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?
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wow, 6’3” 115… that’s concerning. what are you typically eating now?
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 seedsobviously 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!
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:(
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..
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