Fran N.

Birthday:
5/19/43

Submitted: 9/8/07        Modified: 9/8/07

How long have you been a rawfooder: 4 years, 7 months

Your current percent raw: 100%        How long: 4 years, 7 months

Your goals -- why you're on a raw food diet: I have been raw three separate times in my life. The first time, I was in my 20's and was raw for a year. I went raw then after recovering from a nasty case of pneumonia. Someone told me about colonic irrigations and gave me Walkers, "Become Younger." I wanted to regain some control over my life and so choose this healthy path. I stayed on it because I felt so good. Unfortunately, I quit after a year. This time, I went raw when a doctor told me I had Hep C and he wanted to put me on interferon therapy, which, if you know anything about that, it's a grueling regimen. I remembered what raw food had done for me in the past and I decided, then and there, I was going to be raw from now on. When the doctors did a biopsy of my liver, two months after I started, they told me I didn't need interferon after all.

What you like about a raw food diet: I like the fact that it's the only truly natural way of eating. I hate the idea of garbage rotting in my colon which is what you get from a S.A.D. diet. (I knew all this the whole time I was eating SAD after that first year raw. I just tried not to think about it.) I am really happy to be back on track. I lost 70 pounds, look younger all the time and have the energy of a teenager. My skin is soft to the touch and I know I am expressing self-love in one of the most effective ways possible.

What you haven't liked about a raw food diet: I don't like the restrictions imposed by being raw in a cooked world. I am really glad there are now raw food restaurants around so I can eat out without just going to a regular place and getting the eternal salad. I hope there will soon be a raw restaurant on every street. I sometimes feel sad when people eat something that looks appetizing in front of me which is not raw so I can't partake. But, when I see all my friends developing health problems, I know I'm doing the right thing.

What you would have done differently: Stayed raw when I did it the first time. But what good is 20-20 hindsight.

Your tools for dealing with cravings and with feeling deprived: Thank gods for gourmet raw. That helps a lot. It contributes to the variety of a raw diet. I can now satisfy some of my cravings by eating raw pizza and other yummie recipes. Sometimes, I have a craving I can't satisfy that way, like a craving for Southern Fried Chicken or pork chops. (Yes, I was a very decadant eater when I was cooked.) I deal with those cravings by just letting them pass through me. They are temporary. They will pass. But, if I eat the things I crave, they will become part of me and I won't let that happen.

WebSites:
http://homepage.mac.com/kia
http://homepage.mac.com/kia/rawnav.html

Submitted: 5/6/07        Modified: 5/6/07

How long have you been a rawfooder: 4 years with an 8 month reversal

Your current percent raw: high raw (90%-100%)        How long: 1year this high

Your goals -- why you're on a raw food diet: My body won't let me go back at this point. It seems to know better than the neuroses and addictions that have recently caused me to cheat. and get a nasty sinus infection.

What you like about a raw food diet: Getting indications of what a truly healthy body in harmony with Nature really feels like. How good the chard I just harvested from my tiny raised bed garden tasted with a little olive oil lemon juice and pine nuts. How clear my skin is.

What you haven't liked about a raw food diet: The social stigma. None of my friends are raw, most are not even vegetarian. Workplace luncheon events are always, oh, but what about Christine, she doesn't eat anything.

What you would have done differently: I would have been better educated when I started with a network and stuck to 100%.

Your tools for dealing with cravings and with feeling deprived: I have a lot of trouble with this. Recognizing that my body does not have cravings for cooked food; it is just my addictive personality. My body is perfectly happy having a huge salad for lunch every day.... I also have found that some things recommended by "raw food leaders" do not work for me. One jar of Raw cocoa powder, and I had to deal with a chocolate addiction, plus caffeine again. :)

Christine B.

Birthday:
11/25/49

Vicki G.

