In the Beginning....my first post!

Hi there and welcome to my blog!
My name is Christine
I am starting it as a journal about my road to recovering the life in life!

I was inspired to start this Blog by Angela Stokes and her personal journey. If you want to read about it her blog spot is ... http://rawreform.blogspot.com/
She recovered from morbid obesity by changing to a raw food lifestyle and recently completed a 92 day "Juice Feast" Her journals are so inspiring!

I am hoping that by journaling myself, I can keep track of my progress and have a record of where I started and where I am going!

I started my journey to better health in November of 2005. I was suffering from chronic pain, severe depression, acid reflux, zero energy, obesity
(205 lbs at 5' 8"), and I was well on my way to developing diabetes.

My eating and drinking habits were killing me slowly and painfully. I was dependent on antidepressants (paxil & wellbutrin), pain medication (vicodin), sleeping pills (ambien), acid blocker for acid reflux caused by the other meds (prevacid) and was getting sicker. My doctor's answer was adding another antidepressant that was "new and promising" to the mix! That is when I new that something had to change! And now!

I have always been interested in finding ways to maintain and improve my health so when a friend told me about a way to control and possibly eliminate my problems, I wanted to learn all I could!

I started learning about how changing my diet along with taking amino acids could help me. I began working with the amino acids and nutrition at The Health Recovery Center in Minneapolis, MN. They "prescribed" amino acids, vitamin C infusions, B12 shots and other supplements along with drastic diet changes. Within 2 weeks, I was off everything!!! No more prescriptions!!And guess what happened...I started feeling better! I began learning about the functions of each amino acid and what happens when you are deficient in them. I also learned that some people just need more of one thing or another...imagine that... individual needs... we are not the cookie cutter bodies that the FDA, and USDA say we are!
I also found out about vitamins I was missing and how they worked in concert with the amino acids. It was a start.

My other challenge was to begin repairing my digestion and assimilation.These were so poor that no matter what I ate, I gained weight. I found out that the body has this survival mechanism that kicks in when it can't find what it needs...it saves everything! In my case, as extra fat!!

I started with blood tests to determine what I might be allergic to, as well as what other underlying health conditions might be hurting me.
Here is some of what I learned from the tests.

*I had an overabundance of yeast (candida) in my body. This causes and exacerbates all kinds of problems. My immune system was so exhausted it couldn't control the yeast as a healthy one will. Since sugars, especially the refined type, feed these guys,
I stopped eating sugar from all sources.

*I am allergic to gluten and gliadin which are components in most grains. They cause severe inflammation in the digestive system. Inflammation over a long time starts to destroy the tissue itself. When your intestines are swollen and falling apart, they can't do their job of absorbing the nutrients from food. I grew up believing whole wheat was so healthy for you!!! Wrong, at least for me....
So, I stopped eating grains.

*I had developed a sensitivity to citrus. I had always put lemon in and on everything, no kidding! I loved anything with citrus! I couldn't figure out why the last several times I had eaten grapefruit I got sick, duh!
So, I stopped eating citrus! Probably the hardest one for me!

*My blood type is "A". I had always thought I was an "O" and supposedly type O's have a much stronger digestive system and can tolerate animal protein better. So I ate alot of animal based proteins thinking I was doing the right thing for my body...oops! Type A's are meant to be vegetarians. Even though I am not allergic to animal protein it is very hard for me to digest and is wrong for my body.
So, I stopped eating meat.

At this point, I was still cooking a great percentage of my food. I discovered the raw food movement by complete accident! I was running around one day while I was in Minneapolis and realized I was starving! Since my diet was pretty restricted I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find anything. To top it off, it was late, 9pm, and I was walking! I walked out of the shop I was in and saw a sign across the street for a vegan restaurant Ecopolitan http://www.ecopolitan.com/
I was so happy! I sat down and started looking at the menu. So many incredible dishes! I saw the word raw, but didn't "get it" right away! I thought I would start with some nice hot soup (it was December in Minneapolis and frigging freezing!!) The chef/waiter explained to me that it is raw...you know not heated! It was pretty funny! I ended up having one of the best meals I have ever had and even took some stuff "to-go". I was an immediate convert! While I was there, I bought my first un-cook book "Living on Live Foods" by Alissa Cohen http://www.alissacohen.com/ and a CD by Dr. Adiel Tel-Oren , owner of Ecopolitin, "Should We Cook Our Foods?", available as an MP3 file on their website. This CD addresses many of the reasons why most people think you have to cook food. Great learning!
I came home from Minneapolis with many tools with which to rebuild by body. I am continuing my search and hope to share it with you as it the map unfolds before me!

Well, that is all I have in me tonight! ;)
Again, if you want more info on anything, feel free to contact me at tahoehealthychocolate@gmail.com
Enjoy!
Christine