Hungry all the time!

[Emma Jane]

Did anyone else find that they needed more food or more calories on a raw diet than when you were on cooked? I'm feeling hungry and light-headed quite a bit lately (only my first week on raw), but sort of nervous to eat more... :confused: XxX

[sozei]

You need to EAT more! . . .eat raw...have no worries. Why are you nervous to eat more?

[Evie]

Yes, i too tended to need to eat more at the beginning. But, do not worry. It will balance out once your body gets use to your new lifestyle choices. I eat less now than at the beginning. I hear this is very normal and not to stress about it. Just concentrate on eating the raw foods you enjoy. It will all even out.:)

[Emma Jane]

Heh thanks for the reassurance :) The nervousness is from having come from a history of anorexia, so large quantities of food are sort of a nervous issue still... But I have heard people say that they can sort of get away with eating more raw calories than cooked, just gotta trust the ol' body, I guess! ;) XxXxX

[Maintime]

I had the same problem. I found that as long as you were eating what you were supposed to, munch away.

I have eaten more food on this diet then ever before, and I have still lost 20lbs! :)

[somelikeitraw]

Emma Jane ~ Please give up counting calories! If the food is raw and your body wants it, give it to your body. I have a history (ancient now) of Bulimia with use of laxatives and throwing up. I did a lot of healing with the help of a fantastic counselor and it took many years. When I first started eating raw I thought I had Voracious Ravenousitis! I ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate... well you get the picture. If you think about it, our bodies were not being given the nutrition they required for many years, decades even. It makes sense that a body would want to eat mass quantities of healthy, whole, raw foods so it can replenish, restore and heal. Rest assured that this way of eating DOES lead to health and if a person needs to let go of un-needed weight, it will simply melt off. 70 pounds melted off of me. Others have had much more melt away from them.

Be gentle with yourself. This is a big change. You are doing great! Listen to your body and give it what it is craving, as long as it is raw.

[nadien alexandra]

I've been trying to go 100% raw for 3/4 of a year now, and only recently (about a month ago) I finally did it, 100%. with that came hunger. I am hungry ALL THE TIME.

I do not crave any SAD food, just fruit and veggies, and almond butter!

BUT, I have in fact gained weight. only 5 pounds, but it's there.

Although, most people tell me I'm a small girl and need to gain the weight so maybe I'm having the opposite affect of most people.

either way, I think if you body craves it, fill up, and then, after a while, you're craving will dissipate because there is no addiction attached, just the need for nutrition. :)

[margoss]

I was the same way. It took about 6 weeks for it to pass. Fortunately, I had an abundance of figs in my yard & my neighbor had tons of tomatoes and cukes. I had about 5 or 6 sandwiches per day w/ lettuce as the 'bread'. It will prob pass.

[CathyA.]

Let the process happen and enjoy it. If you are hungry eat. Your body will be your guide if you let it.

[Green_Woman]

Let the process happen and enjoy it. If you are hungry eat. Your body will be your guide if you let it.

Amen. Best advise here. :)

Listen to your Body... if you're hungry, EAT!!!

[klomasius]

... But I have heard people say that they can sort of get away with eating more raw calories than cooked, just gotta trust the ol' body, I guess! ;) XxXxX

Ah yes, this is an absolute gift for me! I totally ADORE eating, lots of food, anytime!

I use this little benefit of raw to my complete advantage! In fact, I'd go so far and say it was one of the best things about raw, even better than the weight loss, increased energy, younger looking etc.

I love enjoying food, and life!

[revdrcyn]

I'm hungry all the time too, so I just eat all the time.

I consume an enormous amount of food every day, and I am still a size 4 and perfect body weight and body mass index.

I look great and feel amazing, so I don't really worry about it anymore!

[Emma Jane]

Wow, thanks guys, it's so great to hear everyone else's experience :D And well done to y'all, by the way, everyone sounds so empowered! Ah, the power of raw, living foods ;)

I guess it's just more of a shift than I realised, eliminating the last bit of cooked food from my diet. It does feel good, and I actually enjoy all my raw meals a lot more than cooked ones, I'm just having to adjust to the idea of getting all my calories, essentially, from fats and sugars, even if they're good, whole sources... whereas before, things like tofu, rice and beans would provide calories and bulk.

