My husband is eating everything I buy!

[jackieboomboom]

I'm having a problem. My husband and I both went raw. We've been buying all organic produce and raw products. I'm a law student so we aren't rich, by the way. Anyway, he is 6'5", really thin with an incredible appetite. The problem is that I keep buying food and he eats it as soon as I get it. He will eat 5 avocadoes in one sitting (they are $2 each in NYC). He will eat all the dried fruit I make as soon as I get it out of the dehydrator. Its getting really expensive and he doesn't seem to want to gorge himself on carrots.

Does anyone have a similar problem? I'm getting some bulk grains today. I'm going to try to make a tray of cheap bars out of buckwheat groats and honey.

I mentioned it to him and then I felt horrible because he has lost so much weight on the diet and he didn't want to lose any at all. I don't want to discourage him or be anal about food.

All input is appreciated.

[Eva]

How awkward but understandable for both of you!

Is he having green smoothies in the morning? Those tend to help with appetite and fill you up. You could add 1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil too, to add some calories and fill him up more.

I think your idea about the bars sounds great!

Did you go raw in the last few weeks?? It does take some time to get used to it.

[jackieboomboom]

yeah, we just went raw this week. we were on a master cleanse for 12 days beforehand. he is a massive eater anyway and to get a beer guzzling, steak-loving englishman to even consider such a diet is a feat in itself so i'm trying to be understanding. we've just spent so much money on groceries. i'm going to start getting some non-organic produce also. he doesn't care anyway and its better than being homeless. haha

also, he loves bananas so that has helped.

[maui_butterfly]

when i first went raw, i consumed so much food, and so many avocados it was silly. and i dropped weight hand over fist. i once ate 6 avocados in one day.

it was important to my process to not limit myself at all. when you are cleansing at that deep level, i think you need lots of fuel to make it happen, to replace the old stuff with the new stuff. but you're right, you can't go homeless either. you're just going to have to get creative... and definitely raw conventional over organic+cooked, or organic+homeless. :)

i promise, his appetite will taper off, along with his weight loss.

[GlimR]

How awesome that you are both doing this together!!! Have you made any raw granola yet..that with chopped banana and a handful of nuts w/ almond mylk is very filling and the recipe makes a ton! Also pates with sunflower seeds are filling and cheaper than those made with nuts...flax crackers are pretty cheap to make to round things out. I'd try to keep all greens organic and berries if you use them and go conventional on some things...to curb expenses till his appetite lessens...wishing you both the very best...what an great support you have in each other~

[jacsam]

Annie Phyo has a great recipe for black sesame bread which has alot of flax flour in it and sunflower seeds....it's very filling. I can make a smoothie that will feed myself and my two daughters then my son (19) makes one the same size and eats the whole thing....they just need it.

[janem]

This happened - is happening to us too! What I have done is - buy a ton of bannanas! I make dh a big fruit smoothie in the morning. At work he eats raw granola which I also make - I soak and sprout whatever I have on hand and then throw it all in the dehydrator. - I honestly make buckets of this each week! He is not big on the raw entress - he prefers a salad but loves desserts like Alissas bananas crepes - I make them every day! - He also like coconut icecream and that is filling. Unfortunatley he is green phobic so I can't give him a green smoothie - more for me though!!

[jackieboomboom]

thanks for all the input!

yeah, he just likes to eat too. so its not even about him being full. he eats lots of dried bananas and they are cheap so i'm just going to keep drying and drying and drying. haha

we just ordered a bunch of bulk nuts though so i'm scared to see how fast they will go. all the while, i'm not even hungry!

x

[Raene]

My friend is raw and she spent a thousand dollars on really great nut butters like pistachio butter, pine nut butter, walnut, etc, and crackers, etc to help her stay raw while pregnant. A few weeks later I went to her house and was looking for something to eat and asked where all her nut butters went...her partner ate them ALL! What sucked is that he isn't even raw, so it felt like a big waste to her.
I know, that's different that your story, but I wanted to share.
I'm 6'2" and thin as a rail but I feel full on raw and don't feel a need to eat that much. Maybe he's just adjusting.

