My hubby and I gave up

[moonlovers812]

Ok, so I was so pumped up about this diet, especially having more energy as I feel that I am always draining. We did it for 2 weeks, 14 days without cheating. The first week I lost 5 lbs and my hubby lost 10. The second week we lost nothing. But this isn't why we gave up. We saw no changes in the way we felt at all. We still felt tired and weak, and my husband felt so deprived. This put pressure on me to try all these recipes to satisfy the cravings. On top of it all I have a year old son who I was constantly worrying about if he was getting enough nutriets and enough to eat, and all that blah, blah. We are also live in assistants for an elderly couple and part of my responsibilities are to cook dinner for them which only complicates things. I want to know what I did wrong. Not enough fruits, too many nuts, food combining, not all organic? Why didn't I feel that energy and health that I longed to have??

I still try to do my best, but I'm not 100% raw. Anyway, just had to vent, I've been very very frustrated!

[Rawkinlocs]

I would say that the reason you didn't feel any change is more than likely because you didn't give it enough time. Even this forum itself was based upon a 30-day challenge. Granted you got half way through it, but ask yourself if it is fair to your body to expect it to instantly feel wonderful after years of getting it to whatever point it got to.

For some, weight loss comes quickly, for others it takes longer. For some, the high energy and feeling great comes immediately...for others, it happens later. The results are atypical and not everyone experiences the same things in the same time frame.

As for feelings of deprivation, well, that is more so related to withdrawals the body goes through when you are no longer giving it the things it wants. I can relate, we all go through cravings and wanting "other stuff" and sometimes we give in.

But the good news is, you don't have to jump right into it with both feet...some need to transition and so I would say don't consider the fact that you decided not to do 100% (at THIS time) giving up...continue to eat as much raw as you can...a LOT of raw along with whatever else you choose to eat. Get the fruits and veggies you all LOVE to eat...get some nuts and make trail mixes...make some dehydrated grawnola and smoothies and nut pate's, banana ice cream and RP's brownies...the real simple stuff (you don't have to make anything at all but definately don't have to make the more complex recipes) if you feel you need something a bit more than just the basics...but don't look at it as giving up...you're just not feeling quite ready to jump into 100% raw and that's okay...if you continue a diet with raw incorporated into it, one day you will just naturally gravitate to a higher and higher percentage of raw and one day you'll look up and have effortlessly become 100% raw!

[fruit]

I agree with Rawkinlocs!! :)

[spicyfull]

Ditto.............

[lil fairy z girl]

i tried to answer this but Rawkinlocs has said it better than i ever could :)
it does take time for our bodies to heal, but we are giving it the best resources we can to do so,

best wishes
sal
~*~*~*

[Pansy]

Same Here.........!

;)

[Bechtel]

Kelsey,
You gave up because you had wrong attitude. You should not just think about loosing weght but changing your lifestyle. 30 days? You need 30 weeks to strat feeling results. The SAD addiction got you. Rawkinlock gave you very good suggestions to start with. Read, read and read.
It is a very rocky road.

[Sunshine9]

I'm sorry to hear you had a frustrating experience. I know the benefits of the raw diet showed up in stages for me. Some were over night, and I am still looking forward to some of the long term effects. I do agree with rawinlocks, I also think it sounds like you jumped into a place you weren't comfortable with yet. Where would you be comfortable? 100% raw can be intense at first, and nobody should ever feel deprived on any diet. I do NOT believe that this diet is 100% or bust. Whatever percentage of fresh, raw, vibrant, organic plant food you can include in your diet is excellent. Perhaps choose a place that feels good to you and commit to that for a month. In the meantime keep reading and trying new foods..

Best of health to you :)

[eatyourbroccoli]

14 days is only where the detox begins. give it a month to get through the detox. maybe even a bit more if youve lived on junk most of your life.

make sure youre not eating too late at night. are you exercising too? that will quicken the detox. for me, personally, too much fat slows me down. except avocadoes - avocadoes i can do. but oil and nuts and too many seeds ... i feel those the next day.

your 1 year old is getting more than enough nutrients on raw. what he isnt getting is nutrients on sad. notice the increasing rate of overweight babies and the raising frequency of type two diabetes among children? theres no better diet to feed your 1 year old besides raw. except breast milk.

good luck

oh, ps..are you drinking green smoothies? those help a lot. i also drink kombucha tea and though not all raw foodists will, it is organic and raw (fermented) and it has helped a lot with energy mostly because its helped digestion a lot - and my digestion is not longer that awful to begin with.

