How many avocados in a day and still lose weight?

[English Tracy]

I think this is a common question so apologies if it is covered elsewhere.

I know Alissa says if the fat is raw, it is good for you and won't impede weight loss. Others who are trying to lose weight have noted that weight loss slows down if they eat too many nuts.

My problem is that I have a big appetite and things like nuts and avos filll me up. Plus, I like green smoothies and I usually put 1 avo in with a banana, an apple, possibly a peach and some spinach for each one.

My question is - if I have 3 of those smoothies (they are quite thick so they are more like puddings really) each day, with a small to med avocado each time AND reduce the nuts I eat, will I still lose weight? I plan to have salads during the day as well with perhaps a small portion of something made with nuts..

I'd be interested to hear other people's experiences with avocadoes and advice on whether I should cut out the nuts altogether.

Thanks.

Tracy

[Lay-Lay]

every persons body is different. I am 5' 3" and as you cansee in my signature I need to lose some weight, but you can also see I have loss some too. For me weight loss is not why I took this journey. I am here for my health and happiness. So in saying that I eat as much of raw I want when I want. Sometimes I will go a week or more with no avocados and very little nuts and then I will load up on them. Yesterday I had 2 avocados. I have had 1 today and I am feeling like I would like another. So if I still want some when I get home I will have some more. I don't limit myself ans I still lose weight.

Really and trully I think if you eat all raw that even if you don't lose right away eating the fats I think eventually it will come off just maybe slower for some. For me, I could care less if I lost anymore weight or not so long as I am healthy and happy.

Listen to your body. My body and mind cannot tell you what is best for your body or anyone else's. Your body one day may tell you: "it needs 9 avocados" and the next day it may want none. You may go a month and need no nuts and then all of a sudden your body may "have" to have them. "Listen, to that body, it is the best raw tool we have"

[livingatthetop]

For me weight loss is not why I took this journey. I am here for my health and happiness


Haluerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

[spicyfull]

All RAW for a month Monday and I have not lost any weight. But my blood pressure is on the mends and I am a happy camper........Although I do eat Avocadoes, nuts freely. I AM ALIVE AND LOVIN' IT..........

[English Tracy]

Please don't get me wrong - I am also here for health reasons and to learn to eat food that will do me good, instead of the stuff I've been consuming for the last 40 years which has made me overweight and unhappy.

I look at the before and after photos in Alissa's book and see people's transformations in their journals on this site and I am so happy for them. They really do 'glow' with health and I want to be there with them. Being overweight is not healthy as we all know and my problem is the standard UK diet and carb cravings.

So, I know that when I improve the way I eat, another benefit will be the weight loss and that will make me happy.

Unless you have reached the same level of despair as I have about my weight problem, you cannot understand what succeeding at raw will mean to me.


Tracy

[Tombi]

Welcome to the world of Raw ET!!

All the responses that you got were rawful and oh so very true. Anyone having to loose 100+ pounds faces a major challenge no matter what diet they go on. I personally at this point and stage of the game can't even began to list all the "diets" that I have been on in this lifetime. One thing I can say is that I have lost the most at one time eating raw for 9 months. So when you say "Unless you have reached the same level of despair as I have about my weight problem, you cannot understand what succeeding at raw will mean to me.", I can say I have at several points in my life reached severe levels of despair with my weight problem. I can also tell you that iloverawfoods, livingatthetop, and spicyful have probably had their own experiences with despair and weight and this is probably why they responded to you. What they are also tell you is that they are succeeding and that you can too. Try not to make weight your primary focus. Concentrate more on what your body wants. If it wants two avacado it wants two...if it wants three give it three. Eventually your body will tell you what you need. When you are at that point on your journey (this take patience and time) you will then be able to do more in way of tayloring what you need to eat. What you eat will be way different from what everyonelse eats. It is all about being different for each of us.

