Fats, calorie counting - I need to get this off my chest!

[Ariannah]

I notice a few people who are newer to raw food expressing concern over fats and calories. This is understandable given the world of food-confusion that we live in. It took me a long while to get over this mindset, too. However, I feel uncomfortable just not saying anything while I see people who are clearly concerned about this issue.

With 100% Raw eating it is so different. One does not need to worry about that. It sounds too good to be true, but it is.

On a cooked food diet, my body needed to rely on outside sources to tell me when I'd had "too much" fat grams because I'd damaged my body's instincts by putting cooked food in it, which is not natural! Our bodies are not meant to be confused in the way the (cooked and processed) food industry wishes to capitalize from our confusion. Our bodies are designed to tell us when something is wrong.

The body functions differently on raw. When I'm eating something rich (like a raw dessert), I notice far sooner when my body wants me to stop. It's pretty self-limiting. The next several days I may want to just eat lighter and natural. The body, when it's on 100% raw, will direct us to what it needs next. Some days I'll feel like having rich food, some days I won't. The body gets to decide. For me there were even times when my body needed a break and I didn't even realize I'd not eaten all day until 4pm!

Trust me, for a cooked food addict like me who used to watch the clock all day waiting for my next portion of food, one would never EVER accuse me of "forgetting to eat", before raw!

So, enjoy the freedom of 100% raw eating! Trust your body!

I realize and respect that not everyone is at 100% yet. But this board is here to support and foster 100% and the principles written in Alissa's book "Living on Live Food."

I hope it's ok to speak frankly about this, but the concern over calories and "all that fat" especially was making me uncomfortable when my own experience, and what I have read in Alissa's own book, indicated something entirely different.

[Ariannah]

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[trinity082482]

I must admit I'm one of those people new to raw who keep calorie count. Well not really. I used to and I'm thinking I should again because although I do cheat, I am mostly raw and I have gained weight. My pants and clothes around my tummy are tighter and its freaking me out because that is not what I need. My body needs to drop weight in order to get healthy. I have a few pounds to loose to keep my knee's from hurting when I'm active. What is your solution for those who don't count calories but are gaining weight. :(

[Ariannah]

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[Revvell]

What is your solution for those who don't count calories but are gaining weight. :(

Go 100%, stop focusing on weight (what you focus on expands) and focus on health and get moving if you aren't already.

Revvell

[Sharon in Colorado]

This is a very controversial topic, and I think it would be fair to mention that Alissa's program in particular doesn't advocate watching calories, carbs, protein and/or fat intake.

However, there are other raw programs that do use guidelines such as these which do benefit the people who use them.

However those programs aren't advocated or discussed here, so for those who are searching for those programs, there are other raw sites and message boards that they can go to for this kind of support.

[Ariannah]

This is a very controversial topic, and I think it would be fair to mention that Alissa's program in particular doesn't advocate watching calories, carbs, protein and/or fat intake.

However, there are other raw programs that do use guidelines such as these which do benefit the people who use them.

However those programs aren't advocated or discussed here, so for those who are searching for those programs, there are other raw sites and message boards that they can go to for this kind of support.

That was precisely what my original post (read post #1) was saying. It was advocating freedom FROM calorie counting on 100% raw.

Yes, it's a controversial topic but it needs to be said every now and then, as I often see confused, new people worried about all the "calories" in the raw foods they see being talked about. It was my hope to be helpful in assuring people that it's not necessary at ALL with 100% raw.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I totally agree with you. Raw can be so confusing to many people new to it. Sometimes so confusing that, people often take their cooked food addictions over to the raw side and then don't see the results that everyone else is getting. I think many of us can agree with that.

[trinity082482]

Thanks for the reply. I really hope I don't keep gaining. I know I shouldnt be worried about my weight as long as I am healthy but I just wonder what makes some people drop to 120 and others go up in weight. Oh well LOL. I'll do my best :D

[Ariannah]

Going 100% is a process in learning.

I remember when I first went 100% I was eating eating eating... and as soon as I realized I was in no danger of losing my freedom with food, gradually the old cravings went away and things balanced out.

To be honest, I never dreamed I could eat so much and still lose weight (I'm not at my optimum weight yet, but it's dropping off like anything).

The body responds like a hand to a warm glove with 100%. When we're still hanging onto our old mentalities and worries we can't really begin to trust the process of our bodies healing.

I don't focus on scales or numbers anymore. I grew up with the numbers game mentality and I decided to start afresh as if scales don't exist. It kind of makes me the "sit, smile, and nod" person in a group of people who are chattering away about scales, carbs, fats, calories, and "ideal weight for my body" .... but what the hey. If being an oddball is the price I pay for freedom, I'll take it.

I love RAW. I love not having heartburn, fatigue, depression (I have not had a lick of winter depression, go figure), pseudoseizures, headaches, lethargy.

