Hello friends!
I've done a lot of research prior to beginning Raw Till 4, and it's almost a week since I've begun it, but I am feeling the overwhelming sense of doubt flood over me with every little shift and change in my body. I am certainly not used to this, and I'm still worried about vitamin deficiencies such as iron, b12, and D despite having heard countless times why and where these things can be obtained.
As a lot of the women (and men) come to this lifestyle with disordered eating pasts and presents, I too come here wearing my badges of dishonor: calorie-restrictor, weight obsessed, digestively challenged, nut-binger, and hypochondriac. I may have given up the most severe case of calorie restriction 2 years ago, but I would certainly be heading down that beaten path again in no time if it weren't for this lifestyle.
My metabolism in compromised GREATLY, I am still healing from antibiotics given to me in order to eradicate vicious h. pylori, I am jumping head first into this despite having done Fully Raw wrong 7 months prior, and I am more confused than ever about who to listen to and what will keep my body from feeling so ill. I feel like I'm being pulled in so many directions, but I don't know who to follow. No doubt Vegan is important, but I still truly believe there is no one set way of eating for every person. I'm just not sure where to begin, but I have decided to build my base upon RT4 and add gradually until I find what is absolutely right for me.
For now I feel a little lonely in the journey because I have no one to talk to about my specific ailments thus far. I'm a worrier, something I would like to alleviate with time, but I cannot help the fear I am going to have life-threatening symptoms but I have no way of telling -of course, until it's too late and I've ruined my health more.
Gosh, does that make sense? I guess what I'm trying to say is I feel weird, and I would love to hear more about others' first couple weeks going HCRV / RT4.
Forgive my incoherence!
Love and light,
Pip
Replies
My life was hell.
Now I am the most energized, charismatic and healthy person that I know.
I thank God, and I thank being a raw vegan.
My old hobbies included wrapping myself in a blanket, putting sheets over the windows to keep the light out, and spending weeks indoors, depressed, hating life, abusing my body and pissing in empty gallon water bottles, to avoid having to go outside to face the sunlight.
My current hobbies include running 100 mile ultra marathons, climbing mountains, cycling thousands of miles, and living every day, every hours and every minute, PASSIONATELY. In my free time I volunteer with children's charities and work the streets as a "freelance motivational speaker".
I truly believe that I am capable of achieving anything in this world. And there is no human being on this earth that I would wish to trade places with.
So beautiful and encouraging!!
Thank you for sharing that; I love to hear these things!
I'm happy to begin connecting with people who enjoy the natural high of life and living because I am really starting to understand.
Concerning the vitamin deficiencies. Iron is not a problem and can be found all over in almost all plant foods. My favorite source is blueberries and watermelon. B12 is something a good portion of us have a problem with regardless of diet, but is cheap and easy to supplement. Vitamin D is easy to get if you live in a place with regular sun exposure.
We all make mistakes, but I like to believe its all about direction not speed. As long as your headed down the healthy path it doesn't matter whether you're running or walking.
For me I'm currently debating whether or not to include cooked food in my diet. I was raw fruit and veggies for 2 years and loved it then for kicks went RT4 for a year and gained some wait back. Through experimentation I've discovered that this weight gain is almost entirely water weight.
That is just my experience. I do know other people on this forum and on youtube who do RT4 and are ridiculously fit and healthy with spotless blood tests and everything. So I'm still in the learning phase I guess, but in the end I know eating plant foods cooked and raw have been shown to reverse disease and give us the best health possible. It's mostly just about finding what is sustainable for you and what will keep you eating plants for the rest of your life.
Hope that helps.
-Brian
Thank you very much for your feedback! I've had a lot of feelings and concerns since I started RT4 - as most do - and I will go through periods where I second-guess myself. I really appreciate everything you have said; I'm a lot more confident about my path.
Cheers, friend!
when i started rt4 i came from anorexia and wrong raw foodism too i kind of miss that time because there i wasnt that informed and "involved" in all that discussion about that lifestyle like the calorie debate wether rt4 fully raw or starch solution is the way to go but i kind of found what works for me the best but it tookme a while but it was worth it i was able to give my bidy a break and give it what it deserves it was tough all the weigth gain and having noone near by to talk to about it and being a lillte lonely in the real world in general with this lifestyle but i think it was a great task for me i became a lot more patient and consistent with what i am doing.
hope you find your ideal!!! :)
Thank you for you response! It's nice to know there are others out there with the same struggles and thoughts! How long have you been doing RT4? You you think you will ever quit? Also, what kind of changes have you noticed overall? I'd love to hear!
Thanks again!! <3
no problem glad it kinda helped you :)
i have been hclf for 6 month 2 month low calorie and 4 month high stress and low sleep so its like im just really doing it for like a month
my mood changed everybody is like that they cured there depression and all that stuff but mine got worse cus of the weight gain but imo carbs dont cure depression i think carbs are essential for being in a state were ou can change your behaviour cus depressions are often selfinduced but to really heal yourself you gotta make the choice to if ou really want to you will!
i cant really tell about other things cus i hardly remember anything prior to the anorexia
but i always used to have migranes where i couldnt look clear and stuff that improved and my bloating and stomach pain and im not that often sick anymore
the only bad thing i noticed is that i enjoy being in nature and kind of avoid big crowds of ppl which is bad cus now i hate my school even more not just becus of all the ignorant stuff that is teached there i mean my school calls itself an eco school and sells corpses and chickenperiod and cows boob juice i mean hello?!
oh and i really got into biochemistry cus i am really interested in the processes going on in the body also due to all my research on carbohydrate metabolism metabolic adjustment starvation overfeeding insulin related weight gain stress related weight gain etc.
another bad thing is that i got a little more unsocial cus im concerned ppl comment on my food or somthing especially me coming from anorexia and being obsessed with health and that kind o stuff but thats obviously not the lifestyles fault but mine but i am generelly pretty shy in terms of social interaction
and i really enjoy making hclf vegan recipes baking cooking making smoothies all that kind of stuff and i got really passionate about helping the animals and hte ppl by telling them about their poor (paleo) diet choices etc. (what they most often hate XD ) i mean both of my grandparents have cancer my grandmom died from it and my aunt has it too and they just dont want to hear what im trying to tell them and when i was in the hospital there were some diabetic kids that told me that they can never eat fruit and the were so jelly on me when i told them about my lifestyle and then i explained all that fat hinders the sugar from getting in the cell and that meat spikes your insulin like crazy cus the f*cking hospital told them shit about their disease and when i told them that it ma have been the milks fault that they have diabetes i the hospital staff put me in a nother room cus i was "spreading lies" imo that hospital deserves to be sued cus of imo abusing those helpless children that still are naive and believe everything they tell them -_-.
well that was a long text haha hopefully not too long :D
I really understand you. It's difficult to watch other people make bad choices (or choices we believe will negatively impact them and the environment), but most of the time I feel like it's not fair for me to force people into my own beliefs. >_< I want to be open and understanding to others in hopes they will show me the same respect. I love respect!
I'm so sorry you had so much crap to go through, but I am proud of you for coming out on top!! You are strong!!
haha thanks and yea think so too you can give someone the info but the choice to use it is what everyone need to and should do for themselves