Relax, Have Patience, Enjoy and Embrace your journey!
Ntombi

[Lay-Lay]

yes, like Tombi said...most of us have been drawn to raw because of some kind of despair. Yes I want to lose weight and I use weighing for myself once a month as a motivation, but I don't make weight my main focus. If one month I get on the scale and gained 2 pounds, if weight was my main focus I would be very saddened and probally discouraged, but my making feeling good and embracing detoxes and feeling good about myself my main focus and goal I stay uplifted and continue to jump over hurdles and reach new levels of health and happiness. I have felt despair that is for sure both mentally and physically as I think most here have.

[JEN]

Hi Tracy

Dont worry so much about what you eat in the beginning just so long as it is raw. If you deprive yourself of things it will feel like you are just on another diet. Once youve been raw for a while your body will start telling you what you should eat. Ive been raw for 3 months but only 100% for 1 month, and as soon as I went 100% my body started telling me what I wanted to eat. The weight loss will come and everyone is different so it might be fast and it might not be. You might have alot to detox out before the weight comes off so that is why you must be patient. Just always remember we are here for you through any challenges that might arise. Keep up the good work!

Jen

[TinyTeddy]

Even though Avocados are full of great fat..it is still fat!! :mad: so if i was you i would limit it to one avocado a day.Fill up on other things like banana smoothies and fruit and vegies.
Remember if you are allready overweight your body will only use a little of that good fat( for your skin hair nails etc) and the rest will be stored on you body! :eek:

[English Tracy]

Thanks everyone. It's quite funny but even after being back 100% raw just for a couple of days (having fallen at various posts before), I am just eating what I feel like at the time. I haven't raided the cupboard for 'bad' food as I haven't felt the need. It probably helps that the weather has improved considerably this week in England (about 30 degrees C today) and I don't want to eat anything heavy or 'carby'.

I won't OD on the avocados and I will watch the nut intake but apart from that I'm going to go with the flow. Another essential thing is not to look at the scales every day to see how much I'm losing as I'll get disheartened if I don't see a loss every day - which I know is unrealistic.

The whole point of raw for me is that it is a lifestyle change but not cranky so that I can't stick to it. I tried Atkins and other diets and lost lots of weight but then I put it all on again and then some once I returned to eating the rubbish I ate before!

Tracy

[Dandelion Girl]

Hi Tracy,

I read in one of Victoria Boutenko's books, I think it was 12 Steps to Raw, that when she first started raw, she was eating 8 avocadoes a day and was losing weight. I believe she said the lipase in them helps break down your fat in your body. I don't remember her exact words, so you might want to check it out to help yourself feel better. Listen to your body. As Alissa says, when you start out, eat as much of anything raw as you want. Your body will tell you when it is ready to slow down on the avocadoes. Right now, eats as many as your body wants and needs and don't feel guilty about it. Don't let the old attitudes from SAD interfere with what your body is needing now.

Enjoy those avocadoes!
Pam

[TinyTeddy]

Interesting Pam....I will also look into that :)

[Lucinda]

Hi Tracy,

I read in one of Victoria Boutenko's books, I think it was 12 Steps to Raw, that when she first started raw, she was eating 8 avocadoes a day and was losing weight. I believe she said the lipase in them helps break down your fat in your body. I don't remember her exact words, so you might want to check it out to help yourself feel better. Listen to your body. As Alissa says, when you start out, eat as much of anything raw as you want. Your body will tell you when it is ready to slow down on the avocadoes. Right now, eats as many as your body wants and needs and don't feel guilty about it. Don't let the old attitudes from SAD interfere with what your body is needing now.

Enjoy those avocadoes!
Pam

8 a day!!!!!! wow....
:eek:

[Tombi]

Try to always remember this, it may help...It is not what you are eating it is what you are not eating. All this over concern about fat has to be nipped in the bud if you want to be successful. If you are eating fats from raw foods how the body processes it is different than tranfats and other fats from a SAD. You are embarking on a raw journey. You have to realize that the rules of food are different and you have to let go of past SAD conditionings. It is a RAW THING and you have to have a RAW FRAME OF MIND or be stuck in that start/stop cycle. Going around and around and up and down does not sound like a llot of fun and I am sure it can get pretty frustrating.

