How many (ahem) "older" beginners are out there? (45+ years old)

[jane.lovetoall]

I'm 49 and just now discovering the great things that eating raw can do (thanks to my 18 year old daughter for introducing it to me just 4 months ago). Is anyone else "older" like me and just now discovering this? How were you introduced to it? How are you adapting after a non-raw life for so many years? What was your primary diet before this? Love to all!

[Deborah]

I am 54. My 21 year old daughter is taking a psych class that addresses aging and how it is never too late to exercise, but eliminating junk processed foods and alchohol is essential early on. I have just been diagnosed with MS and am feeling very, very motivated to change things around by eating more and more raw. It is a challenge ... old habits die hard. We discovered raw foods through our local Whole Foods. They had a guest chef ... Jennifer Cornbleet ... amazing experience. My whole family loves eating raw ... we just need to figure out the tricks to keeping things simple and having meals available. Nothing like being tired, hungry and not being prepared to stay on track. We always ate pretty healthy and either vegetarian or lately, vegan. My whole family has been spreading the word about green smoothies lately. The response from non raw has been amazing.

[mango]

i am 50 now i learn of this life style in oct 2007 when me and my hubby got married we where vegeration we ate chicken and fish raise my sons on that to my hubby ate red meat but i could not so 10 years ago i got breast cancer and they told my i need to eat more meat for protein so i did what i was told then in oct dr lou nile came to are church and talk about vegan and raw eatting so we hubby and i became vegan and thought everthing out inculde his coffe but there something i feel missing and health wise too and so sleeply so we are going to raw and know it well stick my hubby is 49 so that is all

[Ce]

I'm 46 and have been sick of living in my skin for the last couple of years. The website I ordered the Makers Diet from asked if I wanted a book on being raw, I said sure, it sounded interesting. I read it and thought it was a bit out there, and then in desperation after weight gain I looked at it again and started to read a bit about it. I don't get really interested in many new things so when I started to read about raw my family bought me Alissa Cohen's book and video for Christmas. I was sold. I jumped in with both feet a felt the best I had felt in years. I could feel and see the difference! The fool that I am I feel off the band wagon, and with age comes wisdom so I am back on again! Raw is bliss.

[Donna]

Deborah,

Have you read Montel Williams new book? You may know he has MS, and has started heating raw for much of his diet. He attributes being "green" to feeling better. I highly recommend it, and I checked it out from my tiny local library.
Hugs, Donna

Deborah said:

I am 54. My 21 year old daughter is taking a psych class that addresses aging and how it is never too late to exercise, but eliminating junk processed foods and alchohol is essential early on. I have just been diagnosed with MS and am feeling very, very motivated to change things around by eating more and more raw. It is a challenge ... old habits die hard. We discovered raw foods through our local Whole Foods. They had a guest chef ... Jennifer Cornbleet ... amazing experience. My whole family loves eating raw ... we just need to figure out the tricks to keeping things simple and having meals available. Nothing like being tired, hungry and not being prepared to stay on track. We always ate pretty healthy and either vegetarian or lately, vegan. My whole family has been spreading the word about green smoothies lately. The response from non raw has been amazing.

[T]

I'm just had my 46th anniversary on this planet and I am new to raw ... but that is only partially true -- i did eat raw foods but not more than 40% -- its the total raw that I am new to -- anyway before this I have had my ups and down of trying every diet known on the planet and doing the yo-yo weight gain and loss -- I would go from junk food junkie to healthy eating but in the past I always seemed to fall back to processed foods -- why? I suppose being lazy -- they were fast and convenient -- but I want to turn back the clock (so to speak) before I have to start taking any medications permanently -- I am fortunate enough to NOT take anything on a daily basis --

I have been researching long for a good eating plan -- and began running across blogs and vlogs about eating raw and smoothies and the people looked so healthy vibrant and full of life that I wanted to be that -- I started watching "You Are What You Eat" religiously and watching Bunny's vlog -- along with listening to David Wolfe and various others -- I have always been interested in nutrition since i have been overweight most of my adult life since puberty hit -- the Drs labeled me "healthy" in their notes in my medical chart which was just a polite way of saying ... fat but not obese and if you missed a meal or 2 that would be fine -- that was the definition one Dr gave me when I asked what it meant

