I used to come here back in 2002 when I first got sick. I went to rawfoods for 5 months at that time and then added foods one at a time. I have remained a vegetarian (not vegan) for 9 years. I am not sick like I was then but I know that if I came back here I would receive the inspiration to pick myself up once again and live a life of success. I am not speaking of financial success although that could use a healing also, but, I know emotions can heal and then physically I would gain youth and strength back.

Welcome back!

Thank you.

I would like to be more towards the vegan lifestyle but for right now I am a bad habit vegetarian. I recently quite eating fish [which I never ate a lot. The only fish I can really handle, taste-wise, is tuna from a can]. Very recently I stopped eating eggs, unless they are already in something but I want to eventually get free of that too. I saw the inhumane ways that the chickens were handled by that company that McDonalds and Target fired. I grew up close by a pig slaughter farm and I am sure that those stories had a major impact on my choice of vegetarism (there is enough violence in the world) and then later it became a health issue.

I am back here because the stress in my life has not changed but I know as my health improves, by eating better, the stresses will not be so distracting and my focus will be stronger on the goodness in life.

This is a great place to get support for a raw diet. I've been here since 2001 myself. Things are much more mellower than when you were in last in 2002.

As you incorporate more and more raw into your diet, you ought to see your health and your energy return.

Thank you for the encouragement. I am so exited to be back and that I have made the decision to leave bad habits alone and not let them dictate me anymore!!

Greetings Just4me ! i jumped in here in 2002 as well glad you are back. I too had a lifetime of bad habits to overcome.

You can do it !

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I love that banana monk picture! Namaste

one day at a time, you can just plod along with us here....

Welcome back

Hello again just4me,
I almost sent in a post when you requested some advice for your situation at work. However, I was also aware of this forum's rules regarding medical like advice. So I was reticent to post anything, and didn't.

Changing your diet to one that is almost opposite to the standard is very couragious, since we have been socialised from birth in the ways of our culture, and that includes what we eat and the way we eat. People don't recognise the major psychological barriers we have, that are just as strong as the tastes that we are used to. Food can be seen as a drug that has both physiological and psychological addictions to overcome.

So easy does it...and the only advice to give, is not to give-in, to always keep fighting. And this poem that I wrote when going through a difficult time in my life, can be applied to many circumstances....

It's not a stop if you slow down
It's not a step back if you stop
It's not a reversal, if you step back...with the intention of moving forward when you're more equipped to do so

hey i'm completely new to a raw food forum. but i just had a search whats online to see if there's anyone to talk with! ha!

Geo, thank you for your last post... I have had tummy problems for a while now, the doctors just say IBS and "what drugs do you want"! but i refuse to think like that. Almost 4 years and doctors have never even asked... "what do you eat?" so funny! but anyway... I've done my own research and used myself as an experiment to make myself better looking at diet, and believing I can heal whatevers going on!

The last few months I have eaten mostly raw, and for the first time in ages my body and mind are starting to feel strong again, i do have to watch what I eat thou, I can feel rubbish quickly!

So, I am here to hopefully get the motivation to stay as raw and happy as I can! I am generally a happy person but like Geo says about society and those around us, eating how we have been grown up to eat, family and friends worrying about you!!! But I have to stay strong because when I don't eat how I should (mostly raw and natural) My body feels really bad and sick.

I have cut alot of things out of my diet, But i do love food and cooking (well preparing now! less cooking! ) so i can be creative and happy eating raw meals. But it is hard with everyone else around you and our society telling you otherwise. Socially I find it hard sometimes to listen to my body!

Sorry for a long rant! i just would like people to share with about this, and we can help each other on the path to eating to balance body, emotions and mind

And i really like your poem Geo

Good job gems!

Try to steep yourself in "raw culture." Books, videos, forums... whatever you can get a hold of. This really helped me to overcome the powerful social programming instilled from birth, and provide a great structure of support for creating new, good habits that feel "normal."

thanks marsh! yeah i got some good books, and thats why ive decided to go on a forum. feels so good when i eat raw... so need to keep this going

any books you recomend marsh?

