I have just turned 40 years old and it is a good time to review my life practices and decide what is working and what is not. My Heath, whilst by no means terrible, has been declining, with the odd ailment that flares up now and again. I've let my weight slip - I'm just over 10 stone (at 5'3"), have quite a large behind and quite often feel quite sluggish and find it difficult to 'get up and go'. The very slim waist that I was always proud of has disappeared after my 1st baby, and I haven't seen it since!
I have been finding lately that I get extremely tired just after lunch. As I am a full time mum, I feel so 'spent' that I can't help having a daytime nap at the same time as my 3 year old boy - refreshing, but I would rather be doing more contructive things with my free time! I also find that I have to go to bed by 9pm and even after an 8 hour sleep, I wake up tired. I haven't been doing very much planned exercise, apart from the normal running around after my boy.
I have always been quite an anxious person (especially in social situations) and 2 years ago, I also discovered I was sufferering with depression. I have also recently been diagnosed with Irritatble Bowel Sydrome (IBS).
I have had psoriasis at the back of my beck for the past 20 years and an odd rash on my leg that never quite goes.
So, thankfully nothing life shattering, but I do think I am in the need for quite a drastic change in my lifestyle! My family history is not great: one parent dying of bowel cancer; the other of a stroke, and my brother suffers from a stomach ulcer and gout. Over the past few years I have read a lot about diet and how food is the most important determinants of a healthy body, and I am convinced that as far as disease is concerned (particularly he state the nhs is currently in) prevention is better than cure. Western medicine pays very little attention to diet as a means of caring for ones body, but the more I read, the more I am convinced of it's importance - after all, food BECOMES you).
I am therefore taking up a challenge to really alter my eating habits, eat as much raw vegan food as I can, also incorporate wild plants into my diet and introduce some modertate regular exercise and meditation. Now, I am not completely new to raw food: I have been increasingly using it for the past year or so, as my knowledge has grown. However, I am starting this posteous as a commitment to a full a change as possible. It is also a means to (hopefully) record my successes, as it is said that it is hard to recall what you were like beforehand! I am not going to be completely raw - I'd love to aim for 60-80%.
I have been doing quite a lot of reading on the subject. Most recently Donna Gates and I'll be introducing some of her 'Body Ecology' recommendations into my diet. I have also following the likes of Shazzie and David Wolfe.