This topic is for the discussion of how to store fresh fish. With hanging beef in mind, I have a few hangers of fish in my refrigerator: halves of mackerel and fillets of yellowtail. The fish are slightly dry on the outside. When I touch them, I get a good feel of fish oil on the surface. I've eaten slices and not gotten sick, but the old fresh-fish rules (eat it right away) have me spooked. After all, I want to be a good example of raw paleo, not a dead example. I've searched the internet for more information, but I'm always running into instructions like "salt the fish" and "soak before cooking."

Please offer your experience and knowledge in this area.

A physical therapist who is working on my shoulders for increased range of motion commented on all the clicking noises in my shoulder joints. The original injury was many years ago and was never well-rehabilitated. Reduced inflammation with RPD has let me turn my attention to getting full use of my shoulders again, hence the return to physical therapy.

The PT's casual suggestion was that I try glucosamine with chondroitin supplement. I looked these up in Wikipedia and I get the general idea that glucosamine is present in bone marrow, which I eat regularly, while chondroitin is present in cartilage, which I don't consume regularly.

From a RPD point of view, what are some opinions of taking a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement, or getting these components from animal foods.

P.S. One of the cooked foods that I miss is pho with tendon slices. I miss it almost to the point of craving it. Pho is a bone broth with certain spices that might be classified as "warming" (star anise, cinnamon, clove, peppercorns, ginger). Pho traditionally has rice noodles, but I want it without noodles. I tried to eat tendon raw, but I couldn't even slice it with a knife.

I read Aajonus' first book last weekend and made a decision to eat RPD for two weeks. The next day, last Monday, after about one day of eating raw, a co-worker noticed that I looked better. Yes, I've been visibly ill and noticeably declining for a few years. I have every reason to be well, a happy home life, a satisfying career; yet I had been waking up with morbid thoughts, wondering when I'd need a wheelchair and a personal attendant.

Aajonus' negative attitude toward medical science matches mine. I'm sure I could buy a scary diagnosis and a bleak prognosis. Then, I could consent to medical treatment and let the doctors document my decline. I have a good health insurance policy.

This is the end of week one. Thursday, another co-worker noticed that I had been losing weight. I replied that I had eliminated all processed food from my diet. I'd estimate that I am about 200 pounds overweight, and I can see that I don't look so bloated. I can also see that my mobility and range-of-motion has improved. My joints still ache, but there has been enough improvement so that I threw out the ibuprophen that I took several times a day.

I've been helped by reading posts on this forum. At first, I didn't know what to read besides Aajonus. Now, I've read Cordain, Wai, and Burger. In the past, I've been familiar with the raw-vegan writers, as well as the juicists, the non-juicists, the fruit-eaters, and too many others. I know all sides of the eating-disorder literature, too. All this reading and knowing has made me cynical, but not closed-minded. I know for sure that I do not tolerate grains and dairy, therefore, RPD makes sense.

One area of confusion that I share with many posters is what to eat, if anything, besides raw meats. The gurus add to this confusion by quibbling among themselves over what are the true nutritional needs of mankind.

I have decided to resolve my confusion with caveperson thinking. So, when confronted with a non-meat food choice, I ask myself, "What would a caveperson do?" For example, if I saw a squirrel nibbling the seeds in a field of ripe grasses, I'd try one and spit it out. Thereafter, I'd invent the game Spit the Seed. I wouldn't gather, winnow, and make a pilaf!

Another confusion-buster is availability, including seasonality. This is a better guide, IMO, that eating what a guru says to eat and fussing because I can't get it locally. I am not a cookbook cook. I prefer to buy what is available and then fix a meal from what I buy. I'll keep reading this forum and adapt my food preparation to the ideas that sound good.

Haunted by the question, "How do I know this (RPD) is IT?" I hear the answer, "Don't be a silly, this is not IT, and there is no IT!" Improvement does not require omniscient perfection. I will grow, learn, correct, refine and change my mind.

Then there's the relationship question, my intimate relationship with food. Breaking up with Fast Food was easy; I said good-bye and got a restraining order. But when I told my beloved Kimchi that I needed a few weeks to think this over, he went into shock. I can hear him in the refrigerator, sobbing, "You said you would love me forever." In my paleaeolithicity, had I stumbled on wild fermentation, or not? I'll decide later.

My rebellion this week has been over the loss of convenience by not freezing food. Providence has been symbolized by having a freezer full of meats and a pantry full of grains and legumes. I'll have to re-think this one, and probably put IF (intermittant fasting) into the picture. This is an eating-disorder thought: "What if I get hungry and I can't instantly satisfy my hunger?" Ironic - I was dying from eating, and now I'm worried that I'll "die" if I feel a little hungry.

I'm glad this forum has a section for my journal. Writing this morning has been very helpful.