So Ill... 1/2 way through day 1

[ellelit]

I feel so awful. My stomach hurts, I have gas, my head is pounding, I can't concentrate.... make it stop.

[snoops]

What have you eaten so far today?

[Springtime]

Oh, hang in there! drink lots of water, rest, listen to your body, and just keep on the raw track!

Try to see the positive side: Your body is now experiencing what the river is in spring, when it bursts down its old path where during winer is only a small creek. there are lots of old leaves, twigs, mud and things that blends in to the river and makes it thick and muddy. But, after a few days, when you return to see the river, it is wide and clear, because all the stuff that was in its way, all the old clogs, have been cleared out and pushed out of the system.
The river is health, and you are the muggy creek. Health is now bursting through you, taking everything with it. it is a traumatic experience, all of the old stuff is being torn off, without mercy, but remember: once it is gone, it will NEVER come back!
A river of health is pouring through you. Let it do its job, love and appreciate it, and you will soon have a clear sparkling river running through you always.

Peace

[Ocean]

I feel for ya! I've done raw off and on since 1998 (was diagnosed incorrectly with Chronic fatigue syndrome and the shots didn't help, raw is only thing that brought me back to life).

I just started again a few weeks ago and I posted the same thing about the awful headache. I personally think it's sugar withdrawl. I've been mostly vegan (100% vegetarian though) since 1998, and not having the sugar I think (mostly chocolate consumption) is what gave me that awful headache.

Just stick with it! It WILL get better, I promise :)

If you have any fresh lemons, cut one open and squeeze it into a glass of water and sip. that helped my headache for sure. Lemon helps to get those toxins out.

take care,
Ocean

[ellelit]

1 banana, 1 grapefruit, 1 red pepper, 2 cups green smoothie, 1 ½ cups strawberries and 1 stalk celery. I am not hungry really but I just feel like I have the flu. I’m up for lunch in 15 mins and have about 3 cups of green salad mix, ½ avocado, 1 tomato, cucumber slices and pea shoots salad with oil and vinegar dressing.

[Moretta]

It sounds like you've got some great food choices going on in there. It sounds like detox. Hang in there, this to shall pass.

Good luck on your RAWNESS journey.

[ellelit]

oh and about 1 cup of grapes

[jurence]

You can't go half a day without processed foods? Damn. Drink lots of water, and go to bed early.

[ellelit]

Well, I'm at work so goign home is not an option... also, i just had 1/3 of my salad, started feeling sick, rushed to the bathroom and barfed. Seriously, my body does not know what veggies are...

[murphydoodle]

I'm so sorry that you're not feeling well. It's easy to think about detox before you begin and think that it's not going to be a problem, but when it hits for the first time it can be overwhelming. You WILL make it through this! ;) Right now you might want to drink water for a few hours and then try to eat again. Be careful though, it's really easy to not eat enough and then feel sick from the lack of calories.

My only suggestion would be to add some nuts or seeds to your diet. I'm thinking that the gas and stomach pain could be from all the fiber that you are not accustomed to eating. Getting in some of your calories with high density, low fiber foods could help for the first few days.

[ruffsongraw]

hang in there! the first week for me i felt like i had swallowed a pumpkin--WHOLE. i was SO bloated. but it DID go away.
de-tox is prooof that what we were eating was BAD. keep reminding yourself of that.
goodluck.

[rkk]

My only suggestion would be to add some nuts or seeds to your diet. I'm thinking that the gas and stomach pain could be from all the fiber that you are not accustomed to eating. Getting in some of your calories with high density, low fiber foods could help for the first few days.

Yes, I also think your body is going through some shock after not being used to all that fiber. Your digestion is probably weak from all the years of cooked foods, so it will need to build itself up to being able to digest all the raw plant matter. It might be uncomfortable at first, but it will build up to where it needs to be... just stick with raw.

Hopefully you haven't been binging on cooked food the last week. Sometimes it's nice to use one week to build up to 100% raw. It might be good to eat 50% raw the first few days (with the rest of the food being healthy cooked vegan), then the next few days 75% raw, 90% etc until you get to 100%. This probably helps your system acclimate to all the fiber and energy from raw foods. Otherwise, if someone sees raw as a fad diet, and is binging on cooked foods in the days before, thinking "well, I'm going to start raw tomorrow, so I'd better eat all my favorite cooked foods today" and then goes on a binge... I think that person will be much less successful with raw since he/she is in diet mentality. Also if you were just binging on cooked 1-2 days ago, your body will certainly be confused (and uncomfortable) when suddenly jumping into 100% raw. I know the discomfort will go away, but it will just take some time.

[T-Bird]

Did you used to drink coffee or a lot of tea?

[ginadj]

Ellelit - I just read your intro post in the other forum! what an extreme change, I have no doubt your body is in shock!

It's a great attitude to want to do 100% raw immediately, but with your previous eating habits it wouldn't be awful if you started out 50/50 or 75/25 or something that would ease your body at least for the first day or 2! I know it might be better mentally just to surge ahead, but don't feel like you have failed if you have to take a few steps backward for a few days!!! This is a journey about changing your lifestyle - best wishes!