Bought a spiral slicer today, so I guess I'm serious

[Sai]

Hi! My husband and I are both long-term veggies (I'm vegan) and need some of those amazing benefits I keep hearing from raw foodists. A few days ago we began making some great strides in that direction. I'm not ruling out 100% raw by any means, but I'm going to be a little patient getting there since the first day was a colossal disaster (headaches, hunger, cold soup).

We're both really grappling with how we won't gain weight going raw. I hear people say they "ate anything they wanted." Believe me, I would eat a bag of cashews on top of an avocado washed down with a bucket of dates and then have the main course if I let myself do that. Maybe I'm destined to be the exception to the rule and would have to still chart calories?

Thanks for any help, advice, lottery winnings, etc.

Sarah (Sai, pronounced SAY, is an old nickname)

[Moretta]

Welcome and good luck on your RAWNESS journey.

[RaeVynn]

Sai, if you eat that much, it might slow down the weight loss... I am AMAZED that, even the way I eat (99% raw), I am losing weight! Granted, it's about 1 pound a week at this point, but hey, it's still going DOWN...

Enjoy raw. Really :)

[gs4life]

sai,
welcome! i'm sure you will find lots of helpful tips and advice on this forum.
so, have you made your first dish of "pasta" using your spiral slicer yet?
enjoy!

[freshlight]

Welcome! Happy raw time :)

[J'Raw]

Hello! :) I am on day 9 and I will say that the first 3 days I felt like there was NO getting full. I ate all.day.long. I made a comment to my husband that it was great that I could eat as much as I wanted and he said "I'd call this eating more than I want. I just want to feel full!!" We ate and ate and lost weight and lost it for that first couple days. I had horrid migraines (I went off coffee and soda cold turkey) the first couple days. About the fifth day in my hunger started to stabilize. Then days 7 8 and today I have not even been hungry! I am surprised how full I feel so quickly. I mean really a week and a half ago... I was eating a LOT of food cooked, then a LOT More food raw..and now I think I am just eating to live instead of living to eat :)
I wish you the best of luck. I'm new too so I can't say how it is to stick it out for the long haul, but as of right now I can't see going back! Maybe going to a cooked meal every now and again but I am loving it!

PS I am SO jealous ofyour spiral slicer! That is next on my wish list LOL

[Veronica01]

You will love it. I don't think i'll get sick of zuchini pasta, there's tons of sauces you can make. I love marinara, or pesto or even mushroom alfredo. And you can try lots of different vegetables too!

[Frugal Raw]

Welcome!! I wish you the best of rawesome health!!!

[Sai]

Aw,thanks for the hearty welcome! J'Raw, that's very helpful to know. I'm definitely just plain taking in too many calories at the moment, but perhaps it's just a temporary adjustment phase. For one thing, I never really allowed myself nuts straight out of the jar before (too diet-dangerous!) I suppose some of the novelty will wear off eventually.

The slicer doesn't arrive until tomorrow, but I've had some pretty good meals so far including a curry cabbage slaw (about.com) and a sprouted lentil salad (LA Raw Food Examiner). I have a couple of cookbooks from the library and am considering a few things after this.

So much chopping.

[Veronica01]

I found for the first 7 days i was always hungry every 2 hours, so i just ate 2 pieces of fruit every time i was hungry and then a satisfying dinner with veggies and nuts and then i'd be fine. I try not to just sit and eat nuts or i could over eat them and treat them just like junk food. I like portioning out meals and premaking them so that doesn't happen and i get a chance to feel full.

[klomasius]

I honestly just ate anything I wanted and still lost a lot of weight. I did get pretty big as a cooked fooder, but I never counted calories (I hate the concept, I just want to enjoy my food).

I still eat quite a bit of fat, but it's raw, and much of it coconut oil, which seems to actually help with weight loss.

I'd suggest not counting calories at first, it'll just be too much work with a new way of eating on top of it. If you go for a month or so without losing any weight at all then maybe consider counting calories, or just lowering the amount of fat or heavy stuff ( I could NEVER get used to counting calories, I just can't imagine doing it!).

Good luck with your journey!

[spicyfull]

I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW..........Welcome to MY World.