HELP!! Gaining TOO much weight!!

[daisyduke]

I never heard of the adrenal problem either, until I had one! I exercised for at least 3 hours every day for three years prior to getting to that point. So, yes you are exercising a lot but so did I and it took three years to make it a problem! I have not had a period in two years either. Now that I'm resting and recovering, I'll probably get one. It happens when our body under recovers (or we don't get enough rest). It's really not from overtraining and low body % like we commonly think.

I eat only fruit and greens all day. I eat a green smoothie at 8:15 every morning and it holds me over until I eat a salad at 5:00 at night. I eat lots of bananas in my smoothie. Try eating more bananas, they'll help you feel full. Good luck!

[DeadNutrition]

Hm, I'm surprised at how many people in this thread think fat is the problem. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the membranes of neurons composed of fatty acids? I've heard that without fat, glucose and other micronutrients cannot properly enter cells. And that about 2/3 of your brain is fat. Is this true? Wouldn't this mean you need to replenish those fatty acids?

[rawfigure]

Hm, I'm surprised at how many people in this thread think fat is the problem. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the membranes of neurons composed of fatty acids? I've heard that without fat, glucose and other micronutrients cannot properly enter cells. And that about 2/3 of your brain is fat. Is this true? Wouldn't this mean you need to replenish those fatty acids?

With out getting technical the body will manufactur the fats in needs, there are only a few that are essential and need to be added into the diet. So no you do not have to eat a higher fat diet to be healthy.

[rawfigure]

It isn't muscle, trust me, My stomach is flabby, hanging over my pants that don't fit anymore.
I want someone to tell me honestly, do you really eat fruit and greens all day everyday and feel full and satisfied. You dont' ever make a raw dessert or 'normal' raw meal. I've heard that women need more fat in their diet than fruit and greens provide because of their menstrual cycle and the reason it stops is because the body fat% in raw women drops to low to support the menstrual cycle.

I'll definately try to cut the intensity of my workouts, I never thought of that as a problem. Thanks for all the comments, the suggestions really helped a lot. Thanks.

Adrenal Fatigue does exist. I had it, I drank coffee for so long 25 years ! , that stresses the adrenals, and also intense training and extreme dieting for long periods of time.

I will be straight with you. Yes there are some who can eat fruit all day. I am one of them. I would not TOUCH fruit prior to being RAW. I was Hypoglycemic and I was lead to believe that I must not eat simple carbs, limit complex carbs. Also as a Bodybuilder I soon became the Protein Lowfat Queen for 20 years ! How wrong that was, I was starving my body for energy by eating so little carbs in my diet !

I have been eating fruit all day for months now (I am thinner than I was but still have my muscle) and then veggies in the PM. Green drink somedays not others. Today I started my day with a Green Drink thinking I needed a switch, and I was still starving....so I waited abit and had 1/2 banana, then 2 apples. I am now full and will be able to go to dinner without being hungry. Yesterday I limited my fruit and I was starving allday long, woke up this morning hungry too, even though I ate lots yesterday. Fruit satisfies me. BUT everyone is different.
I do not do recipes on a regular basis. I like simple mono eating. The fanciest I get is sprouted buckwheat granola and maybe a raw bread from time to time.

As far as calorie counting try dropping it and do what you did before. If you did not have a reference point from previously counting calories it is POSSIBLE (dispite the previous bowls of ice cream..) that you are eating more. Go back to the instinctive eating if that works for you !

I counted calories for decades (and still do somedays from old habit..) and I maintain my weight at 1200 -1400 calories and I am 5'6 1/2 " If I ate 1600 calories (eve with running and weight training) I would gain weight fast !

So based on all you say...if it is not working try something else ! There are no rules. Eat as Raw as you want....exercise as much as you want...and if you do not like the results you are getting from your diet, simply do it differently !

