THREE Years today

[Rawmommie]

Hi all! I don't post a ton anymore, but wanted to share my journey with you today. I began my raw journey 3 years ago, today. :)

I've gained SO MUCH, my life has changed, my outlook has changed, my health, my spirituality...I could go on and on.

When I went raw, I was very unhealthy. I had been eating Low Carb for about 3 years and it was taking a toll on me. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue syndrome, adult acne, & depression. I was overweight (we'll get to that later) ALL of it has disappeared. It's GONE, like it never existed. Like I've always felt this way. Sometimes I have to remind myself how sick I was.

I am still overweight (by standards) and it has been my struggle, while the other health issues have just washed away. I'm not obese and I KNOW how I can lose (eat way less, no nuts, no avocado's) and when I decide I want to be smaller, I will cut those more.

I was a little sad this morning thinking of how I haven't lost much weight, but I have to tell you that it has been all worth it when I think of the health I have gained. Not just physical, but mental and emotional health too.

It's a journey and I have gone through ups and downs, slips, falls, & struggles, but when I look back I see how far I've come and my wish for you is that those times that you think you can't do it or you fall and want to just give up...just keep going. Get right back up and keep moving forward! Your body and soul will thank you for it! :)

[greenfeline]

That is an awesome story. It is my feeling you will cut back what you need to when you are ready. Congrats!

[Yeshia]

I really needed that this morning Thank you!

Halloween as a huge struggle for me lol

I really needed the reminder of ALL the reasons that I am on this journey:D

When you are ready you will wake up one morning and KNOW today is the day and you will be on the weight loss part of your journey:)

Big hugs on the way to you, from me

[SuBu]

Thank you so much Karen for the encouragment.

[EZ rider]

Thats a great testimony and congratulations on the many health benefits you have received as a result of the raw food lifestyle. An interesting experiment to make would be to cut way down or eliminate nuts from your diet for awhile and see what impact that has on your weight and health. I would leave everthing else as is in your diet so that you can determine exactly what effect the nuts are having. Most of the nuts are not truly raw. As a replacement for the nuts you could use seeds that you know are live by sprouting a small sample from each lot and see if they will grow "tails" also don't cut out the avocado as it has good fat (if anything increase them). Good luck and way to go !

[Rawmommie]

Oh, I have cut down on my nuts and avocados many many times over the past 3 years. Right now I'm not eating nuts, and I'm pretty used to it, but I eat at least 1 avocado a day on my salads. For me, it is more important to stay raw. The times I have lost weight I have had to cut my calories to under 1000 a day. I have had some great results juice fasting also, although when I start eating again I usually gain it right back. :rolleyes:

My body has ALWAYS been this way, resistant to losing. It is something I'm used to, and I hold my weight well (I'm 5 foot 10) so it's not all that bad. :)

[Veganforlife]

Oh wow - that is so very cool. Thanks for posting this!
You know? It's NOT always about the weight. FEELING well and BEING well to me are THE main keys in living.
Those that want an instant "fix" in losing x number of pounds by going raw are just not getting "it".
I'm so glad you got "it". Me too. I got "it"!!!
And you are right - there are struggles, ups and downs and it's a mind conditioning thing. It takes a lot to be un-brainwashed and overcome addictions.
Thanks so much for sharing. Hope this is an inspiration to others just starting out! Cool beans!!!
YAY YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RawHeaven]

Rawmommie, congratulations and thanks for sharing. You provide a reminder and inspiration that adopting the raw lifestyle is about much more than losing weight, it's about regaining your health.

I also didn't lose too much weight when I first tried Raw in early '06. I actually went back to my old ways, even though I was a vegetarian I was not eating well, too much soy, processed, microwaveable food, etc.

Fasting worked for me because it cleansed my organs, liver, gall bladder, kidneys, pancreas, lungs etc and reset my metabolism as a result. You could not be losing weight as quickly as you want, because you may need to heal your liver. I thought I was pretty healthy until I fasted for 30 days. Then the truth emerged and I physically felt and saw all of the toxins leaving my body. I don't want to gross you out, but I've never smoked or anything like this, but for 5 days straight I released a horrendous amount of this black & orange mucus stuff from my lungs, went through boxes and boxes of tissues, lol. You never know what's hiding out in your body until you do a deep cleanse. It can be scary, but it's better to have that stuff out of you rather than residing within.

So I don't know if this is the answer for you? But just curious if you've ever tried it or given it some thought. It may help boost some weight loss. I did the master cleanse and it worked for me.

