I'm sorry to hear about your FIL Sarah. Yes, it definitely is a learning process. The funny thing is, I never had any problems with cravings or wanting to eat when I was already full when I ate cooked.

I just re-read my post and I noticed that I wrote I was feeling tired after driving back from England. And I remember that I did not feel tired after the journey, which takes about 10 hours, on the way there when I hadn't eaten lots of nuts. Although the week before that had been quite hectic and I hadn't had a lot of sleep and when I travelled back I had had plenty of sleep during my holiday and yet I felt far more tired. Could be all the fat I ate.

Love, Francis

Francis,

For me it's definitely the fat that makes me tired. This is a very clear connection for me because for almost 3 whole months I went w/ VERY LITTLE overt fats...the only thing I can remember having are like 10-15 almonds once every 2 weeks or so....and I had energy out of this world.

When I started eating avo again recently, my energy levels took a HUGE dip. It was very obvious to me what caused it.

Sarah
[goingbananasblog.com]

My update: My back is still bad, it is very twisted. I saw a chiropractor, but she won't touch me until I get the x-rays done. Seeing her on Monday again. I am really hoping that this will be the last day of my problem. I've really had enough. Can't exercise. Even walking or sitting is a problem. So, I will get back to the trial once I am better. At the moment all I can do is patiently wait and hope for the better. As far as the diet, I've had my ups and downs, as mentioned earlier. Sometimes I feel so down, tired of all the pain and problems with simple daily tasks, that I get angry and feel like giving up on everything. But I learned that fruit is my ambrosia. It soothes my emotional and spiritual pain. I know, I know, it's not the food, it's the body.

Gosia


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It feels like this thread is petering out a bit, which would be a shame. Where has everyone gone? No pics from you this week Peisi?

My food intake for the past week:

Large green juice every day. cucumber/celery/fennel/red pepper/spinach
Wheatgrass juice, one shot, on Sunday,Monday,Tuesday and Friday
1 to 2 litres of green smoothie every day, banana based with various greens leaves
Lots of bananas and oranges every day and some dates
celery ribs and lettuce eaten by themselves
Had dinner with a friend on Tuesday. She brought a cauliflower dish with wakame and flaxoil, forgot to ask what else was in it. I made salad with lettuce/tomatoes/hemp seeds. Also ate 5 macadamias.
Had a salad on Saturday with lettuce,tomatoes,some salty leaves I don't know the English name for,one avocado and a teaspoon of olive oil.

Exercise:
Walking, cycling and Tibetan rites, 10 reps each. I got the rebounder out and looked at it every day but still didn't touch it.

Observations:
After last weeks crazy overeating on macadamias I did better this week. I had overt fats on two nights, Tuesday and Saturday. Maybe I was trying to hard in the first 3 weeks to eat as little overt fats as possible and that's what sparked off the mad nut consumption. What felt bad about the whole episode was feeling nauseous after eating the nuts but still eating them again and again. It felt like compulsive eating which is something I've done before but only since eating raw,never when I ate cooked. I have had binges on nuts and avocados since I've been raw.

My body feels stronger and different people have told me I am looking really well I feel more spiritually in tune with myself. Haven't weighed myself since I started this trial but my clothes feel lose.

After the initial 'high' of the first couple of weeks on very little fat followed by last weeks dip, I now feel more balanced by eating some overt fat twice a week.

My good intentions for the coming week are to eat with more awareness and go to bed earlier so I can sleep more.

Love, Francis

Frannie, I am definitely still here. My body is out of whack though. I am a little bit scared of going to the gym now, after my chiro told me it might have been me doing something in the gym that got my spine twisted. I absolutely can't exercise! But I check out my flabby bits and this reassures me in really wanting to do the exercise. So, as soon as I can exercise again, I am in again! Also, reading recenlty about Nora's (rawschool) experience who after being raw for more than 3 years, finally got rid of her excess fat only after going low-fat, really low-fat (no overts), reassures me in my desire to try this as well. So, as soon as I can, I will be back into this trial. I just got to get my twisted spine out of way.

Gosia


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Where art thee, Peisi?


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Rawgosia,

Last year I pulled a muscle when I slipped in some mud while doing some work around the yard.
My right arm and the back of my shoulder was really sore even to bend down cough or sneeze a lot of pain afer about three weeks of rest just a little slow jogging every other day I was back to normal just take it easy for a while.
Get better soon.

Cherimoya

Love Peace and Happiness,

Thanks, Cherimoya!

I thought after the visit to chiro today, I would be back. But now as realize that it will be about 3 weeks, as you said. and ha ha!

