Hello everyone. My name is Brandi. This is my first entry into our journal. I am originally from San Francisco, and have lived in the east bay since I was 14 (except for a 4 year hiatus at college). I am Black female and 26.

Ever since I was a kid, I have been interested in food. I think it stems from my mother’s yo-yo dieting. I can remember sneaking slim-fast to elementary school. So since she was interested in nutrition, so was I. However, as I got older, my idea of “nutrition” changed. Throughout my childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood I have thought that a low-fat diet was the ideal diet. In college, my diet consisted of tons of sugar (bread, cereal, juice, milk-chocolate, and other junk). I did love vegetables; I just didn’t eat very fresh ones. A few months after I graduated from college (in 2001), a good friend gave me a good talkin’-too about my high carbohydrate intake. After that, I started eating a low-carbohydrate diet. I read Dr. Atkin’s Age defying book and I was really impressed with his research. My diet consisted mainly of salads, broccoli, cauliflower, other vegetables, berries, and a few low-carb products. I ate very little meat and dairy at first. Although, I was a big fan of cream. I would buy it by the quart. Later on I started eating more dairy and I discover that it was not for me. I felt groggy and like crap. I never really went through a heavy meat phase. I think the people who eat mostly meat and dairy on a low-carb diet really haven’t read his books. Dr. Atkins advocated more fruits and vegetables than anything.

(2003-2004)

While I was still low-carb, I keep reading books. I changed my eating to incorporate more vegetables after I read “Natural Eating” (by Goeff Bond). This book was what I was looking for. A book that utilizes anthropological research in designing an eating lifestyle. This was the first book that I read that thought of food in-terms of pounds. I would think how much pounds of fruits and vegetables I was eating everyday. The book also advocated walking 3-5 miles a day; which, I did. Every night I went to 24 hour fitness to walk my 5 miles. This diet helped me focus more on fruits and vegetables, and walking.

(Fall 2004)

I think it was at this point that I discovered the raw diet. Keep in mind that I was eating mostly fruits and vegetables (mostly raw) and I cut out dairy and meat. I was pretty much vegan, I just didn’t call myself that. My diet was probably 70-80% produce and more than half of it was raw. My first raw book was “Raw Power” by David Wolfe. I was amazed at how much it made sense. If I cooked food, it became less nutritional. Made sense, so I began eating raw. I ate mostly whole foods (that is, I didn’t blend, dehydrate, or process them). My favorite thing was going for a walk and taking a few Asian pears to eat (I had a great Asian pear guy at the farmer’s market). I ate pears, apples, berries, nuts, salads, cucumbers, peppers, and anything else that was easy to eat. I learned that if it was difficult to eat then it most likely isn’t supposed to be eaten. I didn’t sprout or soak. Keep in mind that I am not preaching, this is just what I learned. Although I had read that it is hard to be raw in the winter, I started being raw in September. Keep in mind that I was in California, so I am assuming that it is more difficult in colder climates (or is it?). I was raw for 3 months. The only times I ate un-raw food was on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I learned many things from being raw:

1. Your stomach actually shrinks. Once I started eating cooked food again, I could only eat so much. While everyone would still be eating I would be done.

2. I learned that I had food allergies. When I was raw I lost 50 pounds. However, it didn’t feel like I had lost weight. It just felt like I had become un-swollen. I later learned that having a sugar/wheat allergy can make you bloated/inflamed.

3. Being raw improved my eyesight. For the first time that I could remember I was seeing the world in 3-D. I can’t really explain it, but trees looked different.

4. I had tons of energy. I would jump out of bed and start my day. There was no lying in bed once I was awake. I would get up, make my bed, and go. This was great, because I was working from 7am until 9pm at 2 jobs.

5. You can be happy 24 hours a day. I could not get mad. I would sing in traffic. When something happened that in the past would have made me mad, I would say damn it and try to stay mad out of spite, but I would be happy 30 seconds later. It was actually hard for me to stay mad.

6. I learned that I didn’t have to have cramps. My menstrual cycled changed. Instead of bleeding heavy for 3 days and 2 days of spotting, I bled for 2 days and barely spotted for 3 days. I would have happy cycles; I couldn’t believe it.

7. My sexual drive was more focused, intense, and controlled. I would have more intense, clear orgasms.

8. You can thrive off of fruits and vegetables. I did so well on this diet.

Why did I stop eating raw? Life and dating caught up with me. I started eating Indian foods, Chinese food, and other stuff. Although I ate mostly fruits and vegetables, I slowly started cooking them. Plus, I burned myself out on salads. My concept of salads always involved lettuce, so once I got tired of lettuce, I stopped eating salads. This continued for 2 years. Now I am 40 pounds heavier, my eyesight and hearing had worsened, and I am fatigued. Keep in mind that I feel this way even though I eat no dairy, red meat, non-organic food, wheat or sugar, little grains, and mostly vegetables, fruits, and seeds.

The good news is that I have been raw for 2 weeks now. It has been hard. I have dreamed of hamburgers (I haven’t eaten a hamburger in 4 years) and chicken sausage (from Berkeley Bowl). I think I got used to the spices and texture of the meat. However, the thought of eating meat doesn’t sit very well right now. It just looks disgusting (all dead and lifeless like). I have had bad body odor, a sign of detox. However, I have been too busy to be active. Now that I am on vacation, I can start to incorporate movement into my life again. I miss Brazilian dance class. I have been sleeping more than usual (another good sign of detox). During the day I have been mostly craving fruits and vegetables and little seeds. The thought of eating seeds right now doesn’t sound too good. However, putting them in salads and drinking nut milks is okay. And I am in love with watermelon. It has been my main water source since I started eating raw. This is very interesting since I don’t really care for watermelon.

My raw experience will be different this time because I have different goals. Before I was just trying to find the ideal diet. Now, I know that there is no ideal diet and that the goal of a diet is to try to promote a person’s ideal lifestyle. In a month, I will be starting a graduate program at Penn State. While I study I want to dance, excel academically, grow my own foods, crochet, database consult, and be raw. I have learned that I cannot do this eating the way I was 2 weeks ago. After watching “Breakthrough” (a movie about a raw family) and observing how active their family was, I am confident that I can I do all the things I want to do if I am raw.

So for me, this journal will document the process of me actualizing the lifestyle I want for myself.