hey i wrote a similar post a while ago when i started my raw food journey and came on here. ive been transitioning to raw for 7 months. mainly have fruit/green smoothies for breakfast, salads for lunch, cooked veg meal with fish/mash potatoe/rice for dinner. monday to friday i am more in a routine and am better at eating what i should, the weekends im with friends doing different things and can go off track a bit. but still in general i have cut out sugar/wheat/processed foods for a while now.

ive suffered with IBS stuff for over 4 years, but since starting raw i feel like my digestive system is getting stronger and im trying to listen to my body and be more aware of whats going on inside

i am a very happy person, love life and am happy with myslef.... but for most of my life i battle with myslef about eating too much... or continue to eat throughout the day, when im full, and my tummy hurts and i know my ibs stuff gets bad! ha!... and through my raw food journey i am learning about nuturing myslef, not battling myself, allowing myself to eat what i crave (healthy alterntives). ive always loved healthy foods, so when i do overeat its only mostly raw stuff... like veg, fruit, dried fruit, nuts... but its still a lot of extra food that i know is very taxing on my poor tummy!

i am not here to have a moan! i tell myself and my tummy when i over eat and fell low energy and my tummy hurts that i love and accept myself and i want to try harder to listen to what my body really wants... a break when it needs it!

i know when you start going raw, it takes time for our bodies to adjust, so maybe its still part of letting go the way i used to eat, the body trying to get its fix?

i think alot of it has to do with my mind!!! over thinking, i have a very active mind, and maybe thats to do with why i over eat, or numbing something, a feeling? or to do with holding on to ideas/.fears, and not letting go.

ive read other posts (i know prana has mentioned it before) about how as you continue with raw you start to come to the balance of how much your body needs, eating the right amount with ease.... has anyone else here experienced that,

i want to believe that as i continue with raw, and stay aware of how i feel when i eat that i will come to that balance. that one day i can eat only what my body needs, heal my weak digestion and bring back my balance inside.

just wondering if anyone has any other ideas on over eating... and ways to help get back in tune with mind and body working together! eating the right amount, and stopping when im full... often i eat, but dont have that full feeling, just feels numb inside. im not over weight, im a good weight for my body, thats not what this is about... i want to feel good and have energy at the end of the day, not go to bed feeling ill and bloated because id eating way too much again!

any advice, or similar stories would be lovely to read. thank you. i love the posts here xx

gems.
I think you hit it right on the head when you say your body is trying to "get its fix".
The raw diet is DEFINATELY not what any of us were raised on,and its all programming of certain foods,or quantities that we should eat (I know myself I feel like I hadnt eaten till my belly was full),that we need to get over.

I think your eliminating wheat is one of the best things you could do.
Wheat,at least for me,leads to endless eating and cravings.

Vinny

thanks vinny

Gems, in my personal experience, I can say, DEFINITELY DON'T WORRY!

When I first when raw, I ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate (I earned myself quite the reputation).

I clearly remember in my mind (it took almost a year of raw), the first time I felt what a "true sense of being full" felt like.

I've been raw for more than four years now, and I don't even think about overeating. It's like it's just not possible (and I do LIGHTLY steam veg, potatoes, or eat a bit of beans from time to time, not even these make me want to gorge). I don't even have to think about it. My body just does what it needs to do and it's all good.

It seemed incomprehensible at first, but before I went raw, I would do horrible things like gorge on fried (HA! vegan) takeout after midnight, and my whole body was totally out of whack.

So, just patience, perseverance, keep doing wonderful things for yourself, and eventually, your body will take over. I imagine how long it takes and how that progression happens is different for everyone, because you're working with a profile of unique personal history, habits, lifestyle.

My bf has been 90-100% raw since we've lived together, it's been more than a year now. In the beginning, he used to crave certain foods and just binge until he really suffered for days to follow. He still overdoes certain things occasionally (I think it makes sense when the body is demanding certain nutrients), but he's waaaay more balanced and in tune with his body now, too.