Gosia


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Hey guys,
had a really rough week.
I am basically being put of a forced sabbatical for a year and I am very disappointed. I take my schooling quite seriously.

Anyway, I will post some pics in a few days.
Kinda had a bag of candy, peanuts, some coffee cakes and... what else...

Rice with peanut sauce...
Not exactly 80-10-10, but this weekend, I have been pretty self-destructive in terms of the 12-week challenge. Bear with me, guys... I just need to get my head on straight again and realize that just because I need to take a year off school is not the end of the world. It is just... 365 days.


xxpeisi

Glad to hear you're still here Gosia and I'm sorry your back is tripping you up. I know from past experience how this affects everything you do and how miserable it can make you. That's really interesting about Nora getting rid of her excess fat like that. Did you read that on her website or on her forum? I really want to try eating no overt fats at all for a while as well but after my macadamia disaster last week, which I feel was caused by not eating any overt fats for about a week prior to that, I want to avoid that happening again. So for the next couple of weeks I want to eat at least some fat each week so I'll feel less inclined to binge again.

Oh peisi, that's too bad! Why are they making you take a year of school?

Love, francis

Frannie, I read about it on Nora's forum, recently. I had been wondering for quite some time whether there is a way of losing the excess fat (which even slim people like me might still have). It seems that low-fat is the way. Interestingly, Nora says that she experienced this without having to do much exercise at all. Simply low-fat did the trick. I think Nora has a great body. I want it too ha ha!

Gosia


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Good to see you back, Peisi. And, Frannie. We ARE going to transform ourselves, aren't we. The 12 weeks got stretched a bit. That's fine. My motivation is still with me. Thank goodness.

Gosia


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i'm glad you girls are still in!

i'm doing really well. most important for me is not bringing guilt/fear/shame on myself when i do something that isn't right or perfect. needless to say i have slipped up, but my goal isn't 100%...i am working on eating well at at about 90% and be training well and taking care of myself.

today i had

cherries

then i juggled for a couple hours

then probably 4 bananas, then 1 with tahini

later on, a cucumber and two more bananas

then a big salad

ran for 50 minutes, then stretched....

having a cacao/hazelnut/date blended drink.

Wow what an emotional journey this is. I am not even going to document my food intake over the last week and a half but rather lets just say it wasn't one to be proud of. However just as bronwynsun said "my goal isn't 100%"... Well for me my goal isn't perfection it is progress! I have made progress in many area's of my life and now I am taking on this challenge. I want to be successful and I have decided that I am going to utilize what I have learned in changing other area's of my life and apply my knowledge to this journey as well. I am excited and look forward to getting to know myself in this area as well as I have the rest of me. This week is looking up for sure!

hi rawgosia

what is the site for noras forum...i am interested in getting some more information....thank you....

i have also been doing low fat raw vegan since february....mostly i feel amazing...yet there are times that are just hard....yet NOT as hard as how i feel
eating cooked or high fat...

i exercise vigorously which really works with 811....

today i ate
b - 5 bananas
l - 5 banana/strawberry/spinach smoothie
d -will be 2 mangos 2 cucumbers 4 tomoatoes (that is all i have left in the house)

nora lenz at rawschool
[www.rawschool.com]



...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Yeah, lots of us still here!!

Thanks for reminding me about Nora's site Gosia. I hadn't been there for ages but today I was reading there for quite a while and found lots of good stuff to think about in her personal raw story. Especially about overeating, which I'm doing a lot at the moment because I do miss not eating so much fat. And also about mistakes being very much a part of our future success. My mistake today was overeating dates. So much for my good intention to eat with awareness this week. I just gobbled loads off them as I sat behind the computer without thinking or paying attention to my body saying "that is enough, thank you".I won't do that again in a hurry (I think

francis

Well, here are my weeks stats for those interested:

My height is 174 cms (5'8''), I weigh 61.5 kilos now and my measurements otherwise are as follows:
neck 30.5 cm - 12 inches
bust 86 cm - 34 inches
waist 64 cm - 25 inches
abdomen 83 cm - 32.5 inches
hips 88 cm - 35 inches !!
upper thigh 52.0 cm - lost a cm finally!!
calv (at the biggest part) 35 cm - 13.8 inches
upper arm 25 cm - little less than 10 inches
Front

Side (I have a monster bruise on my leg)

A new Wig! Whooo!


SO not much progress but it is still alright considering I fudged up on the challenge a lot recently, due to outside stress... But now I am back and doing very well!!

And finally losing some around my thighs!!

xxpeisi

Thanks for the pics peisi, glad you're back on the trial and smiling again, this thread wouldn't be the same without you.

I have had a pretty good week food wise.

