Eating raw food: Its all about attitude; Part III

In my previous blog, I wrote about my first social experience on this diet, and how it has impacted me.

Over the holidays this year, during Christmas, my family and my fiance an
d I were invited to a family Christmas dinner, at my Uncle's and his girlfriends house.
My uncles girlfriend(I'll call her S)had given my mom and dad a Whole Foods gift card, and told my mom to buy her and I a special raw fish feast for the holiday dinner, so we wouldn't feel left out.
My mom had bought Ahi tuna, salmon, seaweed, raw sheeps milk cheese, cucumber, avocado, and various other little treats. S joined us in our raw food dinner, and didn't even eat any of the turkey, or cooked food the guys were indulging in. She enjoyed it very much, and even wanted to start eating it more often.
My mom and I on the other hand had a very different experience; we began to feel slightly nauseous from eating the raw fish, and it felt like there were rocks sitting in our stomachs.
All I wanted was my raw ground beef, and I really felt like my instincts were telling me not to eat raw fish anymore.
My mom and I felt that our instincts were confirmed after reading this post on Live-Food(a group ran by Vinni Pinto) Recipe For Disaster
You can also join the group, and learn more about this diet.

I have learned that people just want you to be apart of things. Good friends and family will go out of their way to integrate you into their lives, no matter how different you are, or how you eat.

In my experiences, few times have I had blatantly horrified and rude people, attacking me for my way of life.

When I was working at St. Vincent De Paul in Seattle, WA, there was a woman there who I worked shifts with. When she found out that I ate raw meat, she was so shocked and horrified that she went around literally yelling it to my entire crew, and telling them to come look at what I was eating. At first, I felt pretty alienated...but I took it in stride, and no matter what she said to me, I counteracted her words with positives. As her and I started working together more, she actually told me that she thought it was really cool that she knew someone who ate raw meat, and that she liked the fact I was different. She also told me that she may have thought I was weird at first; but she thought I was just so nice and kind that she really didn't think I was that weird anymore.

In my opinion, the way the vegans and vegetarians eat is detrimental to their health; but I will defend their right to eat that way. Why? Because it is everyone's personal right to live life how they want, and I can understand that some people literally cannot bring themselves to harm animals, because their conscious will attack them. No; I do not think it is healthy, but it is not my right to tell them how to live their lives. The only thing I can do is recommend healthy supplements for the health problems caused by such diets.

Over time; I have come to a lot of realizations, and I have had mini-battles in myself over eating my food in front of others; on occasions such as work lunches. But I know, that as long as I have pride, and confidence, that people will not look at me like an alien, but a person with a different way of life.

Eating raw food: Its all about attitude; Part II

In my original blog; called; Eating raw food: Its all about attitude: Posted on; Thursday, August 9, 2007
I wrote about my perspective, and experiences eating raw meat.
That was 5 months ago; in this post I am writing about my first social experience on the RVAF diet.

In march, before this blog was put out; I moved to Illinois to be with my current fiance. I moved in with his friends, a couple and their 3 year old.
I had only been on the diet for about a month at the time, but the couple was very accepting of it. The wife(I'll call her A)was especially "protective" of my diet.

One day her husband(I'll call him R)and my fiance and I went to pick up my meat from the grocery store. R noticed that the ground beef in the bulk butcher section was on sale for only $1.99 lb. So I got a huge package of 5 lbs, and we went home.
On our way home, R decided to randomly tell me that the reason it was so cheap, is because it was all the meat that was going bad, ground up and set out. Needless to say I was a LITTLE mad, that he failed to tell me this when we were at the grocery store.
When we got home I opened the package, and took a bite. It was DISGUSTING; it tasted like old warm mushy nastiness.
My boyfriend Sam had asked me if he could make a cooked hamburger with it. I said yes; as he proceeded to pat the ground beef into a patty, it was so mushy and gross he was horrified, and couldn't even bring himself to make a burger with it.

