Lan The VeGenesist - In Progress!

[VeGenesis]

I don't really consider these "before and after." I have very few photos when I was the biggest. The after is not after because I am not through!

http://lan.fern-c.net/naturespharmacy.org/img/private/Lan-Eddie1.jpg

Brother Eddie (middle) was running in the last Philippine Presidential race (he came in 3rd of 20). I was helping with this rally and someone snapped this photo.

That dark blue shirt in the upper photo could not be buttoned all the way down - I was too big. Today it wraps around me 1 and a half times. Percy can easily get into that shirt with me!

http://photos.friendster.com/photos/03/93/31163930/2_568204034l.jpg

That is my mother-in-law and my daughter with me in the mall (my Honeybun snapped the photo) the day before my great liver cleanse crash. (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=54772) I got a little too close to death on that one!

Lanie was "glued" to papa's hand all day! She just refused to let go of me! Isn't she cute? She has the same name and the same birthday as me!

That orange shirt is a 4XL - the largest off the rack shirt available in the Philippines. The real point is "off the rack" - as in the first off the rack shirt in decades! I am very proud that I can buy tee shirts at a regular department store! The words say, "My Size is Better than Your Size!"

Funny thing in the bottom photo is the baggie shorts (just in style?) Well, actually I owned these at the time of the top photo but they were too small for my legs to fit into them then!

You may notice the discolored patches on my legs. For more than 15 years before going raw these were painful oozing sores (dermatitis herpetiformis). Everyday my sheets needed to be changed because of this. Today they are dry painless discolorations, a simple reminder of why I love raw food! Perhaps now some of you can see why I am so enthusiastic!

Raw really works!

[rawrawks]

Woweeeeee that an inspiration! And sooo happy you are recovering!!! Take care of you! Your daughter is adoarable!

[Veganforlife]

Look at you! Congrads! So glad you are healing! I bet you FEEL totally different also? Keep it up. What an inspiration for others!

[Shine]

I'm speechless! How amazing for you :D May you continue to heal and keep spreading your light!

[snoops]

Awesome testimonial Lan. You rawk. Keep it up.

[Aleesha Sattva]

Raw works!!!

[RawHealthyBeauty]

Raw food really does the body wonder!!! :) It is nice to hear the benefits of what raw food has done for you and for your health. Thanks for sharing your wonderful transformation with us!!

[raven21]

WOW! You have saved yourself! Thank God for your little girl's sake, your honeybun and you. Keep going- it only gets better...

[ReneeH]

You're doing GREAT!!! I'm so thrilled for you!!!

[Pking]

Totally awesome brother! Keep it up because you're a great inspiration to a lot folks. :)

[Marin Mom]

So glad to hear you are recovering. Your daughter is so cute! Best wishes...

[Green_Woman]

Keep on keeping on - because it's changing your life and OTHER people's lives. Deeply inspired by your stories.

[kherd2]

that is amazing. thank you for sharing. you look sooo much smaller, wow. raw does work. please keep posting your journey. your little girl is adorable:)

[tatine]

Wow, you are an inspiration. Thank you for sharing.
Your daughter is so precious.

[Moretta]

You look great and keep up the great work.

Your daughter is beautiful.

[VeGenesis]

Thanks everyone... When our birthday (Lanie and Lan) comes around the week after Valentines, we are already planning our raw food party! So you can expect more photos then!

Likewise, at last weigh in I had retired 232 lbs. In 32 more pounds to retire and I will be exactly half of the 528 lbs I was a few years ago! HALF SIZE! (Same height!) I will dig out more before and after photos then...

One thing I really like is going to the bank now and sitting in a chair with arms. Used to not be able to do that. Of course it is nice to pull Lanie up onto papa's lap too. She doesn't know that when she was born I had no lap!

To people who do not believe in life after death, I submit myself. My dead body used to eat dead poison and now I'm Living on Live Food! Anyone who sees my photos or sees me in person knows this is the truth!

[Lara]

Lan- You are an inspiration! I am moved to tears to see your evolution, and to know your sweet precious daughter will have her loving, healthy dad for a long time to come.