Food intake:
Green juice every day: cucumber/celery/fennel/red pepper/spinach
1 to 2 litres of green smoothy every day: water/bananas/various leavy greens
lots of oranges and bananas,some pineapple and mango and watermelon,all eaten mono
celery ribs and romaine lettuce,all eaten mono

Last Sunday I went to a friend's birthday party and brought oranges for myself but decided to eat the food that was there. So I had birthday cake and salads with olives and avocado and oil and spices and pine nuts. All raw but gourmet and high fat. The next time I had fat was on Friday when I went to a potluck picknick in the park with some friends where I ate salad with olives and nuts and avocado and dressed with oil.

Exercise:
Walking, cycling, 10 reps of the Tibetans every day and finally started jumping on my rebounder for 10 mins for the last 3 days.

Observations:
I had some detoxy feelings this week but they're mostly emotional rather than physical. I have been feeling emotionally unbalanced and I am quickly upset and tearful.

I've lost a tiny bit of weight. I would prefer to put some on, I really don't want to become too skinny again but I will let my body do it's thing and see where I'm at when this trial is finished. I haven't noticed any real changes in my appearance yet but it's early days still.

My energy has been up and down with my emotions. I've had periods with really good, strong energy and I've also been very tired but I have to mention that I still need to work on my sleep pattern. I tend to stay up too late at night which is silly because I feel I need to sleep more since I've started this trial.

I've been eating with more awareness a lot of the time which I find really helpful. I try to only eat when I can sit down and pay proper attention to what and how I'm eating. I'm also trying to eat bigger meals of one food only and then wait till the last meal has digested before I eat again.

I ate overt fats on Sunday and Friday so I think I ate pretty close to high fruit/low fat this week and for now I prefer to eat more fat less often instead of a little bit every day. I'm wondering if this is more natural for our bodies anyway. In nature we wouldn't find fatty foods every day and if we did find it we would probably gorge on it and then have another period of no fats at all?

After spending some time reading on Nora's site it's beginning to make a lot of sense to me to only eat the fruits and vegetables that appeal to me and taste good by themselves and not eat food just because it's supposed to be good for us. Like juicing vegetables I wouldn't enjoy eating by themselves and green smoothies, where I blend things like kale and stinging nettles with bananas to make them palatable. Once you stop adding things like oil and salt and spices to food a lot of things lose their appeal. I haven't made up my mind about this yet so I'm still drinking my green juice and making my green smoothies which I love. This trial is making me re-think my approach to eating raw.

Love, francis

You are doing great, Pesi and Francis. I so look forward to going back to the trial too. For now, my lower-back saga continues. I am getting better very slowly and I am not happy to be where I am at all. Today had a CT scan, GP thought that my disc slipped out. I will find out the results tomorrow. I've been eating fruit only recently. Can't put anything else in my mouth.

Gosia


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My height is 174 cms (5'8''), I weigh 61 kilos now (lost half a kilo since last week) and my measurements otherwise are as follows:
neck 30.5 cm - 12 inches
bust 86 cm - 34 inches
waist 63 cm - 25 inches (lost a cm!)
abdomen 83 cm - 32.5 inches
hips 87 cm - 34 inches !! (lost almost an inch!)
upper thigh 52.0 cm
calv (at the biggest part) 35 cm - 13.8 inches
upper arm 25 cm - little less than 10 inches

SUmmer is coming guys.... SHould I get these glasses?


FRONT- my hip bones are showing more, but... I look strange, IMO


SIDE

My tummy is getting sort of flatter, don't you think?



So... this is my bikini bod... Should I bear it with no shame? (It looks better with a head attached, I assure you. )


Been working a fair lot, shopping for many new clothes... Mmmm, I think I am gaining more muscle now because the scale isn't going down at all really. I had some vegan cookies last week, a LOT of them, but the past few days, I've been sticking to the trial very well

Hope you are all doing good, and getting the results you desire!
xxpeisi

Oh my peisi, you're getting an hourglass figure for sure If my past experiences are anything to go by you're whole body will get trim and slim and then finally your thighs will lose their excess fat. That's what I think is happening to you anyway.
Mmmm, the glasses make you look dark and mysterious if that's the kind of image you want. Not bad.
I know I'm losing weight because my face is getting too skinny and people are commenting on it, telling me I don't look as good as I did a while ago. I have a small, bony face at the best of times. It feels as if my body is detoxing again, I have a spot on my face. I lost a lot of weight when I first went raw and later put it back on. It's just something I'll have to put up with. Although with summer here and wearing skimpy clothes it's not very good timing to get so skinny again. Also I now have some flabby skin on my belly where the fat has gone.
On the positive side, my bum and thighs are shaping up nicely and looking more trim, not an inch of cellulite left and fat deposits on the tops of my thighs have disappeared.
I'll post my food intake on Sunday, which is the end of the week for me.

