Thanks, Frank.
When I became a vegetarian while in the Harvard Divinity School,
I migrated through lacto-lacto-ism (eating lots of ice cream)
towards veganism, and then towards raw foods and natural hygiene.
I lost lots of weight on that diet and had lots of energy --
which may have contributed to weight loss.
I noticed that many Christian vegetarians whom I had met
had discovered natural hygiene, and there were even some
groups (by mail) for such folks.  I felt that such vegans may
have seen hygiene as a divine gift, since it had health benefits,
or that they had discovered this method as consistent with
their Biblical responsibilities (or training or teaching) to
care for our bodies.
Then I became involved in local vegetarian groups and began
to follow their mores.  Yow!  Oy ve!  Yikes!  Weight gain.
And yes, raw vegetables and fruits CAN be quite satisfying,
and food is NOT the core of personal happiness, but
just one part of the world to appreciate -- within bounds
which are reasonable for us.

msc

At 07:14 AM 11/4/00 -0500, franko wrote:
>Good morning everybody
>Glad to be a part of the group. My wife and I eat most of our fruits and
>vegetables raw. We have been vegetarians since April, 2000. Since we don't
>eat animal products anymore, our health has improved. I do what I can to
>encourage others to have a healthy lifestyle. I plan to go through health
>minister training at Hallelujah Acres in March in order to learn more
>about health.