27yr old British girl on week 3 of raw lifestyle. People around me making it tough but I'm doing wel

Hi all,

I'm Gemma, 27, from Liverpool in uk. I'm on my third week of being raw and I absolutely love the way I feel. I don't own a blender, juicer or a dehydrator so am living off the basics and have so far been unable to create some of the amazing recipes I have seen on this website. I'm hoping a VitaMix might be under the Xmas tree for me this year!

I'm doing this because I have had a couple of years of terrible digestive problems, mood swings, weight gain and bad skin. Already in just 16 days I have lost 14lbs. My headaches have gone, my symptoms of IBS have disappeared and my skin is looking clearer than ever. My moods are so much better, I sleep better and most importantly I don't feel stressed and depressed. It's like a little miracle.

I did my first 10k run yesterday after a break of 2 years from exercise and I feel great! I've signed up for my next run in two weeks -a 15k this time.

I'm lucky I have two close friends who are raw vegans who are supporting me. My meat eating friends and family are not being supprtive but it just makes me stronger!

Comments

  • luxdivonluxdivon Raw Newbie

    congrats! Great work. Keep at it, it's worth it. I'm 6 months raw, at around 75% had my raw anniversary just a few days ago! You see already it has the ability to totally change your life, i'm so glad it's been able to change yours :) Cheers!

  • sv3sv3 Raw Newbie

    Well done Gemma, you sound like you're doing great! It really does help to have friends to encourage you.

    I don't live too far from you (Manchester) and it's always nice to hear from other UK raw foodists. Makes me feel like I'm not so alone in my raw quest.

    Any negative comments you get are bound to be down to jealousy or defensiveness.

    You do well to let the negativity flow past and not affect you. I have had to work at this myself.

    Good luck on your raw journey. :-)

  • hi gemma,

    your post has really inspired me! i'm a londoner trying to incorporate more raw (50%) with the aim of eventually going high raw. but reading about your success, really makes me think i'm making excuses for myself. i too want a vita mix, a dehydrator, a food processor, etc, etc, but i don't NEED them. i think it's so great too that you have good friends who are also raw . . . there's a big difference between friends and family being accepting of your decision and actually sharing your views and experiences!

    BTW, congrats on your 10k!!!

  • HEY GEMMA...

    im right there with you, my family and friends really do not understand my lifestyle choices at all. I've been about 90% raw over the past year but the past two weeks I have been 100% minus a small amount of maple syrup. WOW i feel totally amazing and am needed much less sleep.. its strange ill wake up at 530 just ready to get up and get my day going... def invest in a blender first, green smoothies are so amazing and I can imagine my life without them.

    --whenever I feel like my family and friends don't understand me i just think "i love myself enough to put only pure raw vegan foods in my body.. keep loving yourself" or something like that. i live in west texas and one side of my family has a farm with cattle .. all meet eaters ... you can only imagine haha. Keep up the great work and enjoy having 2 raw friends! support each other :D have a great day!

    ketrin!

  • Hi All,

    Thanks so much for all of your positive comments!

    A little update, it's now been nearly 6 weeks of being raw and I am still loving it so much. I cannot imagine being a meat eater again. I bought a food processor and one of my raw friends lent me a champion juicer. I found a recipe for raw cottage pie which has been made about 6 times and eaten by everyone - raw and non-raw! Everyone loves it. I love making carrot, orange, ginger and beetroot juices and am still harping on to my husband about a Vitamix for Christmas. I hope he listens!

    We moved into my husbands parent's home 3 weeks ago and I thought it was going to be complete hell. All my 'freaky food' as everyone else calls it is in a box in the corner of the kitchen as there's not a lot of room in the cupboards (and I don't want everyone using my expensive raw stuff!) but I'm coping great. I make my own food and only have to worry about myself. Everyone at first was very anti-raw but the more I learn, the more I pass on and everyone is respectful of my lifestyle and why I am doing it. I thought it would be hard to watch them have their friday night chippy tea and saturday night chinese but in fact it's just made me stronger and more determined to stick at it for the sake of my health and wellbeing. Plus the smell of the takeaways have been knocking me sick! I honestly think if I wasn't raw I would be going mental at the cramped nature of living with the in-laws, my husband's brother, girlfriend and neice (who stay here 4 nights a week). This lifestyle has made my stress and previous short bad temper almost disappear!