Peace and Blessings,
Lara

[Lara]

Lan- You are an inspiration! I am moved to tears to see your evolution, and to know your sweet precious daughter will have her loving, healthy dad for a long time to come.

Peace and Blessings,
Lara

[VeGenesis]

Lan- You are an inspiration!
Lara

Thanks Lara... and so are you. We each have some light in us, when we share that light - our story - it helps us as well as helping others.

Many years ago there was a fire at an orphanage my friend had founded. Faulty wiring was the cause. During the fire, which struck in the wee hours of the morning, my friend at great personal risk and huge bodily damage, kept running back into the burning building to carry babies out to the safety of people waiting outside. He had huge burns across his back, head and arms as he carried more and more children to safety. He alone saved 19 children at great personal loss and pain. 5 other children died.

It was later learned that the termite company had coated the wood building with oil based termite killer rather than the approved, ordered and paid for water based treatment. That company was cutting corners to earn more money.

My friend is a Real HERO! But some people just focused on that fact that he was not able to get 5 kids out. At the funeral I had to hold my friend up, he was so weak I worried we would lose him too and took him back to the hospital.

I tell that story because it is a part of life - the real life we all have. Hopefully our stories will help inspire others to have a better life.

As a happier ending... the orphanage was rebuilt - even bigger and with concrete walls. Another friend and I wired it with every safety feature known to humans - to the extent it was listed as the safest building in the Philippines. Many more babies, placed as newborns in park trash cans, have found new families - often in new countries too - because of that hero who still runs the orphanage till this day.

Each of us has a raw food story that can inspire others. Even if we view it as a failure - others can and often do become inspired.

An 528 pound failure... I own the mistakes I made in order to be labeled by some as "the quarter-tonner" When I went to McD you can guess what my favorite order was - 4 meals, up-sized! Four quarter-pounders with cheese, four large fries, four large drinks... We will order dessert later... oh yeah, what did you want honey?

That was my dinner, earlier I had called pizza hut for lunch! I'd give my name and they would ask if I wanted "the usual?" The usual was two family size meat lovers pizzas with cheesy crusts and two layers of extra cheese. And a half gallon Mountain Dew! "Is that all?" Well, maybe you should add two orders of lasagna cause I am a little extra hungry. And better add four of those apple cobbler things for dessert - make that six!

If you haven't figured it out - I know exactly what eating SAD means! When I first started ordering this, the delivery guy thought I was having a party - nope! This is just my lunch. :eek:

I really need to find the photo of my Honeybun's first birthday at my house after we got married. The stuff that is on the table, that we ate, I would not even allow in my house today! I have a photo of my birthday last year too... All raw! I will try to find and post those.

The point is, 528 lbs of anyone is a failure! IF the story stopped there!

I encourage people - post your failures - and then move on!

Guess what? After the failure comes the success and the inspiration... Even during the failure you may inspire someone else to do more, try harder and that person may just be you!

Thanks Lara for your post and for reading about my failures - and for being inspired and for inspiring me too!

[Suz58]

Thanks for sharing. You are looking great and your daughter is gorgeous. A very lucky little girl to have a Daddy who has sorted himself out.

[aslraw]

Thanks for sharing...really helps us all!!

[Marin Mom]

Lan, I just love your humor and inspiration. Your story of the orphanage fire had extra meaning for me as my 2 daughters also came from orphanage beginnings. And I can relate to the sad disrepair some of those buildings are in. One daughter's had lead paint chips on the floor everywhere......

Good luck on your journey and can't wait to see the photos you speak of.

[Bananna]

That is an awesome job!!! How encouraging....and yes your daughter is TOTALLY ADORABLE!!!

[ViolinCyndee]

AMAZING story! :eek:

[VeGenesis]

Hey everybody, I'm Gaining weight! I am "up" to 238 lbs now! Ok, that means I am down to 290! What is going "up" is how much weight I have lost!

I have been thinking about how upside down life really is...

Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die! (up/down?)

We take massive amounts of food and feed it to animals so people can be sick and die early... and a Billion Children go to bed hungry every night!

A Billion kids go hungry so cows and pigs can live a terrible life and end up being eaten and get revenge in sickness and death... (up/down?)


