All advice is appreciated, even if its kinda out there, even if I end up thinking its not for me, thats ok, I would rather hear a thousand suggestions that dont feel right to me, than not get any... so please, feel free to share ANYTHING with me...
I am thinking of trying to switch to a vegetarian diet first, or try to at least, now that the prices of veggies and fruits are down for the year hopefully, with my only non vegan/vegetarian product being the cod liver oil pills I take, then slowly take myself off them and have my dr monitor me to make sure my LDL levels dont dip to far... and see how I do when I can go completely raw vegan, IF I can... Im thinking of selling my car too so I can buy a juicer like the omega 8004 to help with it...sure i'll have to walk everywhere then, but im enjoying being able to walk now, especially since im apparently doing far better than my dr thought id ever be able to do...and I have a rain coat for the bad weather,lol...should probably buy rain pants too... i dunno, I just feel so much better when im eating raw, and Im hoping there is a way around my condition and the expense that will allow me to eventually become 100% or at least 99% lol...not sure if I can give up the occasional brownie every couple of months,lol...

What is your condition?
What I did was slowly make dietary improvements to my junk food diet until I got where I am now. First eliminate most junk foods and milk, that is step number 1!
Then you can slowly switch over to healthier whole foods, while increasing the percentage of fruits and vegetables. I remember so many nights where i ate a plate of 1/3 rice, 1/3 cooked veg, and 1/3 raw veg, with some raw nuts thrown in.

Start always eating only fruit for breakfast. Soon it will feel perfect! No matter what you eat, keep the diet low fat. Stick to vegetarian for now. Try eating mostly fruit, raw and cooked vegtables and whole grains. With some nuts and only a little nonvegan food. It was the way I transitioned and I felt a little healthier every step of the way. This will also help to slow your detox.

remember to exercise a little every day, even if it is just light walking.

-Workoutman

I already eat a mostly vegetarian diet, and almost no dairy... my condition is Homozygous Familial Hypobetalipoproteinemia (try saying that 10 times fast...ive tried,lol...) I also only have $200 a month to spend on food, soo...fruit every morning, can add up kinda fast... fruit is really expensive here, although its price has come down a bit lately too, but best prices are usually around fall...

I normally dont eat junk food either, it usually makes me feel sick after I eat most types... weirdly, Im not bothered by shrimp chips... I was really bad today though, I havnt done anything this bad in over a year... I ate a whole batch of brownies >.<...kinda freaking out, I have a big date tonight, and havn't been able to sleep,lol...

woooo, I may be able to borrow a little money from my dad and get an omega 8003, theres a new only used twice one ebay right now, current bid price is only $79... with free shipping, even if it goes up to $150 that would still be a good deal, I dont think the warranty is transferable though, is it?

Curator,

Follow your gut and read your body's responses. Keep checking in with the doc. Don't make any sudden changes; and keep your fats up(avo, coconut). Why brownies? All that caffeine isn't gonna help you be cool, man, on a date! Hope it goes well : )

yeah, I know, plus the sugar...uggghhh I feel horrible already... but they are my kryptonite, and I unfortunately happen to be a great baker...i craved brownies, and bam, 40 minutes later, I had fresh home made brownies...LOL... I'm a recovering compulsive eater, and I just lost my 1 year chip,lol... and I have this feeling its NOT going to go well at all, her parents have decided they arent going to let her hangout with me (they dont even know its a date...) unless she has at least 3 female friends with her, I have been like her best friend for over 2 years now...and I was surprised when she asked me out, and she has never been interested in dating anyone, has never been on a date be4, very controlling parents is probably why, considering she is 21...meh...they are kinda crazy too, I've been her friend for over 2 years, and they still refuse to meet me...Maybe their afraid they will like me?lol...

I have always been a sweet guy...meaning I preferred cakes, sweet drinks (coffee with milk, tea with honey etc.), and, fortunately, I always liked fruit also. So, if you don't have a lot of money, focus on fruit, I would say (and I am the farthest you can get from and kind of nutritionist). Fruit was a replacement for bad eating habits, so I let myself eat fruit as much as I want - which is not good, but it is not as bad as sugar, for sure.

Fruit is the answer to most of the medical conditions, in my opinion. But, fasting is also helpful.

Most of all, learn to listen to your body, that is the best thing. Use your own good habits to your benefit, and understand the bad ones.

