Thanks H_I_R

I'm going to the dentist in 5 weeks. I'm giving it that long to have a chance to help the tooth in some way... but I don't know how I'm going to get through it.

I'm still eating majority raw. I've gotten in some raw calf liver each day. I'm really struggling with the butter. For some reason, it bothers me, like it seems grossly fatty and unpleasant.

Not fully raw yet, but I'm having a huge problem with getting food into me... I can't chew anything so it's all shakes...

I don't have any photos. If I make these things again, I'll post the recipes as I do. Someone asked me for recipes, she being more of a "veggies" than a "fruit" person. I am formerly a raw vegan, so I have lots of these recipes. I do NOT guarantee they are necessarily paleo, though!!

But I think these recipes can be good for those of us transitioning into paleo. Not all of us are ready or even mentally able to just go cold turkey. So... here we go.

Corn on the cob. I found that raw corn on the cob is very good with avocado spread on it. I also use salt--you may or may not want to try it, depending on how you feel about that. But for me, I now eat butter, so I would even eat raw corn with raw butter. The salt IMO makes it more like "standard" corn on the cob. The avocado or butter adds a lot of fat to it, which is of course something we want.

Fries. I use jicama and just cut it up into small fries. I then coat with olive oil or whatever kind of oil you use. If you use spices, add them. I add a bit of garlic, some salt, and fresh chives. Do what tastes good to you. Remember, though, that jicama is a root veggie, and may not be paleo.

Zucchini Alfredo. I slice up a zucchini into "alfredo noodle" strips using my food processor. Then I grind up some garlic [I don't like it a lot, so I use a 1/4 of a clove or so--go to your own tastes] and add it to some cream [about a third of a cup]. I also add pepper and salt. If you add in some raw cashews and blend it all up to a silky feel, it tastes surprisingly close to real alfredo. To make this fully vegan, of course, you would only use the cashews, some water, the garlic, and the spices. I add chives because I have tons of chives growing in my yard. :p

Burgers. 1/2 cup or so of soaked raw cashews or macadamias, 1/2 cup carrots, a small amount of garlic to taste, 1/4 of a small onion, 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, spices to taste. Blend in food processor until it forms a consistency of pate. Taste and add more yeast if needed. I use braggs here, because I like braggs a lot.

Mashed [not] potatoes. 2 cups or so of chopped parsnip small enough for food processing. 1/4-1/2 cup pine nuts [I don't like them, so I use less, but most people prefer more]. A bit of garlic, some salt if you eat it, a squeeze of lemon or lime juice (not fully squeezed, just a squirt of it), some oil, and a few teaspoons of water--just enough to let you process the parsnips. I can't wait to try this one with butter, I think it'll be delicious.

I think that sometimes our bodies know what we need, and maybe we'll never really know why. There are a lot of good properties to honey. Perhaps it was just the thing your body needed in order to heal or help itself in some way. Perhaps you were in ketosis all the time and you ran out of body fat to siphon so your body asked you to build up a bit of a reserve for it to nip at now and again.

Either way, it's important to mark our successes, and recognize that our "failures" are really just learning experiences. Our society altogether too often demonizes "errors," when those are our very best learning opportunities.

(This is prior to becoming unable to eat at all)

I eat veggies, but I have my own garden, so I don't find it too hard. I eat a bit of red lettuce. I wrap up some stuff in it, usually avocado, and eat that. I'm not fully raw, so I sometimes add something to make it tastier, like a bit of Bragg's aminos or some spices.

I was eating celery while I could still eat, lol. But again, I was eating it with other stuff, like I was eating raw almond butter with it (which I think we're not really supposed to have, either). I just make that in my food processor.

I eat zuchini in a "sauce" of nuts as sort of an "alfredo" but I use cream in the sauce, too. That's raw, too.

Tomato with a bit of cold-pressed oil on it and vinegar. But that's really more a fruit (despite recent FDA classification).

I also made some raw sour kraut. I eat that when the mood and desire strikes me.

I'm REALLY struggling to eat raw meat, and I'm finding most stuff just plain unappetizing. I don't like the cream-egg mixture. I don't like the meat really, no matter what I put with it.

I have a lot of raw recipes, but I doubt most of them are acceptable paleo. I notice that the paleos can get as miffed as the vegans if you stray, lol. I don't mean any disrespect to them, but I think a lot of them are "cold turkey" types, and I'm more of a "climb in slowly" type. I do best if I can make my "mistakes" and just feel like I'm "in process".

So I'm happy to give you some recipes if you like for raw foods. I can't promise they'll all be paleo, and I don't have many meat recipes as of yet. I was raw vegan for a while, so I'm not new to raw at all. It's adding meat and such that I'm finding hard. And the same militant kind of "that's not paleo!!!!" stuff that I got while raw vegan "that's not vegan!!!" I mean, you shoulda seen the shock and horror when I said I ate honey. :p It was a furor! 

