I have been on diet, after diet, after diet. I don't have it in me anymore to count or track calories, percentages, ect. I went veg*an transitioning raw for health reasons. I have diseases and my family had cancer.that being said, I am 40 lbs overweight. I would like to think I would lose eating vegan raw, I mean after all I'm giving up the candy bars, cakes and crap.

I'm reading various things...
Raw will get you to the weight your body wants.

Raw can still make you fat if you are eating raw crap (how can you eat raw crappy foods? I didn't know they existed)

80/10/10....sounds great. If I count another thing, I think I will stab myself in the face and be done with it.

I want health... I want PEACE in life and with my food. Can I just eat w/o analyzing it all to death?

I'm not sure I know HOW to eat anymore (mainly how much) as dumb as that may sound. Too many diets...way to many. I would like to be able to just listen to my body.

Today I ate
5 fruits
1 tbl protien rice powder
2 slice rye bread
2 tomato slices
1/2 avocado
onion slices
2 red lettuce leaves
6 button mushrooms marinated and pine nut cream
6 baby carrots and 1/2t of peanut butter
Cooked squash soup


This is the last time I want to count what I ate. I would like some opinions of if it seems balanced and the fat level ok for the general populous. I will eat more as my body calls for, I'm so used to restricting and bingeing that I am not at all in tune with my appetite.

Thanks... I have some inner work to do.


WendySmiling in Oklahoma
www.16weeks2health.blogspot.com
12/17/10.......240/155/125

i don't count, i don't pay attention, i don't analize unless i feel interested or am having a problem. i read and post here because i find it interesting and i like learning new things, not because i'm looking for "rules" to follow. there are so many contradictory ideas, not everything is going to work for everybody.

it's fine to eat what you want, when you want, etc. after a while you may very well find yourself drawn to specific things and turned off by others. you may find yourself eating a whole pound of green beans on the bus on the way home, you may find yourself snacking on 12 bananas, whatever. it's all good.

the most important thing to do is to listen to your body as you go along. at first it may be like learning a new language but pay attention, keep a diary if it helps, and eventually it will speak to you loud and clear.

and remember to focus on all the positive things that you are doing for yourself (like giving up truly crappy foods), those things are all terrific and contribute to your excellent health. the things you haven't done aren't important, they don't exist and don't deserve your attention. what you Are Doing is all that there is and it's all great.

Hey Wendy. I hear you. I think you nailed it. This may not apply to you, but many people seek to 'solve' eating issues....and get involved in it......when what is causing their issues is NOT food related....but rather emotional and psychological.

So: the key is to practice a 100% comfortable diet for at least 30 days. One where one eats easily....and without worry. If one can do this, then one can move on. If one cannot do this, then the worry and anxiety and obsession (or the eating disorder) just moves over into the new realm of healthy eating.

-As it turns out, people will often later 'blame' the 'raw food diet' for 'causing' obsession and/or eating disorders. Talk about blaming the axe for cutting down the forest! Ha! ha! Too much.

-You will be in my positive thoughts and prayers (I am a religious man).

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

coco is a wise woman.
i respect her a lot.

i totally understand not wanting to count and measure. i sure don't. if i want a bowl of tomatoes- i eat them. spinach and tomatoes- even better. i stop when i'm full even if i haven't cleaned my plate (and this was hard to learn to do) b/c i can just put it back in the fridge. but if i do eat those last five bites, i don't beat myself up either.

eating very seasonally, and allowing yourself that is good. right now apples and squashes and tomatoes and chard are delicious to me. i also made myself raw fudge today (dates and cacao blended to a rich chocolately goodness) b/c i've been wanting chocolate for a week now.

ann lamott talks about learning to feed herself. overcoming binging and purging by learning to think about nourishing the body. she does it with not so good food, but i think she's onto something. by filling your body slowly, carefully, with a meditative nourishing spirit is a great way to start.

if you start to want to be more involved with details and cutting out this and that, then that can be your choice, but i certainly don't keep a food diary, or eat by the clock, or avoid eating b/c of the clock. it would be a negative thing for me, and though i love that my weight has been more stable and healthy than ever before in my life, the best part is that it's not an obsession or a power struggle like it could be.

continue making good, nourishing decisions for your body, and communicating with yourself about it, not analyzing.

peace-

wendy,

ever since you started posting i just love your posts
you're funny and honest
and i love that pic of you

thank you so much

You all are great!

My doctor is pressuring me to drop weight. I'm a very small frame 5'5" and 170 lbs

Be that as it may, I'm really uncomfortable physically and of course there is the issue of how I look, I cannot lie about that. It took me 4 years to lose 112 lbs and get to goal weight of 128. Three months later they put me on cortisone for life and it's be very hard because it raises your blood sugar and makes you crave and gain weight.

I will kick the a$$ of my demons....


