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Needing some advice and words of encouragement

Hi All!

I (about two months ago) fell off the wagon after a change of job and environment. I went raw pretty much overnight but it ended as fast as it had begun and I just feel horrible. I’ve found I’ve become more negative, tired and bloated.

I’m still vegan and i don’t think this will change. Anyway – over this two months I seem to have lost SO much hair – i’m talking maybe 30%? It just falls out when I pull it lightly which is a bit of a worry.

I started taking alot of spirulina, but its been a month and nothing has changed. Does anyone know if my going back to raw will make this worse? I can’t afford to lose anymore or it will start to look incredibly noticeable.

Also, I so desperately need to get back to where I was, it’s just starting to get colder here and I can’t seem to break the cycle of reaching for coffee, bread, rice and sugar (all in excess). Can someone please offer up some advice? or some words of wisdom to help me start again?

I’ve tried doing it by myself – but it gets to the end of the day with a 2 hour commute home from the city and I just can’t do it.

Thanks for listening

=)

Comments

  • DeborahBeeDeborahBee Raw Newbie

    Hi RawHoney,

    I don’t know about your hair. I hope it doesn’t get any worse.

    Start your raw transition slowly. Have one raw meal a day. Then work your way up to two raw meals a day. When I changed to raw I would carry a container of nuts and raisins with me everywhere. They would fill me up when hungry and help me avoid buying convenience food.

    When I feel like I might be falling off the wagon, I get on to this website and browse the recipes. I also read other raw foodists’ blogs. Being the only raw fooder I know, I can feel quite isolated at times and reading other people’s experiences gives me a great boost. Check this out:http://www.shazzie.com/raw/journal/ They are journals of a lady named Shazzie of when she started raw. I bought her book “Detox Your World” and it is what prompted me to go raw. Shazzie has a lovely gentle approach and is inspiring to read.

    Lastly, when you reach for a bad food, think about it first. Why are you doing it? How will you feel after you’ve eaten it? Will it be worth it? Often, I can think myself out of eating things.

  • Luna bluLuna blu Raw Newbie

    How raw are you atr the moment? Do you find it’s fine throughout the day and then you blow it at night?

    The hair could be related to stress, but raw certainly wouldn’t hurt the hair!

    Try to eat enough through the day. If you let yourself get overly hungry, you could blow it by the time you get home.

    Also, maybe you just need to transition slowly this time. Pick a percentage and try to stick to it. Don’t beat yourself up if you blow it once in a while, that will only make your transition more stressful and not at all enjoyable. Let say, challenge yourself to 75% raw for a couple weeks, then increase the raw for a couple more weeks untill you find the percentage that is right for you. It may be 100 it may be 90% What ever is right for you.

    Don’t give up on raw. Know that even if you end up only 75% raw, you are doing SOOOOO much better than most people out there!

  • DeborahBeeDeborahBee Raw Newbie

    I forgot to mention, I used to suffer terribly from coldness. 18 months ago I started to dry skin brush. I bought a natural skin brush on eBay. Every day before I get in the shower I brush in an upward direction starting at my feet. I do my legs, then my arms, then my belly, then my back. Then I brush downwards on my neck and chest, top of back and lastly gently on my face. Always brushing in the direction of the heart. The last 30 seconds in the shower are a cold blast! It’s almost torture. But this winter I haven’t felt the cold at all. I think it’s a combination of dry brushing. cold shower and raw food.

  • achin70achin70 Raw Newbie

    You might want to get your hair loss and your general fatigue checked out. Hair loss, from what I’ve read, could be a mineral deficiency. And when you missing something in your diet, the cravings come on like gangbusters!

    You can try warming up your raw soup to 115 degrees (just hot to the touch) for some cold weather comfort food, or you can dehydrate your food to warm it up.

    Try warming spices like cayenne, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, etc. Heavier foods like nuts supposedly will keep you warm, too. Also, if you can muster up the energy, exercise really gets the blood circulating.

    Try keeping your meals simple. Green smoothies are quick and easy. Have some raw energy bars (or raw granola) one hand. It’s not ideal, but it’s still pretty healthy, better than the cooked stuff. Goji berries are a wonderful snack, too.

    For coffee cravings, I like the Irish Macaffee recipe on this website. Also, roasted maca, although not raw, is a good coffee substitute.

    Once you get going on raw again, you might want to look into detoxing (liver gallbladder flush, colonics, dry skin brushing, liquid Zeolite) to help you absorb your nutrients.

