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