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T-Bird
03-18-2009, 03:24 PM
Hi All,

Love your active, encouraging forum. Wondered if you all had any insight for me.

I've been vegan for years and years - mostly healthy and usually ate lots of raw fruit and veggies. Occasional tater tot days with the kids! Still - after an accident when I had to stop riding my bike to work (due to fear/PTSD?) I gained some weight that I could never get rid of.

After a grueling business trip - I decided to give myself a healthy day as a gift - yoga and a trip to new raw food restaurant I saw opened a few miles from my house. I missed the yoga class taking too long in the bathroom getting ready, lol, but decided to do the restaurant anyway. There was an all you can eat salad bar - and it had a lot of variety and flavors and I have a pretty BIG appetite, and I like to get my money's worth - so I really filled up!

I felt so nourished - I didn't eat anything else all day, and I immediately wanted to go raw. After about 10 days I knew I couldn't keep it up as I have 2 teens and although I'm making progress with getting them to try some of the dishes - I know I'll get farther with them by gentle measures and example rather than force them too much. So I have to cook a bit or they'll eat completely unhealthy!

So I signed up for this program with the raw food restaurant, you get your lunch and dinners and although pricey - I knew this was my only hope. They had a "limited time - special pricing" 4 month program - so I signed up.

When determination failed - I though about the money I'd spent up front! There was no turning back.

So - I've been 100% for almost 10 weeks now. ~95%+ organic.

And no goodies.

I don't feel much different than I did before. I've adapted fully to the lack of "fullness". But I'm not really losing any weight - although through my work I now have access to a gym at lunchtime, and I do a sauna most days. I'm also soaking in a hot epsom salt bath 3-5 days a week to help detox too.

I drink a lot of filtered water every day. ~12+ glasses usually. My diet is mostly greens followed by cruciferous veggies, other veggies and fruit, with a handful or 2 of nuts and seeds and some fermented foods daily. Whenever I go to pick up my food, 2xweek, I get a double wheat grass shot.

I don't have loads of energy. I'm not sleeping better. Not much weight lost at all, my skin looks a bit better - but not fantastic - likely due to the new sauna routine. And I don't feel particularly positive either, but trying to remain hopeful.

Any insights? I thought I was doing everything I should be doing, but no goodies and I'm about 65 days into this. I'd say the month before - probably averaging about 50%, veggie for 22 years, vegan about 10, so I wasn't starting at rock bottom.

Let me know your ideas! Thanks!

rayofsunshine
03-18-2009, 05:37 PM
I'm not sure about the weight loss thing. It came off pretty easily for me, but everyone is different. Maybe not eating enough calories. Alissa talks about this in her book, which I highly recommend. Eat some goodies and see what happens. Looks like your are exercising. It has been mentioned on this board that sometimes your body needs to use energy to heal an area in the body and then weight starts coming off.

The raw food is the best diet, so good luck sticking to it.

klomasius
03-18-2009, 07:12 PM
Is the stuff you are getting delivered heavy and gourmet? Maybe try taking it down a notch and going a bit simpler with fresh fruit and veg?

I'm not going to be of much help, I was in a similar situation (vegan for years, bit flabby etc.) but lost heaps of weight on raw. And I ate the gourmet stuff too.

Though I wonder, I don't think I ate as much gourmet at the start as I thought as I was always in a rush and just grabbed whatever, which usually ended up being plain old fruits, greens, veg I could eat straight up and maybe a handful of nuts.

Keep at it, it might be that you need a bit more time to detox. How was your diet before you went vegan? Even that might affect things too.

Good Luck!

Rastadawta
03-18-2009, 08:22 PM
greetings. I totally understand what you are going through but first congrats on being raw for such a long time! i have been raw off and on for two years and the longest i was raw was for 12 days. have you ever had a colonic which can remove so much waste that was build up for years as a vegan. take your time and enjoy this new level of rawness. losing weight is not the first option, being healthy is. As a mother of two growing boys, it is hard preparing vegan food and mantaining raw but you did it. have you made any foods for yourself? are much of the foods you eat high in starch. Mentally we cope with health with a low weight but you may have reached your appropriate weight for the time being. maybe change your exercise with more low resistance, yoga, pilates, and less weight. remember muscle is heavier that adipose tissue..ie..fat.. good luck, you inspire me. peace

T-Bird
03-18-2009, 09:00 PM
Is the stuff you are getting delivered heavy and gourmet? Maybe try taking it down a notch and going a bit simpler with fresh fruit and veg?