A was very mad, and told me; "We're gonna take that meat back, and if they won't let you return it, I'll tell them that you eat raw meat, and this meat is old and gross and you want a refund!" She also told me we could try Aldi's meat(the local poor people grocery outlet)and that she would cover me and we could poke a hole in one of their meat packages and I could take a bite and see if it was any good.
Her husband R was horrified; "A! You can't do that, are you really going to do that? You better not poke a hole in the meat and eat it!" A and I laughed and winked at each other as we told R; "Uh sure we won't..."
We went to the grocery store and returned my meat, only to find out that the good meat was the same price as the gross meat.
We picked up 5 packages; at the time I only ate one pound a day, of 15% fat ground chuck.
A and I drove over to Aldi's, and we walked in; meandering around, pretending to check everything out. We went by the meat cooler, and A stood in front of me; I was too nervous to poke the hole in the meat package myself; so A did it for me and handed me a chunk of ground beef.
I popped it in my mouth; it wasn't terrible, but it sure wasn't good. I shook my head at her; "no."
Then we walked our happy butts back to the SUV and headed home.
Of course when we told her husband R what we'd done, he was horrified, and proceeded to berate us for our illegal activities.

A few days later A did something I would have never expected ANYONE to do...
Now A was very motherly, she liked to cook for everyone, make sure the house was immaculate, do everyone's laundry....etc.
Unfortunately I'm the same way; just a little more specific about how I do things. My laundry is mostly high quality vintage and couture clothes, therefore only jeans and t-shirts can be washed in the washer.
She attempted to do my laundry one morning, and as I was coming down the stairs, I stepped into the kitchen and she told me she was loading my laundry. I was horrified, and ran up to her and started to grab my delicates out of her evil crappy washer. I thanked her, but politely let her know that the clothes couldn't be washed in a washer.
I then went to get my food out of the fridge; suddenly she cuts in front of me, and tells me she made my breakfast. She then opens the fridge, and hands me a plate with ground beef lettuce wraps with plastic wrap over them.
I am in shock, horror, speechless...
She had even poured balsamic vineger, and salt and pepper on them, grated carrot, and sliced up radishes. She had prepared them just as she'd seen me do. Needless to say I could not believe that someone had actually made me my raw meat breakfast...
At this point in my diet I was still very much into putting preparation in my food, because I was still slightly squeamish about the taste of my ground beef.
I was horrified at the fact that someone else's hands had prepared MY ground beef. I mean it was raw, I only wanted my hands to touch it; it felt like an invasion...

Although it was awkward and unsettling, I really appreciate A's efforts to make me feel at home, and included in things.
R and S were the first people I ever ate my raw meat in front of, and because of their kindness and non-judgmental attitude, I really feel that it helped my confidence in my social experiences on my diet.

In my next blog I'll cover my most recent social experiences, and how my family reacts to my way of life.

Confessions of a Raw Foodist

I am a raw-foodist, of the RVAF category. My diet includes the following:
Mainly, raw ground beef
Raw fish
Raw vegetables
Raw complex carbohydrates (roots)
Raw fruits
Raw nuts
Raw milk
Dried fruits
PLENTY of water

Now it wasn't always this way…

The story of how I got here?
When I was young(1-2yrs) we were vegetarians; until my mom decided to give me a chicken drum one day…I was reportedly on my haunches, ripping at it with my teeth, my face covered in chicken grease.
I finished it within minutes, and looked up at my parents and shouted “MORE!” It was then that my parents realized my body must need meat.
From (2-14yrs) we ate meat twice to three times a week because my mom read that meat clogs your colon(which it does, but only cooked meat).
The rest of the week we ate large amounts of carbs; lentils, wheat bread, brown rice, even brown tortillas, beans, legumes etc.
For breakfast my family ate oatmeal, cornmeal, bulgur, millet, amaranth, cream of rice, every kind of hot morning cereal imaginable.
We ate salads with our carb dishes (which is probably the only thing that kept us alive).

Our family was allergic to pasteurized milk, so we switched to Soy
Milk, and Rice milk. Now I'm sure a lot of you are thinking; well all
those things are whole grains, so they must not be bad for you? In
truth; grains and carbs, are pretty much completely toxic to the human
body.

We have canines for a reason; because we eat meat.
You don't see tigers baking bread and cooking their gazelles over a
blazing hot fire. Not because they are "less advanced than us" but
because they are natural, and they are eating what their bodies tell
them to eat. We kill our food; cooking destroys all of the natural
things that make it good for us.
We are like vampires eating blood after it has been boiled; it will make us unhealthy and sick.

