Amanda Andrea Britanie Christy Helen Jaime Kellee Kelli Lisa Nora Paul Ricardo Shazzie Shelly Werner

Home > Raw > Raw Transformation > Christy

Christy's raw transformation Christy after It is hard for me to write down how I used to feel. My mind doesnt even want to go there because it is done and over with. But for the sake of the record, and of this story possibly inspiring others, I write it here. Christy after I grew up eating a fairly typical American diet. I remember my mum limiting sweet cereals as a kid, and I always had an apple in my lunch bag. (thanks mom!) I think pretty early on I developed an addiction to sugar, however. I regularly craved ice cream and sweets, and in my teen years I plunged into the not so wonderful world of fast food on a regular basis. Up until the 6th grade I remember looking and feeling pretty good, but after that my health seemed pretty poor. I ranged between being 15-20lbs overweight all through high school, and I developed severe acne, which lasted for over 16 years! I went on antibiotics and ended up spending four solid years on tetracycline and minocycline. It didnt work, but the doctor kept saying to just stay on it a little longer. I was in few car accidents and chronic headaches and backaches began to limit normal activities. I made myself deal with the constant pain by ignoring it. I acted like nothing was the matter but I felt horrible. I lived on ibuprofen and I had tons of tests done: MRIs, a Bone Scan, X-rays, etc. As well as massage therapists, a personal trainer and many doctors, chiropractors, and physical therapists-I improved a little but they just couldnt seem to fix me after years of therapy. A few even told me I was a lost cause -- I just wasn't healing, or something else was the matter. I gave up on it and lived with the pain. Looking back, I think there was more than just an old injury going on. Christy before The headaches persisted daily into my 20s, and then I began to experience nausea on a daily basis as well. Of course my weight continued on building a bit too. Luckily, I had seen others try so many fad diets, lose the weight, and then gain it back, I knew the answer wasn't there. I didn't know what diet was right so I didnt do anything! Somehow I managed to never get over 30lbs overweight. Christy before Mentally and emotionally, things in a way were worse. I had a hidden world going on inside me which no one knew about. I described myself then as a "floater". I just let things happen to me. I'd float through life, and as long as everyone liked me, everything was okay. Decisions were extremely difficult for me to make, and my mind seemed increasingly foggy. I started forgetting everyday words in conversation, which increased my shame at being stupid (which is how I thought of myself). I let goals slide, and never pursued dreams because I thought I didn't deserve them. Around age 23, I started thinking, "I've had enough!, What is going on?!!" I felt like I was dying. I pleaded with God to help me. My life force was slipping away. It was becoming harder and harder to be the person I wanted so desperately to be: me. Though I hated myself, I knew somewhere inside was the person I was meant to be. I felt like there was a heavy cloud over my head and a black veil separating me from the world. I looked awful, and I felt awful. My skin was blotchy, my hair was falling out, my eyes were lifeless and bloodshot. I remember one day sitting in a cafe with three of my dearest friends, and exclaiming with tears in my eyes that I felt like I was dying. One of my friends suggested that I might have food allergies. Here was a new idea! I had had a reaction to breast milk as a baby, perhaps I had been eating foods all my life that I was sensitive to or allergic to! So I promptly cut out some of the typical allergens: wheat, corn, and dairy. I limited my diet to rice, soy, meats and fruit with a few veggies here and there. I felt instantly better! So, wow, I felt I had found the answer. I continued on the diet for over a year, but after a few months, I started to feel bad again. I visited a regular medical doctor, who promptly prescribed sleeping pills, anti-depressants, anti-nausea pills, anti-biotics and accutane. I just couldnt do it. My intuition was sending red flags up all over the place. So I didn't take a thing, and struggled on on my own. I thought it must be more allergies so I cut out more things. But, I must confess, I held on to sugar. :) Sugar was still huge in my life. Soy I could tolerate too, so I became a dairy and wheat free gourmet, making yummy pancakes and cookies and cake and even tea sandwiches. I finally visited a naturopathic doctor at the advice of a friend, and found out my liver was having problems (I was having pains in my liver) and started taking herbs and medications for that. He tested me for food allergies and it came back negative! I thought, hurray! I am healed! So I started having pizza, and ice cream and bread and all the things I used to enjoy. But I felt awful after eating them! I thought, if I am not allergic, but I am reacting to these foods, what does that mean? I