Who's like me...need fat to lose?

[Katie P]

So I wasn't noticing any changes in my body so I tried what other raw fooders eat which was less fat more veggies & fruit. But I found that when I changed my diet & when I thought about it too much that things changed....not for the better. I noticed some of my clothes were fitting a little tighter, not to the point where I couldn't wear them but they were a little snug. So anyway.....I feel that when I took a majority of the fat out that's when it all changed. Does anyone else need more fat to lose rather than cutting it out or eating a small percentage? In the past when I ate raw I would eat fruits veggies & like 3 portions of nuts throughout the day & I would lose, but as soon as I started to watch my fat intake I gained!!!!!

Please tell me I'm not the only one b/c I find that alot of people who eat raw don't consume that much fat.

[sozei]

For sure !...Every Body is different ! :p ..Do what works for YOU .

[T-Bird]

Well - if you've found out what works for your body - go for it!:)


Now I personally totally believe in the raw food deal all the way, and when I think of my personally philosophy on it - it's what would a caveman/other primate do? If they found a bunch of nut trees, they'd go for it. They sit there all day cracking out the nuts with a rock, lol!

I'm sure the whole raw food thing is a cover for many with eating disorders....so keep that in mind when you sift through what other people are doing.

Using your own history - you've seen what works for you so that's great!

There is only one food we know was meant for human consumption. Long term breast feeders has 17.5% fat content in the breast milk. The longer hey breastfed - the more fat was in the milk.

So - we are definitely meant to have a sizable amount of fat. Exactly - who really knows.

For a raw/going raw person - I'd say eat whatever you want to start with. If you need to lose weight - that's a gage - and use other body gages to see what your body is craving. It will take quite some time for the body to really figure out what it needs, so always pay attention.

[Jenifae]

Everybodies body composition is different. Some do better with more fats and/or to lose weight, some do better with less fats and/or to lose weight. I've also noticed that some people including myself change after being raw for awhile too.

The best Advice is to listen to your body and respond to it. I think "Intuitive Eating" is the Best thing for all of us.

Many Blessings on your Journey!

[Myca]

I eat Olive oil every day. I've been looking at non oil dressings for my salad but I have yet to make any. I don't eat many nuts.

[rawpreston]

Exercise is pretty key to burning fat. Both cardio and strength training (yes females too). The stronger you are the more calories you'll burn, when active or idling, just like how high horsepower in a car burns extra gas. Start out slow; find fun things or ways to make it enjoyable.

It basically comes down to the calories in vs. calories out thing. Shoot for a 500 calorie deficit every day and you'll lose a pound of fat per week. (Many people lose more than this going raw, but it's probably water weight / excess intestinal buildup). (Keep in mind if you strength train this may not reflect on a scale, you may actually gain weight or break even, but trust me your fat loss will accelerate.)

I believe a low fat intake is best, but don't try to cut out too much at once or you might end up craving and binging on some anyway. One's tastes will adjust for fat/salt if you cut them back [esp slowly], in my limited experience. Watch the nuts, I think too many is a common raw fooder's mistake. The reason I feel lower fat is best is because of theories I'm hearing about how it's high fat levels (triglycerides) in the blood contributing to diabetes and candida, not sugar. (high blood triglycerides supposedly hurt sugar absorption and overwork the pancreas/insulin). Not to mention heart disease / arteriosclerosis.

In my case I'm currently experimenting with leaning more towards an 80/10/10, and I realized I had been eating way too much fat, yet not enough calories. I think this is a bad situation because as raw fooders, if we're way short on calories (like 1000+ short of what we burn), we either feel way tired, or may eat too much fats to make up the difference. Or the body may go into starvation mode and try to hold onto its fat?

