BODY CHANGES ON RAW!!!

Well, i do have some very very good news. My body is experiencing positive changes since my 4.75 weeks back on raw! It will be 5 weeks on Wednesday!

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First off, I stopped snoring!

You should know, before I ever ever went raw, some 4 or 5 years ago, weighing 425 lbs, I used to have sleep apnea and snore so loudly that Cliff couldn't sleep 2 ROOMS away from me without being disturbed. Plus, the apnea would cause me to stop breathing frequently throughout the night. It was scary and i woke up tired.

On my 3.5 years raw, the apnea and the snoring dissappeared!

Now, after my unfortunate hiatus from raw for the last year, yes, the snoring came back, bad, (but not the apnea, thank God. My weight never got up into the 4's again.)

Now, almost 5 weeks raw, woot, woot, I have completely stopped snoring, again. Yay! Cliff is amazed. Just weeks ago, I was snoring so loud we couldn't sleep together. Now, cuddling next to me, sleeping close together, he's not sure if i'm asleep or not, right next to him, because he doesn't hear a THING! And I wake up early because i get such good rest now!

My friend, Jan, reported a similar experience with snoring cessation on raw. When Jan and I were at OHI together, she told me that she snored so loud, her roommate was having difficulty sleeping. The roomate was a kind hearted lady and made due. But, for a family reason, the roommate needed to go home for a week or two. When the roomate returned back to OHI and to sleeping in the same room with Jan, she marveled, as Jan's snoring had diminished so incredibly from the OHI diet since she'd been gone!

I also remember when i first met Jan, I "heard" her before I saw her, she was weezing so loudly. After many weeks of friendship, during a walk around a lake towards the end of our OHI stay, it dawned on me. I didn't hear anything when Jan was walking. "Jan, you're walking SO easily....AND...you're not weezing anymore!!!!" It was an incredible difference.

Raw reduces inflammation! There's really something to it!

Imagine, they put those breathing face mask CPAP machine contraptions on people with sleep apnea and very loud snoring and other "sleeping disorders." My experience is that sleeping disorders originate in a diet disorder. Change your diet, change your sleep! That's been my experience, at least. Maybe easier said than done, but i'd rather eat bananas than sleep with a machine attached to my face. I mean it really does look ridiculous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tretfzd0gpU&feature=related

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I'm also off of all my meds!

I'd been taking reflux pills and allergy pills.

I'm not taking ANYTHING now.

The allergies don't seem to be affecting me this summer.

And, the reflux is no problem anymore when i eat fruity low fat days. In fact, my voice is never clearer then!

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I have reflux laryngitis, a condition brought by eating too much fat and having too much fermented undigested food in the gut that "refluxes" UP into my larynx, causing me swollen vocal cords and hoarseness. Um, NOT good for a singer, shall we say?

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Problems occur with reflux, even on raw, when i eat the nutty fatty days. That's even too much raw fat for me. I wake up the next morning and i'm a BASS and not a soprano! The difference is night and day. From overeating nuts, my voice is foggy, raspy, irritated the next day.

I've had 3 lessons with my new singing teacher, Arturo, and at the last lesson, i'd had salty nutty days before the lesson. (For the first two lessons, i had fruity days preceding the lesson and a clear easy tone).

He noticed.

"Your voice is not as free and clear as it was last week." I knew why.

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One more thing on reflux, surprisingly, i can get away, reflux-wise, with overeating avo and soaked seeds without getting too much reflux. Good information to know! When i wake up in the A.M. after eating those, i'm a mezzo-soprano and not a Bass!

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All in all, my body doesn't like too many nuts. My body doesn't like too much fat. My body doesn't like salt, almost at all.

I should say this like a mantra to myself.

It's my TONGUE that's the problem! Maybe for chronically obese people, they should cut off our TONGUES instead of cut up our internal organs and stomach with gastric bypass! That would probably RUIN my career as a fat person for good!

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Other positive changes are.....(get ready, this is x-rated), my pits and coochy-coo no longer smell bad. Pretty awesome, since when i was eating a lot of fish? Let's just say, you would definitely know it if you were naked with me. Now i'm as fresh and clean as a daisy! The lack of vaginal odor has impacted my self esteem TREMENDOUSLY. No woman likes to be smelly "there," even after just showering. Raw food makes you feel confident sexually. Raw food cleans you from the inside. Soap didn't take that smell away.

Not only that, my urine and bowel movements do not have bad odors, at all!

Well, if i eat too many nuts, my b.m.s smell more, but in general, i'm not nervous to go in public bathroom stalls anymore. I was always conscious before that i was leaving odor. Now, i'm fresh and clean!