Adapting hasn't been so difficult since it is a mind-set ... at least for me -- instead of going gung ho all at once I have started "adjusting" my life -- first was to cut out the "white" from my diet -- I am still struggling with sugar with the occasional pop -- but patting myself on the back since it used to be 2 or more 20 oz bottles a day -- coffee is going to be the hardest for me to give up -- i am hoping smoothies will help with the energy levels so my mindset will change to not needing it

Next step is to add a smoothie a day -- I'm a work in progress lol

[Viv/Andrea]

Hi,

I have been wondering the same thing. I turned 50 this year. I have had a number of health problems and decided that I needed to do something drastic to overcome them. I found Markus Rothkranz (raw diet advocate) on YouTube and started raw foods the next day. It's been about three months and I feel better than I have in 15 years. I did it "natural foods" prior to going raw.
My 20 year old daughter is taking this journey with me and my husband and other kids are eating more raw foods.

[Julie]

Hi Ladies ,
My name is Julie and I am going on 50 years old ouchhhhhhhh....Did I just say that ! and I honestly I don't mind.
Because of my raw diet I am constantly complimented on my complexion. In fact sometime I even get while in conversation told how beautiful my skin is..Honestly its all those fruits and veggies.There is nothing like whole food nutrition.So if you are a beginner STAY WITH IT !!!
I just heard a lecture from a friend of mine ( a Yale Grad) and she said something I was not aware of during her lecture .She told everyone that the human chemistry was equal to a plant chemistry ( just look under a microscope) and I thought to myself wow..now it makes sense why we thrive when eating a plant based diet and why our bodies just don't know what to do with all the other foods like dairy,meat,processed foods etc.
There is NOTHING that RAW whole foods can't help..I've seen it over and over again at my center. Fruits and veggies are nature pharmacy...Even at our age it's never too young..Did you know that scientists know by studying our DNA that we have the potential to live up to 120 yrs..Thats right you heard me right..Of course how many of us will or want to is another discussion.My question is if this is true then why are so many young people being inflicted with diseases and heart disease at younger and younger ages..Why is cancer the number ONE disease that kills children in the United States..
Sorry....there goes that passion again whewwwwww....
Okay I am composed again..
Me ,I am adapting very well to eating a raw diet, feel great, have LOT"S of energy and less joint ache, headaches ...you name it..
Infact I have more energy than my adult children....
Cheers !
Julie

[robyn]

Hi! I'm Robyn and I'm 45. As I said in my intro I've been dabbling for about a year but am now getting serious about just getting MORE raw food into my diet. I really do feel better when I eat rat but it is difficult when the chips and salsa call!!! I'm not going to beat myself up over a little backslide...my body will do that for me quite well. I've been vegan for 14 years so I feel like this is a natural progression for me. I was always periforally aware of raw food but found out more about it from coworkers at the health food store/cafe where I work. Recently we have been hosting raw un-cooking classes at our store and offer raw selections in our cafe daily.

[mango]

may i tell u older and wiser woman is take a time to get it but when we do we do praise be

[jane.lovetoall]

Since I didn't give answers to the questions that I posed for others, I think it's only fair to share my story. Here goes...

I was raised by parents who experienced the boom of the industrial revolution right after WWII, complete with the breakthrough of processed foods being cranked out in mass quantities in huge factories, and they were heavily advertised on TV in color!! How convenient that food was preserved and packaged in air tight packages! I was a bottle fed baby because the pediatricians of that time told new Moms that formula was the best thing for the baby. (Uh...how is dehydrated cow milk better than human mother's milk?) My Dad now has severely clogged arteries and has had about 50 mini strokes over the last two years (little pieces of placque breaking off). At the age of 78 he's now been counseled to eat vegetarian. My Mom has adult onset diabetes and high blood pressure. At the age of 76 she's now been counseled to eat vegetarian and lose some weight, (she only about 35 pounds over). My 51 year old sister just found out she's diabetic and has high blood pressure (she's not heavy), and my 46 year old brother has high blood pressure and is getting heavier every year. Naps are a family favorite when we get together. You will find someone zonked out in the middle of the day at various times. Eat and crash.

