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need to gain weight

hey there, just wondering if anyone had any support or links for gaining weight in a healthy way on the raw food diet? i have been all raw for a couple of months now (while dealing with alot of health issues) and have lost at least 70 pounds in 5 months. everything started when i switched to a raw food diet pretty much overnight and developed severe digestive issues. tried coming of it but that didnt help either.. still havent been able to find out whats wrong (had every medical test you can think of). i am/was a dancer and was extremely active person very in touch wih body and everything and havent been able to dance due to extreme lack of energy.. being 6’ 3’’ and weighing 115 now and 185 before its becoming quite serious but i cant see any benefits of coming off raw.. though i am open for anything at this point.. ...just wondering if anyone has any advice about maybe even transitioning off a raw food diet? onto a vegan wheat-gluten macro one?

Comments

  • wow, 6’3” 115… that’s concerning. what are you typically eating now?

  • michigan romanmichigan roman Raw Master

    im not an expert , but’ve been self reading on a whole food vegan diet / nutrition / homeopathy / herbs for 15 years since going vegan . then studying / living raw near past 3 years . and what i think is raw is for sure the way , just should maybe suppliment B12 because its a cloudy topic . and intitially on raw alot of people lose weight that they eventually put back . like me at 18 months raw was 10 lbs below starting weight , now here at 28 months im 10 lbs over start weight . and also upon starting raw its said you start cleansing / flushing / detoxing so its an intitial down stage / weight loss . but i guess alot of people stay thinner , but to me its just a matter of time til we figure out how to get / stay our normal big fat american selves ;-) on a raw diet . and for putting on weight :

    • grind seeds like sesame , sun , flax to add to smoothies or sprinkle on salads in large amounts . doctors used to use sesame to put weight on patients back several decades ago and previous .
    • chop up walnuts to sprinkle on salads .
    • all nuts and seeds contain protein and fat .
    • avacado
    • banana
    • cold pressed oils like extra virgin olive
    • now remember im no expert or not the smartest person , im not trying to say ’ ya do this i know its right ’ . im just trying to kick in any assistance . but 1 place you may want to look is if you possibly have a parasite problem . and a couple people that had weight loss / illness and cured it are JORDAN RUBIN and DR DAVID KLEIN (think first names dave , i’ll bring back link ) . they are 2 guys ide go read on , alot of people recomend kleins book on how he healed chrons/colitis which caused him initial big weight loss .

    also ive stomach issues and heres my diet outlook :

    • no coffee (acidic)
    • no spicy
    • yes to alkaline foods
    • yes to soothing foods like banana , pineapple , etc

    goodluck :-)

  • JDJD

    gentlwolf, I do not mean to pry but have you been diagnosed as anorexic? Not that you have a eating disorder but because of your weight. As mandelicious said, this is concerning. I would have to say extremely concerning. My boyfriend is 6’3” 185 athletic build (absolutely beautiful to me) and I could not begin to imagine him at 115.

    Only advice I have really is that if you are going to transition off raw food, do it slowly and not over night the way you went raw. If you’ve been raw this entire time, your body is not going to react well to an entire diet of cooked food off the bat. I would just start replacing meals here and there.

    Have you thought about a nutritionist?

  • for a while i was sort of following the thrive diet raw trying to get in lots of protien nutrient rich smoothies in the mornining, lots of fruuit through out the day large salads etc, nuts, nut butters at night but found that all of the sudden i had all these hypersensitivities to foods.. having bizarr allergic reactions to things i used to love and eat tons of and have no problems

    (avocados, tomatos, spinach, some nuts and seeds ) so my options started deminishing now im pretty much having reactions to everything and i guess my stomach has shrank so i cant eat alot at once.. i started just eating and craving nothing but fruit for a while but found i was losing more and more weight and having constipation problems.. so started trying alot of green smoothies in the morning moslty kale and fruit combos and large green leaf salads with sun-dried olives etc but somehow even though i was eating more greens and drinking lots of water became even MORE constipated. and everthing got way worse. so at this point im pretty much in a nutritional heap of confusion… which i had before and done fine with.. only this time i felt quite lethargic afterwards and apon continuing the day, all of the sudden i started having this extremely intense out of body experience… it was actuallly quite amazing but at the same time alarming. i wish i could describe it in detail but it was well beyound words.. felt like i was leaving this world but was completely coherent.. the person i was with became very concerned and said my breathe smelt really fruity so they thought i was maybe going into some sort or hypoglyceic coma and i went to the hospital where they checked everthing from blood to x rays ...all fine..

