I'm Casey, I'm new and trying to be raw.

[chibspan]

The idea of eating raw crept into my head a fews years ago as I was browsing cook books at a local store. There it stayed, waiting in the farthest reaches of my head for the day I couldn't take being unhealthy, overweight and unhappy any longer.

I don't know what triggered it, but something brought the raw food lifestyle back into the foreground of my mind. I'm constantly sick, I take antihistamines daily, I weigh more than I ever have and I'm just so tired and stressed all the time. I've seen doctors, I'm on pills for life, but I don't want to get worse. So many people in my family are type two diabetic, and I'm sure if I don't change my lifestyle I'll be diabetic too soon.

I don't want that. I don't want to be sick any more. I want to be healthy, energetic, and happy. Somehow I stumbled onto raw food videos on YouTube. They have be very informative, they have shown me that with the raw food lifestyle I can become all that I want to become.

So, I've been changing things. Three days ago I started adding green smoothies to my lifestyle. I've been drinking a little more than a pint a day, taking it to work with me and sipping it throughout breakfast and lunch. I've been paying much more attention to greens and vegetables. It seems like I've eaten more raw greens in the past few days than I used to in a month. Cooked or uncooked. I'm not completely raw yet, but I'm working on it. I'm allowing myself one meal a day with a serving of chicken or fish, usually atop my green salad.

I didn't know how much a challenge this was going to be. I'm finding myself getting cravings for bread. I don't know what I can do to stop them aside from sneaking a slice of wheat bread (something I did last night, and I feel so bad about it).

Now I'm worried that I won't be strong enough, that I'll sneak too many no-nos and give up. I don't want to give up, I don't want to disappoint myself again. So I've come here. I need support, advice and inspiration. I need a way to keep reminding myself that raw food will put me on the path to who I really want to be.

Could you lend me some of your strength my new friends?

[christinajade]

Welcome and congrats for your efforts. When I first went raw, I was very overwhelmed because I thought I had to make all these complex recipes. My body ended up craving the more simple meals. I grew up in a household full of bread and pasta so I know the cravings for bread! :) The best way I found is to make raw bread, chips, etc., to help me make wiser choices when I want cooked bread or chips. The best thing is not to have it in the house! It is way too tempting when you are first starting out. I am now 90% raw and for me, I like it that way. I still have a coffee in my diet and cooked beans. Everything else is raw. Every once in a while I might have something else cooked up it is on a rare occasion. I don't beat myself up because life is too short for that. The main thing is eating raw most of the time.

[Rawcstacy]

Hi Casey, you're moving in the right direction. I also don't recommend to many gourmet meals, keep it simple if possible.

[spicyfull]

I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW.......Welcome to MY World.