>As a newcomer to the raw community, I would like to introduce myself. <snip>

Welcome to raw-food Jean-Louis!

>Then, I began eating mostly raw. Two weeks later, as I discovered
>Burger's book ("Instinctotherapie : le manger vrai"), I was so
>impressed that I gave up cooked food and dairy products. However, as I
>don't think that instinctotherapy is the ultimate truth

A wise man you are! Best to keep that Ultimate Truth card for safe keeping
and hand it down to the next generation with the caveat that they never
play it either! ;)

>I eat all
>sorts of sprouted grains (including cereals). I sometimes (2 or 3
>times a week) eat raw fish (my favorite one is salmon, but mackerel
>tastes good too). I tried raw meat too (chicken, pork, beef, sheep),
>but I found it hard to chew and I didn't like it much anyway.

You might age the meat a bit. It becomes more tender and, for many,
tastier. But, then again, if you had a taste for it, the fresh meat would
likely taste melting...

>Besides,
>I am still afraid of parasites, so I think I will do without meat, at
>least for a while.

It is not a race.

>During the first two months, the major problems were:
>1) I was too thin : although I ate a lot, I was unable to regain
>weight (57kg=125 lbs).
>2)Family pressure was hard to resist too ("see how skinny you are, you
>should eat cheese, bread, etc..."). Moreover, I was unable to train in
>martial arts for more than 1 hour, because I felt a lack of energy.
>Although my health improved with regard to some aspects, especially
>nervosity, I was less and less confident I could one day regain an
>acceptable level of energy.

>At the beginning of January, I began to feel better, and (miracle?
>detox finished? adaptation of the digestive system to raw food?), my
>weight increased rapidly (Feb, 8th : 68 kg=149 lbs; now stable). Of
>course, I needed a lot of raw fish, so I am now convinced RAF is
>useful.

Detox finished? Hopefully the roughest is over, but you may detox in one
way or another for the rest of your raw life. :/

>Now, my RAF weekly intake is about 1 lb of fish. I am now globally
>satisfied of my health state, but a few problems remain :
>
>1) Overeating : for a while (~3 weeks), I was dates-addict (I could
>eat almost 2 lbs a day). I also had problems with almonds, hazelnuts,
>walnuts, avocadoes. The only solution I have found so far is not to
>buy too much of those, because the most difficult part when I start
>eating is to STOP! Fortunately, coconuts seem to be a good alternative
>to avos.

I am all-raw for several years and have had similar troubles. At first I
thought dates and honies would never stop being so attractive--but they
did. I ate a LOT of honey for about three months and both my wife and I ate
many dates during the first year. But, again, the attraction fell off. Now
we rarely even test honey, and dates are an occasional thing. But avos?
Hmmm...my wife has never gone overboard with them, but I have come to the
conclusion that you have regarding avos: I need to limit my intake. Maybe
they will fall off eventually if I kept at them, but it seems I've given
them more than enough of a chance to show a serious taste-change, you know?
;)

Becoming "addicted" to the "eat your fill" aspect of instincto is probably
the number one problem I see with myself and, reportedly, many other
instinctos.

>2) Too much fruit, especially in winter when few vegetables are
>available. But now I am trying to eat more salad, endives (and
>sprouted grains, of course). My stools are still a bit too soft (but
>maybe this results from overeating).

Too much fruit is another "classic" problem with instincto. It is a bummer
to discover that one must still "eat their vegetables" as an instincto, but
it seems to be the case.

>3) My acne is coming back (although it is less abundant), and my
>body's secretions and excretions smell worse than 3 months ago : am I
>still detoxing from 24 years of cooked diet, or intoxing from
>overeating (or non organically grown fruits)?

Your biggest clue would be the smell of the secretions/excretions. I have
been amazing at the amount of detoxing to be done after my 26 years cooked.
It seems that when an instincto has any complaint, the standard line is to
say all three of what you are wondering: It may be because of non-organic
food, or it may be because of overeating, or most likely (since you are
only a few months into it) you are detoxing old stuff. Oh, and the fourth:
make sure you're testing cassia regularly.

>4) And... I waste too much time reading about nutrition and surfing on
>the Web (but I can't help it).

We're all in the same cage here. ;) Welcome again. :)

>I hope my posting will be of interest to others from the raw
>community.

There's heaps more lurkers than posters on raw-food, but regardless of who
replies, you can bet many are very interested in your raw path...

Cheers,
Kirt