detox eta: Mid-May

Hallo, my name is Kathryn, and I've been planning to use a week-long raw food detox to kick-start a vegetarian lifestyle ... but after reading so many wonderful stories and recipes about Raw Foodism, I'm considering taking my plans a step further. I don't know that I'll ever go fully raw, but with so many yummy options, I don't think it'll be much of a sacrifice to incorporate an increasing number of Raw meals into my diet.

A little about me, and what has brought me to this point:

Most ... ok ... /all/ of my life, I've lived a very SAD lifestyle and diet. Many times, I have vowed to eat healthier - you know, less fast food, more home cooked meals, but I've never followed through with any amount of real conviction.

I've always had issues with my stomach balance. My appetite comes and goes - frequently and violently. For a month or two I'll overeat, but in the following month(s) I can hardly bring myself to eat at all. And as though that weren't enough, shortly after being promoted to The Job from Hell (one year ago), my stress levels skyrocketed. It wasn't uncommon for me to throw up three or four times a week at its worst. Before alarm bells go off, let me assure you that I was /thoroughly/ displeased by this. I love food. I am not now, nor have I ever been bulimic.

I have since left said job, and things have been slowly returning to normal. Through (painful) process of elimination, I've been able to pinpoint precisely /what/ has been setting off my stomach, and most of the time it ends up being ... meat.

*sigh*

But is this any big surprise?

Vegetarianism was my major Goal for 2009. Yes, it has taken me this long to really mentally prepare for "taking the plunge". But the longer I take, the more it solidifies in my heart and my mind that this is the right thing for me to be doing. My body has been staging a full-on revolt, trying to tell me in every way that it knows how that I'm putting it through pain. I know better.

Mid-May is when I've penciled in my detox. This is the busy time of year for my store, so I'll be working killer overtime. But there's one week next month during which I can request I work no overtime. Until then I'll be slowly making changes, meal by meal, one step at a time.

So far I've started with breakfast, the hardest meal for me to stomach at the best of times. You know what? My stomach has yet to get angry at me since I've started eating fruit or making smoothies in the mornings. And on top of that, the phlegm that normally upsets my stomach in the AM has seemed to be getting thinner. (Has anyone else noticed this?) One thing I've noticed is that my stomach acid seems to have spiked (in the form of heartburn). Is this something anyone else has experienced? What have you done to combat this?

Any advice you may have regarding detoxing (what vitamin supplement would you suggest?) would be appreciated. Other than that, I just wanted to say "Hi" and how excited I am to get this ball rolling!