Weight loss on raw?

[MorningRuby]

I've read a lot on here but I'm not getting very many numbers. I am currently 5'7" and weigh 160lbs. I'd like to get down to 145lbs. I started trying to eat raw about a month ago for only about a week and a half. At the end of the week, from one day to the next, I lost 2 lbs and have no idea how. I've been 95% raw (only thing not raw is a small cup of coffee in the morning- but I'm not ready to give that up yet as I am currently focusing on eating all raw and stopping smoking). My tummy looks a lot flatter already, I'm sure that is from the detoxing and losing the waste in my system. I'm DEFINITELY experiencing detox symptoms and drinking water. I'm just wondering how long it was before all of you started losing weight on raw and how much you lost, let's say within the first month. Seeing the numbers from other people is just more motivation for me. Also, is there anything else I can do to speed up detox/ weight loss?
Normal daily intake
-1 small cup of coffee
-a bannana or a large apple for breakfast
-1 sliced green pepper, sliced carrots for lunch
-a medium sized salad w/ big variety of veggies for dinner
-usually 6-8 glasses of water

Can I make this better somehow? INPUT GREATLY APPRECIATED!

[Ariannah]

Welcome to raw!! :)

You may want to eat a bit more... and also get rid of the coffee when you're ready.

Perhaps add a bit more fruit? One breakfast for me is 3-4 pears. Nice and juicy, rich and satisfying.

[Veganforlife]

Sounds pretty good already!
I would (if I were you) incorporate some green smoothies into your daily diet.
Simple.
2 cups filtered water
handful of greens (spinach, leafy lettuce, etc.)
banana (don't HAVE to use a banana)
another fruit of your choice (I use an orange a lot)
whip up in a blender and you've got a power drink! Filling and GOOD!
You can really make these with load of different ingredients.
Green For Life - Victoria Boutenko's book talks about how good these are and has recipes in it.
I know you don't wann hear this, but give up the java. It's nasty stuff.

My first month raw? I guess I lost about 12 pounds? Can't remember. But total - 40 in 9 months!

[vgloveforlife]

Definitly up for food intake. You will only thrive on a diet like this short term.

[Pierre]

My usual breakfast is a smoothie of at least 400 grams of fruit, usually 3/4 of it frozen. (I bought some bananas and a pineapple this morning and I'm going to freeze them.) I add no water or ice to my smoothies - I like them full-strength. Occasionally I add some flax seeds or camu-camu to the smoothie.

Lunch is a salad of various greens, tomatoes, peppers, and whatever, usually including an avocado or some olives. I try to make it at least 640 grams but sometimes I don't have enough different veggies. I also bring fruit to work.

When I come home I have another smoothie.

I think that the olive or avocado is important for detoxing things stored in fat. You have to have enough fat to replace the toxic fat with.

[glcoop60]

This is just my opinion but, I would up the food intake. This really works. I sometimes go all day eating nothig but fruit. I take to work the following:

2 bananas
1 apple
3 kiwi fruits
2 oranges or pears
and anything else that feels good. Try the smoothies. They are great and a very good way of getting those much needed greens.

Good luck and keep asking questions.

[BlueKiss]

Great job Morningruby - I allow myself to eat any kind of fruit for breakfast and as much as I feel I need. Sometimes I incorporate almond milk and have a creamy fruit shake or, my favorite a chocolate shake:) W/bananna, almond milk and raw cocao powder. Yum! I would not worry about the weight loss as it will naturally come off as you perservere eating raw foods. I will encourage you to quit drinking coffee and just simply say that you can do it. I was so addicted to coffee when I first started eating raw foods, and could have it for breakfast and lunch. I cold turkey quit & feel so much better I don't even crave it anylonger. Anyway, I would reccomend Alissa's book and DVD if you don't already have it. That will help you to incorporate some additional food items into your diet.
Keep up the good work and don't worry about the weight. Take it from someone who is 5"7 and weighs 220. I am just simply staying focused on my health and that seems to help me stay on track with my weight loss.

[Missrawdiva]

I would have to agree about the green smoothies. That is what made the weight come off for me. I take it a step further in my green smoothie, in addition to the bannana, strawberries, one orange, two handfulls of kale, I add raw cocao powder as an appetite suppresant and for a boost of energy and it works!

[Yammy]

For the people who have lost weight on raw, did you find it necessary to omit nuts from your diet? I am thinking of limiting nuts to a handful a day but keeping my avocado intake at 1-2. Guess it's just trial and error!

[Blazin'Jane]

I am 5' 6" and weighed 170 lbs. at Christmas tiime. I went raw on Dec. 27 and have lost 16 lbs. in 8 weeks. I'm sure I eat 4x what you listed per day. If you eat miniscule amounts, it's likely that your metabolism will slow down and move into "starvation" mode. The whole idea of this diet, as I understand it, is to eat lots of really nutritious foods that your body can use for energy. I eat usually 3 pieces of fruit for breakfast, sometimes mixed with tahini or sunflower seeds. For lunch I will likely have a good sized salad, 2 more pieces of fruit, a serving of sunny pate` (which I like just plain--not spread on anything necessarily), and a treat --like a carob ball or some fudge, or cashew creme. I eat some more fruit on my way to the pool after work--one or two pieces, and then not very much else in the evening--sometimes more fudge or something sweet. I have lots of energy and am happy with losing 2 lbs./wk. Recently, I've made some green smoothies in the morning. (Sometimes I like to sit and chew, other days I'd rather putter in the kitchen and sip a smoothie before I leave for work.)
Good luck! But don't be afraid to eat! And eat what's fun! I love feeling like I'm getting away with something eating the candy sort of thing. I don't need much to feel sated with it and it's just so darned yummy!:p

[MorningRuby]

Thank you for your input everyone. I will go ahead and omit the coffee but I may have to replace it with green tea in the morning at least for a few days before I'll be able to stop completely. So I'll go ahead and start that tomorrow morning. As far as the food intake, I only eat that little because I'm rarely hungry. I sit at a computer for 8-10 hrs a day at work. I go on 30min- 1hr walks quite often, and am trying to start the morning out with it because I feel so much better throughout the day when I do. So my goal for the next week is:
1. Stop drinking coffee, but replace it with green tea if I absolutely have to.
2. Eat more, especially fruits.
3. Take a 30min walk every morning before work.

