Discouraged!

[BGVDiva]

I am a 49 year old perimenopausal woman.

I discovered raw foods in September 2006. On my first attempt I went 70/30 to 80/20 and lost 10 lbs. in 50 days and felt great! Then the holidays came and went and so did my commitment to raw food. Not bad for my first time out though.

After gaining back the 10 lbs., I recommitted in June 2007 to a 80-85% raw diet, working out 30-40 min. per day 4-5 times a week and, in 30 days, I lost 0 lbs.. Not only was I extremely discouraged but the exercise aggrevated my plantar fascia and I had to discontinue the exercise in order to allow my foot time to heal. I did not feel the same benefits this time around and, in fact, felt quite fatigued and depressed most of the time.

By October 2007, I had actually gained 2 more lbs. so, with a new resolve, I began again with an 80/20 to 85/15 ratio (with the 15-20% being low-fat vegan) and now, after 30 days, I have lost only 1.2 lbs.. I have had two cortisone injections in my heel and my pain is not gone. I am working out with a trainer once a week and we are modifying everything to avoid stress on my plantar fascia. I stretch daily and do mild walking when I can manage it.

I know some will ask what I'm eating. Here you go...I mainly consume, on the raw side, veggies, greens, sprouts and sprouted legumes, fruit, minimal nuts and avocados, and on the cooked side, brown rice (1/2 c. max daily), lightly steamed veggies, Ezekiel bread (max 6 slices per week), hummus, low-fat organic baked corn chips with my homemade raw salsa, and one spicy tuna roll per week (my one vice). I drink only the occasional Kombucha or green tea and lots of water. I do not own a dehydrator so the calorie dense gourmet meals, desserts and crackers are not part of my raw diet. CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHY I AM NOT DROPPING WEIGHT LIKE A CRAZY WOMAN EATING LIKE THIS?

Could it be a medical condition that I've never heard of? Do you see something suspicious in my food list? I know Alissa says "go 100%" but I'm fearful that the extra effort that 100% would mean in my life will have the same NON-results. I'm stuck in what feels like a "catch 22" tornado.

Anybody? Bueller?

[RawHeaven]

I know some will ask what I'm eating. Here you go...I mainly consume, on the raw side, veggies, greens, sprouts and sprouted legumes, fruit, minimal nuts and avocados, and on the cooked side, brown rice (1/2 c. max daily), lightly steamed veggies, Ezekiel bread (max 6 slices per week), hummus, low-fat organic baked corn chips with my homemade raw salsa, and one spicy tuna roll per week (my one vice). I drink only the occasional Kombucha or green tea and lots of water. I do not own a dehydrator so the calorie dense gourmet meals, desserts and crackers are not part of my raw diet. CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHY I AM NOT DROPPING WEIGHT LIKE A CRAZY WOMAN EATING LIKE THIS?

There could be a number of reasons, medical included. Thyroid, kidney, colon, adrenal glands, and liver toxicity come to mind. You may simply need to cleanse your organs. But in looking at your current diet, perhaps if you eliminated some of the breads and chips...even if they're veggie organic, they're still processed foods. I know how challenging it can be to let these foods do, it took me about 4 months. Now I find that I'm really content and satisfied primarily consuming green smoothies, fresh squeezed juices, whole fruits, fresh salads, nuts and seeds. I'm still expanding my options and will be purchasing a dehydrator to create some gourmet raw foods, but this is pretty much my diet. It is a way of living I would've thought would be completely impossible for me to achieve just one year ago.

Also are you eating enough food during the day? Your body may be in survival thinking you're starving, if you're working out and trying to reduce. It could be holding onto your fat stores for energy as a result.

Get checked out by your doctor and if all is well with your body/organs, etc, try a cleansing fast for 5,10,21 days or more to reboot your system and clear the toxins from your body. A liver cleanse would probably do wonders for you also in helping you attain your goals. When the liver is toxic, it throws off your metabolism and all of the organs & system that works in tandem with it. Heal your liver, heal your body.

