Just cutting out that stuff makes it so much easier to lose weight. It's just amazing!

Thanks so much for your support. It is SO nice to see that there are like-minded people out there. I have endured so much criticism from my family over the years when I was raw vegan before. They smoke, drink, and I NEVER criticize them, yet they criticize me. Go figure.

But who cares what they think? This is MY life. I have no medical insurance out here, by the way, so I must stay healthy.

Thanks for listening!

Courtney

[Courtney]

Thanks, Lucy!

I really want to read Alissa's book, but I don't know how to get it from here, Siberia. I sw that she posted one of her chapters. I know I will eventually read it, though. As for smoothies, I don't have a blender, but I DO have a juicer, so I also want to do a juice fast. I probably shouldn't start the fast yet, since I'm probably still too full of toxins!

Thanks again for your support!

Courtney

[Courtney]

Thanks Ron Paul! That is such an inspiring story! Congratulations for having the guts to make the change! I know that high feeling from before. I hope I can stick to raw from now on.

So did you notice any specific problems clearing up?

Thanks again.

Courtney

[luckitri]

Just wanted to say welcome and I hope that your food selection remains a great variety there in winter.

I always wanted to go there (not Siberia specifically) to see the different plants and animals and of course eat the food! So I am envious that you are writing a book and risking going to a strange land. Good for you! (I have seen about that region on PBS I believe.)

I think that your gums can heal. There is much here and on the internet in general about oil pulling.

I am in AZ and got an article from News Target about the benefits of aloe vera plant. I asked for some on Freecycle and got a bunch and now I am growing and eating it. It grows free here. It doesn't taste so great but if I get healing I don't mind some bitter medicine.

[Courtney]

Hey Luckitri,

Yep, this is an interesting place, for sure! Some fruits and veggies that are expensive in the States are real cheap here, like pomegranates, all kinds of berries, and herbs. Other things like olive oil are VERY expensive.

I lived in California for 2 years. A lot of healthy stuff is just not available here, including aloe vera juice :-). Most Russians here don't seem very concerned about their health. I can't find any health clubs, so this forum is really helping me a lot! I run in the park every day (wearing radio headphones) and people stare at me like I'm a kook! They walk around, beer bottle in hand, cigarettes hanging from their lips. They drink beer like it's Coke.

I just read the thread here about dental problems. I sure hope this will heal. I think my gums have receded to the point that there are exposed nerves. Ouch!

Thanks again for the reply.
Courtney

[luckitri]

From what I understand the people were sent to the region of Novobisirsk (did I do that right?) for the purpose of labor only. Then of course the schools and other community necessities sprung up around it. Perhaps I am thinking of somewhere else. But I believe that the people you are dealing with are the working poor descended from centuries of serfdom. In western cities like Moscow and Kiev is where the health conscious upper class whose snooty children I met in NYC as an alternative to a Georgian dascha. But for my generation I remember the Maine fishermen who were tanking up at my uncle's bar at 5 a.m. to warm up for the freezing winds they were about to face. What you are seeing is not so far back in our past either.

Sucking on cloves is good for the pain and then oil pulling is good for getting the white back.

[luckitri]

Propaganda! I looked it up and saw beautiful buildings and bragging about opera and ballet companies. Lists of famous musicians and scientists from the area to prove good education system.

[Courtney]

Yes, Novosibirsk is the 3rd or 4th largest city in Russia. There is a large university here and a scientific complex called "Akademgorodok". My one-bedroom apartment is sort of on the outskirts, so probably there are more working-class people lounging about.

I heard Maine is pretty cold. Alcohol doesn't really warm the body, just creates the sensation. I'm glad I put that behind me!

Courtney

[Stina]

Dear Courtney- you sound like a sweet soul. You'll energetically impact a lot of suffering people there just by working on your own problems and becoming healthy and happy in your own right.
Raw has helped me healing process away from alcohol tremendously. I've had so much progress I almost forget what it was like. Let's see:

- awful acne and black pores radically cleared up
- menstural cramps greatly diminished
- fatigue turned to exuberant energy at the age of 35
- mood swings to emotional equilibrium
- now experiencing remarkable mental clarity
- anti-social irritability to fun and sense of humor

I used to wake up feeling angry and aggravated around two o-clock in the morning, toss and turn and have a difficult time getting back to sleep. I never told anyone; I felt like a bad person. Then out of the blue my acupuncturist asked me if I was waking up around two o'clock in the morning feeling angry! I say yes, and he told me that my liver was dumping a serious load of toxins! So, I realized all of my experiences are part of the human experience.
I'm also off of the hypoglycemia roller coaster ride that took my moods hostage. It's so great to feel stabile! I'm not genetically flawed, come to find out!
And I poop two times a day! Isn't that just great! I think what I may be most grateful for is to be released from the world's worst sugar and food cravings. I'd binge out of control, enough junk food to fill a pillow case. I read that nurturing yourself with raw will heal that, but you gotta experience it to believe it.
So, yeah, I'd say it works, but it was really a struggle to get here. Intense step work via Alcoholics Anonymous for the last three years and the last year practicing to get raw, and now I feel over the hump. I now experience what I chemically tried to induce for years: JOY !!
Keep in touch. There's a lot of love and support for you here.:)

p.s. forgot: fibrocystic breast disease- gone, bye bye lumps

[moncha moncha]

Congratulations for quitting drinking! That's fantastic! It's a huge decision. I'm sure the raw energy and clarity will help you quite a bit in your transition.

