Pampam,
I have discovered that most people aren't interested in ultimate health.

well I guess I'm not most people then, I have always been one to do things differently. I just want to feel better and hopefully go for a hike this summer. I feel so awful i just don't want to walk. Yes, its that bad for me. When I walk a short distance I lose breath and just feel like siting down to take a rest. My lungs just feel stressed and my muscles feel tired. i think that is the first thing I want to change with raw eating. Lets see if it works
By eating green smoothies and other raw foods how long will It take for me to feel more energetic to walk from my car to class in the morning.
Game on that is the question I want to answer this week.

How aboout you mislu? What will be your goal this week? Lets experiment on this.

I can't wait.

Will eating raw foods make me feel better in a week?

Will eaating raw foods make me feel like walking from my car to class ( which is a short walk) and not feel like a lung is collapsing and my legs tired?

we will see

Here is my plan this week

I am going to buy some fresh greens and prepare for the week ahead.

I will plan to eat green smoothies in the morning and noon in replacement of the cooked foods I usually eat

I will still drink coffee because I feel quitting coffee will bring to much stress during this change

I will prepare juices and have them ready ( I have a juicer that I can prepare juice up to three days in advance)

I will also get plenty of rest during this week by going to bed at around 9:30 in the evening.
There its written the plan for this week of change wish me luck and here I go.

Hi Pam! Nice to see you posting here. I also am very close to getting back to raw foods diet. I did give up coffee for a week now.

I've been looking for recipes to stave off that hunger time when it hits. But I think I'll just start buying bags of fruits, some frozen for smoothies, some greens and other veggies for salads, green smoothies and some wraps.

Since I moved last month into my own 1 bedroom apt. I'm learning to budget tighter since rent is more and I have an elec. bill, etc.

I have to be frugal and thrifty with what I buy in produce.

Since going off coffee (again) I notice I have less back pain, less hip pain. I wonder if it's coffee that was giving me some inflammation? I know when I take extra potassium I have less stiffness too. But I'd rather eat more fruits for the potassium than buying supplements. But supplements can help determine if you are low in certain vitamins quickly.

Love,
Prism

howdy prism, good to hear from you and that you have an apartment and it sound like things might be going good for you. I am going to college right now and thats keeping me busy. I think its helping me grow some self esteem. I have just about lost most of my molars due to them rotting out and eventually I pulled them out. I hope that will suffice for the tooth problems. I still have one that has to go. Having no molars makes it hard to chew the food. I am going to start with smoothies as the smoothies make me feel the best. What is it about taking care of ourselves that we just don't do it? I am mostly saying that about myself. I degenerate and spiral down at a drop of a hat and than while I am laying down crying about my aches and pains I want to get back to eating and taking care of myself.
I am still drinking coffee sure wish I could kick that habit.

any how its good to here from you prisim hope you succeed in your endevours.
Pam

pam ! nice to see you !! game on for sure with yer plan woman you can do it !

smoothies are great i gotta start doing them more .. im stuck with still 50lbs to lose ..its hard ive been at this plateu for too long

i totally get where yer at

how is school going???

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Pampam,
Sorry about the earlier comment. I was just meaning don't worry about sharing your healthy diet with others, as sometimes people don't understand. I will definately support you in your quest however!

Sorry to read about your teeth. I have a lot of fillings in my teeth, and I had my wisdom teeth removed like alot of people have had. I haven't needed any work done on them for like 20 years. Actually didn't even get seen by a dentist for at least 5. Not recommended really, I guess I just lucked out. I haven't been raw, but i think i generally have healthier habits than most people.

I have set some very modest goals, firstly for me is to reduce the fat intake, and avoid processed foods. Also centering on vegan foods. I have yet to go high raw again. But i have increased my consumption of fresh foods.

I feel 'cleaner' I don't know how else to describe it. I feel like I can focus better, and the quality of sleep has been much better. Sometimes I feel a little bit tired. I think its because I had a chocolate habit, which I have broken because I usually like the full fat chocolate which were very high coco content. i was fooling myself into thinking it was healthy. But one little piece had like 17 grams of fat!!! Most of it saturated. Animal or not, that was probably a major contributor to my fat. I still have avocados on occasion, and when i make veggies i use olive oil, sometimes I had been using butter.

So its just one step at a time. Years ago I quit coffee because I had a problem with GURD. So I switched to tea, black, green or white. Its much easier on the stomach for me, but its still caffeine. I recently swithed to white tea because it is much, much lower in caffeine. I think eventually i will switch to completely herbal for my comfort drinks.

