Weight reminder

[ElainaThiemann]

I know this topic gets posted a lot but I think it is really helpful for some of us to remember that the weight doesn't automatically drop off of all of us. I am at four weeks of pretty much 100% raw and have only lost 10 pounds. I am happy eating raw and will continue to do so past my 30 days but when I started this it was basically for weight loss and allergy control. I have seen an improvement on my allergies but they are still here. I have a bit more energy but not the huge surge everyone talks about. My biggest improvement has been getting rid of my food addiction.

When I first starting reading these posts, I got very discouraged hearing about the people who didn't lose a ton of weight. I had HUGE expectations and felt the effort I was putting in didn't equal the results I was getting. This transition has been a big one for me. I wasn't only a SAD eater, I was frequenting fast food places.

All that being said, I will continue to be raw. I know that my body is healing and I am happier this way. I just wanted to help people with their expectations.

[rawpriestess]

you are so right,

I have been 100% raw, give or take cashews, LOL and I have lost 28 pounds, on day 45, and I don't think that is very good,

BUT, I DO KNOW, that my body is healing is so many other ways, that I'm sticking to raw, even if I didn't lose another pound, I would stay raw, because of how I feel, I can sleep, I can walk, and I can live a wonderful life,

I've heard this before, and never quite got it, but I get it now.

"No food tastes as good as eating raw feels." and that is right, 100% raw, equals 100% feel good to me.

[Mookie]

Wow... I never thought of the fact that I had really high and maybe unrealistic expectations as to how fast the weight SHOULD come off.

This is a great reminder post for me.

Thank you!

[faith4u]

Well that was better than me. I went months before I started losing at all and even then it was very slow, so don't fret about it. At least it is coming off.

Just like RP said maybe your body is healing in other areas. I haven't seen any long time raw fooders who were overweight. Well, maybe one but that is the only one. :o

[ElainaThiemann]

Please don't tell me I will be the second!

[sosiesmom]

I'm just trying to get a sense of expectations here. I need to lost 20 pounds so when I hear about folks losing 28 or even 10 I am psyched!

[sosiesmom]

I'm just trying to get a sense of expectations here. I need to lost 20 pounds so when I hear about folks losing 28 or even 10 I am psyched!

[RawTruth]

Losing 10 pounds in 30 days -- or 28 pounds in 45 days is AMAZING!!! I am very impressed.

If you're feeling discouraged or feel it should be coming off faster, read (or reread) Carlene Jones' journal at www.ibeatobesity.com.

With gastric bypass surgery, weight isn't expected to drop off faster than 1/2 pound a day. Hello!!! You guys are near that rate!!!

PLEASE acknowledge what marvelous work your bodies are doing. This is FAST weight loss!!! I don't want unrealistic expectations to start making negative inroads into your subconscious ... or conscious minds. You're doing GREAT!! If one of my students or clients were experiencing this rate of loss, I'd be throwing them a party!

Here's yours -- \O/ \O/ \O/ Yippee \O/ \O/ \O/

[SwishTN]

Losing 10 pounds in 30 days -- or 28 pounds in 45 days is AMAZING!!! I am very impressed.

If you're feeling discouraged or feel it should be coming off faster, read (or reread) Carlene Jones' journal at www.ibeatobesity.com.

With gastric bypass surgery, weight isn't expected to drop off faster than 1/2 pound a day. Hello!!! You guys are near that rate!!!

PLEASE acknowledge what marvelous work your bodies are doing. This is FAST weight loss!!! I don't want unrealistic expectations to start making negative inroads into your subconscious ... or conscious minds. You're doing GREAT!! If one of my students or clients were experiencing this rate of loss, I'd be throwing them a party!

Here's yours -- \O/ \O/ \O/ Yippee \O/ \O/ \O/

I can't find the website about beating obesity : *(

[DrPr]

Hey- just this weekend on my blog Raw Odyssey (http://rawodyssey.blogspot.com) I posted about my girlfriend who had gastric bypass surgery in 2004. Due to food addictions she started regaining some of her weight, and was feeling lethargic as well. When she saw how well I was doing and realized that I'd been losing weight at the same rate she had been after surgery, she decided to give raw a try. She's been eating raw for a month now and has lost over 15 lbs. Another convert!! :p

[RawTruth]

It looks like both Carlene's sites are down right now. I recall Autumn or Karen (both of whom are membes of rawfoodbootcamp) mentioning there were some computer problems. Perhaps writing them or posting a question about it will get an answer.

