RawTruth
01-29-2006, 03:11 PM
For those who wish to know, here is something Alissa posted back in July in a thread about fats (when she has time to be on the board more). A member was extremely concerned about raw fats and believed she needed to keep her fat intake to 10% of her daily food (this is according to a 80 10 10 plan espoused by natural hygienists, by the way -- but please don't go there just cuz I mentioned it, folks!). I've explained this just to put this post in context.
This is cut and pasted from Alissa's original post -- what follows is from her, not from me (though I wish I'd written it!! LOL) though the emphasis is mine.
Hi,
Sure its nice to get other view points, (as long as they are raw ;)) for this board as it is a raw food support board but there certainly are a lot of different ways to do raw. I think it's good that you know that for yourself if you ‘listen to your body’ you will eat too many nuts and too much fat. If you know you don’t feel well with that much fat then certainly its good to eat less of it. That’s great you're figuring that out. It really is a learning process. That’s the thing ... a lot of people think they can do raw for a couple of weeks and figure out the perfect diet. There is NO perfect diet. And let me warn you ahead of time… even when you think you have it figured out and have been eating raw for years and you feel you found the perfect way for you to eat… it will change! Think about it, we are always changing as human beings so of course our diet wouldn’t stay the same as a few years before when we were in a different location, environment, doing different things, working out differently, in a different emotional state, etc… it's ever changing .
DonÂ’t try to pin this diet down, it will never be perfect, just like us! LOL!
Ok, so first, I personally don’t believe that ‘fat is fat’. If that were true people would not be dying of excess meat consumption and healing themselves from a high fat raw diet. I've just seen both too many times. Of course there is always the person who is gorging themselves and eating 20 cups of nuts a day, etc.. and obviously that’s not the healthiest diet either. Excessive amounts of one particular thing is not good for anyone, raw or not, and there are always those that go to the extreme.
. . . I really never never never tell people what percentage of fat or anything else they should have. I have obviously got pretty good at looking at a few days worth of people's food intake and knowing what needs to be cut out, added, or changed. Most of it is because I have been doing this for so long but some is intuitive also as you need to take into consideration the person's mental state as well. I strongly believe that. Its really not just about the food. But that is another issue that we can discuss but let's stick to this first.
You asked in the above post: “What fat % do you suggest for weight loss with energy? Please don't say listen to your body CUZ I LOVE FAT - nuts, seeds...YUMMY!”
See this is the problem. Of course you can't listen to your body because unless you're starting with a clean slate your body doesnÂ’t know exactly what it needs. How can it tell when it's still getting cooked (I donÂ’t know if you're 100% raw or not) or too much of the wrong foods and is off balance. This is why I tell people to go 100% raw, totally vegan raw. Raw raw raw, no exceptions for a month or two or more because only then, I believe, is when you can really start to listen to your body for signals.
But here is also the thing. Even then, how do you know those signals are coming from the emotional or physical? It takes time to really get this. Not days or weeks or even months for some people. This is why I say to people, ‘go raw, don’t worry about the amounts of things, let your body heal and cleanse and when its ready you will naturally start to crave what you need and what is right.’ Otherwise people after weeks, months, etc…start adjusting or listening to other people and saying, ok maybe that’s my problem, and start cutting back and cutting out and adding weird things and then saying, this doesn’t work and this and that is not doing it for me. Like I always say, don’t expect to be cooked for 30-40-50 years and then after a month to have it perfected with the raw diet. It takes time really it does.
You also asked: ‘How long does a person have to wait to not crave the need for fat sources?’
LOL, wouldnÂ’t it be wonderful if I could answer that one! Who knows?! Anyone who tells you an exact amount of time it takes is lying. And you will always crave fat sources if you're not eating enough of them. At first you will crave more on raw, avocados, nuts, etc.. because your body is adjusting to a new way of eating. Your body is using these fats much more efficiently and quickly then cooked fats so you need more at first since your body is not used to the clean fuel its getting. It will subside, but give it time. I can promise you this. If you do 10% fat you will be craving fat more often then not. Maybe not at first, maybe not in the middle, but at different times. Why not just eat raw and let your body adjust. You won't be eating tons of nuts and loads of fat for very long. YouÂ’ll get sick of it. Your body is craving it for a reason. Maybe it needs the good healthy fats and maybe you shouldnÂ’t deny it that.
Also, I would eat more avocados and fatty fruits and vegetable instead of tons of nuts as you won't feel great after eating that many nuts. But again, you need to step back and let it take its course, [and not] feel an urgency to get it right. Raw food will never work if you need to be perfect with your diet. It's not set up that way. If youÂ’re a calorie counter, fat watcher, carb and protein analyzer . . . then this isnÂ’t the diet for you.
This diet is so beautiful and feeing. Let it be that. WhatÂ’s the point if you're going to do it the same way you did cooked?
