I have been reading about raw foods since 2005 but never dived in properly as when I first discovered it there was little information available and it tended to err on the side of the spiritual changes which dosen't interest me. I also instinctively felt that if I was going to eat as nature intended I shouldn't need to be dehydrating things for hours and recreating pizzas and this was all that was available to me athe time in the UK - plus there were no Raw restaurants and the whole concept of Raw was considered completely alien. I eventually discovered Dr Doug Graham and the 80/10/10 approach and instinctively felt it was right and what I'd been looking for.

I slowly increased my raw %age and varied between 75% to occasional 100% days over a couple of years when BAM, November 2009 - I started getting bad pains in my stomach and swinging between constipation and diarrhea regardless of what I ate. The doctor thought I had appendicitis and when they operated they found a leision so removed the right half of my colon. After the operation instead of getting better I got worse pain and erratic movements until I was eventually diagnosed with Crohns disease. At first I couldn't work out why I got it as I ate more healthily than anyone I knew - then I realised it was probably a really big healing/detox episode after I'd been eating much more raw over time. I have been given medication but am reading Dr David Klein's book 'Self Healing Colitis & Crohn's and intend to be back on very high raw soon - it's a bit of a pain as I can't EAT greens and saladsor nuts and seeds so have to juice everything all greens and salads. I can eat fruit so add the green juice to my smoothies and soon hope to be able to eat a lovely huge salad like I used to.

Before I became ill I loved long distance running (up to marathon distance), I hope to be running again soon as I have a guaranteed place in the London 2011 marathon. I spend hours with my 2 greyhound dogs who I love to bits and love me back just as much.