Hello!  I wanted to thank everyone for their responses.  I have been
doing
a lot of reading the past few days.  I still have a few
comments/questions.
First, I have been vegetarian/vegan for 15 years.  I exercise tons,
have
lots of energy, and do VERY WELL on a vegetarian diet.  In general I
eat
nearly vegan, with my only dairy and egg being an ingredient (ie
chocolate
or veggie bacon). I am not desiring to eat any animal
products......eggs in
general and esp. raw eggs I can not stomach!  I don't handle dairy
well and
(esp after lactating myself) have major ethical/physiological
objections to
humans ingesting other animals' milk. I have nothing against anyone on
this
list who does, but its just not for me.  I have been raw the past two
days
while I try to figure out in which direction I want to go.

I think the issue here is that when I am on all raw, I feel great and
am not
hungry, don't binge, etc.  However after a week or two, I begin to
doubt
myself; cravings (Mexican esp.) rear their ugly heads, and I suddenly
worry
that I am "depriving" myself of some important nutrients....and then I
start
eating.....not enourmous amounts of food, but I eat when I'm not
hungry, and
feel bloated and gain weight.

One thing I still have not had answered to my satisfaction:  are
cooked
grains and beans always detrimental?  I have noticed that since I've
been
back on all raw my littlest daughter who nurses beside me most of the
night
has stopped coughing......she had been coughing every few minutes (as
if
she had mucus at the back of her throat)

So......I'm feeling great on the raw....my other question is this:  I
am
5'3" and weigh 124lbs......I am pretty muscular but I feel as if I
could
still take off a few pounds (I am nitpicking here.....everyone thinks
I
look great)  BUT everyone says that its "normal" to keep a few extra
pounds
of fat when you are breastfeeding.  However, "normal" is eating cooked
food.
I have not experienced losing too much weight.   Should I even try to
lose
that weight?  Or would that be unwise?

I'm sorry for the long post.  I was just at "Beyond Veg" and love the
site....however a lot of it focuses on eating animal products as the
cure
from raw vegan.  Is there anyone else here who is eating vegan?  It
seems
that most of you are eating animal products.  Oh!  I am going to get
some
Flax seed oil! :)  And Jean-Claude.....I have a friend in the 12-step
program for over eating.....she has lost 55lbs and looks great!  I'm
not
sure it its for me though.......Thanks!  Peace, Jen aka Kashmir3