A little about me

I recently joined a new Yahoo! Group re health. Below is the intro that I submitted to them:

Hi Everyone,

I am 33, will be married for 6 years on 12.31.06, and mama to 16.5 month old Zander.

I ate a standard American Diet until 2001, 28 years old, when I developed a calcium deposit on my shoulder & realized the bump I had on my finger was also a calcium deposit. I was in excruciating pain from the deposit on my shoulder & I couldn’t move my arm. I was referred to a chiropractor by a friend. He recommended I eliminate dairy & read No Milk by Daniel Toogood. I LOVED dairy. I ate cheese, ice cream & drank milk every day. My favorite lunch was a monterey & pepper jack grilled cheese sandwich with french fries and ranch dressing in which I would dip both the sandwich & fries. Then I would I wash it all down with a Mountain Dew. YUM! :)

Daniel was, possibly still is, a chiropractor whose mentor challenged him to have his clients eliminate dairy from their diets and see what happens. The clients that were willing to take this on experienced either complete elimination of their aches and pains or a significant reduction in them. That was enough to get me to test it. Two weeks of no dairy and I could move my arm and I had little pain. Two more weeks and I had no pain. Sometime later I looked at my hand and realized the bump was gone. I was hooked – no more dairy for me!

Over the next few months while I was researching how to answer everyone’s questions of where I would get my calcium and protein I learned about factory farms and that we as humans are actually herbivores. I ate my last animal on my first wedding anniversary December 31st, 2001. It was a very yummy salmon. :)

All of this was the beginning of my realizing that my health is really in my hands. Not those of the guys wearing the white coat with a stethoscope around their neck.

Some how in my first year of being vegan I came across websites about people who only ate raw food. I was curious. I was drawn to this idea of eating so purely. I read all I could get my hands on. I attempted to go raw a couple of times, never lasting more than a week or so without scarfing down a plate of pasta with red sauce and sourdough bread with vegan butter.

I am now in my mid-thirties and have a precious little boy looking to me for guidance. Why not do the best I know how to do? I exclusively breastfed him until he was one year old and have only given him raw foods for the last four months. I want to be the best I can be so he can be the best he can be. I’m here to learn.

Thanks.

Warmly,
Jennifer