It has been a few months since I wrapped up my first raw challenge.
While I found the diet intriguing, at this stage in my life, I am not ready for a 100% raw lifestyle. I really struggled physically and mentally during that challenge, and as the months have gone by, I believe I am starting to realize why.
First, adding in fruit is just not possible for me right now. My past issues with Candida make this a bad choice. Maybe down the road I can be at a more stable level and this will be possible, but it became evident pretty quickly that even though the raw diet could be considered a cleanse, from a yeast standpoint fruit is off the menu.
The second reason was much more subtle, and I cannot say I fully have my head around it. I have heard some folks chatting about the need for heavier cooked foods when they are dealing with being around a lot of people, energy work, and other similar situations. This intrigues me, and might explain some other side effects I ended up having on the raw diet. Steve Pavlina mentioned this in a recent article, and was just another confirmation of what I was feeling.
I am pretty sure I have a tendency to take on the energy of the people around me way too easily. I have worked on shielding, and while improved, I am far from protected. Working in a cubicle high stress environment, I am constantly battling not only my own energy imbalances, but also the ones I pick up around me. I can feel completely at peace all day at work, but go home feeling exhausted and drained purely because of the people that surround me. I also have a hard time staying grounded. My energy shifts all over fairly easily, and I battle staying focused without any drastic changes or issues in my life.
When I was on the raw trial, these energy issues became a large problem. What little focus I had went out the window. I felt super scattered, and struggled to accomplish work tasks and stay on track at home. I also felt like I wanted to retreat into a cocoon when I went home from work each day, like I had been bombarded more then usual.
Some of this did not become as clear until months down the road when I can look back and see where I was before, during, and after. I have also read some additional information since then that helped me better understand the unexplained struggles I was having during the trial.
The raw diet still intrigues me, and it will probably be something I do at a later date. For now, I will probably do cleanses in the form of a water fast only, and keep future raw challenges on the back burner until I learn more about controlling my energy and balance.