    so yesterday i started the day with a smoothie of 4 leaves kale, 1 banana, 1 cup almond milk, 2 T hemp seeds

    obviously they just thought i was some crazy anorexic who only eat veggies and there only advice was to drink “boost” which made me laugh quite a bit.

    so after that i came home and decided for the first time in months to eat something cooked (dont know why) and had a cream of carrot soup cooked:carrots onions, garlic, wild rice, blended it with some raw almond milk..

    tasted good but wow was it ever hard on my stomach … kept me up half the night. but today i feel alright today. cant really decide what to do so almost thinking about transitioning out of raw? and coming back into it properly but i cant decide.. so far today i have eatin a smoothie (blended a young coco with some cacao nibs)

    i will love and apreciate any comments so go wild...

    hah feels like i just published a short novel about myself!

    (i must add that i dont do drugs, drink, smoke or anything of the sorts)

  • “so yesterday i started the day with a smoothie of 4 leaves kale, 1 banana, 1 cup almond milk, 2 T hemp seeds which i had before and done fine with.. only this time i felt quite lethargic afterwards…”

    that was cut out of my post for some reason

  • also i would add that im far from anorexic, eating is one of my favourite things to do and i also work at a raw food restaurant so im far from deprived.. i love food and its driving me crazy!

  • michigan romanmichigan roman Raw Master
    • LONG TERM JUICE FEAST , to give the g.i. tract a rest from solids in order to help it heal .
    • change / check water source .
    • check if have mercury fillings in teeth .
    • try fermenting vegis in order to add good bacteria .
    • link to fermenting vegis , has other interesting info might like =

    http://bodyecology.com/cveggies.php ...

  • achin70achin70 Raw Newbie

    Young coconut is supposed to be a healthy source of fats and calories, too.

    I had trouble maintaining weight on a raw food diet, but I just completed a liver gallbladder flush last week. I seem to be assimilating the nutrients much better now. Also, I might do a colonic or two somewhere down the road.

    I suppose I was pretty toxic, so I needed to reduce my toxicity.

    Lastly, I will use NCD, or Natural Cellular Defense. I’ve heard many people have had impressive results using this product to heal and detox.

    Here is a link you can check out: http://circleofhealers.com/resources/detoxifica…

    I’m not endorsing any product or method here, just sharing a few ideas. Good luck on your healing path!

  • achin70achin70 Raw Newbie

    As far as coming a raw food diet, protein rich grains like quinoa, millet and amaranth worked pretty well for me as far as gaining weight. Also, cooked beans have also been a real blessing.

    Are you on probiotics and enzymes? These supps will help you assimilate and digest.

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    Wow, gentlwolf, you are going through a lot! Maybe you need to seek some help/advice from a raw food coach or dietitian or someone.

    What are you eating?!

    I would agree with drinking greens to gain weight. But, I can see how they can be constipating, even if you do drink lots of water (we ran into that problem). How about just juicing them… that requires more work though.

    I don’t know what to tell you… wish I had some advice. My husband is ~6’ 123 lbs… and (although we are not 100%) no matter what I do and how much he eats, he doesn’t gain any weight. I’d like to hear how you gain weight… also, have you heard about the different phases of cleansings? I don’t know much about it… I just know that there are phases. I don’t know if your symptoms are detox symptoms… but if they were, that means the waste is not leaving your body as fast as it is eliminating it. just a thought I really don’t know much about how to help/advise.

  • achin70achin70 Raw Newbie

    Hey, the link above didn’t paste completely. If you Google Zeolite, David Wolfe, it will also get you there.

  • i wouldn’t do any kind of major cleanse right now, especially juice feasting. i do think you should drink juice, but you should probably be trying to consume at least 2500 calories per day, which is very hard to do juice feasting.

    you’re reacting badly to nuts & avocadoes? young coconut is good. also, your hempseeds are good, but eat more. eat other seeds that work for your diet, like sunflower.

    good fruits include bananas and mangoes. if you want to add cooked foods to your diet, start with simple foods like white rice or applesauce.

    all blessings to you, i would say try to eat as much as you can, throughout the day, using simple food combinations.if you choose to transition away from raw food, do so slowly.

  • I had very similar issues and healed them completely with a week-long juice feast. I even put 10 pounds on during that week because I was so underweight and my body could finally assimilate easily-digested nutrients from the juice. If anything, I would cut out kale from your morning smoothies. It’s very hard to digest. I totally sympathize with your struggle:(

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    i think you just may have gone too quickly raw.

    natalia rose’s books explain how to eat clean, high life force energy foods, eating a lot of raw foods, but using healthy cooked foods as a sort of “brake pedal” to detox.

    i also think that you might want to research someone who can help you more than we can. these are all just heartfelt guesses into your situation… when it comes to your health, treat yourself to an EXCELLENT holistic practitioner. get several opinions and ask yourself “what makes sense to me?”

    best of luck!

