Hello,
I'm new to raw food living. It's been in the back of my mind for a while now and I decided to finally see what it's about. Well....I love what it's about. I have a concern of losing weight. I'm a petite size. 5'5"and 108 Lbs. and healthy. I know I'll feel better I just dont want to lose weight. Will this happen??? I read how some people lose weight in the beginning then put a few back on after the body is clean. Any information will be helpful. Thank you in advance. Susan

If done properly, a raw diet will bring you to your natural weight or what you really should be at anotherwards. To some this may be thinner than they like. Also, their muscle mass may be lower than expected and exercise or strength training will be needed to bring it back up. Most people seem to fall short on the activity part and go off raw then it seems. Depends on you and how you adapt and how well you educate yourself and follow a good eating plan. There is unhealthy eating even if you are all raw too.

Tanawana's right, but there's usually a period of detox that has your body quite thin while you're waiting for that perfect weight. You are likely to lose some weight initially, but you'll likely gain enough back to look healthy.

The theory I'm familiar with goes as follows:

Every time you improve your diet, the body eliminates what doesn't fit before building to the new level of health coming in. Even if you stop eating pork, which is lower on the health spectrum than beef, you'll eliminate the pork in your cells and gain the level of beef. So when you go raw, your body will overhaul by eliminating the previous diet (and how much you lose depends on how your diet was before) before building to the new health level.

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

Exactly. If your diet was relatively poor for a long time....then you might lose a bit more in the beginning.

-My own experience is that I never once dropped below the spectrum that is medically considered 'normal' throughout ANY phase of transition or detox....and I rapidly gained back into the very middle of what is considered normal weight medically for my height.

-I hope this is helpful and re-assuring. Either way - take things at a pace that is right for YOU.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I am so amazed by all the posts I have read about people losing tons of weight. This just hasn't happened for me. I have been raw for 2 months now and I have to watch every bite I put into my mouth. If I stay 100% raw and try to adhere to 80/10/10, I am losing on average about 2 lbs a week....and that includes walking over 30 miles a week. Do you think this is about right or slow weight loss?? I'd really love to get to the place where I could just eat what I want and what my body is desiring. It would be freeing! Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Islandgirl,

Please don't worry about how fast you lose weight. The lb. lost per week is moot--the important thing is that it will happen. Why do you have to watch everything that goes into your mouth? Have you tried just eating whatever you want as long as it's raw? That's done it for everyone else I know. If that didn't work for you (or anyone else reading this), I definitely want to know about it. Trouble is, you have to give it time. Before you know it, you'll be self-conscious about being TOO skinny! When I started, I wondered whether I'd lose weight because I ate so much so often. Later I wondered when in tarnation I would gain it back! Just let your body do it's duty while you enjoy the ride of transitioning to raw. You know, the journey and all that. And... (read w/whiny voice) stop worrying!

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

--Bumper Sticker

Thanks Betty for the encouragement. Prior to going raw, I had been on Weight Watchers for 6 months and lost 40lbs. When I first went raw, I ate whatever I wanted and gained 4 lbs. that took me 2 weeks to get off. That freaked me out because I was losing about 2 lbs a week and a 4 lb gain was a big deal. I started on the 80/10/10 (or have attempted to...I have some really good 811 days, but its really hard to keep the fat low). Anyway, because I seem to gain weight so easily, I try to watch my calories and my fat intake. I always go to bed hungry and rarely feel satisfied, which is probably why I cheat from time to time. Last week I had 6 days in a row of eating 100% raw and then on Sun. I ate a veggie burrito in addition to my fruits and gained 1.6 lb even though my fat intake and caloric intake was still on the low side. My two main goals at this point are to #1: be healthy and 2: lose weight...I still have about 40 more lbs to go.

i think you`re cleansing at a healthy pace. patience and love friend....and self talk
patty

I agree with all the great advice above.

Until menopause I was able to keep my weight steady and low (but not TOO low) just by staying raw and eating all the raw food I wanted.

Post-menopause though, my weight started taking a very slow, but definite upward climb (even on all raw). I tried lowering my fat to almost nothing, but found that very difficult to sustain. So, after much tortuous raw food "dieting" (including a 7-day water fast that took off some weight for about 7 days), I finally decided to keep eating the raw fat; and I started running and walking.

Now my weight has VERY SLOWLY gone back down. After about 20 months of walking and running on my usual raw food diet, I'm at the lowest point of what is considered "normal" for my height, and much more comfortable than when my weight was a little higher.

When I last checked on my carb/fat/protein ratio (a couple of weeks ago), it was 64/30/6. No shame though. I feel great!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2007 04:48AM by suncloud.