[Bingka]

After reading your post I get the feeling you are not convinced that raw is healthy. You are concerned about your 1 year old geting nutrients. I completely understand your concern, but if you have done alot of research and read alot of posts you would not be concerned. You would be mad at yourself for feeding your child a SAD diet.

You need to believe in raw before you can do it. If you don't believe, your body will give you the results you expect. If you expect eating raw will not help you lose weight, it won't. Your mind and body need to be in agreement.

I know it is hard to get started and maintain. We have all faced those feelings. Last night I wanted a Pizza so bad I spent two hours convincing myself it was okay to have a little bit. I didn't have any, but I was thinking wrong. I had a big salad and 1/2 a watermelon.

Do as much as you and your family can do. Keep learning and reading. One day you will wake up and just know this is the right way to eat.

A book that helped me alot: The China Study. It is a science based book about nutrition.

Ken

[rawpriestess]

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT


AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN, lol


trust me, this is a process, I stayed raw the first time, 3 weeks, UGH, then off/on/off/on for over 5 years, but I didn't quit,

just don't quit

do the best you can

this is what I suggest

eat fresh fruits for breakfast, as much as you want, smoothies, juices, whatever

then for lunch, have a nice big garden salad, make it gorgeous, all kinds of fresh veggies, crispy celery, herbs, nuts, etc

then eat a SAD dinner if that works for you,

do this every day, and you will feel so much better, there will be some days when you just want another salad for dinner, then do that, or add some chicken if you like, or some fresh salmon.

if you aren't having instant energy, it's because you are detoxing, and that takes time, it's okay that it takes time, and it's great that you did the 100% raw for 2 weeks, how wonderful to lose 5/10 pounds and be on the road to health.

And just know that not one person I know, NOT ONE, ever started eating 100% raw, and stayed with it, they all had to learn, stumble, eat cooked, go on go off, eat raw again, etc, and it just takes time.

I know for me, that It has bee an all or nothing approach, and that works for me, but for many others, eating some raw and some cooked works for them,

so please, stay here with all of us, eat some raw, some cooked, try new recipes, have fun, enjoy the food, enjoy our freindship and ask questions, do all you can to become more healthy, and fruits for breakfast, veggies for lunch, whatever for dinner, each day is a new day to try new things, and to

move closer to health, or move closer to death, that is the way I look at it.

good to have you here.

[Pansy]

Bless you, RP! I couldn't agree more! It is a process!

Namaste,

Pansy ;)

[honeybee joy]

My healing has been pretty slow, but I have noticed small changes over time. My energy levels have gotten alot better, but I am not fully of enery yet. I do agree with the others that you should give it more time. Why not try simple stuff most of the time and a few gourmet dishes a few times a week. I find that I now love the simpler stuff better.

I know alot on here wont agree with this, but if it makes you feel better, take a raw vegan vitamin and continue to be raw. That might help squash your fears about not getting enough nutrients, and alow you to enjoy being raw. I truly believe I am luck to have found raw. Don't give up.

[dogmd]

Well said Raw Priestess and Honey Bee Joy, and all of the others that posted. You all are an amazing group of people. I am blessed to have found this site and all of you!! :)

DONT GIVE UP!!

[Amberly]

Expecting to see dramatic benefits in only two weeks is like trying to turn it into a magic pill. It's not. It's a lifestyle change. Some people DO see a dramatic change in 2 weeks, some it takes longer. Sounds like you have toxic thinking.

[carolg]

For me I grew up with a traditional salad with lettuce, tomatoe and cucumber. We ate, but not much variety. Bumping up my learning curve with discovery of new fruits and veggies, I mainly eat for the food value more than the taste. Of course a horrible taste would not go down at all.

Keep hanging in. Trying out new recipes and perhaps adopt an "attitude" that "health is a choice". For me I rather spend my money on other avenues than depend on the medical profession. I am not judging anyone here, but the only one so far I can't live without is the dentist and have not found eating health to help one bit. I may be the exception, but bad teeth have always followed me even thinking positive, speaking positive, etc. It may be inherited in my case.

Feeling better? I feel the same--high energy and aging gracefully I hope. I just know eating less cooked is better for me so I make these choices daily and don't beat myself up if I decided on something steamed, vegan. I prefer raw however. Play with your food ideas. It's so much fun and I get amazed at the beautiful colors that go on my plate. Right now I have orange and red roma tomatoes, then red, yellow, orange and green (since they didn't turn color and too late now) peppers. Together on a place, next to each other they are gorgeous and delish.