I love having ENERGY, freedom to eat a RP brownie, or 3 oranges, or a big helping of grapes, or a walnut pate....

It's freedom, people! It's time to let go of the old mentalities that the diet industry has been drilling into our heads for decades, and just let nature take its course!!

[PeachyMama]

I'm one of those people who is afraid. Because I do know that being an overeater, my body is used to ignoring that voice saying I'm full. If something was super yummy to me on SAD, there were many times I just couldn't stop until it was all gone. I am afraid of doing that RAW.

I got my dehydrator Friday, and yesterday, I made a half batch of Alissa's falafel. Over the course of the day, I ate the whole batch. Because it was good. So good. Then again, I made the Tropical Lime Pie for my own Christmas dessert, and I had one small piece (about 1/16 of the pie) and that was enough ... and I thought that was totally TDF.

Today, I ate fairly lightly, but still did consume a whole avocado (no nuts, though). My plan for the rest of the day is a banana/clementine smoothie and some herb tea.

So, yeah, I worry. Because I am coming out of a summer of total binge eating, and I'm not one who purged. I just binged. And my body looks like it. But I do have hope. Hope that I will see that balance happening.

[Ariannah]

Peachymama,

I can hear you loud and clear. I was terrified at first, too. I have been an overeater and binge eater most of my adult life with very few healthy moments. Seldom did I weigh under 200 pounds in my whole 20 years of having been an adult (I am nearly 40). I'm the queen of ignoring signals to the point where I don't know they're there.

Trust me, the body sends different signals on raw. I've eaten entire blueberry-banana pies on raw, too. Then the next few days, naturally I was light. But it's very different. And the peace, contentment and satisfaction with knowing that it's all good... well, it is just better.

The repurcussions of eating too much on raw are much different. I'm extremely satisfied (and I can't underscore enough how much I had no clue what "satisfied" meant prior to raw. I'd eat and eat with no satisfaction even when stuffed). Because on cooked food, which was addictive, despite being technically stuffed, I was not satisfied. I don't get that same feeling with raw.

With raw I am satisfied physically and mentally, and in every other way.

I now know what "other people" mean when they say, "Thanks, I'm really satisfied right now - I'm done eating!" I used to think that like me, they were faking it to be polite!

The balance comes, your body will eventually tune into the idea that it's being treated waaaaay better than before, and will respond accordingly. You'll be in my thoughts.

[PeachyMama]

Thanks Rawandnatural!

What you said about the satisfaction really struck a chord with me. Because even though I'm just shy of 2 weeks in (100% except for wheat-free tamari), I have had that experience of being REALLY satisfied and knowing what it meant. I simply hadn't noticed it for what it was until you mentioned it. Thank you! I'll combine that knowledge of a positive step taken with the increased energy I've had lately (knowing this is just the beginning!) and just keep building from here. I want to get to a point where I ALWAYS do what I've done with Christmas this year.

I was originally going to wait to go raw until after the holidays, but I felt so awful physically that I just couldn't. So I started December 12th. I did that with the thought that I'd still eat Christmas dinner. In fact, I had planned a gluten-free menu so that I could partake. But, after my first week on raw, the idea of putting all of that into my body, of making myself feel horrible ... it just totally repulsed me. Not only that, the menu I'd planned didn't seem appealing anymore. I consciously have chosen to eat raw. I've uncooked myself some things to have a raw Christmas feast while everyone else is eating the cooked food. And, just to hedge my bets I made the foods the usual way instead of the gluten-free way :D Now I can't eat them even if I am tempted!!

I turned 44 in August, and I promised myself that I was going to get myself onto a good path by the time I'm 45. I know that eating this way is part of that. For the first time, in a long time, I feel like I might just be starting to form a healthy relationship with food.

Boy, can I go on or what? Thanks for listening and letting me get all of this out!

[Ariannah]

I was originally going to wait to go raw until after the holidays, but I felt so awful physically that I just couldn't. So I started December 12th.

Hey wow what a coincidence! This is my second time going 100% raw.

I was visiting my mother in law at the beginning of December and had mentioned that I was going to "wait until after the holidays", but on the evening of December 10th I I felt so awful that I decided I could not wait another DAY, let alone 3 weeks. I had an intense craving for how wonderful I had felt only the previous year.

I wanted to go raw starting with the next BITE! So I started with no looking back, Dec 11th.

And this is for LIFE! I want to be healthy forever. No more compromises... I don't do slippery slopes well. 100% raw is the only way I feel 100% HUMAN!

[Shmoopie]

I was reading what PeachyMama said in her first post on this thread and I want to ask...

Is there anyone who, while consistently 100% raw, has gained (and held...not fluctuated a few pounds) weight when they've eaten the high fat foods like avocados and nuts?