Still, it's an exciting journey, and (although it's still early days!) I've not had any cravings for cooked food or felt tempted to 'stray' hehe, just gotta trust my body and let it do its thing!

XxXxX

[neurosport]

being hungry all the time is ok

eating all the time is not

unless you want to look like a cow that is

animals that eat flesh like ( cheetah, wolf ) have a slim waist. animals that eat grass have huge guts ( cow, elephant ).

that's because you can't fit a gallon of fiber into a pint sized stomach.

and that's why we have things like A JUICER.

you shouldn't eat any more than humans would be eating in the wild. i don't think any tribes sit around and eat salad all day.

if you want to get rid of high-nutrient-density foods like meat, fish and eggs you have to add other high-nutrient-density foods in their place - like juice, nut butter etc.

you can't just eat truckloads of grass.

[rkk]

I think you are adding unnecessary pressure here. No one should feel hungry eating a raw food diet. The beauty of eating raw is that the body will inherently adjust to the amount of food it wants. In the beginning we might eat more, as our internal gauges are a bit confused after coming from cooked foods, but they naturally resent. (At least this has been my experience from eating raw in the past, as well as what others have told me from their experiences.) Feeling deprived and hungry eating raw is not okay. It's important for someone new to raw to eat all they want in the early stages, and allow his/her body to naturally lead him/her to the correct amount of food which will happen over time.

As far as the cow/elephant example... I wouldn't consider either of those to be 'fat' animals. In fact, cows aren't naturally fat unless they are being fed a corn-based diet by humans, rather than the grass-diet they naturally eat. Just because they are structurally built with large girths doesn't make them fat, as it's mostly organs and muscles. I don't think any animal found in nature is naturally fat, as all animals eat raw (with the exception of perhaps the whale in the ocean, but the whale needs large amounts of fat on its body to survive ocean temperatures... therefore its fat is for survival purposes, not a result of a poor diet). So I think we are the only creature in nature with imbalanced fat bodies (although we are now imposing our unhealthful ways on domesticated animals as well). Just let each person new to raw eat as much as he/she wants, and his/her body will eventually develop its own intuition of when to stop eating. No judgments necessary.


being hungry all the time is ok

eating all the time is not

unless you want to look like a cow that is

animals that eat flesh like ( cheetah, wolf ) have a slim waist. animals that eat grass have huge guts ( cow, elephant ).

that's because you can't fit a gallon of fiber into a pint sized stomach.

and that's why we have things like A JUICER.

you shouldn't eat any more than humans would be eating in the wild. i don't think any tribes sit around and eat salad all day.

[Shels]

Hakuna Matata honey. ;)
You can't go wrong with raw.
If you're really worried about it, drink more water. Drink water first when you want to eat in case you're just dehydrated, and have a glass in between each meal.
It's also possible you may not be getting enough fiber, so you might want to look into that if the empty feeling persists, but otherwise munch away.

[CathyA.]

couldn't agree more rkk.

[RawHeaven]

Did anyone else find that they needed more food or more calories on a raw diet than when you were on cooked? I'm feeling hungry and light-headed quite a bit lately (only my first week on raw), but sort of nervous to eat more... :confused: XxX


Keep in mind that for years more than likely you were starving yourself with inadequate nutrition. When we first go raw, the body is overjoyed and it begins craving higher and more plentiful nutrition which is bountiful in raw foods. Having an insatiable appetite for living foods is perfectly normal and happens to many I'm assuming. It happened to me. :D Enjoy it. You're giving your body lots of loving and it's appreciating it. Eventually your body will find it's flow and rhythm... but it's simply one of the stages. Dump the SAD/diet/calorie counting mentality and welcome to the world of Intuitive Eating.

[Emma Jane]

Thanks again to everyone for your support and info! :) I am loving this way of eating, and I've definitely eased up on myself a little over the past couple days in terms of calorie-counting and stressing!

I'm not sure that it's so much that I was very deprived of adequate nutrition - I was eating pretty high raw, vegan, organic, so my diet was already pretty good... I've heard people say that eliminating that last bit of cooked food made a huge difference, though, so I guess that's true for me! Also, my digestion seems to be in the process of sorting itself out :eek: so I might not be absorbing things so well... Anyway, it's good to hear that all this stuff is normal and part of the process and all that :D

Thanks again, lovely people, y'all rawk ;) XxXxX