As long as we're getting enough cals for the above to not occur, I believe we certainly don't want >30% from fat, which I think I was, and maybe others are too. The logical answer seems to be more fruits/811, so I went hardcore and cut out all overt fats (no avo, nuts or oils) for 1 week, and now I'm trying 811 out. But I think being active goes hand-in-hand with 811, I work out about 5-6 days per week. That much sugar is probably bad if one is sedentary/obese. However I think a common misconception of 811 is that it's basically fruitarianism, it's not, I believe Doug Graham has said about half of his food by volume is vedge. But calorie-wise it doesn't amount to much.

I've been using CRON-o-meter for tracking all my food and it's been very informative in terms of watching intakes of calorie/fat and vitamins/minerals. I love it so far. Without it I think it's pretty easy to over/underestimate the amount of fat or cals we are eating especially when we've made rapid changes to our diet. Fitday and nutridiary are 2 online sites which do similar tracking but I have no experience with them.

Good luck!

http://spaz.ca/cronometer/
http://www.nutridiary.com/
http://www.fitday.com/

[rawstrength]

Here's a funny thing. I find that in general, when I am eating lots of fats from seeds, coconuts, avocadoes and olives, I stay nice and lean.
When I am eating lots of nuts, I puff up.
When I am eating low or no overt fat, I lose weight at first then gain it all back and more.
Too much dried fruits can make me gain weight, too.
Greens are always a must, lots of them, for me to look and feel great.

Strength training is essential to me to having a really great body. Also, cardio totally boosts my mood and makes me eat less. So I love to exercise, especially outdoors in the woods or in the garden. I love it, love it!!

But my bodies needs are always changing, and when I am in tune to them, I can look great no matter what I eat, as long as I am satisfying my body's true cravings.

[Conscious Midwife]

EVOO, nuts and avocados have always been my friend.

I've gotta a paper somewhere that talks about folks who loose weight better with fat or carbs or protein deepending on their body type and deficiencies

[contessa20]

Yes, I've found that I'm the same way. My body especially likes avocados.

[raw runner]

you must eat fat to lose fat otherwise your body will think:"oh oh starvation mode".
just follow these steps,buy avocados and just eat them everyday for one week,eat as much as you want daily and then watch your body lose some fat...

I tried the following diet;raw cacao nibs for three weeks,everyday when i needed to eat i just ate the cacao nibs,nothing else and drink some water...
the result was that i lost 2,5 kg and i wasn't able to eat no more like before...i was energetic,had good mood but beware that cacao acts as a stimulant but in high dosages it will irritate you,feel depressed etc...

[Katie P]

Thanks Contessa20 & raw runner & raw strength & everyone else for helping me know I'm not the only one. I truley believe in our body needing fat to function & I think when I took too much out that my body was functioning like it should. I'm not overweight, but I do need to change the fat I have to muscle, I work out like 4-5x a week, & am very conscious of what my body is telling me to do so that is why I just needed some encouragement b/c I was starting to feel like I'm the only one who needs some fat!

Oh & thanks T-Bird for the comment about some people eating raw as a cover for eating disorders. I'm sure that isn't the case for everyone but that is something for me to keep in mind

[MOTH]

Sometimes I wish I could do fats. But I simply can't. I bloat up fierce and my mood plummets and my cravings go wild, with even a tiny bit of fat. The worst is the mood-thing. I feel at my best 100% fruit, no overt fat.

It's not true at all that if you don't eat overt fat your body will go into "starvation mode" LOL. If you're eating enough calories from fruit, your body will be sufficiently fueled. First, even if you eat ONLY fruits, you'd still be getting a fat percentage from the marginal amount of fat that's in fruit. And you don't need to add fat in order to thrive. I feel healthiest when I am overt-fat free. My body looks amazing. Of course it's different for everyone...I've been 100% raw 16 months now. There was a transitional process where I ate a lot of overt fats to stay raw, and then I figured out they made me feel cruddy, so I cut them out and simply exploded with bliss. That's how I figured out the overt thing for myself, ha.

Also in NATURE ~ nuts and other fats only become available a few times a year. There is definitely not a plentiful plant-fat supply in nature. I always follow Nature's lead, I take that as my cue to limit my fat intake.