Growing up, although a vegetable was served at every meal it was usually cooked to smithereens and our plates were very carb and dairy-laden. Even though I was a very althetic kid through my early 20's, I still had some physical problems that were just weird. Why did my calves cramp so severely - it felt like I wasn't getting blood to my muscles. The doc said there was nothing wrong, but I hurt!! Badly. That went on for 30 years (it started in my teens).

In my mid twenties I became a vegetarian, because my ex wanted to, but I was a junk food vegetarian! Who says that just because you don't eat meat that you then eat healthy? Processed foods were still readily available, cheap and fast - and considered vegetarian! Plus you can eat mexican and italian food without meat very easily. My family thought I was the biggest pain in the a** when we got together at family events. No meat? God forbid. My 3 daughters were born into my life between my 28th and 33rd year and were fed unhealthy vegetarian fare, with a little homemade almond milk thrown in because we are lactose intolerant.

My health problems really started to be a problem at the age of 30. I went to a lot of doctors and they gave me pills, which I took and I felt a little better, but not cured. Oh well, I just lived with the pain and discomfort and it became a normal part of who I was. I got used to simply not doing certain activities because I knew it would hurt too much. I attributed it to just "getting older."

I married my current (and last!) husband, who is a carnviore to the Nth degree. Slowly I dropped my vegetarian diet and eventually reintroduced all animal meats back into my diet, but now in larger quantities than ever. We ate lots of meat, lots of dairy, lots of pasta, lots of carbs, and very few vegetables because he doesn't like many vegetables and won't touch a salad. I would eat salad with my girlfriends at lunch. All of my health problems just got worse over the last 7 years. More doc appts, more pills, more "labels" for how I was feeling.

That brings me to 2008 - March to be exact! My 18 year old daughter introduced me to raw food eating and I figured "what the heck. I'll just try it for a few days." She and I "tried" it together. She has no health problems, but she just wanted to eat healthier. A few days turned into a few weeks and my health DRAMATICALLY improved (see my profile). I kept eating more raw food and I kept feeling better. Very soon I stopped taking my pills altogether.

4 months later and here I am. Am I 100% raw? Nope. Do I have good days and bad days? Yep. Have I fully adapted to this way of eating after 49 years of eating so poorly? Yes and No - intellectually yes, I fully understand that this is the way to eat; emotionally no, I still have ties to a lot of food; and medically yes, I have experienced the amazing benefits of eating straight from Mother Earth!

It's a journey that I have only begun. I look forward to learning from all of you, sharing and growing together in whatever way we can. For those of us who have spent more than half of our lives on the path to disease and a slow and painful death let me just say...

CONGRATULATIONS TO US FOR FINDING RAW NOW! At least we have a chance to regain our health for the second half of our life.

Love to all!

[shan brown]

I'll be 45 in late august Jane. I love being in my 40s. I'm starting to feel better than I did in my 30s. I got attracted to raw foods mostly because I just didn't feel very well, and I had a cancer scare in my late 30s. Before this my diet was veryyyyyyy sad lol. Lot of pasta, pizza, chips..I used to have one salad a week and a couple pieces of fruit every week.

Love back at you. ;)

[jane.lovetoall]

DORY SAID: "I am now on the 10th day of my 92 day Juice Feast and I am coupling that with the 100 day RawFu challenge..."

Wow THAT'S impressive! Going from SAD to a long juice feast and the RawFu challenge?! Wooo-ee girl! That's amazing. You'll find amazing support on this site. Clearly RawFu is the friendliest site around, so just ask for help and you'll get it from the group! Glad we're friends now too! Love to all!