Hi.

I've only recently adopted a raw vegetarian diet, though after only 3 weeks I already feel a dramatic increase in my energy levels (I don't suffer from Chronic-Fatigue-Syndrome but was feeling worn out from college work and lack of sleep). Now my mind is so much clearer, my motivation levels are soaring and I generally just feel light and 'bouncy'!

People assume a new 'diet' will involve massive disruption to their way of preaparing and eating food, but eating raw has got to be the most basic, and non-time consuming way of eating I've ever experienced. Over complicating dishes with too many food types can be a burden on the digestive system, so mono-eating is a simple and most highly beneficial way to eat food (by this I mean eating only one type of food at a time). I don't quite stick to this but will generally only include 3 or 4 different things in my salad...maybe lettuce, cucumber, olives and sprouted beans.

I find colour one of the most appetizing things about food, so by adding a variety of different coloured foods to a salad, a basic meal can become a feast for the eyes and the stomach! And even though I had a bit of a sweet tooth for chocolate, I've replaced it with sweet dried fruits (figs, dates and prunes) and raw cacao nibs (the 'food of the gods'!) and I find I haven't craved processed chocolates since.

As for bread and such products, I'd only ever eaten rye bread and occasional wholegrain breads anyway, so I've never craved the starchy, Sugar filled white alternatives. But I've bought a dehydrator (I got mine in the UK for £30...about $60 I think, but that's a lot cheaper than an oven!!) and I make onion breads, biscuits, and sweet banana breads which are Sugar and yeast free but as satisfying as any processed breads, and really easy to make too.

I think in your heart you know this is the way you should be eating, as you mentioned it helped you in college, so follow your heart to help heal your mind and body. You also mention your husband can eat what he wants and is the 'picture of health'...well I very much doubt he looks so healthy on the inside if he eats so much processed junk! Our bodies are the most amazing and precious things we will ever own, they are worth investing in now with a 'clean' and nourishing diet to preserve them for as long as possible.

Start simple then you can build yourself up to raw food preperations that you see as more complcated...such as soaking...though I find even soaking and sprouting seeds etc so much more straightforward than preparing a cooked main meal such as a lasagne! Once you feel settled in eating raw foods you can begin to create raw meal equivalents to cooked dishes (I love raw strips of carrot and zucchini in a home-made pesto for a yummy raw 'pasta' dish!)

Most of all, enjoy what you're eating and remove yourself from the mindset that you're missing out on something when you remove processed foods from your diet...well ok, you are missing out...on a future of poor health, premature ageing and serious illness.

I wish you all the best on changing your diet for the better...and remember there's always the curezone community here for guidance and support. You can do this!

Amber :)

Hi, I hope this article from the dry fasting club can help https://dryfastingclub.com/df-9-preparing-for-a-dry-fast-by-juicing/