how to gain weight

[alicemagooey]

This post will not be for everyone.. But after a period of weight loss, some people i know are beginning to panic, thinking that they are really beginning to look skinny..The fact is, they are.
I am on a mission to try and figure out how to be raw and GAIN weight.
Maria posted in one of our excercise sections at the over 50 group , that she lost a lot of weight and was beginning to worry..
My friend who has been raw for about 6 months is also beginning to panic and wonder how a person can begin to gain healthy weight once the unhealthy weight has dropped away.

i have been doing internet searches and have come up with a few things.
But nothing really really really noteworthy.
I am trying to get a couple of detailed dietary ingredients suggestions for weight gain and maintenence on RAW and LIVING foods.

i have also been going to excercise raw sites to try and see what these endurance athletes actually consume per diem.
There are so many generalities out there.
i am really looking for specifics.

if anyone has any information ..specifics, not generalities..
a,b,c's simple instructions as to how to proceed, help would most certainly be appreciated..
no generalities , please.
my friend is really worried, and i would like to give her some specific information as to what she can do to remedy the situation.
thanks
as always
alice

http://www.bodyfatguide.com/RawDiet.htm

ps..i did find one site ( above ) which is slightly helpful..but not exactly specific 'how to's'.
incase anyone finds the above of interest.
a

[styersky]

Recently I purchased Alissa Cohen's book. And it has so much info.

She addresses unwanted weight loss as well as how to lose weight.

It is a lot of info to type and quote here, but perhaps someone who has the book and is a bit further advanced than I am could express what Alissa says in a brief summary.

[alicemagooey]

Thank you, Styersky..

no,.. i would not (please) want anyone to have to go to the trouble of typing out vast amounts of information when i can well go to the source myself.

I have been to several different sources, and it seems that many people say different things.. which is really confusing.

I ordered Alissa's DVD at one time because i wanted to actually see some raw food prep.. The place which sold me the video sent me a book my mistake.. WHAT A HUGE BOOK....

i was not in the postition to have two things, and really wanted the DVD's at the time, so i had to return the book. i had a little peek.. many many recipes and things..it was almost more than i could handle.
I think beginners get a bit overwhelmed.. i did.

Anyway, all the general information i have read says that once the body has lost unhealthy fat, that it will begin to gain healthy mass.
It certainly is a large leap of faith.
So far, most of the longtime raw foodists seem just like they are skin and bones. Alissa is a shining exception, from what i saw on the DVD.She seems to look strong and almost muscular..
Which to me is a very good 'advertisement'.

But to get there.. alas..
my poor panicking friend just is finding it difficult to pass through the trials. She is also about 40 years older than Alissa.. And i do not know if that makes a difference, but it may.

I will share what i find...because i am obviously still looking..
on a quest for information specific.

Thank you, Styersky.! for your response.

I may see if i can get Alissas book on Inter Library Loan..
wouldn't that be good.??
A person can get almost any book printed that way these days.

cheerio
alice

[alicemagooey]

Well, i said i would share what i found..

i have been doing some digging at the forums here at raw food talk.

There is an excercise section ( not "the excercise challenge", but more of
how people are excercising on Raw.

There is a lady over there who is nicknamed Blazin Jane.
She tells her story.. she used to be really slow as far as excercising.Bicycling is her choice of sport.. Now she is doing real endurance work on the bike.. Taking part in competitions and charity events..Her posts and threads are truly inspiring.

Thinking that she must need heaps of calories to maintain her weight on such gruelling workout schedules, i asked her to share her food intake with us.
SHE DID..HERE:
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?p=331086#post331086

This is just excellent information for anyone.!!
I think the things she consumes would benefit anyone on the raw diet.!!
And it give me new impetus to go and tell my friend who is worried about excessive weight loss, that there are ways to increase potent food intake, which will help build and rebuild healthy mass.

hope this helps you all as much as it has helped me.

alice

[JenniferMooreFuller]

For me, approximating calories is helpful. I am tall and naturally slim and dropped 20 pounds after a combination of going raw and a family situation. Am slowly gaining it back by including avocado, sunflower seeds, and olive oil in daily meals especially. I aim for around 2,000 calories a day but keep it flexible.

