Your Hows & Whys

[Nayeli_Raw]

I was just wondering how everyone came across the Raw Food Diet and why you decided to try it.

I came across it last year when I decided to go vegan. I was just playing around online and I found RFT and did research and such from there. My whys were originally for the nutrients and I thought it would help me in my vegan path. As time progressed and I learned about all the benefits of it, I wanted to be raw for more selfish reasons. I wanted to experience the weight-loss, not that I had a lot to lose but I had a problem area. I also wanted to increase my energy and help prevent illness.

[rawchic]

Ha ha, I really wish I had a more glamorous story to tell! Believe it or not, my interest in raw was sparked by watching The Apprentice. Carol Alt was on the Celebrity edition of the show and they mentioned that she was a raw foodist. I didn't really know what it was, the only other time I had heard raw mentioned was on Sex & the City when the girls ate out at a raw restaurant (and hated it...which now I find really annoying that the show gave a bad image of raw). I sound like I watch a lot of TV huh? ha ha :)

Anyway - I checked out Carol Alt's book from the library and then continued to research from there. I was already vegan at the time, but was eating a lot of meat replacements (tofu, seitan, tempeh, etc). I realized even though they were better than meat, they still weren't necessarily healthy for me. I decided to give raw a try basically out of curiousity. I didn't have any health problems or weight issues that I was trying to overcome, I was just looking to feel as good as possible. I was skeptical of all the hype that I read in books and online about the effects of raw, and figured that the only way I could know if it was true, was to try it for myself.

Obviously it works and I have been loving raw ever since!

[Eva]

I had an ulcer and gas. If ever there were good times, those were (NOT) the days. Oh my, oh my. My husband would get the lovely task of doing this funny exercise to me to release the gas. I did not know what to do. I tried this and that, ah, and I was going through about maybe 40 TUMS per week for my heartburn too. Finally, it was getting really bad at work. I was the office manager for a large, dirty ole transportation company. The truck drivers had no idea that the lovely young office gal was the one that could not resist making the stinky gas. Hahaha. :eek: TMI?

So, one day when everyone was out of the office in the afternoon, and it was winter (dead time on Martha's Vineyard), and I was gassy, I was searching google for something like "ulcer + gas + natural cure" and found RFT. I went for it! I'm all better now. Thank God! My husband (and I) did not sign up for dealing with gassy issues and pain. Ack.

As for the how, I just stopped eating cooked food and jumped right in. I cut out medicine, coffee, meat, dairy, all cooked food, all processed food, etc. -- in one day (except the Ritalin I took for ADHD -- I kept that for about two weeks before I chucked that too). I sort of stumbled around, got Alissa's book, came to the board a lot, read everything I could get my hands on. The rest is history. :)

[MelissaO]

For me I saw Alissa on Fit Club and the food looked interesting. I then did a master cleanse later on and saw threads on their board for raw foodist. It seemed to be following me so I decided to give it a try. I am a not 100% raw all the time every day but I would say I am a good 85% to 90% on average.

My why:

After my Mom passed away unexpectedly last year I lost interest in alot of things I used to be excited about. I could not sleep and did not want to eat, when I did eat it was mostly junk and my work outs no longer existed. They are right when they say depression hurts everyone, my pets could even sense there was something wrong with their Momma. I realized I needed to do something when someone snapped a picture of me and I did not recognize myself. Who was that old, tired lifeless sad person looking back at me from that picture....no one else but ME! I did not want to take depression medication so instead I turned to working out and eating more raw food in my diet.

I still have off days, I expect to never really fully recover from the loss of my mom but I have always been a fighter and I feel I won my battle of depression without medication.

[oai]

i came across it while doing my first water fast. in furman's book, he mentions eating a raw food diet in order to maintain the benefits of fasting. so here i am. :)

[rawviveyourself]

i love your quetsions!

i worked across the street from a raw restaurant and started eating there every day - loved the food, loved how i felt. weight was dropping off me without effort and it was the first time i ever experienced a feeling of satiation. i already had my beloved vitamix, so i bought raw books, a dehydrator, and took alissa's class.

it is a wonderful journey to be on - i've learned more about myself in this past 1 1/2 years than i could have imagined.

my why has shifted from self-healing to 'how can i help others with this?' - i'm still trying to figure out what form that will take on....

[Raw Angel Mom]

I love your question.