[NoniPixie]

i like to add flax to my diet wherever possible. a bag of organic golden flax here is like 2 dollars! i make flax crackers from julianos book and they last a few weeks. well maybe they would. we usually eat them before then. but anyway. . .. my input would be to find some good flax recipes. . . . good luck!

[EZ rider]

My experience when I first went raw was to EAT. I was amazed at how much fresh raw food I went through in the first month. In spite of all the food I was eating I lost weight at an amazing rate and I was tightening up my belt at the rate of one notch every two weeks for the first 6 weeks and I was eating all the fresh raw foods I wanted. I started going to the Safeway store by my house every single day and buying all the ripe ready to eat bananas I could get my hands on at .19 cents a pound. Sometimes I would bring home 3 or 4 of those little paper bags with the paper strap they put them in. I would sit down and eat 6 to 8 bananas in one meal. All of that finally slowed down to a normal pace and now I usually eat 2 bananas for a meal. I have been all raw now for 231 days (its not like I'm actually counting but every month I carry the number forward and add the last month in and write it on the new calendar so it keeps track of itself) and I have been losing weight at an amazing rate during the entire time. What has changed during that time is the amount of food consumed. It has been decreasing steadily all these months. At the same time I have been eating less and less and my weight loss has been slowing down slower and slower but still losing. I don't understand that. Does anyone have any ideas or theories about weight loss and raw ?
Anyway I hear you about about the amount of food he is consuming and all I can say is try to fill him up on bargain bananas instead of expensive avocados until things even out. Good luck.

[zig_zag]

EZRider- It sounds like your body is getting used to raw foods. I think for MOST people, they find that they lose the most weight on raw in the beginning. My theory is that in the beginning, as one's body is not yet accustomed to digesting purely raw foods, they go through their detox and what not, and also do not reap the full benefits of raw jsut yet... WHY? Because the body is not fully assimilating the nutrients thus yet... And thus, you are losing. Over time, the body learns how to assimilate those nutrients, and likewise, you probably won't be losing weight as rapidly, as the body knows what to do with those calories.

That is a theory, though. Your individual case could also be specific to WHAT it is you are eating, HOW you are eating it, as well as your exercise routine. In general, though, people seem to lose weight most rapidly somewhere around the onset of their diet... Not the case for everyone, but most commong indeed:D

[Tootsie]

Hi Jackie,

Sprouts are an easy, inexpensive, nutritious way to fill up. I love a bowl of sprouts with nut milk and fruit (kinda like my old bowl of cereal in the morning). Wheat, rye, and fenugreek are really easy. You can buy the grain/seeds in the bulk section of your health food store, and then when you sprout them they gain multiple weight and volume. Below is a link to Wkipedia with a quick explanation if you haven't sprouted before. I use an old peach jar, with a piece of pantyhouse and a rubber band for a sprout jar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprouting

Good luck!

[RawHeaven]

Does anyone have any ideas or theories about weight loss and raw ?
Anyway I hear you about about the amount of food he is consuming and all I can say is try to fill him up on bargain bananas instead of expensive avocados until things even out. Good luck.

Hi EZ rider, had the same experience as you. Lost a ton of weight eating a lot of food initially. I believe after my detox which released all of the gunk from my cells, my body simply changed how it processed foods and metabolized my energy stores. My body was finally getting the nutrients it needed and was immediately flushing the waste back into my colon. No time for extra stuff to get stored in my tissues and fat stores I believe. Then on top of it I was still continuing to experience detoxification of my body, so it was still letting go of a lot of unnecessary fat and mucus and whatever else shows up on the scales. This is my theory after fasting and eating 100% raw. And after doing a little reading on the subject...not sure if it's completely accurate, but works for me. ha.

[RawHeaven]

Jackieboomboom, you lucky woman. You have the best problem ever. I wish my boyfriend would eat all of my food. Maybe I shouldn't ask for that though, lol.

