Hunger...

[Siina]

Hi !

What did you do at the begining of your raw food journey. I feel so hungry and I could eat a "horse". I have tried today to eat more of raw vegetables and fruits but after few minutes I feel hungry again after eating. How did you kill your impossible hunger or is this not normal. I can't go without food and I read quite many posts and articles about how little people eat when they are on raw food and I always wonder how do you cope with it and how much actually are you eating ? I have always been a heavy eater ( okay that might tell me why I have so much of over weight but... ) and I feel very hungry and I get abdominal pains too immediately when I start with raw food. I do want to succeed with this diet so that's why I am thristing after good advices with this hunger thing but I do want to feel satisfy too so...

Please help me little. How does your daily life look like with raw food ?

[michigan roman]

green tea helps to quell appetite . you could make sun tea or just use barely warm water .

then to fill me up im soaking hard wheat berries for around 24 hours then draining and drying to the use like rice with chopped vegis or raw sauces .

im also soaking raw hullless oat groats then straining/drying to then eat like i would eat oatmeal .

and welcome to the site :)

[Cleigh]

I know what you are talking about. I am new to this as well and some days I eat like a bird and other days I am ravenous. I have found that eating nuts helps to fill me up and so do avocados. I hope you find something that works for you. :)

[finallyfree]

For me, I find that I need to have some dense raw food available to me at all times.

I also allow myself to "EAT UNTIL I FEEL FULL" even if I just finished eating a couple minutes ago. Example: This morning I had a large green smoothie and 2 small oranges - but as soon as I was done, I felt so hungry still and I was tempted to do two things - tell myself I had enough food, or go eat cooked food - but I did neither. I asked my body what it wanted and it said - "more dense food" - it didn't care whether it was raw or cooked. So I had the veggies and avocado dip that I had brought to work with me and some more smoothie and that did it for me.

I find that having flax crackers available and avocado really helps quell that hungry feeling...do not worry about eating too much right now...eat raw, eat raw, eat raw! At least, that's what I am trying to do.

Finallyfree

[DavidZaneMason]

Go back to a way of eating that you are perfectly comfortable with.....and stretch from there. Just set small goals and incorporate more fruits and vegetables in your diet at a pace that YOU are comfortable with....until that healthy food works its wonders! :)

-David Z. Mason

[RowanC]

and even now, I have a large appetite.

I eat a lot of foods made with nuts. That fills me. I eat things like the cashew cheesecake, full of nuts. Also the breads and crackers or sprouted grains will be more filling. In fact, you'll find you eat a lot less if you include these things in your diet.

[soulstar]

Hello, and Welome,

I understand how you feel about hunger right now.
I also get ravenous occasionally on this diet. Not that I wasn't also hungry when I ate SAD foods.

When I get really hungry these days, I make up a nute pate and put that on top of a salad or I crumble it into a veggie blended "soup".

My nut pates usually are half nuts and half veggies- carrots, celery, a little onion and/or garlic, with lemon, sea salt and or raisins for flavoring.

Nut pates are heavy and give me the feeling that I need not to constantly be thinking of food. They give me the satisfaction I need at this point in my journey.
Many people who follow a raw food diet say that after awhile they don't eat these kinds of heavy foods very often, because their bodies adjust to the different feelings that a living food diet gives. Perhaps, one day, I , too, will be able to say I can't eat such heavy food. For right now, I am happy to eat these heavier raw foods, rather than the less nutritious SAD foods I would normally eat to quell my hunger, such as pasta, pizza, chinese food, breads, and buttered potatoes.

Like others, I also use avocados at times, but I have been on a nut pate thing for the last few days. Nuts seem denser to me and since I live in a place where it is about 0 F with a wind chill of minus 20 F for the last week, I have craved denser foods to deal with the brutal cold. BRRRR....:mad:

I also allow myself to snack in between meals on dried fruit and nuts when I feel hunger pangs and I can't have anything more substantial.

Have you ever tried Lara Bars? These are commercially available, (mostly) raw energy bars that help some folks when they are at work or traveling to satisfy hunger. (Apparently most of these bars do not use raw chocolate when they have cocoa in them.)
There are actually a few raw energy bar brands that are out now.
Think Organic, Raw Revolution, and Lara Bars.
I believe these can easily be made at home if you can find suitable raw ingredients.
I think at some point I will try to make up some dense raw food bars to tide me over between meals. I live an hour away from a natural foods store and when I will have a chance to be in a town that has more of a variety of organic dried fruits and dates I will pick up some of those and blend them into raw bars.

Best of luck with transitioning to a raw food diet. Be easy on yourself, and know that you are not alone.

Soulstar

[greenfeline]

Ditto on the nuts, grains and granolas. Also, though if you are trying to have fruit or vegetable meals be sure to eat enough! One banana or apple or even both will probably not be enough for you for breakfast. I eat fair amount, and I am not overweight, but nor did I start out overweight.

Today I had a smoothie with 2.5 bananas, 1/2 container of blackberries, 2 oranges juiced, 1 t. maca and 2 handfuls of swiss chard. Then I brought an apple with me to work for mid morning. I made the mistake for a long time of just making a smoothie and expecting that to be enough in the morning, but I need some solid fruit too. Also, I think the maca keeps me full.

For lunch try to have a big green salad with whatever else you have. If you have nori wraps or pates or whatever, additionally have an all green salad. It's a good way to fill up and get your greens.

[Solace]

As long as your body is getting what it NEEDS, this hunger will pass. I am 4 weeks in and hunger is gone.:D hang in there.

[mercystreet]

:p

I find that green smoothies are very filling, I've been having one in place of dinner the last few nights and it's stopped me munching. Also, having stuff like avocado dip and hummus on standby to have with carrot / other veggie sticks takes the edge off.