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My Journey To Discovering
The Raw Food Diet Secret

Are you tired? Lethargic? Hungry? Depressed? Are you eating raw food and still feeling this way? Then you are in the same boat I was until I learned through a long voyage of ups and downs and trials and errors what the secret to truly thriving and always feeling fantastic is.

I'll start at the beginning

On my vegetarian diet consisting of tofu, cooked veggies, nuts, eggs, oils, and butter I felt wiped out and famished along with a host of other undesirable symptoms.

I was constantly trying to lose weight by under eating and getting through workouts jacked up on coffee. Eventually I would succumb to a late night binge and the cycle would repeat. I was in the hospital on numerous occasions for menstrual cramps so terrible I thought my ovaries were bursting. I had recurring bladder infections, unsightly acne, and debilitating migraines. I was so depressed that I took to self mutilation in concealed places as a morbid (and now baffling) way of dealing with my self loathing. Needless to say, things were not going my way.

Finding raw food

When I discovered the raw food diet it was a God send and I felt a world of difference. My thoughts were clearer, I lost weight, and my headaches, PMS, bladder infections, acne, and depression vanished. I was delighted, but little did I know I had a ways to go.

It's like taking a person that eats McDonalds everyday and giving them home cooked unprocessed meals. Of course they will feel better because they were at the bottom of a 100 step ladder and took five steps up. But, imagine how they could feel if they took the whole 100! The trick, of course, is knowing how to reach the top.

I started out eating high fat raw foods with generous amounts of salt, vinegar, and other condiments for "flavor". I created elaborate salads slathered in oils and garnished with raw cheese, raw pies with nut crusts and creamy nut butter fillings, and fresh guacamole with dehydrated corn chips. I was thrilled that I could recreate all of my old favorite cooked food dishes into raw versions.

It was great for a while but then my body said, "Hey lady, this is better than the fried tofu and you helped me clean out a lot of old garbage but I can't continue to sustain myself eating this way either."

The first mistake

I began to have terrible cravings and surrendered to cooked foods like sweet potatoes with butter and salty veggie stir fries. I was still eating mostly raw but my body was shocked by this new addition and I felt terrible after every cooked food binge. Then I would feel ridden with guilt and do a fast to "cleanse" my body. Once I fasted for two days and then ended it by shoveling in a pyramid of mashed potatoes and wallowing in the aftermath.

I blamed it all on lack of will power to stick to the diet, but after a while I decided something just wasn't right. My body was missing something, craving something, but I just didn't know what.

So I delved into more research on raw food diets. There are all kinds of variations of it out there and everyone seemed to have an opinion of their own, but Dr. Douglas Graham's book 80/10/10 caught my eye. I ordered it and read it cover to cover in one day.

Seeing the light

It was engrossing and answered every question I had ever asked myself. He proposed a high fruit, low fat diet. High fat diets, raw or not, will result in cravings for carbs because this is the body's most efficient source of fuel.

Now, I had always been taught too much sugar is bad and this diet suggesting I eat 20 bananas a day made me a little wary to say the least. But Dr. Graham reassured the reader that excess fat in ones diet is the true villain, creating blood sugar problems by interfering with the uptake of insulin.

I was sold and began following his advice. I lost weight fast. I am 5'7 and at my lowest weighed 108 pounds. I was concerned because I would eat and eat and eat but not gain an ounce, but Dr. Graham said the body will rebuild itself once it has finished getting rid of the junk it had been holding on to. He was right because my weight steadily increased to my current 120 pounds.

I continued to eat, what I thought, was a lot of fruit and a big fatless salad in the evenings. I felt fantastic for about a year but then I hit another road block.

The next hurdle

I began to feel tired and lethargic and even mildly depressed at some points. I decided my body must be missing something and looked to grains and eggs for refuge. After a short and much regretted bout of eating Ezekiel bread and raw eggs, I knew I had not found the answer. I felt worse than ever.

My mom found me in my room late one night just sobbing and when she asked me what was wrong I told her I had no idea. I felt insane and depressed for no reason at all and my thoughts were hazy and irrational. Food has always had a strong impact on my mind. I know within moments if something has salt in it because I become dizzy, and I know if I ate something laced with dairy because I become depressed.

I believe genetics play a major role in what part of the body will be impacted by bad habits, such as diet. People who have inherited weak lungs may get lung cancer, while someone with a weak pancreas may get pancreatic cancer. I have a weak brain and bad food choices make me feel off my rocker.

Finally seeing a blinding light

Shamefully, I went crawling back to my fruit begging for forgiveness, and at last found my simple little problem holding me back all along: not enough calories from fruit!

All that time I was searching for the perfect foods and never once considered how MUCH I should be eating. The body needs carbohydrates, plain and simple. Carbs are the fuel of the mind and body and every single cell, so fruit is still the name of the game, but my frugal 1500 calories was not nearly enough to sustain me long term.

On the site 30 bananas a day (a good place to visit for inspiration) I learned my body needs at last 2500 calories whether there are hunger pangs or not. I finally realized that until my body learns how to tell me what it needs after so many years of abuse and negligence, I need to give it what I know it desperately wants but may not know how to say. (Of course, you may need more calories than this or perhaps slightly less depending on your fitness level. The best way to judge is by energy, mood, and cravings.)

I'm certain this is why so many people fail to stick with a raw food diet long term. It has little to do with missing nutrients (although if you are eating more calories you are also simultaneously taking in more nutrients) and everything to do with the body's need for fuel! If you feel tired and depressed and hungry then these are all obvious indicators that your body needs some fruity carbohydrates.

Just think of what you binge on when you have those "uncontrollable" cravings: chips, cake, cookies, pasta, candy. What are these foods? Carbs! Your body knows that if you won't give it the carbohydrates it needs from fruit it can surely get some from a forbidden pantry at midnight. So just eat fruit until these cravings dissolve, and trust me, they always will.

My dedication to my health has most definitely been put to the test over the years but if you search long and hard enough you eventually find what you're looking for.

Would I mind having a slice of pizza? Sure, it might be nice, but not nearly as great as I finally feel and I won't trade my health and clarity of mind for a few mouthfuls of grease. The chewing lasts ten minutes but the price I pay will last a week.

So eat fruit and a lot of it (accompanied by some greens) and start living the life you were given!

SBI!