[Maria]

Thank you Alice, for posting about excessive skinniness. I read Alissa's book and what she said about healthy weight coming back. One question I have: how can you loose unhealthy fat when you don't have any to lose?

I think age might have something to do with it. We don't metabolize the same way as we get older (just an observation on my own body.) I also think it takes longer to release all the accumlated toxins stored over the years.

Another thing I've learned, you have to add a lot of variety of recipes to get a balanced diet when starting out on raw. I got to a point after eating "too many" salads and smoothies that I had no desire to eat, and my meals kept getting smaller. I ate lots of avos, olive oil, nuts and seeds, and was still losing weight.
I was lazy about sprouting grains, which would give more calories. I'm on a learning curve to make raw breads that I actually LIKE. The recipes on this forum are a Godsend! Learning to make appetizing meals help to balance any extremes in the diet.

I went back to eating some cooked food once a day, and my weight stabilized, but I'm still skinny. I love my raw food, though, so I'm not changing back to the "old ways."

I read the post on Blazin' Jane's recipe for endurance, and what a great post that is! I believe that when we're in peak shape, we don't need as much food. The cells are bouncing with life and energy, like they are supposed to.

Huge gains on raw: I'm never sick. My stomach and intestines are functioning well, I rarely have toxic symtoms like headaches any more, I'm a lot more upbeat and filled with joy of living (raw helps with that,) I have great stamina and can work long hours without fatigue, (viva la great Green Smoothie..) and I sleep more soundly than ever. There are more benefits, but my post is getting LONG.

Lots of variety and interesting recipes will help us be excited about staying raw and keep the weight up. The picture and recipe section is a requisite Hang Out Hot Spot! :)

Maria

[alicemagooey]

cool ! keep up the good work, Maria.

and, yes, i am headed over to the food and recipe section now.

ps.. one thing which i liked about Janes post is the simplicity of the recipes.. and they look so commonplace.. But there is a lot of very very high quality protein there, in the sprouted mung beans and the sprouted sun flower seeds..!!
and, apart from the short prep time ( couple days sprouting), the ingredients are quick to whip together into a smoothie.

i personally would add probably some acid fruit and a touch of raw honey if i wanted both an immediate energy boost..to go with the prolonged body building of the protein.

i do eat quite an amount of honey, which keeps the weight on..slightly.
i guess i have a bit of the same problem as you and my friend.
not quite as much as my friend, but it has been a while since i gained any weight..healthy tissue weight, that is, or healthy muscle weight.

got to go out now and do some weight bearing excercise..then time for an evening green smoothie.

Thank you for your post.. doesn't matter if it is long ( join the crowd)
Thank you for sharing the valuable info.,and your experience,Maria

alice

[Blossom]

:) I became super thin on raw, I thought the weight would come back but it did NOT. Eating more food just did not help, the only thing that has helped me is the advice of Tonya Zavasta, Info is in her newsletter Gaining and losing Weight the Quantum Way, this has helped me stay raw and put on on some weight nothing else has.

[raweater]

I had the same problem for well over a year. I used to workout and weighed 160-170, after going raw I fell to 130 and stabilized there. Nothing I tried to do to gain weight ever worked, until I started working out again, now I'm gaining weight rapidly and eating 4000+ calories/day (I need this much due to the exercise I do).

I assume if you want to gain weight you want it to be muscle and not fat, so to acheive this goal the best is to lift a weight you can only lift about 4-6 times before failing. This will stimulate muscle growth and weight gain, and will cause you to have to eat more.

I am now dedicated to not stop working out, as I loose the weight fast on a raw food diet if I stop exercising (on SAD, I could stop working out for a year and you'd swear I had never stopped, this doesn't work on raw food, which is good as it keeps me motivated, because I know rapid loss WILL happen if I stop).