My wife is an excellent SAD chef. Stuff smells fantastic, and I crave the food when I smell it, and I smell it on purpose, even taste a tiny bit every now and than (not a real bite, just put a tiny amount in my mouth and spit it), just so that I know that it is educational for me - all that stuff actually tastes bad. Fried potatoes actually taste like cardboard, but they are well hidden behind the oil, salt, other spices. Meat tastes actually horrible, but the real taste is usually hidden from you by the artistry of the chef. So, that is my way - I am not running away from the temptation, I face it and beat it. But not everyone has to do it my way.

hmmm, well, fruit around here, unless its on a really awesome sale, which happens occasionally, is far more expensive than even meat...unless we are talking prime cut steaks, thats my biggest difficulty other than my medical condition when it comes to switching to raw, the last time I was mostly raw, about 10 years or so ago, i almost died, and I ate mostly fruit then, so I dont think fruit will "cure" me... I may have to wait till im able to move to a more agriculturally heavy area before I can really work on seeing how I do... to me cooked food doesnt taste bad at all, I love and appreciate the complexity of flavor compounds within just about all foods, except tapioca...lol...the texture makes me sick... I just prefer raw veggies and fruit allot more... there was one time I had meat that I enjoyed as much as veggies or fruit, because of how it was raised most likely, but I wont go into anymore of a description out of respect for the ethical vegans on here...

Allot does have to do with the artistry of the chef, but no amount of skill can make up for bad ingredients, there are some ingredients that are such high quality, that even bad chefs cant really ruin their natural awesomeness... one thing that is really important with cooking too is cultivating your sense of smell, it can differentiate between over 20,000 different scents, where as your tongue can do only 6, some people just 5... my biggest stumbling block I think in becoming mostly or eventually completely raw, is the fact that I just love to cook...its my passion... ironic that I prefer raw foods,lol... there just isn't as much of a variety of what I can prepare raw, raw dishes aren't as challenging either... Maybe I should eat raw, but become a chef,lol...so i can cook food for others and do what I love, and still eat what I prefer at the same time... I don't do well in high stress environments though...

Curator,

I hear you: I'm a trained cook, and was going to become a pastry chef at one point. The trick to not making fabulous pastries for yourself is to never have flour, sugar and chocolate in the house. I cannot think of anything worth baking that doesn't contain at least two of these ingredients. Even a fruit dessert needs sugar, if it's cooked, so you'll just end up eating the fruit raw and voila! Problem solved!

You've got a tough row to hoe with your friend, kiddo[ha, gardening analogy!]. She may be testing the waters of freedom finally and the parents may not have anything against you, per se, but may dislike the idea of losing authority over her, or are even having a hard time accepting that she's a grown-up now. To her, you're a safe choice because you already like and respect her. She just needs to get her parents to understand this, too. Maybe next time, bake the brownies, and put them in a really nice box with a pretty ribbon, and give them to her mom as a goodwill gesture, eh? : )

er, they refuse to even meet me...Im pretty sure anything id bake, would most likely get thrown out... oh and she isnt testing her freedom much, she still wont really stand up for herself with them, cause every time she tries, they threaten to stop paying for her college education... they do not strike me as mentally healthy individuals... I mean their daughter is 21, and has never even been interested in a guy till me... that in itself should show im a pretty decent guy, and they should at least try and get to know me... I dunno...I guess its just really insulting that they wont even meet me...

oh God, im so nervous, they have randomly changed their minds, are going to allow her to come, they want to check the location themselves first to make sure its "far enough away from the ocean so she wont get swept in." and they want to meet me, and everyone else who will be there before they leave her alone there... I guess that will be a good time to point out one of the guests is a lifeguard and EMT and that I have full adult child and infant CPR, and first aid certification... AED too, although I doubt anybodies heart is gonna stop tonight...Unless she kisses me or something...then mine will,lol... good thing my friend is an EMT...

I wonder how I can go for so many years with no women interested in me, then all of a sudden, in one month 5 express interest in me... oh, and just in case your wondering, the 2 I'm actually interested in romantically are completely aware of each others existence... I'm not the kinda guy to hide something like that... I am however incredibly indecisive, which is why im rather happy at the moment that neither of them has made even the slightest suggestion at all that they even want me to decide between them... and have expressed interest in meeting each other... O.o...im confused...

Sounds like the brownies are kicking in : )

Possessive parents are lucky their kids don't run away. Also, it's sad that they don't realize that the more they sequester and coddle their daughter, the less prepared she will be to deal with really unsafe people. I thought perhaps you might go over there and introduce yourself congenially. They sound like ethnic people(correct me if I'm wrong) and would appreciate your frankness; it would show that you value getting their respect.

