The Efficacy of Raw for Weight Loss

[jhodi]

How do we know a RAW diet provides for weight loss structurally, as opposed to the case studies of those who have indeed lost amazing amounts of weight but their pre-raw lifestyle included lots of sodas, alcohol, sugar, fried foods, etc.

I am curious as to specific cases wherein someone ate a basically healthy diet free of those things and then went raw and lost the weight.

I hope that makes sense.

Thoughts?

Thank you.

[RighteousYogini]

I TOTALLY want to know this as well...Ive been healthy pre-raw... vegetarian for 16 years, not overweight but definitely carrying about 10lb excess weight... Im excited to see the changes and to hear peoples responses

[Aleesha Sattva]

just curious... what difference does it make? weight release is weight release and increased health is increased health.

the more weight someone has to release - regardless of their diet - the more weight they will release when coming to raw.

i know lots of "healthy vegan or vegetarians" who are obese. they would release heaps if they went raw.

[Aleesha Sattva]

cause the healthy fats, nutrition and enzymes are the same regardless of what you ate before. know what i mean?

[meowimacat]

my diet wasn't AWFUL before i started eating raw, the only meat i had was fish or chicken, i ate lots of vegetables, i didn't drink fizzy drinks, very rarely ate fried food. typically my diet was okay, with the odd bad thing as a 'treat' every once in a while. the only thing i perhaps overindulged in was chocolate. since i last weighed myself i've lost 8lbs in the last 3 weeks.

[RighteousYogini]

my diet wasn't AWFUL before i started eating raw, the only meat i had was fish or chicken, i ate lots of vegetables, i didn't drink fizzy drinks, very rarely ate fried food. typically my diet was okay, with the odd bad thing as a 'treat' every once in a while. the only thing i perhaps overindulged in was chocolate. since i last weighed myself i've lost 8lbs in the last 3 weeks.

Thanks Meow!! GReat to hear!!! Are you a strict 100% rawbie now?? How's it feel!!

[jhodi]

Aleesha, I think my scientific mind likes to know how things really work. Plus, I want to know because my pre-juice diet was very clean. I am highly allergic/sensitive to processed foods and cannot have them (thank god) and never drink sodas, etc. I eat a very clean diet. So naturally I am curious if raw is going to be as effective for me for weight loss rather than someone who comes to raw giving up all that junk and THAT is actually the mechanism that facilitates the weight loss instead of the raw diet. I think you are a lot like me in that you won't blindly follow something because other people do. I wanna know the facts.
:-)

Meowimacat, thank you, that is exactly the kind of story I wanted to hear.

[Aleesha Sattva]

well the facts are... that raw foods have healthy fats and depending on what you choose to eat or drink can be very weight release friendly.

i don't know if there are any scientific facts other than the nutritional value of foods to go on???

[jhodi]

It does make absolute sense that if your body is being fed the righteous nutrition of a raw foods diet that it would not crave more and more food, only to be fed junk and then the vicious cycle continues.

no peer reviewed literature on the raw food diet?

[Aleesha Sattva]

there's loads of books out there. not sure if any of them are scientific though

[Eva]

Aleesha, I think my scientific mind likes to know how things really work. Plus, I want to know because my pre-juice diet was very clean. I am highly allergic/sensitive to processed foods and cannot have them (thank god) and never drink sodas, etc. I eat a very clean diet. So naturally I am curious if raw is going to be as effective for me for weight loss rather than someone who comes to raw giving up all that junk and THAT is actually the mechanism that facilitates the weight loss instead of the raw diet. I think you are a lot like me in that you won't blindly follow something because other people do. I wanna know the facts.
:-)

Meowimacat, thank you, that is exactly the kind of story I wanted to hear.

I would highly recommend the book "Becoming Raw". It's a good read for someone interested in the scientific side of things. :)

[jhodi]

Thanks Eva. I will start there.

Meanwhile, I am doing my own single case study with myself.

I have found a chef who sells bulk raw meals...beginning April 1st I am going to do six weeks raw only. I am currently about 20-30 pounds overweight...hard to know but I weigh about 160 at 5'4

I will post the results. I may skew the study tho because I am combining juicing with raw food...or maybe that is not skewed...I obviously don't know much about all this!

