But in the end it wasn’t those products I went with after I had a little extra money on the Christmas after my youngest was born.  I decided to go with the Keeper.  I don’t have my own washing machine (which made cloth diapering interesting to say the least) so the best product for me seemed to be one that was easily washable.

I have to admit that I looked askance at the rubber cup that came in the mail.  It didn’t look like it would be comfortable.  But there was that guarantee — though then I had to wonder what they did with returned cups.  Did they melt them down?  Sell them as seconds?  Wash them off and send them off again? (ewww…)

It took me a little while to find the right length for the stem.  I kept it a little too long for a while because I was scared I was going to cut it too short and not be able to get it out.  I figured out that its not too difficult to ermm… push it out.

The Keeper has worked very well for me in the past 5 years, and I will most almost certainly buy another one if and when its time.  I’ve been thinking about buying another one as a precaution — wouldn’t want to be caught short without it and have to use ::shudder:: disposables.

When its my daughter’s time, I’m fully planning to have some cloth pads on-hand.  In the end, I’ll allow it to be her choice, but I’ll have them ready. 

Some people think reusable menstrual products are “going too far” and “gross”.  You know what?  I think throwing blood soaked sticky pads into the trash is unhygienic and disgusting.  I wonder sometimes how that is even legal.  And I’m pretty sure its not wise to flush tampons down the toilet — not to mention that it doesn’t seem good to have super absorbent cotton inside you.  Ugh… It gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.

Anyway, I was a bit worried about my iron levels.  I had been keeping track of my nutrition intake but I hadn’t eaten meat or any animal products this entire time.  Like I said, even when you know better, things people tell you stick with you. 

You see, when you give blood they take a small amount of blood out of your finger to test for iron.  It hurts like the dickens if you are dehydrated — so drink lots of water.  When the nurse took my blood sample to test my blood iron levels I was curious to see if she’d say anything different.  I’ve never had problems with my iron levels previously… I watched through the glass as she dropped my blood sample into the… spinny thing and the iron checking liquid thing.  She looked, then she grabbed another nurse and pointed.  And another.

It seemed like my worst fears had been realized.  She was going to come in all sympathetic smiles and tell me that she’s sorry but I can’t donate today and why don’t I go home and have a big plate of liver.  But she didn’t.

She came in and told me that my iron levels were extremely high, “But that’s good.” she added with a smile.

This story still amazes me.   I’ve never before seen the nurse stop other nurses to point at ANYONE’S iron level before.  It makes me wish I could find out what my other blood nutrient levels are (particularly comparatively).

Most raw foodists are vegans.  Its rather logical, if you think about it.  Most people have developed a revulsion to raw meats (for good reason I should add), and raw milks and cheeses can be difficult and expensive to obtain.

Vegans do not eat any animal products — that includes honey.  I imagine there are some people who consider themselves vegans who eat honey, because I just heard that honey was part of the vegan “Do not eat” list a few months ago and I’ve been reading vegan cookbooks and nutritional books for years.  Or maybe it just slid past me — sometimes even obvious facts do that to the best of us.  Many people who become raw foodists have already been vegans for some time when they start — most people become vegans when they become raw foodists.

Vegetarians will eat milks, cheeses, eggs but not meat.  I’ve known some people who consider themselves vegetarians who eat fish.  Its not my job to judge what people call themselves.  It is possible to be a vegetarian raw foodist, though how much you can incorporate cheeses and milks depends on your finances and the laws in your area.  In my state it is illegal to sell raw milk, though I do happen to know of a source who sells in the city.  I’ve only gotten it once and it is delicious — he usually sells out and beats feet before I have a chance to get to him.  I do regularly get raw cheese.  I find it to be a filling and relatively inexpensive way to fill out my diet.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are expensive and a good slice of cheese can make a slim meal feel more fulfilling.  I’ve also been known to throw a free range organic egg into my green smoothie (its completely changes the texture, its a nice change of pace occasionally).

And finally there are the omnivores.  There are indeed raw foodists who eat raw meat.  If you’ve ever owned a Juiceman Juicer, there is a juicing recipe in there that includes raw meat.  I haven’t gotten to that point yet, but I do intend to try it whenever I buy another Juiceman Juicer (my current one is almost five years old and broken).  If you own a dehydrator, I understand that you can make jerky from raw meat.  I do eat meat still, and I eat it cooked.  It is the only thing I regularly eat that is cooked (not that I don’t still have moments of weakness otherwise).  But I eat grass-fed beef, and when I get a dehydrator I am going to dehydrate my grass-fed beef.

I do have moral issues with eating meat.  I’ve tried to not eat meat and found myself unable to do it.  I’m hoping eventually once I’m completely raw I’ll be able to start weaning meat and animal products out of my diet.  In the meantime, I want to do what I can to make sure that the meat I eat is something I feel is moral and healthy.