felt somehow that food was the answer and this doctor wasnt treating it with the importance I felt it deserved. I remembered a poster in my grade school gym of a big carrot and apple dancing together and words above it: "You are what you eat". Still it didnt click. I slowly cut out most red meat after helping to cut up a butchered cow at in-laws house. It was just too much for me. Chicken, too, started to bother me, I only ordered it at restaurants so I didnt have to prepare it at home and touch the slimy raw meat myself. I had cut out eggs and cheese because they made me sick a long time ago. My ND visits helped to some extent, but I still had a vast amount of symptoms weighing on me: Incredible fatigue,low energy Anemia Depression Mental cloudiness/Confusion/Memory loss Daily severe headaches/Dizziness Daily nausea, Indigestion Insomnia Aches and Pains, sometimes severe Acne Shortness of breath/intense fear of ordinary situations Panic attacks(i kept it a secret from most Intense anger (though it was securely bottled up inside!) Poor eyesight, constant blood shot eyes Horrid PMS Hair loss(bald spots! EEK!) Candida Chronic constipation Cystitis Poor wound healing Hot flashes! (what was that?) Food allergies, or at least reactions to food Around then I heard my sister had candida, and after reading about it, I scored off the charts in candida tests. I began to have hope that I would discover the "key" to what was wrong with me. So, sugar had to go. I stayed on the candida diet a while, had an improvement in health, but I couldn't seem to get rid of all the problems. I began trying all kinds of therapies: chinese medicine, colon and liver cleanses that came in a box, a cupboard full of supplements and miracle cures. I had a series of colonics which helped and I found out about the benefits of juicing and fasting. I learned a lot and did improve some. Each thing I learned was a step in the right direction. I found an online naturopathic evaluation that was so thorough it was over a hundred questions and took 3 hours to take. My results were reviewed by a panel of doctors and they informed me I had one or more of the following conditions that should be confirmed with my own doctor: chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia, hypothyroidism, general toxicity, IBS, adrenal fatigue, polyscystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, candida and a high risk for type 2 diabetes and breast cancer! They said of particular concern was the adrenal fatigue and depression. Needless to say I was terrified. The report was 110 pages long! I felt rather lost, but slowly got through the whole thing. One of the treatments they listed was raw food diet. It piqued my attention so I read a bit about it online. But I didn't do much about anything to be honest -- I was overwhelmed and too scared to even say anything to friends or family. I knew I had to do something but I didnt know what. All of this I carefully hid under the surface. I dont think any of my friends knew all this was going on. I really was good at hiding things, even from my nearest and dearest. Around January of 2003 I hit rock bottom (no, I hadn't hit it yet before that if you can believe it!). I realized my lack of self confidence, depression and self hatred were really affecting my husband and others. Duh! ;) I was in my own little world! I was weepy, cranky and co-dependant. My feelings were based on what others thought of me (or what I thought they thought!), and inside I was screaming that I hated myself, and no wonder everyone else hated me too. These thoughts and feelings seem so silly to me now, but they were all too real then. Then the fog lifted; long enough for me to see that I was valuable, a priceless creation, and very much worth investing in! I decided then and there that I would change my life and get healthy once and for all, and though I had said that a score of times before, I had had enough of pain and just couldnt live with it any longer. I knew that if I loved myself a little, if I took care of myself, I would have more confidance, and therefore I would become who I was made and meant to be. I wouldn't be lead any longer by raging hormones and false emotions. I wanted to the fog to be lifted for good! I cut out even more foods on the candida diet and was living on wheat-free yeast-free grains. I felt totally drained of energy. I could have veggies on the diet so I made myself eat them but mostly had spelt tortillas and beans and rice. The doctor at the time said I was the hardest candida case he had ever encountered. It just would not go away. My mum and dad came to visit and we did the diet together. While she was here, we were shopping at a bookstore and I came across a cookbook called Raw: The Uncook Book by Juliano. I sat down right there in the isle and leafed through the beautiful vibrant pictures. I couldn't believe a raw fruit and veggie diet could look so good! I wanted to buy it but I put it back. I kept thinking about it though. I told my mom it seemed so right, it really clicked in my mind. When my parents had left, I jumped right into it. I spent