Well, I am a 46-year-old female, 3 months raw, and I have lost some weight. I am tall and lean to begin with. When I first went raw, I was 147 pounds and I am now about 132 pounds. In case anyone cares, I am A+ blood type and vata Ayurvedic type and a long-time vegetarian. My (cooked) husband just expressed a lot of concern that I am losing too much weight.

I am getting blood work done every 3 months to monitor and make sure I'm not deficient, but my husband says being too far underweight can also be a problem.

So...I know I need to make better food choices and am motivated to do so (less deyhdrated and fewer--or no--Lara bars!) I do eat occasional smoked salmon, sashimi or caviar (these would be once or twice a month each). I traditionally do poorly with dairy and am allergic to grains. Cooked food--other than a bit of cooked or smoked salmon--makes me REALLY ILL now.

I feel best and most nourished when I do fresh green juices, but I do feel hungry an hour later. And I can only juice 2x a day at best due to work and school schedule.


So...can any raw foodists out there report on how long it took them to gain back their weight to a healthy level after going raw? Thank you!

Can you add avocado and nuts to your diet? Sounds like you need more fats.

When the body is very toxic, the body needs to balance that toxicity by holding extra water in the cells. When you start to rid the body of it's toxins, the body doesn't need that toxic-countering-water anymore. So in a sense, you are losing not only toxins from the body, but also "water weight." But After the body is done detoxing (which takes different amounts of time for different people, depending on how toxic the body was, what kind of raw food diet you eat, how much exercise you get, how positive you are, etc.) the body will find its natural, health-ful weight.

Have faith. You can do it. The beginning is challenging, but you are doing a great thing by talking to people about it.

As far as me personally, I have been raw (this time around... meaning, over the last year, I have "tried" [for 1-2 month periods at a time] quite a few times before finally working through the emotional issues and not just the physical issues related to transitioning to a raw food diet) over 10 weeks. I dont mean this in an egotistical way, but I practice Yoga intensely, so I feel like my detox period was quicker than most people's may have been. Because of this, I feel like I am just about at my "ideal" healthy weight, even after just 10 weeks of raw.

"Real religion is the discovery of your authentic nature... it is your own discovery... only when you will be your own discovery will you be able to consider yourself a religious being... a religious soul..."

You can eat all you want...if your bodies not done doing it job you will not get back to your natural size.

Be patient, compassionate and loving with yourself and realise that your body is doing everything in your best interest.

F1

hi there,

i agree with the above posts. it is quite ordinary to lose weight at first during the initial stages of raw. i lost about fifteen pounds at first, and have gained back about seven. during the last year, my weight has been stable....i am 5'5 inches and 123 pounds.

eating a lot of fruits and vegetables without the edition of nuts/seeds/avocados will increase your cleansing and induce a more rapid weight loss.

since you're dosha is vata, it may help to eat greens and fats together. i found that this combination helped keep my weight stable, decreased cravings and increased overall satiety.

i hope this helps!
*m*

I should have posted a typical day (daily calorie intake is probably almost 2000 calories) I walk for 30 minutes some days.

Green juice - 8 oz.
2 types of fruit - (e.g., berries & nectarine)
salad with olives or oil dressing
avocado, nut butter or nut cheese with dehydrated nut/seed crackers
Lara bar (1 or 2)
celery sticks
carrot, onion, romaine
more dehydrated crackers (sometimes)
Lara bar (1 or 2)

As I said, once or twice a month, I will have cooked or smoked salmon, caviar,and/or sashimi.

I realize everyone is an individual. I just wanted to hear about some detox/weight loss experiences to see if many had lost a bunch of weight but then gained it back. Peace

Starglider,

You are doing awesome! Tell your hubby not to sweat it. Explain that every single cell must be emptied out before the body will deign to build again. It has to purge the old before it is willing raise itself to the level of health you're putting in. After all, what would be the point of adding healthy stuff on top of the sludge? How inefficient would that be? The body is smarter than that.

It took me one whole year. People wondered if I was anorexic. They shook their heads with concerned expressions on their faces, murmuring, "I don't know, Betty..." and "I wish you'd eat. You're just so thin!" I scared people. Especially my mom, who often compared me to a concentration camp victim to all her friends. Then, when my body popped back out I got, "Oh my God! You actually look younger!" and always, "You really look terrific."

So to get the good stuff, we have to suffer through the disapproval for a while. It's wasn't fun, but it was a very small price to pay for a body I never dreamed I'd have--and I don't even have to work at keeping it!

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

--Bumper Sticker

Wow, Betty, that is so inspiring. Do you know what blood type you are? Or what Ayurvedic type? I am A+ and Vata.

Would you share a typical day with me and approximately how many calories you take in?

When I'm feeling tired, this lifestyle seems like a lot of work, so it helps me to hear that what I am doing might actually be a good thing!

I am going to ask hubby to make his own dinners for a while so I can focus on getting my health back.

Love and light and lots of energy...

Hi Starglider,

Okay, here's my typical day when I'm NOT on summer vaca in the States:

First thing in the morning: water
Breakfast: 8-12 oz Smoothie w/maybe the juice of 3 oranges and a banana, and a green powder, hemp seed/coconut oil and/or powdered hemp seed/handfull of walnuts, maybe some nutritional yeast if I'm up for it...
Mid-day: mango and banana w/some walnuts, or mango w/avocado
Lunch: Green salad w/oil dressing and seeds
Dinner: zuccini salad w/pine nuts and raisins, or a mushroom dish--something to satisfy my sweet tooth
Over the past month, 2,000 mcg Vitamin B12 on Sundays to build up my stores.

