Almost 100% raw and always feel hungry and tired

[gaelen straughn]

Hello,

I'm making the transition over to raw and am almost to 100%. My problem is I find the food is just not filling enough. I think if I start eating some flax crackers or something that may help with my hunger. I have also noticed that I get tired a lot, especially in the afternoon and evening. I am kicking a coffee habit and perhaps this is just my body getting used to everything. I exercise everyday. I just don't like feeling tired! Has anyone else experienced this? Also, I eat fruit in the morning and I'm wondering if the sugar might have something to do with it.

Thanks everyone.

Warmly,

Gaelen Straughn

[Nenyath]

That is just how I felt in the beginning too, tired and hungry constantly and I was not kicking some coffee habit out of the door :p Welcome to detox! It takes a little while for the body to adjust to the new food. I remember missing feeling what we traditionally call full or satisfyed. That feeling today makes me feel like I've been bombed. It takes a while but you will find yourself satisfyed in another lighter way that makes you energic, not tired. In the beginning just eat and eat and eat but keep it as raw as you can. Have lots of your favorite fruits. Play around with new recipes. Have fun and patience! ;) Also, do not ask too much of yourself in the beginning, give yourself time to play in the kitchen or take that extra nap if you need it. If you have a blender smoothies are really filling and there ought to be a lot of recipes on this forum. Avocadoes were my big lifesaver in the beginning as they are pretty dense. Bananas work quite well too..

Goos luck!

Fly forever free..

[Lay-Lay]

Yes, the Detox Blues.......aren't they amazing! Embrace and be happy your going through it. If I may suggest wheatgrass, wheatgrass, wheatgrass! It will give you that kick (or at least it does me) that you get with coffee, but in a much cleaner feeling way. It also makes me alert and overall happy. It also helps speed your detox along with increased energy and renewel.

[Pailani]

How long were you high raw, and how long have you been trying to do totally raw? And when did you kick the coffee habit?

You could add avocados, sunflower seeds or almonds. I start my days with green smoothies because the greens have protein and help to slow down the sugar.

I was totally raw for a couple months, then did high raw for about a year, and have been totally raw again for two months. When I switched to totally raw this last time, I was getting really, really tired in the afternoons. I also kicked caffeine about two weeks into it, which didn't help. I stopped feeling so tired maybe three weeks ago - now I have lots of good periods and a few periods of tiredness. It's definitely getting better, but it's taking some time. You may just need to be patient and let your body take the time it needs.

[Eveleaf]

Oh getting coffee out of your life is hard - don't underestimate how hard it will be. But it is SOOO worth it! You will NOT regret doing it!

Before I went raw I was drinking coffee everyday, and often taking caffeine in pill form too (only 1/2 a pill at a time, hey I was trying!). At first it made me feel euphoric and sharp, I could solve any problem and tackle any difficulty! After awhile though I needed coffee just to wake up, and it no longer made me feel good, just human. If I tried to go without it I would get terribly "foggy-headed" like I couldn't even think. That was scary, I need my brain for my job!

Now that I've been raw for over two months, I feel incredible all the time. I haven't had a "foggy" moment in sooo long, I forgot just how alarming and aweful it was! I'm so glad to be free of caffeine!

Cheers and good luck!
Eve

[jaurequi]

Hi, gaelen,

It's doubtful that fruit will make you tired; in fact, the opposite it true. It will give you much needed energy, especially now. Now is not a good time to cut fruit; I would increase it, if I were you to even out the "energy" loss from the caffeine withdrawal. And I do think it's more withdrawal from caffeine than anything else at this point. Your body is dealing with it. It won't take too much longer, you're almost there; don't go back now or you'll have to start all over again.

Eat till satisfied. What is it that's unsatisfying? Are you abstaining from certain foods? At this point, I wouldn't do that either. You're going through way too much at once. Give your body what it needs to get you through this period.

Best,

[exurb]

When kicking coffee completely it took me a FULL MONTH to get my energy back, then after that month, my energy was way better than before on coffee.

As for hunger on raw, are you eating enough and enough variety. People when first trying raw often are very limited in their eating. Make sure you get a balanced and varied diet, and enough of stuff. The SAD diet conditions us to think we have to limit "fattening" foods like avocadoes, nuts, etc... Also are you eating some raw "grain-type" foods, like buckwheat which isn't a grain but gives you that carby feel, or ground oat groats, or anything like that. It can also be conditioning to certain tastes, so if it's something meatier you need to feel satisfied, try some good savory burgers, I recommend maraw's at www.therawtable.com If you eat mushrooms, that helps some people too.

I would also say keep the flax intake moderate if you're not feeling well, there are lots of great other crackers to make either based on something other than flax, or with just a moderate amount of flax in them. Do you have the book raw food real world, there are some good recipes in there, walnut hemp crackers, sundried tomato and herb crackers, jalapeno corn tortilla chips (which I modify into a cracker, add buckwheat or whatever to them). Nice rye crackers in Renee Loux Underkoffler's book Living Cuisine, nice crab cakes in Brigitte Mars' book Rawesome.

There's sure no need to feel hungry on raw, maybe you just haven't got the hang of all the things you can eat and maybe you're not eating a broad enough diet and satisfying all your nutritional requirements.

Another tip is to let the things we've learned from the SAD diet go out the window, things like you shouldn't eat too many avocadoes or nuts because they're "fattening", things like that one small fruit is a serving, that a salad fits in a tiny bowl. ( :o the bowl I make my salads in is about 15" diameter and 4-1/2 " tall :o ).