My mom had two things on her bedroom wall as I was growing up. One simply read...

"Do It Now!" It is the advice I give to people when they ask me if I think they should go raw vegan! The other said...


A Bell, Isn't A Bell...
. . . Till You Ring It!

A Song, Isn't A Song...
. . . Till You Sing It!

The Love That's In You,
. . . Wasn't Put There To Stay...

For Love, Isn't Love...
. . . Till You Give It Away!


I have discovered that eating Raw Food is a lot like Love... Sure Love is great! Well, when you eat raw food it feels great! Love is really something you must give away... and when you eat raw food you are really giving away love to all those around you. I live with my wife, 4 of my kids, 2 of my sister-in-laws, my mother-in-law, a bunch of fish in 3 fish tanks, 4 pairs of birds and a little dog that showed up on my porch about 7 years ago and decided to stay! Eating raw is really giving away love to them. They will tell you that!

So love yourself and love your friends and family and give away your gift of love by simply eating raw!

I am a young 55 and today is my 53 monthsary and I just love what eating these banana has done for my family and my beloved Honeybun! It so happens that my 56th birthday and our 56th monthsary are just 2 weeks apart. Three years ago I would have doubted I'd last this long, now I am thinking that on our anniversary I will be about 10-15 pounds away from being HALF the weight I was before! And I am not "there" yet!

And that is just one more upside down thing... I will only be half of me, but will have twice as much life to love with! :)

[Lara]

Thank you, Lan for sharing your wins with us. Please, keep your posts coming, you are continuing to inspire us all!

[lovenlife]

Lan, I was inspired by this post. The ideas about feeding the animals so the people get sick and die...wow..I knew it but never heard it put that way.

Up/down yes.

I too feel TOTAL LOVE on raw food, for raw food and LOVE going out to all who know me BECAUSE of how I eat. And, hopefuly, as a result, will also make inroads on the example I set and the things I am able to teach them.

It is happening. I just so happen to have lil smaples with me when I see my friends. Yesterday it was banana ice cream, made only with a frozen banana!! They loved it.

Rock on Lan! Thankx!

[VeGenesis]

I too feel TOTAL LOVE on raw food, for raw food and LOVE going out to all who know me

And back to you also Love N Life!

My wife and I have experienced, like many others, the deep spiritual awakening within us. Many great men in history felt it as well. We really believe there are many facets of our lifestyle that let's us love more. Not only have our love for each other grown, but our love for others around us. Even total strangers we meet for just a while, like a taxi driver or a store clerk. Raw Food makes us feel more connected to the world.

[Basenjimamma]

Lan, what an inspiration you are..thank you so much for letting me walk hand in hand with you through this journey of health..

[VeGenesis]

I have not been on this site since last March. Lanie's crazy mother took her back again and I got so depressed I actually headed to Pizza Hut - about the most destructive thing a person with Celiac Disease Can do. The Gluten Depression is really a drug...

http://glutenfreeeasily.com/top-20-you-should-know/

I gained 26 pounds.
I lost control.
The Beast was freed.

Thank God a couple weeks ago my Samson Juicer arrived from the states.

I decided I wanted to be gluten free and picotoxin free and only eat Fyuel again.

I lost 6 pounds...

I am fighting my way back down to 300 and I can use prayers or good wishes from anyone who has ever struggled with suicidal depression.

Thanks...

Lan

[VeGenesis]

Oh yeah, thanks for all the kind words people wrote to me while I was away...

[VeGenesis]

Our 13yrs son just pass the entrance exam for the hardest high school here to get into. Many of the leaders here went to this private high school.

He was near the top with his scores. One of the teachers giving the exam noticed that he came from a public school - those are usually the kids that fail.

When asked why he was able to achieve this when so many others fail ... his two word answer puzzled the teacher...

"Raw Food!"

[lovenlife]

Yes Lan....that is exactly where to attribute it to.

I had this experience lately with my awesome health assessment...all I said to my naturopath was "hoooray for raw"!!! My blood blew me away (I posted it here).

Happy day to you!

Blissed Bette

[Aleesha Sattva]

(((lan)))

in light,
Aleesha