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Returning to Raw

yvettehyvetteh Raw Newbie

Hello everyone, I am new to this site; however, I was following an 80% raw diet a few years ago. I felt the best I ever had. I followed this diet for 18 months and it was the best I felt ever in my life. I stopped eating raw because with my job it just seemed like too much prep to keep up. Also, I never lost any weight on raw - probably because I had 1 TBLS of almond butter each day! I am returning to raw now, and must drop some weight. I know to eat almond butter sparingly (perhaps 1 to 2 times per week), but what other ways can I drop weight while eating raw?

Answers

  • ClaireTClaireT Raw Master

    Welcome to the site! I used to worry about my coconut oil consumption when trying to lose weight, but I found out that weight loss really is about calories in versus calories out, so it's not what you eat, but how many overall calories you are eating and burning, and if there is a deficit between the two. 

  • yvettehyvetteh Raw Newbie

    Thanks ClaireT. Do you, or does anyone, have suggested limits for raw food intake? Perhaps there is a weekly menu somewhere that gives ideas about food intake with minimal use of nuts and nut butters (my addiction, I must admit).

    I probably ate mostly fruit, veggies and almond butter. I cannot imagine that almond butter (1tbls per day) really made me gain weight, but while eating raw for that 18 months, I felt wonderful but did not lose one single pound. Oh... I did have 1/4 cup of nuts per day. I am 55 years old and weigh 169 pounds. At the tme, I was training for a marathon so I was getting a lot of exercise (cardio) in.  . . I'm stumped. I will be eating mostly raw (about 80%), but want to figure out how to lost weight too. 

  • ClaireTClaireT Raw Master

    Hm. My weight loss secret was to find the most flavorful and filling foods with the least amount of calories (I ended up eating a lot of olives). Hopefully someone will come along that can offer a more complete meal plan. lol

    yvetteh
  • yvettehyvetteh Raw Newbie
    :)
  • TammiTrueTammiTrue Raw Master

    I've been looking for the same thing, but all I keep running across are exercise tips. Diet is important too IMHO! 

  • erincerinc Raw Newbie
    Hey! I have been on mostly raw and wishing I could stick to all raw. Recently I signed up for a raw meal plan, although it looks great it is not practicle for my life. The first week I spent two weeks of my food budget for my familu and the recipes were time consumingw. I also found that I had little time to drink the smoothies, juices, eat the salad and main dish. I am at a loss right now how to do this. Im feelinh crummy as I devoured cooked vegetarian foods late the last two nights. Anyway I am looking for support. I wish the meal plan did offer help for me!
  • TammiTrueTammiTrue Raw Master

    There are around 15 calories in a teaspoon of sunflower seeds. I don't think something small like that would cause too much harm to a weight loss diet. Micronutients and variety are important. Maybe halving the usual raw vegan recipes would be enough? 

  • yvettehyvetteh Raw Newbie

    So it looks like we need to create our own raw meal plan. Erinc, I recently read an article about Sarno (one of the top raw food gurus, as I understand it). He recently received reports about his blood work being high in cholesterol (I believe this was it) after eating a 100% raw diet. My interpretation of the article is that eating 100% raw is not so good anymore but eating 75% to 80% raw still gives us benefits. The article mentioned the heavy reliance on nuts in the raw diet as being a factor. I read this article either in the AARP magazine or Vegan but here is a link to an internet blog that interviews three top raw chefs (http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=4102&catId=7). Here is a quote from that article attributed to Boutenko.

    "We understand now that regular consumption of large quantities of nuts, seeds, and oils is not healthy due to their high levels of omega 6s— which can contribute to negative health conditions including slowed metabolism, inflammation, and obesity."

    Erinc, this time around, I am just trying to each whole healthy food and am not trying to make the raw food into something (pie crust, rice, etc.). Let's share some of our nut free meals. 

  • erincerinc Raw Newbie
    Yes the meal plan looked good but nuts and seeds are often used in dressings. I also have trouble digesting smoothies right now due to inflammation I alreadt have in my stomach (one of the main things that drew me to the raw life). Also the dishes called for onion and garlic which over the years I have realized that my body doesnt respond well to them. Anyway although the meal plan may be great for some, it left me sicker and hungrier so I over indulged in pumpkin seeds and macadamia nuts not knowing what i should eat since i didnt want any raw foods then i had cooked packaged vegetarian foods the last few days out of pure confusion and frustration...not good and left me feeling awful! Im starting fresh today with 1 liter of water and half a lemon, later I had a carrot apple juice. I will have a green juice later then a salad (this was what I did for two weeks a while back and felt great. I only stopped due to finances and i didnt know how to eat healthy raw on only $20 a week!) I will stick to this for a few days Then I will add fresh whole fruits when I feel my digestion is back to normal.
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