After my mom went through menopause she had a problem wth weight. The thing that had the quickest results for her were 80/10/10 and some exercise. Once she got down the weight she wanted, she slowly started adding some other Raw foods into her diet on certain days. She's pretty much been able to maintain if she does that, but to lose the weight in the beginning, it was 80/10/10 and some exercise.

Cheers!

Kristen Suzanne
--
www.KristensRaw.com
www.KristensRaw.blogspot.com

2 months isn't a long time island girl. I went about 4-5 months before weight dropped off at a very fast rate too. Everyone is different and it depends on how you are approaching raw. There are many angles to choose. The weight "will" come off if you eat raw and stick to it though. The more you complicate it the more you won't get the proper results. Remind yourself to keep it simple and keep it raw :O)

If you are through w/transition, you can gain more weight than you like while eating raw; but if you are just starting out (w/in the first year), you will inevitably lose more than enough weight. Islandgirl, Sweetheart...It's the veggie burrito!

I understand that your goal is to lose weight, but try this: Have your only goal be to eat raw. Never mind about how many calories a veggie burrito has, calories aren't what raw is about. Your working on an entirely different paradigm with raw, so the thought, "Well, this should be okay, it's not raw, but IS just a veggie burrito..." does not apply here.

What does apply is that your body wants to cleanse, but cooked foods (especially cooked starches like the tortilla and beans from that burrito) corrupt this holy process. That is, cooked foods arrest and reverse it. When you eat that kind of food, your body thinks, "Oh. Okay, so we're NOT cleansing. Well, I'll just stop eliminating this junk then, and take on more of it, since that's what my mistress wishes." The body is more obedient than you think, it's just operating on a different thought system than you.

So if you aren't thinking about weight or calories, and you break out of the Weight Watcher paradigm, which is totally SAD based, you free yourself to concentrate on the world of raw, a whole different dimension. I promise, once you turn your thinking around, your actions will take care of themselves.

With that shift made, choosing to eat cooked food would be about slowing detox, which you would do with steamed veggies rather than processed foods like a veggie burrito. (Even if there wasn't any sour cream or packaged bean flavoring, the flour in a tortilla is very much a processed food, not to mention the oil, baking soda/powder, etc.)

Don't think about it as self-discipline. Don't try to have will power. These are SAD diet goals. Focus your intention on cleansing. On allowing your body to completely transform itself, and not getting in the way.

May the raw force be with you, my dear friend.

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

--Bumper Sticker

Thanks everyone for your input. Knowing that it WILL happen it somewhat reassuring.

Betty.... Wwat you are saying is making a lot of sense ( as usual...you always have the greatest input!) and really goes along with what I was thinking today. I love fruits and that is mostly what I've been eating...but by the end of the day I'm wanting something MORE. So I need to find some raw recipes I really like and can feel satisfied with. Even when I ate SAD...I was a junk food junkie...totally comfort foods...so there aren't a lot of foods I really LIKE and I need to retrain my taste buds. So once again, I am resolving to be 100% raw. I really do WANT to stick to it and know I can do it, once I find my own rhythm. It certainly is tiring worrying about what I'm eating all the time and I'd really like to break free of that, especially after a lifetime of dieting. Its just after having such weight loss success on WW and only being 1/2 way to my goal...I don't want to gain, so I guess I've been operating in fear which I know is NOT good! Thanks again for the encouragement.

Only1me...sorry for butting into your thread with my obsessions

Thank you....everyone for the information. I will put it to good use! I love how this community works and cares for one another. Susan

I never went through the skinny phase. I'm 5'2 and went from one thirty something to 120. Zeolite helped alot when I went through a phase on raw where I was feeling fat & tired (I still take it, love the stuff). When I see pictures of myself though I look slimmer than I imagine myself to be, so that's a relief. I think that as long as you're raw, the weight will distribute itself in a very pleasing way, regardless of whether you think you should be weighing less or more.

Sunshine, thanks for your input.

Do you think you never got skinny because of a good diet pre-raw?

I like being skinny

I agree with my girl Suvine! I like being skinny!

Skinny for me has not been fun. I get tired of people commenting on my body. I realize I just need to own it!! A work in progress. I've been very petite all my life and use to be very selfconscious of it. I dont feel like I use to but I don't want to drop a lot of weight when I go raw. I've learned on the boards how to add fat to your diet. So for now I am gathering information to make the decision of how and when.

Thanks to all.
Peace, Susan

I've NEVER been skinny...and long for the day when I have lost all of my extra weight. It's coming off so I am encouraged. Today after church my husband and I were walking, holding hands, and this man said to him..."Hey, what are you doing with your daughter?" That man is now on my Christmas list!