Mostly salads with small portions of "burgers", or stuffed mushrooms, rawvioli, etc. So the richer gourmet type stuff is fairly low percentage wise.


Maybe not eating enough calories.

I thought of this as well - so I added in some homemade "breakfast bars" - about 40% flax, 30% almond, 10% date and the rest rest chocolate, mesquite powder, a bit of agave. I had been having mainly fruit in the morning. Tasty, but no changes!


Keep at it, it might be that you need a bit more time to detox. How was your diet before you went vegan? Even that might affect things too.

I haven't had any detox signs the past month. Did have days of chills here and there the first month. I'm 44 and have been "health consicous" since HS days - even fasting here and there during HS. Not that I always had a hold of the best information, but I've been avoiding white sugar and flour for 30 years! I haven't fasted in about 6-7 years. About 5 years ago - I decided to do raw for 30 days as a prelude to my fast. But I felt like I was absolutely starving the entire time and I couldn't do the fast at all! I didn't spend enough time making heavier foods - I'd eat a head of celery for lunch. I love celery, but it took so long to eat - by the time I got to the end of it, I was starving. So I've been aspiring raw for about 5 years - and trying to stay at 50% even through the roughest times. When someone asked about my new years resolution, I said eating more fresh fruits and veggies and they said "YOU?!?!?!" like I was insane.

Environmentally - I think I have high mercury and lead exposure. I thought that the raw and saunas and epson salt baths would help it. But if it doesn't, what can I do? I don't want to fast at the moment in case it dumps too much of this into my system.


Guess I'll have to research this some more.

Thanks for you comments!

spicyfull
03-19-2009, 04:55 AM
I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW........Welcome to MY World.

Frugal Raw
03-19-2009, 08:26 PM
Welcome!! I wish you the best of rawesome health!!

mattshor
03-19-2009, 08:48 PM
Hi, Tbird! Welcome to the board. Looking forward to hearing more from you and sharing your journey. All the best!

J'Raw
03-20-2009, 02:16 AM
OK, this is going to sound silly. So be prepared. LOL!
Are you enjoying it? Are you doing it to strive for a better you or just because it is what other people have said will help? I know it sounds ridiculous but if I get "down" my metabolism slows and I am fully incapable of losing the weight. Is there a change you could make that would make you really excited about it? A reward you could set? a goal? something. You are doing an AWESOME job seriously! There has to be some sort of hang up in your core :) Mine is usually sick of repetition or lack of variety. Could you try a new recipe this week? something to get the creative juices flowing!
If you like sweets the cheesecake i made tonight was to die for. http://jraw.wordpress.com . I mean, seriously it was GOOD and although I didn't have fresh pom juice you could totally use just about any fresh juice that goes well with coconut! I looked forward to it all day. As far as the energy. I think as silly as it sounds if i wake up looking for energy i never find it. If I wake up thinking about the rest of the day somehow I get through it with energy to spare :) I wish you the best of luck! I know I am only 1.5 weeks in, but there is no looking back LOL! I hope you can find something to get you excited about Raw again :)

freshlight
03-21-2009, 08:54 AM
Welcome :) Try to keep it as simple as possible. It worked for me. Take care, Eva

lauraq8
03-27-2009, 09:02 AM
Hi Jessica, was reading your post on wordpress, but I do not see the recipe for your cheesecake, can you post it here? It looks amazing! Thanks.

Colorawdo girl
03-27-2009, 09:11 AM
Hi T-Bird......welcome and be assured of all the support and love here.Best to you on raw. How courageous you are!

HolyGuacamole
03-27-2009, 09:48 AM
Welcome! I think you're doing GREAT!
My only advice would be to relax and go with the flow.
It's all good.
:)