Why Semi Raw?

So this is my first post. Yay! To get started I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself, my story, and why I'm starting this blog.

For starters, I'm a 24 year old mother of one very vivacious, and rambunctious 28 month old daughter, Adeleine. We live together in the suburbs of Philadelphia with my mother, and our delightfully insane cat Annabelle. Adeleine's father and I have been together for nearly five and a half years, after meeting each other at 16. My passions are wide, and varied, though my heart lies in living a healthful and balanced life, and trying my best to help others in the process. I'm currently studying to become a certified Doula through DONA International, and I'd also like to earn a degree in holistic nutrition. So where did my passion for a balanced, healthful life stem from?

I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Panic Disorder when I was around 9 or 10 years old, after having been in treatment since I was 5. At that time certain types of mental illnesses were still very uncommon in young children, so I was misdiagnosed multiple times. Since childhood I was put on all sorts of different medications from Prozac and Remeron, to Klonopin and Abilify. Their names and uses cover a vast scope, and despite having been on over 20 different medications since I was 5, nothing ever seemed to improve my symptoms, and I suffered from all sorts of strange and uncomfortable side effects. Things didn't begin to change until my mid to late teens.

I have an amazingly wonderful childhood friend that I'm lucky enough to still be close with. When we were very young my friends mother was beginning her journey into the holistic nutrition, and health world, and she was also learning to become a Reiki master. Once I reached my mid/late teens, after having been on and off numerous medications and treatment plans, I began seeing my friends mother for therapeutic reiki sessions, and found that through reiki, yoga, and meditation I began to feel a change. My general level of anxiety was lowered, and I felt overall more balanced. But there were still more pieces which I hadn't yet fit into the puzzle.

I found out that I was pregnant in August of 2011, which was quite the surprise, as I was precisely 14 days from moving into a new dormitory at a university over an hour away from home. Instead, I transferred to a local community college, and continued studying education until nearly the end of my second trimester. During my pregnancy I became extraordinarily interested in the entire pregnancy and birthing process. I watched every documentary that I could find, read every book I could get my hands on, and after switching from an OB/GYN to a midwife practice sometime in my late first trimester, I decided on using Hypnobabies as a means to help me through the journey of birthing my daughter. To me this all made perfect sense for my personal situation, as I was already familiar with meditation.

Through this focus on the pregnancy process, my interest in nutrition and overall well being continued to grow, and soon led to my discovering all of the aspects of holistic nutrition, and truly using food as a form of medicine. For me I've found that balance is key, in all areas of my life. I don't ascribe to any one particular diet regimen, and I say regimen because to me many of the very popular diets are unnecessarily restrictive. While I've found that eating a plant based, primarily raw vegan diet has been exceptionally beneficial, I don't believe that we should shun fat the way that many raw vegans insist. I believe that certain fats are very healthful in moderation, as well as certain sources of animal protein. But I also believe that some diets, like the "traditional" Weston A. Price diet, encourage the consumption of too much fat and animal protein. But I incorporate aspects of each diet into my own, from Paleo to raw, and everything in between.

What's right for me may not be exactly right for others, and that's great. Wherever you are on this journey is exactly right for you. Just as I've grown and evolved in just a few short years, so will others, and hopefully we'll all be able to take what we need from our experiences and leave the rest behind. So here's to light, love, and a balanced, vibrant life. I hope you'll share this journey with me.

Antonia  xoxo