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View Full Version : Need some calorie/weight loss insight



lauraq8
03-11-2009, 05:34 PM
I have been eating raw since January 12, 2009. I started at 95% raw, just jumped right in, and have not looked back. It has been nearly two months this week, and I am so confused about my weight loss/gain since I started.

When I started on January 12th, I had picked up Carol Alt's Book, eating in the raw. Since it was new to me, I just started by eating a lot of fruit and veggies, and ate olives, olive oil, avocados and ezekiel bread. That was pretty much it for the first few weeks. I was never ever hungry. My stomach hurt a bit at that time, and I had some indigestion. However, the shock to me was that I dropped weight fast those first two weeks. I went from 130 to 123 in about to weeks. I am 5'2" and have always been an avid exerciser, working out six days a week, doing a combo of strength training and interval cardio (I love running).

As I got more into the diet, I started to experiement with recipes, adding more nuts and seeds, germinating, making my own almond milk, granola, etc. I learned how to make an incredible raw brownie, and I discovered I loved raw almond butter more than peanut butter. For the second two weeks I continued to stabilize my weight around 125 to 127 and then back down again.

I then discovered the raw cheeses and added them to my diet as well. According to Alt, she eats everything she wants in moderation, and I figured I would do the same thing, eat when hungry, what I wanted, as long as it was raw.

Now nearly two months later, my weight is back up to 130, eating nearly 100% raw, and exercising six days a week.

So my big question is this, honestly, it is all about calories in right? It does not matter if if is raw calories or SAD calories, you still have to count calories if you want to lose weight or keep your weight down. I guess I was under the impression that eating raw you would just find a natural balance, no excessive hunger, and be able to eat when your body told you "intuitive eating" and still keep your weight down. I really want to weight about 120, but maybe that is just not possible for me unless I starve starve starve myself which I refuse to do.

Anyone experience the same ups and downs, I would love to hear back from you.

Thanks
Laura.

RaeVynn
03-11-2009, 08:15 PM
Personally, I stay the heck away from dairy, raw or not.
That's just too much saturated animal fat, hormones, and bio-identical growth hormones (yes, they are identical to human) for me!

Try dropping the dairy for a few weeks, see what happens. :)

rawstrength
03-11-2009, 09:03 PM
I agree with vegan fluff, I think that cutting out the dairy will help you.
I am 5'2" and I weigh about 120 and I don't starve myself :) .

lauraq8
03-12-2009, 09:15 AM
Hi girls, thanks so much for the reply. It's funny this morning when I got up, before I read your responses here, I grabbed my coffee (yes I still drink coffee every morning half-caf), and I said to myself, "cut out the raw cheeses." Then I came up to my office and read your responses about cutting out the dairy, and it confirmed my thoughts. I was SOOOOOOOOOO happy when I discovered raw cheese, I guess I overdid it. I will cut back and save the raw cheeses for a minimal "treat." I need to find some more reasons to eat things like beans or chickpeas. It's just that I have tried seeveral times to make things like raw hummus with chickpeas, and it's totally gross! But I will keep trying!:)

Thanks
lauraq.

rftm0115
03-12-2009, 11:02 AM
So my big question is this, honestly, it is all about calories in right? It does not matter if if is raw calories or SAD calories, you still have to count calories if you want to lose weight or keep your weight down. I guess I was under the impression that eating raw you would just find a natural balance, no excessive hunger, and be able to eat when your body told you "intuitive eating" and still keep your weight down.

Great question. I used to wonder about this myself.

As an avid faster, the calories in and out didn't make sense to me, because I was losing and maintaining the lost of a ridiculous amount of weight that surpasses what I should be losing given a certain caloric deficit.

For instance, I fast for 14 days. I drop 20 pounds. I maintain a 15 pound lost.

The amount I would need to maintain my weight at the time was 1770/day. While fasting, that means about 24,780 calories was being used.

24,780/3500= 7 pounds.

According to the calories in/out equation, I should have lost only 7 pounds or less during that fast.

What happened?

I still believe in the calorie in/out equation. The difference while fasting and the discrepancy is the amount of waste the body is giving off. I used a water enema on my first, third and any time I was going through rough detox which expelled some nasty fecal matter as well as some critters. Fecal matter weighs SOMETHING, and yes, critters weight something as well. :rolleyes:

What raw foods does is cleanse the body, cleanse the nerve connections with certain foods (especially addictive foods) and one's palate. Clean house, baby. :D

An individual has to know where they've set a limit for themself. Can they restrict calories while changing the way they eat? Or is it better to change the way they eat first and then tinker later? Everyone is different. Most do better when they put their complete focus on doing one thing that's outside their comfort level at a time.

I was raw for at least 4 years before I started fasting successfully and then tinkering with the raw vegan way of eating.