Just wanted to tell my little hair tale. It's been a month now since I last washed it with shampoo, and I'm not looking back!

I had been meaning to try it for a while, but didn't have the courage, since my hair is extremely fine/thin, and has been since I was a teenager. I have been washing it with shampoo every single day pretty much since then because it would look greasy instantly if I didn't. I used 'natural' organic shampoos, but still…

Anyway, last month I went on a 5 day trip to Melbourne, and forgot to bring shampoo. I decided not to buy any, and since it was cold, I could just wear a hat. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my hair did not get particularly greasy, and washing it just with water seemed to do the trick. So when I got home, I just kept at it, and my hair very quickly started looking thicker, and wasn't greasy if I rinsed it every day. My hair looks healthier and thicker, and I am happy! I was expecting to go through a horrible period of terribly greasy hair, and hat wearing, but that didn't happen yet. Fingers crossed!

How is everyone else's shampoo free experiment going? FreedomB, still at it?

Thanks for the input, people.

Interesting… I will try to eat the other half of my watermelon slower. Possibly blended with a spoon will do the trick. I usually don't mix fruit and fat, so not sure about the chia. But seems you haven't had a problem with it, kebbster.

Will let you know if slower solves the problem. Would hate to have to give up eating watermelon, especially once summer comes around.

I just ate half a watermelon for breakfast, and again I got really bad pains in my abdominal and also upper body. It lasts maybe 15 mins. I have had this before after eating watermelon. I don't get this from anything else.

I usually do mono for breakfast, so it was the first thing I ate, and not combined with any other fruit.

It's not about quantities either, because I have no problem eating loads more of other fruit.

Any ideas??? Anyone experienced this? 

Hi Klein. Doug Graham recommends 2 or 3 meals. He says at one point in the book that one of the reasons for failure is continued eating throughout the day. Maybe another question for Doug? The reasons for him recommending fewer but larger meals.

I found it hard in the beginning too, but the trick is to make the green smoothie as large as you can handle. I usually have about 2 litres in one go (don't guzzle it down, though  ). I also tend to eat/drink my breakfast meal later. Like 10 am, then the smoothie keeps me full for a long time.

Klein, I highly recommend getting the book. It helps a lot if you are trying to follow 811. I also found these great films on youtube http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WrWihaTBSAI&NR=1. They are great for inspiration. Also check out the videos by Doug Graham's wife, Rozalind Gruben, on emotions and eating.

RawGreenGoddess, thank you for your generous compliments!

Klein, where do you live? A good idea is to bulk buy organic. You can either make a deal with local suppliers, or start up a buyers group in your area. IM me if you are in Sydney. Organic is not only healthier, better for the environment, but tastes so much better, which makes you want to eat it more, which makes it easier to stay raw
I don't always manage to get everything organic either, but usually bulk buy at least bananas, oranges, spinach, celery, tomatoes and lettuce which are my staples. The most important to get organic is indeed greens, celery, and any fruit where you eat the skin.

Freezing is not optimal, but I guess better than throwing away. I do it in the summer to make yummy banana ice cream as a treat.

Wow! That's an amazing transformation! Well done!

Yes, the social is hard, and I can imagine if you have people around you who live a very different lifestyle it is much harder. Fortunately most of my friends and family are pretty clued in, so that helps a lot. The hardest remains dinner parties and restaurants. I usually try and order a huge salad if eating out. Sometimes I slip up too though. But the main thing is not to beat yourself up about it after. The way my body feels is usually punishment enough, without my brain giving me a hard time too.

I would definitely recommend the 80/10/10 book. Reading it helped a lot. Not to say it isn't still hard. I sometimes treat myself to gormet raw, but afterwards I feel so physically terrible, that it isn't a treat at all. Often a low fat cooked vegan asian meal will have much less consequences for me than a high fat raw meal. But I guess we are all different. Maybe that's just my body being sensitive to nuts.

