youthfulness

[opiumpoppyfields]

I kinda wonder if sometimes people think I'm being arrogant when I talk about how young I look due to raw food. Cuz I mention it a lot.

I'm actually not doing it for that reason. The reason I do it is because people tend to be shallow, and if eating a certain way can make them look younger/healthier/thinner, etc, it is more likely they will try it out. This is more alluring to most vs. "This will make you feel more energetic and happier and healthier!"

I use it as a tactic to get people interested. Just FYI.

Comments

[lyssa027.livejournal.com]

I don't think you're arrogant, at all

[opium.livejournal.com]

oh good! :) sometimes I just feel like I say it a lot, and then I felt as MAYBE it could come across the wrong way.

[vegantravels.livejournal.com]

really good point
not arrogant at all
and you really do look awesome. do you do mono, or mixed raw&dehydration?

[opium.livejournal.com]

thanks!

um, sometimes I do mono. Usually I do just raw, and will have dehydrated stuff if I go out somewhere to eat. Right now I'm having a bit of quinoa but I don't want to do that for very long. I am starrrrrrrving for some reason, and I was experimenting with my diet, going back to how I did it for the first 3 years (a lot of fat) and I felt so awful I am just going back to low-fat, and the quinoa is helping me get back on track with a high carb diet. I feel kinda gross, tho.

[vegantravels.livejournal.com]

so I guess you mean cooked quinoa, not raw sprouted?
yeah, during the times I do raw for couple weeks I eat tons of nuts/avocados along with other non-fat stuff, and it doesn't feel quite right. interesting idea with quinoa helping switching back to low-fat, will have to try this

[opium.livejournal.com]

i did it before with sweet potatoes, but I felt too bloated. I am not gonna eat the quinoa for very long. Maybe just this week? Period is coming and I'm always ravenous.

Yeah cooked. I hate sprouted quinoa. Everything i'm eating is raw, though, I've only had the quinoa and some yams this week.

[opium.livejournal.com]

I think my body was like WHERE DID THE FRUIT/CARBS GO? and I binged hard on the starch.

[opium.livejournal.com]

also, one of the reasons i chose quinoa is because it is a low GI food, and when I have a lot of fat in my system and then eat a lot of sweet fruit again, my bloodsugar likely spikes and my face gets rashy. i have not been consistent enough with the low-fat to really see a difference, i always end up binging on gourmet raw stuff cuz i love it so much, haha. also i got back into those sorts of things when my relationship started to get really bad for me - first lots of cooked carbs, then to get off those i did all raw with as much fat as i wanted, it was comfort food and i ate SO MUCH during those months, but now im just struggling because its yummy.

[vegantravels.livejournal.com]

yeah any stress is the worst time for raw eating, I do get off it every time, and then obviously feel double stressed and less healthy. getting back on raw is a whole separate story, usually only fresh predominantly carrot juices every morning help me get back on track, or green smoothies, but otherwise keep craving cooked)

[adam-0oo.livejournal.com]

Plus, you do look really young.

[opium.livejournal.com]

well thanks :)

[vaysha.livejournal.com]

do you think it can turn back the clock too?
I have an older woman friend (my foster daughters grandma actually)
she is about 67 or so and been raw for about a year and a half.
I think she looks younger than she use to.

[opium.livejournal.com]

YES, TOTALLY!!!!!!

[lapetitesiren.livejournal.com]

Obnoxious question re: protein and B12 (not an attack! legit curious!).

I have digestive problems and do very well on raw with a lot of juice and blended food, but around 2 weeks in I hit a wall and have bad energy/concentration issues as well as being really cold and not being able to sleep. My fatigue, concentration, and anxiety keeps getting worse so I finally nutted up and paid a bunch of money to see a naturopath with an excellent reputation to see about getting bioidentical hormones.

She looked at my basic bloodwork and while I do not seem to have a thyroid problem as suspected my blood urea nitrogen is very low. This is indicative of having such little protein that I cannot even manufacture neurotransmitters (affecting both my brain and my gut). I was vegan for years and am still mostly (occasionally eat fish)...I have Asperger's, and she told me that this means I likely have a gene that makes it very difficult for me to metabolize B12 but that there are supplements and dietary changes I can make. We're gonna do a DNA test to see if I have the gene and I should get results back in 2 weeks.

For now she wants me to eat way more protein and I am going to try it out to see what happens and then possibly when things get more balanced out have a shot at 100% raw again. I really do feel amazing much of the time when I am eating raw but for now I am going to go with her reccs and see what happens.

So my question: have you had bloodwork done since raw and have you seen the results for B12 and also for Blood Urea Nitrogen? Once again, not an attack at all. I really admire you and think you seem to be doing great with your diet so I was curious. Like I said, you're my anti-aging superhero. :) Nothing wrong with stating the truth, I don't think you're cocky at all. It's selfLESS to share what has benefitted you with others.

[opium.livejournal.com]

If you're hitting a wall you're likely just not getting enough calories, so eat more fruit - I'd say load up on nuts/seeds/avocados, but I know personally that too much fat is detrimental :/
If you get enough calories you should be getting enough protein. We don't really need THAT much - where I get mine from is simply enough fruit and veg. Lately I have added some soaked buckwheat, and a bit of cooked quinoa (though I am not gonna eat it after tonight - I feel too bloated having cooked carbs).
You should get B12 injections if you have a hard time metabolizing it. You can easily get more protein by eating hemp, beans, etc - you don't have to be 100% raw. If she is insisting you eat animal products I would look for another naturopath.

I am actually going to see a naturopath in a couple weeks - I want to get bloodwork done, yeah. I do struggle with a couple of things on my diet, and I have been all over the place with it the last couple years - trying to stay low-fat but then binging either on fats/salt or cooked carbs, and I have had awful skin rashiness which I hate, so now I am going to give up salt and see how that goes, maybe it's my problem. I have also started getting UTIs again, but I think that is mostly because my sex life has returned and also I got ONE, which of course was treated with antibiotics, which wipes out the immune system, and of course I am susceptible to more - this is the main reason I am going to see someone, cuz I don't want to be on antibiotics all the time, and I am not willing to give up my awesome sex life.

Also I figured out I have PMDD (extreme PMS issues) and am wondering if salt is the culprit. Anyway, I am always fiddling with things to see how I feel best. :) I do take a B12 supplement and make sure I get Vit D in the winter, whether it be from a tanning bed (sparingly) or going to a hot place!

I'll be sharing my results when I know what's going on :) I don't have a protein issue, I'm sure, as I eat like a maniac and I lift heavy boxes of books all day.