UPDATE: Oh, I just saw this is in the over 50 section, I actually fell on this thread from a google search on raw food weight gain, but I'm far from being 50. Perhaps the exercises I recommended may be too intense for people over 50... well if you're on raw food your 50 is probably like a SAD 30, so maybe not...

[Mikkei]

I've been losing weight since going raw. I've always wanted to gain more muscle mass and this sudden wieght loss has me concerned. However, I'm sticking with the raw thing so I'm gonna try to start working out more. I try to eat a lot but it's really hard for me to eat over 2,000 calories a day. I could kinda swing that on a SAD but raw foods fill me up much more than any cooked food ever has. It's like the higher the quality of the food, the less quantity I can comfortably take in. I hope this thread uncovers some helpful information. I'll stay tuned.

Age 25
Height 5'10"
Weight before raw 130
Current weight 126
Ideal weight 140-150

[Raene]

Blossom, I skimmed Tanya's site but didn't see what you're talking about. Could you give a link? I'd love to know more.

I don't think I'm losing weight anymore at this point, but I'm certainly not gaining either. Here are my stats:

Age 24
Height 6'1"
Weight before raw 128
Current weight 118
Ideal weight 145ish

[Blossom]

The link is www.beautifulonraw.com/raw-food-blog/page/2/ under the heading Gaining and losing weight the quantum way.

[Raene]

Ooh, thanks!!

[BeadedGraces]

Just a thanks for posting this thread...I have hit my goal weight already and this before my 30 day challenge...I was wondering how it would far when I do a month at 100%...so thank you so much for the information!!!!:)

[victorlegge]

I have been 99 - 100% raw for almost a year. I went from 135 to 118 pounds very quickly. I am a guy so that is pretty thin by American standards. My weight has gone up to 120 since then so I am gaining some back but slowly. I am 56 though so as somebody else pointed out things happen much more slowly at this age. I do not work out though and I am sure if I did that would add a few pounds. I do want to make a plug for green smoothies while I am here - see Victoria Boutenko's book - Green for Life (it is a small book, dont worry). I believe they are the best way of getting protein into your diet which, of course, is vital for weight gain.

[Tammo]

I just had a chance to ask the question about how to gain weight on raw food to Dr. Gabriel Cousins M.D. and apart from many of the things already mentioned in this thread he added that you should look at two more things:

1. Taking enzyme supplements for better assimilation of nutrients

2. Make sure you have no parasites in your intestines. In order to know this you should have your stool examined by a specialist. When there are parasites present no amount of food will be able to let you gain weight, because you are just feeding the parasites and they like raw foor just like any other food.

[RawVegRon]

I'm verry glad to hear all the problems people are having with avoiding weight loss. Perhaps that means that I could lose some weight!! I'm 188 lbs. and can't seem to lose.

Ron

[chrile]

Perhaps I'm talking too early however I wonder if almond and macademian pates and bunches of nuts are very high in calories and even when they are raw continue to support my pre raw weight....

And if this is the case here perhaps it can serve as an answer to those who want to gain some healthy weight....

High calories concentrated raw food...such as macademian pates...so far for me has been the highest and how about adding lots of avocadoes and bananas...

Macademian pate taste really good specially if you mix it with something like mock tuna salad with lots of avocadoes....give it a try...sounds fattening

[sheenashe]

Hi everyone

Just been reading some of your comments and I completely understand where your coming from. It can be quite difficult to sustain a healthy weight on the raw food diet. I've been eating about 10 bananas a day, loads of seeds, nuts and veggie juices and it's working ok for me. 10 bananas and 5 mangoes gives you 2000 calories. Hope this helps

[zaiahshay]

I have read that Quantum eating on the raw food diet, is for those who have been raw for a long time. If you have only been raw for under a year or so you may still be detoxing and if so with this amount of fasting toxins leak into the blood strem and the liver will have to work extremley hard to eliminate the toxins