Best wishes to you. It's truly amazing how you've healed yourself. Right on!

[Cabosun]

Rawmommie, thanks so much for sharing this with us. What an inspiration you are:)

Lynn

[Rawmommie]

Thank you so much everyone!

(Cherie, I especially wanted to thank you. There were times that just talking to you made a difference for me. Thanks for being there!) :)

Crystal, I have juice fasted for a week at a time before, but never made it farther than that. Each time I fast, I do better, so I may do another soon. I like to do them around the solstices/equinoxes, so maybe a winter solstice fast? Did you do just a water fast or juice? I'm kinda a-scared of water fasting! *shudder* ;)

[Aleesha Sattva]

congrats on feeling so much better. i'm the same way... RAW is health. health is goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood!

[Rawkinlocs]

Daaang girl...THREE YEARS! Congrats to you Karen and thanks for your comment!

[RawHeaven]

Crystal, I have juice fasted for a week at a time before, but never made it farther than that. Each time I fast, I do better, so I may do another soon. I like to do them around the solstices/equinoxes, so maybe a winter solstice fast? Did you do just a water fast or juice? I'm kinda a-scared of water fasting! *shudder* ;)


I completed a juice fast. I don't think I could manage the water fast yet either, but maybe at some point in my life I will try it. My body seems to adapt well to juicing and it wasn't as challenging as I thought it woudl be. The Master Cleanse basically utilizes lemons and other simple ingredients.

Regarding fasting in general, I've read that 10 days is just a warm up and beyond that you really get into deep cleansing. It seems to be the case as I didn't notice signficant changes until 15-20 days into it. I needed to experience immediate results to keep me motivated, not to mention it was just a great feeling to cleanse.

I plan to do short (5-10 day) seasonal fasts also, 4x per year. It's almost time for another one. :D

Blessings,

[crystalmoon]

Thank you for sharing your progress...so glad raw has healed you, Im hoping for healing too

[Elle_Murphy]

I hope you dont think this is too off topic, but you mentioned low carb & I wanted to share this...

I have noticed that ppl that get on a high protein (IE meat only) diet end up getting cancer in 5-10 yrs!!

I have an uncle that is one of these guys that keeps tabs on other ppls successes so when he & his wife do things for their health, they end up causing a big competitive stir among their peers.

As a group, they all went on atkins...and those that stayed on the diet all got cancer. The men got colon cancer & the woman got cervical cancer. They had to have hysterectomies (sp?) either partial or worse.

Let's take note of this & realize that if it helps you lose weight, it's not automaticaly for you. it's what happening to YOUR BODY that really matters. Give your body life & defense. It's a good incentive for those that seem to not lose any weight right away on raw foods. I would rather my body sweep out old stuff or repair itself than drop weight anyways in the beginning.

CONGRATS ON THREEEE YEARS!!!! That's.... 1068 days 'gurfren!!

[Rawmommie]

Yep. I was in denial for a long time b/c when I went from SAD to low carb, I DID lose weight (I was even heavier then) and losing that weight made me feel better. BUT, after time, it started wearing on me and that is when I started to get sick. The doctors did all kinds of tests and couldn't figure out what was wrong (hence, the fibro & chronic fatigue diagnosis).

I will say that I didn't just eat meat on low carb and it did help me with going raw b/c I ate a LOT of salad's already and had gone for 3 years with no sugar, flour, pasta, rice, etc....made transitioning a little simpler in my mind. I'm SO GLAD I found raw.

3 years ago I had found Shazzie's journal and read it all the way through (I think 5 years worth at that point) and went raw that very day.

[StarFire]

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


THAT IS AMAZING... what a wonderful and inspirational journey you have had..... blessings....

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/2006-11-16T08_58_11-08_00.gif ... THAT IS SOOO COOL!

[aililiu]

i love shazzies blog :)
i read through the whole thing really quickly too.
i was hooked. lol.

[crystalmoon]

Wow elle murphy thank you for posting that cos ive got alot of weight to lose & may have been tempted to mess around with my carb intake....but definitely wont now

[spicyfull]

Raw.........raw.............raw.

[chriscarlton]

3 !!! What a milestone! Fantastic!

[Hannah]

Rawmommie that's great!!! Congratulations - and I am lovin' that your approach is all about health - way to go! Who cares if you have a couple extra pounds, if that's how your body functions optimally then rock out with it! You are certainly an inspiration, and I can't wait until I've been raw for 3 years!!! Way to stick with it!