Hi!

I've been researching raw foods for a few months and finally decided to go raw this past Monday! I ate meat before but I'm not overweight, but I have a little extra. I'm 22 and at about 130 lbs, and I run ultra-marathons but right now I just came out of my bi-annual 2 week break from running and so I just started up again this past week.

I want to lose about 5-10 pounds, and since going raw I can tell something is changing on my body. I think I'm getting more muscle but I'm not sure. I just feel a little bulky and not very thin. I've only had a few detox symptoms; some interesting bowel movements last night and a weird break-out on my face (I usually never get pimples).

I've been eating mostly fruit and greens, and a few nuts/seeds. How many calories a day should I be aiming for, about 1200-1500?

I guess my main question is, if raw foods help you lose excess weight, how long does it take for it to come off? And what are your experiences with weight loss? Any other runners out there by any chance?

Thanks!! Have a great weekend!

I would guess you'd need a baseline of about 2300 calories a day plus about 80 calories per mile you run per day. That's for maintenance.

I'd expect that with 1200-1500 per day you wouldn't have enough energy to run. Maybe for a few days, then you'd get really tired really fast.

I'd suggest bumping it up to at least 2000. You will still probably lose at least 1.5 lbs per week.

okay....i'll give it a try - i haven't lost any weight yet! ha...maybe my body is still in shock from my diet change; i used to eat a ton of meat and now i'm eating mostly fruit. i suppose it will all balance out if i stick with staying raw?

I think that with raw the body gradually hones in on one's ideal weight. But your case is a little different since you are burning so many calories by all that running--you could get very depleted very quickly at first with such a drastic diet change.

It's only been one week. If you haven't seen a change on the scale it might be water retention.

I think that most raw runners do high fruit--lots of bananas and oranges--these are fairly cheap. But some of them are also having at least one avocado daily which would be more fat.

I send my love to you for quitting the meat!

I am a runner and just did my fastest half marathon today - am still on cloud nine.

I am trying to loose weight too and its a balance because I obviously want to keep my energy up. I loose weight very slowly because of an underactive thyroid - this also makes me tired.

However I eat a big bowl of fruit in the morning - typically: a mango, banana, orange, apple and sharron fruit. this keeps me going for quite a long run (today I ran in 1.56.08) five minutes off my best ever and 10 minutes quicker than a half in march.

I wouldn't have believed that just fruit and salad could keep me going so well. I eat very few nuts and dried fruit but seeds on every salad and at least one avocado a day.

I don't know how many calories I eat - I can't be bothered to find out but when I reach my target weight I shall have to find some more food. This might be hard as I eat all I want to and whenever i'm hungry already. I don't beleive that you need as many calories when raw as you do when eating sad - this seems to be my experience anyway. the food seems to go further.

I think you will loose that weight easily just by being raw - your system will work so much faster without meat.

Let us know how you get on. Big respect for being an ultra by the way.

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when I reach my target weight I shall have to find some more food. This might be hard as I eat all I want to and whenever I'm hungry already.

In My Opinion I don't think you will have a problem with this as long as you keep listening to your body. I don't count calories or use a scale and my weight has been staying very stable by just responding to my body's signals for what, when, and how much to eat. The beauty of listening to my body "coach" is that my weight seems just right to me.

Thanks to all 3 of you! You guys are great! I'll try and just listen to my body for a while and see where that takes me, and will update soon