Help: torn between raw food diet and .....

[mypinkbow]

I am totally having a major struggle right now. I feel like I need some majory support and ideas on how to stay raw. I am seriously considering against my best judgement signing back up for a weight loss program thru the hospital were i have lost a substantial amount of weight in the past. Problem is its all boxed foods with horrible preseratives and chemicals in the food genetically engineered food and the shakes too.

I am all set up with my own raw food kitchen with all the appliances and everything and still this is such a daily struggle. i cant seem to get out of this rut!

I have even ordered premade raw meals and had them shipped to me but it is never enough meals to get me thru even half the week and costs a ton depending on were i order from. I figured with the food they make you buy per week It will cost me about 150 a week. I am spending well over that at present time on raw just for me since my fam eats SAD.

Any suggests are greatly appreciated. I really dont want to return to SAD as I feel so much better RAW but I am just tired of being FAT!!!!!!

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Melissa

[gatorgrrl]

well I strongly diagree going against your better judgement.

Some people can jump right into raw, but the rest of us need a transitional period of time.

I transitioned for the better part of 2 1/2 years. It is a process.

If you are anxious to get started on raw ALL the way let me make a suggestion.

This week make all your breakfast and lunch raw and if preparing food is to much, just eat simple foods and lots of them. In the evening eat what you want, but make healthy choices and start with a salad and have fruit for dessert.

After 1 week set a goal of doing 3 days a week 100% and the rest like the week you were doing before.

On week 3 Eat raw 100% on the weekdays and allow yourself 1 or 2 healthy SAD meals on the weekend

On week 4 do the same but only allow one cooked meal for the week.

Then start the 30 day 100% challenge.

This is kind of the plan I go by when I get off target.

I hope it helps.

And remember, (like someone told me on this board) take it one meal at a time. If you eat SAD one meal go raw the next. Its better then being SAD every meal. LOL

[rawpriestess]

RAW doesn't have to been prepared meals, it can be and really is as simple as going to the produce stand and buying one or two or three of all of the things that you like, then go home and eat them, then go back and buy more fresh fruits and veggies, then go home and eat them.

What I do is have fresh fruit for breakfast, snack, then lunch is a huge garden salad, then snack is fresh fruit or veggies, then dinner is prepared, usually I prepare a ton of food at one time, then freeze it in portions, burgers, enchiladas, raviolies, onion bread, pizza wraps, then out of these I can make almost anything,

I can take a onion bread and a burger, add some sliced onion, tomatoe, and lettuce, add some raw mustard, and HAVE a great burger,

i can take an onion bread and a burger, break it up add chopped onions, tomatoes and some hot salsa, and have a tostada.
I can take the enchiladas and eat them plane or add salsa, or even chopped onions, tomatoes lettuce and have like an enchilada salad,

I can take the pizza bread, add some slices tomatoes, chopped basil, chopped white onion, a bit of crushed garlic, and some oregan, and have a pizza

I can take the raviolies and eat them on the onion bread, or add marinara sauce and have raviolies, I can put them on a plate, drizzle some olive oil on them, add some fresh basil and have a great meal, I can toss them into a salad, I can eat them like little bites,

and that is just a few of the things I like to keep around all the time.

if you have a few staples that are frozen, you will alway be able to have food instantly,

why would you want to put chemicals in your body? for the convenience, how could a package product be more convenient than grabbing an apple or orange?

Learning how to eat naturally really isn't hard, it just take knowledge and time.

YOU are worth it, DON'T STOP NOW!!!

eating raw is the ONLY way to become thin AND healthy too.

we spend on average $100 per month to feed me and my hubby, and he isn't 100% raw (yet) we do grow alot of our own produce,in the summer, and spring and fall, if we lived more tropical we wouldn't have to buy hardly anything at all.

But even if it cost us hundreds of dollars a month, we would eat this way, as it is the only way to live a healthy life.

If you are hungry -- eat, -- just make it raw fruits and veggies, before you eat a prepared meal, have a big garden salad first, then eat the prepared heavier meal,

make a bunch of dips and dip veggies or fruits, make beverages and drink them almond milk shakes, frapucchinos, creamy cashew smoothies, etc.

[faith4u]

Wow RP- $100 per month for the two of you? ;)

I couldn't imagine spending so little.

Your garden must be HUGE!

We are spending a fortune on food per month for the six of us.

[paleogirl]

Melissa, I am on my 3rd attempt at raw and this time it's been VERY easy to stick to. 1st time, my mistake was going 100% raw overnight. Even coming from a grain-free, whole foods (nothing processed) diet, I detoxed like crazy. Within a couple of days I felt like I had the flu and was exhausted - stomach aches after everything I ate, allergies freaking out, skin terrible... I lost weight, but it wasn't worth feeling that bad.

Then 2nd time I tried to incorporate some cooked food (just one portion of meat/fish with my dinner salad), but I got way too snack-happy with pre-packaged raw treats and agave/nut heavy gourmet raw stuff, and thusly *gained* weight. And felt sluggish.

