My story

[Rawalchemist]

:welcome:to my story...it has many twists, turns and blips along the way so wear comfortable sandals and bring some dates to sustain you:p

Firstly I love being high raw - it feels so right for my whole being.

I am struggling to give up the last of my food addictions though and I think these are holding me back a little.
These foods are; potato crisps (mainly Red Sky/Kettle/Tyrells), wholemeal bread and potatoes.
Has anyone any advice as to how best to rid them from my life? Potatoes will always be there but I am trying to cut down - I LOVE them sooooo!:help:
Anyway, this first part will outline where I am right now and then, when I have time and hubby is not waiting to use the laptop, I shall delve more deeply...look forward to your input you beautiful raw beings of light:peace:

Right now I am about 4 stone too heavy, but have lost that much over the past 6 years. I have gone up and down a stone lately and since last April I have been gradually in transition to high raw. Not lost weight yet as those slip ups keep it firmly in place, but the last month I have increased to 80% of my day being raw and a transition meal at night - I and hubby Ant love a hot meal in the evenings.
I do feel better and have much more energy compared to before but my resolve is tested to keep off those addictions .
I am going to attempt to cure my under active thyroid for which I am on medication and my doctor is in full support of my nutritional decisions.

I question I have - is it possible to get bloating from flax seeds?
my body is hyper-sensitive and today I had 2 small flax crackers - home made- for lunch and afterwards got a bit bloated and sore in the tummy:5392:

I feel better now - 3 hours later - but it made me wonder...

Back later lovely ones ... xxx

[Raw Rob]

I found that the best way to give things up is ... not to try to give them up. Just keep adding new, exciting, interesting raw foods to your diet and eventually the cravings for the crisps, bread and potatoes will go away.

(Although personally I never liked bread so found that very easy to give up, and even though I liked potatoes they were never my favourite food and I found them easy to give up. It was cakes and chocolate which was my downfall, which I have replaced with raw cakes and raw chocolate!)

Rob

[Jax]

Completely agree with you Rob, I've been amazed how much easier it is to shun the poorer food choices after eating more raw and super foods. I think another thing that's helped me is reading about production of processed foods, watching programmes like the Truth About Food, reading books like Shopped and understanding the ethics behind a lot of the mainstream diet.

In relation to your thyroid, I felt I suffered from that too at the time my chiropractor suggested Iodoral, but I never got round to trying it because around the same time I was seeing a nutritionist who said I was sufferring from candida. After reading up a LOT on candida I found that a lot of the symptoms were the same as an under active thyroid! So after working on killing off candida I've found that I don't suffer from those symptoms anywhere near as much.

I'm also wondering if the raising of your blood sugar with the complex carbs is contributing to your 'plateau', have you looked at the Glycaemic Loading of the foods that you are 'hooked' on?? I admit I never thought I could live without bread, but had to learn hard and fast when I was diagnosed with a wheat intolerance (that the nutritionist I saw found not to be a true intolerance) for a long period. I've found that spirulina has levelled out my erratic blood sugar levels, have you ever tried that? David Wolfe's Super Foods book says that in a study subjects took 2.8mg of spiruline 3 times per day, and reduced their weight over 4 wks, I can't say I could actually ingest that much of it, but have definitely found that it staves off hunger for longer for me.

[Rawalchemist]

Thanks Rob, it is a good idea to replace rather than omit I guess. I intend to practice making raw cake very soon. I do like sweet things but savoury is the harder one to work on, although our transition meals always have alot of green veggies in them and I eat 2-3 avocados a day and pig on green smoothie - I just need to handle that weak moment when my eyes meet the crisps in the kitchen (Ant has them for his snacks and I do buy them when my will is weak).

[sharonjones]

hello Rawalchemist! firstly welcome to RawInUk, this place is great!

I agree with Jax in that your addiction to high glycemic carbohydrate rich foods really isnt helping your body to heal itself. thats the bottom line.

My personal journey includes eating high Alkaline and high Raw. it might sound odd but believe me its had an amazing effect on my bodily functions. eating processed carbs reverses the positive effects :(

raising the pH levels of your body would have a natural balancing effect, including weight loss.
eating high percentages of alkaline (cooked and raw)
take sodium bicarbonate at bedtime each night. half a teaspoon with half pint of water. swish around your mouth before swallowing. must be taken at least 3 hours after last meal/snack.

Consider learning to count the carbohydrate contents of your foods. limiting yourself to only eating say 30grams of carbohydrates in any given meal would help you to achieve both weight loss and the all important steady blood sugars and insulin levels.