[Nix]

Considering your changes in metabolism, potential adrenal exhaustion and the places you are gaining the most weight, I suggest you incorporate sea veggies.
Often weight gain in the stomach area, when previously you had not experienced any gain during normal times, indicates that your thyroid needs some nutrients.
Give that a try, you can add Kelp powder to your recipes, eat dulse-add it to salads, or take encapsulated kelp or wakame.
Nix

[showjumper]

Thanks so much for all the help. I know bananas help keep me full, when my father was in the hospital I took apples and bananas with me so I didn't have to eat in the cafeteria and since I wasn't thinking of food it worked wonderfully. I guess we all have a journey of finding out about our bodies and how they function. Everyday I learn something new, and it always reaffirms my belief in raw foods.

Thanks so much everyone. I have renewed hope and out come the yoga tapes for awhile. I've been exercising at such an intensity for so many years I almost feel like yoga would be a welcomed break.

[Raw Magwene]

Amen, Raw Figure!

If you really feel like this is still a problem in a month or so, maybe you should see a doctor of some sort--allopath, naturopath, clinical nutritionist, something! I see a nutritionist on a regular basis and I feel that he really helps me to stay on track with my health. Even though the raw food literature claims that we should be able to get all the nutrients we need from our raw diet, because U.S. soil for growing things is so seriously depleted of nutrients, I don't think I can eat enough every day to get what my body actually does need. Don't stick to 100% raw rigidly just for the sake of being 100% raw. The bottom line is that you are trying to improve your health, and if a supplement or nutritionist or piece of chicken once a week or whatever allows you achieve radiant health, maybe that is your path, but it is always your choice to make.

[chilove]

Hello there,

I eat fruit all day and feel very satisfied, much more satisfied than when I was eating a high fat gourmet diet actually. You just need to eat larger amounts of fruit in one sitting. A typical meal for me is two honeydews or three or four large mangoes, 20-30 dates, a couple of lbs of grapes, five bananas. You get the idea, larger meals. I feel great eating this way! Humans actually need very little fat. Fruit and greens contain plenty of fat.

All the best,

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

[rawfigure]

Hello there,

I eat fruit all day and feel very satisfied, much more satisfied than when I was eating a high fat gourmet diet actually. You just need to eat larger amounts of fruit in one sitting. A typical meal for me is two honeydews or three or four large mangoes, 20-30 dates, a couple of lbs of grapes, five bananas. You get the idea, larger meals. I feel great eating this way! Humans actually need very little fat. Fruit and greens contain plenty of fat.

All the best,

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

Chilove, Yes ! This has been my biggest "mistake" which is now simply a new challenge. I would eat a One piece of fruit and think it was my meal, then to get hungry and say "this does not work" and go eat some Almonds..ok overeat almonds ! So I have learned that for me Two Large Apples is a Meal, or a whole Pint of Strawberries, if I have a plum meal I can eat 6 no problem, eating more is the key ! I still have a fear of Banana's (haven't totally let go of that old belief that they will make me fat..lol..) so I am still eating one then eating some other fruit an hour later..heck tomorrow I will try two at a meal !

[Raw Magwene]

Raw figure, I'm curious about 80-10-10. When you first started eating more fruit, did you experience any difficulty with your blood sugar--highs and lows, episodes of fatigue/sleepiness? Was the transition difficult for you in any way?

I'm a pretty simple eater right now. I generally go for salads, whole fruit, sprouts, and love my flax crackers and grawnola. Easy stuff, cause I don't have the time or inclination to do a lot of complicated food prep. The thing that keeps my diet now from being 80-10-10 is nuts (I can easily gorge myself on macadamias) and my salad dressings (I love Alissa's recipes).

Any suggestions or advice for getting to 80-10-10 from here?

Thanks!

[rawfigure]

Raw figure, I'm curious about 80-10-10. When you first started eating more fruit, did you experience any difficulty with your blood sugar--highs and lows, episodes of fatigue/sleepiness? Was the transition difficult for you in any way?

I'm a pretty simple eater right now. I generally go for salads, whole fruit, sprouts, and love my flax crackers and grawnola. Easy stuff, cause I don't have the time or inclination to do a lot of complicated food prep. The thing that keeps my diet now from being 80-10-10 is nuts (I can easily gorge myself on macadamias) and my salad dressings (I love Alissa's recipes).

