Hi, everyone! I have been eating organic for over a year, vegan for about 2 months, but found I was eating too much processed food. It was all organic, but junk nonetheless! I have been thinking about raw food for about a year, when I started doing some cleanses & fasting & such. But I didn't think it was possible, living near Pittsburgh, PA (brrrrr). I have recently read things that made me change my mind. (kinda, but it's really hard to find good organic fruit around here!)

I have not received my 80/10/10 book yet, but I have been researching all I can.

I have been doing 811 for 4 days. I felt really good until today. I got very shaky and had stomach cramps. Today I drank a liter of water, taught a Spinning class for 45 minutes, ate 6 (smallish) oranges for breakfast. Drank another 1-1/2 liters of water and then a pile of strawberries & blueberries for lunch. That's when the stomach cramps and shakiness started. I ate two bananas and plopped down on the couch.

Typically, I have been trying to eat large mono meals of fruit at breakfast & lunch each, (like 6 bananas or oranges) then a small amount of fruit followed by a large romaine & veggie salad with lemon juice & half an avocado for dinner. I will admit that I am still using a little black pepper & organic garlic salt on the salad (although less than I used to!) I'm usually drinking 3-4 liters of water a day, spaced apart from meals. I teach Spinning every weekday morning.

I'm feeling a little better, but wondering what I need to do. (Of course, there's a little voice in my head saying that some toast would help!! ) Someone needs to kill off that person with the little voice!

Any help is appreciated! Hope my book comes soon!

Update... After several hours of stomach pain & trying to hold down those strawberries, I finally gave up and allowed myself to vomit (I fought it for as long as I could). Within 30 minutes I felt much better & even gave a short speech 1 hour later!

So a few hours later, I was starving, but couldn't bring myself to eat raw fruit or veggies. The only thing I thought I could handle was a little raw cereal (sprouted nuts & seeds) with some hemp milk.

Hopefully I can resume fruit tomorrow morning because I really enjoyed the first couple days. I don't think I'll be having any strawberries or blueberries any time soon, though!

Any advice appreciated!

Firstly, Welcome! Congratulations!

I feel great joy reading of your life improvements as it contributes to meeting my needs for community and communal upliftment.

In my experience initial detox symptoms may arise, and seem to be best dealt with by allowing for extra sleep and rest in the beginning. By switching to a clean, low toxin diet of raw fruits and veggies, the body now has 'extra' energy (which was previously being used to deal with the highly toxic 'foods') to clean house. The body is in charge and calls the shots. If it has on its agenda cleaning your liver or releasing toxins through extra mucous production, it doesn't ask our permission, but instead sets out to do its job, preserving life and creating health.

Any intelligent action we can take in assisting the body in its job of fostering life and health is greatly appreciated by the body, and often time the most intelligent thing we can do is to rest/relax/stay out of its way.

Try to enjoy the process as it is a miracle, is it not?

I don't know your size, calorie intake, or activity output, but from your food intake descriptions, you may be undereating (which is extremely common in beginning as our stomach muscles are not used to accommodating such large volumes of water and fiber), is this possible?

That could certainly be part of it, as I'm having trouble eating as much as I should! Another problem is finding good produce in my area. A lot of the fruit that I hear people talking about ... I had never even heard of before! And there's no way to buy it here!

Either way, after that episode, I have been fine since, except for some low blood pressure attacks (getting lightheaded / blacking out upon standing).

I think I need to start making smoothies to see if that helps me up my caloric intake.

Thanks for your input!

Smoothies was definitely a must for me in the first few weeks to get my calories and still is a good way to get filled up quick today
As for buying produce, try to see if there are 811ers in your area and look for a place where you could buy in bulk. Down here in Texas we found a provider that normally works only with businesses but they do sell us (and deliver ) fresh fruits and vegetables in bulk. It's cheaper and so much more convenient this way (we don't have a car). There's always a way. Even some small fruit store near my house where I lived before used to deliver cases of bananas to my house, certainly not something they did for any other person, it's a matter of asking and being nice to people

Thanks for your input! I tried to make a banana smoothie - 8 bananas and 1/2 cup of water. I only got half of it down. I'll keep trying with other fruit! As far as 811ers in my area... I wish!!! We don't even have many vegans in my area! But there are two small health food stores I could talk to about buying cases of bananas. My plan in 6 to 10 years is to move somewhere that the weather is warm and the produce is fresh, organic and local. I would like to not use heating or air conditioning and to ride my bike anywhere I want to go. That's my dream, but I haven't figured out where the perfect place is yet!

keep looking, there are quite a few places around the Earth where you could do just that!!