embarrassed to ask, but help/advice?

[dreamrawalwz]

Ok, after making my long post here:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19270&highlight=made+decision

I need some help and or suggestions.

After years of the ED I have NO clue what constitutes as "normal" serving sizes and meals. I have NO idea. I don't think I should go by "normal" SAD servings of fruits and veggies, obviously, but "normal" for raw I guess. Since I can't eat denser calorie foods I have to eat large quantities to keep my calorie levels high enough (ok, is there any amount raw foodists should go by because we don't go by SAD standards...). I can't eat nuts, seeds, avocados, bananas, or dried fruits. Is the only way to do this is eat large quantities of low calorie foods? Would it be better for me to tolerate this quantity if I consume it throughout the day and not in three sittings? Usually I plan this stuff, but that's my ED talking and usually restricting...i just don't know how to do this in a recovery mindset. If it's best to do 6 small meals I don't know when I should and other details like that so it derails me and I don't even try to start.

Sorry if I'm asking too much. I'd really like to start a "meal plan" September so...that's tomorrow. I guess I'm looking for a sample or "tell me what to do and i'll do it" type thing. I would go to a nutritionist, but i KNOW he/she wouldn't work with me with raw, even if i found a raw one he/she wouldn't go for the non-fat diet.

[luckitri]

New territory here. At my age I just don't need to eat as much on any diet. This is all so individual based on age, metabolism, activity level. So many people have written what they eat on a daily basis in their raw journals in websites all over. I wonder if anyone has ever tried to collate all this information, correlate, datamine? (I don't know what the term would be.)

[Lay-Lay]

yeah I agree with luckitri. What is "normal" for one may not be "normal" for you. I hope no one ever calculates what is normal and what is not. We all have different needs depending where we are in the spin of things.

[juliebove]

I've seen three dieticians. Dieticians will push a low fat diet. I don't think anyone would advise a no fat diet unless there was a medical condition that warranted it. None of the dieticians I've seen seemed very thrilled with a vegetarian diet. Not sure how they'd react to a vegan diet but I can't see why they'd object to raw foods. One thing dieticians are good for is showing you portion size. All the ones I saw had these cute little play foods. Of course on a raw diet, figuring a serving size is very easy. 1 cup of vegetables, 2 cups of greens, 1 medium fruit, 1 cup of berries, about 17 small grapes, handful of nuts. Now how many servings *you* can eat at a time is the one thing that would vary from person to person.

I find with the raw diet I have a lot more leeway with what I eat. I have diabetes and reactive hypoglycemia so I do have to make sure I am eating enough but not too many carbs. That's my main concern. Second, I think about the rainbow. I try to eat foods of every color each day. Now I don't do well with the blue stuff because I don't like blueberries at all and I don't often get stuff like blackberries. So I do take a supplement for that. I also try to eat very little of the goitrogenic foods like cabbage and cauliflower. I do eat a litte because this stuff sometimes comes in my organic produce box, but only occasionally.

My eating pattern is not necessarily normal. I usually eat very little breakfast and very little or no lunch. It's either because I'm just not hungry then or my blood sugar is higher than it should be so I can't eat much. I do seem to eat more at dinner time and I tend to get hungry before bed (but not always) so I do eat a snack then. Everyone has different eating patterns. You just have to figure out what yours is.

[dreamrawalwz]

I know everyone is different, but I need to get out of this skipping meals, bingeing at night thing or other bad eating patterns. I've been in this rut for over 7 years so i don't know the first step in stopping the habbits or what I should do.

Juliebove-i'm a little confused. You said they weren't thrilled about vegetarians, but you don't think they'd have a problem with being raw? Could you please explain that or correct me if i'm wrong?

[rawfigure]

I have a similar issue, working out the new serving sizes of fruit since I am doing 8-1-1 right now. I eat a piece of fruit in the AM thinking it is a normal serving and then I find myself hungry so I started eating two piece of fruit and find that works for me.

In the begining I would make a green drink with an apple, lemon, a bunch of kale and a head of lettuce. I would drink half thinking that would be a serving. Now I know I need to drink the whole thing as my meal or again fighting hunger a few hours later and when I get hungry I get lazy and just eat something like a load of nuts, then I feel bad about that and then skip meals the rest of the day,thinging "Oh I ate my alotted food for the day".

So I am trying to break that mindset and eat more as a serving size to prevent this cycle from continuing.

So fruit can easily be 2-3 pieces. Green drinks 24 oz is no problem. On a salad I use a whole tomato a whole pepper a whole cucumber several carrots too. No skimping on size.

Hope that helps.

[Pierre]

My normal lunch is at least 640 grams of salad, including carrots, tomatoes, celery, cabbage, capsicum, avocados, olives, onion, leek, and lettuce, plus two to four fruits the size of oranges, peaches, or apples. This takes me three to four hours to finish, taking bites as I work. (I don't measure vegetables with a cup; it's too imprecise.) Often if I have enough variety of ingredients, I reach 640 before adding the lettuce.

Can you eat even one olive and one peanut a day? Fat is a necessary nutrient, especially linoleic and linolenic acids, which are both found in olives as well as flax.

[fiddler]

I have a similar issue, working out the new serving sizes of fruit since I am doing 8-1-1 right now. I eat a piece of fruit in the AM thinking it is a normal serving and then I find myself hungry so I started eating two piece of fruit and find that works for me.

In the begining I would make a green drink with an apple, lemon, a bunch of kale and a head of lettuce. I would drink half thinking that would be a serving. Now I know I need to drink the whole thing as my meal or again fighting hunger a few hours later and when I get hungry I get lazy and just eat something like a load of nuts, then I feel bad about that and then skip meals the rest of the day,thinging "Oh I ate my alotted food for the day".

So I am trying to break that mindset and eat more as a serving size to prevent this cycle from continuing.

So fruit can easily be 2-3 pieces. Green drinks 24 oz is no problem. On a salad I use a whole tomato a whole pepper a whole cucumber several carrots too. No skimping on size.

Hope that helps.On 811, we have to train ourselves to be able to consume the volume of fruit/veggies to satisfy ourselves between meals. We have to learn how to stretch our stomachs to hold enough volume to become satiated for more than an hour or two. At least, this practice is what Graham speaks about.

Some example meals for me might be:
- 8 to 15 bananas (easier to do when blended) (your mileage may vary)
- 10 oranges
- 4 or 5 large papayas
- head of lettuce with dressing (3 tomatoes, red pepper, celery, 1/2 avocado)
- Blender full of OJ/Bananas etc...
- etc...

I'm still trying to learn this stuff so I'm definitely no expert.

Dreamrawalwz: BTW, Doug Graham seems to be one of the most knowledgable leaders around and he offers consultation. Just an option for you if you're interested.

Cheers,
Fiddler

[AliCat]

I am still so new I really have no idea myself. I am struggling with my ED as well. Trying to figure out how all this food fits into my life. I just wanted to send you a HUG! I hope some of these very knowledgeable people can give you some advice! *hug*