There are some wonderful coffee substitutes if you still want the beverage without the stimulation. I don't remember the type exactly, I think its rolling thunder or something like that. its made from roasted chicory root, Then there is postum, if the company still exists. Other herbals which don't taste at all like coffee are also around.

take care! I hope you do well in your schooling and your quest for better health.

How are you doing Pam? It's been snowing here and was pretty to see today, but it's all melted away where I'm at. The hills around here are dusted with snow.

I'm doing pretty well so far on the high raw..finally.

Love,
Prism

I have been doing well and eating almost complete raw for a week now. I had to give myself a real big talking to and shake myself up a bit but I am feeling on track with a decision to eat raw once again. the only things I have been eating that are nnot raw at the time are popcorn and coffee.
I have been eating lots of fruit though and will began to balance out my diet
The coffee will go sooner or later but I am not worring about it. I figure that I drink the coffee in order to ramp up my energy because I am unhealthy due to eating crap. so I feel the coffee will start to not be so important as I start to gain my health.
I eat the popcorn because of the craving for a crunch and that heavy feeling or something like that. I add brewers yeast to it. I am planning to replace that with some dryed kale with seasoning on it.
At the beginning of this week I felt real awful and weighted down, I have aquired a pain in my right knee and I think it is due to being over weight. this first week had made my knee feel about 75 percent better. I still have pain however feel that if I continue eating this way and losing weight I will have less pain in the knee. The pain felt as if the knee was dislocated. Now it feels like it is bruised. I would wake up feeling the pain in my knee and that is still happening but I have been stretching my leg and that helps.
I have noticed I am breathing better. When I walk I am able to breath better and
it is not so much of an exertion. Today I noticed I want to stand straighter and my alignment is better for walking.
A little of a more positive attitude is working its way out and I hope to have a better memory as I am taking a huge load of classes this spring.
This time around I will be more selective concerning who I share my diet decisions with as I find it difficult to have people trying to convince me to eat more protien or other crap.
I am so fed up with the food system and what adultrations our food have had. Its difficult to find vegetables that have been grown without all the changes that deprive the food of natural nutrition.
One thing I want to be carefull of is some nutrients that are needed in the body. I am taking a noregion kelp pill and a magnesium drink. I will not be so close minded to suppliments because our food is very depleted and as I tranform my diet I want to keep an open mind to what my body needs rather than a structure so ridged that will deplete me of nutrients and end up craving other foods.
My ultimate short goal is to go on a hike this summer. I am looking forward to this.

my mind has been on the problems around the earth right now. It disturbs me greatly how rapidly our environment changes because of the oil industry messing up the ecosystem and the nuclear units across the world depositing poison throughout the world. I look at the lettuce I buy at the store and wonder just where its been what it was growing in and how long its been since it was picked. I taste the food and sometimes it feels dead void of all its natural nutrients. I will have to get working on my garden and start growing indoor things as well. I feel the world is rapidly changing and its important to think of how to store food in times we can't grow it. When it comes to eating raw it is important to realize the blessings we have to be able to eat fresh food and aquire its vital nutrients.
It scares me to hear a banana costs aboout 2 american dollars in Australia right now. What is in our future?
I think it is more important to discover the weeds around us and become aware of our resources in order to maintain a diet full of proper nutrients for our bodies.
I have been eating raw foods for 10 days, that is about half way to 21 days which will make it a habit. I am now able to stand straighter for some reason. I feel more comfortable when I walk, I feel like I can breath better and I feel like walking more. I think this is because I am not holding so much food in my stomach and that is helping my posture. My knee stil aches but it does not feel out of place it feels bruised but on the mend. My knee hurt for three months and woke me at night, when I sat and got up I would limp most of the time it was real painful.
I am very over weight and I feel the weight caused the problem in my knee. I am excited to think eating this way can make a change so fast.
I am trying to not eat the popcorn and eat more green foods and hope to start with green smoothies.

yesterday and today I have started to stop eating the popcorn. I know popcorn is not the best food but it seems to help with some psychlogical need. yesterday I really had a difficult time I wanted to eat everything. I just ate salad and fruit and a green smoothie but really was feeling agitated. Today is a bit better I live in a home with other people who eat everything so I pass by the cookies and paistries and everything imaginable to eat. I will have to prepare some crunchy kale leaves that seems to hit the spot for me.

When I startedover ten days ago my knee hurt so bad it would wake me up at night today my knee only reminds me of pain a little bit throughout the day. I think some of the reduced pain is due to water loss and weight loss but I think also eliminating all the additives in food really helps the body. It is impressive at how quickly the body responds to eating raw foods.

