Hello to all....

I thought it best I start to keep track of my raw journey. I've kept a sporadic journal at home, but went on vacation for 3 weeks in August and haven't picked back up the habit of journaling. So, thought I'd do it here for added support and feedback. Especially after yesterday and last nights detox symptoms.

Since the beginning of July I've been 50 to 95% raw depending on work or social and/or personal situations. I find traveling for my job and social settings to be the most difficult to stay close to 100% raw.

Often my deviations are having a salad at a restaurant with grated cheese, breaded chicken breast and regular salad dressing. Here in ND most small town restaurants only know how to build iceberg lettuce salads with one cherry tomato and grated ugly cheese. Not much to choose from when considering trying to be raw. I do often take my own food in an ice chest, but not always practical.

Additionally, the man in my life is a great cook.... Down home cooking to the max and yummy.. Yes I was a very traditional SAD eater with foods laden with fat and sauces and butter and yada yada.. Truly I've always been health conscience around food, but once I met him and he liked to do all the cooking, well I just let him and I joined right in and ate away.

I do believe this style of eating brought on health problems for me, not to mention weight gain. But the most disturbing is last fall I started experiencing joint pain. It started first in my elbows, they felt just a wee bit tender.. Then it moved to my fingers and my toes. There were times at night I could lay in bed and feel it move to different joints in my body like waves. Usually always symetrical. If my right index finger hurt so did my left index finger. That sent me to the internet to start researching arthritis. Specifically Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) unfortunately my mom has RA and I know there has been shown to be a genetic predisposition for RA. I've not had any formal diagnosis by a doctor, but my symptoms seem to fall in line with most typical RA symptoms (sad)...

Throughout the summer when we'd have big barometric pressure changes with rain and storms I would ache so bad I wanted to cry and could not sleep. I got flu like symptoms and aches through my entire body and even a low grade fever. All symptoms of RA. I've come to discover that wet and cold and wet and hot are very hard on my joints. Hence I have elected to move back to Washington state for a drier less humid climate. Eastern Washington not Western Washington.

This whole thing is a bit scary to me and I have become committed to not just sit passively by and do nothing.. and traditional medicine just didn't seem an option. The thought of taking predisone or some other horrid medication just didn't sit well with me... So there in lies the journey into raw food eating. I'll post again later....

Elayne

On my raw journey, which started right around the first of July, initially I lost 15 lbs and by my calculations I could stand to lose anywhere from another 15 to 40 lbs and be within my correct BMI. For the last month and a half I've lost nothing.. Well, I can't say that I will lose a lb and then be up a lb... Although my fat seems to be moving around and changing and in some areas of my body I've continued to lose inches. I just need to be patient with the whole idea of weight loss. I really didn't start this whole eating program with the idea of weight loss as my main goal. But rather I took on raw eating as a way to combat my bad eating patterns and hopefully give me better health, especially around my joint pain symptoms.

The last week I've changed up my routine and I've gone strictly to fruit smoothies every morning. a salad or watermelon for lunch and fruit smoothie or salad or tomatoes etc for dinner. The last two days I began to feel as if I was coming down with a cold.. Sore throat runny nose headache. All of which I know can be symptoms of detox.

I am in the process of moving back to my home state of Washington and do not want to get a cold. So, the first day of my symptoms I broke down and took a zicam to ward of a potential cold. Yesterday my throat and runny nose were better, but oh what a headache I had. Almost up to the level of a migraine as the evening progressed. It got worse as the day went on and last night I was so miserable that I spent most of the night laying on the floor in the living. On top of the bad headache, I also started having back pain and my left thumb and wrist, which have been showing signs of swelling and lots of pain hurt so bad last night I wanted to cry. I suffered through the pain without taking any medication and believe you me I wanted so bad to take something to take away the pain in my head and the pain in my wrist.

This morning I awoke feeling a bit hung over feeling and dehydrated, like I had alcohol the night before, of which I had not. Although I did break down and have 6 saltine crackers and a slice of cheese, so maybe that is where the hung over feelings came from. I've had this same feeling when I've eaten SAD foods as I know they do dehydrate you. This morning my headache and wrist pain has subsided. I find it interesting that my symptoms of RA pain and also my detox symptoms seem to be worse at night. This of course causes me to get very little sleep which causes me added stress

I think my detox symptoms were connected to changing up my eating and adding more fruit and letting go of some of the SAD foods I was still consuming, such as salad dressing an occasional baked potato etc. I DO know I don't want to go through what I went through last night anytime soon. I was beginning to wonder if all this raw food eating was worth it... That is how bad I hurt last night.

Yesterday 9/25/07 Food journal

B - fruit smoothie 1 banana, 2 oranges, 1 pear 8 ice cubes yum yum!! sip on it for hours at work
2 cups of coffee.. haven't given up this habit yet... I love good coffee!! I know eventually I'll have to give it up.. but right now not willing, especially hate the idea of the withdrawal symptoms

L- 3 or 4 cups of watermelon, 1 piece of raw carrot cake

D - 1 spoonful of chopped kalamata olives. (I tend to be a grazer)
3 stocks of celery dipped in hummus (non raw)
fruit smoothie -- 2 slice of pineapple, 1 banana, 1 apple
1 piece of Lindt chocolate.. it tasted waxy and icky!!

Snack - when I was feeling so awful last night 6 saltine crackers (icky and pasty) with one slice of mozzarella cheese.

Late night when in so much pain --- 1 cup of licorice herb tea.

On a side note, I've been soooooo cold, especially at night.. I come home take a bath or shower to try and get warm. I put on layers and still feel an internal chill. I sleep with PJs (which is not typical of me) and have three blankets on the bed and still cold. I am not running a fever.. but could this also be part of detox??

I wrote you a note on my raw notes diary about the iodine. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Remember also that idoine does a lot more than just help with thyroid function.

Love,
Prism

You are eating lots of healthy food, that's great!

It's funny how what we used to love to eat, starts tasting yukky isn't it? Like that Lindt chocolate you mentioned.

thanks Karen... I am trying to eat healthier that is for sure... but I seem to have slip ups at home.. as you'll see below on yesterdays foods.. My b/f is a total SAD eater and also makes really yummy unhealthy food that sometimes I can't resist....

Wednesday foods:

B - pineapple, pear, banana, apple fruit smoothie

L - large bowl of watermelon

Snack - handful of soaked almonds

Dinner and grazing ---6 saltine crackers with chopped kalamata olives and sundried tomatoes. Don't know why once again I ate those pasty icky crackers.. I need to make some flax crackers for when i get the urge for something crunchy...

1 piece of banana bread... dang I made banana bread for my boyfriend.. and I decided to eat one piece.. Guess it's an accomplishment as in the past I'd eat several pieces...

Snack - two pieces of french toast.. Okay not quite a snack and definitely not RAW.. my boyfriend made french toast and I just gave in... I sooo loved french toast in my SAD days.

I went to the doctor today and had the usual tests: pap smear, blood pressure,cholesterol HDL and LDL and iron levels checked.

I've always had low blood pressure, like 117/65 until last year when it spiked up to 123/90 Over the course of this year it has steadily gone down... couple months ago it was 117/72 but today it was back up again.. 130/90 dang I was so bummed.. Since i'd been eating so much healthier and staying to raw about 50 to 90% I thought for sure my blood pressure would be good... Has anyone else experienced good or bad changes of blood pressure eating raw?? I wanted my cholesterol checked because I want to be able to track any changes that occur over the next year on a new raw plan.. and to help motivate me to go 100%.. But i am taking it slow and not beating myself up too much for not sticking 100% raw...

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated...