This is a page for raw stories, anybody who would like to
share
their story, just e-mail us:
CONTACT
Jinjee's Raw Story
Me, before, at 24 years old, in 1992, at 180 lbs.
  
I LOVE food! My Father was a
Hungarian-Jew and raised me on rich deli food. I teethed on Hungarian
sausage, fattened on cold cuts, cheeses, Westfalian ham, lox, cream
cheese, Swiss chocolate and German nougat! When I was 15 I started my
battle with weight and overeating, a battle that raged continuously for
11 years! Every day of my life I promised myself that "tomorrow" I would
control my eating, and I meant it. But no matter how hard or
consistently I tried I wasn't able to overcome my eating problem. I
prayed, meditated, and worked out furiously. The workouts helped
somewhat with my weight during the year or two that I went to the gym
daily. But by then I had also become a complete junk food junkie. I ate
chocolate bars every day! I was a big fan of milkshakes, ice cream,
pizza, nachos and cheese, bagels, pastries, chips, burgers and fries,
chocolate chip cookies, anything with meat sauce, and quite simply
anything that tasted good!
Looking back in my journals they are filled with the normal and not so
normal events of growing up, but the common thread that runs through
each entry over the years is my battle with food. One day I'd tell
myself that tomorrow I'd eat no sugar, the next day that I'd eat only 3
meals a day, or that this month I'd loose 5 pounds, 10 pounds, 15
pounds, that I'd stick to a certain meal-plan, or try a new diet I'd
read about. But nothing worked. My skin began to break out. I tried
cutting out chocolate but it didn't help. My face was starting to scar
up, ravaged by junk food. My Father, who was overweight and a very
disciplined concert pianist, told me to give up, that I was going to
drive myself around the bend. But this only made me more determined to
win this battle. I was going to vanquish the forces within me that
sought my destruction.
 
After, at 34 years old, in 2001,
after three babies, at 135 lbs.
Pursuing a music career at 25 I enrolled in College in Santa Barbara
California. I was 180 lbs., my heaviest ever, at 5'9", and young and
free. Storm (now also known as "Nutman") was also in the music program
and we met in the practice rooms and started playing music together. I
noticed there was something special about him, an energy, - he glowed.
He was very lean, very muscular, very athletic. He was captain of the
fencing team and he was on crew, and also took jazz dance and tennis.
Later I also discovered he was a martial artist, sailor, and
mountain-climber. Although he wasn't on the track team, he spent a lot
of time at the track and would often work out with the college's top
track athletes.
I was stunned and appalled when I learned that this man, who I thought
was in his 20's, was 47 years old! He never talked about his diet, but I
noticed he often walked around with a bottle of water. When we started
spending more time together playing music and hiking in the mountains, I
observed that when he ate, it was usually plain shepherds salad,
sprouts, or grapes that he got at the Farmers Markets, which were large
gatherings of farmers who sold their produce twice a week in stalls on
State Street in downtown Santa Barbara. It was there that I discovered
the joys of fresh organic avocados, tomatoes, sprouted humus, fresh
squeezed orange juice, dried apricots, raisins, pecans, almonds, pumpkin
seeds, guava pineapples, strawberries, bananas, smoothies, wheatgrass
juice, seaweed, melons, peaches, sprouts and Tom Shepherd's delicious
pre-washed salad mix that I could eat right out of the bag. I was caught
up in the sensuality of eating these foods uncooked, in their natural
fresh state. And I suddenly found myself rarely eating anything else.
Between Santa Barbara and surrounding areas Goleta, Montecito, and
Carpenteria, there was a Farmer's Market nearly every day of the week!
 
I was
feeling really good and loosing weight, but then I started to get sick.
Very sick. I developed a killer migraine, and I had a flu that wouldn't
go away. One night, at the worst point of all this, I was vomiting,
shaking and very frightened. I thought I might be dying. I called Storm.
He asked several questions about my condition and then explained that I
was going through a de-toxification of my system. Because I had stopped
putting junk food into my body, my system was finally able to begin
cleaning house. He said I could slow down the detox process if I ate
some rice. But now that I knew what was going on I didn't feel as
afraid. I was still a little unsure of the safety of this way of eating.
I worried about becoming anorexic and about getting all the nutrients a
body needs. But I decided I'd rather die than go back to my former
battle. So I kept to my new habit of eating all-live foods.
And then, after a few weeks, something happened! It was like I had
passed through some invisible barrier, and had come out on the other
side! I felt like my body had been born again. I had reached a level of
health that I had never felt before. I was tingling. I was completely in
touch with the sensuous universe. Colors, sounds, leaves, smells,
thoughts, every vibration had a profound effect on me. I was very clear,
very aware, very at peace, very energized. I relished just moving, just
breathing. I felt so thankful for each moment of being alive in this
incredible living and vital body. The pleasure of it was so intense that
the cravings that would soon resurface had very little power. The
pleasure of junk food was incredibly small in comparison to the pleasure
of my new sense of being truly healthy. I was glowing and high with
energy. I was floating on air, walking 10 feel above the ground, running
effortlessly up mountains, swimming across lakes, things I'd never
dreamed of!
I had gone from eating whatever I wanted to living on a diet consisting
exclusively of raw fresh organic vegetation! I still ate large
quantities of food and enjoyed eating as much as ever if not more, but I
lost 20 pounds in the first two months and another 22 pounds over the
next three months. I'm holding now at my ideal weight of 135 pounds. The
intense pleasure of good health just gets stronger all the time and I'm
finally enjoying my youth. One of the things that
really helped me to never go back to my former eating habits was Storm's
gift with recipes. He was able to replace any food I might be craving
with an all-live version. For instance, if I craved meat, he made a
nut-loaf out of ground nuts (usually pecans and almonds ground up in a
meat grinder), with red peppers, tomatoes and onions, with a sauce made
from raw tahini, lemon juice and garlic. He replaced milk shakes with
nut-milk. He replaced apple pie with raw oat cobbler that tasted better
than any pie I had ever had. He replaced rich deserts and sweets with
fruit salad texture-blends from heaven. He made Sushi from ground nuts
and avocado wrapped in dried seaweed, nut pizzas, smoothies, salads with
dressings of avocado, vinegar and honey. For almost every junk food
craving there was an even better substitute from the world of living
foods.
Since being on this diet, which I now know is called the "raw vegan"
diet, I am seldom depressed or irritable, my PMS and menstrual cramps
have completely vanished, and I sleep 5 hours a night instead of 9.
The Doctors themselves also
disagree as to the right diet. Some say that we eat too much protein.
Some say that vegetarian diets don't have sufficient protein. Some say
that high protein diets are dangerous. There are so many conflicting
opinions coming out of the medical community, that I think we need to
start thinking for ourselves. I think when considering a diet, you
should always look at the author and ask yourself "Would I want to look
like that?".
When it comes to knowing what foods to put into our bodies, perhaps our
inner knowing is farther along than science. I believe we all know in
our hearts that there is a right way to eat, and that the foods that the
forces of nature put here on this earth are good, in their natural
uncooked form that they were put here in, and that everything else is
suspect. People just don't believe that it is POSSIBLE to eat an
all-natural diet in today's society. But it is!!! And once you grab hold
of that "golden ring" , as I have come to think of "good health", it
becomes the easiest thing in the world. The raw-vegan diet is the only
diet I have ever been able to stick to, - and I've tried everything from
"Aroma-trim" to "The Zone". With this diet, I went off it one time and
tried to get back on it for two years. I had had a major lifestyle
shift, moving into a different climate, and didn't think it was possible
to maintain a raw diet in Canada. So I went "off the wagon". But fairly
soon I knew I had to get back on it as soon as possible. And I promised
myself that next time I got hold of the golden ring, I would NEVER let
go!