My husband has a very hectic work schedule, running all over doing physicall job, and years later, still living this lifestyle as best as it works for us.

Hope this encourages you.

Best to you.
carolg

[Guppy]

Oh My Goodness Ken!! What you said just hit me over the head like a bag of bricks! Like many others here, I do great at 100% for 2 weeks and then I plop face first into a pizza. I don't think I ever realized before that the DOUBTS I start to get about raw at the 14 day mark, are what are sabotaging me! Wow, I need to do some more work around that area.

It's funny b/c at 2 weeks, I start seeing HUGE positive results. And then I just freak out. It has been mystifying me so much.

Thanks so much for the insight!

See, you never know when and what you might happen to say that will spark something for somebody out there.

Moonlover - What is that saying...Nothing worth having comes w/o work? Eating healthy Raw food is a BIG change for most of us. Like anything else we learn, it takes time and patience. No Magic Pills. No Overnight Miracles.

Honeybee - How much weight have you lost?! Your avatar picture looks so different!!

Best of luck,
emily

[Tangerina]

Moonlover, I don't know if you are still checking this post, and I also feel wierd reccommending someone else's book on Alissa's site, but the book The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalie Rose is what got me thinking I could do raw foods and eventually led me to feel comfortable with Alissa's philosophy of 100% raw vegan... so although I am reccomending another book, for me it was a gateway to 100% raw. I have always been interested in food and nutrition so I knew a bit about raw but was skeptical because it seemed extreme, but then I real my friend's copy of Natalie's book and what she does is divide the journey into 5 stages... Stage 5 is just a healthy vegetarian diet and stage 1 is 100% raw with occasional baked fish and raw goat cheese. She also stresses food combingng and better choices at every stage. I really liked this because the point was not to be hardcore 100% raw but to do what works for you and transition over time to making better and better choices. I like this philosophy. I tried eating at level 2 for a day (which she sometimes calls "raw til dinner"... I ate fruit til noon, then salads and avo and nuts all day and had a piece of fish with grilled veggies for dinner) and found that it wasn't distressing at all and I felt good.... it was easier going raw all day since I knew I could have that simple healthy cooked dinner of sweet potatoes, or eggs, or fish..... but eventually I didn't feel like it would be all that distressing to have raw food for dinner as well.... I'm just saying you might want to read her book and start out from that phliosophical standpoint and see if it leads you to 100% raw... and if it doesn't, you still will be doing something great for your body.... I am 26 days into my 31 day challenge and I believe that this week I am feeling my first real detox, though I was pretty healthy and only about 10-15 lbs over optimal weight to begin with so they aren't very severe. When my challenge is up I will probably go 90% raw and stay off all processed foods but add in a bit of fish and eggs again because I feel best when I am eating those things.... everyone's journey is different...

[lily]

Yes, wise words, Tangerina -- everyone's journey is indeed different.

I have periods of weeks at a time when I'm 100% raw vegan, then I find myself craving the plain, un-fatty stodginess and comfort of cooked legumes such as garbanzos and simple lentil soup.

So I find it works to do as you suggest: always be raw mostly -- fruit breakfast, big raw salads for lunch and evening meals, fruit and veg snacks -- but with some of the cooked lentils etc with one or both of the salads when I need them.

Then when i've been allowing myself to do this for a week or so I find that once again I'm really 'craving' being fully raw. So there I go, 100% raw again...

I'd love to be 100% raw all the time, but I'm beginning to learn to accept what 'is' about myself -- and life -- oops, getting a bit philosophical there...

lily

[moonlovers812]

Kelsey,
You gave up because you had wrong attitude. You should not just think about loosing weght but changing your lifestyle.


I'm sorry if this is harsh but I must defend myself. I did NOT have the wrong attitude about this diet. Yes, I expected some weightloss, but as I said above, more than anything I looked forward to a rise in my energy levels and being healthy. I went into this wanting to change my lifestyle, and I expected to see similar results and experiences that others have had. Even Alissa's promises that within days you'll notice a difference. Now I know that each person is different and you can't expect everything to be the same, but I would hope you could understand my disapointment when not seeing any change in the way I felt.

