great posts Lee!

bracken,

As you get advice from people here, please do not use this to beat yourself up. I've been eating raw now for over 6 years, and at 100% raw for over 5 and a half years. When I first started raw, I was eating 80% fat. I did this for 10 months, and then I heard Doug Graham speak. At the time, I had no idea how much fat I was eating, because I only knew the relative volume of fat, and to me I thought my fat intake was low (volume wise, it was probably 5 percent of the volume of the food I ate). So after hearing Doug speak, I measured my fat intake using fitday, and discovered it was 80% or higher.

So I lowered my fat intake to 10%. At first, I could do it, but it felt like I really was exerting a lot of control to do this. I did the control thing for a few months, and then I realized I wasn't happy living with that much control. So I let up on the control, and let my fat intake go up to 20%, and life got much easier. 2 years after that, I found my desires for fat just melted away without me doing anything about it, and I found my fat intake to be under 10%. And now, years later, I spend much of the year eating at a level of 5%.

So when I started, 10% was too hard for me, given my internal desires and preferences for food and fat. However, it was easy to not be 80%. And in fact, 20% was quite doable for me.

At 20% fat, I was able to eat all the fruit I wanted without any sugar problems. And, what I noticed is that when I ate fatty meals, I could feel the difference in my digestion and my energy levels from when I ate meals with fat, and when I ate non-fat meals. The more I noticed this energy difference, the more I liked the non-fat meals, and the longer the amount of time was between the fatty meals.

Whatever you choose to eat, always pay attention to how you feel after the meal, and the cost/benefit of the way you are doing it. If the cost of a meal (reduced health, not feeling well) is high enough, you'll naturally want to shift to a healthier eating pattern, and this will be painless and require no control.

Also, beating yourself up (or judging yourself) is totally optional. What I find for myself is that when I judge myself for something that didn't work, this prevents me from getting the lesson of my mistake, because all I feel is the pain of judgment, and not the pain of the way I did it. For me, I find the real shift comes when I don't judge, and when I can feel the consequences of my actions. Judging does not prevent undesirable habits from happening, but rather encourages their long life.

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Lee,

I may be a new person to eating raw and this forum but I believe 100% in what you said above. Both posts make incredible sense. All of us are NOT defined as "widgets" that can be neatly placed in the same size box! Eloquently stated, sir.

Of special note: "I'm doing the best I can, taking in a fair amount of information, listening, learning, discerning"...

Here here!!!!

David

Good post lee makes alot of sense, & cheers Bryan for your help I'm used to beating my self up, in the respect that I don't want to fail at anything, but you are right it does not get myself anywhere just made me cry all day, i'm a right plum eh! need to get things into prospetive & you just helped me do that Cheers!

you guys hit home lee & coco. Currently I'm breastfeeding a big hungry baby, so I apply no restrictions with my vegan raw diet. lots of fat, protein, whatever! as long as its vegan & raw. But in a few months that will change, he won't be needing so much of mamas milk. and I'll switch to whatever my body needs in its current situation. so i agree that saying every person needs the same thing everyday is doodoo.

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2007 06:06AM by greengrl.

i'm currently breastfeeding a big hungry baby too! isn't it lovely?

i want that tshirt that says

i make milk
what's your super power?

ha hah a ha hahaaaaha!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2007 01:32PM by coco.

Greengrl wrote: "i agree that saying every person needs the same thing everyday is doodoo."

Well, I'm sure the above was meant for me, Greengrl. (Gosh I wish people would use their real names. What are they hiding from? But I digress.) I've done my best to ignore the other barbs that were flung my direction, but that doesn't seem to be working. It seems like everytime I state obvious, self-evident, universal laws -- like that there is an ideal diet for every species on earth and similar species are supposed to eat similar foods -- people who are unfamiliar with this information accuse me of saying "every person needs the same thing everyday".

I realize a lot of what I say runs counter to what we've all been taught by our parents, teachers, raw gurus and so called health practitioners. Some people have heard so much of this 'new' information that they are ready to hear the full truth. That same info can be scary to people who are just starting out. The solution for somebody like me isn't to hold back because the info might frighten newbies. I think it's far better to share what I know, even though many hearing it won't make use of it. The kind of information I like to discuss really isn't being talked about very much, but it is very important for those who are ready for it to be able to acquire it. If somebody more knowledgeable than me hadn't shown me the way, I'd still be struggling.

If a person reacts negatively to anything that is stated here, it's an opportunity for that person to examine why what can easily be rationalized as somebody else's opinion is making him/her feel bad. Flinging insults might make the bad feelings feel better, but it isn't the answer.

