RAW
Just weeks after going raw, I knew that what I wanted to do with the rest of my life was to spread the word about raw, helping and supporting others on their raw journey. But I knew that in order to help others I would have to equip myself with the knowledge and skills to do so.
I had hundreds of questions, frustrations, conflicts, together with enormous enthusiasm, in my first months of raw. Although exciting, there were many challenges. But I was lucky – I had a little time on my hands. So I self-studied, and undertook practical work sufficient to be able to provide a service that would benefit others, to be able to answer questions, so that those new to raw would not have to ‘reinvent the wheel’.
So, in that first year, I did the following:
- Researched extensively, via published material, internet, international forums - compiling hundreds of files on nutrition and health issues. If you'd like to know where you can get Vitamin B6, calcium, selenium, etc, on a raw food diet, I can tell you! If you’d like to know of people who are convinced they have cured illnesses such as cancer and diabetes on raw food, I can supply testimonials.
- Made hundreds of raw food meals! I found out pretty quickly that in the raw food recipe world you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince! I can save you time by sharing ‘tried and tested’ delicious raw food recipes, including those that can be served with confidence to the most cynical non-raw people!!
- Processed, dehydrated, sprouted… I have practised and refined all the raw food preparation processes. For example, there are many ways to sprout, some of them quite complicated! I can show you a very simple way…
- Kept a log of my own early months on raw I kept detailed notes of the problems I ran into in the first few months of the raw diet, eg confusion on ingredients, practicalities (time constraints), and the challenges involved in following my raw diet whilst having to prepare food for a family. Also, whilst keeping notes of the health benefits that accrued over the months of raw, I also kept notes of other things that I felt less confident about. I did this as a reminder for the future that would help me empathise with those starting out on raw.
- Attended workshops, lectures, classes and training I took part in workshops with Karen Knowler, Shazzie, Kate Wood, Rob Hull, Anna Marcon, Jess Michael, and lectures by Matt Monarch, and David Wolfe – all leading names in the raw food movement. In order to learn further from those working in raw food as chefs and coaches, and those who had followed a raw diet for many years, I started ‘networking’ with raw people, meeting up at events and potlucks. I also took the Alissa Cohen Living on Live Foods Levels 1 and 2 Chef courses, and a one-week intensive raw food teaching course.
- Started the Raw Food UK Forum; this grew to 100 members in its three months and is still growing rapidly! This not only enabled me to add to my own knowledge of raw food, but constantly provides a free support facility for all raw fooders, whether experienced or ‘just finding out’.
This all culminated in my founding RawforLife, which offers food preparation courses, articles, and general support to all those on the raw food journey. Since then I have continued to offer support to those new (and not so new) to raw food via forums, the RawforLife e-zine, the RawforLife Blog articles, and RawforLife Support. I was privileged to be a guest speaker at the Bristol Vegan Fayre 2008 and have also co-ordinated 200 raw fooders internationally in The Global 24-Hour Water Fast.
Like many in the raw food world, I am neither nutritionist nor chef; I am transferring a wealth of qualifications and experience gained in a ‘communications’ business, and teaching, to a career where I can have a positive impact on the world. I believe that all my life experiences to date have synergised and enabled me to do what I was truly put on the planet to do, and that is to be one of the people here who help others take the path less travelled. You may have found these pages because you know me, because you know someone that has recommended them, or ‘by accident’. It is no accident.