Most of society has grown used to the reality of having health problems;
So much so, that society is taught to believe it is a normal part of
life to be unhealthy and sick.
In my teens(14-17) I was so frustrated by my inability to gain weight,
that my best friend recommended I eat junk food and don't exercise. I
followed her advice; and ate the complete opposite of my family's diet.
I used to be like a lot of you, munching on Doritos, Hot Cheetos and
bean dip, greasy bake in your oven pizza, soda-pop, starburst and Twix.
I would drink homogenized pasteurized milk, and go w/ my friends
families to Old Country Buffet.

I'd look forward to my nightly visit w/ my cousin to the corner store,
so I could buy my ham n' cheese hot-pockets and sit outside on the water
bottle cases munching on micro-waved heaven. I loved Starbucks and visited
daily to get my fix of Veinte Carmel Mocha triple shot extra Carmel Frappachino.

I loved convenience stores and junk-food isles, tub ice-cream with
cardboard and lard, added chocolate flavoring and the almighty MSG and
corn syrup.
Lets not forget take-out Panda Express and midnight Jack in the Box monster tacos. But all that wonderful chemicalized artificial crap was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Add to the cocktail of aluminum filled products, some cheap sulfated beer, and whatever alcohol I could get a hold of, and you've got yourself a typical lower-class American teenager.

Through this diet of junk-food I had gained stubborn belly fat on my
abdomen, and stretch marks on my butt. I had no firmness in my body; I
was all cottage cheese and soft fat, but there was no weight to me.
I was really skinny, but not firm.
I thought that eating junk food was the only way to gain weight, but it was in ALL the wrong places.
Mostly my stomach, and lower half, I had chub, but not curve. My face lost its
shape and definition, I still had a chin, but it was just a round bubble face.

I had severe acne, not just on my face. I was constantly tired; I never
had any energy, and I felt like I was living in some cloudy haze. My
thoughts were never clear and I was a complete klutz.
I had frequent, almost daily migraine headaches (We will talk about migraines in another blog).
I remember going to school, and coming home every day so exhausted I would just sleep for the rest of the day.
I was at an all-time low in myself, and it seemed I was forever sinking lower.

My family ended up moving from Arizona to Washington, and it got even
worse then. I became so depressed I refused to leave my house, and I
slept for days, hardly moving, and vegging on the computer.
This went on for months, until my aunt needed me to assist in helping my dying Great
Grandmother, in Arizona.
It was when I moved back to Arizona that I started to become a bit more health conscious, but only in the sense of using band-aids.
I cleared up the majority of my acne by using over the
counter products. Because I was a live-in house-maid,
I started to get plenty of circulation and exercise, my health improved
much, but not everything was perfect.

I was getting knee and joint problems so severe I would get
knee dislocation; the joint would literally completely pop out of
socket, and then back in again.
My aunt had convinced me that I needed special knee surgery, a process in which surgeons would literally shave off some of my ligament and re-sew it together.
My mom was horrified by the idea of pointless surgery, and tried explaining to me it was my diet causing these problems.
I refused to listen to my mother's advice, or believe her.

Luckily, I did not get the surgery….because years later after I had
switched to an RVAF diet, I met a girl on a Grayhound bus when I was on
my way from Illinois to Washington; she had received the same surgery I
would have gone through for my joint problems. She could no longer run
or swim, and her knee made squeaking noises whenever she moved it…she
was in pain constantly.
I was so relieved I did not let some doctor butcher me; but instead changed my way of living. I had realized that w/e health problems I had, were only because of the way I was eating and living life.

I was a light drinker, no longer an alcoholic like I had been
previously.
Even so, every morning after I would drink I would get
heart-palpitations; these would last all throughout the day, until
night. By then, I would get really scared, and we would end up in the
emergency room.

I thought my health was the best it would ever be, and I accepted these
problems as if they were irreversible. My belief at the time was that;
as long as you are happy, your health will reflect it(I'm not saying
that this isn't true, being happy is definitely a large part of diet).

I took care of things at my aunts, surviving off of coffee, and working
a part time job at a pizza place. I eventually met some guy and moved in
with him; that relationship broke off, and I moved back home to Washington
with my family in the summer of 06.