:-)

But I think I am a good case study given my super clean diet beforehand.

[Eva]

Thanks Eva. I will start there.

Meanwhile, I am doing my own single case study with myself.

I have found a chef who sells bulk raw meals...beginning April 1st I am going to do six weeks raw only. I am currently about 20-30 pounds overweight...hard to know but I weigh about 160 at 5'4

I will post the results. I may skew the study tho because I am combining juicing with raw food...or maybe that is not skewed...I obviously don't know much about all this!

:-)

But I think I am a good case study given my super clean diet beforehand.

Looking forward to hearing how it goes for you. :) Juice is raw food, and many raw foodist (myself included) enjoy a fresh juice every day. If it's not cooked, filled with synthetics, or processed, it's raw. Simple as that!

[jhodi]

Eva, I am currently juice fasting. But I will use my weight beginning April 1st to do the study. The plan is to juice much of the day with a raw dinner at night.

I am sure it will change somewhat. It's the best I can do.

Any others suggestions/input are certainly welcome. Gonna be interesting.

The place where I am getting the raw meals is called Pure Cafe out of Tulsa Oklahoma. The ship nationwide, but I can drive over to pick it up as it is only 2 hours away. I couldn't believe there was a raw cafe so close to rural arkansas. hahahha

[reina80]

Good question. In January of 2010, I was 225 pounds. Part of this was pregnancy weight, however I was thirty pounds overweight when I got pregnant.

In March of 2010 I went on a calorie restricted diet. It was not vegan, not vegetarian but it was a very clean diet - no processed foods, no sweets, no fried foods. I allowed myself 1500-1700 cals a day (because I was nursing). I weighed about 170 by midsummer, with a little fluctuation because I had difficulty sticking with it faithfully. My only exercise was the occasional exercise video and breastfeeding (which is indeed a calorie burner for me.) I don't know how much of this was due to pregnancy loss of weight or my efforts - I was about 170 when I got pregnant so this was a return to my pre-pregnancy weight.

In August I went 80% raw (with the non raw portion being only cooked veggies, squash, potatoes - I was still vegan). I then lost another twentyfive pounds in very good time to be about 145.

I fell off for a couple months and fluctuated between 145-152 - I ate very poorly over the holidays and was surprised actually that I did not regain more weight than I did. I have been 100% raw again for almost three weeks and have lost 10-12 pounds to weigh in at about 140.

So...long story short?

Basic calorie restriction on a very healthy SAD diet, I was always tempted to cheat - I never had any energy and I did not particularly enjoy the foods I was eating.

I have dieted several times in my life and no diet besides the raw food diet and Eat to Live (which is a basic vegan, part cooked diet) has ever given me sustainable, enjoyable, lasting results. I do not feel deprived, my cravings diminish, I have energy, I love the flavor of raw food, I could go on but you get the idea. I think raw is great for weight loss though that is not the primary reason I am eating raw. It feels natural to me and is pretty effortless for the most part in terms of mental preparation for me. I don't have to deny myself food, I eat when I am hungry, no time consuming calorie counting. I have a powerful sweet tooth and I love being able to indulge and still lose weight. However as I eat more 100%, I don't crave the sweets as much and am finally recognizing what my body wants and what it doesn't. Its not for everyone but it definitely works for me on all accounts. Good luck on your research - I definitely understand about wanting to know facts!!

[modernmonkey]

A 'healthy diet' will typically still include more fat and more starchy carbs than a raw diet. That would account for the extra weight released. If the healthy diet foods are identical in type and proportion to the raw diet but just only cooked, then I'm not sure. I would actually doubt there's much difference in these people's weight but their health and energy would differ.

