My parents raised their five children on an orchard in the Australian bush. We had a wide variety of different fruits and grapes from our vines. When I was five years old my father had developed some serious life threatening ailments. After giving up on the failing medical modalities of the time he, at the behest of his sister, went to see a naturapath as a last ditch effort to find a cure for his many health issues. This incredible man worked with my dad, giving him massage and chiropractic adjustments. He gave him herbs and supplements and encouraged my dad to eat a diet rich in raw fruits and vegetables, along with daily exercise and deep breathing. My dad noticed improvement very quickly and managed to regain his health and vigor.

After the dramatic change in my father’s health largely due to diet, my parents decided that our whole family should live this way. They bought an orchard in the country and moved us to where the air would be clean and their children would have plenty of space to run and play. We felt hard done by because we didn’t get to nosh into the cream buns, cakes, sugared cereals and a myriad other treats that our friends were enjoying on a regular basis. We were made to ride our bikes or walk to school instead of being driven like the other kids. However, we rarely got sick and we were filled with boundless energy as opposed to many of our school friends who seemed to get sick more often and later on in life I am finding out that many of them are dead! I keep hearing about this one or that one dying of cancer or some other terrible illness.

I was surprised at how many of my old schoolmates are having to deal with severe mental illness! I didn’t fully appreciate how lucky we were to have such enlightened parents as a child, however later on in life I began to see their wisdom and their influence has led me to where I am now, eating the best food ever and experiencing new levels of health and vitality, and clarity of mind and spirit.

I left home at 19 and moved to the states after marrying my husband Carl. He was raised on the standard American Fair. Soon my diet began to shift over to more processed foods, meat, dairy and heavy starches. I began to gain weight at an alarming rate which began my yo-yo dieting phase. This lasted for about 15 years. I would try crazy crash diets to lose my weight only to gain it all back and more after getting off the diet. During this time I had three children. I wanted healthy kids, so I tried to make fairly good choices in regards to their diet. Looking back I realize I could have done so much better. I was trying to give them healthy food, but I guess I didn’t realize the damage the unhealthy food was. I was under the misconception that everything in moderation was ok. I see now that moderate amounts of toxic food is never good.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I was developing a strong addiction to the cooked foods I was eating. It was mostly bread and starches that I was mostly addicted to. When I would try to cut them out it would result in withdrawals. Anxiety, depression, irritability, headaches and lethargy were some of the symptoms. I didn’t make the connection that these feelings were in fact withdrawals from food addiction. Not only was I dealing with food addiction, but I was also overeating past the point of full. The little internal switch that is triggered and informs us that we need to stop when we are full would be overpowered by the urge to keep eating! When I would diet I would have to have a strong willpower all the time. I would do it to lose the weight but I couldn’t maintain it as soon as I started adding in some of the foods I had deprived myself of to lose weight. I just couldn’t do it in moderation! I found that as long as I kept eating even small amounts of toxic food I would want only that. Trying to be strong all the time would obviously fail because I would have a weak day and it would inevitably start the “eating everything in sight phase” especially the foods I was addicted to. This cycle continued until I had reached a whopping 235 lbs. As a result of this I began experiencing new health issues such as Chronic Bronchitis, Asthma, high blood pressure and Chronic Fatigue.

One day after talking to my father, I decided to go back on the diet I was raised on. I lost the weight very quickly and the health issues went away, however, I was still eating some cooked food and eating sprouted grain bread. Again, I had to have a great will power not to overeat the breads and cooked foods that were “legal” to eat on my new diet. I lived on the same salad everyday which got very tiring and I would find myself only thinking of when I could eat what I really wanted which was the cooked foods and the bread and starches. After losing the weight the motivation wasn’t the same so the will power wasn’t as strong for me. Soon the cooked to raw percentage would favor the cooked and the weight and all the health issues returned.

So of course after being disgusted in myself and my ballooning weight and returning health issues, I decided again to try to eat the healthy diet that my father had suggested. This time, however, knew I have to do something different. I realized that eating the same salad every day was not the answer so I started looking up salad recipes on the internet to see if I could change components of the salads to create variety. One website led to another and before I knew it I was reading all about the “raw food lifestyle.” I started learning about enzymes and the acid alkaline balance. I began to read testimonies of people whose lives had changed dramatically simply because they cut out cooked food. The biggest surprise was when I learned about how to prepare raw food in ways I never even dreamed possible! Desserts, cookies, pizza, spaghetti, pates and ice cream! All made with raw food and healthy! Fat was not the enemy! People were losing weight eating this way. I had to try it! I got very excited and began to try to eat all raw! I found this more difficult than I thought it would be. The addiction to cooked food was very deep. I soon began to yo yo back and forth from all raw to mostly raw to mostly cooked and every level in between. It took six years of this before I realized what the problem was and how to correct it. I figured it out in February 2007 and I have been 100% raw ever since.

After reading a book by Victoria Boutenko, “12 Steps to Raw,” I began to realize how addicted I was to cooked food. The cravings for the cooked food and the withdrawals were too much for me to handle and my will power would wane after a few days. Once I realized what was happening and that the cravings would stop after 2 months, I was able to set a new goal and begin again. This time armed with the knowledge that it would be over in two months. This kept my motivation up and my resolve hard and set even during the worst times. To my delight the cravings stopped after a month. However, I still wasn’t out of the woods yet. It took four months before I knew I would never go back. I was enjoying my raw diet for the first time. I started learning how to make delicious gourmet raw food and became a certified raw food chef. I began teaching others how and seeing their lives change for the better. What a journey!! The journey continues as I learn more each day. It just keep getting better and better… there is no ceiling! I will say, though that cleaning out the body is a long process. Although I feel that overall, my health is improving. I have suffered detox symtoms. I started out with the headaches, diarrhea, and skin outbreaks at first. That cleared up quickly. After that at intervals, I would experience other strange stuff. Buried toxic emotions resurfacing or old injuries flaring up were some of the symptoms of detox. Occasionally I would also have a healing crisis that felt like a flue. However, my weight came off slowly and steadily, my blood pressure is as good as it was in my twenties. I am continuing to heal but more importantly I feel a clarity of mind that I have never experienced in years.

My desire now is to teach others how to get into a raw lifestyle that is easy even for a busy person. I teach classes on, “how to get into a raw routine.” Many people have told me that it changed their lives and enabled them to, “stick with it this time.” This makes me very happy. I want to help people change their lives for the better.

I live now in the beautiful Pacific Northwest in the mountains. I am writing books and teaching classes, training chefs. I am also a private chef to people who feel they are too busy to prepare their own meals. It is a joy to create delicious raw food and see people get well and find a new level of health. You can always tell a raw foodist who has been raw for a while. They always have a beautiful clear eyes. There skin is clear and they are vibrant! I call it the “Raw Glow”! Hey!! Why don’t you join me in the best lifestyle ever!!!