Now that I AM on summer vacation, I've been buying the new recipe books and making stuff to transition my son, so I've been eating crackers and compelx recipes. It's been fun, but it's more tempting to overeat. It's all raw, so against my better judgement, I've been enjoying those temptations!

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

Thank you, Betty!

Thank you for sharing... I am always amazed at how little people eat. But when I tell my diet to people, they think I eat sparingly. Just perspective I guess.

Where are you teaching? I have taught college and ESL (in Japan and Mexico) and am not getting a cert to teach elementary. I'm glad I'll be through my raw transition before I start to teach.

I'm glad you will be too, because the teachers' lounge can be a hot bed of criticism. Being too skinny doesn't sit well with teachers, and it was tiring to keep trying to reassure them that I wasn't going to die from raw food.

I teach in the Dominican Republic.

Whoops! I meant to say that I am NOW getting my cert to teach elementary school - trying to stay positive here!

I've thought about your comment about the teacher's lounge and I picture myself eating in my classroom. Here at my company, I don't admit that I've gone raw. I just say I'm eating more fruits and veggies. I do get comments about getting skinny and I'm only on month 3 of being raw...

I've been downplaying that I'm raw with most people in my life because I don't want to have people on my case. My husband seems so shocked by it - he says it's way out there.

I'm glad to be in touch with another raw teacher!

for what it`s worth i`m joining the raw teacher thing also. well, teachers assistant anyways. i`m just going to tell people who ask that i`m trying to eat as healthy as i can. they`ll leave me alone or razz me a bit and i`ll come up with some smart alleck razz back...just like always i`ve got a reputation of being a happy go lucky kooky hippie chick anyways
patty

You are both so smart. I eat w/the teachers because I need to speak with other adults at some point during the day. The topic of how I eat comes up at least every other day, whether it's a comment, joke or question (mostly there are questions). Even new people/subs notice and say, "Wow, you sure eat healthy." Victoria Bouchenco, our Northwest raw guru, wants rawies to always bring an earth-shattering dish to advertise how wonderfully one can eat raw. If only I had the time or inclination...

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

--Bumper Sticker

I"m with you guys...I just say I'm eating healthy. If I mention "raw" for some reason, people think you have joined a cult! The other day I made a raw carrot cake and shared it with a girlfriend who accepts and understands my raw diet. She asked for a big slice to take to her office to share with the people she works with. People are just surprised when you can make something good out of raw food! But that gourmet prep does take time. Once school starts....it will definetly be on the back burner for a while.

Patty, I love that description - happy go lucky kooky hippy chick! (My husband calls me kookybird!) For now I too think it's best to stay in the "raw closet" except for with other raw foodists and close friends. It's not that I'm hiding it but just phrasing it a different way...

Island Girl, that's EXACTLY the response I get: like I'm in a cult and have put myself in grave danger. As I progress and get more time, I hope I can share raw gourmet with the sleeping cooked ones...(Do you ever view them like that? I do when I hear them complaining about ailments while eating their fast food...I don't want to judge but I am SO glad I don't have the ailments, fatigue and anxiety I did when I was cooked.)

Betty, First, I love your signature tag...so powerful! Second, I know from interning that I will eat in the teacher's lounge sometimes too--for the same reason as you do: adult company. Plus I seem to relate better to people now that I'm raw. I feel calmer and more connected and positive with them. It's not that I'm not still sensitive and reacting to things sometimes, but just that I seem to have enough energy to really be "with" people so I enjoy it more. Have you found this for yourself too since going raw?

May you have a quiet mind and an open heart...

Just curious. Where does your caviar come from? Thanks.

It is Crown Prince wild caught alaskan coho salmon caviar. Someone I met at a raw food potluck said he'd had great luck using it to get protein. (He said he tried the more expensive refrigerated type but noticed no difference. Also he said he called the company and feels comfortable with the way they produce the caviar.) I've also eaten a tiny bit with sashimi one night at a restaurant.

Good health to you!

check this sight out [www.fishinghurts.com] if yer really into the fish

honestly there are otherways to get your protein besides killing animals

i dont how anyone at a raw food potluck would even be promoting something like that

how sad

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2007 06:12AM by Jgunn.

Thank you for your input, Jodi. Sorry I posted that here about the fish/caviar - I just re-read the title of the forum and realized it is Vegan! I was a long-time vegetarian for ethical reasons, but got extremely anemic so I ate fish. Now I'm in transition to raw. My mother is a vegan raw fooder and she was even more anemic than me which is really bad. But she cured that through wheatgrass! I'm currently trying to find a way to get access to more wheat grass.

May you have a quiet mind and an open heart.

hi starglider.

try growing your own wheatgrass, there are kits out there, or buy frozen.
also eat lots of almonds and other nuts to keep your weight up.
best of luck
dc

Thanks, DC. I do eat lots of nuts and have thought of growing wheatgrass and buying a wheatgrass juicer. Philosophically and spiritually I know vegan is the right way. Here's to all of our healing...