new to raw and breastfeeding toddler very challenging

[Zoefzoef]

Hi everybody and especially raw moms,

I am new to this forum and new to raw food. I have been vegetarian my whole life (5th generation) and was raised macrobiotic. My husband and I had been talking for a while about going raw and finally got started last week.
I have some challenges that I hope to get some insights and advice on.

First my personal challenges. I have always had a crazy metabolism. I weigh between 48 and 50 kg (105/110 lbs).
With my macrobiotic background I am used to eat a lot of (cooked) brown rice and beans. We are not even a full week in our raw journey and I already lost a lot of weight. My skin looks great and healthy, just my cheeks are gone and my pants are falling off. My motivation to start raw was not as diet or to loose weight and I am looking for some reassurance that I will regain weight again further in the process. We eat several meals a day with salads and juices and we also started sprouting. I am constantly hungry. I eat a lot of snacks between the meals like fruit and nuts, but no matter what I eat I keep feeling hungry. I also had several occasions that I got very dizzy with black spots and blurred vision and I almost fell down a few times. I dont have a lot of energy. I understand that this could all be part of the initial detoxing process. My husband and daughter have very different detoxing symptoms though, they are sick and snotty, which seems to make more sense to me. I do not have that and find it hard to determine whether being dizzy is detoxing or a lack of intake of something.
Today I gave in and had a bowl of cooked brown rice. I had much more energy after that. My daughter wanted some too and she ate two bowls spread out over the day. She inhaled it and looked like she had not eaten in a month!

My daughter turns 2 tomorrow. I am still breastfeeding her. She has always been a very good eater. She used to love any kind of vegetable when we cooked it, is crazy about brown rice and asks me for soup everyday. Since we started raw she is barely eating. She is very
intrigued by the juicer and blender but doesnt want to have anything to do with whatever comes out of it. The only thing she has been asking for is olives, strawberries, orange juice and cocowater. She has been spitting out a lot of the veggies of which she used to love the coked version (broccoli, carrots...). As mentioned before she was very happy when I gave her a bowl of rice today. So I am wondering if I should maybe take it slower for her and gradually get her used to the raws. Still keeping some of the cooked stuff just for her one in a while. Any suggestions are welcome.
Also the breastfeeding situation is getting a bit out of control. She wants to nurse non-stop probably to make up for what she is not getting through eating. I feel that this is of course also impacting my personal situation as described above. She wakes up in the middle of the night and wants to nurse so long and fanatically that it hurts me. When I try to take her off, she gets very upset. It drains me.

Does anyone have similar experiences? Should I just keep going and trust that a balance will come soon?

Thank you!

[delmar]

I don't know much about breast feeding, but it sounds to me like you need more calories. Avocados and lots of bananas are a good source. You might also think about planting some organic popcorn in the garden and juice the greens.

[MysticTree]

You need to est a whole stack more. Two stacks more probably!

[Zoefzoef]

Delmar, I do not have a garden and I have never seen popcorn leaves in stores. Would there be farms or health stores where you can buy that?

I have been eating even more. Bananas and avocados have been part of my daily diet for a long time, so I am continuing to eat those. I can not eat more than I do now, my whole day is filled with eating and preparing meals.

I think I turned a corner a couple of days after writing my post. The tremendous sensation of hunger has changed into something more tolerable, but is not completely gone. I do feel better and stronger, but I am still very lightheaded. I have to stand still and hold on to something each time I stand up to prevent falling down. I am still loosing weight. My friends and family have started to comment on it and my clothes are very baggy; only after 3 weeks into this journey. I have also not gotten any more energy yet.

How long should I hang in there and keep trying before I will start to feel significantly different?

Thanks!

[Raw Angel Mom]

I am looking for some reassurance that I will regain weight again further in the process.

You will don't worry, i went underweight and now, i find i have too much weight, lol...

As for your daughter, go with fruits. Cook vegetable turn to sugar, children needs sugar and fruits are the way. Just give her as much fruits she wants. If you really want her to have her veggies, perhaps, you can just rinse them with hot water (inside will stay raw and it will taste cook). Or you can use lemon juice to marinate them. It cooks them. If you slice your veggies such sweet peppers, celery, zucchini and marinate them a little then dehydrate them for about 4 hours, they will have a look of a stir fried and taste far better.

All the best

p.s There are so much creative idea to prepare food for children, you will have to find another style of dish that is appealing to the eye and taste great. I find that if you make a great dip, they will love their veggies raw.

[Zoefzoef]

Thanks Angel Mom,
She is getting used to the new stuff. The awesome thing about her is that she keeps trying things, even when she previously didnt like it, so its getting better everyday. One day she kept asking for tofu, so a made her a few pieces and that was it, she has not asked for it since. She does get cooked stuff when she spends time with her grandmother. I am already happy that she is respecting our request for vegan and no sugar, the raw is hard for her to grasp, but our goal is to make her understand it a bit more too. She is doing a lot of baby sitting so it has to change in order to stay consistent with our daughter.

She loves dipping, I forgot that, thanks for the reminder. Se goes absolutely nuts for anything that we marinate in nama shoyu.

I am feeling better too. I remembered that my midwife told me to take floridax as liquid iron supplement. I bought another bottle and have started to experiment with that. The days that I take that I feel significantly better and have much more energy and no dizziness. Ideally I would not take supplemets. I dont know what the processing is with this product. Though all ingredients are natural and plant based, its most probably somehow processed. But it does show me that I probably should be more conscious about my iron levels. I have been doing an utmost effort to eat or juice dark leafy greens ike spinach and kale at least once a day, but apparently thats not enough for me. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks!

[Raw Angel Mom]

Just to let you know that toffu is GMO and should be eaten in moderation and even consider not to have this on your list. You can try edema beans instead but make sure they are organic.

Again, go with the raw fruits this is a great start. All children loves fruits and they are so crucial for them.

All the best with your child.