[bananaberrie]

Great Thread!! I wondered this myself. When I first went raw I expected great results in the weight loss area, but it has been very slow coming, IMO. I have been on a high raw diet since the last part of December of 2010. I say high raw because I don't get dogmatic about things like spices and honey, agave, ect. I just try to be as close to 100% raw almost 100% of the time without stressing myself out about it. I will allow myself to eat some cooked food usually once or twice a week on average. Having said that, I was a healthy eater before I went raw. I was not a vegan, but ate whole foods and very very little processed foods, I didn't eat white flour or sugar no soda or fried food. I weighted 115. I always weighted 115, no matter what. I never dieted or restricted what I ate. I have three kids, and before each kid 115, after each kid 115.

At the end of last year I decided I wanted to start jogging so I did. In a matter of two weeks I gained 3-4 lbs. People asked if I had lost weight, but nope I had gained (muscle obviously). So when I went raw I was hoping to lose this weight and between 5-10 more (I'm 5 ft 1 in) It has been 3 months on my high raw diet as to date I have lost 7 lbs. I have continued to exercise and jog, so maybe I would have lost more had I not been building muscle. Also, I am still nursing my youngest child. My mom swears that she held on to weight when she nursed me as a baby so maybe my body is holding on to some weight for milk production...who knows. All I know, is I thought I would lose more faster after reading everyone else's success on this forum and reading about people who lost so much they were hoping to gain weight back, and that it just melted off. I feel like I have worked my butt off (no pun indented :) to lose the 7 lbs.

I'll be interested to see what other stories you get on this topic.

[mcster]

There are many variations of raw. Some people eat low fat, others eat high fat and others place importance on protein. Others on carbs. Whether you gain or lose weight depends a lot on what you eat, who often and how much you eat and whether or not you're exercising. So, if you want to satiate your scientific mind, asking if people lose weight on raw is simply too general of a question IMO. Food for thought.

My personal experience is that I was eating very healthy vegan meals with occasional junk food (pizza, ice cream). I did the master cleanse before I started on raw and lost 20lbs within three weeks. I had done the master cleanse before and put about 70% of weight back on within a matter of weeks after ending the cleanse with a healthy vegan diet. Going raw after the cleanse, I kept 100% of it off. My body then started transforming. I stayed at the same weight but I started losing fat and gaining muscle. I got to around 12% fat (I'm a guy) and over the pat 2-3 weeks I've put on 3-4lbs of muscle.

I'm not so sure why people place so much importance on losing lbs. I think the more important metric is body fat %. I really don't care how much I weigh so long as my bf% stays where I want it. Putting on weight just means I'm putting on muscle, which has massively impacted my ability to perform in sports.

[Psychalone]

Aleesha, I think my scientific mind likes to know how things really work. Plus, I want to know because my pre-juice diet was very clean. I am highly allergic/sensitive to processed foods and cannot have them (thank god) and never drink sodas, etc. I eat a very clean diet. So naturally I am curious if raw is going to be as effective for me for weight loss rather than someone who comes to raw giving up all that junk and THAT is actually the mechanism that facilitates the weight loss instead of the raw diet. I think you are a lot like me in that you won't blindly follow something because other people do. I wanna know the facts.
:-)

Meowimacat, thank you, that is exactly the kind of story I wanted to hear.

I think you should let your exerience speak for itself. Do a test and let yourself be the experiment ;)

As for what scientifically will cause weight loss...well first lets examine what causes weight gain and what kind of "weight" we're talking about.

First of all, fat doesn't become fat and wont cause weight gain. I did a personal experiment with raw dairy where I upped my calorie uptake to about 4000 a day and fat intake to 500g a day. Over a 2 week period I LOST 5lbs. My previous diet was maybe 1400cals a day. So what kind of weight are people putting on?

Well lucky for me my experiment used RAW dairy which contained the enzyme "lipase", had it not, I may have died, lol. It is my suggestion that the weight most people put on is undigested fats and proteins stored in the cells. In fact I would pose that the "protein powders" which are enzymatically INACTIVE, only flood the body with undigested proteins which causethem to become "packed" in the cells and cause "mass" gain.

