Has anyone ever GAINED weight starting out?

[bbycakes]

Hi, I posted a kind of similar thread in another forum, but thought Id address another issue here and see if anyone had any experience they can share.

I am currently unable to be active as Ive recently had surgery. Post surgery I was very active and ran and strength trained, and while I built muscle and some tone, I didnt really lose any fat. But I also wasnt eating raw.

Now that I am going back into this lifestyle, I am wondering if me starting it while Im currently very sedentary may cause me to gain weight? What Im worried is that all the sugar intake from the fruit may cause weight gain, as sugar is energy and gets stored as fat when you cant get up and use it.

Im already upset that my downtime will cause me to lose muscle tone, weight gain on top of that would be a slap in the face :( but I am determined to stick with my raw lifestyle.

Also, I do not use raw recipes or dehydrate or anything along those lines, and I do not eat nuts. I simply eat lots of fruits and veggies as they are. I dont know if that will have any effect or not.

[Charybdisjim]

You are you still recovering from surgery and is that the reason you are unable to be active right?

I would not suggest a dramatic change in diet while recovering from surgery. Even changing from a particularly poor diet to a brilliant is likely enough to involve a period of stress on your system as it adjusts to the new diet. While recovering from surgery might not be the best time to put that additional stress on your body while it is healing - though gradually eating healthier during this period is still a good idea.

I would also strongly urge you to use recipes and read up on how to make such a change the right way. Simply going raw without reading up on it and making sure you develop good balanced dietary habbits isn't going to be helpful.

[bbycakes]

Going raw is not something I am new to or have never researched, in fact Ive done a lot of research on it but havent found an answer to this particular question, as most people who eat raw the way I do are unfortunately very judgemental or assume everyones body works the same way when it doesnt. :(

I have attempted to go raw twice before but failed for different reasons, this time I am sticking with it no excuses. For some reason I just felt 'now', so I did it. I am 8 days post op from a breast augmentation. So I am unable to be active for that reason, but I am not in bad health.

Im also not exactly coming from the SAD, I ate a diet of mostly fruit and veggies already but Id watch my sugars and ate lean animal protein, now Im just switching to ALL fruit and veggies.

[Charybdisjim]

Alright didn't mean to insult you or anything. Since I don't know you I have no idea whether you've read up on it or not or whether recovering from a surgery could be anything from having a bunion removed to a liver transplant.

But yeah if you're not making a massive change to your diet and you don't take in more calories I don't think going raw would be more likely to cause weight gain than your current diet. You might want to eat more sprouts and veggies and a little less sugary fruits depending on your own experience with your metabolism - but your judgement is going to be the best as far as that goes.

While healing, getting essential amino acids and even some conditional amino acids is of increased importance. That's why I suggested recipes - they encourage variety and that is one of the best ways to ensure you get all the required nutrients when going raw particularly if you go vegan raw. If you already know about all that and have plenty of variety in the food you have in mind then you're right that you don't need recipes.

[bbycakes]

You didnt insult me at all and I thank you for your advice :) Sorry if I came off as offended!

The problem is I dont know how my metabolism works very well! Hahah. Ive never taken much notice to different effects from different eating. Im 19, 5'9, and normally weigh 140 but am currently at 150lb due to swelling and fluid retention from surgery.

I am fairly muscular and fit but have just a bit of fat to lose - I have a layer of fat over my tummy, and on my thighs that Id really like to get rid of.

The only thing I know about my body and metabolism is...nothing has ever gotten rid of that fat!

[SunshineMN]

I don't think switching to a raw diet now will hurt you much. Fruit in itself doesn't make you fat. The sugars are bound by the fibers and they don't digest as fast as if you were eating processed sugars or foods that turn into sugar. Fresh fruits will give you lots of good vitamins and amino acids to help you heal, along with fresh greens for minerals and amino acids. Though for faster healing juicing might be more helpful so your digestive system doesn't have to work as hard, but all the vitamins and minerals will still be absorbed and your energy can go towards healing instead of digesting food. Eating cooked food, meat (even lean) and dairy at this time I would think would slow down your recovery time quite significantly because they are all harder for your body to digest and you waste a lot of energy doing it.

Even if you gained a small amount, which you probably won't, it'll be quick and easy to lose once you can be more active again. Fruits are not a bad thing! They help you heal in balance with leafy greens.

[bbycakes]

Thankyou, I will try juicing.

This is the end of my second day and Ive just been hit HARD with nausea, near-vomitting flu-like detox symptoms, help!

I absolutely cannot tolerate the nausea, it is the reason for my failures in the past. :(

[Charybdisjim]

Mild nausea, headaches, and other symptoms are actually not that uncommon when switching diets. Sudden dietary changes do cause temporary stress as your body adjusts. when this happens it normally only lasts a few days to maybe a week unless its triggered by a specific food intolerance rather than the overall change.

I'm kind of surprised you're getting them that quickly and severely considering you already eat a lot of raw food and veggies. The process of getting your system used to a new diet is usually related to how drastic of a change you make; ie someone eating high fat high meat diet siwtching to raw vegan would be in for a rough ride for a couple of days at least if they did it suddenly.

