Hi there! My name is Catherine, I’m 51 52 yrs old, although truth be known I’m really 24 25 at heart 
. I believe that the food we eat has a huge (HUGE) impact on our mental & physical well being, after all it is our ‘fuel’ and feeding our bodies the wrong fuel will impact our entire being in ways far beyond what we see.
Myself, I have discovered I am super sensitive to the foods I eat. I suspect we all are, but some of us (like me) feel it much more intensely than others. But it’s only within the past 6 years that I’ve made the connection that the foods I eat can either make or break my day!!
Brocoli Orange Salad
As far back as I can remember, I often felt sluggish, tired, or at times I would eat like a maniac and just couldn’t stop. The feelings were not consistent, sometimes they occurred when I ate something that seemed to trigger me, and at other sometimes the feeling was just there.
Was it just me?
I asked around, family & friend, but no one seemed to have the same difficulties. Truth be known, they all thought I was a little odd!! (ok, so maybe I am a bit 
) My conclusion – “must be part of my genetics!!”
Seems I would just have to come to terms with the fact that some days I would feel sluggish and other days I would feel amazing.
Oh and I did discuss this with my doctor, several doctors over the years in fact, but none of them had anything to offer and none of them inquired about my diet. Hmmm!! So life continued and I learned to live with it, while all the while still knowing that something just wasn’t right.
It was my birthday, celebrating with my family, February 2007. I enjoyed a small, very small piece of homemade cake with some ice cream – yum!!!!
Ok, but here’s the not so fun part!
Within only a few minutes of eating the cake I felt this overwhelming draw of energy from my body. All energy was just sucked out of me. I had to excuse myself from the table. I was struggling to keep my eyes open, my entire body felt limp, heavy, like all the energy had been zapped out of me. I felt awful!! Not only that but I felt this wave of emotional change – all of a sudden I was grumpy, edgy, and I just wanted to be left alone. Really, I just wanted to curl up under my dyna at home!!
Ok, so I had had similar reactions before that day, but nothing so severe!! The reaction that day was extreme, really really extreme!!
The good part – it was a major AH-HA moment for me!! The connection between food and mood was undeniable!!
From that day forward, I started to experiment with different foods to try to determine what did and didn’t work with my body. Sure, I could have had allergy tests, intolerance tests, but from the research I had conducted, I learned that many of those tests were inconclusive. So for me, I trusted my body – my very sensitive body would let me know pretty quickly what did/didn’t work.
First I eliminated all the common allergens – Brendan Brazer’s The Thrive Diet – was a godsent for me!! Not only did his book educated me and provide me with great insight, but his recipes were also fantastic and gave me some options for meals that were free of wheat, gluten, dairy, corn, etc. – I started experimenting with different types of “diets” in hopes of finding the right-combination-for-me. At times I still ate animal products, I tried vegetarian, vegan, raw vegan and many other combinations, you name it I tried it – and I was amazed to learn just how sensitive my body was and how profoundly some foods affected me.
At the same time, even though I rarely ate meat, I did enjoy chicken or fish once in a while, and I’d have eggs and/or baked good with eggs and butter occasionally. But during the course of my evolution, I made the personal choice to eliminate animal products from my diet. The main catalyst for this was movies like Food Inc and Forks Over Knives, and books like The China Study, Crazy Sexy Diet.
After lots of reading, learning (check out my Library & sources of wisdom ), experimenting and listening to my body, I discovered that I felt best when I followed a raw vegan diet, my skin looked better, my eyes were clearer, my mind was clearer, not as foggy, my spirit was more positive. For me raw vegan approach was without a doubt the best for my body, it was as if I had blossomed!! And if I added the wrong-foods-for-me to my diet I would become lethargic, tired, experienced more negative thoughts, glass half empty vs. half full… it was like night and day.
Thinking back to my younger years it occured to me I would often have bouts of depression, lethargy, negativity…. and I can now see that those changes were a result of my diet!! Thanks goodness I figured it out
And even though the effects are profound when I eat the wrong-food-for-me, I still struggle with maintaining a raw vegan diet all the time. But maintaining 100% is not really what I aspire to – after all, I am only human and life and social events, holidays, birthdays, and the gambet often add complexity. However, I’m learning (albiet slowly) that only I can take charge of my life, and the negative impacts of not eating the right-foods-for-me are far reaching, so not only for me but for those around me . So it’s really in everyone’s best interest that I eat the right-foods-for-me the majority of the time .
So today, my diet consists of a lot of organic greens, leafy greens, sprouts, vegetables, raw nuts & seeds, with some gluten-free grains (quinoa, buckwheat, etc.).
Cocoa Chews
We also don’t eat anything processed, if I buy something with a label I only select products with ingredients that I would add if I made it myself, i.e. ingredients that are real food!! I don’t eat wheat (I have Wheat Belly syndrome, i.e. I become an additive lunatic when I eat wheat), and I don’t eat refined sugars – but I love sweets and I have discovered that if I eat raw vegan desserts, Cocoa Chews or Cashew Cranberry Chews or Chewy Brownie Balls are great examples (raw vegan desserts do not include refined sugar, flour, eggs/butter), I can pretty much eat as much as I like with no adverse effects – how great is that!!!!.