Great tips already offered, I'll just add get in more green juices & smoothies. Smoothies are very filling. Try to make some of the nut pates in Alissa's book and wrap them in raw nori sheets, add some avocado, sprinkle some apple cider vinegar on them...very good and filling also. You can make large batches of the pates for your hearty eating man and they keep well in the fridge. They work well on crackers and on top of salads too.

[Anastazia]

This happened - is happening to us too! What I have done is - buy a ton of bannanas! I make dh a big fruit smoothie in the morning. At work he eats raw granola which I also make - I soak and sprout whatever I have on hand and then throw it all in the dehydrator. - I honestly make buckets of this each week! He is not big on the raw entress - he prefers a salad but loves desserts like Alissas bananas crepes - I make them every day! - He also like coconut icecream and that is filling. Unfortunatley he is green phobic so I can't give him a green smoothie - more for me though!!

What??? You don't know the trick to get green phobics to eat their greens?!!??!!? It's the first thing us rawbies should know!!!
You don't make GREEN smoothies....just PURPLE or PINK smoothies! :D

Add no more than 30% greens (not the stronger ones, like celery! Kale is mild, so is baby lettuces...not sure of the rest, as I love 'em all!) & add LOTSA blueberries or rasberries or mixed berries & voila! What greens? :rolleyes: Disguised, but no less a blessing to their health! A trick that works for kids, too! (Although they find green ketchup a thrill, why not smoothies???)
Taste it first, make sure it doesn't TASTE green, if it does, just add a little agave nectar, the sweetness will disguise it more...(or throw in another banana or sweet fruit!

~Anastazia~

[menat]

I notice that people who start out raw for the first time want to eat a lot. Me, too. As months go by you start to want to eat less.

Maybe your body's are trying to compensate from all that fatty SAD foods we eat? Like we can't feel full unless we eat lots of saturated fats and lots of sugar?

[Essensual]

When I am eating more raw foods, the layout of our fridge definitely changes. With all those lovely colorful options, my 3 dc's kick up their consumption in various ways. DD #1 eats all the oranges and bananas. DS wants salad or raw tacos once he's tasted mine. (BTW-this is AFTER he's already devoured his cooked foods). DD #2 might actually turn into a strawberry if it were humanly possible. She will eat them until her clothes (and sheets) are pink. I can't really be upset about it because I am thrilled to know they are eating living foods more. It is however frustrating when I go to the fridge for something only to discover that the last of it has been consumed.

Rant over:

I second the suggestion about flax crackers and purple/pink smoothies. DD #2absolutely runs from any green fruit or vegetable (except avos--odd, huh?):D . But with her old favorite strawberries on the case, she I are both smiling. She's getting geens and hasn't the first clue about it. ;)

In addition, she actually REQUESTS flax seed crackers so much, I cannot make them fast enough. (I don't own a dehydrator yet, so ours are produced in a low heat oven.) The flax crackers and some honey or agave is a favorite snack of hers. They can be made rather inexpensively, and at any rate, are far less costly than avos.

[tiggerbounce]

heh! Have him go to the store and write the check! :D Then he will want to fill up on a giant salad instead of expensive avos. hee! If he can eat $10 worth of lettuce in one setting then he must be a lettuce god!!!:p

It is so great that he is raw with you! It is nice to have someone to share the experience with. And it makes it easier to stay focused.

[Arky]

Is your husband including saturated fats in his diet?

He needs these and this may curb his appetite significantly. Note that certain fats enable the body to properly absorb minerals, and without these in the diet, minerals will fail to be absorbed effectively, one result of which can be an insatiable appetite, which isn't really a surprise! :)


J.

[walnutty]

The problem is that I keep buying food and he eats it as soon as I get it. All input is appreciated.


A second job for him? In a health food store? :D

[Betsy]

I second the second job thing.

[Arky]

I second the second job thing.

Well, all I can say is that I'm pleased to see you believe a man's place is not in the kitchen! :p :rolleyes:


...just kidding ;)


J.