Regards the flax crackers, I have terrible twisted guts after eating anything dried. this has upset me as i have an expensive Excalibur dehydrator which is redundant right now.

I was more upset as i discovered sweet potatoe crackers in the Excalibur. they were delicious. sniff. sniff.

Hope I've helped you in some way, if you need help with the carbohydrates thing i can pint you in the right direction.

[Rawalchemist]

Hi Jax
well, I do have spirulina every day - about one tablespoon throughout the day when drinking my smoothie. I must agree that nowadays I don't have sugar swings UNLESS I eat those nasty foods. Yesterday for example I had been out on a taster day to launch the chocolate in a new deli - snacked on bites of choccy throughout the day plus 2 naughty coffees and when I got home I had crisps and bread for a snack - totally ruined all the goodness ingested until then - my body responded by having palpitations and feeling very drowsy...that is such a bad combo - caffeine and bread/chips!!!
It's not the first time either - the chips and bread really cause my body to go into shock for 24hrs!

Really need to make yesterday the last day for that!:wave: byebye to it all!!!

The thing is I know what it is that spoils my healing process yet I actively sabotage it:pout:... for me my brain is my worst enemy - all my issues are psychological - and it is taking time to shift old patterns, but it is happening slowly.
Once I realised that I was actually scared of releasing the excess weight there was a positive shift forwards and this week I intend to keep on the right track and now, with a good support (not pantygirdle) from friends and my loved ones who understand more, I can see it becoming easier.

I also find my hunger levels have diminished - I get hungry but not until later in the day and then I have another smoothie and a salad or some chocolate.

I have always been a comfort eater and this is a major hurdle to overcome. After loosing my dad at age 16 (he was 37) I began to eat so many bad things. Then destructive relationships compounded the belief that food was love if you know what I mean.

Now, being very loved and very happy I do still reach for comfort in food but only when alone of an evening, although this is getting less and less, especially when I keep busy:p...old habits are hard to break!

For the first time in my 43 years I can actually see things changing - food is still a focus and a love of mine and indeed Ants and it always will be,but now there is far far less bad stuff and not a fraction of the junk I used to eat before I woke up to both growing my own organic foods and then more recently falling in love with raw.

Next item on my gift list is a spiraliser - so I can create beautiful raw spaghetti - I totally adore courgette and squash and grow a bountiful supply throughout the season - now I get to eat it in so many more ways than cooked or in salad!!!

I have also invested in some mono-atomic trace elements to help put things on a deeper healing level as food is my chosen element to heal not only my life but through the foods I create to help heal others in a subtle way too:hug:

My thyroid function is interesting too and it has finally stabilised and has at the last blood test looked like it is on the turn for the better - not sure if the doctor knows of the link with candidasis but I will make a point of asking next time - thank you XX

[Rawalchemist]

Wow Sharon - please do point me in the right direction regarding the carbs ... I totally agree that they are responsible for being stuck where I am right now. I find it confusing as to what raw foods have complex carbs in them.

Until recently I used to have a fruit smoothie for breakfast with banana, orange etc... but suddenly I switched to green smoothie and have far less fruit now - just an apple and a pear or orange a day.
I do eat lots of berries in the summer though and would miss that terribly.

I too have a dehydrator as I use it to make foods to sell, but I may have to see if I get the same issues from flax krackers in the next day or so as I have so far not had a problem with them.
I know what you mean about the dried foods - they are so easy to take as snacks if going out where we cant find decent food! dilemma!!!

In truth xx

[Jax]

My thyroid function is interesting too and it has finally stabilised and has at the last blood test looked like it is on the turn for the better - not sure if the doctor knows of the link with candidasis but I will make a point of asking next time - thank you XX
LOL don't hold your breath on that, I've read a few books on candida and one quote that I thought was interesting, is that candida is recognised by medical professionals at birth (think babies and thrush in their mouth) and in death (at post morteum stage particularly linked to myocardium infarction).............but not in between!!

[Rawalchemist]

Well, two days since eating bread and crisps and I am alive and well :victory: had a very good day yesterday - although having a soya milk latte was nasty!!!

Not sure I could ever give up our social coffee drinking - but hey, I said I would never stop eating meat a year ago and now I am almost Vegan!

We have started sowing this years early salad and herb crops in pots (rabbits) and some medicinal herbs too. Now need some spinach and chard seeds as I have none left over from last season. Frustrated that I have to wait until later to sow other things...but kale is a love of mine as are all leafy greens.

