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Fiber

I think I’ve been having a hard time getting enough fiber into my diet. I’ll start by saying I’m not 100% raw. I’m 50%-75% raw most days. 100% vegan all the time. The biggest change I’ve made so far is that I cut out bread. I used to eat a couple servings a day, but when I started eating more raw foods, I stopped bread and most other wheat products almost entirely. (I did have vegan pizza last night.) I thought that by dramatically increasing my fruit and veggie consumption, I would be getting enough fiber, but I’m obviously not. Just as a vegan, I would go 2-3 times per day, but now, I haven’t in almost 3 days! Yes, I feel weird telling strangers how often I poop, but I’m starting to get really worried! I’m really bloated and my stomach is sticking out! I want to get to about 90% raw eventually (I’m taking baby steps) but I can’t if I feel like this. Please help me figure out what I’m doing wrong! Here’s what the last two days have looked like for me:

Friday: Breakfast/lunch (slept in way too late!)- Green Smoothie w/chard, banana, blueberries, and grapefruit (I only ended up drinking about 8 oz. because it was terrible with the grapefruit!), Fruit Salad including: blackberries, raspberries, 1/2 apple, raw almond milk, and raw granola. Snack: Raw Salsa w/cooked organic corn chips Supper: Vegan calzone (cooked) Snack: Apple

Saturday: Breakfast- Smoothie w/berries, banana, and almond milk Snack: 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, apple Lunch: Bottled green juice from Trader Joe’s, 1/2 cup strawberries, apple, orange Supper: 2 Cooked veggie and black bean burgers (no buns) Planning to have tonight: Green smoothie and raw carob pie

Comments

  • Bump. It makes me sad that this topic was pushed down so quickly because people are fighting and getting off topic on other threads. :(

  • Quiora, I agree, What is a bump?

  • Can’t really help you myself as my bm’s (bowel movements) increased from once a week to once a day incorporating more raw foods into my diet.

    Hopefully someone who can help will come along.

    screamingherb – bump means Quiora is bumping the topic up so others can see it.

  • It is just a way of moving the topic up so it becomes recent again and people can see it. It just seems like many of the other topics (which started off as civilized, well-intentioned conversations) have been taken over by people getting angry at each other, thereby burying other topics (including this and many important others.)

  • Ok thanks I see. I’m learning all the time.

    Did you know I had a poop thread that was taken over by people arguing! I was worried because my BM’s were so large and painful to pass that I was scared to go. Now it is just once every three days so it is easier for me. It is uncomfortable though and hard to flush. I guess it’s detox and will return to normal eventually as I find a diet to suit my body.

  • nearly forgot bump. ;-)

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Quiora~ For me, bananas are constipating .. How about trying an all fruit smoothine without banana for breakfast… For lunch how about an all vege smoothie made with lots of Kale and nuts or seeds… For dinner a huge salad and whatever else you would like…

    This is the way I eat and I must say I have NO problem with a lack of BM’s…

    Hope this helps you to feel better real soon!!!

  • Thanks waterbaby! You’re right, I have increased my banana intake a lot. I didn’t really realize it, but I eat 1-3 per day and before raw foods, I only ate that many in a week. It would be a good idea for me to have more smoothies (especially green ones!), but I work during the day. I work at Trader Joe’s so I usually just get a few pieces of fruit and maybe a drink or nuts there. Would I be safe to make my smoothie ahead of time and bring it with me? I’ve heard with juicing, it’s best to drink the juice right away, but I’m not sure if the same is true of smoothies. And I know I’m crazy, but I don’t really like salads. The only way I’ve been able to eat a substantial amount of salad is with a lot of croutons and some good dressing (not a lot, but it has to be good stuff.), so I also have to figure out a way to incorporate more leafy greens, but I don’t want salads everyday, and I don’t want green smoothies more than once a day. Ugh, what to do?

  • waterbaby12347waterbaby12347 Raw Newbie

    Make your green smoothies and take them to work… Pack them half full of Kale with as many vege colors as possible… To make the smoothie more palatable add 3 or 4 dates or prefered sweetner… Generally I use ginger, tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, sprouts, sunflower seed, chia seed and 2 cups of water… This fills my blender to the top and I divide it into two containers… One for today and one for tomorrow, feel free to freeze the second one… Makes it easy to only have to make your lunch evey other day when you are working…

    To your great health!!!

  • CarmentinaCarmentina Raw Newbie

    I’d add some ground flax – I often put a tablespoon or 2 into my tea and let it float to the bottom then slurp it up. You can also add it to your smoothies if you don’t like tea. Good luck!

  • I agree with Carmentina. Add some ground flax, or try sprouting some grains and adding those. Have some buckwheaties at breakfast. you can still get some high fiber grains in withough cooking them. :D

  • troublesjustabubbletroublesjustabubble Raw Newbie

    I’ve heard of people getting constipated when their fat content wasn’t high enough. I’d add more avocados and maybe olive oil to something or other and see if it helps:)

    I haven’t had any problems with constipation since I went raw but last week I felt really bloated and started doing two green smoothies a day and they totally zapped it. Hope this helps!

  • 1sweetpea1sweetpea Raw Newbie

    I’m new to raw. I suffered stomach bloating and constipation for the first few days, starting right after I had a smoothie that was absolutely LOADED with fiber (hemp, maca, E3live, flax, salba, seaweed, berries, etc.). It was a total shock to my system and everything I ate after that for 3 days just sat on top of the cement smoothie. I drank 14 or 15 glasses of water each day to try to push it through, which eventually did the job, but the real secret was to “down” one tablespoonful of olive/hemp/avocado/flax oil each night right before going to bed. Sounds weird, but it worked! I’ve been more regular since the initial “jam-up”, but I’m still not as regular as I think I should be, considering how much fiber I’m taking in. I’m being patient though and drinking lots of fluids. I expect it all to even out soon enough.

  • Hi Quiora!! I’m sorry to hear you’re not feeling well, but I think we’ll be able to figure it out! If I were you, I would look into food combining. Here is a chart that I think is fairly easy to read: http://www.puristat.com/foodcombiningchart_2.aspx

    I had terrible tummy aches when I first went raw due to bad food combining, and when I started paying more attention to those rules I really had success. Good luck, hope you are back to normal soon!

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    add some flax to the green smoothie. blueberries always get me going too. also drink lots of water!

  • iheartveggies-I think you might be right about the food combining. Like I said, I’m not 100% raw, but I’m trying to up it to about 80% really soon! I’ve been at about 60-75%, but I really “fell off the wagon” the last 2 days or so. I just got a job at Trader Joe’s and they have tons of premade and frozen vegan meals and snacks that have just been way to tempting for me! I’ve had my taste though, and should be back to almost all raw soon. Thanks for the advice everyone! I’m going to try out a bunch of these suggestions!

  • I also need fats in my diet or my skin and bowels get bad. I also use ground up flax seed on sooo many things. I ground up small amounts at a time and fill an old small spice container and keep one in the fridge at work and at home. I sprinkle flax and chia meal on salads, entrees, etc. Flax oil is good to add to dressings also.

    I was constipated at first also.

  • RawKidChefRawKidChef Raw Newbie

    You can get all the fiber you need from eating fruit. Oranges and citrus are particularly a good source, and pineapple and melons also are great.

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