Jinjee
Please follow
this link to take a look at Jinjee's beautiful website.
Brent Hauver's Raw Story
I have been raw vegan
for around 9 to 10 years.. Vegan for about 12
years...
I guess it all started with grandmother who made wheat germ and
cucumber sandwiches for my father's lunches (he would trade them at lunchtime
for a baloney sandwich). Dad did not buy into the health scene, and at age 53
he had a massive heart attack. At his funeral, I started thinking about my
own mortality and health. At that time I had a high stress job and my
diet and health habits were poor. Like many Americans, I was over weight and
out of shape and lacked energy or vitality. At a core level I had a
feeling that something was wrong. Then it happened. After a very taxing
and exhausting vacation, I woke up to find my tongue thick and my
speech slurred. I had a hard time concentrating and I would have bouts of
dizziness that made me feel like I was in a fog. I became extremely
fatigued and had pains all over my body. I was 31 years old. I went to
numerous medical professionals and specialist, with out any diagnosis
or relief. Later I was to learn that I had CFIDS - Chronic Fatigue Immune
Deficiency Syndrome.
I started meeting with holistic gurus and hanging out at health food
stores trying to find some quick fix supplements to regain my health.
After all my money and time was spent on supplements and gurus, I was
still no better than I had been.
The one day after much fasting, meditation and prayer, I saw a glimpse
of what I had to do to regain my health. I changed my attitude and started
reading numerous health books. I started juicing and changed my diet. I
eventually made a miraculous recovery and regained my health 200 fold.
This journey taught me some very powerful truths that I feel the need
to share with the world to help heal and elevate humanity. Through this
journey I learned that there are no quick fixes from a bottle of pills.
I found out that true progression, healing, and advancement comes from
taking back our responsibility for our health and by becoming empowered
through discipline and self-mastery. I learned that true health and
healing necessitates change, change in our lifestyles, in our habits,
and in our thought patterns and emotions. I also learned that change is
very difficult for the average person who does not know how to progress and
advance and break out of their limiting belief systems, bad habits,
false traditions, and addictions that keep them stagnant and immovable.
Because I had no support system to guide me, I went through states of
confusion and loneliness as I struggled against old habits and
addictions in my quest to regain my health and happiness. I know own and operate
a
Health food Store and Organic Farm in Overton Nevada and have
coaching and support to aid and empower my customers to make the changes
necessary to overcome their addictions and bad habits in order to gain health
and
happiness.
Let go, Elevate your life
Brent Hauver
www.sagehealthstore.com
Tammy's Raw Story
 
May 2003
Tammy December 2003
My name is Tammy, I am 5'6 1/2" tall, 46 years old, married 27 years and
have birthed 8 children. I was raised on the standard American diet and
have had a problem with my weight since I was around 11 years old. By the
time I was around 22 years old I weighed over 220. At 25 years old I
weighed over 260 and was what is probably considered morbidly obese. By the
time I was 42 years old I had reached a top weight of 305 pounds. I can
remember sitting in my living room looking at my fridge thinking "If I don't
do something about my eating habits, my family is going to come home and
find me sitting in a chair in front of the fridge with the door open, dead
from eating." I still did not know what to do to change my eating habits.
I have
tried multitudes of ways to take and keep off excess weight including diet
pills from a doctor, hypnosis, protein shakes, Atkins diet, TOPS, Weight
Watchers, Nutra System, Shick Weight-loss (a program which gives a mild
shock when one thinks of eating unhealthy foods), Oprah Make the Connection
book, Halleluiah Acres 75% to 80% raw food diet, Overeaters Annon., Geninne
(sp) Roth non-diet books, Tomato diet, U.S.Government food pyramid, LDS
Church Word of Wisdom guide, eating a healthy SAD, will power, positive
thinking, imagery, Over Coming Self-Defeating Behavior class, etc.
