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Tips for Losing Weight for the Raw foodist

Hi there,

Does anyone have any experience or tips for the best ways to lose weight while maintaining a raw food diet? The abundant use of nuts and avocadoes in recipies makes me fear that one would gain weight on a raw food diet. Any thoughts would be appreciated :)

Comments

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    Ckersten, I don't have any words of wisdom for you. But this post will move your question to the front page. I know there have been some previous threads on this subject. Others will surely be responding, but in the mean time you might do an Advanced Search and see what has been said in the past. Click here and check panes #2 and #3 if you need some tips on using the search features.

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    Definitely soak your nuts and seeds, rinse well, then dehydrate at a low temp if you want them crunchy again. I do this with all of ours and then freeze them so I don't feel as guilty eating nuts and seeds. Also, found that when I included young coconut water and young coconut meat into my diet, I lost weight much faster. I did not worry about the amount of avocados or even nuts, just ate raw and eventually wanted more fruits and vegetables than nuts. Fresh juices and green smoothies are great too. I like shredded coconut in my smoothies if you want something to chew on...can you tell I like coconut??? ;) Have fun, don't fret, just have fun and enjoy what you are eating! Happy New Year...

  • Raw CurlsRaw Curls Raw Newbie

    Some people actually do lose eating fats while others don't. You may want to check Carlene's raw food boot camp for the obese, she has a journal from when she lost over 100 lbs.

    If you can, eat a lot of fruit to fulfill you.

  • Thank you much! I grealy appreciate it. And thank you for information on the search feature . . . I am still learning!

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    This year I HAVE to get rid of fat! I am going to drop the nuts and seeds for awhile and use buckwheat and quinua in their place. If one isn't careful those nuts and seeds can really put on the pounds.

  • jenny2052jenny2052 Raw Newbie

    I've lost 65 pounds in about 9 months eating pretty much whatever I want, mostly raw (some days are all raw, some days are just mid or high raw--I don't stress about it one way or the other). I don't eat a gigantic amount of fat, but I do eat it whenever I want it. I try to have avocado or young coconut as my fat as often as i can (instead of nuts and seeds), but I've been getting a steady stream of terrible avocados lately, and coconuts are harder for me to get, so I've been eating more nuts and seeds recently. I seem to do just fine with nuts and seeds, and continue to lose weight at a steady pace.

    A lot of people will say this, and it sounds vague, but losing weight is easiest if you can learn to really listen to your body. It's hard, after so much "programming" our whole lives to think we need all these things that we don't need. (My dad keeps asking me about protein, for example, but I just respond that I'm feeling better than I ever have, so I don't feel a need to stick to someone else's idea of what will work for me. If things start to not feel good, I will look into other sources. For right now, I'm doing just great listening to what my own body has to say.) I have found that iit's easier to stay in touch with my body's needs if I eat simply. It's easier to binge when one is eating complicated recipes. For instance, I can eat a lot more nuts in an ice cream or cookie than I would eat just plain. So I tend to do the very fancy recipes less frequently and to stick to just plain foods whenever possible. I do use recipes when I get bored, or for special meals a few times a week. But it can get a little confusing if I do it too often, because, say I have a craving for something like almonds, so I eat a bunch of cookies that are almond based also have a ton of dates, I may be getting things that my body doesn't want or need at the moment. So I enjoy eating simply whenever I can.

    My cravings vary a lot according to my menstrual cycle--there are times in the month when all I want is fat, there are times when I want only green vegetables or fruits. Sometimes I only want grapefruit juice. It was kind of hard for me to learn how to really figure out what my body wanted instead of listening to what my mind wanted to eat, but I can't tell you how invaluable it has been for me. The more I do it, the more weight I lose. (And the less I have weird cravings for stuff like french fries, which I never even liked!) Now I crave mostly raw foods. And if I have an occasional craving for something cooked, I try to figure out what the source of the craving is and to figure out a raw substitute--is it fat I need? carbohydrates? something astringent? something to perk up my metabolism? But if it lasts for more than a few days even after trying raw substitutes, I generally just let myself have it. Because then it goes away.