I have been walking more. in only ten days of eating raw ( I thiink its been that long) I feel like walking further and further without feeling like I am loosing my breath. I am so out of shape and over weight it is difficult to do anything so this is very encourageing to me. I want to continue this diet.
I have been feeling tired though and want to rest more for example during my morning class I just wanted to fall asleap. That kind of tired. I still have been drinking coffee with milk in it and hope to make a change soon perhaps stop the milk first. I know the coffee is not so great but it is an addiction and I am changing so much right now.

I feel encouraged that I have lasted this long. I am still worried about the world disasters and want to collect some seeds for sprouting and food for my family. One step at a time though.

today the popcorn craving much less. My knee feels a bit stiff and only hurts a little bit I will still have to stretch the leg and knee but it feels so good I want to jump up and down for joy.
I will need to start counting the calories in the food I eat and rreally start watching what I am eating. I feel this is necessary because that is one thing that will make me fail and that is not eating enough and also I need a variety so I am going to try to make up at least 5 interesting easy meals and that does not mean smoothies or salad. I feel the smoothies are real great but I get tired of them and salads are great as well but I do need a variety so that is the goal this week.
calories are important that is probably why I have been feeling tired this week and if I go for to long without enough calories I will bing on food so that will be a great goal
I still feel great and excited to be eating this way once again.
Another thing is I will start writing down just what I am eating so everyone will know and I will hold myself accountable

I am excited about feeling more energy and being able to make this change. I thank God for this change and pray daily for strength to continue.

It has been over two weeks now and I have been craving other foods. I am thinking mostly the craving is due to not eating enough calories so I am going to have to eat more and watch what I eat in order to understand just what is going on. I have also purchased some olives and artichokes that are in a jar so they are not raw however I find them very tasty in a salad which gives a variety and makes me want to stay on course with this diet. Meanwhile I am looking at different raw reciepe's so I can continue with this diet. My knee started hurting again and I am wondering if it is due to eating the olives or just walking to much yesterday. I am determined to continue however this has been a difficult week.
On the happy side I was able to find a watermellon at costco. I am not eating all organic foods because I feel one step at a time and I will concentrate on organics in the summer when it is easier to find. I am now concentrating on getting through this first step day by day eating only raw foods and cooking for the family. Last night I cooked rice and chicken for the family I love rice but did not eat because of a huge salad I made before I cooked.
Oh another thing is water. I am going to experiment with water and I have read about salt being a very important substance for our body so I am going to be looking into this and experiment with how it makes me feel.

I got my eyes checket and the doctor highly recomends for me to go to a doctor concerning my high blood preasure issue because she saw a problem in my veins behind the eyeball. I am thinking if I do go to a doctor I will be perscribed medicine to lower the blood preasure and I have heard that is not so great and really messes a person up. I have read that eating raw helps drop the BP considerably and I have only been raw for 18 days now. I guess I should study up on BP and raw foods and other methods of controling the BP. I have known about my blood preasure issue for a long time now and it frightens me but I just don't trusst doctors. One alternative would be to see a alternative doctor if I can afford it so maybe I should plan on looking into that.
I have been eating the popcorn again but I have been drinking less coffee because the caffeen is affecting my sleap now.
All else seems well I told someone today I have been vegan for 18 days now she is vegan. I dont see her much but it feels good to be able to share with a real person. More alive feeling.
I will soon be posting some food lists but I just have been grazing on salad and fruit and occasionally green smmoothie. I am not hungry when I first wake up and I tend to run out the door late so I am going to have to make better plans so I dont get caught hungry.
One thing I do want to say is I have been walking more. I attend college and this quarter I am forced to walk a fair distance to my classes. Before going raw I would litterely get out of wind just to walk from my car to a class and always look for the closest parking space but I have noticed I am not getting out of breath from walking. It does tire me but I am not feeling such stress so I am finding myself walking more even down stares. This makes me so happy because my ultimate goal is to go on a hike this summer so I am excited to be getting stronger. I feel like if I continue I will really be able to make this goal.

Keep up the good work Pam !! my naturapath told me 2 years ago to lower my blood pressure by increasing my potassium and magnesium (which fruts and veggies have !) .. as well as *DAILY* exercise .. he said my weekend warrior approach was far less effective than short bursts of daily exercise, as well as losing some more weight yoga tai chi adn meditation also help try to avoid the meds they have more side-effects that cause you to end up on more meds and more meds.. a downward spiral indeed !

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2011 05:11PM by Jgunn.

Thanks jodi that means a lot to me what you have shared.
Boy I woke up this morning and my face is so swollen and my knee really hurts. I went to the mall with my kids and I got what I thought a smoothie with these "bubbles" I am sure the fruit had something in it and it also had soy product and what ever else I am paying the price this morning for sure. Why do I always have to learn things the hard way?
any back to readjustments on the diet and getting back on track right?