Hi all,

Due to my health concern, I want to give raw food a try.

I am skinny already and just afraid that raw food makes me too skinny.

Does raw food make me too skinny? How do I maintain the current weight with
raw food diet? From Ann Wigmore's book, she mentions that wheat grass juice can keep you have a healthy weight. How many of you drink wheat grass juice?

Thank you.

jj2011 Wrote:
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> Due to my health concern, I want to give raw food
> a try.
>
> I am skinny already and just afraid that raw food
> makes me too skinny.
It all depends on what Raw Foods you habitually eat...and the amount. I personally like the Raw Food Look that leaves one slightly underweight, with sunken cheeks, and clear eyes. You can pretty much look at a person and tell what they eat. Bow internally to those who have the 'Look'. It didn't happen by accident......WY

A great way to maintain healthy weight is to make sure you're getting enough exercise. That's really the only healthy weight your body can sustain; muscle instead of fat.

Id watch about doing much exercise if you aren't getting enough calories, you'd end up even more skinny.

With a raw food diet that is largely based around fruit and vegetables you have to take in more calories than you would on a normal diet. Pending your getting enough food/calories you may even gain some weight.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

Being skinny =/= being unhealthy.

Im at my skinniest when Im 100% raw, which is basically grazing on fruit and some nuts from waking till about 6pm when I have a salad. Then some more fruit until bed. But skinny or not I have the energy to do 3 mile runs and 2 hour martial art sessions.

So yeah, Being skinny =/= being unhealthy.. your focus should be on eating good, cutting out the junk and getting some excersise.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2011 09:38AM by WanderRA.

Maybe I don't understand what you're saying here ~ "Being skinny =/= being unhealthy". Does that mean skinny = unhealthy in your opinion, or the opposite?

I've been vegan 9 years, raw for 3.5, and I'm not skinny. Then again, I use my muscles and also get enough calories. We can't predict for you how you're going to approach raw foods. Some people have eating disorders and drink 500 calories a day plus half a "raw" cookie and claim to be raw foodists. Others thrive on fruits, vegetables (esp. leafy greens), and some nuts and seeds.

coco Wrote:
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> Maybe I don't understand what you're saying here ~
> "Being skinny =/= being unhealthy". Does that mean
> skinny = unhealthy in your opinion, or the
> opposite?

The OP seems to imply that being skinny is a bad and unhealthy thing. The question is what foods he's eating.

=/= is a sign meaning 'does not equal'.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2011 03:27PM by WanderRA.

A ha. I was unfamiliar with that symbol.

I lost a little weight from raw food but I also look better than ever. There have been times in my life I was skinny. Like... sickly looking skinny. But now, I'm thin yet fit and shapely in all the right places. It feels like raw food takes your body to it's absolute best. Before I'd put weight on my stomach and be all bloated looking whenever I gained. Now I have a sexy hourglass figure, while still being very thin. The fat I have on my body goes to all the right places! My tummy is incredibly flat and toned.

But I became a hula hoop dancer since going raw and that has a lot to do with it. So just eat enough calories and exercise and your body will become it's best, naturally.

WanderRA Wrote:
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>.... But skinny or not I
> have the energy to do 3 mile runs and 2 hour
> martial art sessions.


What style? Just curious?

Wing chun, but my session involves stretching, pushups, situps etc.. a whole body workout. Wing chun alone is pretty minimal compared to other styles. I also do an hour of tai chi in the morning.

Nice to see others interested in martial arts, im a muay thai guy myself these days.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

Cool have you done other styles? what armband grade are you?

I think its important to approach raw inteligently. If you dont eat enough on a regualr basis then you will get "too skinny". Also if you have malabsorption in the GI tract and also suffer with weak pancreas(as many skinny people do) and liver then you may have some issues to work out. Its important to work on our weaknesses when trying to get healthy.

WanderRA Wrote:
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> Cool have you done other styles? what armband
> grade are you?