Learn to Enjoy and Embrace your Journey. And if you haven't read Alissa's book may I highly suggest that you do.

[Apasaraw]

Did you know that mono-unsat fats actually help draw the bad sat fats out of you. You may crave more veggie fat in the beginning for this very reason. It will taper off eventually when your body achieves balance.

I eat an avo a day and gain no weight. I've been known to eat 3 a day, then I go on an "I'm not hungry for fats" phase. If it's alive just eat it for now and see listen you body asks for down the line. You may need these fats for nerve repair too. :) I am now convinced this is possible. I've seen it happen.

[Graciebeliever]

I can't tell you how nice it is to see you guys chatting over many of the questions that pass through my mind. I just sit and read a bit and I find others dealing with just what I am. VERY supportive to have kindred spirits in the RAW journey.
The first thing that has happened to me since I began eating Raw is that I am having amazing mental clarity. It's like waking up from a dream state (and an unpleasant one at that!). I am becoming very aware of what my body is saying and doing after I put anything past my lips. Sometimes it's almost downright euphoria and others it sorta says hmm...ok this will do.
For the first time in my life I am listening to my hunger (whoa you mean it isnt supposed to be swtiched "ON" for 24/7??) and I am finding moments of such excitement as my bonds of addiction drop and fade. In my wildest dreams I never saw myself craving a mango Haha but what delight.

Peace be the Journey
Gracie

[Apasaraw]

Gracie, love your cherries!

Awakening is such a great way to put it!

[misslinda]

Personally, I discovered once I viewed extra weight as a definition of underworking/nutrient deficient body system Ithen looked at weightloss as a result of scum,toxins,foreign matter in the body rather than a "HAUGHTING" number. This process was not easy and quick when I started 2 years ago. Mind you, A prior 17 year history with ED's didn't make it an more fun and easing ( in mind).

Know that fats do require more work for the body to breakdown and assimilate. Does it mean if you eat an avacado 3 times a day, you will get fat? Not neccesssarily......whole foods are packed with living nutrients and the enzymes that activate them. We need those elements for our bodies to work metabolically-efficiently. Another piece of info....fats slow down the healing process.

For example, some folks have such deep level of healing--perhaps fighting an infection that the last thing the body wants to do is shed weight b/c it wants to draw most of its focus and energy towards that infection......

Like you will hear from Alissa and in her book. The beginning stages of RAW eating is BIZAARE to us becuase we are so conditioned to having control and measures imposed on our eating. The number sytem does not apply to raw eating. It is freeing,simple,alive and healing. Enjoy for now what your body wants and watch it take off from here..........as it continues to clean,repair and heal................oh and drop the excess garbage from the body known as extra weight!

Are you journaling here? It really helps to give yourself a visual to see how much change and progression takes place when you continue your raw lifestyle!

I really NEVER EVER thought I would ever feel so free eating! As a former anorexic/bulimic for 17 years, who use to think about food 24/7 and spend 4 hours a night calculating calories, this has been PHENOMENAL!!!!!!!!!!!! I am content,free and love my avacado without worries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)


All becuase of RAW ;)

[misslinda]

forgot to mention.....

Avacados are one of the few foods that have cellulayse (sp) the enzyme to breakdown greens (cellulose).

[Graciebeliever]

Gracie, love your cherries!

Awakening is such a great way to put it!

Hehehe thanks :)
Life's a bowl of Cherries! and bananas and grapes and...........

[paleogirl]

Hi Tracy,

I personally find that unlimited fats (esp. good raw ones) SPEED my weight loss, so long as I keep the carbs in check at the same time. I find the savoury fats give me lots of on-going, energy, keep blood sugar stable and do good things for the skin and hair too. With avocadoes, some days I can eat one with each meal, but sometimes I get half way through one and feel sick. I think your body will give you a clear signal when it's had enough. Starting out raw it's not uncommon for people to eat loads of one thing, probably just the body searching out the nutrients it needs at that time, as it's detoxing and rebuilding.