I have been on raw food for 16 days now. It was not so hard for me, since I have been fasting for many years (Orthodox Christian). I have lost some weight, which is great, and I am looking forward to losing more. The question is, after I reach the weight which is good for me, how do I maintain it?
At the moment, I am eating fruits, greens and nuts from the grocery store. Making smoothies. So, how do people maintain ideal (or close to it) weight when on raw food?

Another question is: B12. So, if monkeys get it from termites, can we eat apples with worms so that we can have enough B12? Or do we really have to use supplements? Or is there a third solution?

Thanks a lot, I am glad that there is a place like this!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2010 11:43PM by rab.

Welcome Rab, I don't have the ideal answer for you regarding weight. Many eat low fat and they maintain their weight that way along with physical activity. I don't eat 10% or less of fat per day so I'm not at an ideal weight, though I'm not overly fat either. What I can say is that I've been noticing that those that are in shape as a raw foodist do many of the same things as SAD (Standard American Diet) eaters, they exercise or have a high level of physical activity. I find that when I'm less active, I tend to gain weight.

B12: Eating worms is not vegan, though raw. Also, most people on raw are trying to detox their body of parasites/worms rather than trying to ingest them. I suggest supplementation if you are concerned with B12. I take a B-Complex by Solgar in veggie caps because the minerals I would prefer to take are really expensive. There are sublingual sprays but I find I need more than just B12. Hope that helps. Therese

Rab,

It is possible to gain weight on the raw diet if you consume a lot of fat. The Standard American Diet is 40% fat, which is very high. 30% fat would be high fat, 20% would be moderate, and 10% or less would be low fat.

So to keep the weight off, eat a lot of high nutrient low calorie foods. This means the non fatty fresh fruits and vegetables, especially greens.

Many new raw foodists consume 60% or more fat in their raw diets. When I first started raw, I was probably consuming more than 70% fat. That level of fat was not a healthy diet, though I still lost a lot of weight. In fact, I became somewhat underweight, and my weight didn't come back until I cut back the fat and did more exercise.

Its worthwhile to put your typical daily menu into a nutritional calculator like fitday, nutritiondata, nutridiary, or Cron-o-Meter to see your fat intake.

Thanks a lot, these are very good answers. I eat more fruits than greens (I try to keep the balance, but fruit is so accessible...), and I eat nuts - but I will keep in mind those percentages. So, if you want to gain weight (what a surprise) eat more fat? I should have thought of that

At this point, I still need to lose more weight (maybe 30lb), in order to get at the healthy level.

I will soon start with some supplements, though I have read somewhere that some of them are not very useful, as it is not enough to consume B12, there is a certain mechanism for it to be broken down in the body...I am not quite sure how that works.

Thanks again!

> So, if you want to gain weight (what a surprise)
> eat more fat?

Hi rab,
When you reach your goal, weight can be maintained simply by eating more food.

> I will soon start with some supplements, though I
> have read somewhere that some of them are not very
> useful, as it is not enough to consume B12, there
> is a certain mechanism for it to be broken down in
> the body...I am not quite sure how that works.

It can be enough to consume a B12 supplement, some doing so sublingually (under the tongue) where it can be absorbed through the mucus membranes. Some do well unsupplemented. Some do B12 injections. It depends...

id go with a sublingual vitamin b12 supplement if you do.