Sandy,

It was really great to hear about what you eat, since your menu is so similar
to mine, right down to the oatmeal and fruit for breakfast!  I feel the same
about staying at about 80% raw.  There are just some cooked foods I don't
care to do without, Italian being number one.  Peanut butter is another one,
and of course, chocolate!  But my main staple is really fruit.  I actually
have a problem, though, tolerating really high fiberous veggies in large
quantities, particularly carrots and broccoli.  In the worst cases, my
stomach will actually reject them.  Have you ever had a problem with that?
 Also, I was glad to hear that someone else's skin couldn't tolerate fat.
 When I became a vegetarian five years ago, my skin started breaking out
until I discovered it was the fat.  But in my case, I find that my body can
process raw fats just fine, including raw milk, butter, cheeze, etc., but has
problems with processed fats.   What was your experience?  I liked your idea
of mixing other grains in with the oatmeal - I'll try that.

I completely agree with only eating when you are hungry.  Beyond that, I
recently had to work very hard on not eating past the point of being full.
 Once I was able to do that, I immediately started to drop five pounds I
gained last year and hadn't been able to take off.  I would really like to go
100% raw at least once while I'm an adult.  I think I'm having a hard time
getting past the bread and chocolate cravings!

:-)
shanna

Hi Stuart!

Good to hear from you!  I've been eating 80+% raw for nearly five years
(until recently when I added a little more cooked food).  Overall the changes
have been overwhelmingly positive - more energy, shinier hair, stronger
nails, better skin tone, increased physical and emotional sensitivity.  It's
just when I eat 85-100% raw that I feel empty, hungry, I start losing weight
and getting colds.  So, for me, staying in the 70-80% range seems to work
best.  If I could eat nuts and avocados, I could eat a higher percentage raw
but I can't because my skin can't tolerate the fat.  Before I discovered
Natural Hygiene and a high raw diet, I was a vegetarian for many years and a
vegan for one.  How about you? You asked what I eat.  A typical day for me is
this:  two pieces of fruit and about a cup of oatmeal (cooked, often mixed
with rye, or barley or other rolled grains) for breakfast, then for lunch a
big salad or lots of chunks of veggies and a small cooked starch (baked or
steamed potato or yam, steamed whole grains or simple whole grain bread).
 Dinner is the same as lunch.  Whenever I'm hungry, which is often, I have
several pieces of veggies or fruit for snacks.  If dinner has been early and
I'm really hungry, I'll frequently have oatmeal and fruit again in the
evening.   This sounds like a lot of food and it is but it is very low in
fat.  Also, I'm very active physically, work out a lot - stairclimber, fast
walking, weights and yoga.

I like your way of eating, very much like mine.  Eating only when hungry is
so important.  Difficult for me to do during the school year, have to plan
carefully around recesses, etc.  What kind of bread do you eat?  Have you
tried making the dehydrated Essene type breads?  I'm going to experiment this
summer with them.  Liked your advice to filter out cultural programming.
 I've been on a life long campaign to do just that, especially the last few
years.  I've learned to go  with results, what works for me.

Smiles,

Sandy