Life went on for me, living w/ health problems I claimed had nothing to
do with diet. I got a part time job at JC Penney's that summer. I decided to go back to school after summer was over.

How did I find out about this diet?

My mother had a life-threatening debilitating disease, she was on her
deathbed at 38 years old. This disease is called Grave's Disease; it is
a disease of a hyperactive thyroid. It can cause inability to gain
weight, hair loss, accelerated aging, gray hair, weak joints and
muscles, weakened ligaments, blindness, weak retinas, acne, clubbed feet,

flat feet, lethargy, blindness, insomnia, depression etc. All of these
symptoms are accelerated by any kind of stress, or overworking. This
disease runs in my family, my brother and I both have it, w/ varying
degrees of severity.
Grave’s Disease can remain dormant even until your thirties, or occur in young childhood.

My mother had tried everything to combat her Grave’s Disease; supplements, less
meat, more whole grains, Kombucha, EM(Effective Microbes), Blue-green
Algae, de-toxing enemas. She did Yoga, and Qi Gong; along with meditation.

Her search for answers led her on a path to raw meat; her instincts told
her that she should eat raw meat.
So she did large amounts of research, and all her research only led her to information on feeding raw meat to animals.
The recipes for the animal food were all these elaborate complicated
ways of eating raw meat.
So, desperate to find a solution, she tried the recipes, and the very preparation made the meat taste horrid.
So she moved on, in search of the cure to all her health problems, but not
forgetting that urge to eat raw meat.

Later, she came upon a Raw Meat and Animal Foods group, on Yahoo!
Groups, ran by Vinnie Pinto, inspired by the RVAF diet discovered by
Aajonus Vonderplanitz.
This diet contained NO grains, legumes, beans, breads, or cereals.
The diet focused mainly on the consumption of raw beef, and raw fish, and raw milk;
as well as juicing, vegetables, and low amounts of fruits, raw nuts, and dried fruits.

She switched to this diet immediately, excited to have finally found a
cure!
A little over three years later and still on her RVAF diet, her
Grave's Disease is completely cured, and she's getting younger every
day.
My mom had tried many times convincing me that my health problems
would be solved if I just stopped eating carbs, and cooked food.

To be perfectly honest, I thought she was crazy, I mean I was RAISED by
her, to eat whole grains and hardly any meat.
I thought; she's just being a hypocrite, changing her mind again.
From my perspective, being that of a selfish uncaring teenager,
I had hardly paid any heed to my mother's disease.
I was hardly ever home long enough to know that these
were serious realities, I was in a state of denial.
All I had seen was my mom taking miracle cures that never seemed to work, and in my mind, it was all as simple as ignoring there was a problem.

Throughout the whole summer, my mother and I slowly resolved our issues.
I learned of her diet, and improved my own diet, although; I still
refused to switch to her way of eating.

After summer was over; I went back to high-school, I was in 12th grade.
That year, all the kids in the school caught a nasty flu, and I hadn't
had a flu in about 4 years. It was terrible; I had body aches and
nausea, horrible sinus problems, all the bad things that go with a typical
flu.

It was because of that flu that I made a vow to myself, that I never
wanted to be sick again; so I quit all carbs. I completely withdrew from
all forms of grains, breaking down only ONCE, to try a Newman-o's Oreo
cookie; and realized it wasn't what it was all was cracked up to be.

As my diet of salad, medium rare steak, and fruit progressed, I noticed
many benefits, but it still wasn't enough.
I watched my mom prepare her raw ground beef,
not able to bring myself to take that last step.
I began to get so health conscious that I started to jog every day, along
w/ yoga and dancing.
My health improved; but I was losing a lot of weight.
Then one day after a morning jog, I went to into the kitchen,
and saw my mom preparing raw meat sushi rolls.
I took a deep breath; I knew this was it…I asked my mom if I could try a bite!
I popped it in my mouth, and damn, it was pretty good! That was the beginning of my raw meat diet, and I haven't looked back since.
In this series of blogs we will learn how cutting out the carbs, and
eating plenty of raw fat and protein, can cure ANY health problem,
disease, symptom, and even mental illness!