First i never liked meat so i became a vegetarian for good in 2000. I say for good because when i first tried, i wasn't preparre to deal with the response of my family and friends, the second round i was ready. Then i tried vegan before and i had too much fear about it, because i was so addicted to dairy, i thought it was because i needed it and finally tried the raw vegan for 60 days. I had so much energy and it made me fertile and got pregnant at age 40, missing one ovary and still give birth to healthy child. Not knowing better, and having fear, i went back on cook food(healthy organic food only) during my prenancy also because i made the mistake to have raw lima beans, not know this is poisonous. It kind of turn me off. The catch, is that i lost my energy. Two years after, i discovered the green smoothies and this finally helpt me to do the raw diet again and to stick to it this time. I did experiment and tried steam brown rice or bake potato and i can give you the conclusion that this drain me in term of energy. Raw food seems to be the only diet that my body likes, lol....

I still will do bake potatoe or steam rice as comfort food, but it doesn't last long that i get back on track fairly quick. I have learned not to try to be perfectionist or allowing guilt get in the way and to go with the flow. I just learn each time that 100% raw food is the way to go for me.

[Blazin'Jane]

Two years ago my granddaughter, then 15, introduced me to raw food. She got Alissa's book fro christmas, from her other grandmmother. I rather yanked it out of her hands, saying that I just had a few days to visit. She was very gracious about it, so I devoured the book in a couple of days and decided to give raw a try. I just dove in, went to the hfs about 3 times the first week, buying just what I needed for the next couple of recipes, and ate raw. I've been there ever since. My granddaughter Leah is also very high raw, so I'm looking forward to visiting with her agoin this Christmas and making some fun food.

[Nayeli_Raw]

After my Mom passed away unexpectedly last year I lost interest in alot of things I used to be excited about. I could not sleep and did not want to eat, when I did eat it was mostly junk and my work outs no longer existed. They are right when they say depression hurts everyone, my pets could even sense there was something wrong with their Momma. I realized I needed to do something when someone snapped a picture of me and I did not recognize myself. Who was that old, tired lifeless sad person looking back at me from that picture....no one else but ME! I did not want to take depression medication so instead I turned to working out and eating more raw food in my diet.

Sweetie this brought tears to my eyes. I am glad raw food is helping you with your sadness and depression. Your blog today makes so much more sense to me now. I'm not sure what your beliefs are but I think your flower smell this morning was your Mother comforting you.

[lil fairy z girl]

i also wanted to lose weight and i was desperate so i did a search on the net and came accross Angela Stokes (i think) site about how she lost weight on raw. so i did a search and found Alissas site. I got Alissas book and did the 30 day challenge and i was soooo happy with the weight loss i just carried it on. now i do raw because it is way healthier that what i was eating before, and i believe it is the best food to eat.

[LotsaRaw]

I was interested in what my boyfriend was doing - he went 100% Raw for a month and lost 20+ pounds, had more energy than I knew how to put up with long distance (he cleaned his closets, cabinets, rearranged the living room, etc - and we are 3 states away for the moment!) Since I cook for pleasure, and do enjoy preparing tasty healthy food, I researched all the yummy raw recipes I could. This way, when BF comes down I can keep raw foods on his plate (and mine!) Here I am - eating LotsaRaw yummy foods - and spreading the word! Actually found a few others who work in my building who have vitamixes and/or dehydrator, and have heard of RF :) Sharing recipes! Yeah!

[michigan roman]

15 years ago went vegan for ethical reasons , which got me studying diet / nutrition . then some loved ones developed cancer which got me really studying disease / diet / nutrition / natural healing / herbs / etc . and somewhere back in the late 90's my neighboor / gardening buddy , whose been into diet / disease / natural healing since the late 60's when she developed cancer , gave me the norman walker book ' raw fruit and vegi juices ' and THAT WAS IT . that book became the best book on earth to me , walkers words rang truer than anyone elses i had ever heard . but it still took many years to get all raw because up to that point ide lived on nothing but cooked since day one of the most hideous junk on earth gerbers baby food :eek: , i still remember my ma saying ' one more ' (spoonful) about ten times each meal tricking me into eating that junk . but from then on it was meat / potato / bread / junk til going vegan in 30's , til veganism i ate about zero raw except salads once i reached adult age . then once vegan it was %90 dry beans / brown rice / boiled potato , only raw being bananas and salads . so im coming from a totally cooked past which made getting to raw take a few years . and its my beleif that here at 3 years raw - age 50 , that im still going thru massive rebuilding / cleansing / detoxing and not yet reaping big benefits .

[Nayeli_Raw]

i also wanted to lose weight and i was desperate so i did a search on the net and came accross Angela Stokes (i think) site about how she lost weight on raw. so i did a search and found Alissas site. I got Alissas book and did the 30 day challenge and i was soooo happy with the weight loss i just carried it on. now i do raw because it is way healthier that what i was eating before, and i believe it is the best food to eat.

I read Angela's entire Juice Feast blog last winter. Very cool stuff.