Why am I gaining weight again?!

[curlygirl82]

Ok, what's the deal with this. I'm at 3 months raw, and after losing about 15 pounds (that included a Master Cleanse about a month ago), now this week I'm putting it on again -- all right around my belly, which looks like I'm pregnant! sheesh. Granted, I've been playing around with making recipes this week - some desserts, nut cheeses - but I thought that was one of the cool things about raw, you could eat pretty much whatever and still be healthy/ok? Now I'm wondering if I'm not gonna blow up like a blimp if I keep eating this way! I'm not gorging myself on nuts or anything, and I drink green juice or green smoothie in the morning. what's going on? also, my nails, which had gotten really strong on raw, are totally paper thin now. eeeep!

Is this a sign that I need to drastically change my diet? Or is it common to cycle through phases of putting fat back on?

[ArcturusXIV]

Weird, I'm curious about this as well. I've gained 5 pounds since I started raw.

[Baby Bird]

Could the 'weight' be tummy bloat? Could possibly be caused by heavy/hard to digest foods. Or your TOM? My own weight fluctuates as much as 5-6 pounds over the month. How much weight are you talking about here?

My first time 'round with raw, I lost 25+ pounds really quickly, and at about the 5 or 6 months mark, put about 5-10 pounds back on, which was actually a good thing for me at the time.

I don't believe that we can eat whatever we want perpetually with raw food, or any other kind of food*. A while ago, I saw some photos of Victoria Boutenko where she appeared to me to be overweight, i.e. carrying excess body fat, more than she had in earlier photos I'd seen of her. So even a pro can eat out of balance with her body's requirements. Of course, this is an aesthetic judgement on my part, and doesn't speak to her overall health. But that's a whole 'nother discussion...

My personal experience was that I lost a lot of weight initially simply because I didn't know what to eat (even though my rule was--I can eat whatever I want, so long as it's raw). Inevitably, most of my meals were salads. I also didn't have a dehydrator, didn't know about any raw restaurants, and no stores near me carried raw treats. Oh, and a lot of the recipes I tried at first tasted perfectly AWFUL to me. So, my options were limited :)

*Unless you are simply one of those blessed individuals. I'm certainly not!

[Jenifae]

I seem to gain weight when I start eating more raw deserts. And I diffently gain at that TOM.

[Raw Angel Mom]

This one reason that i never do those very strick cleanse such Master Cleanse is because your body goes on starvation mode, thinking this is a famine. Once you start to eat again, it will store as much fat as possible in case of an eventual famine. My advice is never do the change that you aren't willing to stick with permanently. I do at time deeper cleansing but only it feels right for me and sort of crave for that. You need to change oil on your car so is your body needs that too. Sometime, i will have mainly green smoothies or whole food and not gourmet for a little while but only because i feel like eating like this. What you can do also, is to incorporate more vegetable juice, they will feed you body quicker and allow more cleansing. Also doing a fire water in the morning before any meal, will help your liver (lemon juice, water, cayenne pepper).

Now, if you are just starting with your raw diet, i recommend to take it easy and not to try to detox too quickly, for it cans lead to problem. Such loosing up stone. Your body will melt them down in time, but it needs time, if you detoxing too much, it won't have time to melt it down.

Best wishes
p.s Victoria Butenko, has done these water diet thing and look at how much weight she has gained herself. You really need to be patient with your body.

[Aleesha Sattva]

My advice is never do the change that you aren't willing to stick with permanently.


I disagree that if you do a m/c or fast that you have to stick with it forever. I also believe we can constantly try and tweak our diet here and there... no harm, no foul.

As to why you are gaining... perhaps your body knows something you don't. I would stick with eating raw and trust your body that it will level out. If you are changing around your diet right now, perhaps it needs to catch up with ya.

I have found that even while fasting... I gain weight sometimes. I don't fret it, I just go with the flow and my body always levels out again - in it's own way.

(((hugs)))
Aleesha

[Eva]

I think the key, really, is to listening to your body's cues.

I hate to break it to you -- but high fat doesn't work for everyone, for forever. Some people do better on high fat, low fat, something in between, alternating between the two in phases.

As well, I would look to emotional sources. I personally find that I can have a lot of blockage and bloating when I hold in emotions or have a difficult time with something. Perhaps there is an emotion or issue that needs to be resolved in your life?

Last but not least -- you have already done so much healing. Please don't lose sight of that while you're figuring out what it going to work best for your body! :)

[curlygirl82]

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. I really don't think this has much to do with the Master Cleanse, since my weight had levelled off since I went off it - I feel too much time has passed since I finished it for it to be related. As for that TOM, see my "ladies" thread in the "other health" section. Definitely not.

I'm just gonna try to stick it out, cut down on the high fat nuts (I think you're totally right, Eva), and hope it evens out. sigh.

[rawstrength]

curlygirl - maybe you will get your TOM soon? Sometimes I experience bloating the week before. This could be a good thing.

[curlygirl82]

RS - hope you're right. but this is way beyond bloating. this is fat.

[oai]

Could the 'weight' be tummy bloat? Could possibly be caused by heavy/hard to digest foods. Or your TOM? My own weight fluctuates as much as 5-6 pounds over the month. How much weight are you talking about here?

