Hi Kirt and Jean-claude,

I wanted to let you know that I have been thoroughly enjoying your
discussions.  Thanks for being so honest.  The discussion is particularly
interesting to me because I have come from a 1 1/2 year raw food vegan
experience before finding my way to Paleo and before that 12 or more years
as a vegetarian.

100% raw wasn't working for me.  I developed digestive troubles - severe
bloating - insatiable appetite so that I was eating most of the day! - much
more moodiness and depression.  Towards the end of my experience with raw I
decided to try the hygiene philosophy one more time and went on a 33 day
water fast.  This was definitely my strong will at play.  I had 33 days of
hell.  I was burping/belching constantly - huge big burps (about 7) every
1/2 hour or so.  For the last 2 weeks I was vohmitting daily.  I got really
scared towards the end because when I decided I needed to break the fast
because of fear of dehydration, I was unable to hold anything down.  I soon
realised that it was the sweet fruits/juices that I couldn't handle.  After
2 days of experimenting I was able to hold down the savoury fruits of
tomato and cucumber.  Initially after the fast I felt fantastic.  My energy
came back really strongly - still eating 100% raw vegan - because I was in
the tropics I was eating lots of sweet fruit.  Gradually as the days of
eating continued the volume of food continued to grow too.  Eventually I
developed such a huge craving for seafood.  I may say that during my fast I
was day dreaming a lot about eating animal protein/flesh.  I decided to go
with my craving and (secretly!!) bought some cooked Morten Bay Bugs (they
are a cross between a prawn and a lobster).  They were soooooooooo
delicious to me - I was in ecstacy with each bite.  It was so yummy I kept
going back for more - so I imagine that I had eaten close to 1 lb of flesh
- after being a vegetarian for so long!  Unfortunately they were cooked
with salt and so I developed noticeable bloating afterwards.

I thought that my breaking out was only going to be a one off phenomena -
but there was a strong desire to chase the yumminess of the seafood. I had
a few more feasts, plus some ordinary steamed fish.  -I knew about paleo
and eating raw flesh but I really felt like the taste and texture of the
cooked version.

I started getting depressed as I could see that my dietary idealism was not
able to be lived up to.  I ended up coming home to my temperate climate and
immediately "broke out" and started eating everything again.  All the
cooked and junk food that I had missed out on.  I was in compulsive
overeating mode.  (I have had a history of this).  This phase lasted a
couple of months - I put on an incredible amount of weight in a short time.
 I went from 91 pounds (small frame 5' 1") at the end of my water fast to
130 lbs.  My weight before my raw food experiment had been stable for
several years at around 105 lbs.  I got fat as a teenager - up to about 137
lbs but that weight didn't last many years (5 maybe) and as I said I was
fairly stable around 105 lbs for the most part of my life (I am now 41).

I started to freak out at how much weight I was putting on so
quickly........... (to be continued when I have more time - hope you are
interested in this story!....).......................

Regards,
Larelle