In 2001
though I had lost down to 285 pounds I was having problems with sinus
drainage, Candida, exhaustion, depression, not to mention the physical
aspects of living with being ready to outgrow a size 30. When I went on an
airplane, it was a miserable trip poured into a seat and usually holding a
baby. I hated getting dressed and usually wore the same couple of house
robes around the house 24/7. Clothes for overweight women were like tents
with colors and patterns that would win the ugliest outfit in the universe
awards. The continual embarrassment from being so huge and wishing I was
invisible was an enormous weight to bear (no pun intended).
I had
been doing the Halleluiah Acres diet and lost some weight a couple of years
before. I had managed to get pregnant and have my 8th baby who was now a
year old. My weight had gone up this last year from 250 to 285 and rising.
In
August 2003 I had asked my wonderful supportive husband to please take me to
the Portland International Raw Foods Festival. I was so nervous and self
conscious and definitely the largest person there. My husband volunteered
to watch our daughter so I could go listen so some speakers. I heard the
Boutenko's first and was somewhat familiar with their story because of
reading their books a couple of months before. Then I was able to catch
some 15 minute presentations. One of them was with Lou Corona who shared
his story. I was fascinated because of his maturity and physical age did
not match. Later I found out he was 53 years old but looks at least 25
years younger because of his healthy life style. Lou has a friend that he
works with named Janna. Janna contacted me because I had left my name and
phone number at Lou's booth. Janna offered to come drive 2 hours each way
with her family to my home and spent 4 hours showing me and my family how to
make things like shakes from baby coconuts, probiotic shake, and raw
dressings etc. I learned so much about enzymes and how they affect our
bodies. I will forever be thankful to Lou and Janna for their
personalization and the contribution they made to my health.
This
series of event came to a head when I went to the festival bringing me to
the conclusion the very next day, I needed to change my eating from SAD to
100% (as I understood it) raw.
The
next morning I began. For 10 months I ate as close to 100% raw as I
understood it. It was not an easy journey but one that showed immediate
results with my weight. For the first 6 weeks, I did not really know how
to do anything with nuts and seeds so I just mostly had fruits and
vegetables. When I had some raw humus and crackers at a raw pot luck along
with some other foods like raw lasagna I thought I had died and went to
heaven.
At any
rate, I continued for that 10 months at which time my husband joined me for
6 months of eating raw. Then we decided to experiment with eating a couple
of cooked meals out a week. This spelled disaster for me. I began eating
more and more cooked processed food. After 5 months and regaining 15 to 20
pounds of the 120 pounds I had lost I was struggling to hold on to my size
10. One day in November another situation occurred in which I had so much
energy that could have been anger emotion I choose to move into my eating
situation and re take control. I made an instantaneous decision and began
eating 100% raw again. It has now been 3 months eating raw. In some ways
it is much easier this time because I know what will happen if I try and
test the boundaries again.
I must
say that eating raw is only part of the puzzle pieces I had to use for my
new life. I did a lot of emotional work including reading and carrying out
books like Carol Tuttle's Remembering Wholeness, Melvin Fish's From Darkness
Into Light and Louise Hay's You Can Heal Your Life. I learned EFT
(Emotional Freedom Technique) from Gary Craig's web site and have looked
long and hard into the black abyss of my soul. I have learned to take
responsibility for my own life's experiences because when I blame others, I
give them my ability to control my own life. I learned about
Gemisphere
Gemstones and have used their necklaces to help raise my frequency so I
would be able to quit slipping backward and keep my foot hold better. I
also use Young Living Essential Oils when necessary for my health.
Though
I still have struggles with Candida the benefits of eating raw are physical
such as being a size 10 instead of a 30. I walk at a fast pace 4 miles up
some pretty steep hills every day and have begun "belly dancing"
classes. People think I do this to stay in shape but really it is because
of the time I give myself to emotionally release tensions from the day. I
have more energy for my husband and family. I have almost no PMS type
symptoms.
