Hi Rawxperts,

I've been trending on raw now this week, gradually replacing meals with raw meals. Typical day for me has been bananas in the early morning, melon midmorning, and then a big salad with olive oil and an avacado on the side. Come 3 o'clock, I'm starving again. Now, this was pretty normal for me non-rawing and typically I'd eat a container of yogurt or something. Today I brought some more fruit to eat as my 3 o'clock snack meal, but I'm still hungry. My evening meal has not been raw. I got to give myself some time, I think.

I feel like the raw stuff I put in my stomach is just sucked up and utilized right away and my body wants more to eat. I'm okay with this and I have faith that my appetite will decrease in time as I've read in so many columns, blogs, and books, but is the hunger in the beginning normal or is it just me? Have any of you experienced this while moving into the raw way of eating?

Thanks,

Ally

It is very common to mistake a feeling of lightness for hunger when first starting out on raw. We get so used to being stuffed full of heavy foods that "satsified" isn't something we recognize or relate to "full". Many times thirst can be mistaken for hunger as well, it's a good practice to slowly drink a glass of water before eating just to see if that alleviates the feeling.

I think a very helpful tool for measuring food intake is a free online nutrition tracking site such as fitday.com. This will show you caloric intake as well as a nutritional profile so you can get an idea of what nutrients you may be short on. The body may send out a hunger signal if vitamin and mineral needs aren't met, even if caloric needs have been.

It's ok IMO to overeat raw foods when first starting out. I found that I got used to being satisfied without having to feel stuffed over time.

Are you drinking enough water? This can be crucial sometimes the body mistakes hunger for dehydration. Try drinking more water if your not.

If not up the caloric intake i.e eat more it wont hurt.

Also, I'd reverse the order of fruits: watery firstest(like melons in the early am) working up to densest lastest(like bananas at noon). I'd recommend banana and greens rich green smoothies, too; Victoria Boutenko has sworn that the inclusion of these got her over a hunger prone slump. Good luck

Thanks guys. FYI I drink tons of water so I know it's not that. I'm hoping it's just my body adjusting. Tomorrow I'm going to eat dishes with nuts and see if that helps.

I been struggling with this too. I believe its cause I am not getting enough or the same calories my body is used to, plus I feel I am getting less protein. From what I understand, you CAN overeat on fruits/veggies. Don't worry about it, they digest quickly too.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2010 10:11AM by Punkrotten.

Well, I ate a huge breakfast this morning. I ate an entire honey dew. It was extremely ripe so it was very sweet and very watery. One half didn't "feel" good in my stomach, like I wanted more. So I ate the other half...and was stuffed. It's been really challenging as to what feels right to me. I'm used to stuffing my face with grains in the morning, so this has been an experience for me breakfast wise all week.

The crazy thing is that even though I was totally stuffed, I didn't experience a surge in blood sugar. I didn't get all groggy and I didn't feel bloated. The stuffed feeling left me really soon, to. Like my body gobbled up all that melon and put it to good use right away, unlike the grainy cereal I used to eat.

ardentluma,

Welcome to the Experience

Yeah! Honeydew rocks!

crenshaw melons are pretty spectacular too
i think that's the name of it
but its the REALLY gorgeously satiny textured melon
that tastes perfect
like it just came from heaven or something like that

geeeez. can nature GET any more PERFECT?