    Good luck with going raw! Take it easy, try adding things rather than forbidding yourself things, and pay attention to how you feel more than how others say you should do things. I love hearing others' stories, but I did have some moments of feeling overwhelmed by all the different approaches and the feeling that I was doing things "wrong." There is no wrong! Just find what works for you!

  • great advice jenny :)

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I agree with jenny. Don't use very many recipes if you can help it. I felt my best & lost weight easily when I had few or no raw recipes to go from. I went to the store, bought whatever appealed to me, and then I took it home & ate it. I sometimes made things from recipes (although I often adapted even those to fit what I felt my body needed), but I often made up my own "recipes" by just combining whatever appealed to me at the time, and I learned to enjoy the flavors of whole foods.

  • Is there a connection btwn unsoaked/sprouted nuts/seeds and weight gain?

  • i was 195 when I started, (4 months ago) and now I am 148.

    2 of my 5 meals are liquid, and I eat a thai coconut weekly (for some reason this regulates/drops weight.) I also ride a bike because I live in the city, I do a 10 mile commute daily, back and forth. You should start an exercise plan!

  • Excellent comments by all, and I heartily agree with Durianrider & IWWkevin--exercise is a *key* ingredient for weight loss. Also, many raw gourmet recipes are quite high in fat--even though it is good fat. If one is trying to lose weight, keeping raw gourmet recipes at a minimum would be a good thing.

    I second Durianrider's point that heavy people can initially lose a lot of weight quite easily even on gourmet raw because the food quality is so much better.

  • Also try not to let yourself get too hungry. If you do you may over eat and you

    may not make the best choices in what you choose to eat.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    I think age may have something to do with weight loss too. I am now 66 and I have to eat different than when I was younger. Even tho I did not eat SAD then. Exercising is also different now than then.

    I am keeping flax seed and chia in my diet. I will be using Kamut too. Like was said, we have to listen to the voice from within.

  • Is Dr. Doug Grahams 811 diet complex to integrate into daily life?

  • I think it's something that happens with time, the cleaner our bodies become the more we are attracted to simpler eating with less fat and spices. I do believe it is a gradual transition and that everyone should transition at their own pace. I have found that those that put too much pressure on themselves often revert back to their old eating habits. I recently wrote a book on this subject, called

  • Yes, when we soak the nuts and seeds it releases the enzyme inhibitor then allows the release of the enzyme, lipase, to break down the fat to help our body digest the fat in thenut and/or seed. The fat content in the nuts and seeds also decreases by up to 25% after soaking. You can see this fat floating on the top of the soak water. By the time we turn 50 years of age we only have about 30% of our lipase stores to break down fat, so those that eat lots of animal proteins often start having weight issues around that age.

  • I'm so sorry, I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I'm trying to post this with the question about soaking nuts/seeds.?

    Yes, when we soak the nuts and seeds it releases the enzyme inhibitor then allows the release of the enzyme, lipase, to break down the fat to help our body digest the fat in thenut and/or seed. The fat content in the nuts and seeds also decreases by up to 25% after soaking. You can see this fat floating on the top of the soak water. By the time we turn 50 years of age we only have about 30% of our lipase stores to break down fat, so those that eat lots of animal proteins often start having weight issues around that age.

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    for me, i don't tend to overeat on raw. even if i have richer things like nuts, seeds, or avocados, i feel more satisfied and then don't eat to large of a portion. it's like my body finally learned how to regulate itself. they are for sure not all i eat but they are part of what i eat. i also think that the nutrition in my food is so much better that i don't have to keep eating and eating. recipes are for fun and so you don't get bored. they are important for someone who is transitional. i only make about 1-2 per week as a treat and for fun. but they are not required if you like to just keep it simple.

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