Hello everybody!
First of all I wanted to say that I'm very happy, and also grateful that such a community exists. Before I found out about this website I thought there was only about a hundred people who ate or at least considered eating raw plant and animal food. According to the thousands of members on this forum and others one could say that I was wrong
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I'm a 19 years old male who currently lives in Belgium. The reason I'm interested in such a diet is because I have been dealing with different health issues for a long time. I've been experiencing a state of depression since I was fifteen, which has made me feel quite numb emotionally, less active and has decreased the quality of my social skills/life. My energy levels have always been quite low too, rarely feeling dynamic,except on some occasions like after exercising or sometimes at night. I also seem to have receding gum, probably due to the orthodontic treatment I've had younger (still wearing back braces
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).
I also, and maybe primarily want to get into this diet because I think it is the most beneficial for us humans and don't want to pass away without having lived life at my full potential. The instincto diet makes total sense to me, as we can see examples of it occurring in nature everywhere.
Just last week I found something quite interesting in the fun fact section of a random magazine. It stated that "domestic cats, when put in front of a large variety of foods, will select the same amount of lipids, carbohydrates and protein than a wild cat would in it's environment".
Ain't that instincto
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I currently have been eating mainly organic, and have tried different animal foods raw, after exploring this website. Liver actually didn't taste as bad as some starters stated, probably because being a mushroom lover the consistence didn't really bother me :p
Lately I have just been following a slightly "healthier" version of a standard diet. I have eaten wild game bought at the local delhaize (belgian supermarket) during hunting season and have tried to eat more raw foods like fruits, salads, root-plants etc. I don't eat raw animal products that often because I usually eat with my flatmates or family and I guess I'm not comfortable yet or strong-willed enough to expose my "strange conducts" to everybody. I feel isolated enough already
![Embarrassed -[](https://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/Smileys/default/embarrassed.gif)
. Actually a bit less since finding this website
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I'm also trying to follow a more relevant and paleo lifestyle: I have switched to barefoot running, I practice crossfit training, I have ditched my pillow and am planing to sleep on more ground-like surface, connected to the earth with some grounding sheets I just bought. I'm also trying to loose the habit of craking my back constantly which has caused a loss of motion capacity (something about areas of hyper and hypo-mobility being created by over stimulation of the back).
I've noticed, on this forum and on GCB's forum that some people suffer from violent and sometimes extensive periods of detoxifying when switching abruptly from standard cooked to raw paleo or instincto, forcing them to use digestive plants daily and sometimes for a long period of time.
My plan is to start of with a 50% raw diet, with one meal of raw animal and plant foods (mono-eating or mixing them wisely depending on digestibility) and another of low-temp cooked paleo foods (no grains expect maybe sprouted rice and no dairy, foods always mixed depending on their digestibility, and using less spices possible).
If for some reason I am unable to eat raw one day or more I compensate the next days with 100% raw foods, up to 3 days so I don't get an excessive detox reaction.
And eating this way for the next three to four years depending on how it feels. the last year would be a slow abandon of cooked food until I'm close to 100% raw. After that it will just be about training my instinct to spot the right foods
![Grin ;D](https://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
I think this way the detoxing will not be as brutal on the body and mind and it will enable me to gently ease into the right way of eating.
I'd like to have your opinion and thoughts though, diet-wise or not.
-Also as a French speaker do you know how I could get a copy of Guy-Claude Burger's "manger vrai"? I've signed up for his forum on instinctotherapy but it doesn't look like he hangs out there that often, as it has been more than a month since I've submitted my registration and am still not accepted as a member.
-Have you heard about Dominique Guyaux? I've thought about trying out his book about
l'alimentation instinctive raisonnée (literally "reasoned instinctive diet" ) but apparently he is currently righting a better version of the book and its theory. That's what I understood from his email.
^I'm pretty sure Iguana might have the answer for these
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Thank you all for being there! Your forum is so very instructive and enlightening! I'm glad it exists.