Hi all,

The last 6 months I've been working for a successful raw food entrepreneur in Chicago. I was 100% raw when I started there and once in a while I've ate cooked food, but not in excess. Since working there I've gained about 17 pounds, on top of the college weight I've been trying to lose for years as well, in total about 40-45 pounds. My digestion has slowed down, I've had less energy, which has led to me sometimes drink coffee to wake myself up and help the, ahem... elimination route. I think the main culprit has been the abundance of gourmet raw dishes, emphasis on the nut-based ones with a lot of agave nectar. Currently I'm going through a very hard, personal experience that unfortunately requires help from the other world-- the medical world. In lieu of this hell I'm going through, I'm working on rewriting my personal definition of what my raw food diet is all about and using it as a detox for this cocktail of medicine I have to take. I'm realizing that I need to focus my diet on more whole raw foods, less work food (even though it is all technically raw). I've been doing some research on food that aren't really raw after one of my very knowledgeable coworkers told me that agave nectar can actually stimulate appetite. Considering I have an addictive personality (cigarettes, alcohol, laxatives when I struggled with anorexia in high school), my coworker's claim made me wonder if something like agave nectar could mess with my body's chemistry, what other "raw" foods do that? Or what other "raw" foods aren't really raw? I've read that nuts, seeds, dried spices, and dried fruits (store bought) maybe not be raw by definition. Maybe processing of any kind of affect me. I know this may sound a bit paranoid or taking it too far, but as I want to do this detox after I'm done taking all the nasty drugs that will mess with my hormones, I want to do my absolute best to get my body back to optimal health in all ways possible and I want to set myself up with the best foods for that. Any recommendations? Any meal plans or typical meals in a day?

Thanks for any input! Much love and gratitude :-)