Good things do happen. Patience (and not beating yourself up over not being perfect!) is key.

thank you so much phantom!!! exactly what i needed to hear im trying not to beat myself up over it, as much as i can its just like you say, it can take it out of you for a few days after a binge (even on healthy raw foods).

but thank you for your encouragement. i will keep eating what ever i feel ... which is mostly raw fruit and veg anyway... (its only been half a year... and things have changed already)

the biggest thing ive just realised is how i can go for a whole day on mostly fruit and veg, and have enough energy to sustain my body through the day, and not even be hungry in the morning... in the past i used to be starving in the morning, and because of the way we've been raised, my brain didnt know i could sustain my body on a mainly fruit, veg diet. so thats one thing thats new and am happy about.

i will give it time and be patient with myself... i do keep telling myself its been 26 years of eating and thinking one way, i can't expect my body and mind to just adjust straight away

thank you

Hi Gems,

When I'm on my good behavior, what I do is eat, and then when I'm done eating I'll floss and very gently brush my teeth. So that way when I impulsively open the fridge and look for food I am reminded that I had just brushed my teeth. And I ask myself do I really want to brush my teeth again so soon?

I like this arrangement because my teeth feel good clean, so it is an actual positive stimulus to not eat, especially in the evening when temptations for a late night snack are common. The decision to eat is not so horrible because it wasn't like your will power caved. You just decided eating was worth the trouble of brushing your teeth. If you just went for the food well I guess you really wanted it or needed it and it's just a matter of brushing your teeth once you've finished eating, no big deal. This exercise takes the guilt and sting out of the decision for me.

I still have my periods of "bad behavior" though where I just toss this practice out of the window. It's something you can experiment with if you like. I keep coming back to this practice as I find it is helpful for me.

The way you are eating now sounds fine from my perspective, and personally eating small quantities of nutritious food throught the day works very well for me. But I really liked this quote from a peruvian shaman. "Eat to live, not live to eat."

There is emotional/habitual eating. There is physiological craving for food. I think men have their own mood swings which are milder but still similar to "pms" for women. On my worst days, if I eat junk, I like to follow it with something healthy. Listen to your body and your mind, be kind to yourself.


Food for thought =D.

Salud,

~Adam



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2012 08:58AM by adamlogan.

Knowledge, understanding make us change. For some the focus is on nutrients, calories, vitamins, and they are much concerned with having enough of these every day, they may be missing this or that, these people tend to over eat, or eat constantly.

For others the focus is more on the cleansing, proper digestion, and assimilation, digestive health, fasting, mono eating, then this group has more control on what they eat, they have one or two meal a day, some even have their first meal at noon or 1pm, some stop eating before 6pm. It is your understanding and philosophy on nutrition that will drive your eating habits

Ha-ha, Adam, was that Peruvian shaman Socrates?

RawPracticalist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Knowledge, understanding make us change. For some
> the focus is on nutrients, calories, vitamins, and
> they are much concerned with having enough of
> these every day, they may be missing this or that,
> these people tend to over eat, or eat constantly.
>
> For others the focus is more on the cleansing,
> proper digestion, and assimilation, digestive
> health, fasting, mono eating, then this group has
> more control on what they eat, they have one or
> two meal a day, some even have their first meal at
> noon or 1pm, some stop eating before 6pm. It is
> your understanding and philosophy on nutrition
> that will drive your eating habits


I don't really agree with the above division at all. People who are concerned with proper nutrition, calories, and vitamins - are also most of the time the people who are concerned with their digestive health, fasting, mono eating and so on. That this is so seems pretty obvious to me.

I started the raw food journey with tummy problems too, after christmas i must say - the time when it is so easy to overeat on all the tasty treats either at home, when you go out, or visit friends and relatives. I felt exactly as OP described it - my stomach was constantly full, it was hurting it was so full, and i continued putting food there nonetheless. At some point i realised i was eating *because* my stomach was hurting! as if throwing more food in there was going to help.

