What's the best "diet" on Raw for losing weight?

[sherahtaylor]

"Diet" is probably the wrong word to use, but I mean it in the form of what my eating should consist of. (I need to read Alissa's book again - I read it two weeks ago but have learned sooo much since then on here!)

I'm on day 12 of eating 100% raw and started at 159 (I'm 5'2", optimum weight is 125 or so) and dropped to 157 but am now back to 159. I've also started weight lifting 3x a week - but only four times so far so muscle couldn't have built up that fast, could it? (Thinking maybe that's why I'm not losing lbs, maybe gaining muscle?)

But it's frustrating - I want the weight to "melt off" like so many others say. I'm okay with knowing my body is just taking is slow, but ONLY IF I know I'm eating right in the first place.

I'm eating alot of avacadoes (2 1/2 per day, the medium size ones) - I inhale guacamole like it's candy, I don't know why (hated guac. on SAD, LOL!). Some days I eat alot of nuts (cashews, not soaked), but other days none. I drink a 20 oz. green drink every day, as well as eat lots of fruit (peaches, bananas, oranges, melons).

So in your opinion, research, or experience - what are the best foods/way to eat, to lose weight? Mostly fruits? one green drink a day? handful nuts at the MOST per day? coconut oil? Goji berries? Maca? Limit the avacadoes?

One thing I wanted to mention is that before going Raw, I did a 30 day master cleanse/saltwater flush with no cheating. I lost 23lbs - so it's possible that it's stalled because I started eating food again? :confused:

[Lay-Lay]

You know, I have been attempting this raw lifestyle for over 3 years and in my experience the way Alissa expresses to do raw foods has been so helpful. Just eat raw. Everything else will fall into place when its ready. It makes all the difference!

[LisaDS88]

Just eating raw will eventually make you lose weight. Sometimes it takes awhile to begin shedding lbs. However, I know for myself I have definitely sped up the process when I cut way back on nuts. Avacados don't tend to bother me (I used to eat 3 or more a day), but when I eat too many nuts I don't lose any weight and sometimes gain a little.

[rawbeliever]

There's a woman whose journal is on this board, Carlene, who lost 136 lbs in 9 months. there's some good info on her web site, www.rawfoodbootcamp.com; she suggests eating simple raw (no dehydrated stuff, nothing too fancy) only 20% of one's daily intake from fat (i try to do this as much as possible; for me that's about 1/2 avocado, and a serving of raw pumpkin seeds); and low banana consumption, and no salt. I recently ended my relationship with salt :), and the weight started falling off again after a long term plateau. I agree with her about the dehydrated stuff...i started out raw without a dyhydrator, just eating simple raw (some blended soups, salads, fruits), and I think that was the better way. I lost weight more quickly, and felt more energetic. I've been making my way back towards that. I think it has something to do with the relatively pure, high water content of raw foods that haven't been adulterated, even by a dehydrator. Natural Hygiene (for example, Fit for Life, by Harvey & Marilyn Diamond) touts this idea. Although I do think fats are useful for maintaining weight. Also, getting plenty of water and LOTS of rest is important. I lose weight more quickly when I'm relaxed, and it isn't just the amount or kind of food I'm eating.

Good luck, stay raw,
Robbie

[sweet pepper]

Keeping fats down to 20 to 30% of your calories will help you melt the fat off fast. By keeping my percentage of fat I lost as much as 8 pounds in my first week of totally raw. But, I have a very large amount of weight to lose. Too many nuts and avocadoes will stop your weight loss. 2 and 1/2 avocadoes daily is too much if you want to lose weight. Just do not eliminate fat totally because our bodies need the good fats; such as, avocadoes, almonds, walnuts, flax seeds etc. If you log into fitday.com it will give a chart to keep tabs of your percentages.

Good Luck!
Sweet Pepper

[rawlapalooza]

When I first went raw i concentrated on eating only foods that make you alkaline. I was concentrating on detoxing and knew that an alkaline body helps the cells to eliminate waste and regenerate tissue.

