Need some guidance

[beccieboo79]

Hi,

I am now into my 5th week of the raw food diet and have been 100% apart from 4-5 meals.

There have been some amazing days but I guess I was expecting more amazing days. I have had chronic back and neck pain for 10 years and do a lot of pilates and see my osteopath approx every 2 weeks. I was really hoping that by doing this diet I would feel a bit more relief.

The last 2 weeks I have also been very tired and moody, and waking up during the night (this has happened for years as well). People are telling me I look very pale and need to get off this diet.

I have also has a few break outs on my face in the last 2 weeks, after really clear skin in weeks 2-4. I was eating raw cacao every day, and did a bit of research into this and found it can be toxic so have stopped eating putting it in my smoothies.

My eating plan is something like this;
Breakfast: almond milk smoothie with banana, berries and LSA (sometimes spinach)
Lunch: Juice with celery, carrot, beetroot and apple
Snacks: nuts and fruit
Dinner: salad/vege soup or zucchini spaghetti

I am not sure if I am eating enough of the right foods or do I just need to have a little more patience and know I will start to really feel the benefits soon.

I exercise most days (low impact) and have plenty of rest. I also started meditating (after 3 month break) 3 days ago.

If anyone can give me some guidance that I am on the right track or need to alter my diet in some way that would be a big help as I have a lot of confidence this diet can help most people and want to prove all of my skeptic friends and family wrong!

I should probably also mention I am not eating organic F&V, plus I am having trouble giving up green tea and have 3-4 cups a day.

Appreciate any feedback/comments...

Bec

[sozei]

I am no expert , but i would say you need to eat more ....and you are detoxing , that is why you feel like you do. Drink Green Smoothies!

[circle]

you know what my yoga teacher always says?

after years and years of the body getting used to doing things in a harmful way, you can't get frustrated when you just start out making constructive decisions in your journey, and you don't get immediate results.

how long have you been SAD?

keep at it! =)

btw green smoothies is a great suggestion. ;)

[RawSar]

I agree green smoothies !! Also detox, 5 weeks isn't very long. I read somewhere that detox could last years. Every body is different.
Perhaps with the new diet you might not need that many cups of green tea which is why you are waking up at night? Eating raw fruits and veggies can give you loads of energy (especially when your not use to eating this way).
Being a caffeine addict I can understand how this can take lots of time to kick the habit. Of course unless you are drinking non-caffeinated green tea....?

Eating very pure can move around stored toxins in your body and this just takes time for your body to release them which can cause pains, moodiness, foggy head, exhaustion... etc

Working out hard, sticking to the diet(sometimes dropping some of the fat and adding more fruits and greens - green smoothies help) sleeping well are all obvious and important for releasing stored toxins, healing and repairing...

If you are worried I would recommend getting a blood test or an EDS test just to check up your levels on everything to make sure you are getting all the nutrients your body needs.

Hope this helps. Stick with it ! :)

Peace,
SAR

[Colorawdo girl]

Enjoy the process.If you listen to your body, feed it what it wants(which is also what you want..hahaha) you will be fine.

Detox takes 0ne month approx for every year you have added s.a.d. to your body.So you are at the beginning. Enjoy it,document it, as you will never pass this way again......hooooray.

[rftm0115]

Try to transition yourself out of the tea. It'll hurt your body more than you need at the moment especially on raw.

When you're extremely lethargic, use a water enema to help your body out or incorporate green smoothies if you have not already. Assist your body in sweeping out the toxins. Also, skin brush daily. Open your pores. Help your body as much as you can.

In addition, get adequate rest, fresh air and sun daily.

Other than this, your diet is fine to me. On days you are not hungry, keep it simple with eating one food or not eating at all. Drink some pure water.

Trust in the process. You'll be fine.

[mattshor]

I know that I personally seem to go in cycles of 1-2 weeks of feeling amazing and 1-2 weeks of major detox and feeling like crap. If you are feeling tired or fatigued, eat more. Also, I started feeling much better when I started adding some B12 and D to my diet.

Bright Sunlight helps (get some full spectrum bulbs if you can afford them).

Keep on keeping on, you will feel better soon.

[beccieboo79]

Thank you all so much for your replies and support. Yesterday I cut back to one green tea a day, I had just poured myself one this morning then read this blog and tipped it straight out and am opting for lime juice in warm water. Mind over matter, I think you get addicted to certain things and think that you need them. By next week I won't even be thinking about green tea.
My diet was pretty good before starting this, I never had fast food and consumed F&V daily, however drank a bit on the weekends and love chocolate and cheese! It is a good feeling now that I am not missing them at all.
I have been having lots of green smoothies this week and already feeling a lot better than a couple of days ago, even though people are constantly telling me how pale I look. I think a B12 vitamin could be a good idea, at least for the short term.
I am having a very relaxed weekend and surely all this rest will help me get over this detox.
I have so much confidence of all the amazing things this diet can do. It is hard to believe I could wake up one day without back pain but I am keeping a very open mind and looking forward to feeling wonderful.
Thanks again for your support!

[mattshor]

I should add, that whenever I feel great, my weight loss stalls, then I feel nasty but towards the end of it there is a prize of losing several pounds. I'm quite confident that the nastiness comes for me because I am losing weight and getting rid of stored toxins that I was holding in.