Birthday:
1/7/43

Submitted: 9/5/07        Modified: 9/9/07

How long have you been a rawfooder: 4 years

Your current percent raw: amost all raw        How long: 3years

Your goals -- why you're on a raw food diet: I feel better, bit by bit, it helps a chronic disease that doctors have no cure or good methods of treatment. There is no comparison between eating raw/vegan and a lifeless cooked diet. The raw gives me energy, the cooked takes away energy. My goal is to one day at a time continue to eat mostly raw vegan for the rest of my life.

What you like about a raw food diet: It is wonderful for spiritual practice that integrates living on this earth in harmony with plants, animals etc. I feel lighter in my body. Even though I am just one person, I am glad I am not harming animals for food. More and more people are interested in raw foods lately. This is good.

What you haven't liked about a raw food diet: My family and friends used to eat the same way as me and we enjoyed the cooked foods at restaurants and in their homes. The social thing of turning down all these foods is hard. However I don't get the illnesses they get when they eat these foods. It takes a lot of discipline but it is well worth it. Family gatherings are hard but my mother in law now brings some raw foods. Salads can get boring after awhile, I have health limitations on what I can eat, even raw.

What you would have done differently: Absolutely nothing. Easing into the raw foods diet and taking it from there makes a difference. I might have eliminated processed sugar earlier but I wasn't ready and I'm afraid it would cause me to eat more cooked foods.

Your tools for dealing with cravings and with feeling deprived: I tried just going ahead and giving into my cravings once in awhile but it didn't work.. It was the processed sugar things that would get to me like gourmet ice cream. Now I realize how horrible processed sugar makes me feel and I no longer eat these things. I deal with the cravings by reminding myself where I was when I ate foods that were bad for me, for instance allergy asthma which no longer is a problem.

WebSites:
http://homepage.mac.com/chirper
http://homepage.mac.com/chirper/raw.html

Submitted: 5/14/07        Modified: 5/14/07

How long have you been a rawfooder: 4.5 years

Your current percent raw: 99        How long: 4.5 years

Your goals -- why you're on a raw food diet: To be in true harmony with the earth and with my highest expression on the earth, even when that seems to be different from the apparent flow. To deepen my connection with plants and to share that knowledge and the fruits of it. To choose the foods to put into my body that best support these goals

What you like about a raw food diet: Eating seasonally Growing, harvesting, foraging, concocting and SHARING food! Easy prep/cleanup (or none at all) Analogously simple prep/cleanup inside the body

What you haven't liked about a raw food diet: Nothing that I haven't liked has been to do with the food per se: what I have disliked has been the obsessiveness and opinionated 'my way or the highway' attitude that seems rife amongst some rawfooders, together with the perfectionism and 'all or nothing' thinking that it seems to attract. The lack of quality produce in many places saddens me, as does the produce-phobia exhibited in many airports and other places and people in the world.

What you would have done differently: Eaten more durian!

Your tools for dealing with cravings and with feeling deprived: What is my body telling me when it craves something? Often, it is a very precise need with its own taste signature - durian, noni, papaya, celery, purslane, honey, bee pollen... These are physical communications from my body that I must honor. If my tastebuds get thrown off/confused by something dry and salty, leading to cravings for more dry/salty things, discrimination comes in, the recognition that this is what is going on. Deep breathing and water help, as does simply having another raw cracker on occasion (so long as it doesn't feel like it will be detrimental). I don't feel deprived because I am constantly surrounded by bounty.

Ela H.

Fran N.

Birthday:
5/19/43

Submitted: 9/8/07        Modified: 9/8/07

How long have you been a rawfooder: 4 years, 7 months

Your current percent raw: 100%        How long: 4 years, 7 months

Your goals -- why you're on a raw food diet: I have been raw three separate times in my life. The first time, I was in my 20's and was raw for a year. I went raw then after recovering from a nasty case of pneumonia. Someone told me about colonic irrigations and gave me Walkers, "Become Younger." I wanted to regain some control over my life and so choose this healthy path. I stayed on it because I felt so good. Unfortunately, I quit after a year. This time, I went raw when a doctor told me I had Hep C and he wanted to put me on interferon therapy, which, if you know anything about that, it's a grueling regimen. I remembered what raw food had done for me in the past and I decided, then and there, I was going to be raw from now on. When the doctors did a biopsy of my liver, two months after I started, they told me I didn't need interferon after all.

