I did patially raw for a month and now I have been 100% raw for two months . I have felt great for the whole two months. I ate whatever fruit and vegetable I wanted and I felt great. This month I have noticed that I can't eat as much or I feel like I am gaining weight or like I just ate a big mac or something. Do I need to cut back on what I am eating. I gained 3 lbs. last week and I am gettting nervous that this raw eating won't allow me to eat either. This is one reason that I switched to this diet. I hated starving myself to stay thin. Does anyone have any info on this? I am hoping it is my body just balancing out or something. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Eating well....and developing a holistic lifestyle change takes time. Simply changing one's diet to even 100% raw is not a cure all. All this I'm sure you're aware of. There are many other factors including: pursuing your dreams, setting small goals, making choices.....

-There are also other necessary physical practices like good levels of exercise and muscle building, fresh air, sunlight (in eyes and on skin), etc.

-In any event, for most, event 2 or 3 months is a short time to counteract what has been (in most cases) 10, 20, 30 or more years of abuse. It takes practice to make those changes.

-Your practice should be a stretch, but the focus should be to develop a process that is permanent and joyful. THAT should never end. LOL.

-Just some opinions / speculations / tips.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Recently I have begun to think of my raw food lifestyle more in terms of freedom and less in terms of restriction. Instead of putting labels on myself and rules & restrictions I have started thinking in terms of open mindedness and freedom of choice. No more rules or boundaries and "white knuckle" enforcement. Instead I am allowing myself to approach each decision about my lifestyle with the idea that when my priorities are clear the decision making process is easy. So if I know what I what to accomplish with my choices then I just move ahead through my day making choices in harmony with those life style priorities. I have found that as I trust myself more both in terms of making good harmonious choices and also in my bodies ability to signal what it needs and wants for health & wellness I am making choices that are more consistent with my priorities for good health & wellness. I no longer think of myself as "raw" or "high raw" or "all raw" or "vegetarian" or "vegan" or "whatever", I now think of myself as a person making freewill choices based on lifestyle priorities.

EZ rider Wrote:
I now think of myself as a
> person making freewill choices based on lifestyle
> priorities.

kudos!! i love that! labels are so demeaning and diminishing. when we adopt the attitude that i will try and give my body what it needs to thrive because i love it and want to take care of it to the very best of my ability it somehow brings such a peace within and that`s when it can do its job of cleaning and maintaining
patty

Quote

Posted by: dewey
Date: July 24, 2008 09:25AM

when we adopt the attitude that i will try and give my body what it needs to thrive because i love it and want to take care of it to the very best of my ability it somehow brings such a peace within

Since I have adopted this way of thinking I have been cruising through my day effortlessly and harmoniously making decisions I feel good about and you are so correct about the peaceful easy feeling within.

EZ rider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Posted by: dewey
> Date: July 24, 2008 09:25AM
>
> when we adopt the attitude that i will try and
> give my body what it needs to thrive because i
> love it and want to take care of it to the very
> best of my ability it somehow brings such a peace
> within
>
> Since I have adopted this way of thinking I have
> been cruising through my day effortlessly and
> harmoniously making decisions I feel good about
> and you are so correct about the peaceful easy
> feeling within.

Im so with you both!
simple and effortless.

EZ rider I also agree with what you said about thinking about your raw food lifestyle more in terms of freedom and less in terms of restriction.
once i found that place, things really altered for me.

This is why i feel its important to share this stuff.
i know that things cant be forced, people find their own pace.

I also know that given the right environment and encouragement it is possible to question strong beliefs.

How amazing that we can be feeling food restricted, yet work with this and find food freedom.
And this can happen in an instant. All that fear based deprivation just falls away.
Amazing!

You might be getting too much salt, or oddly enough not sufficient amounts. Either way the 3 lbs could just be your body's way of trying to maintain enough fluid or body fat. Perhaps you need to eat a little more, exercise and try to get a healthy balance in your life. My suggestion would be, put the scale away for now. Go by how you feel, do have enough energy? Do you feel faint? Weary? These would be signs you need to eat more. Also you may need a potasium supplement if you do not eat enough bananas.

EZ rider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Recently I have begun to think of my raw food
> lifestyle more in terms of freedom and less in
> terms of restriction. Instead of putting labels on
> myself and rules & restrictions I have started
> thinking in terms of open mindedness and freedom
> of choice. No more rules or boundaries and "white
> knuckle" enforcement. Instead I am allowing myself
> to approach each decision about my lifestyle with
> the idea that when my priorities are clear the
> decision making process is easy. So if I know what
> I what to accomplish with my choices then I just
> move ahead through my day making choices in
> harmony with those life style priorities. I have
> found that as I trust myself more both in terms of
> making good harmonious choices and also in my
> bodies ability to signal what it needs and wants
> for health & wellness I am making choices that are
> more consistent with my priorities for good health
> & wellness. I no longer think of myself as "raw"
> or "high raw" or "all raw" or "vegetarian" or
> "vegan" or "whatever", I now think of myself as a
> person making freewill choices based on lifestyle
> priorities.


This is great....