Hello from central Europe!

[mizmoo]

Hi everyone,

I live in the Czech Republic and have been dabbling in raw foodism for 2 years. And considering the concerted effort I put into abusing my body throughout my 20's - it couldn't have come a moment too soon!

I vary in between 60-90 percent raw. On the few occasions I've had to eat a SAD diet for a few days (usually because of work conferences and bad planning on my part) I've come back ill and depressed.

I'm an athlete (although not professional) I love running in half marathons. I also love martial arts and Bikram yoga.

The main problem i find in the Czech republic is getting ingredients. There is an abundance of fruit and veg, but little organic and no fancy stuff like cacao butter, nibs etc, but i just found algave syrup after searching for a year - hurrah!

My favourite discovery is that if you peel and freeze a banana and then use a hand blender on it - it totally changes the taste and is better than any ice cream I ever tasted!

peas and love

[zina]

Hello and welcome......

you will find the people here are superb......lots of information and great recipes......Have you read Alissa's book or seen her DVD?.....

[Dararaw36]

Hello. I'm anxious to hear more about your experiences with food. I look forward to your posts. Welcome!!!

[spicyfull]

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

[freshlight]

Hey mizmoo, welcome :) You don't need any fancy stuff in order to go raw. I love it simple too+less is more.

peas and love is sooo cute

[Frugal Raw]

Welcome!! I wish you the best of rawesome health!!

[rawrawks]

Welcome and thankx for the tip.

[mizmoo]

Thanks for the welcome messages!

My diet usually has to fit my schedule so:

half a banana
before a morning run
green smoothie within 15 minutes of the end of run with hemp seeds, kale, flax seeds, cucumber, dulse, celery
oats with water and blueberries when I get to work and I do have a coffee but i've been cutting down and am phasing it out
salad for lunch
dandelion or ginger and lemon tea throughout
mid afternoon fruit
maybe a few hours later nuts and the occasional bit of raw vegan chocolate
Evening after work I either have language motorbike lessons and get home late or if I didn't run in the morning I run in the evening
so evening meal could be another green smoothie, gazpacho or occasionally (once a week or so) I could have a cooked meal or something containing fish and an occasional alcoholic drink.... I actually work for an alcohol company which makes things mighty tricky - but I have a feeling it may not be the career for me in the long run.

So not totally vegan. Not a total saint. Being sporty I did so much nutritional research and came to the totally wrong and dangerous conclusion that I needed lots of protein and therefore MEAT.

I felt terrible for years having no idea that my diet was actually destroying me - I thought I was doing the right thing! I actually had a bad stomach stomach ache every day for about 6 years and just lived with it.

It was finally a lecture by Colin t Campbell on the China Study on youtube that started me on my raw journey. Shocking stuff.

I suffer from IBS so i'm still experimenting with what suits me and what doesn't. In the last 6 month I've found that combinations effect everything. Don't eat fruit with other food stuffs, be careful when you eat nuts... etc etc.

I know its only a matter of time before I go completely raw and am hoping to do the raw challenge in October... I'm running a race that month though so I don't know if its a good month to change my diet so close to a competition?!

[qfmother]

Welcome mizmoo - and I LOVE banana ice cream too!!!