Weight Loss Challenge......

[gabriele]

Ok, don't know if i'm doing this wrong or not, but i need some help/support to lose weight in addition to eating raw. My ongoing problem is chocolate, that is my addiction.

Starting tomorrow, i don't want to cheat at all, i want to stick to the lifestyle i have been studying all this time. I know what to do, now i have to do it. Eliminating animal products is easy, i am just eating too much stuff. Weight loss is my highest priority right now.

Anyone need to restart?? Especially for weight loss? This would help me a lot.....

[The French One]

You should try carob powder, the taste is really near the one of cacao, but more subtle. This could be a good and healthy substitute to chocolate, and you can use it to make "chocolate" cake or drinks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carob_tree

Good luck! and be healthy!

[gabriele]

i tried carob, blech, could not do it. But that's probably because i haven't fully weaned myself of all the stuff that chocolate puts in my body. Chocolate just has too strong a hold on me still. And i'm a chocolate snob, that doesn't help either. So few things can substitute........at least not yet...... will keep it in mind.

[snoops]

My addiction is cheese. I made it 2 days last week. Well almost 3 - till the evening!! I am going to see if I can go for longer next week. I would like to start on Tuesday though cause its our May long here. I know Memorial Day is next weekend for you in the US. How diet mentality is that. I'll start after the weekend LOLOL. Anyway I am going to try for Tues through Friday inclusive - NO CHEESE. I feel that if I didn't have the cheese I wouldn't have the crackers and those are the only two things that I am eating that aren't raw!! BIG time addiction though.

So if I can join you on Tuesday lets see if we can get through the week.

[Tee42]

I'd like to join you. I get terrible cravings for eggs and cheese - not on a daily basis just after a while of being raw. I'm also planning on kicking my black tea habit. It would be nice to do it as part of a group.

Gotta get to work right now but I'll check back and see what you are all up to later.

[gabriele]

Lannette and snoops,

last night my daughter was given some baklava (sp?) and i stupidly without thinking took a square of it before my brain could scream "NOO!!!" - i don't know what was in it, but i couldn't sleep for the next 4 hours i had such bad heartburn. How dumb was that to eat that, i can't even believe i did it.

Did you ladies see my earlier post where i did some research and found out that milk (and therefore cheese and chocolate) has morphine in it? Apparently the cows produce it naturally and it has a soothing, opiate effect on the baby cows. Also, human milk has morphine in it also. This came out from experiments done in the 1980's, the dairy industry does not want this little tidbit of info to come out!! I also read that cheese is the most concentrated form of dairy and is the hardest to quit and is the most addictive! Don't you feel better just know that?? )

My shake this morning was: one banana, one whole carrot (stem and leaves included), one handful of red grapes and a spoonful of flaxseeds (crushed). It helps me to report what i'm eating. Have a good (cheese-free) day! (while i focus on avoiding all chocolate).

[Susan123]

Chocolate and BREAD are my downfalls... Bread (as you might guess from the caps) is the worst for me. It's everywhere!! I have done well with avoiding chocolate by having my daily Larabars and Raw revolution bars- they are delish!

I've been Veg*n for 11 months so far and getting off from cheese was the hardest thing. It's one of those things you just have to do cold-carrot (not to be confused with cold-turkey ;) ).

I think really changing your mind-set on certain foods helps a great deal!! I became Veg*n overnight after watching "Meet your Meat" on www.goveg.com but it did take me a little while (2 1/2 months) to totally get off from eating an occasional cheese pizza. Best of luck!!

[snoops]

OK forget starting on Tuesday. I had pizza last night and felt so disgusting, bloated and wicked heartburn that I am with you guys today.

I totally hear you about cheese and addiction. It is really the one thing that it is killing me to give up.

So my goal is not to eat cheese for 5 days. Mon-Fri. Started with a banana, blueberry and strawberry smoothie this morning. Will do a green smoothie for lunch and am going to peruse the salad recipes to plan for dinner. Am making my family a polenta black bean casserole for dinner. I may or may not have a bit of that. It's not raw but it has no addictions in it for me. I am focusing on the cheese this week. 100% raw is in my future though!!

[gabriele]

way to go Snoops!!! today is better than tomorrow!!!

[RawKnitster]

I'm over 50 and find it challenging to lose weight. My challenge is to lower the amount of fats in my diet, and get up and move. As with almost every diet I've ever tried the sticking point is, "I can always start tomorrow". Only tomorrow never comes.

My plan for today is eliminate all fats for one day. Yet, in the back of my mind I have a nagging doubt about my ability to do so. Seems like I'm setting myself up for failure before I've even begun.

[snoops]

Maybe if its just for one day. Just don't try to eliminate them for too long or it will not be healthy for you. We need our good fats. How about trying to eliminate the fats that are addictive for you. Nuts? Avocado? Don't know what you have problems with. Try to have some EVOO on a salad or something like that. Fats satiate us. I know low fat SAD diets are a recipe for disaster.

Just re-read your post. Maybe more important than reducing fats is the getting up and moving thing!! I know I have been out of exercising for a couple months and am getting back into it again. Needing to up my cardio portion. Which helps for calorie burning and giving you that feeling that you don't need to eat garbage!! Not sure how to describe it but that's how it makes me feel. Just go for a walk. Just anything - once a day. There is no tomorrow!! Only today!

[RawKnitster]

Excellent points, snoops.

Here is something I found in my email box this morning. It is from one of those chain-type emails that my SIL forwarded to me. The following part jumped out at me. Sort of ties in with my lack of commitment towards weight loss.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

Tomorrow never comes. Conditions are never perfect. The time to make it happen is NOW.

[snoops]

What a coincidence (or not that it was sent to you today. Thank you for sharing it. So true!

[The French One]

I think really changing your mind-set on certain foods helps a great deal!! I became Veg*n overnight after watching "Meet your Meat" on www.goveg.com but it did take me a little while (2 1/2 months) to totally get off from eating an occasional cheese pizza. Best of luck!!

OMG, I cried when seeing this video. That is just so cruel and horrible. Sure, meat will never look the same. Thank you for the link.

[Mary Kay]

I'm in! I'm 53, and this a.m. weighed 135....need to lose approx 20 lbs....I want to add that to my signature, but don't have time now.

A friend and I are trying to lose 10 lbs in 6 weeks. Doesn't matter who loses more, or if they lose 10 lbs quicker...this is so we don't drop the weight too quickly. The winner will take the other out to Whole Foods for a salad and juice bar. If we bboth lose 10 lbs, then we just go out to lunch.

Kind of nice to have incentive.

I want to hear about what you folks are eating...your cheats, cravings, or pat you on the back when you're doing well etc. I love the camaraderie here and am grateful to have this group for someone to whom I have to be accountable. Woohoo.

I'm going to totally eliminate dairy due to a vertigo/ear issue, to see if it helps. I'm still going to eat small amts of meat - and eggs. The dairy thing is tough because I make my own kefir, butter and yogurt from raw milk and often want to taste it to see if it's right. I may taste it and spit it out!

Today was day one. Started out with banana, kale spinach smoothie. For lunch had a raw cacao smoothie with raw eggs, coconut water, greens. I'm weaning off a bunch of chocolate I had this wknd so allowed myself the cacao today. Will have less tomorrow, and maybe none the next day. Only for a once-a-week indulgence from here on in.

Good luck ffolks. Thanks for starting this thread.

Mary Kay
p.s. what do all those abbreviations by signatures mean - HW ? Heaviest weight? I know SW is starting weight and GW is Goal Weight, but what about the others?