Third time's the charm... this time I'm following the advice in Natalia Rose's 'Raw Food Detox Diet' book, and, based on the raw 'level' I am at (according to the book - level 3), incoroprating one portion of cooked meat (usually an organic pure meat turkey patty) per day. The rest of the day I am watching my intake. I'm starting the day with a large green juice (romaine, kale, spinach, ginger, 1 apple) and adding raw cacoa and 1T raw coconut oil to that to give me a kickstart and kerb my appetite at the same time. I find it revs me up and keeps me going and satiated until mid-afternoon. I usually have 1 Larabar as a snack, then it's guacamole salad until my little bit of turkey at dinner (with more salad). Maybe a second green juice if I fancy it. Right now I'm finding if I add any more fruit beyond that in the juices, I gain weight. I'm also finding the green juices are REALLY sorting out my bathroom habits! ... which in turn is shedding weight. Slowly, but surely. I've been eating this way for 7 days and I feel like a new person. My skin is soft and clear, my eyes are bright. My energy and clarity is fantastic. The scales show between a 1 and 3lb loss depending on what I ate the day before, but I'm not too concerned about that (I'm a size 2 and my ideal weight is only 5lbs away), it's heading in the right direction and I'm going to give my body time to adjust to the new food I'm giving it. I had a detox feeling day yesterday (felt like mini flu - aching all over, nauseous) but I just ate as much juice as I could (about 10 oz was all I could stand!), drank a lot of water and took naps. A LOT of stuff came out of me this morning (sorry! :D ), and since then I've felt fine again. I intend to stick to this for another week at least, then maybe try 100% raw every other day, and see how that goes. The trick for me to stick with this is to not detox too quickly so that the benefits of raw are what I notice. They are so great and so obvious that you will have no trouble sticking to it, but do make sure you don't rush into it. Find out what level you are at and work from there.

Good luck!

[gatorgrrl]

wow $100.00. I am spending more then that a week, although my garden is starting to come in and my appetite is going down. So maybe my grocery bill will go down soon. So far from my garden I got a huge wagon of radishes. Wow, thats a lot of radishes. I have been using the tops for my salad and making radishes into roses to eat all pretty and juicing then in my green juice and it looks like I haven't touch them. I may have to freeze some. Hmmm, any suggestions?

[mypinkbow]

Tomorrow is a new day and as "easy" of a way out it may seem to go back to this SAD weight loss program...........

The side effects of this program:
dizziness or lightheadedness, bowel changes, muscle cramps, fatigue, temporary anemia, cold sensation, menstrual irregularities, dry skin, temp skin rash, and temp HAIR LOSS, Increased risk of gallstones formation or gallbladder disease during any low calorie diet,
Less common side effects: development of gallstones which could result in the need for the surgical removal of the gallbladder. The development of gallstones or gallbladder sludge can also cause pain from the pancreas or pancreatitis.

THERE IS MORE:

A small percentage of people may develop temp neurological symptoms such as limb weakness or numbness after 50 pound weight loss or more.

Oh even MORE BAD NEWS!

The possibility always exists that the combination of any signifcant disease such as obesity with methods employed for its treatment, such as this program, may lead to previously unobserved or unexpected ill effects.

Keep in mind this is a "hospital" based medical weight loss program. No weight loss drugs just the shakes and boxed meals they have you eat while on the program in addition to 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day and you are to burn 2000 calories minimum per week.

I am not going to do it. I am going to stick it out with RAW as I dont recall ever seeing such a disclaimer on side effects of the RAW food diet..............ROFLOL........

Thanks for helping me STOP THE INSANITY! Remember that SUSAN POWDER WOMAN on those infomercials............STOP THE INSANITY!!!!!!

[kyrie]

I don't care what diet you eat, if you don't get moving, and get enough physical excercise, 99% of the time you will gain weight.

Excercise is the only way to get weight off and keep it off permanently!!!


Carla.

[kiddies]

The side effects of this program:
dizziness or lightheadedness, bowel changes, muscle cramps, fatigue, temporary anemia, cold sensation, menstrual irregularities, dry skin, temp skin rash, and temp HAIR LOSS, Increased risk of gallstones formation or gallbladder disease during any low calorie diet,
Less common side effects: development of gallstones which could result in the need for the surgical removal of the gallbladder. The development of gallstones or gallbladder sludge can also cause pain from the pancreas or pancreatitis.

The possibility always exists that the combination of any signifcant disease such as obesity with methods employed for its treatment, such as this program, may lead to previously unobserved or unexpected ill effects.

I am not going to do it. I am going to stick it out with RAW as I dont recall ever seeing such a disclaimer on side effects of the RAW food diet..............ROFLOL........


Well thank god you made the right decision, with that list of symtoms, you can eather pay now(but struggling thru to make raw food) or you can pay later, with illnesses, and yes, you will need to find someone to help prepair you meals then.

I know salads can be kinda plain to some, but once you get the hang of prepairing raw foods, it is so simple. I used to think raw foods were so hard to prepair, but cooked food is what is hard, really! Your energy will go up and you will be able to do more. Be good to yourself, choose raw! :)

[Lay-Lay]

Glad you have decided to stick it out. This lifestyle is alot of raw fun. Enjoy.

[kiddies]

Here is a link to a video that show how raw healed their diabetes, and helped their organs to START WORKING, not STOP WORKING.

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12474&highlight=diabetes

Just remember, when you body starts working right, due to raw foods cleaning you out and helping things to work right, the weight is just gonna come off. No doubt about it. Stop worring about weight loss, it is kinda like we are putting our vanity before health. You have to learn to love yourself, for who you are. Overweight or not. It is all about loving ourselves, and when we do that, everything fits together and works right, like healing our bodies and not harming it anymore,weight loss happens when we do that. Don't hate yourself thin, love yourself raw!