Hey everyone!

You'd think that being a northern girl, the cold wouldn't phase me... But it does... The last few months, I have had a work-injury that has put my back out, making it almost impossible for me to move... I have stopped drinking tea, so without movement and heat from the tea, I feel freezing all the time.

It is making raw very difficult for me.
I was just hoping for some words of encouragement, advice on how the hundies stay 100% during the winter? You guys got any tricks?

I have been eating very strong painkillers that make me very nautious (they have a lot of codeine in them). I am really against taking these kinds of painkillers, but I am at a loss of what to do to help my back feel better.

Lots of pain makes me have lots of cravings for:
roasted bread, warm soups/pasta... Comfort stuff, really...

So any and all advice is welcome!!
I have not forgotten my life's goals, but sometimes it is hard to stay on track... Especially during swedish winter.
xxpeisi

~I've tasted of the fruit,
it's opened up my eyes...~
-Infected Mushroom

A lot of people say that using lots of cayenne and ginger helps warm you up. I don't find it particularly effective, but hey, maybe it'll work for you. Me, I just spend a lot of time in front of the fireplace!

Very small tips:

1) Don't focus on the things you CAN'T do. Brainstorm and make a short list of the exercises and stretches you CAN do to improve your back....even if they are very small. Getting off pain-killers and out of crisis is your main focus....setting you free to set larger goals.

-The only way to avoid temptation....is for you to have more laser-goals......that REQUIRE fresh, raw plant foods......and use THAT goal as your daily motivation and drive. That does not stop temptation....but rather makes temptation fuel to do the RIGHT thing.

-Just some thoughts / opinions.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

From a book called "Raw Foods Bible" by Craig B. SOmmers, N.D., C.N.

"For the benefit of those people who wish to stay warm on cold days"

Basil, burdock root cabbage, cshew, collard greens, cauliflower, cherry, chestnut, chili pepper, cinnamon, cloves, coconut meat, dill, fennel, garlic, honey, dumquat, mustard greens, nutmeg, nuts, oats, onion, papaya, parsley, parsnip, pecans (very warming), quinoa, rice, rosemary, rutabaga, seeds, vinegar, walnut, wasagi, watercress, wild rice

for your back peisi .. if you put some cold on it (yea i know thats the last thing you want to hear lol) for 2 minutes then a hot water bottle or heating pad for 20 minutes .. keep alternating like 4 or 5 times .. a couple of times a day .. 2 min 20 min 2 min 20 min .. this will help your back .. also nice warm baths ..

in the winter i have at times up to 6 baths a day if i feel i need to warm up i could single handedly corner the bubblebath market if i still used bubblebath lol

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

If you are not moving around, because of your injury, you are losing your body's main source of heat generation: muscular activity. This is why people automatically start shivering when it is cold: the rapid muscular contractions of shivering help generate heat! Since you are lying there not moving much,your body's ability to cope with cold is greatly compromised.

As suggested above, try doing whatever exercise you CAN do, to help generate heat. This will help keep your overall fitness from deteriorating too much, too, and will actually help generate healing factors (anabolism) within the body (the same principle that causes weightlifters to get bigger and stronger muscles when resting after workouts).

As for ginger and cayenne, they will give you the feeling or illusion of heat, but they will also produce sweat, which ultimately cools the body more. This is why spicy-hot cuisines are most typical of hot climates (Spain, much of Africa, India, Thailang, etc...), It may help you feel warmer for a short time, but Deegarry's list looks like a much better overall approach.

There are excellent books around about dealing with back pain. Some of the best treatments actually involve movement, but only certain types at certain times, usually not during the most acutely-painful times. Gentle hands-on massage, or even just resting hands against the affected area, can help. Acupuncture can often help, if you have a GOOD practitioner near you.

I've never had severe back pain,just a couple twinges after overstrain-level activity, but that was enough to gain a sense of what it must be like. My father suffered from it for years, and my wife used to have frequent back pain. At one point, after five days of such severe nerve-pinch pain that she lost all feeling in her legs as the nerve began to die, the doctors hospitalized her and injected cortisone into the spinal disks. I hated to see that done, but the choice was either that or a lifetime spent in a wheelchair from permanently dead nerves. After that, she did physical therapy and took up yoga. Today she can go up to several years at a time without pain, the pain only returning when she is relatively out of shape, very tired, and under a lot of stress (all three seem to have to be present at the same time), and even then the pain is nothing remotely like what she used to suffer. So there is hope of recovery, no matter how much pain you may be feeling now.


Go as easy as you can on the codeine medication. I took it years ago for blocked glands, and eventually took so much my whole body went almost completely numb... except for the two wells of intense pain that were the blocked glands! At such levels it can be highly addictive, too, so take it while you really need it, but not any longer than that.

Good luck; I hope you feel better, soon. Know that YOU CAN FEEL BETTER, AND SOON -- always remember that, and stay as relaxed as you can, except for the deliberate tension of doing whatever exercise you can.

I've been feeling rather depressed lately. My resent loss of work hasn't helped any. But its also the start of winter, and its very dark, wet and rather cool most of the day. I think its the grey and the dampness that gets me the most. Its really negatively affected my mood.

Any advice on that would be great as well.

I found that I have been feeling rather cold alot, especially in my hands. I have been eating some cooked foods, and even some non-vegan foods. I am really suprised that I don't seem to feel that different. Last winter, I felt quite a bit different with the addition of cooked foods. I don't know what has changed.

I started taking some b12 and vitamin D caps, just started today. I am hoping these will help my mood. Its too early to tell if its going to do anything. I think the vitamin d helped me get through the winter last year. I did feel a little less depressed. This year I am starting a little earlier, hoping that I can catch the cycle at the start.

I want to do some meditation. i realized that one can obtain energy from the universe, as whats suggested in qi gong. Any good suggestions for warming, energy, and mood for the winter?


I believe that there are a number of qi gong exercises which greatly help the back. Kidney exercises for lower back, and perhaps some other ones for upper back and neck.

Other than getting the fat soluble nutrients, intense exercise and morning meditation are probably the best way to combat seasonal affective disorder. Also, just force yourself to get out and *enjoy* the cold.

warm, not boiling water to heat you up,
or a nice sauna.

Hi Milsu,

Clapping hands is a very simple version of Qi-gong. If you are interested, please take a glance at this:

[www.rawfoodsupport.com]

I think that if you are feeling depressed, maybe it's time for you to look at religion. Just my opinions. =)

All the Best,
Wong