I think if I stay diligent on the exercise then my hunger will come back and hopefully some weight will fall off too. I don't have any kale or spinach right now. I can make smoothies but not really green smoothies yet. I need to go grocery shopping! :)

[misslinda]

It really depends on each person's health,lifestyle,activity level and eating.

When I first discovered raw after sustaining neck and back injuries and being bed ridden---eating for comfort, I ballooned up to 126 lbs at 5'2. My early stages of raw, I would do the usual salad here and there.......only lost maybe 1lb a week. I was too controlling of what my body wanted.

A year later, my condition worsened and I developed all kind of infections and my glands were swollen for over a year.......interim, I at one time got really low in weight but manage to eat cooked vegetarian and gain up to 118.

In the beginnning of 2006, I did a lengthy juice fast to rid the infection at a faster rate and was 100% raw for 6 months and maintained between 93-96 lbs but my face was still swollen from this "infection" I was still fighting. My daily intake:

(It was summer)

Breakfast: 1 whole ripe cantaloupe

Snack: 1 pint fresh figs or blueberries

Lunch: Vegetable platter with raw dressing out of lemon juice and fresh herbs or 6 grapefruits in one sitting

Snack: Celery with pineapple or raw treat (seldom)

Dinner: head of iceberg lettuce or greens pureed with spices for lettuce wraps.

** I think that you will find if you don't [start] your day with coffee, it will be alot different in terms of appeitite etc.** I'm sure you are aware of how dehydrating coffee is and interferes with the CNS. You don't want your weightloss to be b/c of being depleted. With raw,it's about healing,repairing and fine tuning your body's mechanics so it can achieve ideal weight.

:)

[darkchild]

I weighed myself only after 6 weeks, so I don't know exactly what it was at 4 weeks. The total for me after 6 weeks was a whopping 32 pounds. I still had a lot to lose, about 45 more pounds, but I ate anything I wanted as long as it was raw. At least 1 avocado every day, probably about a handful of nuts, lots and lots of greens, tomatoes, fruit, baby coconuts, hemp seeds, a few dehydrated crackers, cucumbers, olives, raisins, jalapenos, the list goes on and on. I literally ate anything I wanted as long as it was raw, and the weight just melted away. I didn't eat lots of dehydrated food, because I had one of those round dehydrators, now that I have a 9-tray excaliber, I dehydrate more. It really adds to the fun, especially in the winter time. Just remember to eat when you're hungry and keep it raw, you can't go wrong!


Dawn

[shine72]

I agree with what has been said. You really do need to up the food intake. I started my journey on Dec. 27th, Just like Blazin'Jane, and now, after 8 weeks, I've lost 22.2 lbs. But I eat anything I want as long as it's raw. I don't worry about fats and nuts right now. I just eat until I'm satisfied. Most days it's moderate amounts, but some days I'm so hungry I eat about 7 meals/snacks. It always works out for me. I just listen to my body. When I'm hungry I eat. I eat until I'm satisfied. It has worked for me so far.

Sunshine :D

[rawfigure]

I too think you need to eat a bit more, otherwise your body will hold onto the weight you want to release. Eat a few more mono meals, you can easily double the fruit and veggies consumption, eat the fruit morning to afternoon, (cucumber and tomato are great midday with a small amt of fat) & add a small amount of Avo to you midday meal to fight any cravings you may get.

[tweety]

Thank you for your input everyone. I will go ahead and omit the coffee but I may have to replace it with green tea in the morning at least for a few days before I'll be able to stop completely. So I'll go ahead and start that tomorrow morning. As far as the food intake, I only eat that little because I'm rarely hungry. I sit at a computer for 8-10 hrs a day at work. I go on 30min- 1hr walks quite often, and am trying to start the morning out with it because I feel so much better throughout the day when I do. So my goal for the next week is:
1. Stop drinking coffee, but replace it with green tea if I absolutely have to.
2. Eat more, especially fruits.
3. Take a 30min walk every morning before work.

I think if I stay diligent on the exercise then my hunger will come back and hopefully some weight will fall off too. I don't have any kale or spinach right now. I can make smoothies but not really green smoothies yet. I need to go grocery shopping! :)


If you are going to quit coffee cold turkey, be prepared for a rough ride.

I am going through the same thing... My suggestion is to find alternatives to keep you going.

I really like to drink Zola Acai fruit drinks in the morning, granted they do have caffeine from guarana, however, and it gives me a good kick when i get up to go... but im also getting fruit juice and its not as bitter or acidic, and its getting me off the actual taste of coffee.

also, get some Herbal Coffee like Teeccino. tastes just like coffee but has so many other benefits.


one thing i am finding, is that the Raw Foods way of eating (no i wont use the word diet!) is SOOO much more abundant and creative and extraordinary.
eat more, enjoy food, dont run from it and embrace the delicious delights that God has provided us in the garden.
i literally go bonkers when i eat avocados with a handful of walnuts or carrot sticks and celery with hummus. or the way a lightly steamed broccoli and carrots taste drizzled with olive oil and paprika spice.
eat more and dont deprive yourself.


have a back-up plan you can do it! :D