Question for COUNTRYBUMPKIN.....

**cab54** · 07-26-2008, 08:53 PM

Hi, Lynn, you can answer this or ignore it, LOL.

I need to lose 60#, lower my cholesterol levels, and my BP is starting to creep up a little.

Your discussion and links on raw food eating have inspired me to get more raw foods in. I'd like to do at least 70% raw and 30% not, but aim for 80/20 as much as possible.

What were the changes you saw besides feeling awesome? Did your chol. levels change? Did you lose weight and if so, how much? (if you don't mind telling--or how many clothing sizes?)

I am so tired of this unhealthiness and bulk, but nothing will budge it! Before, it used to just be the weight that was a problem--sort of an aesthetic or cosmetic problem, KWIM? But now, my health is starting to suffer along with it. I walk and do yoga, and try to eat healthier. But I am thinking maybe raw is best. Tell me about your journey a bit.

Would appreciate some inspiration to try your way of eating. TIA.

**COUNTRYBUMPKIN** · 07-27-2008, 05:34 AM

Hi Cheryl,
I don't mind sharing with you and others here at all. I am happy to help!

What makes me feel so good about eating mostly raw foods is the fact that I feel better now than I did in my 20's and 30's and most of my 40's. Imagine living your best day everyday! That's how I feel about 90% of the time now. I suffered from depression for so many years and even all of my cooked whole foods and good supplements would not get rid of it totally for me. I felt better, but not as good as I wanted to feel. The pounds were also creeping up on me during the last 4 or five years. I felt kind of sluggish. I also was experiencing comprehension problems and the inability to find some of my words to speak. I now know that this was due to candida albicans. My live blood analysis showed yeast! My raw food lifestyle got rid of this and all of the symptoms associated with it. My depression lifted, my mind cleared, the weight came right off....40lbs total! My cholesterol, HDL and LDL were alway's good. My blood pressure was up a little.........139/90 was about average. it now runs around 115/70 or so. My ND tells me that my health is excellent and my blood analysis is one of the best she has ever seen! I credit it to my raw food lifestyle and my dedication to exercise (rebounding and light weights). Although I am around 50 to 60% raw for the summer, I am still very careful about the cooked foods that I eat. I am eating some organic grilled meats and fish about two or three times a week now. I also have some organic whole grain artichoke pasta in my raw pasta salads. And I am enjoying a baked sweet potato or russet potato on occasion. And if someone makes a good summer dip, I am game for that too:-) But the one thing that I alway's start my day with is my green smoothie! I have had to do alot of traveling over the past several weeks and I made sure that I blended my smoothies and poured them in one quart Ball jars and put them in my cooler to take with. I notice that if I go a day without one of my smoothies, I do not feel as good as I could.

If you are really interested in improving your wellbeing, I would suggest that you order a few basic raw food books to get you started. Living on Live Foods is a good one and so is 12 Steps To Raw. You can just go to Amazon and type raw food into the search engine and a nice selection of books will come up. read the reviews and you decide which books appeal to you, Cheryl.

I hope this inspires you and please feel free to ask me any question that you may have. Good Luck!

**cab54** · 07-27-2008, 04:17 PM

Thank you SO much, Lynn. I got a lot from your post. Sounds like you feel terrific (and look it). I have looked over a lot of raw food sites also--a LOT of them. I am pretty familiar with what you can eat (pretty self explanatory, right?)

I also suffer from depression and mainly anxiety. I take Celexa right now, but this is something I would like very much to wean off from.

My doctor used to say I had the lowest blood pressure of any LIVE person he knew. LOL! It would run 96/50 or lower, even when I was pg. Now it is often 130/86 or so at home and higher than that at his office (I think i have begun to worry about it and get white coat syndrome).

And the WEIGHT! Ugh. And add to it another 15# since going on Celexa, but it is (for the moment) better than panic attacks and constantly living in a dark place. I would love to see some of the weight go AND the pills. Have to do that slowly though. Anyway--I digress......