What you like about a raw food diet: I like the fact that it's the only truly natural way of eating. I hate the idea of garbage rotting in my colon which is what you get from a S.A.D. diet. (I knew all this the whole time I was eating SAD after that first year raw. I just tried not to think about it.) I am really happy to be back on track. I lost 70 pounds, look younger all the time and have the energy of a teenager. My skin is soft to the touch and I know I am expressing self-love in one of the most effective ways possible.

What you haven't liked about a raw food diet: I don't like the restrictions imposed by being raw in a cooked world. I am really glad there are now raw food restaurants around so I can eat out without just going to a regular place and getting the eternal salad. I hope there will soon be a raw restaurant on every street. I sometimes feel sad when people eat something that looks appetizing in front of me which is not raw so I can't partake. But, when I see all my friends developing health problems, I know I'm doing the right thing.

What you would have done differently: Stayed raw when I did it the first time. But what good is 20-20 hindsight.

Your tools for dealing with cravings and with feeling deprived: Thank gods for gourmet raw. That helps a lot. It contributes to the variety of a raw diet. I can now satisfy some of my cravings by eating raw pizza and other yummie recipes. Sometimes, I have a craving I can't satisfy that way, like a craving for Southern Fried Chicken or pork chops. (Yes, I was a very decadant eater when I was cooked.) I deal with those cravings by just letting them pass through me. They are temporary. They will pass. But, if I eat the things I crave, they will become part of me and I won't let that happen.

WebSites:
http://homepage.mac.com/kia
http://homepage.mac.com/kia/rawnav.html

Submitted: 5/5/07        Modified: 5/16/07

How long have you been a rawfooder: About seven years.

Your current percent raw: 100%.        How long: 95%+ last 3-1/2 years.

Your goals -- why you're on a raw food diet: I felt like I was dying on a standard convenience food diet. I got to the point where I did not feel well, did not feel right, any of the time.

What you like about a raw food diet: I like feeling great. I like feeling physically fantastic almost all of the time. I like how quickly my body heals and repairs itself. I like how much energy I have for exercise and being active. I like having a consistent energy level. I like having a clear head. I like being able to hear my own thoughts. I don't have to meditate as much; my energy seems to run better naturally. I like not having to chase food cravings, but instead just eating what I know is good for me, or what I know my body wants. Life is simpler.

What you haven't liked about a raw food diet: Feeling hungry, feeling too light. Having my emotions suddenly not hidden without having been trained how to handle emotions. Going through an identity crisis because a cooked reality never prepared me for my true identity or any other truth.

What you would have done differently: I would have skipped a lot of the cooked vegan phase during my transition to raw. I didn't really find it satisfying and I experienced a lot of feelings of deprivation which led me to eat a lot of junk food. I found a cooked omnivore diet to be more pleasing to the senses and to be more nutritious than a poor vegan one. I found a lot of dryness in a cooked vegan diet. Raw food has wetness, beauty, color, flavor and sensuality. I also would have eaten a lot more raw food in the beginning. I just didn't realize at the time how much raw food it took to get satisfied.

Your tools for dealing with cravings and with feeling deprived: Being surrounded by supportive people. Having plenty of good food around. Getting enough calories. Getting enough nutrition, as in greens, spirulina and a small amount of nuts and seeds. Avoiding foods that stimulate cravings, like garlic, when I know I'm in an emotionally sensitive state. Trying not to confuse eating for entertainment with eating for health, nutrition or life.

WebSites:
http://www.sunfiredlife.com/
http://www.geocities.com/by225/

Ben Y.

Birthday:
8/2/64