Your welcome Gems, and thank you. Now, what books could I recommend...

Any of Prof. Arnold Ehret's books, such as the 'Mucusless Diet Healing System' which is basically an all alkaline or base-forming food diet.
Also, his book entitled 'Thus Speaketh The Stomach' including 'The Tragedy of Nutrition'.

From the Prof. Arnold Ehret Foundation at www.arnoldehret.org you can buy at a discount a really insightful and humorous book entitled.. 'Blatant Raw Foodist Propaganda' by Joe Alexander.

There are cool raw recipe books too, such as..'Live Foods: Nature's Perfect System of Human Nutrition. 192 Recipes by George & Doris Fathman.

The book entitled 'The Gerson Therapy' which is all about juicing is a ripper.

Cheers, geo

Gems-

Personally, I happen to love David Wolfe, although many here don't much care for him. His Sunfood Success Diet book and Superfoods book are excellent, and the pages are brimming with enthusiasm as well as great information. I really resonate with him and his ideas. Is he perfect? No. But who is... You can also subscribe to his online magazine, wwwthebestdayever.com. It's $15 a month and there is more information, vidoes, talks, forums, and support than you'll be able to keep up with by many different raw health enthusiasts. I love it, and log on daily. I've learned so much there about so many things. Definitely a great source of information and support for me.

I also like Victoria Boutenco, Jennifer Cornbleet and Brigitte Mars. Gabirel Cousens has a few good books, He's ok, too. There's really a lot, these are just a few that come to mind right now, I'm sure others here have their favorites. Sometimes it's good to just peruse the "online library," or even a local bookstore, and see who you're drawn to. For me, that's always been how I've gotten the books that have made the biggest difference in my life.

Raw is awesome! You'll be amazed at yourself and your level of health the more you really get into this



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2011 10:16PM by marsh.

Thank you everyone for the great "welcome back". I know that eating the way that makes me feel the best is so contrary to how they feed our children. It is difficult to make good choices at work with the kinds of things they bring to our table. It makes me sad to see how the children are eating.

I am involving myself here again exactly for that reason...to give myself a community of people who make eating this way seem not so unusual.


I personally like Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. "Fit for Life" is what got me to hear what works best for me. I have had stomach issues since junior high school and no doctor has been able to find the cause. As soon as I began searching on my own I feel so much better than I could ever remember. I want to feel like that again.

wow! thank you for all the book/info recomendations. I will check them out!

I've read 'fit for life' thats a good encouragement Just 4 me about your stomach problems and eating this way... I to have been going doctors for almost 4 years and they are rubbish! so like you, i researched alot on my own, and have only just starting discovering raw the last 3 months, it has made a massive difference! the first month i was still sluggish, but now i have a lots of energy and have put myslef in for a half marathon! ha ha! to motivate me and help me stay possitive and want to have my energy

we will get there and we are already there because we are making that choice

You said it Gems, and isn't it difficult when your mind over-rides the leadings of your body. I remember years ago, that if I didn't eat breakfast I felt great with loads of energy. But my mind said that I needed breakfast because it was supposed to be the most important meal of the day...What a load of phooey. But I would then eat my breakfast like a good little culturally socialised lad, and would promptly feel sluggish and not great at all. That went on for ages, until I finally woke up to the fact that my body was right and my mind was wrong.

Now-a-days, if I feel like it I'll eat a piece of fruit or make a juice. Otherwise, 'for me', I can easily go without breakfast with no problems.

Just4me the very first diet book that i really remember laying around our house (my mom bought a million of them lol) this one (Fit for Life) really stuck out in mymind over the years

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

thanks for the encouragement geo... going through alot of that at the moment... mind over body.,. glad you got to your balanace now of being intune to what you really want for breakfast