At the beginning I mainly stuck to the recommendations of the natural Hygienics. Lots of fresh fruit during the day and a big salad in the evenings. This really worked quite well but what I really missed most was the exchange with like-minded people. Most of my family and friends thought I had gone crazy...
So I decided to go to a raw food camp and feel a bit more normal again. These were two wonderful weeks in France which gave me plenty of inspiration.
Back home again I got a tip for a raw food group that met on a rugalar basis.
So this way I also found contacts for this topic. This was really nice on the one hand but on the other hand also had it´s disadvantages:
Lots of recipes were shared. Wild combinations and ingredients I wasn´t using any more like spices, salt, oil, etc..
So I started making more "raw food". This definetely was very tasty but didn´t always make me feel so good and didn´t really fill nor satisfy me. Now fruit became more of a snack again and copied cooked food recipes dominated my kitchen again. And the desire for exeptions grew.
It wasn´t always easy but I still believed in the raw food diet theory.
I kept on experimenting and had good days and bad days...
And this was at a time where the raw food diet was still in its infancy in Germany!
Who knows what I would have eaten if I would have started 10 years later!
The gourmet thing got more and more popular over time but for me it did not feel right and I longed for the more simpler and primal food again.
And I also realized that this fatty food and the bad food combinations did not agree with me and so I desperately carried on searching as I absolutely wanted to eat a raw food diet. Just didn´t know how!
After 7 years I then somehow felt at a dead end.
Another camp was to bring help. Every year we met with a bunch of families. This was always very nice. This time I got a recommendation for the book: „The 80/10/10 Diet“ by Douglas Graham. This struck home!
Based on the teachings of the natural hygiene movement the author explains the effects of too much fat in your diet and provides handy tips how you can eat instead.
So again I turned everything around ... like a few years before ... and started orientating myself accordingly.
Unnecessary spare flab which I still had despite eating raw food, just disappeared. I had more energy, less bloating and a better skin. Even my lower back, which was quite hard, tense and painful, felt much better. Even without exercising.
Also my satisfaction and mood changed! My overall feeling is just positive. This mostly even shows when things aren´t running so smoothe.
Cravings for exceptions got less and I gained more freedom. It was quite a change. Some things would not work out from one day to the other but everything just got better and better.
Today, 10 years later I am still very happy that I dared this change and definetely do not want to go back!
The time I invested into all of this I get back by not having to spend so much time in the kitchen anymore. And my mind is not always busy thinking of food anymore either.
So now I have more space for my actual life plus all the energy I get through this way of eating!
Back then I did ask myself if it really is necessary to spend so much time thinking about food and eating as there definitely are other important things in life.
But it was worth it. Through all this I gained the time and strength for life I always dreamt of.
Today my body doesn´t suffer the side effects from the bad food anymore. Nor the mental outcome of the bad conscience I used to have after nibbling or not being able to stop, etc. ...
Solving the issue of food means freedom on all levels!