hey guys, just joined

[yon yonson]

hey, im a 20 year old college student (university of texas) and have been reading this forum for about 2 months now. i love it so i thought it was time to join.
i guess i'll start by telling you guys a little about my dietary past. before about 2 years ago, i was eating pretty much the normal american diet (maybe a little on the healthy side - no fast food), but then i decided to go vegetarian. i did this strictly for environmental concerns about the production of meat. however, my downfall was that i never fully researched the diet and just kinda winged it for about a year. eventually (and inevitably), i started to feel crappy and even got to the point where i thought i had intestinal candidiasis (still not sure if i did/do or not) and all of this got me thinking that it wasnt the best diet. i started researching and found the paleolithic diet which made so much sense to me. anyways, i gave that a shot for a couple of months, gave up bread and all the nasty stuff, and i really liked it but was still feeling subpar. that led me, over this summer to try out the raw foods movement. initially, i didnt really distinguish mysefl as a raw vegan and ate sushi, but gradually, after reading the raw vegan propaganda, i shied away from animal products. needless to say, i got really skinny and had very little muscle left. around that time, a few months ago, i discovered this board and it helped me to realize that raw meat is not a bad thing at all. so that's basically the gist of how i got here.

so, for the last 2 months, i've been trying to add raw animal food into my diet. at first, all i could eat was eggs and fish along with my raw fruits and vegetables, but started trying out grassfed beef and lamb. i liked the ground beef, but didnt really like the taste of the lamb. i also tried lamb liver relatively early on and was surprised to be not too opposed to its taste, but it was definitely and intense flavor.

anyways, im trying to figure out what i should eat on a regular basis. im having difficulty finding raw animal foods that i enjoy eating. so far, i love salmon, but only get special sushi grade fish that's pretty expensive... is there any reason i should keep buying the sushi grade fish or is it safe to eat any fresh looking fish at the market? i've got a lamb heart in the fridge that im gonna try soon. any suggestions on particularly tasty organs/meats/other for noobs?

glad i've found this lifestyle relatively early in life! thanks guys

[goodsamaritan]

Wow, welcome.
I wish I had started at your age.
We didn't have internet when I was your age.

Raw paleo foods will depend on what is available and what you can afford in your area.  Maybe fellow Americans can give you tips where they buy their stuff.

[boxcarguy07]

Hey there and welcome to the forum!
Seems like you're well on your way.
You're in for a treat with the heart, and I also recommend kidneys as a good organ. They're my favorite taste-wise; to me they just taste heavenly. I've had both lamb and beef kidneys so far, and they're both good.

It's always good to see more college-aged people joining.
Cheers!

[Raw Kyle]

Welcome. For fish most people stay away from farmed fish as they are fed garbage and sometimes even chemical dyes to make their flesh have a certain color. The first organ most people try is liver, I think for me it might have been heart (although I still contend that's a muscle it officially is an organ) and then second liver. The thing I've noticed with organs is that it's a surprising and new taste, very strong and would make most people gag or spit it out the first time they try it. Once you're used to it the fear is gone that it's going to make you gag and you can start to appreciate new things. Organs, especially raw ones, are a flavor not really present in any modern cuisine flavors you might find in USA.

[TylerDurden]

Welcome!

Don't bother with sushi-grade fish, it's way too expensive, just go in for normal cuts, like all RPDers do, sooner or later. It's perfectly OK.

Read the child-boards on the top in the General Discussions Forum, as they give  a lot of information.

Re organs:- Easy ones to get used to= tongue, marrow(newbies generally prefer cutting off the stringy parts of the tongue but more experienced RAFers eat the whole tongue once they're used to it all). Liver's usually the most difficult organ to get used to, but there are plenty of people who love raw liver from the get go, and hate marrow or whatever. Everyone has unique tastes.

What I eat as a long-term RAFer(just a quick review, foods listed are eaten raw,  organic/grassfed/wildcaught or free-range/grassfed etc.):-

wild hare carcasses-plus organs/ leg of lamb/mutton plus lamb organs, venison organs, goose-/quail-/duck-/chicken-eggs, sea-urchin-eggs, swordfish, giant tiger prawns, lobster, crab,mussels, kingfish, shark, beef organs, free-range turkey breast-fillets(whole goose and whole turkey at Christmas), wild boar muscle-meats/organs, horse-muscle-meat, heather honeycomb, samphire, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, wild mallard duck and organs, limpets, goat muscle-meat.

Organs would usually include tongue, liver, kidney, heart, plus, in some of the above cases, brains(rarely), suet and marrow. Some items are only eaten by me  rarely or seasonally(eg:- eggs or sea-urchin-eggs)

[yon yonson]

thanks for the info guys. forgot to add: i have had buffalo marrow which was really tasty to me, but hard to get where i live. also, so you guys say that regular market wild fish is ok to eat... a few questions regarding that:

1. does the fish need to be whole or can i just get by with buying a fillet?
2. does the fish need to be saltwater or freshwater?

also, i've had raw scallops at a raw bar before and they were delicious. just wondering if anyone has tips on buying raw scallops (i.e. i could buy the fresh ones or the previously frozen ones, etc.). anyways, thanks again for all the info. keep it coming 

also, one more question: i havent really been keeping track of what vitamins and whatnot im getting. is that a problem? i've been trying to just rely on instinct as much as possible. for example, i craved honey for a while and ate a whole jar of raw honey over a few days, but now i dont crave it. should i still monitor my vitamin intake? i dont take any supplements by the way...

[TylerDurden]

Doesn't matter, either way. Aajonus recommends against freshwater fish, due to pollution, but if you get them from an unpolluted area, there's no issue.

Buy nonfrozen fish/shellfish, when possible.

I find whole fish very messy and with large fish, can usually only get the muscle-meat/fillet, anyway - so I often eat the raw seafood whole, if it's small like sardines/anchovies or prawns(minus the scales), but only eat fillet for larger things like swordfish.

[Satya]

Hey Yon,

I am in DFW.  Welcome, neighbor!

I just love your profile pick of Sean Connery in his bondage suit, thigh high boots and gun!  Love it to pieces.

[yon yonson]

haha, what a weird movie...

ZAARDOOOOZ

that was almost my Halloween costume, but i wimped out

[Satya]

haha, what a weird movie...

ZAARDOOOOZ

that was almost my Halloween costume, but i wimped out

I never saw that movie.

Man, I would pay to see someone dressed up like that ... only if they had a whip in the other hand.  And what kind of revolver is that?  It does not look American.

[TylerDurden]

Zardoz is definitely the weirdest movie ever made. Only worth watching for laughs.

[yon yonson]

well if you're in the mood for a movie that makes very little sense, but is still entertaining, give Zardoz a shot.

[Satya]

But what about the gun?  And what about them boots?  Those are women's boots.  And with the hair, all he needs is some heavy make-up to be BONDAGE QUEEN!

[boxcarguy07]

Hello "yon yonson"! 
Welcome to the forum!

[yon yonson]

thanks!