I am tired ALL the time. A normal day at work wears me out to the point that I have to stop myself from crying at the thought of driving home and taking care of my family. I can't enjoy my family and there is SO, SO much about them to enjoy. It hurts my heart that I miss out on so much because I don't feel good- and that they miss out on the best parts of me. They deserve better.

God has blessed me mightily in so many ways, and I want to be able to enjoy the life He's given me. Starting today, I'm eating the foods that the Lord made and I'm eating them the way He created them- raw- so that I can enjoy all their benefits. I'm praying for healing of my body (in more ways than one) and spirit and for energy. But I also ask for a clear mind, lightness, joy and peace. I ask for a special blessing on my oldest son and my mother.

Thank you Lord. Every breath you give me is a blessing.

Day 1- March 9, 2010.
F. 37. 5'9".
SW: 282

Awwww, I know how you feel. This is hard in the beginning, but have faith!!!!
its easy after a while !!!!
I am on your same journey, and i want you to know its easy. Though i'm not trying to tell you its not hard. I know, that sounds weird.
I have lost 110 pounds so far, since sept 10TH!!! I feel amazing, and i am enlightened. I understand now what a scam all the foods we eat are. I was already on that awakening path, but raw really sets it all straight. It frees your mind, body and spirit. but not quickly. Nothing in life is really fast per se. If you ever need support, please contact me, I can help with support and info to guide you through the dark phases. The important thing to remember in a transition, is the fact that the only way to fail is to decide to. we do this by cheating, and then getting mad at ourselves, and then feeling like a failure, we eat junk again. the failure occurs not when you eat the cheat food, but in fact the moment you decide you failed.
The key to success in the beginning is to go 100% raw, and eat greens greens greens. salad for lunch, as big as you want, as saucy as you want, as flavorful as you want. load that sucker with TONS of stuff.
I owe much of my weight loss to voctoria boutenko's research in the realm of greens. She found that humans need to be eating about half of the diet just from greens. so she has written several books pertaining to green smoothies. SO for the first month of raw at least, i ate only green smoothies, and juice i ncluding wheatgrass juice (one of the best weightloss secrets)
their are only two people you see getting wheatgrass at a juice shop. fat folks or sick folks looking for health, and extremely healthy folks who are seriously in tune with their innerselves. meaning, if you drink wheatgrass, you will be healthy. But no worries, the greens are ALL perfect foods. we need green.
Water, greens, fruit. strips the weight right off. if you want success, stay away from fat for a while. the only fat you want is like 1-2 tsp of flax oil or hemp seeds for a month or 2. it is easy to get lost in eating a pile of nuts, but i am here to tell you just don't go there, as you very likely won't lose weight that day if you eat fats. then you can get depressed, etc, etc.
key is stay nearly fat free,not totally though, as fat needs fat to be removed.
Just have faith that the Baywatch you is just around the corner, because seriously, you CAN DO IT !!!!!!!!!!!!! Imagine you being baywatch ready by christmas, ITS SIMPLE, just eat leaves. it doesn't hurt so much after a few weeks. all that mental addiction noise goes away. after a little bit you just ARE a raw vegan.

The Raw Lion 440 pounds to 225 pounds!

Thanks so much Aaron for your kind words and knowledge! I had read your posts and was very excited to see the progress you've made. By default, I'm following your suggestions because I knew the easiest way for me to start this was by eating raw fruits and veggies that were easily available at my local supermarket- and salads. Lots and lots of salads.

I lost 3 pounds overnight and even though I know it's water and cleaning out my digestive system, it's a great way to start. And I had more energy yesterday which was a great blessing!

Day 1- March 9, 2010.
F. 37. 5'9".
SW: 282
CW: 279

Down another 2 pounds this morning but not feeling as well. I have eaten some cooked foods for lunch but will try mostly raw the rest of the night. I think I'm not drinking enough water as I still can't get my rings on when normally I would be able to. Don't know what the issue is.

SW: 282
CW: 277

just for the record i have only drunk about 2 gallons of water since september !!! i eat so much fruit, and veggies, etc, that i just never need it!

The Raw Lion 440 pounds to 225 pounds!

Day 4

Day 1- March 9, 2010.
F. 37. 5'9".
SW: 282
CW: 276

As you switch to raw foods there will be days you may not feel well for you are cleansing. You may want to look at transition foods to ease this reaction. Peace be with you.

I didn't follow raw really at all last week. There were many days I fell right back into my rotten eating habits for the entire day. But, strangely, I found myself CRAVING salads at times. Who craves a salad? But that tells me my body needs fresh, raw foods. And somehow, I managed to keep losing and have dropped a total of 10 pounds.Even though I didn't stay on completely, I'm still counting Day 1 as March 9 because that's my highest weight anyway so it helps with my "record keeping." I'm also trying to teach myself that if I go off for a period, I can go back on and not have to think of it as starting all over again. If I can convince myself of that, then I might be less likely to quit if I mess up.

I am going to do mostly juices and liquids this week in an effort to cleanse but when the going gets tough and I'm craving a salad (ha!) then I'm going to eat one.

I have an added incentive now- albeit a purely shallow one. I got my invitation to my high school reunion in August so I have a 5 month deadline to feel better about how I look.

Day 1- March 9, 2010.
F. 37. 5'9".
SW: 282
CW: 272

When I first went raw, I lost over 60 lbs. in first 6 months..only started walking more as I was getting lighter and it was easier to move since I weighed less.

You can look beautiful for your reunion..eat as much fruits, green smoothies, some nuts, seeds, herbal teas as you want during the day. Don't go to bed hungry. If you eat fat as in avocados try eating that at late lunch or dinner.

Love,
Prism