That was the sign to stop, and i started doing little research, on needed amounts of food, appropriate meal sizes, amount of meals per day, calories, nutrition, digestion, healthy options and so on. And this brought me to the raw foods. And i still count calories, and watch my nutrition, and think about proper digestion, healthy foods, healthy combinations of foods, and I try to learn more and more about all the above.

I do not believe - at least for myself, for now - in 'listening to your body' prayer - instead I believe in 'learning about your body'. Currently I am reading about calorie restriction, and so far it makes sense to me. I have been fasting for a long time before this raw food transformation, 1 day once a week, in order to give my digestion a rest. Now i am learning other health advantages of fasting and it is fascinating.

And most of all, I never overeat again, because I believe that it is very possible to overeat on healthy raw foods. Instead I try to follow simple regimen of a certain amount of meals per day, and never ever 'grazing' which is often suggested here.

I think you have to be determined to change the way your approach food for the better, this is the only way you can stop overeating. Do research, learn about it, and it will motivate you to change yourself.

thank you for your post chat. its exactly what i needed to read this monrning! i still eat alot. my weight is fine, and i don't want to count calories (but i don't deisagree with that if that works for you ) I just want to (as you say) learn more about more body, and work towards getting the balance right, to eat enough for the energy i need and for nutrition. I don't stress over nutrition, i think i eat anough greens, fruit, veg etc, to get what i need, and blood tests show i'm fine.

but maybe more of mental/emotional stuff i'm trying to work with and overcome, like you said, to be detirmined. that's where I am at now. i have a tendancey to over-eat, and 'graze' all my life, i go through stages of trying to control, and stages of letting go! i need to come to a balance i feel, where i am free in my food choices and how much to eat, but with enough healthy control to eat the right amount, stop grazing(continully eating though the day! which i do alot recently!) and go back to maybe 3 meals,

i think everybody is different, but i can feel when i do graze, although part of me enjoys it, my weak digestion struggles.

thank you for your message chat, and a reminder to keep on track and focus more,

Listening to your body is ok when you have transitioned to raw vegan, since your body at that time is more in tune and balanced. Prior to this though, your body is still craving SAD food, so I ask you, 'Does your body know what's best for it'?

Also, Psychology has a lot to do with diet change. One of the reasons why people over eat in the beginning, is that they believe that they aren't getting enough nutrients. Society says you 'MUST' eat meat and dairy to get enough nutrients and protein etc. Therefore, subconsciously you don't think that you're getting enough, even though in reality your getting many times more nutrients than when on SAD.

It takes awhile to overcome this Psychological indocrination, as it first began before out birth....

Cheers, jalan

You're very welcome gems, I too find it helpful reading about other people experiences when they try to overcome similar problems to mine! I totally agree every person is different, so we need to search for our own approaches, what works best for one may not be the same for the other!

I'm not overweight too, only 55kg at 171cm (sounds too skinny but my bones are 'thin' so to speak and this weight looks quite normal on me). At the moment I count calories in order to learn how much exactly my body needs (and also learning about benefits/drawbacks of calorie restriction). Nutrition too, thankfully I use a free iPhone app to do both of them so although it takes time it's not overly difficult. But I still hope that eventually I will learn and remember and devise vibrant, digestively friendly, nutritionally optimal meals for throughout the week, and then I can stop all the counting.

tamukhs says

<<Ha-ha, Adam, was that Peruvian shaman Socrates>>

i thought the peruvian shaman was chinese

thanks chat and jalan lovely to hear im the same... trying to learn whats right for me and slowly get there day at a time. moving forward to be at a place, hopefully, where i don't have to over think about this stuff, just be hungry, eat what my body needs, stop eating, live, breathe, be happy! ... then wait till im hungry again and be in balance and healthy in mind and body

and i agree with you jalan, i think the body is very wise and we can listen to it, and be guided by it, but when we are full of toxins, in mind and body, its hard to really listen to our intuition, its more thought based on cravings and habit. so im working on tryin to really listen, and how do i feel after i eat something ive craved? how do i feel when i over eat... and love and accept myslef at each stage, knoing im learning and moving to a stronger place each time

we will get there chat!