Wow! I am a vegetarian who also is violently allergic to nuts. I've never come across another one before.

Because of my nut allergies (I'm allergic to serveral types of beans too), it's impossible for me to be a vegan. At first I was eating a lot of soy products, but I started reading about how bad soy dogs/burgers/sausage/bacon is for you so I cut it out. In a nutshell, think about what has to be done to a soy bean to make it look and taste like a sausage link. That can't be good.

I found, reluctantly, adding an occasional piece of fish in my diet was the best solution. Good luck!

Wow that is so interesting, and I guess it's the general rule - we 'bodies' are all different and respond differently to certain foods. What works for one might not work for another. You go with what you feel best on.

I am also an avid runner, 4-5 x a week, 8-10 km. I am also a raw vegan. I have noticed that my energy is not what is used to be, about a year ago I felt like I had big springs on my feet. But I have always been a vegetarian, it is since I became totally vegan - and no soy products, or nuts either - so go figure. I have refined my diet so much that I get stomach cramps when I have concentrated foods such as dried fruit and nuts. I have alot of green juice, green smoothies & raw soups. I'll blend up a whole lot of stuff and use cut up veggies to dip into it. I do have a rice protein powder twice a day, which is not 100% raw but it only has one ingredient, so it's ok.

I'm getting back into sprouting beans again, which is also a sure fire way to get some perfect energy. There is a guy on the internet who is a raw vegan runner, check out his site Tim VanOrden's Running Raw Project - Home

And DON'T feel bad about eating meat, if you find it works for you. As long as you are getting organic meat and are not overdoing it - you are fine. As with another comment check out hemp meal or protein. I wish I could get it here but 'they' (the system) won't let it into our country because of it's link to the obvious.

Coconut oil is brilliant. I was having 2 tablespoons a day at one time last year, and I beat my running times by 4 minutes. I recommend it! Good luck. :)

Wow
 

It's so cool to see so many vegans and vegetarians on here!

Hey rawrollei, I was vegetarian for 15 years...for 5 of those I was vegan, and for one of those, I was high raw. I did NOT do well on high raw at all, to my dismay.

NOW I am whole foods vegan, except for organic chicken breast (which I truly despise eating, it grosses me out and makes me sad to ever have to eat a living creature, but my health was suffering).

I have raw greens every day, but I don't do well on much fruit or nuts. I've switched to more cooked whole grains (quinoa, brown rice, beans) and cooked veggies (asparagus, broccoli, etc). I feel better on this diet than I have in years, but I think each of our bodies have different needs.

I hope you find the perfect balance to bring you to optimal health. The running raw project is supercool, and Tim is such a charismatic and mesmerizing speaker. I could watch his clips for hours.

I am a little hesitant about the raw community these days, though. In my experience, they can be so narrow and rigid and dogmatic, they'd sooner let peoples' health deteriorate and completely disregard common sense for the sake of being ONE HUNDRED PERCENT RAW ::cue the music::. Looking back, much of what was said on those raw message boards was really silly. Every body has its own needs. Listen for those needs, and find your own path by trial and error.

Nice meeting you. :)

Sweetiepie,

You are so funny! I love that you incorporated the phrase 'in a nutshell' into your nut-allergy post. Hahaa!!

New to this site: Vegan
 

Hello!! I'm new to this site, and vegan! Best lifestyle choice I have ever made. Hope to meet some great folks on here, as I'm a chubby vegan and need some assistance with that!:o

I just started going vegan about 3 week ago but a man reason I dd was bcause of my health. Both my aunt and uncle and 1 cousin are vegan for health reasons. Right now I am feeling woe but part of the reason for that is my body is geting rid of all the toxin from my body. I do have more energy and am starting to feel not as sore. I have problems with quite few other issues now. I have celiac diseaean am allergic to dairy and soy so Iwas alread pretty limited in what I could have so that is 1 thing that pushed me to become a vegan. I have found a website that has realy been extremely helpful. I am not raw yet but at some point may go there when I am ready. I have also found that by going vegan my RA, lupus and fibro have gotten much better.