Dr. David Galton of Tufts Universoty, School of Medicine examined 11 individuals weighing around 235lbs and found lipase enzyme deficiency in the fatty tissue and fatty tumors. Without the fat splitting enzyme lipase, fat builds up throughout one's body.
Even the small town local paper in Hot Springs, AK ran a piece entitled "Can Enzyme Regimens End Obesity?" The article was an account of a National Dietary Research Council experiment in which the researchers had the test subjects consume at least 6 large meals per day along with an enzyme complex supplement that was thought might help the body overcome its resistence to weight loss. Of the 50 people who particpated in the study, the women lost an average of 1lb a day while the men lost an average of 2lbs a day.

I would argue that the only diet that one can get a supply of enzymes sufficient enough to cause weight loss like nothing else, is in a raw foods diet. I believe the main factor is the digestive enzymes present in raw foods that help break down the undigested waste in our body from years of pancreatic exhaustion due to cooked foods.

I would also argue that a good bit of the initial wieght lost is water weight. When we finally get hydration from STUCTURED (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taQUrkB0nPQ&feature=related) water in raw fruits and veggies and stop dehydrating ourselves with excess sodium and cooked foods devoid of H2O, our body no longer needs to retain water or use water to dilute toxins and store in the cells.

Again though, the most meaningful results you'll ever find are through SELF-experimentation. Try it for yourself, do the 30 day challange and monitor how you react to it. take notes daily on yourself, weigh yourself, get bloodtests if your wish. Your own experience makes for the best case ofr or against it. Honestly all the rest is just hear-say :p

[obama549]

Eva, I am currently juice fasting. But I will use my weight beginning April 1st to do the study. The plan is to juice much of the day with a raw dinner at night.

I am sure it will change somewhat. It's the best I can do.

Any others suggestions/input are certainly welcome. Gonna be interesting.

The place where I am getting the raw meals is called Pure Cafe out of Tulsa Oklahoma. The ship nationwide, but I can drive over to pick it up as it is only 2 hours away. I couldn't believe there was a raw cafe so close to rural arkansas. hahahha
I fell off for a couple months and fluctuated between 145-152 - I ate very poorly over the holidays and was surprised actually that I did not regain more weight than I did. I have been 100% raw again for almost three weeks and have lost 10-12 pounds to weigh in at about 140.

[jhodi]

Wow...Fantastic replies to this thread. Thank you so much. So interesting and much to "digest".

Psychalone, did you mean to write Hot Springs, AR or AK? Just wondering, as Hot Springs Arkansas is close to me. Alaska, not so much, hee hee.

Yes, the plan has been for me to go all raw April 1st and do my own personal study with my own body...and so far with all the juicing I have done in the last three weeks with intermittent fasting I have lost about 6-7 pounds and I could not be happier. It feels slow and healthy.

This juicing business has been amazingly powerful. My body craves nothing. So already I see the benefits of getting that nutrition in a concentrated dose.

Thank you to everyone who has put such good energy in these well informed responses...exactly what I had in mind when I started thread and you guys delivered.

[meowimacat]

Thanks Meow!! GReat to hear!!! Are you a strict 100% rawbie now?? How's it feel!!

I started on the 30 day challenge this month, and I feel brilliant!! This morning I woke up at 7am and went for a run! Something I would never have done before. I am bright and alert and cheerful, sleeping better. I feel like a new woman!! Sounds ridiculous I know! I am not 100% yet as I do have the occasional slip up, but these are mostly out of politeness. I can't say no when someone has made me food and forgotten that I have changed my eating habits. But still, what I have eaten that isn't raw has been good food. No naughties for me!

[changeisgood]

I kept a journal of what I ate everyday - menu style - in the beginning so I knew what worked and what didn't. And I reviewed it in the evening.

As much as I love avocado, even a small amount a couple of times a week gains weight.
I lost weight after I began raw eating and I was a healthy eater before (except for occasional treat). I pretty much stick to juicing, GS, salads and the basics. I tried giving myself a treat of the almond joys and found that even carob and agave mixed together created cravings, so I now keep away from that. I'm fine with the coconut butter and shredded coconut though, in it's natural state with fruit.
My point is, you'll have to see what works for you and what doesn't. And exercise and pay attention to portion sizes. And drink loads of water. Atleast 4 glasses with or without lemon and only GS and fruit in AM.
When I was in a 12 step program for eating, we would hear someone say they were having one muffin - we all laughed because we know the super size of muffins today. I carried over to raw food eating the same concept.