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    p.s. if you are going to eat cooked foods, i’d make it something to absorb the acid in your stomach… a healthy grain like quinoa, or a whole grain (yeast free) bread.

  • achin70achin70 Raw Newbie

    Sorry for posting so much, but I thought of a couple other ideas.

    Juice from half a lemon with a glass of water first thing in the morning, 20-30 min. before breakfast, will produce more stomach acid for digestion and assimilation. Adding apple cider vinegar to your salad will also help stimulate stomach acid.

    Also, I’ve used Nature’s Path Manna Bread to help gain weight. It not raw, it’s baked at 325 degrees, according to the company. However, it’s very healthy, since it’s made from sprouted grains. The Carrot Raisin and Cinnamon Date varieties are especially yummy!

  • hey great replies! awesome to hear from people..

    pundee: yes recently been thinking about nutritionist.. have been seeing a naturopath who highly into nutrition but has been quite baffled lately i think.. going to strt looking into trying to find a raw food nutritionist or or someone soley nutrition based… anyone know of anything in vancouver area?

    michigan: i have previously fasted and juice fasted and gotten rid of pnuemonia etc, but i cant afford to loose weight so i am hesitant to do and feasting/fasting, water source is good as far as i can tell and have no fillings, also have never had any vaccines or flu shots..

    though, i do have a childhood history of alot of antibiotic use,..

    achin: yes funny you should mention the manna because i had just gone out and bought some while thinking about transitioning off to gain weight.. also i popped some amaranth earlier and put it in some cereal:

    1/2 banana, 1T flaxmeal, 1T. ground hempseed, 6 chopped almonds, 1 soaked fig, 1 T. raw trailmix(gojis,mulberry,incaberry), 2 T. popped amaranth, pinch cinnamon, 1 T. hemp oil with some almond milk

    it seemed to go over OK and was quite tasty.

    Yes, i do know now i went raw much to quickly, and very uneducated about it , i cut everything out without think how devistating it would be to my system, and definatly went through a wild detox without realising what was going on.. it just made so much sense all of the sudden i ripped right into without really thinking. thats why i am very hesitant now to come off of it. and definatly will take it slow (if i decide to fully come off, havent decided yet)... all ive tried so far is the carrot soup and popped amaranth… still thinking on the manna..

    also yes i currently use udos probiotics and digestive enzymes.. also want to mention that i am seeing several specialist and a naturopath.. and do tons of research elseware.. just had some free time this morning and was interested in what the gone raw community had say. especially to see what people ate if they transitioned off recipes etc.. or ones to gain weight raw or both .. just anything really

    loving all the replies so far!

  • Gentlwolf, I used to see a fantastic naturopath in Vancouver; her name is Glenda Laxton. Her website is www.westcoastclinic.ca. She’s not raw, but she is vegan, very down-to-earth, and very knowledgeable about all kinds of medicine (both natural and conventional). There’s also the nutritionist Vesanto Melina (co-author of Becoming Vegetarian, Becoming Vegan, and the Food Allergy Survival Guide), who is based in Langley. Again, not raw, but she knows her stuff. I can relate to all the food sensitivities and needing to gain weight…it’s tough, but I wish you the best of luck!

  • hah! awesome, glenda is actually who im already seeing. and yes, she is great.. has definatly helped alot so far. i will definatly check out vesanto and her book..

  • NickNick Raw Newbie

    In order to achieve your goal weight, you must adjust your daily nutrition habits to the defined goal. Choose food with higher content of calories to increase your calories intake. Remember that your diet should be healthy, so abstain from fast food.

    I found great recommendation about the amount of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, fats, fiber, and cholesterol that you need to consume daily in Diet Tracker, Weight Gain application. Body Mass Index and the percentage of Body Fat are also calculated based on your gender, age, height and current weight.

    It recommends you a perfect diet for you and encourages you to do your sports activities regularly in order you achieve the weight of your dreams without causing any harm to your body.

  • kaleyjkaleyj Raw Newbie

    I think, it is better to count calories. Do you go to the gym? If you want to gain weight, it is better to build muscles. Of course, it is important to eat and exercise in a proper way. There are many great sources that can provide you with all necessary information. Personally I use this site for this purpose. Hopefully, you will find this information to be useful!

    ClaireT
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