I'm losing weight but she is Gaining! HELP!

[RawDaddy]

So, my wife and I are both on the raw diet and have been enjoying our new lifestyle tremendously. We have been vegetarians for over ten years (since college) and decided that because of stomach problems I was having, we would go raw.

Well, at the start of raw, I was already very thin and not really hoping to lose weight. I have lost ten pounds so far and see more slip away every day. I am not too worried about this (we are a little over a month into 100% raw) because I know it will balance out.

My wife, on the other hand, had just finished a MAJOR diet after weaning our son from nursing and was looking and feeling fantastic. She had been on a major calorie-restricted diet (self-imposed) and lost twenty-five pounds. Now, since going raw, she has gained about 8 pounds.

She was not underweight at the start of raw (148 at 5'9") but now feels like she's huge and in danger of continuing to gain weight. We have been eating a lot on the raw diet, though she doesn't eat a lot of nuts and seeds (unlike me ). I don't know if her body is just hording all of the calories she is putting in on raw because it spent close to five months basically in semi-starvation mode (she wasn't completely starving herself, but did cut her caloric intake by about half) or whether somehow her body and raw just don't go well together (from her perspective).

I tell her that she looks fantastic (which she does), but I've ALWAYS thought and told her that she looked fantastic (hell even in the hospital after giving birth I thought she looked like a rock star, and I don't mene Gene Simmons from Kiss) so she doesn't put too much stock in that. Her clothes still fit wonderfully (and these are the new post-diet clothes), so I have hypothesized that maybe her body is putting on weight in the form of health muscle that she likely lost while on her sever low-cal diet.

Anyway, the point is, has this happened to anyone here? She was hoping that she would lose a little more weight and then bottom out on 100% raw at her "natural" weight (whatever that may be -- which could, I recognize, be 156, though she is not psyched by that idea). She works out HARD at least 6 days a week, is a competitive triathlete and swimmer (was a Division 1 varsity swimmer in college -- so she has amazing and beautiful broad butterflier shoulders) and is quite honestly the best mom out there (no offense to anyone else). I can tell, though, that she is just being made unhappy by that damn scale (which I am thinking of just throwing out the window, but she still weighs herself at the gym). She has stated, time and again, that she adores being raw and wants to do it for life, but I think she is just saddened that her raw experinece has not mirrored what we have read about everyone else (with weight loss etc.) Plus, it doesn't help that I have gone from toothpick to, well, even more toothpick.

Any thoughts, ideas, stories, help? Please, let me know.

Thanks!

[Sheryl]

Interesting that you say her clothes are still fitting because 8 pounds (when it's fat) is more than enough to go up a size. People react different to dietary change - it could be her body is doing some rebalancing. I know for me there have been times where my weight appears to have not changed for a month or more, but will suddenly drop 10 pounds in a week.

Maybe you want to have her start to measure with a measuring tape instead, so she can see an accurate read of where she is. Scales are so flighty!

Cheers,
Sheryl

[faith4u]

I don't have any advice but just wanted to say that you brightened my day! You are so sweet and I can see your love for your wife just pouring forth from your words.

[eatyourbroccoli]

i really think its probably muscle since shes working out so much. especially if her clothes still fit. ive put on about 8 lbs since going raw, but im a heck of a lot firmer than i used to be. im 5'10 and 145ish. when i was SAD and restricted calories i was around 137, but wouldnt be caught dead in a bathing suit. now, though, id even wear a bikini

[aledwards]

The scale can really be a bummer! It's a big mind set switch for us when we go to raw.... but I think your wife just has to force herself to think about her health, and not that darn number. I expected to drop all kinds of weight fast, and I did the first week.. then it all stopped for about two weeks. In those two weeks I actually questioned what I was doing. -then I realized how insane that was. This is about my health, and feeling great.... and letting my body be what it will be, and work the way it's supposed to. I wish you & your wife so much luck! She's doing the right thing! :)

[rawfigure]

Any thoughts, ideas, stories, help? Please, let me know.

Hey RawDaddy, yes maybe I can help....



My wife, on the other hand, had just finished a MAJOR diet after weaning our son from nursing and was looking and feeling fantastic. She had been on a major calorie-restricted diet (self-imposed) and lost twenty-five pounds. Now, since going raw, she has gained about 8 pounds.

I have been on major calorie restriction diet for Figure (division Bodybuilding) for 6 years doing Fall and Spring Shows losing 10 pds twice in a year and gaining it back 2 times in a year ! SO YES ! If she has been on a major diet practicing calorite restriction and then begins to eat a normal amount of food the pounds will come back on to some degree at that point. The body is simply slowed down from the calorie restriction, irregardless of training

I would drop 10-12 pds for a show over a 3 month period, then 4 pds the week of the show thru water manipulation...eating less than 1000 cals a day, training very intensely the whole time. Then after a show I would be very careful not too eat more than 250-300 more cals a day and even just that I would gain back the weight lost the week of the show in two days and the other 10 pds with in the next few months. Some years I did this twice in the year. After awhile my body said stop !!!! !



I don't know if her body is just hording all of the calories she is putting in on raw because it spent close to five months basically in semi-starvation mode (she wasn't completely starving herself, but did cut her caloric intake by about half) or whether somehow her body and raw just don't go well together (from her perspective).

You got it here, her body is not used to the calories she is adding. It is not the RAW DIET that is the cause but the previous calorie restriction diet.

Anyway, the point is, has this happened to anyone here? She was hoping that she would lose a little more weight and then bottom out on 100% raw at her "natural" weight (whatever that may be -- which could, I recognize, be 156, though she is not psyched by that idea). She works out HARD at least 6 days a week, is a competitive triathlete and swimmer

Well the good news is her body will not continue to add weight, it will stop (maybe it has already ?) and then if she continues the diet and training schedule the pounds will come back off to her bodies favorite set point.


She has stated, time and again, that she adores being raw and wants to do it for life, but I think she is just saddened that her raw experinece has not mirrored what we have read about everyone else (with weight loss etc.) Plus, it doesn't help that I have gone from toothpick to, well, even more toothpick.

Well she is not the only one who has experienced this so take heart ! Everyones experience is different depending where you are coming from. Many here are coming from SAD non calorie restricted diets and they tend to lose fast. Women who have been calorie restricting may not have that sam eexperience.

I initial lost 3 pds during my first month Raw (but I was still calorie restricting at that time) the last 6 months Raw I have been eating a little bit more (still restricted though) and added the nuts and seeds and fruit to my diet (rarely ate these before). So I have gone from 126 (I am 5'6" ) to 131 right now. I am fighting to get it off, I am running 5 miles several times a week in addition to my other cardio sessions and weights...and still no budge ! So now I am replacing some of the nuts and seeds with more crunchy veggies to see if that is the trick. SO see....your wife is not alone ! And my husband, like you have about your wife, says I look great , so what is the big deal ? Well to me I loook best at 125 ish and will not put a bikini until I am closer to that. 5 pds must go ! And beleive me when the 5 pds are gone he will say I look even better. !!! ;)

[tglasco4]

The weight gain is not all that uncommon. What is usually happening is the body is gathering up a bunch of toxins before cleansing it self out thru the bowels. I gained weight when I started a juice fast and when I started raw the first couple of weeks.

Stay with it. Your body is cleaning itself out. Continue to consume a lot of raw vegetation (fruit and veggies), because you are setting up an environment for the body to heal itself.

Remember you have gone raw for a lifestyle change. This is just temporary. :)


Peace.

Todd