I used to live with a guy, who went veggie when we moved in together, (he swore it wasn't a compromise, it was an improvement). With me in the kitchen, he was nearly vegan. And without either of us trying to be, we were close to 80% raw. When I left in December, he stayed veggie except when he would see his parents every few months. Then he was seeing a girl who was not veggie, so he slipped into only eating veg alone. He moved to NY, and I've seen him for the first time since I left Oregon. He is trying to stay veg again. But he looks terrible. His skin is pallid, he has that shiny look all the time. And worse, when we were together I was the one dragging along (a depressed lunatic from THE PILL), and he was this marathon-ing exemplar of confidence and health. Now I am awake and happy, enjoying even the crazed 15 hour days I'm doing between student teaching in Brooklyn and classes at night/he's completely destroyed by grad school. It's just firsthand proof (outside ourselves of course!) that--well you know

measure twice, cut once.

"In Watermelon Sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar." ~r.brautigan

I make paintings

- Hey Shaine!

. I don't know if there is a question or if this is just a report

. For some...what constitutes a vegetarian diet is just plain awful:...very heavy on processed chemicals and starches..very little fresh stuff etc...on the other hand people that eat say a macrobiotic diet (which IS healthier then SAD because of leaving out lots of problematic foods) tend to not look healthy themselves because they never quiet give their body a break...and thus are always in some manner of detox...and suppression..thus many folks are guant, have bad skin, very mucusy, have digestive trouble, and without a spirtitual or emotional outlets..can hold on to just as much stress (or MORE if they are paranoid or feeling more deprived then Joe Frenchfries) as the average person etc...

. So without knowing anything about your friend...it could be that his symptoms/results could be not just from doing the wrong things..but doing the right things...yet not all the way...and drawn out..if you catch my drift. Accepting looking unwell and unhealthy...on the path to great health..can be a necessary and important price of admission and acceptance.

Yes. Anaken has a great point/points. The truly responsible 'raw food' person really knows how to consciously regulate one's own detox....and to START from a level of comfort.....and not one of stress....and stretch from there. Additionally, a conscious raw foodist KNOWS that one needs to feel a crisis in one's 'bones' or 'belly' or 'deep-seat of consciousness'. One NEEDS the MOTIVATION of a crisis - just not one that was thrust upon you victim-style.

-If a person asks themselves what they REALLY value.....they can create a man-made, conscious, and positive crisis. It is this MOTIVATION that carries one through the motions......and sits in the belly like a fire. We do not just a shaky/invoked discipline. Just some thoughts to go along with the great comments.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com