Sonia’s Journey

Hi Everyone! Thank you for visiting – here is the short version of my raw food journey…

First off, I can’t possibly count the number of self-help books I’ve read and diet plans that I’ve tried over the years. I had heard of the raw food diet before I stumbled upon a raw food how-to video on YouTube created by Karen Knowler, a raw food coach operating out of Cambridge, UK. Honestly, I thought I couldn’t possibly stick to it.

I continued to dabble with other diets in my effort to lose at least 40 lbs. My last attempt involved counting calories using all sort of “fake foods” such as sugar-free puddings, cakes made with artificial sweeteners, fat free, sugar free, skinny lattes, etc. that tasted terrible and made me feel soooo awful!!

Always being a fan of good health, health food, alternative medicine… I took another look at the raw food diet and began to educate myself. It made a lot of sense to me and let me add here that there is never a requirement to eat 100% raw – I am still at about 80% raw. So, this was certainly less intimidating! I thought, here is a way to eat living food that tastes amazing and is packed with vitamins, enzymes and antioxidants.

This was two years ago. It was a bumpy ride and certainly hard to follow on my own. Not having direction, I’d have days of mostly raw and even more days of no raw food at all. Because of that, I never had a chance to truly feel the health benefits and raw food remained simply a diet.

Honestly, it was only when I read books and took advantage of programs that I learned how to have a system, create a menu plan, prepare raw food, make a shopping list, set up my kitchen and MOST importantly (which I would have never guessed before) a VISION.

Immediately, I was able to see changes in my body. My weight was only part of it. There were other visible changes such a radiant glow (that people notice), my rosacea – gone, my acid-reflux – gone, my cholesterol – normal, pms – gone, and a host of other wonderful things!! Oh, and this is huge… I have always had a terrible immune system, getting strep every spring for four years in a row, bronchitis every year for… as long as I can remember, actually. Going raw = haven’t had an illness yet. Not one!!

I noticed changes in other areas as well. My emotions became more stable, I had much more energy and clarity and I was able to concentrate on other things which is both literal and symbolic. My whole person journey was already underway. I uncovered some really awful beliefs I’d had about my body, such as… (and this is not fun to write and embarrassing but I want you to know that any thoughts you hold about your body are ok – you aren’t crazy and you CAN work through them)

My journal as I was going through a 6-week raw food program that included self-coaching exercises…

I don’t like myself. I want so much to be happy. I’ve read every book there is – what’s the matter with me? I can’t stick to any diet and I am so sick of myself. My body makes me totally unhappy and I can’t even look at myself in the mirror. I feel ashamed of myself all the time. I’ve smoked too many years of my life and I’m sure my body is polluted beyond repair. Now that I’m over 40 losing weight will be too hard. My bottomless sadness follows me everywhere and I don’t even know why I’m sad to begin with. I’m terrified to find out what will happen to me if I make this leap of faith and let go of these terrible feelings. If I let this heavy weight of sadness down what will fill that space? (get it – “weight”?)

I’ve had a miscarriage, gestational diabetes, uterine fibroids – I’m afraid of my body. Even having two beautiful girls makes me feel like my body is worn out, done.

I was two weeks into the program and saying these feelings “out loud” to myself which shocked me and felt impossibly horrible and wonderfully free at the same time. On the third week we were to make our menu plan. At this point I became frozen with fear. This was my chance to fail. I’ve had a track record of diets gone wrong and what if this is just another?

I was soooo lucky to have a coach that “held my hand” through the process and eventually got me to the other side. I realized that my weight was literally a cushion against the world and the arrows that (one person in particular) wood shoot at me. Let me tell you, just seeing this and having it said out loud “it” lost it’s power.

I went right into my menu plan, lost 10 pounds just in the six weeks of the program alone and haven’t looked back. It was the strangest thing, this disconnect I had with my body. But, let me tell you that having my body and I on the same team has totally changed my life. Even when I type the journal writings above I can’t “feel” them now. It seems like a world away.

I just want to add that, of course, I still have my challenges both with my feelings and eating raw. For example, It’s hard to integrate a raw diet with a family. I’ll still binge here and there, gain few pounds and feel really bad about it but I lose the weight right away.

Now that I eat raw I feel it when I don’t. I never knew that I had a lactose intolerance, for example, until I ate a yogurt one day after a few weeks of raw and it burned all the way down. Really crazy since dairy was my #1 food group before. I am sensitive to my body’s reaction to things now such as when I have too much salt, etc.

I had the bestf time creating my vision, especially creating one that would take me to the stars and beyond! It’s a strange sensation to have BIG goals and it took me a while to know what they were. One of them was to become a raw food coach and help people as much as my mentor helped me! Why not look to live out our dreams and if not now, when?

If you commit to a raw food diet you are guaranteed a positive shift in your life, energy and health. If you choose to travel down this road you will transform your body, your beliefs and your life like you could never have imagined. Please give it a try.

sonia@rawreconnect.com