francis

My height is 174 cms (5'8''), I weigh 61 kilos (same as last week) and my measurements otherwise are as follows:
neck 30.5 cm - 12 inches
bust 86 cm - 34 inches
waist 63 cm - 25 inches (lost a cm!)
abdomen 79 cm - 31 inches (lost 1.4 inches!!!!! In a week?)
hips 88 cm - 34.5 inches I gained a cm here?
upper thigh 49.5 cm (lost an inch!!)
calv (at the biggest part) 35 cm - 13.8 inches
upper arm 25 cm - little less than 10 inches

Front




SIDE



Check out the tummy ripple!!



My diet has been the same fruity breakfasts, sprouts with broccoli and peppers, or some sort of salad at lunch, 5 or 6 fruits as a snack and then for supper I have been sort of cheating and getting vegan falafel- which is half raw!! I buy it from a place where they use tahini sauce, and no french fries or anything like that...

Anyway, this thread seems pretty dead now. Is anyone still doing this with me?
xxpeisi

hey girl just wanted to say no matter what i am watching and cheering your progress on!! take care and you are doing great!!!
love ya girlie
sach
xoxoxoxo

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

Hey peisi,
I was wondering the same thing myself about this thread but I'm still doing the trial and as long as you're still here I'll keep posting as well. I've been really busy this week and I didn't get round to posting my food intake for last week yet and it's late where I am so I'm going to bed now but I promise I'll write a proper post tomorrow

francis

Sorry peisi, I promised to post and then I didn't. I've been ill for the last couple of days, feels like some major detox. I know detox is a word used quite a lot on this board but I can't see what else it could be. I have not been ill for years. My tonsils are swollen and I'm feverish. I tried eating less but that didn't help so now I'm juice fasting and trying to take it easy. I haven't exercised for a couple of days because my muscles are sore.

My food intake for the last two weeks has been pretty much the same as before. Green juices and smoothies and mono eating watermelon, oranges and mango's. I've been able to get hold of loads of delicious, reasonably priced mango's and I've been eating almost nothing else. I haven't felt like eating greens on their own much. I had overt fats once a week only but when I did have them I had quite a lot (I think). One week I ate 3 small avocados in one go and the week after I ate a small durian followed by one avocado. I still can't just eat a little bit of fat. I have been experiencing strong cravings for savoury food. I don't have cravings for cooked food anymore but I craved savoury gourmet raw food.

I was feeling pretty good until I became ill. I think I put on some weight (from eating all those mangoes?) I have been doing my usual excercises, tibetans 14 reps each, jumping on the rebounder for 10 mins a day, walking and cyclying.

Apart from the cravings it's becoming easier to eat low fat and I'm feeling really satisfied on the fruit I'm eating. I've noticed I feel satisfied for longer after eating mono fruit. When I mix things, like in a smoothie, it fills me up but I feel hungry again soon after.

Anyway peisi, like you said, this thread feels pretty dead now. I will continue eating high fruit/low fat for now because it feels good and I want to see what changes it will bring, both physically and mentally. If you don't feel like posting anymore that's ok with me but if you want to carry on I'll go on as well.

Love, francis

hey frannie..well i hope you feel better soon!! that is tough to be so sick..maybe it is some detox stuff?? that is awlays excting haha...
well take care and keep up the good work!!
love earthangel
xoxoxoxox

Much peace and love!!!
EarthAngel
Xoxo

earthangel, you appear as if by magic on every thread where you are needed
Thanks for wishing me well. Yes, this time around detox feels very exciting. I started eating high fruit/low fat because I wanted to improve my health some more and it looks like that's what I'm getting by ridding myself of some crap I was still storing in my body.
Love francis

Frannie, it's great to hear you are detoxing. This is something I aspire to!

I got sick and tired of waiting for my back to get better. It looks like it may be weeks yet. So, I am going to do the 12-week trial anyway. So what, if I can't go to the gym. I will do what I can. Going really low-fat for 12 weeks will help me anyway, especially since I am injured, this should help my recovery. And, I would really love to be in the team with others. So, I am starting today yay!!!

Day 1 (14 June)
red delicious apples (so far)


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Rawgosia, you might want to check out taking Braggs organic raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar for back pain. It helps to relax tense muscles, among many other things that it seems to work for.

It's done wonders for my sciatica, and the pain is virtually gone. I keep waiting for it to come back..like I'm being tricked or something

If you want to read more you can check out my raw diary or the 'other health' forum, or visit bragg.com

Love,
Prism