A touching cry for help

action river, prescription drugs, raw food diet blueprint, the china study

Yesterday I received a very touching message. I asked the author for and received permission to share the message.

I’m sure you will relate — as I did — because we’ve all been there (or are there now):

I started reading The China Study. I’m only on page 38, but thus far it’s pretty convincing. I have been thinking a lot about food/diet stuff. I’ve been thinking a lot for the last several months about my diet.

I’ve been so unhappy with it all. I hate the way I eat, the way I look, and the way I feel, and I have for a long time now. I really have felt like something’s gotta give. I have known that I need to change something, I just always thought I needed to stop eating cookies and pizza. Now I’m thinking it might be more than that.

Since you’ve already gone through all this, I was hoping you could help me. I don’t really know where to start or what to change first, and I know I shouldn’t do it all at once. Can you help me?

I don’t want to be like everyone else. I don’t want to feel like crap anymore. I don’t want to take prescription drugs anymore. Most of all, I don’t want to feel like a prisoner anymore. I have been enslaved by what I put in my mouth, and I need to take control of the situation. At this point, I have lost control, and I don’t like feeling that way. I want something better for myself, and I’m willing to open my mind now to things I may have previously shunned.

Can you/will you help me get started?

My reply:

Of course, I will do my best to help.

Believe it or not, your feelings and frustrations are VERY common. However, you are luckier than most, because you’re aware enough to realize that your diet may be involved in what you’re going through.

I think there’s a good chance raw foods can help you. Of course I can’t guarantee anything, but it’s definitely worth a try.

I know you feel like you have lost control… But believe it or not, it is precisely because of your being proactive and inquisitive — reading, learning, and thinking — that you are now in the process of taking  control again! You could have just sat down in front of the tube with a pint of ice cream, but instead you took ACTION — started reading the book, sitting down and thoroughly enumerating your feelings in this email. You are no longer drifting with the flow of the river, you are steering the boat. For more about the boat and the river, see this.

Begin by finishing The China Study.

Then read Volume 1 of the Raw Food Diet Blueprint. It’s primarily focused on weight loss, but most of the principles apply even when your primary concern is health, energy, or how crappy you feel.

Don’t feel like you have to make a bunch of drastic changes all at once. You can ease into it. You need to find the “sweet spot” that works for YOU, and the best way is to go gradually. Some people jump right in at 100%, and that’s exactly what they needed, and it works for them. But most people who attempt that hit a big wall (a personal one), “fail,” and come away discouraged. So take it slow. It does require patience, but you’re much more likely to reach that special point of happiness that way.

And of course, I am always available for questions.

You’re on a great trajectory. Keep up the momentum…

Chuck

1 Comment

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  By Justin Tupper, January 5, 2009 @ 8:47 pm

  Chuck your a good Dude. You are making a huge difference in peoples lives… That is living!

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