In The Beginning . . . .

I first learned about the raw vegan lifestyle in the spring of 2003. At the time I was managing a very prominent chiropractic practice outside of Chicago, IL and was busy learning all about the ability of the body to heal itself naturally from a chiropractic perspective. It was the perfect primer to learning about the miracles experienced by participants of the living foods lifestyle.

I had been studying nutrition for awhile by that point, trying to seek refuge from my symptoms of hypoglycemia, chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, obesity, intense brain fog, floundering self-esteem and more.  These symptoms were ruining my life. I could not remember the last time I felt normal.  I had already become a vegan in 2002 for ethical reasons, but I was still eating a lot of hidden sugars and processed food.  Like millions, I suppose I was still hoping that my favorite foods weren’t the culprit!

My Awakening

Then “it” happened. I was at Whole Foods in the spring of 2003 buying vegan junk food. I had a nasty cold----which I noticed I was getting more of that year and wasn’t sure why. I picked up a copy of a free alternative health magazine to read while I spent the weekend resting. In it was an article on Karyn Calabrese, a sixty-year old Chicago raw foodist who was in glowing health and looked two-thirds her age. In the article Karen talked about the benefits of juice fasting. Needless to say, looking at this gorgeous, glowing sixty year old while acknowledging my own feelings of agedness and lethargy,  sold me. I had finally found somebody worth listening to.

I started an experimental juice fast the following day, and in three days my cold was not only gone but I felt better than I had in years. I was intrigued, and wanted more information.  I started reading every book on fasting, living foods, and natural healing I could find, and began experimenting with the raw vegan diet. I became angered by what I was discovering. It was upsetting enough that learn that  life-saving information was being deliberately obscured from the public, but to learn that holistic practitioners who are successful in reversing “so-called” terminal diseases are systematically shut down really floored me. I knew I had to do something about it as it was the same gut-wrenching feeling of shock and horror that inspired me to go vegan. Out of all of the injustices in this world, only a few will hit quite this hard, and we remember these realizations because they alter our paths forever. I began educating my chiropractic patients about living foods and self-healing since I was familiar with many of their health ailments. I simply could not keep quiet about what I was finding out. 

My Moment Of Truth

Like many experience while transitioning, I bounced back and forth between my new path and my old habits.  Even though I was devouring all the information I could find about raw foods and telling everyone I saw, I didn’t have much guidance, struggled with making some of the foods, and was dealing with some tough personal demons. 

It was December 2003 and a typical Chicago winter; I was eating cooked foods and feeling awful, yet again. I was feeling symptomatic, desperate, and truly at the end of my rope—a feeling I had actually grown familiar with.  I just had no desire to continue living my life as I knew it anymore.  It was so hard to keep smiling all day, and the pressure was taking it’s toll on me.  I was so forlorn I considered the fact that medications maybe were the only viable answer for me if I was going to remain here, and that was considering everything I knew about natural health. For the first time ever I even tried to get a hold of an emergency counseling clinic because my feelings were scaring me. I was in very bad shape.

Fortunately, the emergency counseling clinic didn’t call me back by some twist of fate.  Lucky for them that I am much smarter than my fledgling body chemistry or they might have had some serious explaining to do.  During that crucial period I made a life-changing agreement with myself. I needed to know, once and for all, if my problem was nutritional or everything else that I’ve been told for so long.  I started fasting under the reasoning that if I was already miserable, I might as well be hungry on top of it. On Day 3 I woke up feeling at peace, confident, self-assured, serene, and balanced. I had energy and felt both positive and sensible. This was my moment of truth.  My budding passion was renewed.