Hi, my name is Carmen. I'm 31, a home-schooling SAHM, photographer, writer, blogger, half-time raw foodist (meaning that I only eat raw half the year, then relapse).

I'm not new to raw, but have relapsed and find myself after the birth of my fourth baby, desperately addicted to sugar, and about 120 lbs overweight (by my guestimation, because I haven't weighed recently). I'm feeling like my body is on a downward spiral. I'm only 31, so the deterioration I feel in my body is of great concern, and I know that going raw is the only truly healthy thing to do.
I have all the raw food gadgets, and have eaten 50-80% raw for months at a time. But I'm flat-out addicted to sugar and am having the hardest time getting past that. My husband is a normal eater and is constantly telling me that I need to go hungry, need to exercise more, need to count calories, etc. It's very frustrating to both of us because he doesn't even know that he doesn't understand what is going on with me, and I'm tired of trying to explain why it's so difficult for me to eat "normally" and why it has to be raw or nothing, because any other way of eating only spirals out of control for me.
Just this morning I told him that I buy candy at stores, and it was a complete shock to him. I am just shocked that he's shocked. I would have thought it was obvious by looking at me, and from all the times I've tried to explain my sugar addiction. He told me to think of it as just food for the kids, and I told him it was like asking an alcoholic to walk into a bar and just think of beer as something for everyone else while he drinks water....anyway.... Obviously, my eating patterns have got to change. It's stressing us out. He is very supportive with me going raw and him coming along, as long as we cook fish once in a while (for him - I'm not a fish eater).

My main downfall cooking raw is planning ahead.
With a big family, I need tried-and-true recipes that I know I will like once I've made them.
I also need to have snacks and things I can plan ahead, while not feeling like I'm always just eating straight from the ground, meaning that I like to have things mixed instead of always eating foods whole and alone. I also need quick recipes. With four kids, an hour to prepare dinner (which may or may not be yummy when I'm done) is just not going to happen! I'm fine with dehydrating things ahead, though. I have the vita-mix, dehydrator, food processor, yogurt maker (for fermented things)...

I could also really really use some personal support when I'm struggling with old patterns.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Carmen O.