WendySmiling in Oklahoma
www.16weeks2health.blogspot.com
12/17/10.......240/155/125

Hi Wendy, i have been enjoying your posts as well.

I +so+ hear your frustration. And being on cortisone must be very hard.

Here is what helped me: at the beginning of my raw journey I was so frustrated that I wanted to try the one thing I had not tried: namely the opposite of restriction. i read somewhere to think in terms of adding food, not subtracting. I loved eating, i loved eating a lot and feeling full (and it was also somethign I had to re-learn, to feel satisfied again - raw food helped a lot here!). I imagined I could safely eat all the fruit and veggies I wanted. My body an dmental state immediately underwent a lot of positive changes - skin clearing up, constipation GONE for the first time in my life, increased sensitivity to certain food combinations - hey, information is good, right!? My body then slowly started telling me where to go with it and what to do. Not only did I drop 20 pounds in a heart beat without even trying, but all of a sudden the internal exploration, the feelings of healing, hydrating myself, digesting consciously etc became even more exciting and important than that.
I started gravitating towards certain foods and away from others and started to feel satisfied again - especially when mono-eating. I started naturally to want less and less. 20 bananas a day became 2. 10 peaches became 3 or 4. A half a big watermelon- well- I am still doing that every morning, as it feels so right, so I am going with it.

Reading 80-10-10 in the beginning helped me just for that one message: LOW fat. Else I would have headed right into the high fat gourmet trap where my emotional attachments to food would have just continued. Eating low fat raw (high percentage raw, i am happy with steamed veggies, some miso paste, and cooked potatoes, beans and lentils at this stage), has enabled me to get in touch with my emotional reasons for overeating while being gentle to myself. I do not force myself to anything, just keep a loose idea of my goal in mind, and it is for the first time in my life - graceful.

This list, particularly David Z Mason's posts, have helped me see that nutrition in itself is best subordinated to a higher goal. My higher goal is my music, so this is really why I want to achieve optimal health and spiritual clarity. I started a meditation practice as well. It just wanted to happen naturally, no forcing. There are so many neat next steps on this journey.... the latest ones for me have been cutting out Laerabars and unshelled nuts. Tiny steps that I can honestly say I am done with.
I have found a new sense of balance -
If I eat high fat or strong spices it messes me up so i feel I want to clear my body with fruit again. Watermelon only in the morning works best for me to get me right back on track.

It's a process and an adventurous journey. i have learned so much about myself, most importantly to think in terms of steps, exploring and sensing, rather than forcing, either/or-ing, and self punishment. Raw has definitely changed my physiological as well as emotional states. This has been my ticket for insane making cravings. Whoever says they can be conquered by will=power has never had them. The body screams for nourishment, yet what is eaten and how it is eaten just makes it worse. Try monoeating a watermelon in any self destructive way - it just doesnt work.... the fruit will gently show you the way while your body just soars in hydration, and vitamin wonderland. (I say water melon because that s my thing, yours of course may be different)


'Raw Emotions' is a really good book, you can download it from Angela Stokes' website. You may also want to check out Angela's other books, her writings are very intelligent, motivational and informative. Oh, adn check out juicing - a good green juice always brings me back to life.

I wouldn't be surprised if you found relief for whatever it is that makes you need cortisone through raw also.

Take good care of yourself. Feeling your body and being TRULY okay with it is the first step and good nourishment makes it so much easier to do that. Be read to be surprised

Thanks to all of you. Coco I can really relate to what you wrote. I have secondary adrenal insufficiency (similar to Addison's) I really want off the cortisone, but can only hope that will happen.

I had a good day today and will try mono eating.

I did make a pine nut sauce last night over mushrooms. I guess I need to keep the fat down. I usually stick to 1/2 avocado and a little nut butter or handful of nuts a day.


WendySmiling in Oklahoma
www.16weeks2health.blogspot.com
12/17/10.......240/155/125

wendy,

maybe you could experiment without any nuts or nut butter
since they are quite dense and difficult to digest
esp in that most are moldy and/or rancid even if they dont smell like it

im so glad you're interested in mono'ing
its really amazing
i wonder if you'd be up for a day or two of all melons
hopefully it's be a different experience with nothing
else before or after in your system to mess with it

Dear Wendy,

Your original post was literary comedy. The part about stabbing yourself in the face if any more counting needed to be done--I HEAR you! All the advice you're getting is super. Just remember that, with this dietary regimen, you are replacing nutrient-poor or even nutritient-sort-of-rich foods with totally nutrient-rich ones. Once your body adjusts to foods that it can break down almost 100% for its needs, you will feel your appetite diminish and become simplified. This is pretty much inevitable. Though it sounds moronic, graze like a chimp, Wendy, and you'll be fine in no time. And keep smiling!