Today I have had my green smoothie, some hemp chocolate and an almond mylk, goji and pollen mylkshake plus 3 avocados with Himalayan salt. I like to eat very simple foods that are easy to grab or wizz up. This is quite alot for me to eat so early in the day, but for the first time since starting the green smoothies I felt more hungry today:1882:

wont eat anything else now apart from smoothie later then a transition meal for supper...lots of greens, seaweed, garlic, onion, leek and some potato (just a bit).
Now have made a deal to cut spuds to twice a week.
Crisps and bread are OUTDAWINDOW!!!:pirate:
Off to faery festival on Sunday in Kent - making nice raw treats to feed us all...yay...

Love xxx

[Jax]

Well done Rawalchemist!!! :peace::peace::peace::peace: Good work, keep it up http://www.rawinuk.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

I'm the same as you actually, never could imagine a meal without meat! AND couldn't ever imagine not eating bread..........amazing how things can change ;););)

[Rawalchemist]

Corrr it's been a while since I was in here!!! Loads have changed in that space time thingy:party0040:

For the last 30 days I have been on a Eighty Percent Raw online community test program with a lady called Tracy Partridge-Johnson.
She is writing a book about high raw lifestyle and we are participants...very good stuff.

Anyway, as part of the test we had to stick as close to program as possible which basically meant No Dairy, No Grains unless not needing to lose waste, and other stuff like limiting nuts and fruit etc.

So - I have had a month free of all the rest of them addictions of mine:peace:...totally awesome!

I also took a Vegan Pledge with the Vegan Society for another 30 days and am just over half way with this.

When I gave up dairy I was not prepared for the detox that came! Oh boy it was bloomin awful for 3 days!!! Still, I got through no problems and now I am so not going back to having any dairy again...:hand:

I have also kicked coffee - I have had the odd pang when smelling it and miss the sitting socialising thing, but that is so worth being almost pain free in my joints.

No more bread has passed my lips AND white potatoes have been off limits too, as is pasta most 97% of the month!:decision:

I now drink around 6-7 pints of water and 3 pints of green smoothie a day and most evenings are raw too as salads are in abundance now.

The results have made my life so much more enjoyable. Huge energy, mental clarity, focus, love, awareness, like I said - almost no pains, more stamina and just so much happiness!

On Monday I will be going and having a weigh in at the Dr's so that will be the icing on the rawcake if I have shed waste too - I have but not sure how much.

During the last week or so I have slowly reduced the amount of solid foods I eat and for the last 3 days I had a water & chia seed day fast with a meal at night - I did have an avocado if I needed some grounding.
What I felt doing this was intersting - I was not hungry like if I had attempted to fast while eating a SUKD - and did not suffer any weakness and felt generally good really. On day 4 I brought back the smoothies and was ready for them too. I still do not eat much in the day and find this is good. I just drink more - including my litre and a half of GS.

What I am attempting to do is re-program my body/mind to thrive on far fewer calories (around 1500) but still far higher nutrition than I would normally consume so I reach optimum health this year and beyond. Fine tuning and becoming more simplistic most of the time.
I do still love some more complex foods and enjoy making them to share - yummyyummy:708:

[Jax]

WOW good work rawalchemist!!! :first:

I've also taken the vegan pledge, it made so much sense seeing as I was pretty much there anyway, seemed really silly not to bother doing it.

That's quite a detox coming off dairy there then! I haven't ever noticed any detox symptoms but then I've done it really gradually, I stopped consuming animal milk back in about 2004, then worked at cutting down on cheese but has taken a long while to eradicate it completely http://www.rawinuk.com/images/icons/icon11.gif But now it almost makes me sick just thinking about it which I never thought would ever happen!!

[Rawalchemist]

:)Another short update on how things are going on my raw walk through this life...

Well, after 3 months of working through addictions and the rest, I have come to realise that I actually don't really like cooked foods now!
I like the IDEA of them but when I am actually eating them it tastes dreadful, bland, heavy and...dead!!
The only exception was some roast potatoes last week - lovely...but left me feeling very 'in my stomach' - not bloated or over fed but like a ball was in there, of dead energy not able to nourish my body - has anyone else had similar experiences??:confused2:

All the raw foods I make and eat feel amazing and really 'feed' me deeply and the taste and texture cannot be found in cooked foods.