I know for a fact that people can get very confused when they hear the word "fat" in connection with a raw diet as opposed to a SAD diet. From what I understand (maybe I'm wrong or maybe it varies from person to person), GOOD fats (nuts, avos, etc) actually promote weight loss because they are fats our bodies need in order to work properly and metabolize our food. I also have an understanding that fat burns fat. There are obviously a million and two theories out there: carbs cause fat, sugars cause fat, calories cause fat, fat causes fat, etc. Maybe they're all true on some level, but nobody came to these conclusions by studying people on a raw diet or by studying people who eat good fats. They're found by studying people who are unwilling to stop the McDonald's, and the ice cream, and the cookies, the pop, etc. and need a middle ground. Point is, it seems to me that fat isn't what causes *fat* at all. It's additives, it's sugars, it's chemicals, it's hydrogenated oils, it's preservatives, fillers, mystery meats, etc. Am I right?

If not, I'd love to know. If so, I'd love everyone else to know so that perhaps the people worried about fat can start to learn that "fat" in raw-speak is not the same as "fat" in Typical Crap American Diet Land.

Our bodies need fat. The fat you get from raw food is beneficial and not made to make us obese and unhealthy. I mean, if it's there in the raw food, then there's a purpose for it, right? Probably a good one...just like the vitamins and other nutrients. It's just more programming that needs to be unprogrammed is all I'm saying :)

Hope everyone is having a nice holiday!

[JGex]

Hey wow what a coincidence! This is my second time going 100% raw.


Hey rawandnatural, if you don't mind me asking, why did you stop being 100% the first time? How long did you go before going all raw again?

[PeachyMama]

Thanks for making those points, Schmoopie. I think my big concern is that I would start to prefer the more calorically dense foods at the expense of getting in all the greens and juicy fruits that I should. Fat tastes good, and in my past, good taste meant binging.

I've started to wonder, though, of part of it is time of year. I'm assuming that nuts were a large part of the diet during the colder months, and come late spring and summer, lighter foods, naturally in season, were the mainstay of the diet. I'm interested to see if my body will naturally go in that direction when the weather gets warmer/days get longer.

I too would love to know the answer to the weight gain/100% raw question.

(ps ... I love your name. It happens to be my daughter's nickname!)

[Shmoopie]

Thanks!

I'm sure you're probably right with what you said about heavier foods during cold months and light foods in the warmer months. We do it as SAD eaters. Look at all the "comfort foods" eaten during the winter that people don't make at all in the summer because it's just too hot to spend that much time in the kitchen and then weigh your body down with such heavy foods.

Anyway, the up-side to your having taken a liking to the nuts and fats is that if you decide you're eating them SO much that you're not getting other necessary foods in, at least you can take comfort in knowing that the raw fats aren't addicting. No chemicals to hook you. If you *had* to slow it down in order to have more balanced nutrition, you have that on your side. From there, if it's a problem, it's mental. Not that that makes it easy, but easier for sure. I don't think you have anything to worry about. I think you're just afraid, which is ok, but give it some time and really pay attention to what you go through and you know what? You'll see that now is different than before.

If you're worried about getting all your necessities in, maybe you could write yourself a sort of meal plan every day, just until you get into a routine of eating in a more balanced way. Not a strict one, just one that says something like:

breakfast: fruit
lunch: veggie wrap
Dinner: salad

and then keep your nuts/avos as snacks or foods to be eaten for/with dinner, so that way you know you got all your other nutrients in already and you're not missing anything.

Geez...I'm long-winded too lol

[Shmoopie]

Also, I'm sure since this is still so new for you, you're just eating the higher fat foods to try to hang onto that "full" feeling you're used to. I think everyone does that until they get detoxed and get comfortable.

[Ariannah]

Hey rawandnatural, if you don't mind me asking, why did you stop being 100% the first time? How long did you go before going all raw again?

There were a number of reasons. Many of them were my utterly poor responses to social pressure. After I went down that slippery slope, once I was on cooked, I tried so hard to stop, but kept eating "just a bit", which turned into all cooked (vegetarian and vegan).

I went off raw in February, and went back on in December 11th. It was like I couldn't either mentally or physically be comfortable with the idea of going back to cooked, ever again. It's hard to explain, but it's almost like the raw "glove" was waiting for the hand to just wear it.

The first time I was raw, it was for 8 months, and it was different then. It was a "good idea" which I loved, and enjoyed the way I felt. I enjoyed every aspect of it. This time it's more than "a good idea", but rather I feel like I have a piece of myself back.

I'm better prepared to handle social pressure than I was the first time, and part of it is just getting older and accepting and embracing full jurisdiction over my own actions and choices. These are my choices, and it's nobody else's territory.

Anyway, this is a bit off topic from my original post, which I hope people will take for themselves and embrace.