People need to eat what they need to eat for their stage of transition. There, I've said it one more time.

Nora
www.RawSchool.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2007 02:55PM by rawnora.

rawnora Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> (Gosh I wish people would use their real
> names. What are they hiding from? But I
> digress.)

because of forum restrictions .. there is probably 10 michaels on this site but only 1 michael can have the name michael .. therefore people make up nicknames , that doesnt mean they are hiding from anything

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Thanks, Jodi. I didn't think of that. But they can still sign their real name to their posts and be a real person, and treat people like they would if they were talking to them in person. You do those things. I think there's more to it. I've noticed that people behave differently when they're anonymous, and the difference is not good.

Best regards,
Nora
www.RawSchool.com

Nora there are lots of reasons to not use our real names.

Maybe some of us have a playful side and it's lots of fun for some of us to express wishes and dreams and new identities and new directions and who knows what else! Anonymity also allows us to express parts of ourselves that may be needing exposure but that we have felt the need to suppress in our daily lives.

These hidden parts of ourselves are just as valid as the visible ones.

I like the great names here - every single one, from the straightforward to the fantastical.

I don't yet speak much Portuguese and I don't eat much raw coconut anymore, but I still love the name my Brazilian beau chose for me: aquadecoco.

never mind that my real name is unpronouncable to most without so. many. instructions!

you can call me by my last name, it's a bit easier.. it's Joy. how's that.
as for signatures (no offence to anyone, this is just a personal preferance) i find all but the basic ones (like just a name) HIGHLY distracting. i have to train my eye to NOT see them. on forums where there is the option to not view pictures, avatars, signatures and extra stuff i always go with that. it's hard for me to follow the conversation when there is so much stuff littering the page.

also, every post starts off with your screen name, it's not like you don't know who's saying what.

where's that "what does your user name mean" thread?

>I want so much to be like everyone
> else here eating raw & healthy & happy. I'm not
> giving up I just need to find the right balance
> for me.

Bracken,

Please do not believe that everyone on this board is eating raw, healthy, and/or happy! There are many people on here who are trying to recover from diseases, syndromes, and disorders. There are many people who are trying to transition into a 100% raw food diet or are trying to find the right balance for them, whether it be percentage of raw food fat/carb/protein intake or percentage of raw to cooked food. Even if someone is 100% raw, it does not mean that they are happy. It is not a cure-all like some people suggest it to be. Besides the physical aspect, there are many emotional, mental, and social components as well. Please be gentle with yourself as you find what works for your body and mind. So many people, including myself, are trying to find what works for them as well. That's why this message board is so great...you can connect with others who will support you on your journey. =)

Thankyou lotusblossom9 for your post, over the past few days I have been learning alot, and realising not to be hard on myself anymore, the only touble with me I have always wanted things NOW! and not wait and bulid up to it.
Which comes back to the ED I wasted so many years on it,it has always felt since recovering a BIG chunk of my life is missing, a decade to be exact! it seem I'm always in a rush to do all I can, as I felt you never know how much time you have in this life time, & I did not want to waste time anymore ( if that makes sense)
But I realise that that is going to make me unhappy in the long run, I can't rush things, I will get to where I want to be in time, like you say it is a journey, a journey in which I will learn a great deal, and is what I am doing now.

Thankyou all so much!

Bryan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One doesn't need insoluble fiber in their diet,
> For people with challenged digestive systems,
> insoluble fiber can be a problem. The fiber we
> want is soluble fiber, which is found in abundance
> in fresh fruits and vegetables.
-------------------------------------------------------

This is interesting . . .
So essentially someone with digestive issues(normally these people have a tough time with nuts, seeds and greens) insoluble fiber can be avoided and they can still be a raw foodist. Fruitarian would be a closer fit then I'd imagine??

Nora, I think what you said made a lot of sense. And I agree about how tastes for certain transition foods just fade away. My favorite raw treat used to be raw olives and now I can't stand them. But I think they were great as a transition food, much better than a hfcs laden candy bar, right?

I loved what you had to say too, Bryan. I always enjoy your very knowledgeable posts. A lot of the information we read out there is really geared for the cooked food eating public, isn't it?

As my daughter says: Eat raw - do what feels real! (she admires my raw vegan eating, but is eating vegetarian herself right now)

I like flax oil better in salads. I can't digest the little seeds. I have to take it easy on the flax oil tho, because it's very cleansing & leaves me literally hollow, if I overdo it.