I'm two and a half weeks into doing Wai 100% properly, and my acne is GONE! I am feeling so much joyful gratitude, that I joined this forum to thank RRM, Wai and all the others on this site for sharing their knowledge and experience! So, here's my great big thank you, and lots of love coming across cyberspace, from me!
Here's how I came to Wai, for those interested. I've been doing an all raw diet for 3.5 years now. I was born into a vegetarian family and ate a gluten free/soy free diet much of growing up, due to some allergies. I started eating vegan at 20, when I met my husband, and he (also a life-long vegetarian) read a PETA brochure, and we became aware of factory farming practices. I had decent, good skin and good health on these diets. I had two sons (natural home births) felt great and healthy,was a consistent good weight (I'm 5ft. 8 and generally hover around 120 lbs, except for pregnancy). My kids were also in great health, breastfed, strong and large for their ages. (No scrawny vegans, but we were on a cooked, supplemented diet). At 30, I switched to an all raw diet, still vegan. It was an instinctive, eat-anything-raw style including lots of nuts, oils, fruits, greens and veggies. I still had good skin, good health and with all raw I noticed an increase in energy, a desire to exercise, increased flexibility and my pale, northern skin stopped getting sunburned!
I began to read about diet, and get interested in nutrition, so about one year into raw, I found out about the low fat vegan diet (80-10-10 style). In the meantime, my husband and two boys had lagged behind in the diet department, still eating cooked food, but beginning to add more and more raw in their diet. Finally, my husband tried a month of raw vegan, and by the end, had the insight to add back dairy and eggs into his diet. We'd moved to a place where there were small family farms, well treated animals, and grass fed/pasture fed raw products available. Adding in the animal products made a huge difference for him, strength wise and health wise. I tried raw dairy too, but felt bloated, heavier/ weighed down and it felt un- natural. After a short time I went back to vegan, this time low fat.
Starting low fat also coincided with starting to have acne. First it was just my face, then shoulders, knees, legs. It was frustrating but I felt good in all other ways. Fruit eating gave me even more energy, great motivation to exercise, strength, a lower body weight and cool body temperature in the tropical heat. Everywhere I read, and any forum I asked on, people concluded that acne was a detox, so I should just wait it out. Over the next year I continued to be convinced about a low fat diet. The acne developed into staph infections, and I even got a boil. I tried various different "diets" to no avail. I ate fruits/greens, I ate fruitarian for 4.5 months with occasional avocado, I tried adding in raw dairy again. I even tried two months of a low-carb, high fat/high raw diet with some cooked food (all of 5 meals worth - this diet of more "dead" cooked food was repulsive on some level). Nothing helped. The low carb diet was the worst. I felt like a slug, and this was the point that I decided fruit was important.
Of all the diets I tried, I had felt best on a fruitarian diet, so I went back to that, this time diligently going no fat instead of low-fat. I began supplementing with B12. With the supplements, I cleared the staph infection, and my skin improved a small bit with no fats, but I was still getting random bouts of large skin eruptions and my face maintained a fairly red and aggravated appearance. My family complained that I was more irritable, sharper with the children, my hair was duller and oilier (I've been shampoo free for years, and I was having to use lemon juice rinses more frequently) and my hormones just felt out of balance. I also felt no sex drive. This in itself wouldn't have worried me, but I began to feel uncompanionable too, as if I preferred to be alone, and wasn't tuning in as well to even snuggles, with my husband and kids. Looking back, I'd say that the only thing that kept me on the low fat diet, was how good I felt physically. I felt strong, motivated to exercise, creative and at a good, healthy and thin weight. If it hadn't been for the acne indicating that something was wrong, I would have just continued on, brushing other symptoms under the carpet. I'm generally cheerful, so the emotional aspects I just ignored.
Enter, the wai diet! I had read about it before, and tried it for a short time earlier this year, but I was unable to get it right. After months on an all fruit diet, my stomach couldn't handle an abrupt change to higher fat, and any non-fruit food was causing constipation (nuts, egg yolk, etc.) I also had difficulty adjusting to snacking meals, as eating less at one time was leaving me hungry, and I'd adjusted to a volume of food that would mean eating half my calories for the day in one meal (a load of fruit!).
So to adjust and feel satisfied at the beginning, I just added in extra fat, and within days I was feeling noticeably calmer and happier. My skin broke out very badly by just adding in some fat and continuing with the large fruit meals, but I made modifications over the next few weeks until I was comfortable snacking. Olive oil has been the best food so far! It digests beautifully, and after a meal which includes it I began to feel my skin tightening up.
My stomach began to adjusted to the smaller meals and then I slowly added a few young coconuts in too. Then last week, I began to add in some egg yolk, and still good digestion, hurray! With the egg yolk in my diet, I have discontinued the b12 supplements and feel good about that. I dislike getting an essential (for me) nutrient from a pill.
Two and a half weeks ago, I got to the point where I knew my meals were in Wai style proportions, adequate fat and the correct small size snacks. After one week eating correctly, my skin was noticeably improved. Two weeks went by and no new breakouts, no inflammation, a few very small white head bumps still present. Now at two and half weeks, there's no going back. My skin hasn't looked this good in 1.5 years and I feel like a whole new person!
I want to share, that coming back to eating animal products and feeling comfortable about them (well, vegetarian animal products. I have not tried fish... though perhaps I will change thoughts about that in the future!) is a process. It helped me to see well treated farm animals. I also see now that there is a symbiotic relationship between happy animals, who are fed and protected, and happy farmers, who develop their caring natures, and benefit in health from the animal products. I was a very committed vegan for 10+ years. Though I have not had the opportunity for a blood test, I am certain I developed low B12, because I felt much calmer and had a better immune response to fighting off staph infections, when I took supplements. I feel it is more natural to include some animal products, in whole food, fresh form, theandn to rely on pills.
With the Wai diet I feel I am combining the best of raw and fruit eating. I have the great energy, strength for exercising, creativity and lightness that I've come to appreciate on a raw and fruit based diet. But I'm also having the good skin (beauty!) good mood, and balanced personality that I would expect from a proper healthy diet! I am so happy!
I know I wrote a book here, but I hope some of my words and my story will help others. There are lots of varied ways of getting to this diet, but perhaps some others will share some of my background and benefit from hearing my experience. Going slowly, getting the essential ingredients in and then working on smaller portions, was very helpful to find success.
Thanks for making your information available freely, and for all the support present with this forum!
A great many thanks,
Best Wishes to all,
Sunmaiden