For the
first time in year I was able to donate blood to the Red Cross. In my SAD
days I was not usually able to because I was almost always anemic. I am an
O+ blood type supposedly needing to eat meat but I have not had meat again
for 3 months. I was so excited to go in and actually qualify in donating
blood.
There
are emotional aspects such as better emotional health and stability I never
had in my life, less hormonally driven outbursts, I am learning to be more
at peace though many people say I am driven it is often because of my
excitement after all the years of being trapped in my other body still am
caught off guard when I look in the mirror. I find myself smiling shyly and
asking myself "Is that really you?"
I
wanted to conclude by saying, I have re-lost 10 pounds and am maintaining my
size 10. I have had quite the journey and discovered parts of me I never
knew were there. I am still searching for yet undiscovered parts that hold
secrets and treasures for me. I know, if I can do this then every one can
because our Creator wants all of us to be the healthiest we can be to
fulfill the measure of our creation. Thank you for listening to my
story. If you would like to share or ask questions please feel free to
write me at
tcce@juno.com
I have
built a huge support system. My husband and parents are the first in line
to support me. Next, most of my children and their spouses, then comes
friends I have made online. I feel we can support each other on our
journeys and strengthen the good parts we all have creating a wonderful
network. Good Luck on your journey.
Tammy
tcce@juno.com
Tim Winders Raw Story
I am married and
the father of 4 children, two boys 10 and 9 and two
girls 5 and 1. Our family has been vegetarian for over 4 years. I went 100%
raw two months ago. The rest of my family remains vegetarian, but not raw.
Tonight I had an amazing experience!
My wife makes the most incredible pizza. It's a hard meal for me to
miss. Tonight was pizza night. She starts making the dough in the afternoon
and the entire family hungers in anticipation to be able to eat it. Of
course, I don't eat cooked pizza anymore, but I still help get dinner ready
and
eat my raw meal with the family. After the pizza was made and put on
the
table, I decided I would have cucumber for dinner. Nothing fancy. I simply
peeled the cucumber, sliced it in half long ways, scooped out the seeds and
sliced into long sticks that I could dip into a lemon-tahini dip/dressing. I
put this together in a few minutes while my wife sliced the pizza and put
it on everyone's plates.
When I brought it to the table, my 5 year old daughter told me how good
the cucumber smelled. Everyone agreed. The next thing I know, my kids and
all next to me eating my cucumber! My daughter brought the baby a piece,
which she promptly began to eat and then through her slice of pizza on the
floor! My daughter then proclaimed that she wasn't going to eat the pizza.
She only wanted cucumber. My wife and I were stunned! My wife made two
pizzas for the kids. At the end of dinner, they hadn't even finished one,
but
my cucumber was devoured.
Tim Winders
Associate Dean of Information Technology
South Plains College
Levelland, TX 79336
David's Raw
Story
My
journey into the health education field began in 1975, when at age 17 my
robust health began to gradually decline. A heavy eater of meat and junk
food, my physical and mental energies deteriorated over a period of six
months, then I experienced incessant diarrhea. After a few weeks of medicine
treatment, I showed little improvement, so a colon examination was done. The
diagnosis was ulcerative colitis, and I spent my 18th birthday in a
hospital, taking prednisone and azulfadine drug treatments. The symptoms
subsided, temporarily, but the drugs further ruined my health and had a
devastating effect on my mental abilities.
Within
a few months, feeling sickly and very weak, I experienced a recurrence of
the diarrhea and additional symptoms, including cramping, bleeding, and this
lead to further physical deterioration. What ensued were eight tortuous
years of colitis flare-ups and off-and-on drug therapy. At age 26, I was
reduced to a weak, sickly shadow of my former self. I was having gastric
explosions every time I ate, up to 10 painful bowel movements a day with
mucus and blood. My nervous system became shattered as I was toxic,
debilitated by the medicines, and severely demineralized. Life became a
dying hell , but I never gave in to the medical doctors' advice to accept my
illness and just be patient until their impossible "miracle drug cure" came
along; I desperately wanted my health back and doubted that the doctors knew
what they were doing.
