Help I feel like I'm starving all the time?

[Melindaxl]

HI, I'm 5'5 and weigh around 140 lbs. I exercise 30 minutes of tae-bo every morning. Everytime I eat, like an hour or a hour and a half later I'm starving again. That's really hard when your at work or out some where and you can't eat until a certain time or until you get back home. That I know isn't a good sighn. Here is what I normally eat!

Breakfast- 1 apple, 1 1/2 cups of grapes, and 2 peaches or nectarines

Lunch- 4-5 banana smoothie w/ 4 or 5 bananas, 5 celery stks. & 1/2 cup or water and about 2 cups of ice.

I make a smoothie because right now bananas taste too sweet for me or something, for some reason the only way I can enjoy them is if I blend them and decrease the sweetness or if I add something to them so they won't tast as sweet, like raw nut butter.

Snack- watermelon about 2-3 cups

Supper- 3-4 cups of raw spinach, 1/2 of a medium tomatoe, 1/2 of a medium cucumber, a little bit a carrot (like the size of 3 baby carrots), 1 Tbs of raw organic flaxseed and extra virgin first cold pressed olive oil. I just pour enough on to moisten my salad-most of it goes to the bottom of the bowl anyway. Also I do add some sea salt to it!

Sometimes I get so hungry after Breakfast that when I eat my lunch I end up eating alot of organic nut butters with my bananas. I know that's not good because when I do that I get so full then the rest of the day I don't hardly want anything. Normally like today I didn't eat anything for 5 hours and when I ate it was at supper time, I only had 2 apples. I probabley won't eat until tomorrow.
Would anybody have any suggestions on what I can do. How do all of you eat, and what do all of you all eat for energy and fillment. See before I used to eat alot of bananas because they filled me up and stayed with me, but I guess I just got too sick of them because that was about the only fruit I ate for about a year ( I ate about 15-20 bananas a day, people in the stores called me banana girl) . I lost weight and gained muscle which is what I liked and wanted, but now I can't seem to enjoy them like I used to. The other fruits don't seem to give me that kind of fillment.
Thanks for everything in advance, have a great day and sorry so long!

Melindaxl

[Rawkinlocs]

You might have to just eat small meals throughout the day. I normally just eat whenever I feel hungry rather than having the traditional times of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

But what's wrong with getting full early in the day and not eating later on? They key is to eat when hungry. Now, in the case of not being able to eat often due to being at work, maybe you might need breakfast to include a little more or maybe have your smoothie in the morning along with a couple of pieces of fruit? Also, could you keep little snacks with you...fudge balls or flax crackers or some raisins, trailmix or nuts to quickly pop into your mouth until you get to the next actual mealtime?

Also, I noticed you said you might do bananas with nut butter...ever tried it with celery sticks? It's good!

[Beanie]

I am very sensitive to sweet fruits and don't do well on a high fruit, very low fat diet. I become incessantly hungry on mostly fruits no matter what I eat!! I eat tons of greens and have some fat source with almost all my meals. That seems to be very satisfying to me! And over time, I find I need less and less fat to be satisfied. I started extremely high fat at first to get full feelings!! I only eat all fruit meals if I am not hungry at all. Or if I make a fruit based smoothie, I will add some sort of nuts or seeds to the smoothie to give it some staying power. Besides being very filling, its also incredibly delicious!

This is what I usually eat....

Breakfast:
greens drink
a smoothie of fruit and nuts or seeds added like hemp, almond-cashew, cashew-mac, or pastashio. Or a vegetable juice, fresh.

Lunch:
A salad or prepared raw meal with a dressing that has oil, tahini, nut or seed based ingredients. Makes it incredibly filling.

Dinner:
Blended soup with some oil, nuts and/or avocado added. Or another salad, raw pasta dish or just fruit if I'm not hungry. I listen to my body and give it what it wants.

Snacks:
maybe some flax crackers, lydias crackers or fresh fruit if I happen to be hungry but usually not.

[kmik]

I'm still rather new to this, but as long as I drink my smoothie in the morning I have no problems the rest of the day. I made a real easy transition to raw, and this is someone who craved garbage enough to get up to 243 lbs.

In my morning smoothie I put whatever kind of fruit I happen to have laying around, a spoonfull of coconut cream concentrate (not entirely sure if this is raw, I used to use coconut oil, but thought I could benefit from the whole seed meat... if anyone knows, please tell me), a tablespoon of hemp oil, and a scoop of hemp protein powder.