After and month on the Vegan Pledge I ate some smoked salmon and scrambled eggs tonight - bloody awful salty nastiness!!! felt absolutely **** after that:(...so -no more fish for me!!:peace:

I made it ALL better though by eating some lovely raw chocolate ganache cake we made yesterday:decision:

[Rawalchemist]

:wave: Hello again...ages since I updated things here as life has been a big long ride as usual.
I thought it time to pop in and refresh :bump2:and generally babble a little about what has been going on.
Well, since my last diary post I have had some ups and downs with food which is normal I guess. :smow: Winter is now well with us and we have loved the recent snow over the holidays, taking in the clean landscape with nice walks and looking after the birds.
I thought I would really go back to eating more cooked foods with all the cold weather but, I have actually UPPED my raw to 90%, often 100% since the 1st of January! :peace:
This came about from having a couple of months of intense experimentation with 'life'...In late October I was offered the chance to run a coffee lounge/cafe in a building that also has a therapy suite and FairTrade store selling goods from India, Tibet, Nepal and Afganistan...I gave it a go and did enjoy most of it, but in the end it became clear that running that plus my Raw Alchemy business as well as looking after my father-in-law who has terminal cancer, and husband, animals and home, that it was just TOO much :bored: ...
Multi-tasking became almost break point and the cafe had to go!
So, now I have a much more peaceful life again on the whole and can concentrate on all the other elements much better than being so stretched.
Over the holidays Ant and I really relaxed, spent time at the hospital with dad, ate lightly and well, had more time together than ever and it gave us time to see what we wanted to do.
For me it was to really get into the raw much deeper, to begin showing it works...as I wish to share the benefits of being raw I really ought to prove it does what it says :decision:.
Just before Christmas I bought David Wolfe's Sunfood diet Success System and this has become my 'work in progress', I now keep a journal in the form of a Blog on Blogger... The Alchemists Kitchen...which also needs updating. I am also taking monthly pictures of my progress to keep me motivated and show the changes happening.
I have begun a Juice Cleanse which after a week has made me feel wonderful, so I shall continue with liquids and a 100% raw diet for at least the rest of the month...tonight we has some cauliflower and broccoli soup which although was cooked (Ant is not raw) was light and warm and nourishing after 7 days juicing. I intend to alternate days between one day juicing and one day smoothies, with some evening meals of green salads or soup depending on how I feel, so alternating between 100% - 90% raw...this feels a good balance for me at the moment.
I have also been working on the Sunfood Triangle concept, rather similar to the 80-10-10 concept.
As I am releasing waste and still have around 26lbs to go I set my level at 48% Green Leafy Veggies 48% Non sweet and sweet fruits 4% Fats.
Nuts and most seeds are out for me, and to be honest I do not want them or any other heavy foods. No dehydrated foods either, just do not want them.
I derive my fats from avocados, olive oil and a small amount of cacao if we feel like it, and some coconut butter.
Salads contain primarily greens like watercress, spinach, rocket, kale, herbs, with seaweeds, goji berries, raisins, hemp seeds, tamari, olive oil, mushrooms, garlic, onion, chilli, cucumber, tomato, pepper and olives with avocado too.
Needless to say I am getting through a huge amount of greens to juice every day... :5179:
To add to my intake I drink lots of herbal tea, water and some water kefir, and I have not had any real hunger to speak of, nor any light headedness.
One day of detoxing on day two was all the discomfort so far.
I am really looking forward to seeing what the rest of the month holds and if it is all good then February will see the same for me...lots of changes coming.

I have also sorted out the first half of the years workshop dates and posted them on my FaceBook page.
The first one is my Raw Food Basics class on 30th Jan
Every other month I hold a Sacred Foods retreat ~ a day of journeying with raw cacao and sharing the basics of making chocolate, elixirs and fortifying drinks.
So, 2011 seems to be off on a good footing...may we all share lots and love more :peace:

Shanti
Dawn xx

[Jax]

LOL I can update you too http://www.rawinuk.com/images/icons/icon12.gif that vegan pledge thing went on a lot further than I thought it might as I am still vegan :victory:

Was wondering if you have talked to your FIL about raw foods at all?

[Rawalchemist]

Is the FIL the person who was there to help on the pledge? Is so then yes we did talk about raw, quite alot, and she was very interested in how it could be of help to her...not sure she kept up on the experimenting but she did have a go...we are friends on Facebook now too so keep in touch when she gets time to pop on and sometimes mail each other.

I am still not going to ever be fully vegan as I do occasionally eat eggs and take raw honey daily, but apart from that I have made huge changes...
What fabulous adventures we have xxx

[Jax]

LOL no sorry, it's short for Father-in-Law http://www.rawinuk.com/images/icons/icon11.gif I'm so used to forum speak (http://www.rawinuk.com/showthread.php?t=344), I apologise!

But talking about the vegan pledge, I emailed my mentor and never got any communication back ever, so have plodded on on my own :noidea::(

[skincarebyalana]

i love it . thats really help full community for finding such a gud places for eating