The change in mindset is important and for me has become a cherished principle. Freedom in raw!

[Ariannah]

Also, I'm sure since this is still so new for you, you're just eating the higher fat foods to try to hang onto that "full" feeling you're used to. I think everyone does that until they get detoxed and get comfortable.

Very true, the healthier the body gets, the healthier the cravings get, and the more satisfied the body feels without even realizing it! The crossover to that feeling is beyond mere wordy descriptions!

I tend to go through "favorites" phases. Sometimes I want something rich and nutty, other times, smoothies and pure fruit will do me fine for DAYS...

The body behaves differently on 100% raw, and metabolizes and utilizes our food much much differently than all the hype diets do. It's getting back to nature! The body is doing what it's supposed to do with food!

[GoingtoRAW]

Rawandnatural,

I can totally relate to what you are saying about the difference between following a raw food lifestyle and following a partial raw or SAD lifestyle. When I was on raw I never had to worry about counting anything. I felt total freedom from worrying about the things I worry about constantly on a SAD diet. When I eat 100% raw my body tells me when I am hungry, when I am full, when I need to cut back on something I have been over doing like raw desserts or eating too many nuts or dehydrated raw foods. My body always tells me when I need to simplify and go back to basics like fruits, veggies and nuts. One of the things I love about raw is that you don't have to count anything.

Also, as far as weight loss, when I was 100% raw the weight came off no matter what I ate. And believe me I ate everything I wanted. Because some of the raw foods I ate were so dense, like raw lasagna, or raw chocolate cake, I could eat much less to feel satisfied and the weight came off effortlessly anyway. I did not eat that way everyday because I did not crave that kind of food every day. Another perk was that no matter what I ate as long as it was raw I had boundless energy.

I have gone on an off raw and there is no comparison between the way I felt on raw and the way I feel on cooked. Felt like a million dollars on raw feel lethargic, lazy, depressed and just plain yucky on cooked!

I am making a commitment to go back to raw with the new year. I hate the way I look and feel on cooked! :(

[divegoddess]

I guess I'm not the only person who has gained weight after going raw. I thought it was because I ate too many bananas and nuts to "feel full" and they are high in calories. My weight was so consistant over the last 5 years when I was eating cooked foods, no matter what I ate, how much or how unhealthy, I never fluctuated over 1 lb for more than 2 days. Now I've gained 5 and holding, my pants are too tight and my stomach is distended. Maybe my body is confused. I'm still going to cut down on the bananas and nuts for awhile. It's hard not to think of calories and fat grams after so many years of conditioning. I know I need to let go of all that conventional thinking and my fear of gaining weight.

[pdx kris]

Well, Alissa does say in her video that the first week you eat raw, you'll lose weight, no matter what you eat. After that, if you are seeking to lose weight, you will probably need to limit foods like nuts.

[CaptainSwab]

I was reading what PeachyMama said in her first post on this thread and I want to ask...

Is there anyone who, while consistently 100% raw, has gained (and held...not fluctuated a few pounds) weight when they've eaten the high fat foods like avocados and nuts?

I know for a fact that people can get very confused when they hear the word "fat" in connection with a raw diet as opposed to a SAD diet. From what I understand (maybe I'm wrong or maybe it varies from person to person), GOOD fats (nuts, avos, etc) actually promote weight loss because they are fats our bodies need in order to work properly and metabolize our food. I also have an understanding that fat burns fat. There are obviously a million and two theories out there: carbs cause fat, sugars cause fat, calories cause fat, fat causes fat, etc. Maybe they're all true on some level, but nobody came to these conclusions by studying people on a raw diet or by studying people who eat good fats. They're found by studying people who are unwilling to stop the McDonald's, and the ice cream, and the cookies, the pop, etc. and need a middle ground. Point is, it seems to me that fat isn't what causes *fat* at all. It's additives, it's sugars, it's chemicals, it's hydrogenated oils, it's preservatives, fillers, mystery meats, etc. Am I right?

If not, I'd love to know. If so, I'd love everyone else to know so that perhaps the people worried about fat can start to learn that "fat" in raw-speak is not the same as "fat" in Typical Crap American Diet Land.

Our bodies need fat. The fat you get from raw food is beneficial and not made to make us obese and unhealthy. I mean, if it's there in the raw food, then there's a purpose for it, right? Probably a good one...just like the vitamins and other nutrients. It's just more programming that needs to be unprogrammed is all I'm saying :)

Hope everyone is having a nice holiday!


Personally I find that I need fat to feel satisfied period. This goes for when I am eating raw or eating cooked. I kinda get a hollow empty feeling if I eat too little fat. It took me awhile to be okay with this though. I used to be one of those people that thought I needed to limit my fat intake to a certain percentage of my calories a day.