I quit drinking almost seven years ago. I used to drink 12-24 beers every day. It's a miracle that I survived it and that I quit. It's funny because I've always been into health, exercise and spirituality, but I have also had this major addiction to alcohol.

[Courtney]

Courtney - welcome! If you don't already have Alissa's book and DVD, you chould invest. Powerful tools to help one on their journey into raw. Raw is healing. Our bodies are forgiving. It's very cool that you are commiting to a 30-day challenge - awesome! It will work for you. Also something good for the body and soul?
Green Smoothies. Until you get Alissa's book, they are very simple, filling, cleansing, cheap and so healing for one's body.
A warm, warm welcome to you!

Thanks for all the support. Hey, Lucy, your pics are SO inspiring! I've read depressing articles about how cellulite cannot be eliminated, but just look at your new thighs, woman! How long does it take to start seeing those cottage cheese dimples diminish??

Courtney

[Courtney]

Hey Moncha Moncha!

Yep! You put it so well. I have been running all my life, was a raw vegan for many years, have never weighed over 110 pounds, even now, but......... I started drinking 2.5 liters of beer every day. Aside from the alcohol issue, just doing something repeatedly that contradicts your whole value system dramatically lowers your self-esteem. Now I feel so much lighter, psychologically and spiritually, having made this decision. (This is my fifth day of no alcohol and 3rd day of nothing but raw fruits and vegetables).

Courtney

[moncha moncha]

Congratulations Courtney! You're doing great!

[Courtney]

Congratulations Courtney! You're doing great!

Thanks, Scott! (Just checked out your home page. Very cool...)

Courtney

[Portia2012]

Welcome to RTF Courtney. I can not honestly say that I understand the alcoholism because I have never had a problem. My grandpa was though and it is good to see you focusing on your health. Raw Foods will be good for clearing out the toxins from your liver. I hope to see you around.


~Portia~

[Courtney]

Welcome to RTF Courtney. I can not honestly say that I understand the alcoholism because I have never had a problem. My grandpa was though and it is good to see you focusing on your health. Raw Foods will be good for clearing out the toxins from your liver. I hope to see you around.


~Portia~

Thanks, Portia. I know what you mean. I went to a very strict prep boarding school where alcohol was forbidden. I also stayed away from the stuff during college and really never had a problem with the stuff....until I came to Russia where nearly EVERYONE drinks. The culture can rub off on you. Alcohol itself is addictive.

I think just following a super-healthy raw food diet will erase any cravings for alcohol or junk food. I mean, I really don't miss it at all now. And, honestly, after going to all the trouble to chop veggies and fruits, make juice or smoothies, it would be so weird and IRRATIONAL to then drink alcohol, which actually depletes vitamins in the body.

Another thing is that these smoothies are really filling, so there isn't any room for alcohol.

Anyway, I am so glad I quit now. I tried joining the AA forum, and - oh -those poor people! Many of them have literally been on their deathbeds before they turned their lives around! A lot of them were also drug addicts. They told me: "One day at a time, Courtney. Eat lots of candy and soft drinks because you'll have a sugar craving."

Ugh. Why would I want to do that? Now is the time to eat healthy food, not junk food, right?

Courtney

[Ingenue]

I remember the first time i went raw, I told myself that I wouldn't give up my daily whiskeys because i needed to hold onto at least one vice. Not only did it undermine my raw benefits, it also left me in a spiritual holding pattern. I wasn't really willing to grow and change for the better and my whiskey was like a security blanket, albeit a highly toxic one. It isn't easy to remove yourself from the societal pressure of communal alchohol comsuption. And especially for us women. I'm single and I get alot of constant pressure from men who think that if we drink our date away, I'll be more pliable, more interested, more sexually available. It's actually rather insidious isn't it?

Anyways, kudos to you for jumping into something new and beautiful! I'm really excited for you!

Ingenue

[Portia2012]

Yes, now is definitely the time to eat healthy. It definitely hinders your growth both physically and spiritually. I noticed before I slipped back into my old habits and still battling with it that I was going tremendous changes spiritually. The benefits are beyond anything I have ever seen. I look forward to seeing you around :)


~Portia~

[Stina]

Thanks, Portia. I know what you mean. I went to a very strict prep boarding school where alcohol was forbidden. I also stayed away from the stuff during college and really never had a problem with the stuff....until I came to Russia where nearly EVERYONE drinks. The culture can rub off on you. Alcohol itself is addictive.