The club i train doesn't grade so currently no armbands, but its a good club, more traditional based.

Ive dabbled with various different arts such as shotokan karate, a few different styles of taekwondo, lau gar kung fu(didnt stay long due to injury), alot of boxing and now muay thai.

What about yourself?, theres a wing chun class close to me might give it a shot i have alot of free time at nights at the moment.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

Some good info here, I will add that you might loose some weight but keep with it and strenghten your body and it will return to a natural weight. It might take a long time but it will happen, just be committed. It takes the body seven years to completely regenerate, but alot of it will regenerate much sooner if you exercise and eat well.

Well I began tai chi about 7 years ago, but after a while wanted to experiment with other styles. Doing the same movements over and over can get boring, despite the great benefits the body gets. Also tai chi the way I trained was less about defense and more about health, and most people in my class were in their 60's so sparring was out the question. (im 27)

So yeah I looked into wing chun cos it has similar principles to tai chi (dont initiate combat, redirect opponents force etc) It's a good scrappers art but you definatly need to suppliment it with other excersise. Alone its not enough imo.. most styles condition the whole body by big connected movements, not wing chun.

Bruce Lee started in wing chun and spoke about its limitations. I think overall fitness will serve you better in a fight than a few tecniques. Only a master can pull of a flashy tecnique, non masters must rely more on their general fitness and ability to 'scrap' well. Thats my take anyway.. you watch a fight between black belts on youtube and it quickly turns into a scrap.

Hmmm raw foods will dictate what your ideal weight will be. Don't worry that you're losing weight, you've got to take into account the psychology of what people think is the right weight and what is not. My girlfriend said I was too skinny, so I included some acid-forming foods to my diet and promptly put on weight. Then she said I was a chubby chubbs. I've decided that 'THE LOOK' is actually what we are surposed to look like, and not a fatty. I saw some old pics of traditional Aboriginal people in Australia, and they have 'THE LOOK'. So, forget about the steriotypes that are accepted in our Western society, break the mold and be yourself.............

If you start to look and feel a little too lean, simply increase your calories. Add an extra handful of nuts.

I had the same concern 3 months ago when switching. I'm an average built, but with strong tendency to be skinny. I lose weight very fast within a matter of 3-4 days, so I always have to watch out. And I happen to like curves on my body, and round ( not sunken!) youthful face! LOL So I checked the number of calories in the fruit, with banana being a winner. So I eat from 4 to 6 bananas a day (in my green smoothies), also other fruit like apples and oranges, nuts and dried fruit like figs and prunes, of course. I was so scared to lose weight that I even gained some in the beginning when switching to raw. Now I found a healthy balance, and maintain my pre-raw weight for the past 3 months with no problem at all! So just go for it! Raw diet has so many advantages, and changes in the body are truly amazing. It's like I'm discovering my body all over again.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2011 08:29PM by littlemermaid.

Hi littlemermaid,

Thank you for your sharing and tips.
Unfortunately, I lost some weight already. Glad that I get some tips from you to maintain my current skinny body.

>Now I found a healthy balance, and maintain my pre-raw weight for the past 3 >months with no problem at all! So just go for it! Raw diet has so many >advantages, and changes in the body are truly amazing. It's like I'm >discovering my body all over again.

Recently, I added more green and it seems that I do not digest well. Fruits are better for me. I still steamed some vegetables.

Can you share what some amazing changes you have?

Thank you.

