David Wolfe Conversation on Raw and Weight Loss

[SkinniMinni]

I was very fortunate last week to be able to attend a lecture with David Wolfe in Toronto on raw foods. It was an amazing experience to be in a room with 200 or so fellow raw fooders and really has helped me get back on track to 100% raw (I had been slacking off in recent months).

I was able to speak with David one-on-one about raw food and weight loss and I wanted to share this with everyone. I have been confused recently having read a lot of raw food books with the "rules" for weight loss and raw fats. Alissa's receipes are fairly fat-heavy, whereas others like Doug Graham suggest only 10% of our intake come from fats. David had this to say about raw food and the best way to achieve weight loss:

1. Stop counting everything. This includes fat, calories, grams etc. This is counter-intuative to the raw process. Just go 100% raw and the weight will melt off (which is pretty much Alissa's thinking as well). Your body will self regulate if you stop thinking with your head instead of your heart.

2. Cleanse when your weight loss seems stuck - colonics, juice fasting, parasite cleansing, this will get you started again.

3. Try things like growing your own food, connect to your food on a different level (other than how many calories it has).

4. Eat superfoods like Goji berries, raw cacao

His session was super inspiring and we even went about 2-hours over with Q & A etc. If you get the chance to see him speak I highly recommend it.

I think my problem with raw foods recently is that by counting calories, watching my fat etc. I turned it into a "diet" and not a way-of-life. It was something that was easy to go on and off of, because after all I was "dieting". So for now, I'm going to loosen-up, eat raw and not worry so much about the raw fats and see how my body responds. I know mentally I'm already feeling MUCH better not having to enter everything into fitday.com. I am a true believer that within a few months or weeks, your body will naturally gravitate towards what it needs.

I just wanted to post, as I am sure there are others out there that have been confused about fats, raw foods and weight loss.

[tvillemom]

What a great opportunity to hear David Wolfe speak. I'm glad to hear that he didn't tell you some crazy thing to do....keep it simple, like Alissa says! what a relief!!
wendi

[lodestar]

what a boost for you and for us because you took the time to share. thanks!

[Raw Mom]

Thanks for your post. I was never one to count calories or anything. So when I started raw, I just did it. Lost weight immediately. AFter 4 months, I found fitday.com. It was nice to see the balance I'd already made for myself by listening to my body. I'm a yoga practitioner, so it came a little easy for me. Also, to know that I didn't turn obsessed with counting even after I looked at fitday. AND, the way I figure it, this is the best I've ever eaten in my whole life.....so.....there is no stress thinking I'm not getting enough of something.......be well everyone......

[BuddyLive]

When you keep it all raw, most people don't have to worry about weight gain. At first I went for the heavier foods, and now its quite simple. The important thing is to do like Alissa says and keep lots of food around to eat. Don't let yourself be hungry. That's when the cravings would start for me.

[alex]

How did I miss this??

I saw David at the Whole Life Expo here in Toronto last weekend, but did not get a chance to speak with him.

I have come around to Gabriel Cousens philosophy - get to raw and then everyone is different - some need more protein, some more carbs, some more fat. Once you get to raw, everyone must make the final adjustments themselves - and keep it simple - we humans seem to have a great apptitude for complicating things.

There used to be a saying that there are many paths to heaven - I think there are many paths to living raw as well.


alex

[rawpriestess]

That's fantastic,

I have come to the conclusion that being happy with your choices is the most important thing, and if eating raw is making you happy, then do that, and when you are happy and eating raw and living your life to the fullest, it all comes together perfectly, you will one day maybe want 10 bananas, then eat them, the next day you may want nut heavy deserts, then eat them, the next day you may not wish to eat at all, then don't.

When I read over my journal, I notice a pattern, every time I eat salad with some kind of oil and nuts for dressing, I am not very hungry the next day, every time I eat fruits, I eat alot of them, every time I have almond milk shake or almond milk, only 1 cup fills me up, so I can tell a big difference in my food consumption by the amount I want after I've had a light fruit meal or a heavy nut or nut milk meal.

I enjoy all of them, I don't want to limit anything, and I don't, it just happens naturally, so when I do eat a heavier meal, I will not be as hungry after it, so again, I won't limit anything at all, life is too short to be unhappy.

so, I say, eat what you want that is raw, whatever that is, when I first went raw, I followed Alissa's advice, and I made tons of her great recipes, and ate them, I stayed raw pretty easily, oh sure, I had issues, but it was really pretty easy.

and I still follow her advice, because she has gotten me to this point, where I am down almost 100 pounds from where I started, I like to follow the experts on this, and as far as I'm concerned that is Alissa.

So, eat raw, eat what you like, make lots of great recipes, post on this forum and be happy.

Thanks for sharing this.

[LightLover]

Could be a point: eating not raw, or not eating high% raw, can not make us happy. Because we can feel the non-pleasing friction that something is wrong, we feel a little manipulated by supernatural pressure of society.

And with "we" I mean the people at this forum, and some outside, they feel it but they don't realize this yet.

LL

[SkinniMinni]

Yes, David was at the Whole Life Expo, but also did a seminar Thursday evening (Nov. 23rd) put on by Forever Healthy. I know he travels around a lot to speak, and I do recommend getting a ticket if he is in your area, it was quite inspiring.

I can't see how staying raw if you have raw desserts, crackers etc. available to you when you need them is all that difficult. I was getting into trouble with the whole "only fruit and salad" deal before - which is pretty unrealistic long term (atleast for me), which is probably why people quit raw when they first start.