It's the protein powder I credit for helping me not get hungry or cravings, since I used to make smoothies without, and would still eat bad later in the day.

Alissa has the brand I take available on her website.

HTH!

[cattzeye]

I remember when I first went raw, I was ravenous all the time, no matter what I ate! I ate constantly, and in large quantities. I also lost tons of weight, even though I was already very thin to begin with. But over time, I have found that I don't need as much food as I once did, although people generally people think I eat alot :) And I think to myself: wow, if you think this is alot, you should have seen me a couple of years ago!

But anyway, I have found for myself that I usually have to have a fruit snack in between my meals, ie: after breakfast but before lunch, then again after lunch but before dinner. A fruit snack for me is generally 2 or 3 pieces of fruit.

You mentioned that you often have to wait until your next meal to eat, but I think it was Rawkinlocs who suggested little snacks of trail mix, etc. Would this be something that is possible at your job, little bites of things to tide you over? Also, don't you have a morning and an afternoon break when you could quickly eat some fruit or something? I know that some types of jobs aren't conducive to regular breaks, so I was just wondering.

I hope some of the advice given in this thread will be helpful to you. It is not a comfortable feeling to be so hungry, and have to wait hours until you can eat. I hope you can find a solution to this. Let us know how it goes.

Christine

[Melindaxl]

Thanks everyone for your help! The only thing is, I try to stay away from nuts, nut butters and seeds as much as I can because they make me really tired. That's why if I have them, I have them with fruit because they don't make me as tired as they would with vegetables or by them self. The sugar gives me a little more energy and helps to digest them too!
At work, I can take some snacks with me, it's just that I don't have much options. Like I can take me a smoothie, and some nuts, but that's about it because I don't have the money to order those fudge balls or flaxseed crackers. Plus like I said nuts by them self makes me tired! Dried fruits tend to put inches back on me for some reason. I think my digestion system might be a little weaker then others and that's why maybe I tend to get more tired then others and why certain things might put inches back on me. That's why I do good with more watery fruits and less fats. The only thing is, it is hard to keep full this way!!
Maybe I'll try making smoothies in the morning and adding some nuts to them that way it will stay in my system a little longer and be easier to digest. Does that sound good? I'm just trying to find a pattern that I can stick to, so I can start detoxing and feeling good with energy again and not feel like I have to take a nap during the day ( I hate that feeling!).
Well, thanks for everyones help, I'll let all of you know how it goes! Thanks again, Melindaxl

[Rawkinlocs]

Grapes are a nice little "pop-in-your-mouth" snack to take along with you. Do you have a dehydrator? You could make up some of your own granola or your own crackers, etc. $40 will get you a dehydrator from Walmart if you don't have one and would like to get one but don't want to get the more expensive model.
If you wanted to ever do it, you can make your own fudge treats too. If you don't have Alissa's book, http://fromsadtoraw.com (the recipe page) has a lot of recipes including a very tasty "brownie bites" recipe.

Melon cut up into cubes or baby carrots and/or celery sticks and maybe some type of (homemade) dip in a small container or just alone are another snack alternative if you don't want to do the dried fruits or nuts.

[Melindaxl]

Thanks Rawkinlocs,

You helped me out alot! That gives me alot more options! Yes, I do have a dehydrator. I'm just going to have to order me some things so I can make those treats! Around here where I live the closest health food strore is a hour away almost! So mostly I have to depend on Town & Country or Walmart ( I can get raw fruits, vegetables nuts and seeds there, but not organic chocolate or carob). I wish I didn't have to depend on those stores, but that's all we got and I can't afford to order organic foods on a regular basis, there way too high priced for me to afford. Now I can order a couple of things every now and then to make treats like those fudge balls or flaxseed crackers since its not on a regular basis.
Thanks again for those great ideas! I'm just going to have to learn to use my brain and think of some creative ideas like you do!!

Blessings,
Melindaxl

[PixieGreen]

Melindaxl,

Eating a lot of fruit may help in the short run, you have to eat! But in the long run you may negatively effect your blood sugar, hurt your teeth, and your bowel will become *more* sluggish without foods that require more energy to digest [think of it like any other muscle. Without exercise it will become weaker]. Fruitarians often become unable to digest other foods after some time, it comes out like it went in and diarrhea isn't uncommon. May I suggest strengthening your digestion? I am not a health practitioner but these are things I've read [and tried] over the years:

Adding warming foods to your diet like cayenne, arugula greens, garlic, ginger.

Drink ginger tea [you can juice some ginger and add to warm water to keep it raw]

Do a gallbladder/ liver cleanse !!!!!!!!