Although I didn't need to lose weight I lost 15 pounds eating this way in 1.5 months. I suspect if you do need to lose weight you will lose even more than this.

Eat fruit throughout the morning, for lunch have a salad, have more fruit for a snack and another salad for dinner. If you're still hungry have some more fruit a couple hours before bed.

Do not mix your fruits and vegetables (allow 1 hour for fruit to digest and 2 to 4 hours for your veggies to digest)
Eat melons alone or leave them alone
Do not eat seeds and nuts (if you have to, eat separately or with your salad)
For a dressing, just use olive oil and lemon or maybe a little apple cider vinegar.

This way of eating isn't as much fun as making all the dehydrating and nut recipes but it will expedite the detox process. Your breath and skin will be so nice and you'll lose weight fast and healthily.

This is the program Dr. Morse put me on to detox.

Here is a link for acid versus alkaline foods. There are some conflicting ideas about different foods so do your own search on certain foods. For instance some say blueberries are acidifying and others say they're alkaline. The same goes for olive oil which i believe is alkaline but others disagree.

http://www.essense-of-life.com/info/foodchart.htm

[jenna rose]

Avocadoes have a huge amount of fat in them - something like 40% just for one.

For people who are trying to lose a lot of weight, eating a lot of bananas sometimes hinders weight loss. You can try cutting back on those if they are a main thing you eat.

Try up'ing your exercise. At raw food boot camp, we do one hour of exercise a day.

Don't eat a lot of nuts, either. Yes, avocadoes and nuts are good fats but when you are focusing on losing weight, they don't help very much when you eat a lot of it.

Keep it simple. Just eat lots of fruits and green smoothies, keep the exercise up, get enough sleep, try to limit stress, keep the salt down, drink lots of water.

[sherahtaylor]

You guys are awesome, thankyou so much!! That helps alot - I can totally do this - it's just the knowing WHAT to do that was confusing to me. I appreciate it!

[berrymarymac]

It will come off! Some people it just "melts" off while others it takes time. Also weigh yourself in the morning, because you weigh less then and it's your true weight! You weigh more at night.

To me 157 is not a lot for someone to weigh...so yeah. But with your height, then I can see why. I know I need to lose weight because they said I might have a heart attack one day if I don't. :rolleyes:

[luckitri]

Dang - with all those little ones how do you find time for more exercise? I really think that your body is a little scared right now. It thinks that it is winter with no food so it is conserving what you give it just in case it is a long time before you find food again. My 2 cents is if you relax and do intuitive eating the weight will start rolling off once your body is reassured that it has a steady food supply. Just my personal theory - not meaning to offend.

[sherahtaylor]

Rawlapalooza, who is Dr. Morse? Do you have a journal or any more information on the details you gave me? And what about eating some fat per day...did you do that at all?

Luckitri, I think you just kind of "grow" into have this many kids, LOL! We're a pretty laid back family and I have them all on a schedule for the most part. They all sleep in until 8:15 or so - so I just get up earlier than them and lift weights in my garage. It's going to be early (when they're all in bed and it's quiet...sooo hard to do!) so I'm not dragging the next day that's the problem! I'm such a night owl.

[kmik]

Sherah,

For losing weight fast, nothing beats low fat and no salt... BUT...

my experience was when I went low fat for a few days, it totally left me vulnerable to cooked food... not sure why, because I was eating a lot of fruit and veggies, so I wasn't hungry... but once a pizza got under my nose, I couldn't say no :-(

So my advice is if you try cutting back on stuff, have some emergency heavy duty raw dish ready to go. That way, if you feel tempted, you can just pig out on some "bad" raw food, from which it's easier to recuperate. (Trust me, I know... gained 25 lbs in three weeks of occaisional cooked food consumption!)

[rawbeliever]

kmik, that's good advice! You reminded me that when I first started out raw, I wouldn't have made it without extra fat consumption.

[spicyfull]

100%.............