Jj, yes, bananas, nuts, figs as well as oils like olive, coconut, flex seed are very high in calories, so you should be fine with maintaining and even gaining some weight if you include plenty of those.
As to amazing changes, first of all, sorry for the details, but no body odor whatsoever. I exercise and dance a lot, and even in those cases I don't need antiperspirant any more. That's pretty cool, I didn't know it was possible. I thought this is just how we humans are made, have to use the antiperspirant. Rosacia that I had for over 10 years is gone, my skin finally looks OK without foundation. It's still in detox mode though, peeling a lot, but considering how much stuff, lotions and potions I used to put on it, I'm not surprised it's taking so long to detox. My energy level is up and even, it's used to be a torture to wake up in the morning, and then I'd have energy lows in the afternoon. Now that is gone. The eye color is changing! I thought it was just my imagination, until I ran across a thread on some raw food forum, apparently it does happen to quite a few people. My eyes used to be green with brown, now the brown is going away, and they're becoming mostly green. So these are the changes for now, and it's been only 3 months.
p.s. How do you eat your greens? Do you process them in the blender? They're loaded with so many vitamins, minerals and all the good stuff.. maybe try making fruit smoothies, and add just a little bit of greens every time, let your body get used to them
Good luck!

not if you eat lots of cashews and enough coconut oil!!

Skinny??? The perception of those who live in a Western capitalistic society, is that overweight is healthy and 'THE LOOK' is unhealthy. If your've ever viewed any world war 1 or 2 films, the super fit soldiers pretty much have 'the look'. Furthermore, Indigenous peoples traditionally have 'the look'. So, I would say that the perception of 'skinny' is actually normal, and the loss of any excess fat is desirable.

Don't worry jj2011, when I want raw vegan, I lost all excess fat, yet never lost my strength. Moreover, I continued to gain strength even though I 'felt' weak. The weakness only lasted a few months, and was only detox.
Cheers,
geo

geo,

Eh, surely you aren't arguing that soldiers half starving on K rations after hiking all over the western coast of Italy for four months are somehow "fit" looking, LOL!

Hi littlemermaid,

Thank you for your sharing. I was OK after starting 90% raw foods and until now, I do feel like to have allergy symptoms (fatigue, weak, cough...)

>p.s. How do you eat your greens? Do you process them in the blender? They're . >loaded with so many vitamins, minerals and all the good stuff.. maybe try making >fruit smoothies, and add just a little bit of greens every time, let your body >get used to them

i use Blender to blender greens (I purchased organic spring mix) and banana and Avocado and drink them.

I eat 4 banana each day, Avocado and nuts. But, I still lost weight as I said I was on the skinny side before.

Now, I added steamed potato, yums and brown rice.

I do not know whether the above is the right approach?

Can anyone help?

Thank you.

jj,

The amount of calories you consume could make a difference to you if you are thin already; make sure you are eating enough, not cooked food size portions. Also, as an aside, it is possible to be thin but to still have fat storing toxins within your body, that your body will eliminate to purge the toxins when a healthy diet forces the matabolism to do this. Thus, it is possible to get really thin when one first attempts raw, and to later gain back some weight as muscle and good fat, as one progresses--provided one consumes sufficient calories and exercises.

As a bodybuilder, I'm not a fan of "the look" (imagine that!) so I maintain a good amount of solid bulk simply by upping calorie and protein dense foods a few hours before I'm going to use them. I eat for the next four hours: whatever I plan to do with my body, I fill up my tank for that. As a result, I'm an upbeat spaz all day long and regularly get accused of being ten years younger than I am. :-D

RB

Form follows focus.

allthoughtswork.wordpress.com

This is a concern of mine as well. I normally weigh about 185-190 and had a body fat percentage of 3.9% I am also 6'0" and 31 years old. I have been playing around with the raw food diet and noticed I lose tons of weight on it. I actually had to add some junk back in just to keep some weight on. I started tracking my nutrition and realized how many less calories I was taking in because the the fruits and vegi's I was eating weren't that high. Unless I constantly want to shove food down my throat it doesn't seem possible for me to keep weight on. I am now struggling to stay at 175lbs. I have also lost strenght but that is because of the fewer calories. I have decided to try making smoothies because that is easier than always eating. Anyone else have any help full tips to eat raw without looking sickly. Even at 185ish it was a struggle for me to keep from having the sunkin face look as mentione above. It's only gotten worse by being raw. I do work out 5 days a week doing aprox 12 min of running followed by 30 min of weight training.