In the meantime, here's much of her story:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11618

[calee]

I'm a member of the boot camp over at Carlene's site and we've been having problems this week. Hopefully the site will be back up on Monday or Tuesday. The site is well worth the wait and is a great read. SwishTN, come back and try it again in a few days.

[moonstone523]

I'm new to this whole idea of raw foods, and most likely won't go 100% raw. I will have to eat atleast two meals a week... partly because I don't want to have to deal with the social pressure of saying no to eating food cooked vegetarian especially for me at school, and dealing with it in a language that i'm not fluent in. Well, basically, i can eat lots of raw veggies, but i'm not going to get out of eating rice (thailand, you can't escape the wrath of rice!)

okay, back to question at hand. is it healthy to lose weight as fast as some people on the raw food diet do? i mean, isn't it possible to go into a yo-yo diet routine if you can't commit yourself to raw for a long.... time?

Just innocent questions. I read somewhere that it is healty to lose 1-2lbs per week. some people lose more that that a day??? :confused:

:cool:

[rawpriestess]

I have been on and off raw, several times, but you need to take a look at how MUCH I need to lose,

I started at 288, now I am at 260, so you see, there is alot of water weight there, and there is alot to continue to lose, if you have only 10 pounds or 20 pounds or so to lose, I don't think it's gonna' come off as fast as someone who has 150 pounds or more to lose.

You see, your body, in it's infinite wisdom, will allow you to heal in any way shape or form that you NEED to heal, so if the best way to heal is weight loss, you will lose weight, if it is to heal your digestion, or to simply detox, it will do that.

So, keep eating raw, and allow your body to heal however it wishes to heal.

[ElainaThiemann]

I started at about 248 and have lost the 10 pounds. I know that in Eastern medicine, being weight and allergies are linked. I've tried to do body fat tests before and the machine always says that I am severely dehydrated. I've tried drinking as much as a gallon of water a day and it has made no difference. Finally I saw a naturopath and she told me that my cells are dehydrated but that I am holding a ton of water subcutaneously. What I think is happening to me now is that my body is working on releasing this coating of toxins on my cells. After that, my cells will get nourished and hydrated and then I will release this water. You can look at my wrists and physically see where the puffiness is receding.

[ElainaThiemann]

I also wanted to thank you, RawTruth, for reminding us that we are doing a great job on the weight loss. It really does creep into the subconcious sometimes.

[tvillemom]

I'd like to know about the raw boot camp site??? Would it be possible to post?
Wendi

[wild_honey]

hey! i was just wondering, what is your raw diet like in a typical day? i am trying to see if i'm eating like i should be, and getting very many diferent people's accounts so i can make a fair judgement..

thank you!

[Autumn]

Hi Wendy,
We are still having problems with the site. It shouldn't be down for more than another day or two. Please email me at autumn1967@netzero.com with any questions or for information. :)

[greeninlosangeles]

I noticed that people who eat less dehydrated stuff and nuts or seeds loose more weight. And thinner people tend to loose even more again - for some reason some people just hold onto their weight more.
I lost 30 pounds or so(5 months raw) and I do not need to loose more, but I am loosing again, because I stopped binging and eating between meals, because this gave me indigestion. So I believe that huge amounts of raw food DO add to weight somewhat, but to much lesser degree than cooked.

[RawTruth]

I noticed that people who eat less dehydrated stuff and nuts or seeds loose more weight. . . . So I believe that huge amounts of raw food DO add to weight somewhat, but to much lesser degree than cooked.I think this is an important point -- and one which Carlene's program directly addresses.

But, also, I think it's important to point out that it's huge amounts of dehydrated and nuts that can possibly hold someone's weight loss back, not huge amounts of fresh vegetables and fruits.

However, unless someone is morbidly obese (I know those words sound ugly), when she or he is first starting to eat raw, limiting what foods and in what amounts can cause them to go back to cooked foods. This is what Alissa writes about and what I've found with people I've worked with also.