Any suggestions or advice for getting to 80-10-10 from here?

Thanks!

RM....I transitioned into the more Fruit into my diet. I did not experience any blood sugar highs and lows which surprised me. A great gift to beable to eat fruit ! I added more and more to the point it is more than 1/2 of my diet.

The only thing left me tired was the nuts in my diet. For me reducing ALmonds was a challenge. I overate them so I had to limit them in my diet. If I eat more than 5-10 they become to high a fat % in my diet. I try to stay 8-1-1 BUT just the fat in fruit and veggies will sometimes bring me to 15% ! SO never a problem of not getting fat in the diet..it is everywhere

8-1-1 is not for everyone, for some fats digest well and it is not a problem to eat them. Try cutting them down and see how it feels !

[freetarian]

What they mean is that animals in the wild do not bleed monthly and we do not need to either. It is a product of eating cooked foods and some long time raw fooders can find that it stops. That does not mean that they are not fertile or healthy, just that they are natural.

So the egg still has to leave the body, right? Its like you just dont bleed, but there is still some monthly outflow, is that what you were saying?

I read on fruitarian.com that the menstruation sometimes stops at all, or only occurs once or twice a year.
Its really interesting that bleeding is not natural...I didnt even know animals dont bleed...I never thought about that.

Do you have some article or reference that long time raw foodists dont bleed, or that animals dont bleed?

Do you think the bleeding might have emotional reasons too and not just nutritional/chemical/physical reasons?

[Raw Magwene]

Other mammals are not a valid comparison to humans. Only humans, great apes, bats, and shrews experience true menstruation. All the others get estrus. That's why they don't have periods like us. Not because they are "more natural" than us. I'll refer you to the relevant wikipedia article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstruation

From my understanding of human female fertility, in general, if you are not menstruating regularly it is because the body does not have the energetic resources, or maybe your hormone cycle is not "normal" (yes, I know that's a very subjective word!). If you're going 180+ days between cycles, you're experiencing amenorhea. This can happen when you're breastfeeding--it's hard for your body to nurture and grow two babies at once with success. Female athletes can experience it too, maybe because their body fat gets so low, or they use so much of their energy in activity.

Your menstrual cycle is actually a really healthy thing, not an inconvenience. I think that in this age of the pill and feminine hygiene and all that pap we are fed on TV, we are becoming less and less aware of the power and sacred nature of our feminine bodies.

If you have really painful cycles, your hormones could be unbalanced. A good naturopath could probably help you with that. If I was a fruitarian and I stopped having a period all together, I would definitely be concerned.

We are not told this in sex ed, but our reproductive hormones are actually really powerful aspects of our overall health. For instance, did y'all realize that having more kids, younger, and breastfeeding them longer can significantly reduce your chance of getting breast cancer? And that amenorrhea is associated with low bone density?

I just think that sometimes we get all caught up in spurious arguments about the benefits of this diet choice. But because we are making this choice, we have the responsibility to research things (at least check out wikipedia on stuff!! It's free and easy and a good start!). Just because someone or some website happens to concur with our choice of diet does not mean that they are infallible or that we don't need that grain of salt.

[freetarian]

Hm..yeah I see your points...

As for menstruation I dont have any opinion cuz Im a man, so what do I know....lol...but then again...I guess it doesnt mean they have less energy when women dont bleed...I dont know.

The reason I asked about it is that I read on fruitarian.com that the menses stop on a fruitarian diet, and it always baffled me and I actually wanted to find out if fruitarians dont bleed, but no one could give me a definite answer....I guess there are hardly any true fruitarian women out there that have first hand experiences...
Sport, whats your two cents puueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzeeeeeee?

[Pailani]

did y'all realize that having more kids, younger, and breastfeeding them longer can significantly reduce your chance of getting breast cancer? And that amenorrhea is associated with low bone density?

So - having more kids and breastfeeding them longer (which can be a cause of amenorrhea - 1-2 years per child in my case) can reduce the risk of breast cancer, but increase the risk of low bone density? This could explain why I have early osteoporosis.