I think just following a super-healthy raw food diet will erase any cravings for alcohol or junk food. I mean, I really don't miss it at all now. And, honestly, after going to all the trouble to chop veggies and fruits, make juice or smoothies, it would be so weird and IRRATIONAL to then drink alcohol, which actually depletes vitamins in the body.

Another thing is that these smoothies are really filling, so there isn't any room for alcohol.

Anyway, I am so glad I quit now. I tried joining the AA forum, and - oh -those poor people! Many of them have literally been on their deathbeds before they turned their lives around! A lot of them were also drug addicts. They told me: "One day at a time, Courtney. Eat lots of candy and soft drinks because you'll have a sugar craving."

Ugh. Why would I want to do that? Now is the time to eat healthy food, not junk food, right?

Courtney

Courtney- AA is not for raw food support. It's to help people to recover from alcoholism. Those poor people ? The great majority of people in AA I know are happy and enjoying life, not dying from a self-inflicted disease (like most disease is). A very small percentage of people recover from alcoholism. Most die, end up in prison or mentally disintegrate. AA is not the only way to stop drinking. Happy, healthy well-adjusted people don't become alcoholics. It's more than a little bad habit. Alcoholism is just a symptom of spiritual pain. AA deals with that.

Best of luck.

[Courtney]

I remember the first time i went raw, I told myself that I wouldn't give up my daily whiskeys because i needed to hold onto at least one vice. Not only did it undermine my raw benefits, it also left me in a spiritual holding pattern. I wasn't really willing to grow and change for the better and my whiskey was like a security blanket, albeit a highly toxic one. It isn't easy to remove yourself from the societal pressure of communal alchohol comsuption. And especially for us women. I'm single and I get alot of constant pressure from men who think that if we drink our date away, I'll be more pliable, more interested, more sexually available. It's actually rather insidious isn't it?

Anyways, kudos to you for jumping into something new and beautiful! I'm really excited for you!

Ingenue


Thanks for sharing that, Ingenue!

Yes....alcohol and dating. Ugh! Also, notice how many movies depict characters smoking and drinking. As if harming your body is somehow natural and "cool."

But there ARE plenty of men out there who don't drink. We single women have to be persistent :D

Today is Day #10. Still going strong...
Courtney

[Courtney]

Courtney- AA is not for raw food support. It's to help people to recover from alcoholism. Those poor people ? The great majority of people in AA I know are happy and enjoying life, not dying from a self-inflicted disease (like most disease is). A very small percentage of people recover from alcoholism. Most die, end up in prison or mentally disintegrate. AA is not the only way to stop drinking. Happy, healthy well-adjusted people don't become alcoholics. It's more than a little bad habit. Alcoholism is just a symptom of spiritual pain. AA deals with that.

Best of luck.

Thanks for sharing, Stina.

I'm sure there are plenty of happy people in AA. It just seems to me that the whole focus is on NOT doing something. Wouldn't it be better to set a constructive goal of DOING something, this time something healthy? The advice to eat candy (unhealthy) kind of suggests that the most important thing is NOT to drink, and that any other unhealthy thing you do to your body is OK, as long as you don't take that first drink. That can be a pretty self-serving philosophy, leading to many other problems: obesity, diabetes, tooth decay, etc.

I find this RFT forum much more useful in helping me abstain from alcohol. Your message about all the wonderful changes you noticed since being a rawfoodist are SO inspiring! Thanks for that!

Courtney

[moncha moncha]

Congratulations on day 10 Courtney!!!! :)

[justinesmith]

I am so happy for you Courtney! I have been drinking for so long, I don't even know who I am without it. YIKES!! Raw has DEFINATLEY helped, I am not drinking daily (I have had 2 glasses - big glasses - of wine and 1 beer since going raw 9 days ago but I got so sick from the last beer, alcohol is the last thing I want) and I hope to become the person I know is inside, swimming around in a keg of beer and wine. Best of luck to you and congratulations to your sobriety ~ take care!! :D

[Courtney]

Thanks, Justine!

You put that well. Alcohol can mess with your sense of identity. Who needs that??!

Today is Day #11 of sobriety. Still going strong. I am feeling very appreciative. For one thing, it is so nice not to be spending money on alcohol every day! I shudder to think how much money I have wasted on the stuff!

Secondly - wow - just cutting out beer for 11 days makes a big difference, appearance-wise. My stomach caves in now, whereas before I was getting a belly. Beer has a lot of calories - totally empty ones.

Thirdly, alcohol actually increases your appetite. That's why at restaurants they always serve you drinks before dinner. Now, with green smoothies and salads, my appetite is stable because I'm getting all the vitamins I need.

That's just for starters. Hope you can stay on the wagon with me. I made a list of all the benefits of the raw food diet, so any time I'm tempted to drink, I review the list first. Does the trick every time. Try it.

Courtney

[Courtney]

Congratulations on day 10 Courtney!!!! :)

Thanks, Scott! I feel great.

Have fun at that Pot Luck. You're lucky you can actually MEET rawbies. Haven't found one here in Russia. I miss California! I lived there - near Stanford University - in 2003-2005. Great place, great people, great weather.

Courtney