What to eat/avoid for weight loss?

[ashabean]

I just posted in the hello part of the forum, but I am cross posting here too, as I need some advice/input if possible :)

Just starting back at raw after a long time away.

Over the last few weeks I have been eating more and more raw (building myself up to it), and for the last 4 days I have dedicated myself to the following a simple Smoothie in the morning, followed by fruit and a raw pre-bought bar, salad with hummus for lunch, more fruit in the afternoon, then a cooked vegetarian meal with green juice. If hungry in the day then some sprouted bread with peanut butter.

I need to lose a lot of weight, I am around 195lb. I am not doing raw for the weight loss but I am hoping it will come with it, but so far I seem to have gained a few lbs?

I do like avocado's but I am scared to eat them, I allow myself around half to 1 a day (either in my smoothie or with salad). I could eat more of them!!!

I am finding myself hungry alot, I love my food and am scared of eating too much.

What have others eaten or avoided to help with weight loss?

any help would be fab

[qwerty988]

Stop eating the cooked food.

Go all raw and let yourself enjoy lots of bananas, avocados, smoothies, nut pates, chocolate shakes -- anything you want so long as it's raw. Eat as much as you want! Don't let yourself go hungry. Try raw soups, yum! Snack on fruits and guacamole and more smoothies and salads and juice. Eat twice as much as you're eating now, just make it all raw!

You'll see a big change for the better, promise. :heart:

[ashabean]

The thought of eating more than I am scares me, although I could!! lol I worry if I take that leap I will gain more weight.

I think I could easily do 100% raw right now, but I guess I am scared to, in case I fail.

[qwerty988]

Try it for a week.

Forget the fear! Food is your friend, as long as it's raw. :kisses:

[SunshineMN]

Absolutely do not do low carb!

Include healthy cold pressed oils (olive, sesame, coconut) and nuts to help keep you feeling full longer. If you get hungry, eat a piece of fruit, a few carrots, some celery with raw nut butter, anything raw and quick to keep you from eating non-raw, even a raw chocolate/date/nut/coconut ball! I usually grab a banana because I absolutely love bananas. I never get tired of them, however I don't like them completely ripe either. LOL

I find any cooked food makes me feel crappy and more intensely hungry sooner than a big salad with sprouts does.

[MysticTree]

Fear is a dreadful thing - you can probably eat 2-3 avos a day on raw and still lose weight. I know I can!

Just eat raw. Give up the cooked foods and eat raw for 30 days. Allow yourself to gain weight during that time. Give yourself permission to experiment and eat all the raw food you want. Weigh at the start if you want to but then absolutely don't for 30 days.

30 days is a very short time in the whole scheme of things and the worst that can happen is that you gain a few pounds - I'll be bound you lose some actually. Give it a go because if you don't then you have truly failed.

[Raw Angel Mom]

I engorged myself the first year. Nuts, sweetener and all kind of raw gourmet. I ate all the time and as much i wanted. I went with Alissa's philosophy. I went 100% raw food in the spring and by December, i was underweight.

I truly feel that you need to trust your body. The main element that makes us be unbalance is cook food. With raw food, you will have a stop signal from your body that this is enough. With cook food, you can eat forever and none stop even if you are full.

Raw food leads to balance. The most important thing for you to shed the weight is to have a plan to stick with 100% raw food. If this mean that you have to do like me at first and engorge yourself to feel comfortable with this life style to stick to it, then you should seriously consider it.

In time, you will go with choices that your body needs. Focus on eating as much fresh fruits as possible they will help with hunger, rejuvenate you and give you a wonderful skin. I would also make room with green smoothie or start juicing green juice, they heal addiction.

Too much nuts isn't typically good but i seriously believe that when you start, you need to first train your mind that raw food is the way. You can always substitute nuts with seeds for many recipes or simply skip them. I rarely eat them now because i don't do well with them.

The first step for you is do simply 100% raw food, so i would follow others advice and just eat as much you want. The food needs to taste good and satisfying to you.

All is well

[ashabean]

Thank you for all the advice and support. I've talked it through with hubby, and I am going to go for it.He is going to stick with just doing it half and half, but is very supportive of me. In fact he was the one than enabled me to stay raw through dinner and not fall off into eating cooked :heart:

So I had a huge salad, half an avo, some sprouted grain bread, some grapes and I will confess a small amount of cheese (not raw), and I am finishing it off with my second sweet banana and choc brazil nut smoothie with spirulina. Yummy.

Good thing I already have the taste for green juices and smoothies.

I am going to take it a day at a time, then a week and see if I can make a month. I need to stock up on raw nuts though.

I know from my previous attempts at raw that the dehydrated raw foods aren't for me, they taste too sharp, it's greens, salads and fresh fruit, with raw choc or raw nut balls for me.

I think I'll sign up for the month challenge if I am brave enough!

[DebB]

As you can see - everyone's story seems to be different in what works for them.

For myself? I have to concentrate on mainly raw fruits and veggies. I can have 1 avocado per day. I've had to set aside nuts and seeds right now. I was eating too many of them and gaining. But - I do have thyroid issues and I gain weight very easily.

So, I needed to find what worked best for my body and my metabolism where it's at right now.

If one thing doesn't work for you, try another. There IS an answer! If you happen to gain or what not, don't give up - just keep trying to see what works for you.