slow weight gain

[jackieboomboom]

hey guys,

i'm not doing raw to lose weight particularly (even though i do have 25 lbs to lose). however, i've been steadily gaining about 1.5-2 lbs per week and i don't want that to happen. i've been eating some cooked vegan foods every now and then which i plan to halt. but i've been on fitday logging my food and i haven't been eating more than my caloric intake. also, i cut down on nuts and dried fruits too but i'm still going up a few ounces each day.

any suggestions?

xox

[tvillemom]

I'm probably not the best to advise.....I have a messed up thyroid, and that caused me to have the same problem. HOWEVER, I have found that eating enough GOOD fats like avocado, and coconut oil helps me loose weight. Also, are you exercising? Even getting some movement for 20-30 minutes a day will make a BIG difference!!

Get LOTS OF GREENS too, like green smoothies....those are my best tips!!

[zig_zag]

can you post an example of what you eat in a day?

[Shell]

Hey Jackie! I agree with Wendi about the exercise....I find that clean eating alone won't help me with weight loss....you need that extra element to get things going. Particularly weight bearing exercise....building muscle increases your fat burning potential, as muscle burns more calories than fat. Also, your weight may be going up, but what does your body look like? Are you noticing a difference in the way your clothes fit? I find that although my weight isn't really changing, my measurements are going down. Sometimes the scale isn't always a direct representation of what's going on. But if you are indeed gaining in inches as well, when this happened to me, I found that, like Wendi said, increasing greens helped, along with green smoothies for breakfast (if you search, you will find recipes), and cutting down on the fats. A typical amount of fat for me now, is 1/2 an avocado, about 2 tbs. of olive oil (as part of a dressing), some sunflower seeds and maybe 1 tbs. of coconut oil. You do need some fat in your diet, just to function, so don't go all low fat crazy! But I found that I was overindulging, and if that's the case for you, then cutting down may help. Definitely cut out the cooked food too.....you never know, that may be what's holding you back. Even try it for 2 weeks, just to see if that is indeed the culprit. And keep in mind, not everyone looses weight right away.....I'm one of them! It can be a slow process, but if you're persistent, and you keep with it, I'm sure you'll see the results you're looking for.

[jackieboomboom]

breakfast: juice (from juicer) OR green smoothie

mid-morning: cup of fresh pineapple

late day: salad with an avocado, pepitos, broccoli, carrots, alfalfa sprouts, etc (sometimes oil and vinegar)

snacks: usually a banana, almonds, occasional Lara bar

thanks for your input!!!

[zig_zag]

Are your bowel movements regular? It could be, that because you are new to raw and your body is yet to adjust to the fiber content, you are still a bit clogged up, thus causing this supposed 'weight gain"...?

My suggestions, first and foremost, would be to incorporate as much exercise as you can as aforementioned, so as to rev up your metabolism and get your bm regular. Secondly, if they aren't regular, or even so, I suggest drinking aloe vera gel with water at night, for two weeks on... two weeks off. Also, I don't know how "late" in the day you are eating, but I HIGHLY suggest eating your last meal before 5-6, if possible, and then just drink the aloe vera juice in late evening... I think you will find this very helpful.
It could be that your body does not assimilate sugar easily. I think it's either your high fruit consumption or fat consumption that is to blame... Plus mixing avacado, pepitos AND olive oil all at the same time (three diff. fats:eek: ) is.. disastrous! I highly, highly recommend not combining so many fats... try cutting your avacado down to 1/2, skipping the pepitos, and saving them for the 'later in the day snack', or just stick to the almonds. Also try adding a bit of seaweed to your diet! Maybe sprinkle some dulse flakes onto your salad?
Also... I don't know what your portion sizes are like? Do you eat until you are full and then stop? Forgetting weight loss, just doing this will do wonders for your health and energy! ;)

[c'estlaviebelle]

It doesn't seem like you are eating enough. Maybe you should space out your eating from noon-8pm and graze as opposed to one big salad sometime in the late day. Cut out all cooked foods for a month and see if that makes the difference too.

I think you need to eat more often to jump start the metabolism, and also exercise is a great idea of course. Plus, give it some time. I'll have weeks where I don't lose a lb (sometimes gain) and then all of a sudden the next week I'll lose 5 lbs overnight. Our bodies are cyclical and go at their own pace.

Also, this has helped me: visualize yourself at the weight you want to be. Visualize the way your body will look, and tell yourself it looks like this now. Sometimes we have a mental block which is precluding us from making the changes we need.

Good luck! I know that your body will come around. :)

[PERRAW]

I agree with eating more meals throughout the day. When I was eating three regular meals and snacks in between meals, I lost alot of weight. Exercise is very important too. But as long as you eat cooked, you will put on the weight quicker. But I'm glad to see you're going to stop that.

[SmilingRawDancer]

I've started eating less nuts -almost none, and no intense recipes, and timing my meals consciously. I eat every 1 1/2 hours - 2 hours.
I can now feel the weight loss, but I'm eating all the time...so good luck.

Today:
B - Banana w/ hemp protein
b/l - apple + orange
L - big salad w/ 1/3 avocado
6 walnut halves
l/d - apple, banana and hemp

dinner hasn't come yet, but I'm planning on another big salad.