Another tip to feeling satisfied is to make spicy "ethnic" raw food. Yesterday hubby and I had a big bowl of asian stir-un-fry with sugar snap peas, yellow snow peas, grated carrots, ginger, shallots, red pepper, etc., really it was pretty much a "salad" before all the spices and my hot garlic asian sauce went on it, but because it was so spicy it felt like eating a big bowl of Szechuan or spicy chinese takeout, felt more like a dinner than a salad. I do the same with Indian curries, spicy hot Mexican-inspired food, etc.

Oh yeah, and make RP's brownies!! :p

[Graciebeliever]

Another tip to feeling satisfied is to make spicy "ethnic" raw food. Yesterday hubby and I had a big bowl of asian stir-un-fry with sugar snap peas, yellow snow peas, grated carrots, ginger, shallots, red pepper, etc., really it was pretty much a "salad" before all the spices and my hot garlic asian sauce went on it, but because it was so spicy it felt like eating a big bowl of Szechuan or spicy chinese takeout, felt more like a dinner than a salad. I do the same with Indian curries, spicy hot Mexican-inspired food, etc.

Oh yeah, and make RP's brownies!! :p

This is a great idea with having things spicier and more flavorful!

I just sat down to lunch (having had no breakfast) and I ate 3 pears 3 bananas and a few raw walnuts and raw cashews
Gotta eat enough.. Read learn and try!!

[cornvalley]

I would forget the food for a few days....make a cozy corner in the nicest room in the house an fast with water only. Three days is not that long and quickly mobilizes changes that diet only draws out longer and with more reminders of your slow progress.
Of course you may have contraindications for fasting but sounds like your ready and able. Total abstention for a small period of time is actually easier than eating. Rest, rest and more rest. Close your eyes and rest. Stay warm and quiet. Then on the forth day you may decide you are ready to eat and it will be a much different experience and appreciation.
There's more to the process that is better left at a facility trained at handling longer fasts for the novice, but a three day one is quite easy and has such profound wisdom inducing moments if you have the resolve.
All the best Gaelen.

[rawpriestess]

this is probably part of detox, as long as you are eating any cooked food, it takes longer to detox, but is probably easier on your system, know that this will pass.

also, ridding the body of caffeine takes some time, and isn't easy, just keep doing the process to get more and more raw, you'll feel so much better.

[faith4u]

I eat fruit for breakfast in the morning now but when I first went raw I needed something heavier that was more like my traditional cooked breakfast of millet or quinoa.

So what I did was used buckwheat as a porridge. I would use oats if I could but can't because I am a Celiac.

I ate this heartier breakfast with flax and fruit for several months. All of a sudden I felt ready to let it go and went to fruit. Now I do just fine.

I found in the beginning that I would be starving come mid to late afternoon if I ate fruit only in the morning. I would want to eat and eat and eat the rest of the night and would never feel satisfied. It really helped me to eat the porridge.

Good luck!

[gaelen straughn]

Hi everyone,

Thank you all so much for your wonderful advice. I really think I just need to be patient with myself in this new way of eating and realize that it's just going to take time for my body to adjust and that eventually I will feel great and will have lots of energy. It's been four days since I've had a cup of coffee. I so loved that morning cup of coffee and bagel, but I know that it was hindering me from having the health and energy that I desire, so I'm able to drive by the coffee shop and not stop! I have been gradually changing my diet over the last year to being more alkaline and avoiding processed foods. I stopped eating dairy and animal protein about four months ago. I've also done some colon and intestinal cleansing recently, so I think that my detox won't be as severe as what others might go through, I hope so anyway. Also, I think that when I'm tired I just need to lay down and relax and stop getting so uptight about being sleepy!

I think that I was stressing out way too much about becoming raw. I have three kids ages 12, 10, and 5, and they aren't very interested in raw food. It's hard for me to see them eating processed foods, although it is organic for the most part. They aren't big fruit and vegetable lovers either. I can get my two sons to drink fresh apple lemonade once in a while or maybe eat a banana or some broccoli but that's about it.

I appreciate all of the links to the websites for recipes. I have about six or seven raw food cookbooks and they have some great recipes. I am going to try some veggie burgers. I have a dehydrator and have made a couple of things but wasn't really thrilled about the way they came out. I will get better at dehydrating with time. I get frustrated sometimes with the produce I purchase. About 80% of the time it's good but sometimes it's just not. I made a Gazpacho the other day and it usually is delicious, but for some reason it just didn't taste as good as it normally does. Maybe the tomatoes weren't ripe enough. I'm thinking I should have a little garden in my yard. I spend a fortune at the healthfood store on produce. I love almond butter and a small jar costs almost $10.00. I wish you could buy the produce in smaller amounts as a lot of it tends to go to waste and my husband usually isn't a happy camper when that happens. I'm thankful that he is supporting me in my decision to become raw and enjoys the recipes that I've been making, for the most part anyway.

To our health and happiness!

Warmly,

Gaelen

[Nenyath]

Sounds like you've come far already Gaelen! Way to go! I remember one of theese recipes that went terrible wrong, it was made of oranges and parsley blended, it was awful! But that is just one of the things that makes raw fun :p I've read of many kids of parents transitioning to raw who have become more and more interrested in it over time. It sounds like you already do quite a lot for them, buying them organic and such, way to go! :D

Fly forever free..