I went on a journey from vegetarian to vegan and now raw. Been raw about 1 month and at first things were great but after about a week I've been bloated and gaining weight - it's not muscle! I enjoy the foods and knowing I'm eating the best for my body. However, I'm not seeing benefits described on boards or in books. Has anyone had trouble with this or can anyone explain why I'm sluggish and gaining a few pounds? It's not healthy weight - it's all in my hips I didn't see going raw as that drastic since I'd been vegan already... I am not overeating according to what I read - not doing 12 avocados a day like some people describe! Just small regular portions for three meals a day and possibly a small snack mid-afternoon. I don't count calories though so can't tell that. Strictly fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, water, and wheatgrass in my juices, with a little agave once in a while for a recipe. That's it. Help? Thoughts? Ideas?

You have to look into calories in order to find out why you are gaining weight. There are websites myfitnesspal, fitday and others which would allow you to track your daily calories in (food) and calories out (exercise). Itll give you a good idea of where you stand, and you can tweak your diet accordingly.

I eat 3 tiny meals a day too, and find it difficult to stay within my calorie limit (I'm trying to follow calorie restriction diet that's why I'm counting). Normally I can allow myself 1 avocado a day, and 10-20 nuts, and few fruits, the rest are veggies with next to no calories. Yet even with such restrictions I reach my 1200 very quickly So you might be surprised, you never know!

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

ssssdeb,

Sorry this is your experience Agree with chat that punching your foods and their amounts into an online nutrition calculator might illuminate things for you. Also, make sure that you are drinking enough water at this early stage to help your body to detoxify itself; that can realy hobble the metabolism! Good luck

I'm mostly eating fruits and veggies with a little bit of nuts. I have used My Fitness Pal in the past and know I'm not eating as many calories but I will do it again and report back. I do run (more like jog but hey, it's running to me) and get exercise. I'll watch calories and see if I'm off but I seriously doubt I'm eating more than 1200 calories at all from previous calorie-counting experience and knowing what I'm eating now. Thanks for the input so far

hmmm.. geez
weight is good
good
only
good

weight: it is your body reacting. Maybe you have been eating little calories in the past. Try to eat little nuts though I eat a few more How about salt?

bloating: it is caused by bacteria activity. The fastest way to get rid of them is with a session of colonics (clears all the bacteria). But you could also try to increase foods that bring down the population and promotes less bateria ggrowth. Eventually your body adjusts with acids in the stomach but it may take a while. Also a high protein diet creates lots of bacteria activity (keep in mind).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2012 09:43AM by Panchito.

Are you eating sprouts - I can't eat them at all or I experience hideous, painful bloating and of course instant weight gain. I also have to be careful with nuts and seeds. It may be nothing to do with calories but as Panchito suggests your body reacting to something you are eating.

ssssdeb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>I'll watch calories and see if I'm
> off but I seriously doubt I'm eating more than
> 1200 calories at all

1200 only? Your body is probably in starvation mode. What ever ounce of food you eat your body will save it for later. It is protecting itself.

I wouldn't worry about starvation, people are so different with different metabolism, way of life etc, that the above is a bit of a sweeping suggestion.

I keep my diet to 1200 calories a day, and manage to maintain the weight without going into starvation Another person might need more or less, so it is very individual.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

chat,

I should think, considering the symptoms that ssssdeb lists; specifically the gaining of weight in the hips--a classic famine response--it's good that someone is mentioning that perhaps there are insufficient calories in the op's present diet. This evidently didn't occur to ssssdeb, so it can only help to have it mentioned, IMO.

Oh yes every little helps, by all means. Starvation would be the last thing I would think of, reading OP's description. That's all!

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

It's not starvation. Anorexics starve and lose weight! I am very petite and very healthy in general. Not anorexic at all - just throwing that out there. It's also been next to impossible to track calories because I make all my own food. I'd have to figure out every little thing and quantity individually - for a simple example, a salad. My take on it now is to reduce nuts and increase exercise. We'll see how that goes. I also have the WORST insomnia in the world for 10 years now, and that doesn't help. Sleep is definitely a factor in weight loss / gain in my opinion. I'm not about to go back to eating non-vegan processed garbage though, that's for sure!

ssssdeb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's also been next to impossible to
> track calories because I make all my own food.
> I'd have to figure out every little thing and
> quantity individually - for a simple example, a
> salad.

That's how it works unfortunately, if you are on a raw diet you naturally make your own food, and count every ingredient you put in it. It's not as bad as it sounds though, certainly not impossible as for majority of foods there is detailed nutrient data. If you are using an online website to track your nutrition, normally it takes time only in the beginning - because once you've entered the food it's in the memory and there is only so much variety that you can eat.

But of course this is still not for everyone, for some people it is very off putting having to count calories, and it sounds in your case you don't really have to, as you said cut off nuts and add exercise, and it should do the trick. Personally I started using one of these tracking website not only to track calories, but also to track nutrition. Since I'm new to the raw diet I want to make sure that my daily/weekly meals are sufficient nutrient wise. With time, Im hoping to devise several staple nutritionally sufficient menus and then I'll stop tracking. But at this stage I'm not there yet and find tracking really useful, as I'm discovering new foods/combinations.

>Banana ice-cream rocks!<

I should do a better job of tracking my calories and nutrition. It's bothersome but hey,it's on my phone and computer both, so how bad can it be? Thanks for everyone's input. I have benefited from all the comments. I will keep persevering. Thinking about a colonic. Don't mean to be too personal but have been reading it's a good way to start a raw diet - clean out and then keep going.

ssssdeb,

Isomnia, and I speak from bitter experience, can mortally wound the metabolism; scientists are just discovering how vital sleep is to proper functioning of the adrenal glands and the rest of the endocrine system, without which the metabolism hits stasis.

Magnesium and Zinc help sleeping. If your body is hungry, it will wake you up like a hungry baby.

I am not hungry. Really. I've had insomnia for 10 years and long before a vegan or raw diet. I'm a healthy weight. I've tried everything for the insomnia, too, so I've given that up to God and decided it's just the thorn in my side I have to live with. He is in control of that situation - not my diet, not any doctors. I'm a busy home school mom of four active teenagers - if that doesn't keep someone's mind whirring then I don't know what will!

Zinc deficiency is said to make you feel not hungry. Anyway, it is probably not what you were expecting to hear. I hear stories of people gaining weight when going raw. They went raw to lose weight and compared themselves to people who lost 300lbs. Mass media and social pressure has made everybody believe they should be as skinny as possible. So my question to you is if you are using raw food to make you skinnier? Do you exercise regularly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2012 06:48PM by Panchito.

I'm not using raw food to be skinnier. I'm using raw food to eat as healthfully as possible for my body and I find it easy to be raw in the summer. Come winter, I will probably eat raw most of the time but add a few warm whole food vegan items to my repetoire. My ideal weight is 4 lbs lower than where I'm at now, that's all. I was hopeful that eliminating seafood and dairy might help with the insomnia but it hasn't. But that's not the reason I stopped eating those foods. So I gained a few pounds and sometimes feel bloated. That's the only real issue. The insomnia is a lifestyle for me at this point. The weight gain isn't tragic. Oh - and I run 5 miles every other day for exercise. Sometimes I go to the gym and lift weights, but I'm not very strong so my weight lifting is light. I will check out what foods are high in zinc and give that a whirl. Can't hurt!