I take it to be understood that the WW pasta in your salads is cooked, right? LOL. I will take a look at those books and see which I'd like. A home I have a juicer and was making vegetable/fruit juices. Greens, everything--all together. I did that for 3 days once, while dh was out of town. I was feeling WONDERFUL. Energy was over the top. But yet I was calm (for a change).

DH is diabetic, but will never (I've known him for 35 yrs, believe me when I say 'never') do raw foods. I have trouble getting COOKED vegetables and fruits in him, and keeping him out of any sugar is a full time job. I think this would help him very much though. I am hoping to be an example that makes him change his mind.

Thanks again! I will keep in touch and let you know about any new developments in my health. Good to know about yours!

**Frugal Nurse** · 07-27-2008, 05:16 PM

Cheryl - I too am also raw.

And what happens is that the body corrects itself and you don't even try to loose weight. It just happens.

You have to be knowledgable about what you're eating. I would suggest getting a few books first.
Countrybumpkin has listed some great books in some of her threads.

Hubby won't go along? His loss.
It makes it so difficult indeed.
Before, I had to make 5 different meals. One was a meat eater and would only eat protein. One was a meat, veg and potato, one was a junk foodie, and the other was a vegan. I couldn't stand it. It made MY meal prep difficult and so I stopped and it showed. In everything. It convinced me that I really need to be taking better care of myself.

My husband is in such anger about the raw food that he absolutely REFUSES to eat ANYTHING raw. I mean... he stopped eating salads and fruit. He demanded that everything that was made for him be cooked. So... his veggies, meat, potatoes, and even his fruit- cooked. He's made it so difficult for me.

Overall - there's no going back. If you do - you'll realize you need to come clean again.

Think of this - if you had a fish bowl/tank and the fish started dying. Would you just toss all the fish out? would you add some more food? would you add some chemicals to make the fish better?
(I hope not)

You would - clean the water right? clean the tank? provide it with a fresh start? Once the water was clean and the fish happy... .would you feed the fish...say... dog food? would you toss in some chemical to keep the water clean cuz you don't want to have to clean that bowl/tank again?
(again - I hope not)

You would provide the fish with what the fish needed - not overfeeding, not underfeeding, just the right fish food- cuz fish don't eat cows.. right?

Why would you treat your fish and fish bowl better than the body you reside in?

**cab54** · 07-27-2008, 06:03 PM

FrugalNurse----LOL! Are we married to the same guy? Could be. Brothers maybe. I am going to just eat what I eat and not say anything to DH. He never notices what I'm eating. Then when he finally notices something is different, and asks, I will tell. I will just cook him his usual meals. We have a lot more cold (raw) stuff in the summer anyway.

Today was a good start. Our property up here is covered in raspberry bushes. I've been picking for hours.

I'm having some tonight. Mmmm.

**Michelle** · 07-27-2008, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by COUNTRYBUMPKIN

If you are really interested in improving your wellbeing, I would suggest that you order a few basic raw food books to get you started. Living on Live Foods is a good one and so is 12 Steps To Raw. You can just go to Amazon and type raw food into the search engine and a nice selection of books will come up. read the reviews and you decide which books appeal to you, Cheryl.

I hope this inspires you and please feel free to ask me any question that you may have. Good Luck!

Lynn, thank you for this post

Could you answer two questions for me?

1. Who is the author of Living on Live Foods ? I searched on Amazon and couldn't find that one.

2. Would you mind sharing your morning smoothie recipe?

TIA

**cab54** · 07-27-2008, 07:18 PM

Michelle--I think the author of the book you mentioned is Alyssa Cohen (might be sp. Alissa). See, I HAVE been reading a lot on the subject, LOL!

She has a site of her own, too.

Yeah, I'd like to hear that smoothie recipe, also, Lynn.

**COUNTRYBUMPKIN** · 07-28-2008, 06:16 AM

Originally Posted by Michelle

Lynn, thank you for this post

Could you answer two questions for me?

1. Who is the author of Living on Live Foods ? I searched on Amazon and couldn't find that one.

2. Would you mind sharing your morning smoothie recipe?

TIA

Hi Michelle, Sorry about that title, it is the wrong title. The Live Food Factor is the correct title. This book is over 500 pages and is full of information on the raw food lifestyle.

