newbie with LOTS of questions

[gricemm]

i recently read the book "the raw food detox diet" and am very interested in eating a raw diet. i started almost a week ago but have been eating grilled chicken every now and then for dinner, which the book said was ok because i'm just beginning. the problem i'm having is that i'm not losing the weight i thought i would - does it take a long time?? maybe i'm just impatient. i'm also hoping to become a vegetarian soon, as the only meat i'll ever miss is chicken. does anybody have any tips or suggestions? also, is it ok to eat grated cheese that comes on salads - i use it instead of dressing but i'm not sure if thats the right thing to do?? i'm rather confused about eating a completely raw diet - what do y'all eat?? sorry its so long!

[Lay-Lay]

I strongly suggest you get Alissa's book. It have a 4 week meal plan. Also goes into detail on how the best way to do raw and why. It has lots of motivation and inspiration. It is also packed with easy to do recipes and some beautiful pictures. It is a huge book and the best book I have read about raw foods. Welcome to the forum. Look forward to you future posts.

[dreamrawalwz]

95% raw is extremely different from 100% raw vegan. Don't get me wrong, any percentage is better than none, but that little bit of cooked can keep your body from fully detoxing. That can affect weightloss. You must also go through detox. Your body will focus on healing what it feels more important before the weight loss. Be patient and listen to your body (unless it tells you crave cooked foods lol).

[sport]

Hi and welcome.
Raw diets vary and there are some that include meat and fish but only if raw.
This is a raw vegan board and we do not encourage that.
I personally think that it is more important for your health to be vegan than to be raw (even though I am both). If you read The China Study you will understand why.
Victoria Butenko concluded (after research) that it is healthier to be vegan with a good input of blended greens than to be all raw with no blended greens so I think that you should start by having a green smoothie every day.

Dairy is very bad for your body but there are lots of recepies for cheese type products that are still raw which may satisfy you. I am reproducing the one for chedder here but there are lots more

Blend until creamy:
1 large red bell pepper
¼ c water
1 c raw cashews
1 T tahini
3 T nutritional yeast
1 ½ tsp. sea salt
1 T minced onion
1 clove garlic
2 T lemon juice
Spread on teflex sheet and dehydrate. Slice as desired.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Is there a particular reason that you are still eating meat?

It seems that many people I talk to about weight loss who are striving for raw seem to be hanging on to meat for some reason. Many of these people need to lose a lot of weight, but they feel they need to eat meat, whether it is some kind of psychological reason or convincnig themselves that there is some nutrient in there that raw food doesn't provide.

Taking one look at Alissa could tell you, you do not need to eat meat.

[spicyfull]

Everyone takes a different Journey......On mine I Major in RAW and minor in weight loss......I have not loss any weight. I don't have that much to lose. I'd like to lose 10lbs. But I have gained soooooooooo much more. I am more disciplicened. Calmer and more beautiful, if that were possible. You can go ahead and Laugh.........

[luckitri]

I have lost a lot of weight in just a few short weeks with much cheating. (Maybe 3 weeks) I don't know how much because I was too sick to unpack the scale. I can tell by the way my clothes fit and that people at work are noticing. I am not sure what has caused the weight loss but I gather that initially people lose alot and then it gets harder to lose the rest. All of my previous weight fluctuations have been due to medical problems and prior to that I was the person who could eat more than anybody and never gain a pound. Of course I am losing it all in my upper body for the most part it seems but I don't think that I look out of balance. I have been taking Omega3 fish oil alot and I eat/drink young coconut every day to help with the cravings. I know a woman who has lost much weight just with the Omega3. (We have to take it for our hearts). I occasionally have horrendous cravings for specific foods that are not raw and when I give in I get the bloated stomach and all that goes with it so without cheating I would be thinner and healthier feeling. If there are tips to help with the unbelievable hunger pangs and lightheadedness I wish others would share because it will help me get the rest of my family over that hump. Strangely the last two days I haven't been very hungry. When I read what others eat in a day - there is no way I could get all that down! So if anybody knows what the sudden lack of hunger means - if that is a normal stage to go through?

[jade blossom]

Hi. I have just started my journey towards a raw-vegan diet, and it has been hard for me. I also have the book "The raw food detox diet", and I think it has a few great recipes. At least until we get a little closer... In the book, she includes a green morning drink recipe that it good, and my entire family loves the detox pizza. I've tried the alta dena raw cheese (wild oats) and it is great. I've also been trying new raw seed cheese recipes as well. I finally got one to come out good this week...I ate it in a raw lasagna, put it on dehydrated crackers topped with mango salsa, and even covered some with sesame seeds and herbs and dehydrated into "cheese"sticks. Every recipe has been an experiment; it's taken awhile, but things are finally starting to turn out. I just wanted to say that I think there are some good transition recipes in that book. And good luck!