    I have continued my running and have been doing short half hour jogs three times a week. I'm itching to join the gym again after a break of a couple of years but got to convince the hubby first. We're supposed to be saving every penny for a house! I am doing the 15k run this sunday though and can feel my legs getting stronger with every run.

    In total I have lost 21lb and my weight loss has become very steady at about 1-2lb per week. Before we moved in with the in-laws and we started packing up our flat, I found a pair of jeans that had fit me 3 years ago. I used these as a gauge whenever I'd previously done a diet - weight watchers, slimming world etc. I never managed to get them past my thighs. My husband told me to stop kidding myself, accept who I was and throw them away. I got upset and nearly did throw them out but at the last minute, I put them in a box. Today (about 2 months later), I unpacked that box and the jeans, although a little tight, not only went over my thighs but they zipped up and buttoned up...

    ...I cried!

    So to all of you out there thinking of doing this, remember, it's not a 'diet' it's a way of life, and an amazing journey that will teach you to love yourself and love your body.

    Good luck!

  • I'm so happy for you!!! I just wrote a blog post about being true to yourself & knowing your choices (raw veganism) is right! Basically not feeling like the odd ball out hehe. It's www.myreallyrawlife.blogspot.com follow it if you want! I'm so devoted to it & helping others! Do you have a blog? I'd love to read it if you do!! Also you might want to look at getting a blendtec blender. They are ammmaazzzingggg!! I love it! You can go to YouTube & type in will it blend. It shows tons of examples with blendtec blenders! Have a great day girl!!

  • BrunetteKat you'd recommend Blendtec over Vitamix? They're pretty much the same price here and I'm thinking Vitamix for soups over the winter as they will heat them for me. Does Blendtec do this also?

    I've stumbled across your blog before! I did a search on blogspot. I'll make sure I follow you. I've set up a website for myself and my friend Lani about our 'running on raw' quest but it's not live yet. I think I should do a blog too though so I'll look into setting one up this afternoon.

    Thanks for the tips! xxx

  • yes I do recommend blendtec, just because it's blades are patented and it works wonders. I am opening up a juice smoothie raw vegan bar lounge area by my university on march 1st (when the global juice fast starts hehe) and will be getting commercial blendtecs for the place. When I studied marketing in the south of france at a business school my whole marketing proposal to the professors was about blendtec!! They are good and do heat up soups there is actually a soup preset option and it heats it up I believe! But you look at works best for you, I was just going to let you know I LOVE MINE :D perhaps a vitamix would be better for what you eat though.

    Let me know the minute you get your website up PLEASE! recently I have had so much energy I have started running, which is super strange because I never could run for over a minute. I could do the elliptical for over an hour, but nope not running. NOW I CAN AND LOVE IT!!! oh and also let me know about your blog too!

  • What's an elliptical? I am confused!

    Going to set a blog up tonight, had to do some actual work yesterday unfortunately!

    xxx

  • It is a cardio machine at the gym I used to go to. it is some what like a ski motion. I really don't know hot to explain it. I am sorry :-/ let me know about your blog as soon as it is up and I will follow it!! :D have a great day

    ketrin

     

  • sv3sv3 Raw Newbie

    Gemma, it's so great to hear you're doing well and getting so much from the raw lifestyle! I would go mad living with my in-laws (and also having to do your own thing in someone elses house) - I take my hat off to you.

    I know what you mean about smelling take aways,etc. When my BF goes to the chippy, the smell almost knocks me out and I'm actually happy to be eating my own thing.

  • RawKarenRawKaren Raw Newbie

    Hi Gemma. I found your story really inspiring. As a fellow Brit and an on/off raw foodist, you have inspired me to get into those jeans I also have hidden away. I always always feel so much better on raw than SAD and never understand why I drift from time to time. I admire your resolve especially given your family circumstances. Your habits might eventually rub off on them. I have just passed my 2nd anniversary of mostly raw and my SAD husband declared to me that he would like to eat raw at weekends because he noticed he felt so much better on a Monday morning when he 'ate right'. I consider that great progress! Thanks for sharing your journey!

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