    Good luck, and keep posting if you need support! :)

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    That huge amount of hair loss could be malnutrition. What are you eating?

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hi RawHoney,

    For your hair issues – we had a thread going under the Health and Beauty section just recently talking about hair loss and nutrition. In the interest of not having to type it all over again (it is long), please read it here: http://www.goneraw.com/forums/7/topics/4372

    I put down a list of things needed for great hair and what to do.

    It definatley sounds like you are stressed – just losing the hair can cause more stress too! Stress = #1 cause of hair loss. Stress depletes nutrition. Spiriluna is good for protein but you need lots of other things too (please refer to the thread I posted above). MSM is the best thing for hair I think.

    It is sounds pretty normal what you are experiencing considering how your went about with going raw. It is like going on a crash diet. Ever hear of people going on extreme diets and than losing hair – that might be what happened to you hear. You definately need to make sure you are getting the proper things for you hair. Hair loss when going raw can also be a sign of detox – out with the old and in with the new. But it always grows back and you can help it grow back.

    I don’t know if this will provide any comfort to you but you are definatley not the first person to lose hair when going raw – I see this complaint ALL over the raw boards I visit. It is quite common. This doesn’t mean it is permanent (more than likely it is not!) and you can recover from it. You definatley need to work on stress levels. A two hour commute sounds killer! Make sure you stay as relaxed as possible in it!

    After you read the hair thread, please let me know if you have any more questions. I’ll be happy to try to help. :)

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    Just a thought – I find subliminal cd’s, positive affirmation cd’s, success cd,s etc really useful. If you are stuck in a 2 hour commute why not find a cd to help you get into a different place with all this stuff. I love Innertalk – as recommended by Shazzie, they really work. And Tony Robbins has some good ones (that you can download for free off certain websites, but I didn’t say that ok!) I just thought that you could do with a non raw lift to get you back up and at it again.

    As eveyone says Green Smoothies are handy…The Boutenko’s recently did an experiment where lots of people had 1 green smoothie every day for 2 weeks. They continues eating their SAD or whatever just added the green smoothie. The results showed that everyone felt more drawn to eating more fresh fruit ansd vegetables after these 2 weeks, and many experienced relief from various ailments. One green smoothie a day could be a easy way to ease yourself back into it.

    You look absolutely fabulous in your picture by the way…Didn’t you do a juice feast back when you went raw before? Maybe the swing from being so raw and juice feasting and going back to cooked, and the new job etc just gave your poor head a big shock? Hair can drop due to stress and changes. I hope it gets better, have you tried wheatgrass? Sprouts and wheatgrass are really, really good for hair, energy and putting the Pizazz back. You can put sprouts in the green smoothie and not even taste them ;)

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    the things that helped me: giving up coffee and sleeping a LOT. when i was tired, i reached for cooked food. instead, with a lot of sleep, i did much better. positive affirmations are great- every night i watch a raw food video on youtube or other raw websites. and i visit the raw websites browsing for recipes every day.

  • roxiroxi Raw Newbie

    I always try to think of it this way.

    Am I eating this food because I’m hungry or because my tongue likes its taste?

    I find that a lot of the “cooked” foods I used to eat, I only eat because they tasted good, not because they were good for my body.

    I try to remember that what I am eating is NOT for my tongue but to nourish my body.

  • achin70achin70 Raw Newbie

    In Eating For Beauty, David Wolfe recommends starting out with 1/4 T of MSM (natural sulfur) twice per day, and then increasing gradually as you body opens up to it, working up to 1-3 T twice per day. It’s an acquired taste, so please keep this in mind, ok? MSM has a great affinity w/water, so you can take it with your morning and afternoon water. I’ve been taking it for about 4 weeks now, and I think I’m starting to notice results. Sulfur is essential for healthy hair. :)

  • fatigue, bloating, and hair loss are major symptoms of gluten sensitivity/celiac disease. you may have some intestinal swelling that is preventing your body from absorbing certain nutrients.

    do you have sensitive teeth/gums? poor circulation? low blood pressure? low blood sugar?

    some raw foods that can irritate people with gluten sensitivity: cashew, banana, carrot, nama shoyu, date, too many nuts

    i can sympathize totally with how you feel. Ive been raw for over a year and had fatigue, thinning hair, negativity, bloating/digestive issues the whole time.

    www.lifefood.com

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    roxi—really? i find just the opposite. raw food tastes so much better to me. it’s a complete experience of feeling great about the way it looks (so colorful), the way it tastes, and the way i feel afterwards. maybe your taste buds have to catch up with your body?

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