One month into RAW experimental study

[shan6]

Hi all,

I am doing a 6 month RAW experiment with GP, blood and naturopath tests monthly. This is the second lot of tests and I am losing muscle mass more than fat due to not getting enough protein, help!?

See my BLOG more details, I have not really lost much weight either.

www.shannonweiley.com

[spicyfull]

There's Plenty of Protein in Vegetables, Grain and Nuts. Are you eating these. You know Protein can be gotten in other products other than meat.

[RawKnitster]

Hi Shannon,

I checked out your blog. A couple things you mentioned jumped out at me. Did I understand correctly that you are not doing it raw vegan and adding raw eggs? I'm thinking adding raw eggs isn't going to help you. Also, adding seeds is a good choice, but 1-2 cups a day? That would be too much for me. I could eat a cup of nuts or seeds once in a while, but 2 cups everyday. I would gain weight.

On the days you listed your foods I see some spinach in there, but not much. I would suggest bumping up the greens. A lot! Kale is the king of greens with the most protein and calcium. I would also suggest getting some of Alissa's Green Food Powder or Vitamineral Green for protein, calcium, and iron, and other important nutrients. It is also a good meal replacement to take when you find yourself in a difficult spot, like in the hospital with your baby!! Sure hope all is well.

I am not a raw expert by any means. You asked for help and I am only offering my thoughts. What materials are you using to teach yourself about the living foods diet? Is Alissa's book one of them? I highly recommend it.

Wishing you what you need to find the results you are looking for. :)

[shan6]

Thanks for your advice. You're right I was RAW vegan but then thought that maybe I should go off vegan as the eggs were recommended. I think one error, as you say is that I am eating a lot of fruits and not enough veg and green. The seed thing, yeah, I'm struggling to imagine 2 cups a day and really don't want to see weight gain.

I'll have a look at the book, thank you:)

[shan6]

Actually I just went to buy the book and it will be $199 Australian dollars inc. postage of $100 +.

I'll have to look for an online or Aust equivalent, I just can't afford that for the book.

[RawKnitster]

$199!!! YIkes! That won't work!

I didn't mean to imply you were making an error eating a lot of fruit. Lots of rawbies swear by eating lots of fruit. I eat 4-8 servings a day. It is just that in my opinion adding more greens is always good.

How about starting the seeds at 1/4 to 1/2 cup per day and see how that works for you?

[shan6]

I''ll try the seeds, and google a whole lot more, that's what's so fun with my study, if the nuts don't work this month the test will show that and I'll try the next idea. I know I eat too much fruit- or re-worded not enoough veg. I think it goes with my first month- I'm a lazy RAW fooder that needs RAW educating so as not to grab easy things, eg: I haven't eaten a meal in a month just snacked on ingredients.

Thanks for your ideas:)

www.shannonweiley.com

[Suz58]

I think you have hit the nail on the head in your last statement. 'I haven't eat a meal in a month'
It sounds like you need to sit down and start eating some big mixed salads with some nuts and seeds thrown in. They really don't take long to prepare. Good luck

[MMATT]

Yea you need to increase your fat intake via nuts and seeds simply because your body needs those fats as fuels and to emulsify body fat. Raw fats tend not to act as cooked fats, you can eat quite a bit n still lose body fat. The amount tho depends on your body type.

You can solve the protein problem by adding greens and you can do raw eggs. I did raw eggs for a while. I'm not 100% raw anymore but Im making the transition again.

[iluvmangos]

Greens contain amino acids which create protein in your body, so have some green smoothies as it's an easy way to get in lots of greens. Also, pumpkin seeds have zinc, but you sure don't need 1-2 cups a day. That's a lot of seeds. The raw eggs are so unnecessary...and gross.

[iluvmangos]

Also, Version 1 (Alissa's recipe) of this Mock Salmon Pate is a yummy way to eat sunflower seeds. The recipe calls for walnuts, but you could use sunflower seeds like I do.

http://fromsadtoraw.com/Recipes/MockSalmonPate.htm

[margoss]

It's easy to eat more fruit than veggies, to me anyways, especiallly in the summer. I've eaten mostly fruit past 2 days with some squash & a huge salad today. As much as I love the fruit, especially the mango ( I could eat 4 a day), I felt so much better after the salad. I use the dressing that's: acv, honey, sea salt & water. Very good.

[rawfigure]

I scanned the blog but did not see a work out schedule, did I scan to fast ? If you are working out and losing muscle then I would question why ? BUT if you are not weight training or stressing the muscle it answers it more obviously.

I went raw about 4 years ago to lose some muscle and I did not, mostly cuz I continued to work out ! Now I am glad I did not lose it as I am 48 and need it ! As we age we lose muscle.

If we diet and eat high protein we can lose muscle. Muscle is gained and maintained from working out, stressing the muscle fibers. If you eat protein it doesn't create muscle or nessecarily prevent its loss. There is more to it than that ! It takes extreme dieting to lose muscle (even a short fast doesn't lose muscle in many cases just water from the muscle to deflate it) and training hard. When I was weight training for Competition I always lost muscle the last few weeks before a show and my diet was 60 % protein, over 125 grams a day. So if Protein prevents muscle lose why did I lose it ? So I would look at factors outside RAW.

[carlye]

http://raw-pleasure.com.au/Book-Living-on-Live-Food

Hi Shannon

I'm an Aussie too, and the link above is Alissa's book available on a Raw Australian website for $78, and the postage will be way less than $100.

I'll be buying it myself very shortly.

good luck

[shan6]

Thank you,

I will get it from the website, I am re-firing up the experiment. I just don't understand how many people thrive on RAW and I didn't. Well, maybe I do have a clue, anyway, I'll get the book to help this time.:)

www.shannonweiley.com