If you have an issue with the fact that I eat meat, or say I’m not a real raw foodist because I eat cooked meat — then that is your opinion and I understand and respect that.  But I consider myself to be a raw foodist because I try to maintain the highest levels of raw foods in my diet I can maintain.  

The pound of grass fed ground beef I buy lasts a week.  The price equivilant in fruit can last me a few days if I’m in the mood to be really hungry.  Unfortunately I’m not rolling in money and adding meat to my diet has reduced my hunger and my many trips to the grocery store for more fruits.  While my overall plan is to stop eating meats eventually, I’m still evaluating the effect of meat on my body and how I feel on days I don’t and on days I do.  I have to admit, I feel much lighter and more energetic on days I don’t.

I still hate bananas, but I eat 3 to 6 a day — mostly mixed with other fruits and flavors to distract myself from the banananess of it.  If it weren’t for the green smoothie, I might not have had the nerve to take the plunge into raw foodism.  I don’t hate bananas the way I used to, but I still gag when I try to eat bananas straight.

When I first started I bought pre-bagged bananas in lots of at least five.  Usually by the time I got to bag number five the bananas had started showing their age and then some.  I’ve cooled off of my major banana purchases since them, buying them more “as needed” since bananas are neither expensive nor difficult to find (though I do still tend to buy up a bit more if the bananas are very green).

The biggest thing that bothers me about the massive banana consumption that strict raw foodism requires is that I would rather eat more locally grown food.  I’d love to eat locally grown organic bananas, but as I don’t live in a tropical paradise…

I know that many will say that the benefits (both to myself and the environment) of not eating meat - or shall we say, greatly reducing my meat consumption - exceeds the damage done by constantly eating a fruit not native to the area I live.  But I still feel weird about it.  I’ve read about the things corporations do and have done to people and other countries to keep bananas cheap and plentiful, and I dislike being a part of it.  I’d love to eat organic bananas from farms in Hawaii, but organic bananas are not easily available in my area and the gas wasted driving to the other side of town to get to the health food store to buy organic bananas would surely derail any other benefits I intended.

It hardly breaks my heart — I eat avocados and pineapple and other tropical fruits without really considering that they are from an area I’ve never been to raised by people who might not have been paid anything near a fair price.  But as I read time and time again the admonishment to eat locally grown foods, it bothers me that my primary foodstuffs are anything but local.

I’ve made a number of adjustments to my diet to reduce my banana consumption and increase my local food consumption with enough success that for a few days when I couldn’t get bananas I didn’t starve.  Of course, I drank avocado milk instead of my banana smoothies, so it wasn’t a classic victory… but it was a victory nonetheless.

I’ve tried several - I’ve eaten macrobiotic, been both a vegetarian and a vegan, and tried Doug Kaufman’s anti-fungal diet.  I liked the macrobiotic diet a lot, but the recipes I tried were very time-consuming and tended to be more than a bit outside of my budget.  A lot of what I had been reading suggested that the vegetarian/vegan diet was ideal, but I personally found it difficult to keep from eating meat and animal products.  I actually was very happy with the anti-fungal diet even though it was extremely restrictive.  I lost too much weight in a very short time and became ill.  Not only that, but I was hungry all of the time and (once again) it was way too expensive to keep up properly.

I have read many books on nutrition, some by accepted authorities, some by quacks — most somewhere in-between.  Everything I read suggested that the best diet overall was a diet high in (if not exclusively made up of) raw foods.  Time and time again I read stories about people who beat cancer, and other debilitating illnesses by going on an all-raw diet.  Many of the authors reported the stories from patients and friends, and were not raw-foodists themselves.  I was impressed, and made a mental note that if I ever developed cancer that I should switch an all raw diet.

I didn’t think to adopt the diet for myself right then and there because for one thing… I hated salads.  I mean with a passion.  For another thing, I couldn’t see myself being able to give up meat nor could I see bringing myself to eat raw meat (ewww…).

Fast forward a few years… some personal problems had derailed me mentally and physically.  I was finally starting to get myself back together, and realized that my weight had come to an unpleasant head.  I’m not sure if it was when I stepped on the scale and saw how close to 300 pounds it came or if it was the time when I was shopping for clothing and I was surprised that a pair of size 24 pants fit me (I was at least a 26 — they were rather loosely cut).  I had to do something, but what? 

The what came when I just happened to come across Steve Pavlina’s 30 day Raw Food Trial.  Those lovely pictures of fruit made my mouth water.  I love fruit.  I could stay with any diet that involved me eating (effectively) unlimited amounts of fruit.

I only had a cheap blender and a will to start, but I figured that was enough.