My morning smoothie recipe is a combination of 1 banana, 1/2 cup of blueberries, 2 cups of organic spring mix greens, a couple of stalks of organic celery, 1 avocado , 1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil, 1/4 teaspoon raw MACA powder 1 teaspoon raw cocao powder, 1 heaping teaspoon of wildcrafted Vitamineral Green, 1 scoop of a high ORAC dehydrated superberry powder. 2 1/2 cups of purified water. I blend this and it makes 2 -1 quart ball jars. The berry powder gives it a sweeter taste and very tolerable to drink. But if you would like it even a little sweeter, you can add some raw agave or raw honey. Hope this helps, Michelle:-)

**COUNTRYBUMPKIN** · 07-28-2008, 07:13 AM

Originally Posted by cab54

Michelle--I think the author of the book you mentioned is Alyssa Cohen (might be sp. Alissa). See, I HAVE been reading a lot on the subject, LOL!

She has a site of her own, too.

Yeah, I'd like to hear that smoothie recipe, also, Lynn.

Cheryl, I posted my smoothie recipe and Aissa's site is www.rawfoodtalk.com

Good for you for doing your research and learning about the raw food lifestyle!

**cab54** · 07-28-2008, 12:23 PM

LOL! Hopefully raw fooding will improve my memory for names and books.

So far, so good. I am doing fine and eating raw-about 80%. Might even be more. Yummy!

I actually have a blender up here at our cabin. I was surprised to find it! We are hitting the local store today and I will be stocking up on more produce (organic I hope). I wish my tomato plants would get tomatoes on them!

Thank you, Lynn!

**cab54** · 07-28-2008, 12:38 PM

One of my favorite salads is a form of the many versions of Shepherd's salad. I use tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, red onion or scallions, bell peppers, shredded carrots, and whatever else I'm in the mood for (or have in the fridge that needs using).

Sometimes I've put just a little olive oil and vinegar on it, sometimes just plain. Yum.

Last summer, I was addicted to this stuff. DH hates cukes and onion, so he stays out of it.

DH got up this morning after a bad night's sleep(high BS makes for a bad night) and a HIGH blood sugar (213?!?) and said to me "I really have to start watching the crackers and junk at night, I should get more healthy foods in--more lean protein and F&V."

Maybe there's hope for him yet! I told him that what I planned to get at the store today was more F&V and nuts and seeds (he loves a salad of mine that has pumpkin seeds on it and bean sprouts). He said "good, more salads and fruit and less crud".

I am going to make some hummus for him to dip his veggies in.

**VanVivCam** · 07-29-2008, 09:40 AM

Just wanted to say thank you for posting this question and to Lynn for answering! Hubby and I have talked about eating less meat and much more fruit and veggies. We have been trying, and getting much better at it! I am just not so sure about raw...I do LOVE my steamed veggies!

**larabelle** · 07-29-2008, 06:22 PM

I also want to say thanks for posting this about the raw diet lifestyle. For the first time in my life I am experiencing depression, constipation, bloating and overall fatigue. Unfortunately all of these run in my family I don't want to go with conventional medications (drugs) and I have been thinking about going raw. I think I am going to do it.

**COUNTRYBUMPKIN** · 07-30-2008, 05:47 AM

Your welcome to everyone here! I am just very happy to help anyone who is interested and who really want's to take charge of their health and start living a vibrant life.

Cheryl, Your salad sounds wonderful and it sounds as though your dh is sick and tired of being sick and tired. Sometimes this is what it takes before a person is willing to start eating better and healing. Then once they start, there is no turning back!

**mom2three** · 07-30-2008, 07:18 AM

Hi Cheryl,

You could also try juicing to increase your vitamins and minerals quickly. One mineral that you get much more of on a raw food diet is magnesium which will lower your BP and cholesterol and helps with many other ailments. I lost weight after going gluten free and dairy free, but I also eat lots of veggies and not that many carbs in general as well as mostly lean meats. The raw food lifestyle is not for everyone, but it will help.

One of the best things to do is get rid of processed foods and eat whole foods, minimize sugars, etc., but you probably know all that.

Best wishes with your lifestyle change.