RawTruth again here -- I think she said this perfectly. Hopefully, it will answer the concerns many of you new to raw food have been having about fats. To sum up: eat up them avocadoes, olives, and other plant fats -- fat is NOT a bad word in our world!!
Now, get out there!
This is cut and pasted from Alissa's original post -- what follows is from her, not from me (though I wish I'd written it!! LOL) though the emphasis is mine.
Hi,
Sure its nice to get other view points, (as long as they are raw ;)) for this board as it is a raw food support board but there certainly are a lot of different ways to do raw. I think it's good that you know that for yourself if you ‘listen to your body’ you will eat too many nuts and too much fat. If you know you don’t feel well with that much fat then certainly its good to eat less of it. That’s great you're figuring that out. It really is a learning process. That’s the thing ... a lot of people think they can do raw for a couple of weeks and figure out the perfect diet. There is NO perfect diet. And let me warn you ahead of time… even when you think you have it figured out and have been eating raw for years and you feel you found the perfect way for you to eat… it will change! Think about it, we are always changing as human beings so of course our diet wouldn’t stay the same as a few years before when we were in a different location, environment, doing different things, working out differently, in a different emotional state, etc… it's ever changing .
DonÂ’t try to pin this diet down, it will never be perfect, just like us! LOL!
Ok, so first, I personally don’t believe that ‘fat is fat’. If that were true people would not be dying of excess meat consumption and healing themselves from a high fat raw diet. I've just seen both too many times. Of course there is always the person who is gorging themselves and eating 20 cups of nuts a day, etc.. and obviously that’s not the healthiest diet either. Excessive amounts of one particular thing is not good for anyone, raw or not, and there are always those that go to the extreme.
. . . I really never never never tell people what percentage of fat or anything else they should have. I have obviously got pretty good at looking at a few days worth of people's food intake and knowing what needs to be cut out, added, or changed. Most of it is because I have been doing this for so long but some is intuitive also as you need to take into consideration the person's mental state as well. I strongly believe that. Its really not just about the food. But that is another issue that we can discuss but let's stick to this first.
You asked in the above post: “What fat % do you suggest for weight loss with energy? Please don't say listen to your body CUZ I LOVE FAT - nuts, seeds...YUMMY!”
See this is the problem. Of course you can't listen to your body because unless you're starting with a clean slate your body doesnÂ’t know exactly what it needs. How can it tell when it's still getting cooked (I donÂ’t know if you're 100% raw or not) or too much of the wrong foods and is off balance. This is why I tell people to go 100% raw, totally vegan raw. Raw raw raw, no exceptions for a month or two or more because only then, I believe, is when you can really start to listen to your body for signals.
But here is also the thing. Even then, how do you know those signals are coming from the emotional or physical? It takes time to really get this. Not days or weeks or even months for some people. This is why I say to people, ‘go raw, don’t worry about the amounts of things, let your body heal and cleanse and when its ready you will naturally start to crave what you need and what is right.’ Otherwise people after weeks, months, etc…start adjusting or listening to other people and saying, ok maybe that’s my problem, and start cutting back and cutting out and adding weird things and then saying, this doesn’t work and this and that is not doing it for me. Like I always say, don’t expect to be cooked for 30-40-50 years and then after a month to have it perfected with the raw diet. It takes time really it does.
You also asked: ‘How long does a person have to wait to not crave the need for fat sources?’
LOL, wouldnÂ’t it be wonderful if I could answer that one! Who knows?! Anyone who tells you an exact amount of time it takes is lying. And you will always crave fat sources if you're not eating enough of them. At first you will crave more on raw, avocados, nuts, etc.. because your body is adjusting to a new way of eating. Your body is using these fats much more efficiently and quickly then cooked fats so you need more at first since your body is not used to the clean fuel its getting. It will subside, but give it time. I can promise you this. If you do 10% fat you will be craving fat more often then not. Maybe not at first, maybe not in the middle, but at different times. Why not just eat raw and let your body adjust. You won't be eating tons of nuts and loads of fat for very long. YouÂ’ll get sick of it. Your body is craving it for a reason. Maybe it needs the good healthy fats and maybe you shouldnÂ’t deny it that.
Also, I would eat more avocados and fatty fruits and vegetable instead of tons of nuts as you won't feel great after eating that many nuts. But again, you need to step back and let it take its course, [and not] feel an urgency to get it right. Raw food will never work if you need to be perfect with your diet. It's not set up that way. If youÂ’re a calorie counter, fat watcher, carb and protein analyzer . . . then this isnÂ’t the diet for you.
This diet is so beautiful and feeing. Let it be that. WhatÂ’s the point if you're going to do it the same way you did cooked?
RawTruth again here -- I think she said this perfectly. Hopefully, it will answer the concerns many of you new to raw food have been having about fats. To sum up: eat up them avocadoes, olives, and other plant fats -- fat is NOT a bad word in our world!!
Now, get out there!