I'm starving

[fwebes]

Today is day 2 of raw and I find myself feeling ravenously hungry every 2 hrs. I'll list what I ate and the times and if someone can help me, that would be great. I'm use to eating 3 times a day, and that's it so being hungry so often is hard. Also, I felt pretty weak this afternoon.

7:30 am banana and about 5 or 6 strawberries
9:00 about a cup of my leftover green smoothie
10:30 1qt of green smoothie made with roma tomato, carrot, apple, about a cup of broccoli, a handful of romaine lettuce and a yellow bell pepper and water.
12:00 a carrot and about 1/2 yellow bell pepper
1:30 apricot
4:00 apple and the other 1/2 of bell pepper and 1/2 carrot
6:30 large salad with romaine heart, olives, 1/2 shredded carrot, pickle, little onion and a roma tomato and salad dressing. (the dressing isn't raw) and one clementine.

That's a good amount of food. So why am I always hungry? lack of fat or protein? I don't want to add nuts or seeds at this time because last time i went raw, I gained 5lbs in the first week because of nuts and raisins. They are a binge food for me, even raw.

thanks
Lynn

[Lay-Lay]

That doesn't seem like alot of food too me at all. Here is what I ate so you may compare, but of course everyone is different and I keepmy menu varied everyday!

Breakfast: Smoothie (2 1/2 cups) bananas, dates, coconut water, and meat, water, ice, Macca

Peach

Snack

2 peaches, 2 plums

Lunch

2 Huge bunches of lettuce with tomato pepper dressing (my favorite)

Dinner

Watermelon 3 cups

2 huge bunches of lettuce, a few crumbs of barley cracker with a 4 tbs of green patte

3 cucumbers

I continue to lose inches and on my last weigh day was down 18.25 inches. I feel wonderful. If you are starving eat, you need it while your healing. Some days all I eat is a salad or fouth of a watermelon and I want nothing else, but sometimes I have days like the above. I do what I have to do to stay raw and feel good. I don't live or die by the scale. If I was to get on the scale in the morning and it said I was 5 pounds heavier it would not effect me any. I listen to what my body needs.

[berrymarymac]

That's not a lot of food actually. Try eating more of what you are eating now. Like with clementine's I eat maybe 6-10 in one sitting.

[Coriander74]

I say eat until you're satisfied. Have another banana, the density might help fill you up a little more :)

[RawTruth]

I agree that this doesn't seem like much food -- especially when you're first raw.

I would eat more food more frequently. And I would definitely add in some avocado and sprinkle some sunflower seeds over the salad. You DO need some fat in there! If nuts are a binge food for you, go for some seeds, but don't eat them out of hand; add them in.

If you follow Alissa's plan, you'll be eating way more food -- and how 'bout some prepared foods like mock salmon pate and broccoli soup and angel hair pasta with marina sauce?

[Beanie]

Eat some FATS! Especially nuts, seeds, avocados, coconuts. I would be starving on a no fat added diet too, no matter how much I ate.

[juliebove]

I too would add nuts or seeds. If you tend to binge on them, you can do a few things that will help. One is to package them up in single serve packages. This is what I do when I find I am eating too many of them. Once I've had my package, that's it for the day. If you still can't resist, then try putting the extras in the freezer. If this still doesn't work, then try buying the smallest package available or buy them in bulk and buy only a small amount at a time.

The health food store I shop at has really good, fresh nuts that they package themselves. They are put up in bags that are 7" by 4". This is the perfect size for me! I usually go there once a week to get my organic produce box and this past year went there another 4 times a week because they are right next door to my daughter's dance studio. I'd usually stop in there before or after her class. Even if I bought nuts or seeds each time I went in, I still had a doable amount for the week.

[fwebes]

Thanks for all your support. I ended up having some raw sunflower seeds after all. I've had them since January and they're still good. I went to fitday and found that what I ate today was right around 1000 calories. Since I'd like to lose about 45 lbs I figure that's not soo bad. I've read a lot of the journals on this board and thought i was eating way more than some who have posted their intake for the day. perhaps they weren't complete.

Anyway, I was able to fight off my cravings for cookies this evening, so that's a plus. I was able to go over a year without flour or sugar, but after relapsing, it's difficult. I think this site and the support will be just the jolt I need. Again, thanks to you all.

[mcasburn]

I've been high raw for just over a month, and I'm just now experiencing a decline in my appetite. What you've listed is about half of what I was eating in my first few weeks. Breakfast for me two weeks ago was an entire cantaloupe AND an entire pint of blueberries AND a mango. I'm still eating a whole avocado and about a 1/4 cup of olive oil per day as my primary fats... without them, I'd never stop eating.

Even with that much food, I lost 15 pounds in my first month. I then hit a plateau and detoxed (pimples and all!) and feel that my body is about to start shedding again.

So... put the fats in as an ingredient, as others have mentioned, but be sure to get them. They'll stabilize your blood sugar and relax you.

[DavidZaneMason]

Opinion:

DON'T go hungry....just concentrate on the fruits / vegetables that you LOVE....and eat until you ARE full. Eat more frequent / smaller meals.....perhaps every 2 hours throughout the day. Eat before you leave the house....and bring a snack bag with you.

-If you are VERY unconfortable or hungry or spacey on the level of raw that you are eating......then go back to a level that you ARE very comfortable with....and set smaller goals with timetables.......to move at a more comfortable pace.

-Like in exercise...it's good to stretch...but not tear! ;)

-David Mason

[Nenyath]

Hi Lynn..

It may SEEm like a lot of food, but consider the water content! It sounds about what I eat or maybe a little less.. Just my morning smoothie is three bananas, half a head of romaine, honey and cacao powder.. Eat and eat and eat, that is the best remidy in the beginning! :p

Fly forever free..

[rachelmh]

Try for the whole fats -- avocados and nuts rather than oils. That is what I am trying now. And yes, eat more. I used to feel like I was constantly eating. I try to make gourmet once or twice a week. Other than that, I have transitioned to food more in its natural state. It is a process. Give it time!

[Eveleaf]

1000 calories is really NOT enough when you first go raw. Hear me out on this.

Our bodies are way undernourished on the SAD diet. Mostly when we are hungry on SAD, it is because we are lacking in nutrients in a big way. So to counter-act this we eat really dense food that staves off the hunger pains so we can go on living a normal life. But we never get nourished.

When you first start going raw, you are still dealing with a body crying out for good nutrition, vitamins and minerals and water. You are still severely depleted. Only now you are not eating that dense, hunger-numbing food anymore. So you can actually HEAR what your body has been crying out for all along!

That can be scary. The body is starving! You really need to take these first few weeks and FEED it. All the time! Don't hold back! Eat raw until you are satisfied, whatever that takes.

Eating raw is not a crash diet, so stay OFF the scales while you do this. Trust me. Please trust me. In a few weeks, you will notice your hunger dropping off, some report it all but disappearing. Why? Because the body is nurished. Hunger goes away, and in its place is peace and light. You will be amazed when this happens!

At that point, if you are satisfied on 1000 calories, more power to you. I often find (since I've been raw over two months and my body is nurished) a small amount of raw food intensely satisfying and I don't need any more. Weight drops off at THIS point. It's effortless and beautiful and perfectly right.

Please have patience with yourself and realize the TRUTH of what your post really says. You are in fact starving. Don't limit calories or food at this point in your journey!

Cheers and the best to you,
Eve

[Graciebeliever]

Eveleaf I couldn't have said it better myself!!

All I can say is Ditto Ditto Ditto!!!

:D :D :D :D :D :D