My diet is very varied, I don’t feel deprived in any way at all!! What I love best is knowing that I’m feeding my body (and soul) with foods that are highly nutritious, nutrients that every inch of my body can use to be healthy and strong.
And that’s my story. Thanks for listening perhaps my path resonates with you? I’d love to hear from you either here through comments on my blog, by email at AlmostRawVegan@bell.net or on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.
To get you oriented with the ARV approach, I’ve included a few links below:
- About Me
- Why eat Raw?
- Almost Raw Vegan Food Pyramid
- Buying Fruits & Vegetables
- My Library of books & video’s
- Typical Meals
Enjoy!
Catherine xox
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your site. It’s a very
easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and
visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your
theme? Superb work!
Hi there… thanks for your feedback, that’s so nice to hear you like the design/layout. I actually used one of the premium layouts from WordPress.com so no hiring of a designer required for the theme
Although I have background/experience in web design so that has helped with the customizations to the theme…. Thanks again xox
It is so good to read my life story written by some one else!! I have been on such a similair journey (and I too am a Catherine!). I have been falling off the Raw food wagon for some time, and recently my partner became very ill so we both made a conscious effort to get back on track. I too read the China Study and it changed our lives forever. We then read 80/10/10 which taught us a lot. I found that throughout my live I had been under “carbing” myself thus the same doldrum type mood swings as yourself. Both Rob (my partner) and I have been almost raw for some time, but around lunch we generally had rice and salad and beans. Today is our first day of our 30 day trial together of totally raw.
I found you through facebook (my page is National Prevention of Cruelty To Fitness, just so you know it’s me commenting!) and have to say I thoroughly enjoy your recipes and blog.
Thank you so much, as on this food style journey as much information, recipes etc helps so much.
With thanks and appreciation.
Cathi (oh, and Rob!)
PS Keep up the superb work x x
HI Cathi (oh and Rob too!
),
Thanks so much for your note and your kind words!! It’s so nice to hear there are others following similar paths… Sounds exciting with your 30 day trial of totally raw, I’d love to hear more on how that goes for you. I’m so glad you enjoy the recipes/blog…. thanks so much, it means a lot to me to get such positive feedback…. xoxox
Catherine
Very interesting and nice site!
Hope having you here in Italy, once!
Thanks so much!! Was in Italy a couple of years ago, and would absolutely love to return xox
Just discovered your blog, and I absolutely love it!!! Keep up the great work
Awww thanks so much Kat!! I just love to hear feedback like yours… inspires me even more… Thanks!! xox
I like the helpful info you provide in your articles.
I’ll bookmark your blog and check again here regularly. I’m quite certain I’ll learn lots of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!
Hi there – so glad you find things helpful
You can signup “Receive Email Notifications” at the right side of the blog to receive and email every time there is a new post – or feel free to join us on Facebook as I also post there with every new post!! Would love to hear how you like things!! xox
We are sooo similar. How fun
Hi Marcai – I love hearing from kindred spirits
It’s so nice to hear I’m not alone…. thanks! xox
Just wondering what your grocery bill is every week for these veggies and fruit,if you dont mind me asking. Ive been looking at juicers on-line and seriously thinking about doing this.A friend told me once that it was so much cheaper for her time wise to just buy her juice (made to order)at Whole Food market.
Hi Jan – I don’t actually have specfics about my grocery bills but I can tell you that I’m spending less than I did before I started eating plant-based. I agree, if I juice I go through a lot more veggies as it takes more veggies to make a glass of juice (given you loose the pulp and fibres). I tend to make more smoothies than juice, so for example I an use the same amount of veggies that would normally yield one glass of juice and instead I’ll get about 2 litres of smoothie that is more filling (for me anyway) as it still has all the fibre, etc. I’m not sure if it’s cheaper to buy ready-made juice – atleast in our area it’s not – also you can never be sure how long the juice has been sitting and it is best to drink it (in my opinion) the same day it’s made as exposure to air can decrease the effectiveness of the enzymes.
Does that helps at all? ♡♡
Snap! We have the same story . . . however I am only 1 week into this discovery. It only took a few days of not eating sugar for the fog to lift. It has also allowed me to tune in more closely to my body and I have realised that wheat makes me bloat. I am being drawn to raw vegan too. I look forward to sussing out your site and gleaming some ideas for my new direction on nutrition. Thanks for putting it out there! xx Fi
That’s so great Fiona, nice to meet a kindred spirit ♡♡ it is amazing how eliminating sugar and wheat can so quickly make you feel so energized! I’m excited for you that you are starting this adventure, I’m sure you will love it. I look forward to hearing more about your experiences! ♡♡
I can totally rely to what you describe about how the food make you feel. I’ve been struggling for a while to figure out the best food for myself and 100% raw works for me when I live in a hot climate, otherwise I have to combine. Your blog is inspirational! Thank you for sharing your adventure with us!
Thank so much for your kind words Dariya, that’s so nice that you find my blog inspirational! xox I love connecting with like minded souls with the same/similar struggles, I’m so glad you found me. I love your travels, now THAT is inspirational. I look forward to reading more of your blog. Hugs Catherine xo