As to your suddenly being much in demand, well, maybe your new diet is causing you to give off some pretty powerful pheromones, LOL--savor it!

if fruit is too expensive
what do u think about going for the basic nutritionally dense dark greens?


or maybe you could grow some as well
so as to stretch your dollar

it seems like certain fruits are more expensive than others too
like the tropical ones

as far as your girlfriend(s) situation

heck ANYONE would be nervous having to meet the parents


yeah.. they make movies about that for that reason alone

LOL

They arent really ethnic, they are spanish, but very light skinned, and aren't really in touch with their heritage, I have made numerous attempts to arrange a get together for all of us, invited the whole family even to dinner, the parents refuse to even meet me... I doubt they would appreciate me just showing up...it makes one much more nervous about meeting somebodies parents, when those parents are insane...

Ive been eating dark greens as I can afford them, mostly kale, I go through 2 bunches a week, thats $24 a month just on kale, but thats only when they have it in stock, they dont always have any real greens other than lettuce in stock:/... been eating a ton of bananas lately as they have been .79 cents a pound, limes where just 5 for $1 so I bought a bunch and have used them in a number of different yummy things...

I cant grow anything now, in the new place I had to move into, there is no where to plant except a small area with lots of clay, and full shade, not even dappled...we are surrounded by redwood trees, oh and if I want to plant anything there, I have to submit a planting plan thingy to the lady that manages the duplex's, then can plant upon approval...I may do some guerrilla gardening...out in a clearing in the forest I know of... If a pot grower hasnt taken it,LOL.

Oh, and they wouldn't let her come because they said it was too windy and she might catch a cold...

Curator,

Are they Spanish? Like Basque? Or are they Hispanic? Like Mexican, Salvadoran, Guatemalan? If they've been here for many generations(and aren't members of some ultra conservative religious sect)this family specifically could just be nuts. Or maybe they've already a lost a child to tragedy long ago and are overcompensating. Who knows. They let you spend time with her as a friend, right? Maybe slowly, they'll come around. Or your friend will assert herself. Wish you luck : )

Can you garden in containers without permission from the duplex manager? Like, on your stoop or walkway, provided it isn't totally shaded? Here's a thread that may amuse you from Jodi from a long while back:

[www.rawfoodsupport.com]

Actual spanish, their ancestors where from spain, they are atheists, I think their just nuts... and they havnt lost a child, they have had 4 daughters, 2 left the nest and moved far far away as soon as they could, the older ones, Valerie is the middle child, and the youngest has gotten herself in allot of trouble lately, as she just lies and gets around them lately... 12 years old and she got pregnant, but all that crap just happened, me and valerie have been friends for 2 years, and they have been this way since the beginning... so im thinking they are just nuts...

And no, they wont let her spend time with me as a friend, they didnt actually even know this was going to be a "date" they thought it was just gonna be a group hangout thing for my birthday, which it technically was, just me and her considered it a date... not telling them it was a date is the closest to standing up for herself she has ever done, and with her personality, I dont think she ever will unless I push her into it, and I do NOT wanna be "that" guy...

I have to have permission for container gardening as well, every single type of plant I want to use, where I want to put it, all has to be approved by them unless I have it inside... but theres no sun inside... even the spots outside, there are a few I could put a couple containers and get partial sun most of the day, but the local kids already vandalized the one container I had already gotten approval for... maybe I can try some sort of spirulina set up indoors, how much light does it really need? anybody here grow their own spirulina?

geeez

if i owned a huge plot of land
and someone wanted to plant some food
i'd be giddy with joy

ANY kind of food
i don't care
all plants are fine by me

bizarre that you'd have to be so microregulated to generate life forms on the soil

plants are plants
fruits is fruit
flowers are flowers

how could anyone NOT like these in abundance

gotta have a sense of humor

" if i weren't a little crazy, i'd go insane"

who wrote that
what song?

lol, well , Leo Buscaglia once said, in the end, its your insanity that keeps you sane,lol... Personally I think the owners are basically just these crazy control freaks,lol... i STILL haven't heard back from them... Ive met people like them all over the place, in school, at work, even my dad is one of those kinda people... it frustrates me...

well then

just take solace in insanity

to bring you peace

then the world will look

PERFECT

LOL, I'm working on it lol

wow either your up early LV your like me, you cant sleep either... blarg...sleep, who needs it...hehehehehe...oh wait...living organisms! lol...

There is SO much advice to hear from people! If you want mine, just go to my website about raw/fresh foods and my story and photos.

There are free recipes and a free monthly newsletter.

This is a new way at looking at food and one that supports the whole mind/body/spirit connection!!

Congratulations on considering a new way to approach life!

www.lilyfresh.net

I am also trying to develop a wikipedia like website for all things raw so people can have an easier time searching things out online!!

Thank you
Love
Lily

thanks, I'll check it out, anything to keep me busy.

yeah... curator

sleep is like sooooooo overrated LOL

LOL... preach it sista ,LOL...