?'s about raw food - new!

[Lanessa]

Hello, I am very new to this. I haven't even bought a book to research, but just been on diffrent raw websites. Here is a little about me and my questions...
I am 26, 3 kids under 3! and stay at home. During all 3 pregnancies I gained too much weight. I am now about 70 pounds over what I should be. I have had a few medical problems - and just really feel sluggish and know it is the foods I eat and the amounts. So I have been going at this for 1 week, all raw foods, I am trying to eat at 9, 12, 3, 6, and 9. I have to do it this way so I don't cheat. I am usually having only raw 4 of those times, and then one meal I'll have a little tuna, or steamed veggies- no sugar, bread, dairy, ect.. So here is my ?'s :confused:

I haven't lost any weight and this is really discouraging...I have even excersized 3 times this week...any reccomendations?

If one of my meals is the tuna, or steamed asparagus, is this not good?

Does everyone stay away from dairy, eggs, and meat? It is basically a vegan diet but with only raw?

I will say that my hunger pains has gotten so much better, as well as the headaches and joint pain I was having. I know I will get better at this and hopefully help my over all health. Thanks for this site!

[Veganforlife]

Hey there. First of all welcome. This site you will learn so much from. Use the banana up top to search.
Second - get Alissa's book. I feel it is the best by far! Next in line for me anyway is Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko. I have a green smoothie every day. Smoothies are RAWsome for weightloss, they are quick to prepare, yummy and you can consume and your body can assimilate much more of the greens this way then chewing and munching on greens. I am drinking a grape, romaine, banana smoothie right now!
I jumped into 100% raw, but prior to that I was Vegan (2 years) and then prior to that Vegetarian 26 years, so this was an easy transition for me. I agree with Alissa that is you are not doing 100% raw, your body is still getting dead foods and it is working harder to clean/detox your system. Alissa's book is so full of facts about foods and how they heal and help your body and recipes! WHOA!!!
As far as your headaches and aches and pains? I have always, ALWAYS suffered migraines. I am 52 and I cannot EVER remember a time in my life that I didn't have migraines. Coming home from Sunday School and Church as a little girl - I would go to bed crying with one. Raising my children. I would come home (half a day) from work and go to bed with a migraine. I felt I missed so much of their little lives. Since going raw 12 weeks ago, I have not had one. NOT ONE migraine! That is monumental. Oh, and I've dropped about 25 pounds! Losing weight is secondary to how wonderful I feel. I have tons of energy. I sleep well, something I did not do. My overall sense of well-being has improved 100%. The second day of going raw I felt wonderful. My skin feels tighter. I don't have morning breath. It makes sense. Dead foods = dead bodies. Live foods = live bodies. Think about it. You are eating whole, living foods. Not processed, dead foods.
I will never, ever go back to cooked/altered/processed foods. I feel too good these days.
I wish you luck in your journey. My opinion? Stop eating the processed junk. Your body will thank you!
Side note: I have also started drinking wheatgrass. I grow my own and love it. Wheatgrass is wonderful for cleansing and well-being.
Welcome to the RAW world!

[sunflowery]

welcome Lanessa,
I'm totaly agree with Veganforlife. I've had migraines too, it stop at all in my first 100% raw week. I really recomend you to turn into 100% and green smoothies are great too.

Good luck :)

[Lay-Lay]

Howdy and welcome. 100% raw is the way to go! WOW, I just started doing green smoothies about 3 weeks ago and they really make me feel AWESOME! Take a 30 DAY 100% Raw Challenge!

[Sharon in Colorado]

Does everyone stay away from dairy, eggs, and meat? It is basically a vegan diet but with only raw?

The discussions on this board are limited to plant foods and honey. There are some who may partake of the above animal foods according to their personal journey.

I would recommend wasting no time and going the next step - work toward eliminating all animal products and having fruit and fruit smoothies for breakfast, and have more raw food if you are ready, for lunch and then dinner.

Once you are ready, go for it! Just go all raw, take the 30 day challenge and see where that takes you. You will be amazed at the results!

You can go all raw now if you are ready as well. However sometimes people find it easier to graduate to a vegan diet high raw and then going all raw at once.

[Raine]

Lanessa --

First off, congratulations for looking into this. Like you, I have been eating extensively raw with no weight loss and I became discouraged. I felt the need to go for a 30 day juice fast (I'm on day 12). I have lost 19 pounds and feel fantastic.

With 3 kids, I can only imagine how this might be more than you are willing to take on, but if you want the weight off so you can keep up with your kids, it's a great way to go.

The first 48 hours of a juice fast you may feel a higher level of energy and then days 3-6 are often rough because you feel tired due to your body really detoxing. What benefited me in the detox mode was that I had been eating predominately raw so my detox wasn't nearly as challenging as those that eat SAD.

Here are some links with information if you feel this is what you need to do - A lot of reading...but helps to keep you on track:

http://www.healthrecipes.com/fast11.htm
http://www.livingright.com/juicing-for-weight-loss.php
http://www.rawfoodexplained.com/
http://www.juicefasting.org/brain.htm
http://home.mindspring.com/~hdf1/id9.html
http://www.freedomyou.com/

Great way to keep track of your nutrition/calories -- it's free
http://www.fitday.com/

Good luck!!

[DavidZaneMason]

Opinion:

-Give it time. It did not take you 30 days to arrive at your current state - and it will probably not take 30 days to arrive at your goals. All YOU can do is set the most fertile ground for change in your life. You can plant the seeds....and do the right thing...but you cannot MAKE them grow. Live in a healthy way and do the daily things you are prepared to do. Health will come.

-Power and success to you.

-David Mason

[PDMagnusen]

Welcome, Lanessa. I agree 100% with DavidZaneMason's comments...

[dreamrawalwz]

Be patient. Having that little bit of cooked still incorporates toxins. First your body will want to heal and detox on the inside before it works on the "outside" as in excess weight. Cooked food can stall the weight loss also. Go at your own pace though. You made some good first steps! Slowly, or 100% go vegan. Then start add in more raw and eventually raw will take over the cooked. I personally went 100% raw "cold turkey".

[Pierre]

Some people start losing weight during the first week raw (I did), some don't. Be patient. And don't knock yourself for eating some cooked the first week. I put tofu and bamboo shoots and water chestnuts in my otherwise raw salad for the first few weeks.

Welcome to raw!

[cenaw/10]

I didn't lose weight for a couple of weeks either, then I went 100% raw, and now lost 16 pounds in three weeks! I have to say, I feel very good all around, but it's the weight loss that keeps me motivated right now when I have a craving. I got alot of books from the library, and read alot online, and then sprung for Alissa's book and DVD. It is the best. Now I have various types of foods prepared from her recipes so that when I have a certain craving I can fill it with a raw substitute. This is working well for me at this transition time where I still have a desire for cooked foods. God bless you on your journey to health.