Ryan:
<<  At the same time she thought that my raw food adventures were off the
deep  end and we did not reach common grounds in this matter.

Most anyone you meet anywhere will probably think a raw diet is off the deep
end. I wouldn't ever expect anything different. I don't think it works to
try to convince people, through arguing or preaching or even having an attitude
of trying to convince them of anything.

With the nutritionist, since you were paying her for her professional
expertise, after a brief conversation, I would have just switched
nutritionists. It definately takes a little searching to find a nutritionist
who has had enough experience and background knowledge about raw foods to be
useful to you.

<<   I found that I could not give much of my knowledge and experience,
since she had formed a foundation that she was preaching from

Well, after all, you had gone to her for her professional help, not to try
to contradict her years of training and experience. She may have wondered why
exactly you were there, if you were trying to teach HER about nutrition.

Again., in normal social interactions, I don't believe that people are at
all interested in hearing someone's "knowledge and experience," unless they have
specifically asked for it, and even then one short sentence is all they want
to hear. Anything else they perceive as preaching, which it usually is. What
works best with people is to LISTEN to them. Ask for their opinions, and pay
attention to the answer, then ask for more elaboration and listen some more.

<< There is actually a small raw foods community in Santa Monica who I used
to interact with, we'll see if they are still around.

Isn't Santa Monica near San Francisco? I think quite a few on this list are
in California, so you will probably find loads of resource there, all kinds of
support groups and potlucks and nutritionists and groups and meetings and
activity.

Love Liza
[log in to unmask] (Liza May)