In your case though I'd suspect that something specific that you are now eating raw which you either never or rarely eat raw otherwise might be disagreeing with you. Depending on what it is, you might either want to avoid that specific ingredient or you might be able to desensitize yourself to it in small amounts over time (desensitization therapy should be conducted under consultation with a doctor.)

In the last two days what things have you eaten raw that you might not eat raw otherwise? Onions are garlic tend to be more chronic intolerance while greens are usually easier to adjust to; though that's not universal.
Also, be aware of interactions between certain foods and medicines. Cranberry juice in particular is notorious as a potentiator (increases uptake and availibility) of certain medications while also being an iron absorption inhibitor.

If the nausea is that bad though and it turns out not to be some single ingredient you can leave out, you may want to wait till you are more fully recovered. Good chances are that it would only last a few days more if you can tolerate it a few days longer, but while your healing might not be the the most opportune time to tough it out. I would end not to suggest anti-nausea medication or herbal supplements - while it is most likely you can adjust to your all raw diet, if you can't adjust to something specific its very important to stop eating it rather than masking the symptoms for weeks.

[bbycakes]

Yes, actually! I wonder why I didnt think of that before..

For dinner Id had baby portobello mushrooms filled with pico de gallo. The pico contains onions, and I NEVER eat mushrooms, much less raw. It was a kind of spur of the moment 'hey, lets try this' kind of thing.

That may be it. It was definitely not mild nausea, it was over the top, terrible gut wrenching nausea. :( Are mushrooms a problem food? My mother loves them and eats them a lot so I wouldnt have figured Id have problems.

[SunshineMN]

Yes, eating mushrooms raw can be a problem for some people. There is a thread here still on the first page about Eating Mushrooms Raw (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?68417-Eating-Mushrooms-Raw).

The first post in that thread linked to an article about raw mushrooms. I know a lot of people eat them with no problem, but each persons' body reacts differently to different things. Have you tried raw onions before? They make my tummy hurt and seem to give me a lot of gas problems that can be pretty painful.

[bbycakes]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I feel really welcome and supported here! Which is what I lacked in my previous attempts.

Ill read the thread, but to be honest I actually didnt enjoy the taste or consistency of the mushrooms very much at all, so unless they happen to be particularly nutritionally dense or something I think Ill just avoid them. Onions too!

I know of avocados being a good source of calories while eating raw, but are there any other good high calorie foods that arent particularly sugary? I try to avoid nuts, but if I feel that the standard high carb raw vegan diet just isnt suited for me, I wont object to including them.

[SunshineMN]

Chia pudding may be a good way to get more calories in. You can use a nut milk to soak the chia seeds in then add fresh fruits, maybe a little honey and cinnamon, soaked dates or raisins are good sweeteners and you can use as little as you need. You could add date paste and raw cocoa powder for a chocolate pudding. :)

I usually just put a couple tablespoons of chia seeds in some unsweetened ice tea and soak them until they turn more jellied then drink/eat them.

[walnutty]

No! But then I have always had plenty to lose when I started raw (have started several times due to financial challenges).

A few years ago I made myself give up the scale because...

I used to be a slave to the scale, but I made a decision to go by how I was feeling and how my clothes fit and I am a lot happier!

[PansyLo]

I didn't have much to lose last time I went raw, I was slim but a few pounds over my desired (and probably natural) weight. About a week after going raw I lost weight quickly, then it evened out a little more and I lost more weight slowly.
I was eating whatever I wanted so long as it was raw, including nuts, seeds, oils, fruits. As much or as little as I fancied. I do have quite fast metabolism but I didn't do much exercise during that time.

Then I got busy, moved house and slipped off the whole diet in April. :( Gained back more than I'd lost.

Desperately needing that weight loss now!! I'm not overweight, I'm still in the "normal" bmi range but I wouldn't describe myself as slim anymore. Extra weight doesn't suit my petite frame. My body just doesn't know where to put it.

[bbycakes]

That chia pudding sounds delicious! Ive always loved anything with chia gel, I may give that a go as it feels like eating things like that may settle my tummy issues. Ive always tried to eat simply raw fruit and veggies, no recipes or alterations, but that has always been so rough on me starting out so Ill give some raw recipes a shot. Anything to get through the detox symptoms and finally stay raw!

I also dont have too much to lose - everyone always says how im slim already - but I have really stubborn fat around my thighs (saddlebags, oh no!) and would like to see some definition in my tummy. I think I need to cut about 10lbs of fat, but we all know thats easier said than done!

Im hoping the combination of raw foods and maybe some stretching exercises like yoga will get me a bit leaner in time for the beach - Ill be there in under a month so Ive got to get on it!

I unfortunately cant partake in my favorite exercise though (jogging) as thats the one huge no-no after getting a boob job, which I did just a little over a week ago.

[SunshineMN]

What about resistance bands? When ever I land in the hospital they bring me something they call Thera-Band (http://www.thera-band.com/store/index.php?CategoryID=11) (which has different strengths). It allows you to use resistance to exercise and you can do a lot of different exercises without even getting out of bed.

I recommend this one in whatever color you want (http://shop.performancehealth.com/product/45962.1004088.1003418.108906.0/Individual_Band) (color=strength of band), but they have quite a few different choices. They aren't very expensive either. You might even be able to contact your local hospital (if they have a therapy dept) and see if you can get one from them. They usually have the rolls and can cut them to length.