Anyway, happy to give you recipes if you wish them with regards to raw vegan stuff. Adjust accordingly to add meat or cheese or eggs as you do (or do not) eat them. One thing I really like a lot is using the dehydrator. I have found that meats and eggs respond well when added to other stuff, to make yummy concoctions.

For me, it's a work in progress. I am really pleased there are so many who can just cold turkey and everything works perfect for them. I am not one of them, and although I know peanut butter or almond butter is not paleo... it frankly makes it easier for me to stay on the path that points to proper paleo. I am struggling hugely with it in part due to my teeth, yet also because I feel like, "I've tried so many things, and they have all failed. How do I know I'm not just wasting my time AGAIN, and compromising my health even further?"

I feel strongly that raw is definitely the right direction for me. But raw vegan was an unmitigated disaster. I mean, on a gross scale. So I am hoping that moving into a raw paleo lifestyle will be the proper "raw" that I've been searching for.

I'm just trying not to get discouraged entirely, really.

So yeah. I eat veggies. But I can't really juice them, because then I waste the rest of it. And that creates fights with hubby... which in turn means I have to walk on eggshells at the store, which means less fresh raw foods, which... yeah. Round and round the merry-goes-round.

And now I r rambling like idiot. Will close... uh.. post.. now. 

They're not loose. It's just any cold or hot thing, and on the right since it broke, it's any biting down or hot and cold.

It's like there are nerves exposed or something. 

Oh my god, my teeth hurt so bad. I cannot eat at all. It's not getting better and I'm getting to the point where I don't want to eat or drink anything at all.

I'm just in tears from pain, and I don't know what to do. I think I'm going to have to just go to the hospital and have them removed.  I can't stand the thought of having them removed, even though they are hurting so much.

Welcome!

I had the same reaction, lol. But I was surprised to find that, for example, liver actually smells and tastes much better raw... although my mind still rebels quite strongly. 

I'm not fully raw yet, but I'm eating more raw every day. I'm still alive *checks self* and in one piece. 

Sounds like you have a downright awesome set up! Good job! *high fives*

I know how you feel. I'm quite worried about my husband finding out I'm eating raw meat, lol. He's already seen me try other diets and fail repeatedly with them. This is just going to be one more in a long succession to him.

Although, he can't complain too much because I have helped him get his blood sugar numbers down significantly and kept him off of injected insulin.

It's awesome that you're ready to let coworkers know. I think that's a HUGE step!!

Interesting video. You look very fit and trim!!

It's awesome that you're feeling better!

Interestingly enough, I also went the raw vegan route. It made me feel utterly horrific for a very long time. I listened to all of the "you're not doing it right" advice... until I gave up and just said, "screw it all" and ate everything in sight. Especially cheeseburgers. :p

I had lost so much weight I looked emaciated... at first I was happy to be losing weight, but after a while, panic set in. I was dizzy and faint all the time. Opposite of you, my blood pressure was so low I couldn't stand up without nearly blacking out.

Thank you for sharing your story, because sometimes I feel pangs when I read the militant "anti-meat" posts on some forums. Like we're demons and murderous monsters for daring to eat meat. Yet I have tried their way, and given it a far more than fair shake. And I nearly died and was the sickest and most miserable I've ever been.

It's good to know that I'm not the only one who truly, genuinely, seriously cannot thrive physically without meat. Contrary to the vegan claims, sometimes I think that some of us are so close to spiritual awareness that we need meat to ground us back into reality. That this is the gift of the animals to us--to help us remain here to help and support our fellow humans by grounding us.

I love the American Indian belief about animals. That they gift us with life, and that for this, we owe them deepest gratitude, appreciation, and honor.

Again, thanks for sharing, and you're not alone. I also could not thrive physically with a vegan diet--raw or otherwise.

Perhaps our allergies are gifts to us. I am nut, soy, and olive flesh (not oil) allergic. This made a vegan diet almost impossible to me. If it hadn't been so hard, I might have stuck with it long enough to do very real and lasting damage to my body.

That's the top of the tongue, where the taste buds are. That's why it looks different from the rest of it. That's normal. The underside usually looks pinker and the top side where the buds are looks greenish, grayish, or whitish. Sometimes it'll be pink, but that's not standard.

I only know because I learned that from my local farm when I started buying from them. 

By the way, I am sick right now. Runny nose, watery eyes, bad cough with phlegm... but oddly, I feel okay. Like underneath it all, I still have energy, I don't feel totally wiped out and destroyed by it. I feel emotionally okay, not like the standard depression that usually accompanies being sick.

I know it sounds peculiar to say, but even though I'm sick, I feel okay, lol.