Hi, I'm Zoe!

[zomagic]

Hi everyone! I'm new the forums. I'm not a very interesting person. I mostly live with my boyfriend, as a housewife more or less.

But I am also a lupus sufferer, and that's why I'm here. I've only had one major flare before now. That's lingo for "I have a lot of symptoms that are usually dormant popping up, and am suffering way more than usual", just in case you don't really know about lupus. Anyway, what I'm getting at, is that the last time I had a really huge, horrible flare... I managed to calm it down by fasting, sort of. I had actually gotten so sick, that it hurt to eat, and the only things which did not make me feel horrible were vegetables and fruits for the most part. So when my flare escalated to that point, and I literally couldn't eat, I just... didn't. I ate maybe one or two times a week, and it was always an apple/ orange/ carrot/ banana. The funny thing is, after that, the flare cleared itself up in a couple of months, and my life resumed. I felt even better than I had for ages.

So fast forward eight more years, somewhere in there I get a diagnosis. I actually didn't know what illness I was suffering for a long time, which is why it got so bad in the first place. Since then, I've done a lot of reading about various diet approaches, lifestyles, fasting, and all that cool stuff. I laughed when I figured out that I had basically fasted my way back to health, mostly by accident. And I've been much better at controlling smaller little hiccups in my health. But around July, I started a weight loss diet. I lost a ton of weight just counting calories and exercising. I wasn't eating anything special, my diet wasn't raw food or vegetarian or anything. But still, I actually felt GREAT then! But, since I am an emotional eater, I decided in late October that I would simply eat whatever I felt like eating, until the beginning of January. I knew that dieting while I was surrounded by chocolate and pumpkin pie, was setting myself up for some tragically huge and crazy binge eating, and that I would feel far worse binging, than I would if I just had a short cessation of dieting. I mean, I am on board for changing my lifestyle, but anyone who has had to lose a lot of weight knows that you have to eat a LOT less than would "normal" for the weight you want to achieve, in order to lose weight. I have not been going crazy at all. I have just been eating enough to mostly maintain my weight. I lost 35 lbs, and have gained back less than ten, even with all the crazy holidays, and even though I'm not exercising as much as I was. Anyway, I've gotten a lot worse and I would say I am in a full blown flare right now. I kept trying to talk myself into the idea that it was just a minor thing, but it has steadily progressed. I don't know if it's because I've been putting a few pounds back on, and my body isn't happy with that.. or if it's all the holiday food, but no matter what I've done regarding medication or stress relief trying to tame my symptoms, nothing's working. This is how it was the first time, when things were really bad.

But I'm not just going to sit back this time, and wait for it to get so bad that I literally can't eat food. To hell with that. I know that the last time this happened, the fasting and eating mostly veggies and fruit, was what caused all my symptoms to ease up. I would MUCH rather go on a raw food diet for a month or two than wait until it was so bad, that my body was practically forcing me to fast anyway. I'll be starting raw food on Sunday, and will go for at least a month. After the thirty days, I'll assess my symptoms, and if they're still nagging, I'll probably do a fast, too. And who knows? Maybe I will continue eating raw even longer, if it helps me keep losing weight. My plans were always to continue my weight loss diet in January, but now there's an extra aspect to consider... so I will be doing low calorie, raw foods. Which honestly, should be pretty easy, since fruits and veggies are so low in calories.

Okay, I don't know! That's all I have for now. Hello everyone. :)

[MysticTree]

Hello and welcome :)

I hope you enjoy your raw food journey. It will make a noticeable difference to you I feel sure :)

[laughalways]

Welcome....I think you will find a raw food diet to be very beneficial to your health. I eat simply...mostly greens, vegetables and fruit with some nuts. I also juice which is a great way to get more concentrated nutrients.

I hope you find the style of raw that suits you!

[sport]

This is a previous tread started by someone on this forum who has lupus. I remembered that it was here because my niece has this ailment and I sent it to her in the hope of getting her to change her diet but she has not done so. I despair. Since sending it to her she has has had some setbacks. When will people see sense.
You are doing the right thing.
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthrea...-under-control

[streetsurfer]

Hello and Welcome!

You have just R2-A2'd. Recognize, Relate, Assimilate, Act. I think that takes great self awareness-mental/sensory/physical, keen observation skills, wisdom, character, and discipline and dedication.

And you said your not a very interesting person. I see a very interesting person just waiting to be freed from the bonds of poor health, on her way to a more vibrant life.

[Aleesha Sattva]

Welcome (((hugs)))

I agree with Street.

[zomagic]

This is a previous tread started by someone on this forum who has lupus. I remembered that it was here because my niece has this ailment and I sent it to her in the hope of getting her to change her diet but she has not done so. I despair. Since sending it to her she has has had some setbacks. When will people see sense.
You are doing the right thing.
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthrea...-under-control

Thanks! It's helpful to know that I'm not the only one. It does seem like a lot of people with endocrine and systematic problems are helped by various vegetarian diets.