hours and hours online researching it, and went to the library and checked out Juliano¹s cookbook! That week I tried two days of all raw, and had fruit for the first time in a month (the candida diet didnt allow it but, oh, it was wonderful!). I felt better. I felt good, which was amazing! Then I went out to eat (chicken burrito) and the next day felt depressed, achey, exhausted, among other things. I ordered 12 steps to raw food by Victoria Boutenko and Raw Secrets by Frederik Patenaude. I found www.shazzie.com and just spent hours guzzling up the information. I am so grateful to Shazzie -- she has impacted my life so powerfully. I really dont think I could have done it without her. I was alone in the raw food world, and online was my only support. Then I ordered her books, Shazzie's Detox Delights and Detox your World and on seeing her joy, her vibrancy, and the simplicity with how she presented the raw food life, it really stole my heart. My husband heard of nothing but Shazzie, Shazzie, Shazzie those first few weeks! :) I daily visited her website, looking for strength and encouragement on my journey to health. I have never seen someone so full of vibrancy, so full of life, as Shazzie. I wanted that for myself. If she could give up all the foods she craved, and in the process become glowing and sparkling with health, then I was going to do it too! :) (I am getting all teared up just thinking of it!) Then March 8, 2003 I went 100% all raw foods: fruits, nuts, seeds and veggies; and I havent turned back since. I had one week of candida symptoms but stuck with it and have had nothing since(after months of trying to get rid of it before!). It has been 10 months and I am still ABSOLUTELY LOVING this diet! There is no turning back! Yay! :) I have found endless joy, energy, abundance and life on this diet: the way I believe God intended it! Fatigue and depression disapeared within weeks, I lost 25 pounds the first month and have maintained it without any effort since, mental cloudiness is gone, headaches, nausea, insomnia, aches and pains, cystitis, negative emotions, all of it gone or vastly improved! I feel amazing, and the change is through and through. My body, mind and spirit are rejuvenated! I have accomplished so much, and my mind is so much clearer now to do the things I want. I have taken up dance again, and I actually do it on a regular basis with joy and energy! It used to be a chore, and I had to make myself exercise, but it is so much easier now. My goal used to be to get through each day : to survive. Now it is to live as abundant as possible; and I know it is! :) My future is brighter than I ever thought it could be! I could go on for hours about the benefits of eating natural foods, it paves the way for so many good things to come into your life! I now know that if you don't have health, you dont have anything! And what I am most excited about, is that there is more: I have only hit the tip of the iceburg in wellness. I look forward to even more abundant living. I don't expect 28 years of bad habits to go away in 10 months, so I am sticking to it for life! From what I hear, it is not only possible, but extremely probable that health described as super-human can be mine! It is not really super-human, it only seems so because it is compared to what we accept as "normal" health on a day to day basis. I know, I lived with "normal" health for years. Well, no more. Abundant blessings to you and your family! You are loved, you are valuable, you are priceless. You are more than you know. You really are. Don't accept average health or poor health another minute! You can make changes right now! And from the bottom of my heart I need to thank Shazzie. Shazzie, you truly are my hero! Bless you a million times over! :) With so much love and thankfulness, ~christy;) Shazzie says... Wow, wow, wow! This was like taking a trip down memory lane! Christy might as well have been my ill-twin! I love it when I hear that someone who's suffered the same as me (right down to multiple car accidents. panic attacks and feeling her life force slipping away) finds the same help as I did. When I read Christy's story I felt great hope for many many other people. Just as my life touched hers at the right time, her life will now touch others. We're rippling wellness and happiness out all over the place. Bless you, Christy. If you want to add your story and before and after pictures to this section, please email them (no bigger than 200k each please) to us with your name, the dates of the photos and your age when the photos were taken. If you would like me to include a URL to your site, or any other information, please let me know. If you want to change your life for the better, buy Shazzie's detox delights -- it contains the recipes I used to transform myself from a struggling caterpillar into a butterfly with magic slippers!

You can order raw foods, my products and lots more online. or by phone. Give us a tinkle on 08700 113 119.

Copyright © 2000-2008 Shazzie | All Rights Reserved | Privacy statement | UK raw food events | Raw food UK | Special things | Products | About