My first time 'round with raw, I lost 25+ pounds really quickly, and at about the 5 or 6 months mark, put about 5-10 pounds back on, which was actually a good thing for me at the time.

I don't believe that we can eat whatever we want perpetually with raw food, or any other kind of food*. A while ago, I saw some photos of Victoria Boutenko where she appeared to me to be overweight, i.e. carrying excess body fat, more than she had in earlier photos I'd seen of her. So even a pro can eat out of balance with her body's requirements. Of course, this is an aesthetic judgement on my part, and doesn't speak to her overall health. But that's a whole 'nother discussion...

My personal experience was that I lost a lot of weight initially simply because I didn't know what to eat (even though my rule was--I can eat whatever I want, so long as it's raw). Inevitably, most of my meals were salads. I also didn't have a dehydrator, didn't know about any raw restaurants, and no stores near me carried raw treats. Oh, and a lot of the recipes I tried at first tasted perfectly AWFUL to me. So, my options were limited :)

*Unless you are simply one of those blessed individuals. I'm certainly not!

Baby Bird's post resonates with me very much regarding the weight gain issue. On RAW or any other diet, I really don't believe you can eat anything you want, but you can eat anything your body wants. And that's where the problem lies for most people. We've been on such a unhealthy diet for such a long time that we're not very attuned to our bodies at all.

[RawHeaven]

This one reason that i never do those very strick cleanse such Master Cleanse is because your body goes on starvation mode, thinking this is a famine.

The MC is a cleanse and not a true fast. I found it to be very effective in healing my body when I completed them. It is true with some fasts your metabolic index could be impacted, but I think you have to treat it as one piece of the puzzle. There are many factors as to what slows down metabolism. Ironically I found that mine became much faster after I water fasted and healed my body - ate raw foods etc.

Curlygirl, I went through cycles where I would put on pounds and then release them in the year I've been raw. I made no major changes - same workout schedule, eating routine etc. I think our bodies are just doing what they need to do to heal. Just my personal opinion. I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep eating raw - eventually you'll find balance. It could be the nuts your body is reacting to right now. Doesn't make it a bad thing to eat raw desserts, just something else to be aware of in how they may work with your body right now. It's a cycle - everything changes. Next you'll probably find you're losing the pounds. It could only be water also and maybe you need to increase your fluids. My sincere advice is to get rid of your bath scale! :)

[rawstrength]

If it is water weight that you are retaining, then I highly recommend celery juice. It flushes everything out.

[curlygirl82]

I just love getting everybody's input/perspective!

RS - thanks for the tip on celery juice. I think I"m just gonna snack on celery for awhile instead of raw desserts. it's so crunchy and satisfying, too.

RH - it's nice to hear someone else has cycled through this, too. I'm not upset at what the scale says, though - I'm upset at how my pants are fitting!! :eek: It's so nice to hear your level-headed approach. I am going to try to keep the faith that it will balance out, as you say.

Oai - you're SO right about eating what the body wants, not the mind. I needed that reminder, thank you.

[cherrypie]

another thing you should not lose out of sight ( and I am not a lunatic) is the moon cycles. I can make a clear connection between when I put on weight easier and when my body is more forgiving. I tend to gain weight easier on increasing moon and on full moon. I have observed that now for some years.
since the moon cycles are important in biodynamic agriculture I thinks it makes sense applying these rules to us as well

[freshlight]

Hey cirlygirl82 :)

the same thing happend to my friend. She stopped eating salt and everything went back to normal. Too many bananas, dried fruit&nuts could also have the same(fattening) effect on some people.

Just like the celery, the white cabbage does also work like a brush from inside.

Take care,
Eva

[freshlight]

I seem to gain weight when I start eating more raw deserts. And I diffently gain at that TOM.

what's TOM? Tournament of Minds? :confused: :)

[Eva]

what's TOM? Tournament of Minds? :confused: :)

Time of Month. :eek:

[oai]

what's TOM? Tournament of Minds? :confused: :)

oh. that is awesome! imagine a bunch of girls saying "we're going through TOM right now." regardless if it's "Time of Month" or "Tournament of Minds," it would promote a new world sprint record from some guy. :D

[HolyGuacamole]

Tournament of Minds rocks it!

[curlygirl82]

Tee hee hee. I think all of us lovely ladies here on RFT are a nonstop Tournament of Minds!! :)

cherry - I totally don't think you're a lunatic - just lunar. :P I'm sure you're right, and I should pay better attention to the lunar cycles. I did for awhile, then fell off.

It also just got drastically colder here, so not only am I going into hibernation mode, but I'm much less apt to go out for a walk. So I'm going to work on getting my exercise back up. Still, though - it's just a drastic increase in only a few days. Still scratchin' my head a little bit. But I'll try what you suggested - cutting back on salt, nuts. Upping celery, greens. Yeah.

[freshlight]

Time of Month. :eek:

Hey Eva :)


I KNEW it means s-ing else but I didn't know what. Thanks ;)

Take care, Eva

[oai]

I'm much less apt to go out for a walk.

oh no! :eek: You must get out there. :p:p Fresh air & sun esp. since we don't get as much sun in the winter.

hehe. and yes, we are kind of lunar here. hm....