Incorporate a simple morning yoga routine [or the 5 tibetan rites which were recently discussed]

Have you tried soaking your nuts and seeds before eating? It will make them easier to digest. Also, adding fermented foods to your diet will give your digestive system a million little helpers. One can make raw sauerkraut, kombucha, and kefir [using water kefir grains which can be used indefinately if kept alive].

One of the reasons new raw foodists eat SO MUCH at first is our bodies aren't accustomed to eating so much fiber. But the only way to become accustomed to it is to eat it.

Speaking from personal experience, when fats made me tired it was the first sign that my liver was overburdened and I was forming an overabundance of gallbladder/ liver stones. I'll post my experience with my recent stone cleanse in the next few days. Over the span of 7 days ending yesterday I lost over FOUR CUPS of stones. I cannot express how much better I feel. This after I've been eating 100% raw for the first 90 days and 90-95% since [started in January].

Christa

[Punky]

Plus like I said nuts by them self makes me tired! Dried fruits tend to put inches back on me for some reason. I think my digestion system might be a little weaker then others and that's why maybe I tend to get more tired then others and why certain things might put inches back on me. That's why I do good with more watery fruits and less fats. The only thing is, it is hard to keep full this way!! l

Do you eat avocado's?
I know they are fat, but easier to digest than nuts I think.
You could eat them with flax crackers and a little sea salt at work.
Or add them to a salad.
I make this lovely simple salad (which I am eating right now).
1 cucumber, 1 avocado, cherry tomatos chopped up. dressing is a couple of cap fulls of apple cider vinager, squirt of agave syrup or honey and celtic sea salt to taste.
I find this salad filling and easy to digest and it's one of my faves.
You could prepare it ahead of time and put it in typerware except the avocado so it doesn't brown.
Just add the avocado at lunch. The dressing *might* keep the avocado from turning, I just have never tried it yet.

[pizda]

snack on one or two handfull of raw pumpkin seeds when you feel hungry.

[Gosia]

according to my calculations, based on the foods that you said you usually eat, this amounts to below 1300 claories. No wonder that you feel hungry and reach for nut butters, which give you the energy that you need. You clearly need to eat more! As far as bananas, I have experienced similar issues with them. That is, occasionally I lose appetite for them. I once realized that I was put off by their unripeness, so make sure that they are ripe, before you reject them altogether. Otherwise, I suggest that you try eating other sweet, ripe fruit that is currently available. I found that grapes fill me up, madarines do, persimmons, mangoes, any sweet ripe fruit really. Also, I discovered that I fill up better if I eat one type of fruit at a time.

All the best,
Gosia.

[Mystical]

Hi - I tried going raw a few times, and had too many digestive issues. Like PixieGreen, I did a number of cleanses, and now I can eat raw with no problem! For me, healing my digestion had to come before an all-raw diet. I used Dr. Schulze's products after trying many others. I just completed his 30-day detox a few weeks ago, and am now on a raw diet and really enjoying it. You eat raw foods or juice fast during the cleanse, so it is easy to segue into a raw food diet from the cleanse. I plan to do more of his cleanses over the next 6 months. It is sometimes good to do them over again a number of times - each time, you get healthier. Digestion was always my problem, so I focused on bowel & liver cleanses, but I did kidney too. You can order his products from American Botanical Pharmacy, or 1-800-herbdoc - every 2 months he has a sale of something, so check in Sept 1st.

Happy cleansing!

[Melindaxl]

Thanks everyone for your great advice! I think all of you are right! I think I have a digestive problem, I feel like I've had this problem for years! I think I'll do a liver and bowl cleanse, I think that could help me. How do you do it, do you just take some kind of supplement and do a liquid fast?
PixieGreen, thanks I would love to hear about your cleanse, I think I'm going through the same thing! By the way what does yoga to for this! The reason I don't do yoga is because I feel like the more cardio movements I do the more it helps with my detoxing!! By the way I don't know if I could take those spices on my food because my skin can get really itchy with spices. That's why I mostly stick to my oil and seasalt!! Don't get me wrong, I love stuff like that, but the last time I ate raw onions in my salad, I broke out itching for like a week (even the inside of my mouth was itching). The reason why I did that was because I was trying to flavore my salad naturally and I know hot vegetables like that are good for cleansing! Now ginger and arugula greens, I might can have on my food! I think I have ginger, but I don't know about the arugula greens. I'll have to look at the stores and see what I can find!!
Thanks everyone for all your info, everyone of you have been really helpful!
Have a great day! Blessings,
Melindaxl

[NYNewbie]

I'm new to the raw world- If you eat whenever you're hungry what about waiting the proper time brfore switching categories, for example waiting 3 -4 hours after nuts/seeds& raisins before having fruit doesn't that apply- Im confused.With regard to the dehydrator can you get it at any Walmart or can you get it online at their website?