[Psychalone]

Wow...Fantastic replies to this thread. Thank you so much. So interesting and much to "digest".

Psychalone, did you mean to write Hot Springs, AR or AK? Just wondering, as Hot Springs Arkansas is close to me. Alaska, not so much, hee hee.

Yes, the plan has been for me to go all raw April 1st and do my own personal study with my own body...and so far with all the juicing I have done in the last three weeks with intermittent fasting I have lost about 6-7 pounds and I could not be happier. It feels slow and healthy.

This juicing business has been amazingly powerful. My body craves nothing. So already I see the benefits of getting that nutrition in a concentrated dose.

Thank you to everyone who has put such good energy in these well informed responses...exactly what I had in mind when I started thread and you guys delivered.

Arkansas. Got the things mixed up, my mistake :p

[jhodi]

That is a strange coincidence that an article like that would come out of rural Arkansas....oh well....the times may be changing!

So...I would like a little advice or maybe a review of my diet plan for April.

I have ordered my weekly meals....all raw dinners with one raw dessert a week, so I will be consuming those each evening and throughout the day I thought I would do a green smoothie for breakfast, then green juices all day until dinner.

And this for the month of April.

Anything else I should be thinking of?

Thanks.

[reina80]

I guess my question would be if ordering your food all the time is sustainable in the long run. Will you keep with raw if you are always ordering your food? (Kind of like nutrisystem - people may lose weight while on ns but they gain it all back when they are no longer eating it because they don't know how to sustain it. - speaking from experience by the way) I'm just playing devil's advocate - this may be a great plan for you. I know I wouldn't really enjoy it because I love taking part in my food planning and cooking. Do you plan on staying raw after you do your weight loss experiment?

By the way, I was eating raw gourmet prepared by a local cafe and it was making me very foggy whereas if I prepare my own food, even if it is raw gourmet, it doesn't do the same. I figured out finally that the raw gourmet I was eating (desserts and entrees) from the cafe was heavily cashew laden and my body wasn't liking it. I don't use cashews when I cook at home. So just watch out for things like that - the way they prepare food might affect your results and overall well-being.

Otherwise, as to your original question - sounds like its ok if it is what works for you. Personally, I've found I need more food in the morning but that's just me - a lot of people are very different. So, to completely not answer your original question, you might just have to see how you feel after a week or so and adjust as needed. :) Good luck, I'm excited to hear your results.

[jhodi]

Reina, thank you for your feedback and input.

The fact is, my greatest passion is preparing food, and my own meals. It has been a blessing because I have a 100% intolerance to all processed foods and food additives/preservatives.

My motivation for using the raw food service is multi-faceted.
First of all, I am brand new to the world of RAW (as in, two weeks) and really want to undertake this experiment to see how it works for me....and I am EXTREMELY busy right now in my private practice. PLUS, I am also a musician and have a big show coming up the end of April and I would LOVE to have made some significant progress in my weight/appearance by then....hence, I crafted this plan to use the food service which actually just blew me away that it is so close to me (Tulsa, Oklahoma).

So with all those factors involved, this is my choice. If it works for me and I take to it, I have already purchased a greenstar elite juicer (which I am LOVING regardless of going raw) and I have my excaliber 9 tray...a good blender, and so on. So I am well equipped to continue on should I find this month of 100% raw is something my body loves.

All that to say....I love to cook and will be fine at the end of April should I wish to continue and I have learned a lot more about RAW.

:-)

[reina80]

Well in that case, it sounds wonderful. I do envy your option to get such tasty raw gourmet. Its not an option for me just because I can't afford it. Good luck with your music, how exciting! I am sure on a raw food diet you will just glow on stage!

[jhodi]

Thanks, reina.

Ok....SO....today begins my body prep for the month of April which will be 100% RAW.

I weighed in at 158.4 with a body fat % of 38.4
In case anyone is wondrin', I am 5'4. So I would say I am carrying a good 20-30 pounds too many. Ouch.