[moonlovers812]

I'm sorry to hear you had a frustrating experience. I know the benefits of the raw diet showed up in stages for me. Some were over night, and I am still looking forward to some of the long term effects. I do agree with rawinlocks, I also think it sounds like you jumped into a place you weren't comfortable with yet. Where would you be comfortable? 100% raw can be intense at first, and nobody should ever feel deprived on any diet. I do NOT believe that this diet is 100% or bust. Whatever percentage of fresh, raw, vibrant, organic plant food you can include in your diet is excellent. Perhaps choose a place that feels good to you and commit to that for a month. In the meantime keep reading and trying new foods..

Best of health to you :)

Here's the thing. I honestly felt that I was comfortable with 100%. I'd done the research, read the books, I was pumped up and ready. However, there are a few situations that made things more challenging. My husband and I are live in assistants for an elderly couple. As part of my responsibilities I cook dinner for all of us as part of our pay they provide the food. Unfortunately, this couple is on a very SAD diet. I do what I can to incorporate more healthy items but I don't do the grocery shopping so this is difficult. They were very supportive and understanding about this diet, they even gave me food money to purchase those items for my husband and I (not near what we needed but it helped). Regardless, there I was, in the kitchen cooking five nights a week. Also, my husband is not as strong in areas like this. While he didn't cheat, he wanting to and it was made known to me.

Of course, these are all excuses, but I feel that if I was living alone, and had done this, I wouldn't have had too many problems. But i don't live alone, and this job is supporting our family through chiropractic school. So for now, I do what I can, try not to stress, and perhaps in the future where I have much more control on what ends up on the dinner table, things will be different.

[moonlovers812]

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT


AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN, lol


trust me, this is a process, I stayed raw the first time, 3 weeks, UGH, then off/on/off/on for over 5 years, but I didn't quit,

just don't quit

do the best you can

this is what I suggest

eat fresh fruits for breakfast, as much as you want, smoothies, juices, whatever

then for lunch, have a nice big garden salad, make it gorgeous, all kinds of fresh veggies, crispy celery, herbs, nuts, etc

then eat a SAD dinner if that works for you,

do this every day, and you will feel so much better, there will be some days when you just want another salad for dinner, then do that, or add some chicken if you like, or some fresh salmon.

if you aren't having instant energy, it's because you are detoxing, and that takes time, it's okay that it takes time, and it's great that you did the 100% raw for 2 weeks, how wonderful to lose 5/10 pounds and be on the road to health.

And just know that not one person I know, NOT ONE, ever started eating 100% raw, and stayed with it, they all had to learn, stumble, eat cooked, go on go off, eat raw again, etc, and it just takes time.

I know for me, that It has bee an all or nothing approach, and that works for me, but for many others, eating some raw and some cooked works for them,

so please, stay here with all of us, eat some raw, some cooked, try new recipes, have fun, enjoy the food, enjoy our freindship and ask questions, do all you can to become more healthy, and fruits for breakfast, veggies for lunch, whatever for dinner, each day is a new day to try new things, and to

move closer to health, or move closer to death, that is the way I look at it.

good to have you here.


Thanks for some encouraging words. I do pretty good during the day. It's at dinner time when things get tricky.

[moonlovers812]

Tangerina - Thanks for the advice, I see if I can find that book.
Rawkinlocs - Thanks too for your possible explanantion and advice

To everyone else that I haven't commented on your comment -

Please understand I didn't expect an overnight miracle. I did expect SOMETHING however, and was simply disapointed because I truly believed in what I was doing. If I had noticed something it may have given me that push I needed to keep going.

Thanks for all those who took the time to truly offer advice and be supportive and helpful. It's those type of people and encouraging words that can make me want to recommit.

I'm not sure how to say this next part, I truly don't want to offend, but I feel it needs to be said. I wish that some people would ask questions and gain a fuller understanding before judging thoughts or opinions of a person. Just because someone struggles or expects things that they're TOLD to expect, doesn't mean they have the wrong attitude or has toxic thinking. Everyone is just trying to do their best and puts trust in people while in a vunerable state by sharing their concerns and problems when things go wrong. Lets all try to be a bit more sensative and encourage people rather discouraging them by telling them why they are wrong.

[lissomllama]

It might help to know that this is a lifestyle. Not a diet. And it takes time. Lots of time and tons of perseverance, and ping-ponging back anf forth won't give results. It is something that one must commit to for good. I know it seems hard at first. You'll figure it out though. :)