Couple of questions about raw weight loss

[Amii]

I've been doing a lot of reading lately and it's obvious to me that raw is the perfect diet for weight loss. What I haven't been able to find though is what this weight loss ultimately becomes. Would you please tell me your thoughts or experiences or... guesses? :)

1) Eventually you regain all the weight you lost as "muscle" - what if you don't want this to happen? What if it makes you look bulky or if your profession (i.e. modelling) doesn't allow you over a certain weight?

2) If your profession also needs you to have a low body fat, such as athlete or model, how easy is it to reach a low level of body fat (as I'm female, I'm talking 10-15%) through raw and exercise, and also how easy is it to then maintain?

3) When we talk about "excess" fat being released, what counts as excess? excess meaning everything about from the last 5% or so? Or excess as in, the excess handful, leaving some behind?

I would really love your thoughts on this subject because it's making me a bit uncertain about going more raw (especially in regards to number 1). As an aside I want to say that I am not only focusing on the weight loss here; only this topic in particular at this very moment :D

Thank you guys <3

[Revvell]

1) Eventually you regain all the weight you lost as "muscle" - what if you don't want this to happen? What if it makes you look bulky or if your profession (i.e. modelling) doesn't allow you over a certain weight?

That's impossible. Where did you get such an idea? If you lose fat, you don't gain muscle unless you're lifting 5-6 hours a day.




2) If your profession also needs you to have a low body fat, such as athlete or model, how easy is it to reach a low level of body fat (as I'm female, I'm talking 10-15%) through raw and exercise, and also how easy is it to then maintain?

It happens naturally.

[Amii]

That's impossible. Where did you get such an idea? If you lose fat, you don't gain muscle unless you're lifting 5-6 hours a day.



It happens naturally.

How strange. Almost every 'summary' of raw foods I have ever read always state that once you've lost all the excess fat, then you start to rebuild healthy muscle so you regain weight (not fat)? Thanks for replying revvell, can always count on you :)

[Green_Woman]

My sweetie, a great big tall dude who is bulky naturally, lost 30 lbs of body fat AND gained muscle when he first went Raw in 2008 because he was working out over an hour a day, lifting weights + working on building his house (lots of heavy lifting, etc.) for over 10 hrs a day back then. :)


You will probably LOOK toned and trim on just Raw, no exercise (make that, "possibly") but really you need to get up off the couch and MOVE, and move with INTENTION to get those muscles going. :)

[Revvell]

How strange. Almost every 'summary' of raw foods I have ever read always state that once you've lost all the excess fat, then you start to rebuild healthy muscle so you regain weight (not fat)? Thanks for replying revvell, can always count on you :)

You can only build muscle if you're doing something to do so. Swimmers and runners have long lean muscle whereas weight lifters have shorter, thicker BUT, these are the results of training.... and for weight lifters, a lot of it.

I use to train 4-6 hours daily, 4-6 days a week and never had bulk. The only time I had bulk was when I was non-veggie and we went out to (over)eat after... and the bulk was not muscle.

[DeniseM]

The raw food summaries you've seen (I've seen 'em too!) are grossly over-simplified. They probably stem from the observation that some people go raw and get very thin -- either because their digestion is poor and they're not absorbing their food well, or because they're just eating a lot less than they were on a cooked diet. Those people end up losing a mix of fat and muscle (it's very very hard to lose only fat), then their weight plateaus because their digestion starts working better or because they've lost enough muscle to lower their metabolic rate. Once they hit that point, it's suddenly easier to put weight back on. But contrary to what the summaries claim, regained weight isn't pure muscle... it's a combination of tissue, including fat most of the time. As the other wonderful ladies on this thread have pointed out, you won't be gaining muscle on any diet unless you're actively training for it.

As for fat, there's no hard and fast rule about how much you lose or keep on raw. Some people get super skinny (and then usually gain some back). Some people's weight doesn't budge for a while. Some people even gain, although that doesn't seem to happen very often. In general, it's easy to shed pounds on this diet because you aren't being driven to eat by false appetite raisers (like refined sugar, food additives, etc.) -- but everyone's body responds differently in terms of the amount of weight released.

Personally -- I struggled to eat enough my first year raw and turned into a twig (95 pounds, 5% body fat!) -- then got back to a healthier weight after adjusting my diet and doing strength training. I found it very easy to reach and maintain a low body fat level, and I don't get bulky even with a lot of weight lifting. :)

[Amii]

Anyone else welcome to post their experiences please do so ^_^