I usually eat mainly mono meals during the day (e.g. only oranges for breakfast, only bananas and lettuce for lunch) and then a salad or dip with celery etc. for dinner. I never ate one type of fruit for a whole week straight, so maybe someone else who did can advise you. I would say that a week of green smoothies might do the trick as well. I think the main idea is that if you eat only one kind of fruit (maybe with greens) your body can digest easier, and therefore has a chance to deal with the candida.

Nice visual breakdown of the world's eating habits. Not surprising, but still interesting. Looks like the U.S. and the U.K. are clear winners on processed food! The book where these photos come from ('Hungry Planet: What the World Eats') is from 2005, so the prices are probably a little dated.

http://www.fixingtheplanet.com/one-weeks-worth-food-around-our-planet

An interview and a breakdown of prices:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5005952

I also had candida (which I had been fighting for ages) when first going raw. Mainly digestive problems. I believe I have pretty much kicked it. Though there are some foods I just can't eat like nuts.

Yes, if you really want to get rid of the candida, you the best is probably to go completely off cooked, especially any fats, and starchy stuff like potatoes, which converts to sugar anyway. Any fats will mean the sugar in your bloodstream from fruit etc cannot be quickly absorbed, giving the candida time to munch. That is why the conventional candida diet is no fruit. I know, however, that I felt completely miserable, and saw no candida improvement from staying away from fruits. And I feel very happy with fruits.

I believe the easiest and quickest way to get rid of it is to only eat one kind of fruit for a week, and nothing else. I believe some people on this forum had success eating only mangoes for a week, right?

Hi guys,

Is this event on every year?

It looks amazing, but guess I would need to save up for a while.

Any ladies out there who have been to one?

Warmth, Lou

I agree with Sandy, going 80/10/10 would probably help. I used to be very addicted to chocolate before going raw, but with my high fruit intake now, I don't have any cravings for sweets. In my transition period I would sometimes make a huge cacao smoothie (bananas, spinach, raw cacao powder, water, very yummy and filling) and it meant I did not feel like any normal chocolate because this was so good. You could try for a couple of weeks only allowing yourself raw cacao smoothies if you crave chocolate, and then once you are on high fruit and greens in your diet, cut out the cacao. I just don't buy it now, and don't feel tempted to. It used to mess up my brain too. I would get completely hyper after a smoothie, and couldn't sleep at night if I had it late in the day.

Thought you mothers or pregnant ladies might find this encouraging! Something to spread to any SAD diet mothers to be. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7481026.stm

Hey there,
I would love to join the next one! How long would you say one 'boot camp' runs for, and when can we join the next one?
Lou

Hi people,

I have been wanting to test my blood's acid/alkaline balance for a while, and I have had a acid/alkaline test lying around for ages. Last week I finally took it. The procedure was test you urine and spit three times a day for 2 days, fill in results on a special form, then make some calculations which put more emphasis on the morning urine results than the rest...

On the first day my urine tested 8.5 twice, and then 7.25 later in the day. The next day 8 twice and then 7.5. When doing the calculations the instructions said that if my urine was over 8.0 it was a false positive reading, in this case my urine was so acidic that my kidneys had started producing ammonia to buffer the acids. It told me to count these results as a reading of 4.5!

To me this seems like complete rubbish. I have been vegan for years, and raw for 6 months, meaning no acid forming foods at all such as meat, dairy and grains. When I did the total calculations (without counting the results as false positive) my grand total for blood acidity was 7.69. They say anything above 7.25 is too alkaline.

So is this test just made in such a way that they do not believe anyone can naturally have urine above 8, and is there in reality such a thing as being too alkaline? If so what are the consequences?

warmth
Lou

Talking about superfoods etc. I love raw cacao powder, but every time I have made a smoothie or chocolate mousse with it (especially in the evening) I go kind of nuts. Feel pretty weird, super energetic but in an uncomfortable way, and can't sleep. A bit like being on some kind of drug, I guess. I know it has some caffeine in it, but could it also just be that my body doesn't tolerate it?

Wan't to try out some of those super chia seeds for sure!!!