Hello,

6 days ago I made the commitment to go 100% raw for two weeks as a test. I'm an athletic person, but I carry a persistent 15 lbs extra because of poor diet choices (sugar and carbs.) I'm well aware of my problem.

I was a vegetarian for 14 years, then on doctor's orders (severe anemia!) I went back to cautious chicken and fish in 2006. Going raw vegan has been easy...until tonight. I have felt increasingly weak and grumpy for 6 plus days. I sleep a lot. I haven't been able to keep up with my regular intense exercise schedule. I'm weepy. I have aches I've never had in my life.

Reading online at various raw sites, I decided it was just a matter of detox and to keep the faith. Then, after eating what seems to be a huge amount of veg tonight and some fruit, I snapped. I ate three scrambled egg whites! I intended to use those eggs to bake something for a friend - I hate eggs in real life and rarely ate them. I'm just SO surprised I did that.

Can you please help me get over what seems to be some kind of a hump in my eating plan? I usually have great willpower, and eating raw doesn't even require much of that. I miss bread, pasta, carbs but that's it. The only thing that happened right before the egg disaster was that I ate a banana with raw peanut butter and a drizzle of honey for dessert. It was the first sweet substance I've had (except fruit) in six plus days.

Thank you for reading this relatively long post and for any help you can give me.

Nutiva brand "hemp protein 15g" has 50% by weight protein plus high iron. Great for anemia. The other brand is not organic (that is also 50% protein)

The extra protein will help you to not only feel fuller, but also be more nourished, so losing weight will be easier.

Were you craving protein or were just wanting dense food?

Hemp protein is not the answer to being 100% raw, but it's worth a try to assist in your athletic endeavors and weight loss goals.

You might want to reduce cravings by having the following:

* hydrilla algae
* sea weeds
* chlorella
* green sprout juices of broccoli, wheatgrass, fenugreek, sunflower greens
* a large sprouted seed meal of chia, sesame, sunflower, poppy, pumpkin (do different seeds per day)

These things should make it easier to stop eating bad foods. The key is to eat enough and to be able to distinguish betweem mental cravings and physical cravings.

is likely to be detox you are having, so if it is still happening after 3 months, do a different type of raw diet!!! Why? Because people tend to over use the detox excuse, so we get people blaming detox for their tiredness and irritability years after they started. If the teary eyes continue after a few months, do something else!

www.thesproutarian.com

Thank you! I appreciate your advice. I'm going to go buy the Nutiva today. And I'm sure you're right Sproutarian, I was NEVER thriving on the vegetarian diet I put myself on all those years. I wasn't physically nor mentally sharp during those years, and I was always tired. I know now I was doing something wrong, but during the worst final year of it, I was fainting a lot - that's why I had to give it up. I'm dizzy a lot on this raw diet, too, even though my blood iron was OK prior to it (and I take natural iron supplements!)

Thanks again to both of you for your input.

Low energy, dizziness, and fainting are all right on par with vitamin B12 deficiency. I'd recommend taking a soil-based B12 supplement ('LifeGive B12 Forte'), give it a few months and see how you feel. I would also replace iron supplements with chlorella and spirulina, both of which are loaded in iron and also contain a wide variety of health-promoting properties. For brain functioning, definitely incorporate more omega-3 rich foods (sprouted chia/flax, soaked walnuts, hemp seeds, etc) and consume with extra-virgin coconut oil which will enhance conversion of ALA to EPA/DHA. Or, if you wanted to, you could take an algae-based omega-3 supplement.

For overall energy production, if you start taking royal jelly, AFA super blue-green algae (E3 Live) and consuming magnesium-rich foods and iron-rich foods (nuts, seeds, algae's) combined with B12 supplementation, you will surely see improvements. Panax ginseng, astaxanthin, quality sleep, and hydration will also help.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2014 07:20PM by jtprindl.

Low energy, dizziness, fainting, and irritability are all right on par with hypoglycemia. Sugar spikes and goes down. The brain runs on glucose and so do red blood cells. Try reducing spikes for longer glucose level maintenance. Some fruits, vegetables reduce the spikes.

Melanie
Please read my reply down below to Banana-who's post about sprouting grains. I discuss gluten sensitivity.

Gluten sensitivity actually can contribute to anemia. You said you miss bread and pasta. THis usually implies wheat. Quitting gluten resolved my mild anemia (my anemia involved both B-12 and iron). It can take MONTHS for the body to normalize after gluten exposure, if one is very sensitive. Just because you quit gluten two weeks ago doesn't mean tomorrow will be fantastic. It's a slow healing process. This is IF you are sensitive.

Aches are often helped with green juices rich in calcium. You would need a twin gear juicer to extract the calcium. Many seeds are rich in calcium, but avoid big amounts when you are trying to lose weight, because they do contain many calories. So it's best to invest in a quality juicer.

Also nutiva protein is way cheaper to buy from their website in a 3 lb bag. It's half the price as the health food stores.

can you post a breakdown of what you are eating please? amounts and types of food