In
1984, I had the great fortune to find a Doctor of Natural Hygiene, Laurence
Galant in Staten Island, who introduced me to the concepts of self-healing
and eating a raw fruit-based diet. At first I thought the idea of eating
mostly fruit while I was having non-stop diarrhea was crazy. Yet, I studied
Natural Hygiene and slowly cleaned up my diet. I was attached to eating
chicken and other favorite cooked foods, however, and was still having
colitis flare-ups and relying on medicines.
In the
fall of 1984 I had a colonoscopy exam which confirmed that I had advanced
ulcerations throughout my sick colon. Surmising that I had been chronically
sick and was not getting better, the gastroenterologist recommended that I
either try his experimental drug which knocks out the immune system, or have
my colon surgically removed. Upon hearing this, a heavy decisive thought
entered my mind: I have had it with this medical madness - I'll be dead soon
if I don't find the answer myself! My life was a gradual descent into hell
and now I had to climb out now because I sensed it was almost too late.
Over
the next few days I started thinking like never before about how to overcome
my illness. I realized that I had to figure out what the MD's could not, and
my thinking lead me to consider more closely the information on self-healing
and switching to a raw food diet. The information seemed so incredible, but
I saw that it was really working for Laurence, and I read many amazing
healing testimonials.
Then
one amazing night while studying T. C. Fry's Life Science/Natural Hygiene
course, I beheld a healing vision and it all made sense; the picture of my
new health was revealed via the fruitarian pathway to self-mastery. I
understood that humans are biologically fruit eaters, and that fruit was the
best food for my sick colon and entire body. I was ecstatic knowing I had
set myself free!
The
next day I threw away the medicines, divorced myself from all medical
intervention for good, gave up all meat and dairy forever and started a
3-day juice cleanse. By the second day I was coming back to life. On the
third day I was feeling better and better and my enthusiasm and joy drove my
family and friends crazy! My gut was feeling soothed and I was rejuvenating.
I set myself free of illness, doctors and medicines for good, and my bowels
were working better and better!!
I
adopted a fruit based diet - that harmonized best with my mind/body/spirit.
And with that my energies continuously increased as I detoxified and began
rebuilding. Within about six weeks I felt that my colon was completely
healed up. I was able to enjoy eating and life again, as my bowels were
functioning better than ever. I began a new healthful lifestyle.
Over
the next few years I diligently worked at rebuilding my depleted body,
incorporating daily running and yoga, all the while studying the life
sciences and all of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual factors
which determine our health. It took several years of total dedication to
build robust health. In 1993, after a year of study and training at the
Institute for Educational Therapy in Cotati, California, I became certified
as a Nutrition Educator and began providing nutrition and healing
consultations. Today, at age 46, I enjoy excellent health and usually feel
strong and energetic.
Healing, I teach people, is easy if we understand and apply the principle
that it is the body that does the healing. When we remove the unhealthful
aspects of our diet and lifestyle and step out of the way, the body will do
the healing work automatically and naturally.
Is
living my 100% raw food fruitarian lifestyle hard? No! Living healthfully is
the easiest and most joyful way to be! And I'm glad to help health seekers
get there and feel that for themselves. I love to help health seekers
discover the way to heal and build superior health for themselves, and I am
glad to assist you!
Would you like to get
dozens of fascinating articles like this one? In each volume of Living
Nutrition Magazine there are over 30 articles including amazing self-healing
stories, raw food recipes, humor and much much more. Living Nutrition is he
world’s leading periodical on self-healing and raw food lifestyle. Click
here
to open a new window to the Living Nutrition site.
David Klein
www.selfhealingempowerment.com
|