[PixieGreen]

Melindaxl,

I've written my experience with the liver cleanse and how I did it in a separate post since some other folks had also expressed an interest. Here 'tis:
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6180

Yoga helps detox the body.

If you are sensistive to spices hold back from using them for now. As your digestion improves they won't give you as many problems. It may just be too much, too soon. No biggie, there are other things to do. :)

Best of health!

Christa

[Kris]

Hi!

I used to eat an all-fruit breakfast and lunch, and I took ALWAYS felt hungry within an hour of finishing what looked like a giant fruit meal. I discovered that if i ate fruit AND greens, I would stay full much longer than on just fruit. So now, when I make my fruit smoothie for breakfast, I throw several handfuls of baby spinach in. I can't even taste it, and it helps keep me full. I have also switched to a combination fruit/vegetable lunch, occasionally with a small amount of nuts, and this keeps me full until I eat a mid-afternoon snack.

So, my recommendation is to add some greens and vegetables early in your day and see if that helps keep you full. It really helped me a lot. :)

[Melindaxl]

Thanks, PixieGreen for your info. The only thing is I don't think I can do that because I would starve too much! The closest thing I could do is liquid fast! Like blend all my food up into a liquid for every meal and snack! I've tried things like that before and I ended up getting too weak and not being able to walk without falling on the floor. Plus I have to be careful because I'm also in the process of curing my epilepsy and I've noticed if I starve myself too much or don't get enough of what my body needs, I'll end up getting sick again and start having more mild seizures!! So I kind of have a hard way to go! I have to do the long cleanses and not the fast ones!! I hope you understand what I mean! Thanks for all your info though! I will start having some lemons in my water though.
Thanks, Kris for your info! That's actually what I've been doing lately! I've been making smoothies with alot of fruits and inleast 2 handfuls of raw spincach in it. Is what I do is make enough for Breakfast and extra to take with me to work and have it when I need it!! It helps me alot!! I like making my green smoothies because I get to enjoy the flavore of my fruits and not taste the greens, but still get full and get the nutrients that I need!!
Thanks everyone again for all of your help!! I think right now I'm going to do a liquid fast so I can take in more of what I need and it will be easier to digest too. Plus I'll have more energy!! Have a great day!

Blessings,
Melindaxl

[PixieGreen]

I'm confused... did you confuse me with the person who suggested fasting? Not me, I have mixed feelings about fasting as a therapy for anyone who is experiencing drastic weight loss or fatigue due to hunger. On the contrary, perhaps yoga or another soft exercise and weight lifting would be more helpful than cardio in that case.

Christa

[Melindaxl]

PixieGreen, Sorry-Is what I was meaning is that Cleanse you were talking about didn't sound that filling! It sounded like drinking thin liquid like juice and not thick liquid like smoothies and it also didn't sound like you have that much! I think I would starve on that cleanse! Also the only days I would be able to that is on the weekends. So I couldn't do it for 7 days!
I'm doing my liquid diet right now and I'm doing alot better! I'm moving my bowls around 3 times a day again and I'm starting to get my energy back too!
I'm doing yoga in the morning! Is what I'm going to start doing is yoga everymorning until I get my rebounder and when I get my rebounder I'm going to do it every other day and on the days I don't do it I'll do yoga! And I'll go walking about every other day! I hear these are a few of the best detoxing exercises to do! In a few of my heath books they talk about how great rebounding is and I can't wait to try it! Plus I"m going to go and get me some herbs from a herbalist that's good for cleansing the gallblader and liver (and see how everything goes).
Thanks for all your help and everything, I hope I explained everything well! Have a great day! Blessings,
Melindaxl

[PixieGreen]

Ah, well actually the first day I only drank apple juice and in the evening I did the cleanse. But on all other days I ate light to normal quanitites of food and did the cleanse in the evening. You could eat al the smoothis you wanted. It's just a cleanse, not a diet. And most people do the liver cleanse for one or two nights, not for a week. Just wanted to correct any misunderstandings. Do what you feel is best for you.

Christa

[Melindaxl]

Thanks PixieGreen, that sounds good! I think I'll be able to do that!! Have a great day! Blessings,
Melindaxl