Over 50

[belleadonna]

If it were me I wouldn't do dairy. Take a probiotic for the good bacteria instead. Most of the yogurt that you get at the store has very little active cultures in it anyway. And, after all, this a raw, VEGAN, site!!:)

[styersky]

What is a probiotic? Thanks for the info. Trying to learn all I can.

[belleadonna]

Probiotics are good bacteria. We have both good and bad bacteria living in our gut. Sometimes the bad overcomes the good. So, probiotics put the good bacteria back in. Some good ones are Dr. Ohira, Garden of Life, etc... Some other people on here may be able to tell you of some other good brands.

Others like to use sauerkraut or other fermented foods for good bacteria.

[Teebag]

I have been a vegetarian for 28 years, but made the transition to raw about a month ago. Wish I had done it 28 years ago!

Best,
Tee

[styersky]

As a vegetarian do you take a B12 supplement and probiotic ?

[EZ rider]

I like to take a probiotic with my first juice of the day which is my breakfast. Here is a link to some information about probiotics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotics

[belleadonna]

As a vegetarian do you take a B12 supplement and probiotic ?

Yup, I do. I don't take the B12 every day though. Usually every other day for the B12. I take a probiotic every day.

[styersky]

I appreciate all of the information and advice you are giving. Beginners like me need lots of encouragement and information. I have finished one week now as of the end of the day today. Began last Monday. I am not 100% but close and getting closer. Probably finished the worst of detox maybe!

There must be many over the age of 50 interested so maybe we can keep this bumped up.

[belleadonna]

Keep up the good work and yes, we should keep this bumped up because we get many new members almost everyday.

[styersky]

Bumping up just in case we have some new over 50's in the next day or so.

[Blazin'Jane]

I use a blender for the smoothies, and that is as far as I have gotten . . .
having just started Monday (two days ago), but I know I have to have a dehydrator. Someone told me they got one at Wal Mart for $40 but our Wal Mart is a small store in this little town and they have no dehydrators. If I knew where to go I am ready to try ordering one at that price. I have to get some variety going other than smoothies and salads. Have a couple of books ordered and when they arrive things will be easier. I am going to research some recipes on another site tonight and see what I can come up with for tomorrow.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Welcome, Stersky! I think we are the 2 oldest. I'm 66 and appreciate another voice of maturity. I wanted to share one of my avorite breakfasts with you. Four mornings a week I have green smoothies, but twice a week I cut up all sorts of fruit (today it was avocado, kiwi, peach, strawberries, and blueberries), then add 2 tablespoons each of raisins and raw pumpkin seeds which have soaked overnight, then 2 tablespoons of raw almond butter to top it all off. Yummy!! and special! This is actually inspired by a recipe of Nomi Shannon's in The Raw Gourmet.
Keep up your good work. I've been raw since Dec. 27, have lost 37 lbs. and feel terrific! I'm looking forwardd to getting off my high blood pressure medication.;)

[styersky]

Thank you, Blazin Jane! I appreciate your maturity also :) I started RAW a week ago today. So have so much to learn. Thanks for your ideas on what to eat. It seems I am keeping this too simple! I have a dehydrator on order thru Wal Mart and look forward to getting into some new ideas also. I hope to get more interesting and my husband get more into RAW with me. He doesn't like smoothies, and that is my favorite thing. When I get the dehydrator I hope to try some new things that he will enjoy. He is 84 and I am 71. We both enjoy good health. He has had one knee replacement and has a bit of a problem with the other but will probably not have it done because of a complication he had with the first one and his doctor does not want to take a chance with the other one. Don't know that diet can fix the leg problems, but perhaps slow down the deterioration. Don't know, just hoping.

Before RAW I was taking fish oil capsules which brought cholesterol and high blood pressure down. Now I can't take it because blood pressure goes too low when I do. With being RAW I hope to not need to take anything ever again. Hope the cholesterol is staying down also.

I am about 95% RAW. With husband not being RAW there are some challenges, but if I can remain 95% that will be very good. I have a tendency to start new things, and then abandon. I hope to not go too extreme for us and maybe I will stick with it

Do you use a dehydrator? Any good ideas there? Share with me some ideas for other meals. Breakfast as you do seems great!

Thank you so much for being here with me

[GlimR]

I love this thread. My mother is 87 and a six years ago she was on many medications, for a heart arythmia, arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc...she felt horrible. She came for a visit and while she was here she read Sugar Blues. She went home, took herself off all white sugar and white flour and weaned herself off all her medication. Her health improved...drastically!! She is not on ANY medication and other than arthritis and the fibro she has no health conditions. She swears if she had not made the changes she did and get off the meds she would not be alive.

Since then...as I change things I tell her about them and she reads, learns and impliments change. She is not raw but she drinks green smoothies now, has added flax, soaks her almonds now and generally is eating much cleaner. She feels like she has lost a lot of strength in her legs and her balance is not as good as it was and so is working with a personal trainer once a week and is excersizing at a senior center twice a week and walking several times/week. I told her It's pretty bad when your 50 year old daughter has to get it together to keep up with her 87 year old Mom~ *s*

I am back to raw after a long time of wavering back and forth and I am very glad to be.day #4

[styersky]

Thanks, Glimr for the encouraging post!

My husband does some exercises here at home for his legs, somewhat what his Orthopedic Surgeon recommends. However, walking and other weight bearing is not recommended in an effort to save the bad leg. So the less he walks, the less he wants to walk. I think a lot of it is balance . . . because of the deformed joints he does not have good balance. BUT we are so thank ful for what he does have because with the complication after surgery he was told he would be a cripple. He is a driven person and determined that would not be the case. So he fooled the surgeon as well as the surgeon.

Your mother is a special person to be able to have her attitude. Both of you can be thankful.

Glad you are back to RAW! Help us keep this thread going so we can encourage others.

[GlimR]

Your husband sounds like he is very determined though and that is great!!!
So important that he has your support..both emotionally and otherwise. I am going to start a walking program tonight..its been far too long since I have done anything physical and it's time. I'd love my husband to go with me but he too has knee problems, a previous surgery and also some serious deterioration in his feet, the bones rubbing, bone on bone that causes him a lot of pain. He too has an awesome attitude though. He is a cancer survivor and swears that positive though is what got him thru it.

On a different note...what I love about this thread is that we are all banding together to support ourselves and each other in positive change.
I have alot of weight to lose. I have a condition called Spondylolisthesis. When I was young I was a gymnast, all thru high school...apparently when I was 11 or so I fractured one of my lowest vertabrae in 3 places and it heals and we never knew. A year ago I fell here at home.jumped off my bed to show my daughter in law something, stepped into alaundry basket that was next to the bed and went flying up in the air and landed on my side. What a freak thing!! I live in a ranch and there is a concrete slab under the rug..so the floor is very hard. Because the vertabrae was weakened it slid out of allignment. I couldn't walk..was in severe pain off and on for much of the last year...in a wheelchair for several weeks around the first of this year.

It's better now though goes in and out off and on and I have lost a tremendous amount of ground in the last year because of it. I thought for a while that I might stay this way and that was very disheartening. Because of the restriction on my movement I have lost a ton of strength and muscle mass and feel like an invalid started rehab which I guess is what I am!!

This thread kicked me in the behind...I need to start over at square one and build up again. A year ago I was walking 25 miles a week...tonight I will start with 15 minutes and go from there instead of bitching and moaning about what is no more. I am not going to keep an online journal because I sabotage myself that way but will keep a physical journal and take pics.