You guys / gals are awesome, but this forum isn't for me.

[Papa2X]

As I have read a TON of stuff on this forum, I have learned a lot. But I have also come to realize that I will never move any closer to a full raw / vegan diet. I realize that I am new here, and nobody really knows me, but I wanted to tell you that I truly like you folks.... so very supportive.

This very short journey into raw eating has already changed me. I think differently now. I am proud of the changes that I have made. I don't have any intentions of switching back to my old ways of eating tons of lunch meat and other stuff that really isn't healthy. But I know that I have reached as far as I can go towards your lifestyle.

I like to help people, but I will never know what so many of you already know about being raw / vegan. So I can't really help people here, but you can, and you sure helped me.

I'll continue to eat a lot more raw. I'll continue to eat more veggies, though many may be cooked.

I just wanted to say thank you to the site owner, and all you wonderful folks.

BTW, and finally, the reason I know I can do this is that it has been fairly simple, and in 18 days I have lost 7 pounds... and it wasn't water weight. I know that because my water weight disappeared when I started to lose weight when I was 326 pounds. I am now about 277.

Nothing but the best wishes for you folks.

[rawmiss]

If you've reached your goal and are comfortable with your level of raw then that's all that matters. 100% is a huge challenge so it's good to slip into it gradually and learn things along the way (I'm not there yet, but I do buy so much produce that people comment on it). What I noticed in my transition is that I would reach a level of raw (say 50%) and stay at that level for awhile. Then I would read and study and change my diet a little more taking some things out while adding some new things and new recipes, and, after a few months of changing habits, I would plateau at a new level (say 60%) and stay at that level with my new habits for awhile before I felt like making new changes.

But, sometimes, I would fall back into old habits and have to climb back up again and rebreak those habits. I had a year-long battle with a certain brand of cookies that took forever to break, I just passed those cookies in the store today and felt nothing, I didn't even want to buy them. Some people can go raw in a short time, for others it takes years and years of struggle. If you read the bio of raw gurus they will mention periods when they were new at this where they would fall back into their old habits.

When I eat like I used to eat I feel bad after a few days and then I go right back to eating high-raw so I can stop feeling crappy. Good Luck!

[Traceyraw]

Papa2x. Its a journey. Ive been on and off for years. This year is my best effort. You have to do whats right for you and your body. Hopefully youll look at foods different now. Is this going to benefit my body or hurt my body if I eat it. THat is the best ive learned from raw. Good luck. Congrats on your weight loss.

[DebB]

Best wishes to you Papa! Come back any time ~ ~

[Aleesha Sattva]

remember... the more raw you eat in your daily diet the healthier you will become. less processed and more raw. less cooked and more raw.

congrats on your weight release... i look forward to hearing about many more pounds released if you come back to give us an update. (((hugs)))

[ZombieDawn]

Ya know, I'd hate to not hear from ya.... Regardless of your raw percentage! I dunno what my percentage is these days. All I know is I feel great and I'm eating mostly raw. Who cares what any one else's ideal is?

[Mary Kay]

Nobody cares if you're striving to be 100% raw. I don't ever care to be 100%. Heck I'm not even vegan, but you are doing something right with all that weight you've lost. You're never too old to learn new stuff, and I'll bet you could help others if you were so inclined because you probably know more than you realize!

Come back!!! LOL

Mary Kay.

[Papa2X]

Hi all, I came back to see if anybody had responded to this, and I am glad that I did. First off, I appreciate the kind words. But also to say that this transition to more raw foods has been awesome. Since Jan. 2nd, I have dropped 12.6 pounds. When I posted the start of the thread I weighed 277ish.... now I am at 270. Things are looking way better to me. My blood sugar is more stable. I'm now down to 90 pounds to go to hit my 1st major goal.... which is so much better feeling than being over 100 pounds to go.

So, no, I will never be vegan. I doubt even vegetarian. But all these raw foods are absolutely helping me become the me I want to be. I'm actually looking forward to my March 5th physical. I am dying to see the changes in my blood numbers.

This is what I have changed in my life since Jan. 2nd. and going partially raw:

No more animal milk.
Elimination of 90% of the cheese I used to eat ( I still have a little on salads )
Elimination of 90% of processed foods.
I have given up 98% of all white foods.... no rice, no white sugar, no white flour
I probably eat 10x more fruit and veggies now.... with about 70% being raw....

I have also tried some foods that I never had before in my life, since going raw..... some good, some not. :)

So, if there is no issue with this, I think I would like to keep using this board for inspiration. And again, TY.

[Traceyraw]

Wow Papa what great progress your making. I like to hear your great success story. Thanks for keeping us posted.

[snoops]

So, if there is no issue with this, I think I would like to keep using this board for inspiration. And again, TY.

And you inspire us:)

[SunshineMN]

I'm really glad you decided to return. You're doing wonderful! I've been a member here for a while and have only recently managed to go raw. We've now been raw almost 2 weeks. A couple years ago we gave up diet pop. Last year we quit smoking. This year we quit processed food. It's been slow but at least we've moved forward to this point. We've been 95% raw most days, had a couple slips due to the emotional distress of our dear kitty escaping (4 days now and no sight of her :() but have been at least 50-70% raw those couple days.

I'm also pre-diabetic so your thread on diabetes interested me. I'm happy you'll be hanging around. Can't wait to see how you're doing after your physical! :D

[rawmiss]

This is what I have changed in my life since Jan. 2nd. and going partially raw:

No more animal milk.
Elimination of 90% of the cheese I used to eat ( I still have a little on salads )
Elimination of 90% of processed foods.
I have given up 98% of all white foods.... no rice, no white sugar, no white flour
I probably eat 10x more fruit and veggies now.... with about 70% being raw....

You actually are doing much better than I am. :cheer:

[Mary Kay]

LOL, Your doctor is going to flip!!!

I got an 80-something year old friend to incorporate raw smoothies into her life a while back. When she went to her doctor, she had lost 20 lbs and it actually made him worried!

I actually bought her a Magic Bullet to use, and taught her how to grow wheatgrass and set it all up for her. Things were going great, but then she announced she didn't want to do it and gave the Magic Bullet back.

Nevertheless, she told another friend about it, who was possibly going to try it.

So, it still did some good.

Mary Kay