It's different when someone has been raw for a while -- sometimes quite a while. There's the need to adjust, omit, modify as our bodies continue to heal and adapt to finally getting nourishing foods. More often than not, most people who have been eating raw gourmet naturally start eating more simply. And the body continues to adapt. This is true for me, for sure.

Good point, GreeninLA. Be well.

[rawandama]

I have binge ate only one time in the last 7 weeks. Whenever I go on a "diet" I binge at least once a week. Soo...proof that this is NOT just a diet!! It's a lifestyle that's changing me little by little. I've been forced to look at my eating habits and my emotional habits and take care of them. I find that even when I do eat sad food I NEVER eat in the quantities that I used to (or else I get sick! lol). I'm happy that there can be weight loss, but what really saddens me whenever I eat SAD food is this:
my breath starts to smell bad again
my body odor follows me EVERYWHERE (I hope no one else smells it as much as I do)
My arms and thighs break out in little red bumplies
My breasts swell and become too big for my bras (water retention)
My eye sight will NOT follow my head movement. I turn my head too fast and get dizzy becomes my eyes become lazy and cannot follow.

My teeth get fuzzy
My bottom begins to turn blue again (I have poor circulation in my butt cheeks LOL!!!!)

I sweat really bad all over
My nose gets stuffy
I get a headaches
I sleep a LOT more
I'm grumpy and lethargic
I begin to worry about my weight gain

The list goes on and on and on. Weight loss, I have found, isn't the ultimate goal anymore. It's nice to not have to worry about my weight...but I don't HAVE to lose it.
However, I don't think I can go back to feeling yucky all the time. Geez, I didn't even realize how yucky I felt until going raw.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I believe it was Linda who posted a link about healing. It said that the body tends to heal in priority, so on the chance you might have some serious disease going on that you don't even know about, rest assured your body knows and it is going to be working on that first.

Also lots of movement/activity and fresh water-rich foods are helpful in flushing out whatever needs to be flushed out, and avoiding spices which tend to cause water retention.

I weigh 3-5 lbs more in the evening than in the morning so that is something else to keep in mind.

[RawTruth]

Rawandama --

Beautifully expressed. I love how you said you didn't even realize how bad you felt until going raw!

[JenniferSeed]

I wanted to say that you may not want to lose so much so fast. I lost about 15 lbs in 1.5 months or so. Then I went to a pound a day. I lost total about 22 lbs and am down to 133 for a long time. I feel fab but the thing is I have all these stretch marks now! I had loose skin for a while too and I didn't lose too much weight really. But the skin has tightened up in the past few months and I have lost another pound. The good thing is that even though I had a binge last weekend and gained something like 5 pounds I went back on my normal diet monday and have already lost 6 pounds. I am sure that those 5 pounds were water weight but it is nice to know that my body has set itself to the lower weight I guess.

Anyway, if you are able to lose weight fast be prepared for loose skin and stretch marks. I know the skin will tighten up but not sure about the stretch marks.

Also, if I eat alot of dehydrated foods and nut pates I don't lose weight. I have to eat a bunch of green salads and green smoothies if I want to lose weight. I would suggest cutting down the amount of nuts, nut pates, and dehydrated foods. Also, eat only half to one hole avacado per day.

My usual day of raw looks like this:

green smoothie:
apple
banana
kale
spirulina
water
blend

snack on oranges

big salad with lots of greens, veggies, sprouts and maybe a handful of seeds or nuts OR half an avacado use udos and braggs for dressing if you wish

snack on fruit

Big salad like above or a wrap in lettuce leaf or cabage leave maybe 2-3 of these.

If still hungry another smoothie similar to the one above.

I may also snack on a few flax crackers or a few almond pulp crackers. But don't over do it on the crackers, I treat these like special treats.

I also make almond milk and pour over chopped fruit, berries and a banana for breakfast some times.

ALSO! I am a runner. I run 3 times a week, 3-5 miles each time. I also go to the gym 1-2 times a week and lift weights. I know that it is recommend to walk atleast 30 minutes every day. Yoga, lifting weights and/or walking or running are all something that I think everyone should do every day. Not only is it good for weight loss but also your heart and spirit/mood.

We must take care of your bodies!! :)