This week will be vegan eating, juicing, green smoothies....then Friday, April 1st, all raw. Now, I am going to be juicing, green smoothies, and salads, but I am debating doing all juice only days, and then the raw meals at night.

My main priority is to release the weight, secondary to my case study...hahhahahah

Any other ideas or thoughts? Maybe I should juice fast until Friday.

[jhodi]

So I could tell this thread was getting ready to get real "bloggy" so instead of posting my day to day dramatic drivel here, I started a blog called Jhodi's Raw Journey. If you wish to follow this 30 day experiment, you may check it out there. Otherwise, I will simply post the results to this thread at the end of April.

:-)

[Raw Angel Mom]

Just to add on that i also have a healthy diet prior to raw vegan food and i lost also the extra pound i had. I wasn't really too much over my ideal weight but going 100% raw did make that difference.

Those case study are done with people eating cook food. Not much study has been done with raw food, you will be your own study.

All the best with your raw journey!

Bye the way, all of those diet to make you lose weight are diet not a permanent life change. With raw food, it is a permanent life change. Even if you go back to cook food, you will never forget the amount of well being you felt on raw diet and you will find a way to go back with raw food.

100% RAW food is what works for me.

[Bananna]

I also wondered this...so I did an experiment once and ate only raw gourmet desserts which typically have large amounts of nuts and dried fruits. I actually Gained weight.

The reason why raw works is because a 'typical' raw diet includes plenty of juicy fruits and huge salads as well. This type of food is very high in fibre and water...both of which are satiating. Add to that that the diet is very biochemically satisfying as well as it is so vitamin and mineral rich, you don't have that ravenous appetite after awhile on the plan and your body isn't starving for those things.

Add to that, that there are many addictive foods that you may not be consuming, that may be considered healthy such as grains or dairy.

Even Alissa says in her book that if you are not losing weight to consider cutting back on the oils and stuff...but initially on the diet, you are practically guaranteed to lose. Unless all you are eating is large portions of dried fruit and nut combos exclusively, as I tried out. lol...which wouldn't last long anyway because you don't even want to eat that way all the time. ...perhaps that's also why raw works..because you will inevitably eat those weight-loss conducive foods: fruits and veggies :)

[Dirkg]

Weight loss is all about creating a net caloric deficit, that's all there is to it. But the more important thing is losing fat, while preserving LBM (lean body mass). A lot of weight loss is initially due to water weight (esp on low carb diets), and is just as easy to put back on.

[modernmonkey]

Many would disagree with you. There are slim raw foodists on 3000 calories a day. Cutting calories is probably propaganda of the diet industries.

[jhodi]

Update on the experiment:

So far, so good. 100% RAW.

However, the gourmet RAW meals I have ordered are FABULOUS BUT SO expensive!!!! The company said most meals feed two people and so I thought I would be getting double meals for the cost...but not so much. They are very normal servings which is good on one hand, but I simply cannot afford the cost...with shipping it is almost 40 dollars per meal. Simply cannot do it, however, their food is fabulous, so if someone could afford it, I highly recommend them.

Another thing, I was worried about the calories...all those nuts and thick sauces and stuff.

But....I am staying committed and researching like crazy some entree recipes....ordering Alissa's cookbooks also.

Day 2, 100% RAW!

[Dirkg]

Many would disagree with you. There are slim raw foodists on 3000 calories a day. Cutting calories is probably propaganda of the diet industries.

Actually the diet industry would rather people not know about this, as their main product is fad diets which try to hide all the science under something that's easy and glamorous - hence all that nonsense about 'lose 20lb in 2 weeks while eating pizza'.

I know slim people who eat 4 kcal/day, maybe they have high metabolism or work out a lot. Michael Phelps famously ate 12,000 calories!

You can either -

1. monitor calories and food intake - e.g. weight watchers and many others
2. adopt a lifestyle which naturally eliminates a lot of high calorie+low nutrition food - like raw food diet.

[modernmonkey]

I completely agree but no 1 has proven time and time again it is not sustainable. Weightwatchers is only the multi million dollar industry it is because people just keep coming back.

