Am I just a wimp?

[organic alaskan]

Yesterday was my first day 100% raw (well, except for the roasted nori I used in my veggie sushi) I felt great all day, and was really excited about my diet changes. This is what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast: juice of one grapefruit & one apple, one banana

Lunch: One banana

Dinner: sushi made with avocado, lemon juice, garlic, flax seed, cucumber, carrot, tomato, yellow & orange pepper, and nori. (tasted great!)

Dessert: Mashed banana w/ chopped apple, honey, cinnamon, and sprinkled w/ flax seed.

BUT.. at 3 am I woke up with a terrible stomach-ache which really surprised me. I rarely feel nauseous, and I seriously haven't vomited since I was 11 years old! (10 years ago) I couldn't sleep so I got up and started reading. The feeling was getting worse, so finally I took some pepto-bismol (I have no idea what terrible ingredients are in that stuff, but it has worked for me in the past) I also had a few bites of organic cereal & soymilk. By 4 a.m. I was able to go back to bed, but still didn't feel good. I was also shaky and shivering, and the thought of any raw foods made me feel worse! This morning I felt fine, except for the lack of sleep (I usually sleep straight through the night..not an insomniac at all) but I still didn't want any fresh juice or fruit, so I had some organic cereal/soymilk for breakfast and a white bean/chickpea/spelt soup for lunch. This evening I feel even better, and am thinking of going back to raw again...but I'm scared that I will wake up feeling terrible again!! Before I transitioned to raw I didn't have any health problems except for slight constipation and a lack of motivation...so in a way, I'd rather stick with that than feel sick to my stomach, which is a feeling I really hate!

Do you think it was detox? I thought detox symptoms were more like a headache...I could handle that...but not this. Should I keep some cooked foods in my diet for a while? Do you think that was an isolated incident or a direct result of my diet changes? What do you think caused it?

Thanks for your help!

Sincerely,

Organic Alaskan

[VeganVixen]

You could have just eaten too much of a new thing ,sounds like transitioning would be a good option - have you thought about steaming foods and doing a partly macrobiotic diet to transition to 100% raw? Or you could have gotten a bug? were any of the veggies or flax seeds past expiration (sometimes the flax can go rancid and do that)????

here is the link to a mac. diet thread http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3166&highlight=macrobiotic

[VeganVixen]

I recomend this diet ,not because I dont fully beleive in the power of raw (cause I DO :p ) but because its a great alternative to the "sad veg" diet and most of the ingredients are fresh , not processed or refined ,unlike many"healthy" vegan foods.....

[sachis2112]

I'm fairly certain you can call this episode something other than detox. It honestly sounds rather like food poisoning. Perhaps something you ate had a little something off about it. I've never heard of anyone starting detox on their first day.

Chin up. Drink lots of water and juice to help your body get past this little unpleasantness. It might also be that you don't feel much like eating right now and the juice will help you with that as well. But also making smoothies with water helps.

[VeganVixen]

now that I think about it sachis sounds right ,It might not be a good time to do a drastic change -again try steamed veggies ,rice and sachiises great idea -juice!

[organic alaskan]

Thank you both for your advice. :o I think I'll just take it easy for a while. I mostly just needed to vent because I was frustrated that I wasn't feeling well. I appreciate the encouragement.

On another note... I was wondering how people add their picture to their posts. I have a picture on my profile but I don't know how to attach it to my messages.

Thanks again!

-organic alaskan

[PixieGreen]

If you are unaccustomed to eating apples they can provoke tummy problems. I can't eat them at all. Terrible stomach pains. Some people have a problem with garlic and/ or flax. Some raw foods are better to ease your body into. Especially if you don't have healthy intestinal flora due to long term poor diet. If your bm today was lose or had a lot of undigested matter in it that may be a sign that you need to eat smaller quantities of the rougher foods at first.

Also... I did experience detox on my first day. It depends on what you're giving up. I gave up heavy caffeine, aspartame, sugar and chocolate addictions in one day. I had a headache for four days and slept a LOT for the first few weeks.

No, you're not a wimp! There is no need to experience severe pain to get healthy! :)Listen to your body. You may be able to go 100% raw now if you eat foods that are quick and easy to digest. But there's no harm in easing into it, either.

Christa

[sachis2112]

Also... I did experience detox on my first day. It depends on what you're giving up. I gave up heavy caffeine, aspartame, sugar and chocolate addictions in one day. I had a headache for four days and slept a LOT for the first few weeks.

Good point. Forgot about coffee... I guess because it was pretty easy for me to give up.

[fruits'n'berries]

Dinner: sushi made with avocado, lemon juice, garlic, flax seed, cucumber, carrot, tomato, yellow & orange pepper, and nori. (tasted great!)

Dessert: Mashed banana w/ chopped apple, honey, cinnamon, and sprinkled w/ flax seed

I know I would get a terrible stomach ache from that!
I can't eat all those things together... like carrots, avocado, flax and fruits all together in your stomach, they don't work together well.
Flax has got a lot of fiber in it, so if you're not used to it, may cause pain.

Oh, I suffered terrible painf after going raw - and I even wasn't 100% (and I´m still not). I think my stomach has become lazy in all those years of eating cooked and easier-to-digest-together foods it needs a lot of time and practice to adjust. Maybe the same for you.

I do ok eating only fruits or only veges.

[organic alaskan]

Yeah...I think combining all of those foods as well as going to bed hungry may have caused it. I think the reason I hate stomach upset so much is that when I was 10 or 11, I got the stomach flu really badly, and developed an intense fear of vomiting- I barely ate anything, and decided that cereal was the only food that would not upset my stomach. I survived on 3 bowls of cereal a day for 6 months during my 5th grade year, and got down to 56 pounds! :eek: My parents were so freaked out, but they thought it was a power struggle, or self-image problem, and I was too afraid to admit what it really was. It became an intense, all-consuming secret obsession, and I based all of my decisions around it: what clothes I would wear (only tested "safe" clothes) how I wrote, how my room was arranged, everything. It was truly the most terrible experience in my life (and I was just a little kid!) and I vividly remember the horrible nausea that I constantly experienced due to malnourishment. My 6th grade year I finally faced my problem and decided, to hell with it, I can't live like this anymore. If something bad happens because I wear a different shirt, oh well. Finally I started getting well and eating more qantity and variety, and by the time I was in high school I was pretty much normal again.

ANYWAY...

I think that's why I hate feeling nauseous...it reminds me of that experience, even though that was ages and ages ago.

By the way, I've felt just fine today and yesterday. Just needed to take it easy for a day. Thanks again to all of you for your thoughtful responses. Everyone is so caring and considerate here!

-Organic Alaskan

[twinyoga]

My advice is to start slow. If you decide to try 100% raw the next time, eat foods and combinations you're use to. Such as a fruit salad throughout the morning. Have smoothies. Raw almond butter. A salad with vegetables you're familiar with.

I too, when starting raw, woke up feeling sick. Eating a banana or two helped me. I think it's the body adjusting to foods that travel through your system differently.

Anyway, try it again but eat what you really like and are familiar with. Keep it simple.

[Allison]

You ate flax seeds at dinner and dessert. Too many can cause stomach upset. That might be what caused your pain.

[racheljj]

Definitely watch the food combining. I had problems when I ate raw dishes with fruits and nuts mixed together. My body doesn't tolerate that very well and gave me had stomach cramps.

Rachel