Best wishes and congratulations on getting to where you are. Remember how far you've come and just go from here. :)

[RawHeaven]

I forgot to ask you have you ever tried acupuncture? I have a strong feeling this will help you tremendously. Check it out.

[EZ rider]

BGVDiva -- I just read your post and my first thought is this: why not give the 30 day challenge a try ? Going all raw is not as difficult as it sounds if you just eat foods you like when you are hungry.

[BGVDiva]

I'm sure I COULD go 100%...the chips/bread are not essential, they are more just the last hold-outs of my vegan lifestyle...I simply have to overcome my fear that 100% will be a great effort with minimal results.

I have been considering doing a cleansing fast...thanks for the suggestion. Perhaps I'll do the cleanse and then do a 30 day challenge and see where that leads me.

Yes, I've also considered the "enough food" issue. After tracking my food intake for so many years with other weight loss programs, I'm a pro at it. I've tracked it according to calories, fat/protein/carbs/fiber, 80/10/10, quantity, you name it - I've tracked it. I have recently tried all those methods in an attempt to solve this mystery as well and still, no answers. After reading some posts here, I decided to listen to my body and just eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm satisfied. I much prefer it writing everything down but I'm still stuck.

I've never considered acupuncture but I'm not opposed and will think about that too.

Thanks again for the input! I truly apprecaite it.

[D'vorah]

I hear two issues, one is weight loss, the other inflammation.

For an interesting read, check out Burgess Laughlin's blog. He isn't raw, but his diet is the one he adopted to battle inflammation and is a far sight better than SAD. He began with Dr. McDougall's diet and through elimination work settled on a diet that has helped him heal from a variety of inflammation issues. He chooses to not eat some of the foods that Dr. McDougall suggests for the general population following his diet.

He looks at acid forming foods through what is called PRAL, potential renal acid load. There's lots of confusion in health diet forums about acid, acidic foods do not necessarily result in acidity functionally in the body, and that's what the PRAL list looks at, how it functions in the body.

Some of the foods that are offensive on the PRAL list includes grains and even brown rice, which is not a true grain. Brown rice is listed as being more acidifying than white rice is, which runs counter to our health diet ideals of eliminating white foods. Now, I wouldn't call white rice a health food, but it is less acidifying than it's whole food counterpart, and, some would conclude, less inflammatory.

As for me, I KNOW corn is a problem.

The cool thing about raw is, looking at the PRAL lists, the offensive foods are so very easily avoided on the raw diet.

Just my rambling thoughts. :-) I hope you get the answers that will help you most.

Deborah

[BGVDiva]

Thanks D'vorah! I'm going there right now. Sounds like it's right up my alley.

See, I knew I could count on you guys! :D

[D'vorah]

:o I forgot the link to read Burgess' work:

http://anti-itisdiet.blogspot.com/2007/10/3-why-this-diet.html

[EZ rider]

I simply have to overcome my fear that 100% will be a great effort with minimal results.I can't say how much weight you might lose but I can say that for me it has been amazing. I was a SAD eater July 24th when I found this forum. I joined the 30 day challenge August 1st and I have been 100% all raw since then and look forward to being raw permanently. This is the healthiest lifestyle there is IMO.

[BGVDiva]

EZ: I agree that it is the healthiest lifestyle and perhaps I am being too "body conscious" in wanting to be ensured that I am going to lose weight. I'm sure I'm putting too much emphasis on the weight loss. But my last two tries have been so non-productive in that respect that I'm wondering if it is the answer for me. Also, I felt great the first go-round and then the second two rounds did not produce that same feeling of good health.

Upon looking at the Burgess Laughlin material, I have to agree that inflammation might be a bigger problem for me than I had suspected.

I can see how you could do most of the anti-inflammation plan as a raw foodist, however, the roots and gourds would present a challenge without a dehydrator. I imagine spiral slicing and putting them in a dehydrator for a bit would soften them enough to make them edible. I guess a dehydrator needs to go on my Christmas list.

I'm starting to feel like there are answers on my horizon. Again, thanks to all for these suggestions.