[January Noir]

I would highly recommend the book "Becoming Raw". It's a good read for someone interested in the scientific side of things. :)

This was the first book I purchased on my Raw journey. It's excellent.
I loaned it to a friend of mine who is a medical doctor who commented on my new, healthy look. I figured he would like to read about the scientific aspect of the diet.

[Amii]

Actually the diet industry would rather people not know about this, as their main product is fad diets which try to hide all the science under something that's easy and glamorous - hence all that nonsense about 'lose 20lb in 2 weeks while eating pizza'.

I know slim people who eat 4 kcal/day, maybe they have high metabolism or work out a lot. Michael Phelps famously ate 12,000 calories!

You can either -

1. monitor calories and food intake - e.g. weight watchers and many others
2. adopt a lifestyle which naturally eliminates a lot of high calorie+low nutrition food - like raw food diet.

Calories don't apply so much when you're eating natural food. Low-fat raw foodists eat around 3500 calories of fruit a day, and maintain their weight when previously they were fat on 2000 calories in cooked food.

[mcster]

It still boggles my mind that people count calories...

[jhodi]

UPDATE!!!!

The company sending me the gourmet raw meals offered a half price special! 8 weeks for the price of 4. NOW....this is affordable.

SO, I am continuing on...Green smoothies, juicing, salads, and their meals which are indeed delicious! Let's see how this whole raw food thing really works! 100% RAW....results forthcoming!

[LaniB]

UPDATE!!!!

The company sending me the gourmet raw meals offered a half price special! 8 weeks for the price of 4. NOW....this is affordable.

Wow!! That is great. Congrats. :-)

[RighteousYogini]

Ive been about 100% for ..... just about 2 weeks. I've been filling myself with sweets and desserts and dehydrated breads. I've lost about a pound. Im going to cut down on some sweets, etc, and simplify things.........as Alissa says, fruit for breaky, greens and smoothies for lunch, handful of nuts in between, greens at night. If I ate that way Im sure there'd be a shift.

[speltrong]

I have been vegan for many years now, and I'm still obese. Yep, it's quite possible to be a fat vegan... I worked my way all the way up to 360lbs. I had actually weighed more than that before, but got down to 165 by following a vegan diet. But then vegan junk food became easier to get and I had a crazy job where I was sitting all day for 16hrs a day, and all the weight came back. Just a month ago, I was seriously considering having gastric bypass surgery.. I went through the whole program for it, got approved, etc. But then I just felt really strongly that having your stomach stapled, and forever changing the types of foods your body can eat can't be a great thing to do. So I have decided to delay having the surgery done to try to think of other options. During this time, I managed to get my weight down to about 293 but had stalled terribly and didn't seem able to lose any more. So, hubby and I talked about it extensively, and we decided to switch to raw vegan for at least 2 weeks to see if it did anything. So at the beginning of April, we started eating 100% raw, and I can tell you right now that I LOVE this way of eating. I feel so much better and more energetic, and the numbers on the scale are getting lower quickly.. I'm currently at 285, so i've lost 8 pounds in 5 days. So I guess I have a lot riding on this, but I am just going to keep going with it, being a little careful of limiting nuts & seeds & avocado to avoid fat, and I'm going to see where i'm at in about 3 months. My big hope is that I can forget about that surgery and just keep feeling as vibrant as I do now, and also have a body that matches that mindset. :-)

[January Noir]

Good for you Speltrong! :cheer:

I understand you want to limit fats, but remember your skin and hair need it...
Don't go overboard in eliminating fats. Remember, these are good fats and play a major role in full health.

[speltrong]

Thanks January! Yes, we're still consuming plenty of fats, I'm just making sure that I'm getting the fats from food instead of oils, and not too too much of them. So, I'll measure out nuts to put in recipes, or avocados or seeds. I'll use whole olives instead of olive oil. I track everything I eat, so it all goes into a database, and my fat content definitely isn't lacking. When we started eating raw, I thought I'd initially try doing it with fats included (nuts, avo, etc), and then take them away if it seemed to be a problem. But so far I feel FANTASTIC, and the weight is dropping off, so I'm just gonna keep on doing the same thing. :-)