Hi Wendy,
I am no expert for sure but I sure have problems losing weight too! I still need to lose more, but I am slowly doing it. Two things I know I need to do for it to work are to exercise 5-6 days a week, weight lifting and cardo. AND being sure that by the time I fall asleep I am hungry. It doesn't need to be every single day that I am hungry at night, but most of them. Then I slowly lose weight. It sounds easy, and it is. I just can't have a big dinner, only a light early dinner or no dinner if I ate a lot earlier. And, if the hunger is too much I can snack on things like a tomato, or something basically calorie free. Good luck, I feel ya!

You all are just the best. I love it here.

Today was a good day. I had a few moments when I was nervous about eating a piece of fresh baked bread, and had to remind myself it was ok, I don't have to 100% raw immediately.

I was more relaxed and had some nectarines, bananas, pears, raw yellow squash w/ jarred spag sauce. (YUM) I'm going to try to make my own marinara. I also had herbed raw mushrooms w/ a dab of pine nut cream (YUM).

I have a slight headache, but feel really good though. Three new raw foods today that were simple and yummy. It's kinda exciting. I'm really trying to keep it simple, but I do want to try a dessert (keeping THAT to a bare minimum).
It's a raw pineapple pudding pie on coconut crust topped with fresh berries and kiwi. It's from Eating Raw for 1 or 2 People. I just have to try it. It looks fun.

Now I have to search for good produce...it's all weird here. REALLY weird, the texture and color and skin textures are just, well...wrong. It's kinda scary. It almost seems as though the plums and necatrines have been frozen and thawed. Do they do that???? Too bad no good local stuff here that I have found. Freakin Oklahoma is SO behind the times.


WendySmiling in Oklahoma
www.16weeks2health.blogspot.com
12/17/10.......240/155/125



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2008 02:38AM by wendysmiling.

Yes, WendySmiling, you can JUST eat.

That's what I do. I get hungry, I reach for raw fruits, veggies, a little bit of nuts or seeds. Occasionally I even eat legumes and brown rice. That is my plan or "unplan." This is what works for me right now. I've lost the excess weight and I've overcome my lifelong anxiety disorder. I'll adjust my diet as I see fit, but for now, this is what seems to work best for me after experimenting for over a year.

I don't count or track, although I did in the beginning because I wanted to ensure that I was getting enough protein being vegan. Seriously, eating has never been easier.

Find what works for you. You might have to do some tweaking at first but eventually you will find what it is that you need to feel good.

I don't count calories or weigh portions or track my eating online or anything like that. I also don't use a bathroom scale or fat pincher to measure my body. Instead of these "tools" I just listen to my body signals and respond appropriately. My meals are quick and simple and require little effort to prepare. I eat as much as I want so long as my meals follow these basic strategies:

1) eat lots of fresh raw foods
2) eat lots of mono meals (mono meal = a one food meal)
3) wait between meals for a return of hunger signal
4) use food combining principals for any recipe meals (recipe meals = two or more foods in the same meal)

Using this approach has helped me feel good again and I like being healthy, trim, fit, and thinking clearly. I find that Life is good again because I am feeling good again. I am amazed at the results I have gotten in just over one year raw (August 1, 2007 to now and continuing ;-)

Wendy,
Oh, I went through that too-- I was put on an agressive cortisone regimen (cortisone and another nasty drug, a hormone, actually) for an extended period of time when I was 8 years old, and I gained a lot of weight in a very short period of time, and I was instantly comically pear-shaped. I was always hungry too. It was really demoralizing to suddenly have everyone in my family mad at me for being chubby. The silver lining? I developed a keen interest in taking my health into my own hands at an early age (by the time I was about 25) and I awakened from the medical dreamtime and had to develop a powerful inner awareness of my self-worth that wasn't centered in my body-image. (I like my body a lot now, however.)

Yes, just eat. Don't calculate. Just use your intuition and look for gradual but continual results.

Even today I'm a little heavier than most raw foodists; one thing that helps me is to realize I don't have to compare myself to anyone else or live up to anyone else's standards.

Anyway, you're beautiful; just keep doing what you're doing. :-)

Sharrhan:


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Wendysmile!! really just smile, if you are eating that healthy then god bless you, you don't need to worry! Why worry to begin with, god gave you all that he can to make sure you don't worry! LOL anyways everyone is different, many people do infact feel better with more protein and fats in their diet. Others mainly need carbs. I still haven't figured mine out, but i feel faboulous because I eat based on instinct. I feel my saliva need sweet so i gobble down some pineapples some watermelon, nice chunk of organic honey topped on my apple with a dab of cinnamon! sIMPLY dELICIOUS..however when i crave fattier foods i do infact grab some raw eggs and feel stupendous slightly after. It really depends whats going on in your life, but you definently shouldn't worry babe. Food is meant to be eaten. so Enjoy Life, Food, and my ridiculous comments towards you

America is obsessed with health and we are the unhealthiest