Raw people are not stinky people! Join the stinkless people crowd and go raw!

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Other positive changes are my skin clearing up on my face and on my chest.

I had experienced a return of acne again on cooked, but now, my face looks noticibly clearer.

And on cooked, I had disturbing small bumps all OVER my chest. I didn't know what that was but it really bothered me. I am always complimented on what beautiful skin i have on my chest, and lemme tell you, it didn't look beautiful anymore, all bumpy. It was really upsetting.

Now, i'm back to my beautiful creamy smooth skin that so many people compliment me for!

Raw makes you GORGEOUS!

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My hair doesn't seem to be thinning, again, or yet. We'll keep our eye on this one.... As a matter of fact, it's looking pretty thick these days!

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Oh, my God, i almost forgot! The cracked crust on the back of my feet? Which i thought was just dry skin, or from wearing too many open back shoes?

GONE!

I can't believe it. Either can Cliff. P.S. that is not my foot. Mine looked worse.

A dermatologist once had me laying on my stomach, examining a very small mole on my behind that i had come to her for. Before she even saw the mole, she commented on my feet, "You've got a nasty case of athelete's foot there, lady."

I was like, "Huh? The back of my feet, all crusty and crackly, that's athelete's foot?"

She gave me a cream, which worked a little but i would forget to use it.

The crusty elephant's feet were just the way my feet "were" i thought.

Not so! The cracked crusties dissappear on raw! Calling all foot fetishists. My feet are HOT now!

Not only that, they don't smell anymore either! My feet used to STINK. And it was embarrassing.

Go raw and have stinkless smooth feet, people!

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You see, Athelete's foot is apparently something that is created on the INSIDE and shows itself on the outside. I always thought it was a topical problem, but it's not. Athelete's foot was a symptom of my POOR DIET.

As is excema and so many other skin ailments for so many people.

Who knew?

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So i think i covered all of the positive body changes I've had since going back on raw.

Now, for two troublesome symptoms:

The first is a burning sensation in my 2 pinky toes on each foot.

It's from overeating FAT. I know it. You don't even have to TELL me.

It calms down overnight and on my fruity days, and starts to burn again after i eat too much fat.

Good going, genius, you created another form of Athelete's Foot...by not eating according to your body's needs!

My body sends clear signals.

It's ME who needs to take heed.

Does a mother not answer a crying baby?

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The other negative symptom is the swollen ankles, but it doesn't happen when i don't eat salt.

And it lessens the more fluid i take in.

Not drinking enough agua. Gotta be more conscious to drink more water and stay away from salt.

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The problem is I'm a negligent mother to my body.

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Frankly, I'm angry at my body. Maybe some women are angry at their babies who keep crying. How could you not love THAT face?

I don't want to do what my body is telling me it wants: no salt and no nuts.

Fuck, I like salt and nuts. Rebellious child!

"I'm not gonna listen to you, body! Who the hell do you think you are that you can boss me around??? You can complain all you want. I'm going to do what "I" want! I'll show YOU!!!"

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It's like a child saying to a mother, "I hate you as a mother. Don't tell me what to do."

No such luck. I'm stuck with the body i have! And i need to heed it's messages.

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My body makes beautiful music. It can walk and swim and bend over and twist and wiggle.

I should send my body gratitude instead of being angry at it!

[deep sigh]

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So, to sum up, LOTS of GREAT POSITIVE CHANGES from raw, and some signs that tell me i'm still off track.

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So, my message to you, dear readers, is this: Don't give up on raw even if you get frustrated. I know how frustrating raw can be sometimes. How complicated it can be, when it used to feel simple and easy. Sometimes the more info we get, the worse off we are. When we were innocent and trusting, we were better off.

Nevertheless, I'm still receiving HUGE benefits even though the weightloss part is going to take some finessing.

I'm telling you now what i need to hear - Be your body's best friend. Eat more raw. And remove substances if they don't make you feel good. Listen. Be attentive. Pay attention.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

There are MANY merits to raw. We just have to figure out how to do it RIGHT for OUR bodies.

My voice is so important to me. I don't want to fuck it up and make my vocal cords swollen just for some nut pate' fun. It's no fun walking around with swollen ankles and a hoarse voice. It sets me back emotionally AND physically.

THINK AHEAD! CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR ACTIONS. USE THE INFORMATION THAT OUR BODIES ARE TELLING US...AND MAKE ADJUSTMENTS. OUR BODIES ARE OUR BEST FRIENDS. THEY WANT WHAT IS BEST FOR US.

Pure raw joy is right around the corner. We just have to want it. And work to find it.

xoxo michelle joy